nails, her discoloured cheap rings, and he felt shame like he had never felt before, and loathing.
‘I am not giving you anything. I will drop you back where I found you.’
‘Where you find me? I be dog wey dem dey find? Just because of the work I’m doing does not mean you should be insulting me anyhow. If not for condition, you for see me carry? After all, I get men like you for my family.’
He doubted that she came from anything other than a family of blackmailers but he kept his opinion to himself. He fetched his keys from his pocket and waited for her to dress and leave his room, then he led the way back to his car.
Two policemen stood by the gutter while a third, handling a Polaroid camera with a separate flash held in a different hand, took pictures. This was the extent of evidence gathering.
A white Peugeot 504 station wagon converted into an ambulance was parked diagonally across the road. Two men in crumpled white overalls and yellow kitchen gloves stood by its open boot waiting for the photographer to be done.
The driver of a police van next to the Peugeot pressed his horn in one long blast and exchanged dirty looks with the photographer. People watched from the safety of the other side of the road.
Kevwe saw the police car up ahead. ‘Stop, stop, stop,’ she said, but he had also seen the cars and the policemen, and he hadseen how the sight of them had made her jump. He continued driving until he was as close to the officers as he could, then he pulled his handbrake. ‘Get out,’ he said.
Kevwe sank low into her seat until her head was below the window line. As they passed by, she had noted that there were no girls on the road and that the only people watching were security guards and bouncers from the many clubs on the street. The police raided this area less than a week ago, so no one expected them to be back so soon. Several girls were still working longer hours to make up for the money they had lost to the last raid – including her. It had cost her sixteen thousand naira to ‘bail’ herself – all the money she had on her – and not before a drunken officer had pulled her into a lightless room that choked her with dust and pushed her hand down the front of his trousers. She had not been able to eat with the hand for two days.
‘Bros, please now, please. Just take me down there, to the end of the road. Please. It is the way you will pass as you are going. Honey, please.’
‘Get out now.’
‘OK, let us go back to your hotel. I will shower. We can do anything you want. Please. Ehn, bros? Please. I beg you with the name of Jesus.’
‘Get dafuck out of my car.’
She sighed, checked that they hadn’t attracted the attention of the officers, then she climbed out. He pressed his horn twice as he drove off.
She scampered on the tips of her high-heeled shoes to the other side of the road, almost falling into the gutter as she bent down behind a parked Mercedes. She clutched her handbag to her chest and held her breath. Her ankles ached in the stoopingposition but when she tried to kneel, gravel bit into her skin so she had to stay crouched and endure the pain.
She thought of rolling up all the money she had in her handbag, putting it inside a condom and hiding her loot in the bush covering the gutter. She was searching the growth behind her for a good spot she would remember later when she heard engines revving, tyres screeching, and sirens screaming then fading away. Even then, she stayed where she was, peeping onto the road several times before she finally stretched her legs and shook the numbness out of them.
The police car had left and people were walking across the road to the front of the ambulance where someone was still taking pictures of something in the gutter. She did not see the two policemen standing there, surrounded by security guards and other onlookers. She moved towards the crowd and by the time she noticed the uniforms it was too late. She locked eyes with an
‘I am not giving you anything. I will drop you back where I found you.’
‘Where you find me? I be dog wey dem dey find? Just because of the work I’m doing does not mean you should be insulting me anyhow. If not for condition, you for see me carry? After all, I get men like you for my family.’
He doubted that she came from anything other than a family of blackmailers but he kept his opinion to himself. He fetched his keys from his pocket and waited for her to dress and leave his room, then he led the way back to his car.
Two policemen stood by the gutter while a third, handling a Polaroid camera with a separate flash held in a different hand, took pictures. This was the extent of evidence gathering.
A white Peugeot 504 station wagon converted into an ambulance was parked diagonally across the road. Two men in crumpled white overalls and yellow kitchen gloves stood by its open boot waiting for the photographer to be done.
The driver of a police van next to the Peugeot pressed his horn in one long blast and exchanged dirty looks with the photographer. People watched from the safety of the other side of the road.
Kevwe saw the police car up ahead. ‘Stop, stop, stop,’ she said, but he had also seen the cars and the policemen, and he hadseen how the sight of them had made her jump. He continued driving until he was as close to the officers as he could, then he pulled his handbrake. ‘Get out,’ he said.
Kevwe sank low into her seat until her head was below the window line. As they passed by, she had noted that there were no girls on the road and that the only people watching were security guards and bouncers from the many clubs on the street. The police raided this area less than a week ago, so no one expected them to be back so soon. Several girls were still working longer hours to make up for the money they had lost to the last raid – including her. It had cost her sixteen thousand naira to ‘bail’ herself – all the money she had on her – and not before a drunken officer had pulled her into a lightless room that choked her with dust and pushed her hand down the front of his trousers. She had not been able to eat with the hand for two days.
‘Bros, please now, please. Just take me down there, to the end of the road. Please. It is the way you will pass as you are going. Honey, please.’
‘Get out now.’
‘OK, let us go back to your hotel. I will shower. We can do anything you want. Please. Ehn, bros? Please. I beg you with the name of Jesus.’
‘Get dafuck out of my car.’
She sighed, checked that they hadn’t attracted the attention of the officers, then she climbed out. He pressed his horn twice as he drove off.
She scampered on the tips of her high-heeled shoes to the other side of the road, almost falling into the gutter as she bent down behind a parked Mercedes. She clutched her handbag to her chest and held her breath. Her ankles ached in the stoopingposition but when she tried to kneel, gravel bit into her skin so she had to stay crouched and endure the pain.
She thought of rolling up all the money she had in her handbag, putting it inside a condom and hiding her loot in the bush covering the gutter. She was searching the growth behind her for a good spot she would remember later when she heard engines revving, tyres screeching, and sirens screaming then fading away. Even then, she stayed where she was, peeping onto the road several times before she finally stretched her legs and shook the numbness out of them.
The police car had left and people were walking across the road to the front of the ambulance where someone was still taking pictures of something in the gutter. She did not see the two policemen standing there, surrounded by security guards and other onlookers. She moved towards the crowd and by the time she noticed the uniforms it was too late. She locked eyes with an
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