She Needn’t Kiss the Knife

Chapter One
The windows flap agitatedly as Lola’s feelings rub off on them. She’s drenched in no ordinary tears, but droplets of different dark colors. Has she really killed a man? That can’t be! All her life, she has been faithful in attending church services with her family; she has loved Jesus passionately; she has prayed and fasted whenever the rest of the family declared a spiritual marathon; she has been kind to her fellow humans, even strangers, as though they were Jesus in flesh and blood. Spirituality has formed the foundation of her kindness. There is no doubt about it: Lola is a good person. It is much more certain that she’s aware of the sixth commandment which dictates: “Thou shalt not kill”.
Faith and spirituality aside, Lola is aware of the concept called “legality”. As she has learnt so far, America’s Bible is the constitution. Disobedience to the Bible can damage her conscience; failure to adhere to America’s constitution can, as a matter of fact, damage her freedom- or even her life! No wonder the windows express their pity without even having to be animate. Who should the windows pity more though, between the murdered and the murderer? It’s a tough one, because both parties are good people. The murdered was innocently just a man who needed some breathing space from his troublesome wife and as a result, embraced his chance to spend the night with an extremely beautiful lady named Lola Akintoye. It is neither illegal nor immoral to love good things; Dr. Jones Reagan was simply not a lucky man.
“Lola, what’s wrong? Why do you look like you just came out of hell?” Bimbo is the first person to ask. Lola and Bimbo are particularly close, not just because they are the only girls among the Akintoye children, but also because they became petty partners-in-crime way before their entire family ran into debts. Lola would steal sweets for her big sis and Bimbo in turn would cover for her with believable toddler-smart lies. The then-future-turned-present has betrayed them, because it is as though they became so good at their separate shares of the family dirt because they were so good at getting what they wanted back then. Look where the whole thing has landed Lola; as innocent as her mind is, her hands have become guilty of murder.
“Oh my God… did he… did he die?” Funmi, the woman from whom Lola inherited her beauty, asks as though she were reiterating a question posed by someone else. Tears like bad dancers, squeeze Funmi’s cheeks like carpets. Lola breaks down, weeping like an accused widow.
“Lola… Lola… Lola… did he die?” Bimbo asks as well. Lola struggles to nod and the entire family screams for fear. Funmi’s tears become more violent; for she never thought it would degenerate and come down to this. It was never their intention to murder anybody; they just needed their money and that should have been all.
Bimbo wraps her arm around Lola and sits her down gently and compassionately.
“Tell us how it happened” Bimbo asks.
“We don’t have time for that. We have to go back there and hide the body” Rotimi, the father says.
“Dad has a point. If we get a hold of the body before the police does, we might have a shot at going scot free” Dayo, the first-born boy says.
“Bimbo, stay here with Tobi. Lola would take us to the hotel” Funmi says.
“I want to go with you” Tobi says.
“Oh please, Tobi, we don’t have time for this. Stay here with your sister. This is a matter of life and death” Funmi says.
The four hurry out. Tobi attempts to run after them, but Bimbo succeeds in catching him and locking the door.
“Why do you all always underestimate me and leave me out of serious family business?” Tobi asks.
“If we always left you out of serious family business, then we wouldn’t have instructed you to steal your teachers’ credit cards regularly. We wouldn’t even have involved you in this stealing thing at all”
“But now that Aunt Lola has killed someone…” Tobi says before Bimbo cuts in:
“Don’t talk about it that way! You don’t even know what happened”
“Neither do you” Tobi says. Bimbo slaps him instantly.
“I have told you several times to never disrespect your elders. Your behavior proves to me that when it comes to disciplining you, actions speak louder than words” Bimbo says.
“Are you sure your slapping me is about my rudeness? Or are you simply pouring out your anger at the situation on me?” Tobi says.
“Go to your room… now! I’ve had enough of your defiance” Bimbo says. Tobi obeys reluctantly. Perhaps teaching this boy to steal has gone a long way in helping his boldness; she thinks.
Still panicking, Bimbo carries her phone and tries to make a call. The contact she attempts dialing reads: Evans Snip. The call doesn’t go through as his line is reported to be switched off. She’s been trying this number for the past one year, but to no avail. He has obviously changed his number and doesn’t want her to know the new one. Whenever Evans doesn’t want to be reached, he would not be reached. Is he still trying to heal from the break-up? But she needs his help! The best person to talk to about this situation is Evans, not just because he’s an excellent listener, but also because he’s an excellent Lawyer. There’s nobody else Bimbo can disclose this huge secret to. Her baby sister’s life is on the line here and she’s seeming helpless. Evans would have been the perfect ears! While they were dating, he was her greatest confidant. She knows they swore to give each other their spaces after the split, but for the love of God, this is an emergency. She wonders how far mom, dad, Lola and Dayo have gone in getting the body hidden.