“You never stood a chance, Dr. Tango. Never.”
If I was nursing any hope of getting out of this whole ordeal alive, it just became certain that I was kidding. Now, it was only a matter of when the end would come. I could only pray it be quick and painless. I made that conclusion a few minutes before daybreak. Now, I could know what time it was because I was in an office that had what most offices have. I sat on a chair facing the boss in his swivel chair. Swarthy (by now I knew his real name: Ken) was behind me ominously holding a heavy steel pipe. Mary-Anne was standing behind the boss chair. Omobolanle was on the seat next to me. There was just the five of us in the office.
Let me rewind to a few hours to that time.
Seeing Mary-Anne in that place and hearing how she addressed me was like seeing Oprah Winfrey (I used to be a very big fan of hers) announce I would be her next guest on her Show. I was overjoyed and nonplussed all at once. She walked past me to stand in a corner of the theatre. I was still starring at her perplexed when a nurse informed me it was time. I tore my gaze away from Mary-Anne with great effort and faced the woman in labor. What to do I had no idea whatsoever. The atmosphere of the room was cool but I was sweating profusely.
“What is the matter, Doc? You seem what, confused? Come over here.” It was Nightmare.
I went to him and he took me by the hand and half-dragged, half-led me out. I wondered where he was leading me. I looked back and saw Swarthy close behind me. He led me to his office. It was tastefully furnished. Portraits of Nigerian and Hollywood movie stars were on the wall. It gave an informal look to the otherwise formal office. He pointed to a chair facing the executive office table and swivel chair and I sat. Swarthy produced a pair of cuffs and secured my hands behind the chair. Nightmare went out and left Swarthy with me. I saw from the ornate wall clock that it was a half-hour before midnight. It was exactly an hour when the door to the office opened again. The one hour alone with Swarthy was the most apprehensive one I had ever lived through.
I expected the worst to happen to me at any time. The thought of Swarthy using the steel bar he had picked up from behind the door of the office on me never left my mind. The thoughts of what was happening in the operating theatre where Mary-Anne was coursed through my mind also. My mind was a highway of crazy thoughts traffic. I barely stayed sane for that one hour.
When the door opened, it was Mary-Anne that walked in. Tanganyika Ilevbare came in seconds after. I wished I could see the look on my face when my gaze fell on what he was carrying. A spandex-like bulk was in his arms and I immediately recognized it as the Nightmare ‘skin.’ Mary-Anne was laughing hysterically as Tango dropped the pile on the table before me and sat on the swivel chair behind it. Tango joined in the laughter. I just stared at the duo. I was totally perplexed. My mouth was agape. This wasn’t happening. I blinked rapidly to clear the bad dream but it didn’t go away.
“Tango, Mary-Anne, whatever this is, I need an explanation.” I was surprised that my voice sounded calm.
Tango made to say something and burst into another round of hysteric laughter. I was becoming furious.
“Tango!” I yelled.
He paused and stared at me in a queer way. I remembered I’d seen that look on his face somewhere but I couldn’t remember.
“What you need is not an explanation, Tango. It is a story. Relax and listen.” As he spoke he watched my face for a reaction when he called me Tango. I made an expression, obviously, for he seemed pleased with what he saw.
“It is an interesting one. Who lives happily ever after is up to you to deduce. Let me say this now, so I won’t forget. When you see Dad, tell him I won and that he lost.” He paused. I didn’t know what to say and it was obvious for he continued.
“We were born as twins, or so I had always wanted to believe. Father made me understand otherwise. He always treated us separately. You were his favorite, I was simply his child. He believed in you, he defined my life for me. He gave you a cool name, ‘Chad’, and of all the lakes, he could only think of Tanganyika for me. Who does that? He encouraged you to be whatever you wanted to be, He never for once wanted to know what I wanted to be even though it was always clear what I should be. You became an Engineer. He made me a Doctor. Brother, I’ve lived all my life envying yours. But you know what the good Book says, all things work together for our good? Yeah. It’s very true.
“It was in my first year of studying Medicine and Surgery that I attended a theatre and African arts show. It was a life-changing experience for me. I knew that evening what I wanted to be. Why didn’t Father see the way I’d dress up like him and mom, imitating the way they walked and talked for what it was? A performing arts son! Why? Did it never cross his mind that I was the one who should be what he wanted to be and not you? You were passive, honest and bookish. I was imaginative. I loved life. You lived it.” He paused for breath before continuing.
“Well, that evening I signed up with the show’s director. He was the greatest man I have ever met. He was everything I ever wanted in a father. Everything I ever wanted to be. He taught me everything I know. He made me everything I am, and brother, am I something!” He was on his feet now and was moving around, gesticulating, like an actor in a monologue scene. He looked animated.
“I called him Grand from the day I met him till he passed away. Everything about him looked grand.” A shadow of sorrow crossed his face, but quickly faded. He looked the part of an actor, I had to admit.
“Grand’s first words, I can never forget. He said: ‘son, you can become anything you want.’ No one had ever said those words to me, as simple as they sounded. Grand went ahead and spent the eight years we were together teaching me how. We built a father-son relationship that I had never known was possible. He loved me as his son. It was the excitement of who I was becoming that kept me sharp through what was to me a drudge medical school experience. I could have finished the best student, but I chose not to. I couldn’t allow Dad that joy. In a funny twist of fate, I lost my two fathers within months of each other. It was the year I became this.” He pointed to the Nightmare costume on the table.
“Now, Grand was not only a Theatre and African Arts Professor, he was a devout black arts practitioner. He was the best that ever walked the earth. He could do anything. There was day he was in class teaching his students and was in his office with me, and in Mary-Anne’s room. All at the same time. Mary-Anne and some of his students confirmed the timing with me. It was the only time he ever made a public display of his powers. He had another life he lived apart from academics. He helped people with his powers at a price.
Of all the knowledge he had, he taught me only one. He called it Soul Science. Processing new souls into more life for old souls. In effect, trading lives. I was shown the last stage of it the year he died. In the months leading to Grand’s death, he told me he would die. I thought he should be able to elongate his own life, but he told me, it was the price he paid for the knowledge and powers he possessed.
He said he wouldn’t want his most profitable empire to collapse after his death, so he created me. He said one day, I would be tired of the life and I would want to live normal, so he made a legend for me. And then, this costume. The story I told you of Ebola Zaire virus and everything. Yeah. That’s it. Grand was my benefactor. The story and the fact that I would be succeeding him made me awesome to all the staff in this facility and the high-end clientele we service. It also gave me anonymity. Grand honed my acting talents that it was no problem living this life. With the exception of Mary-Anne and Ken here – “ he pointed to Swarthy, “ – nobody else knows what I am. They trust and fear the wisdom and powers of Grand.”
My mind was processing the story he was telling. Was I looking for something amiss? His tale sounded out-of-this-world to me.
“Before he died, he gave his blessings to me to marry his only child, Mary-Anne. Baby, come over here.” She did and he kissed her, looking at me as he did so. My expression must have looked very, very terrible because they seemed to shudder. Tango let her go and laughed uneasily. He obviously knew my thought towards him.
“Well, let me move on to more interesting parts of this story. When Grand died, four years ago, I took over this facility. This is where he cultured babies and used their souls to produce more life for his rich clients. This is the most profitable business on earth. You won’t believe how much those spoilt, rich people would pay to live five more miserable years. How about 450million naira? Overhead cost is what you need to pay the people that keep supplying the girls and women and we have never run out of supply of men to get them pregnant. For security, our Chief Security Officer, Ken, recruits soulless ex-convicts. Our location is where no one can ever find.
Clients, clinical and security staff, the girls and the men are always blindfolded before coming and when leaving. Except for the clients and staff, nobody gets to leave here. I come here and leave here at night when I have to. Ken keeps this place running. He has been doing that since Grand’s days. This facility is one long, windowless unit and the architecture is camouflaged to look like the surrounding landscape.
Google Earth can’t see us. In effect, we do not exist. I have checked that myself. The clients keep referring others to this place and those ones keep coming. Grand obviously has an enduring reputation. It works. Those that had terminal illnesses like cancer have lived more years than their doctors gave them and their cancers are gone. Nirvana does that. His soul heals and gives life. Oh, I’m rushing ahead of myself in this story.” He paused to take a deep breath and continued.
“Okay, to the part where you come into the picture. First, you must know I have made a fortune from this life. In billions. In the normal, everyday life, I am only an Obstetrics surgeon that earns a decent living. It had always been a source of worry to me how I would ever live as a billionaire without the world coming down on me on how I got it. Then, you came along. God bless you, brother. I have always wondered why Dad’s will had never been revealed to us since the four years that he died. Have you? The Lawyer told us that it was Dad’s express wish that until both of us become of age, which he expressly stated as 30 years that the will be revealed to us.
Then, I was dead curious to know what the will was and what was in it for me. I simply paid the Lawyer’s secretary some amount that was way too much to refuse and she got a copy of it for me. I was naturally mad when I saw it and I began to really hate you. Why did you have to get the best of life? He willed his stock options in an oil exploration company he was a ‘sleeping’ Partner in to you. He had held the stock for thirteen years. Imagine, he really loved you. When I got the information, it was just over a billion naira. The company recently acquired another exploration company and its stock value tripled. Do the mathematics.” He paused to allow me ‘do the mathematics.’
“I got the house he built in Lagos. It’s valued at sixty million naira. Imagine that. Lesotho got the one in our hometown. Mom got the one she lives in, in Ibadan. I still fared better than them, right? It was when I was discussing how unfair Dad was with Mary-Anne four years ago that she came up with a bright idea. It was spot-on. I love you dear.” He said in Mary-Anne’s direction. She had returned to her post behind the swivel chair.
“It was simple. Steal your life, Chad. As my relationship with her and my life was kept a secret from anyone that knows me, it was easy for her to slip into your life. She made certain she got to know you on the day we had Dad’s first year remembrance. As luck would have it, you were single. To make everything smooth and totally cement her deep-cover status, I found me a new girlfriend, Omobolanle.
Over the past three years, you Chad, showed her everything about your life. You told her about your past, your fears, your present, your challenges, your aspirations, as all good lovers do. I gave her all the information she needed about you. She put the knowledge to good use and wormed her way into your heart. You trusted and loved her with your life. Just the way I wanted it. The things I didn’t know about your life, you told her. Now, I have a more complete knowledge of what it would take to live as you successfully.
It was the day you told her about the prank I played on you when you were in the university in Ibadan, and you confided in her about how much you would love to pay me back at the best moment that I began planning everything that happened to you on Friday, your birthday and Saturday, mine. I added a hypnotizing substance to your champagne cup before giving it to you. I made you drive my car and made sure my ward-coat and stethoscope dangled in full view always. I made Mary-Anne make you announce your intention of getting married that night. Afterwards, I made you watch Omobolanle and I dance like crazy lovebirds.
While you sat with Mary-Anne at that booth looking at us dance, she was suggesting to your hypnotized mind and telling you what you should do. It was too easy. Easier than I thought. You did what we wired you to do, and the rest is history, as they say. Except the part where I needed the staff to see you and I together because only I could perform the special caesarean section and there was no other way I could do it without the risk of losing my anonymity. See, I got to kill twin birds with one Mary-Anne.” He seemed to ponder on what he wanted to say next for what seemed like a minute, during which time I was shaking my head in complete awe at the couple’s treachery.
“Now, this is how things go from here,” he continued, “not that you have a right to know. Let’s just say I have nothing to lose. After you were abducted, the car was driven away by one of my boys to a safe location. I went in another car, completely identical with that one. It had the real number plates. I had changed the one you drove out to carry out Mary-Anne’s suggestions. I went to the hospital as me to inform them I had an emergency in Ibadan. That my mother was terribly ill and she needed me. I said I won’t be back till this weekend. My superiors sympathized with my acting and gave me the nod to go but I must be back by Thursday, day after tomorrow.
I had no choice. Now, this is what would happen. On my way coming back from Ibadan on Wednesday, I would have an accident and I would die in it. My fiancée, Omobolanle, would be in the car with me and she would die also. My brother would be heartbroken. Well, he is my next-of-kin. So, he gets to own whatever my inheritance is. He would also be wondering what I went to do in Ibadan since mother is not in Nigeria. That would remain a mystery he would always wonder about. The only other person that could have known was my fiancée, and she went with me, and died, too.”
“So, Dr. Tango, I get to live the life I have always wanted. Since it will be on record that I, Chad, inherited my father’s multibillion-naira stocks, I get to spend my fortune. I get to stop living this dark life and walk away into thin air with no trace. Ken has been drilled for years on how to destroy this whole facility and the people in it when the need arises. The time for that will be after the next dinner with the clients. By the New Moon. I need to sell this Nirvana soul I just delivered. It’s blood money, my brother. It is big. As a comic relief, a granite sculpture of this monstrous version of me would be found a few kilometers from here under the sun. So, it would be that I was destroyed by the sun.
My legend mustn’t die with the others. On the one side, nobody would ever know who I really am and on the other side, I get to live rich. Of course, I will resign from your workplace. Who needs the stipend they pay? With all the skills and knowledge about you that I have at my disposal, I am sure I will get by around anyone, including mom and Lesotho, as you. That’s on the few occasions we will get to see, I am going round the world. Living wild and free with Mary-Anne.” He seemed to have finished his narration for he went back to take his seat. Mary-Anne was directly behind him.
Tango/Chad stared at me. A look of victory was on his face. I remembered where I first saw the look that was on his face earlier. It was in the dream I had on my first night here. If not that I was in that room with them and in that accursed facility, there was no way I would have believed that story if I was told. So, where is Omobolanle?
As though aware of my thoughts, Ken/Swarthy went out of the room and came back in less than five minutes with Omobolanle in tow. She took the seat beside me. Her hair was disheveled. She looked terrible. There were bruises and cuts on her face like she had been beaten. A part of my heart went out to her. I wasn’t sure if she knew the fate that awaited her.
“You never stood a chance, Dr. Tango. Never.”
He stood up to leave the office. Mary-Anne’s gaze was on me as she followed him. I smiled at her.
At the door, my brother turned to look at me and give me his parting words. It wasn’t what I expected. It was an appreciation. And a mention of my name, for what obviously was the last time.
“Thanks for being my escape, Chad Ilevbare.”
I gave him the same smile I gave Mary-Anne. They’d never know, would they?
The door closed. We were left with Ken. My ear caught the ominous sound of something moving very fast, something very heavy. And for the second time in four days, a powerful blow hit me on my temple and the world darkened.
But I held on to consciousness.