_________
‘Are you done restoring my account?’ a voice sounded from behind. It sounded like Tara’s voice but the gruffness with which it sounded was strange to Henry.
‘Tara,’ he called softly as he turned back, instead of answering her question. ‘The deactivation wasn’t from here.’
‘Then where was it from?’ she sounded cold. Her slow footsteps could be heard loud in the silent evening.

‘I don’t know but I’m sure it’s from an external server,’ he replied.
‘What external server?’ she asked as she stopped behind him.

‘I’ve not located it yet and I can’t do that here, it can only be done at the NSCC office.’
She stared at him with a mean look, shaking her head in pity for him as she imagined punishing him like she would have done if it was someone else. She stepped away from the back of his chair and sat on the seat to the main control system. She took about twenty five minutes to confirm what he said about visiting the NSCC Headquarters to rectify the problem. ‘It was deactivated from an external server? I don’t believe that, someone could have changed the address of any server’ she said after confirming it as true. ‘But we have to reactivate it anyway, using your own account will be dangerous for me. I’m sure it’s unprotected.’

Henry kept his gaze on her face and allowed her words sink deeply one after the other.
She got up from the seat slowly while the system was shutting down. ‘I think you’ll be the best to visit the NSCC office and rectify the problem.’

‘How do you expect me to do that?’ Henry flashed a quick look at her, with a shock expression on his face.

‘I expect you use your thinking faculty to get in,’ she said, confidently taking in a short breath. ‘You’ll go there first thing tomorrow morning and I advise you to play no games, you’ll be signing your death warrant that way.’

_________
Stephanie needed not to ask Madam Henrietta why she had chosen for them to pass the night at an hotel when she had a duplex in the city. Madam Henrietta had mentioned before they left the hospital that she didn’t want any of her friends or family to know about her arrival into the country.

The hotel room was large with a large bed in it, specially designed for two. If not because a preorder had been made, Madam Henrietta would have requested for separate rooms for the both of them since they weren’t really on the same position about the situation. Both hadn’t mentioned a word after Madam Henrietta’s last in the car. They had carried the same ill and tensed atmosphere into the room with them.

‘You can take out your card,’ the receptionist said to the guest at the hotel reception.

Dave removed his debit card from the point of sale terminal machine and dipped it into his pocket. His phone vibrated in his the pocket at the left side of his trouser. He didn’t bother to check it, he knew it was the bank alert for the transaction he just made. He hissed as he thought about the money that was just deducted, that was fifty two thousand naira lost from his own personal account for a room he was very sure he had no need for. He could have requested for a receipt to provide as evidence so as to get a refund of money from the National Intelligence Service but he was sure he wasn’t going to spend the night there. He only hoped that he would find a way to get into the room Stephanie and her mum had taken. He had overheard madam Henrietta repeat the room number after the receptionist had assigned them.
‘Room 45,’ the receptionist said to him with a kind smile, handing him the access card to the room.

A young man dressed in the hotel attendant’s uniform appeared beside Dave. ‘Good evening sir,’ he greeted Dave with a kind smile as he took the bag Dave was carrying.
‘Room 45,’ the receptionist repeated to the young man.

Dave observed the young man’s body as he followed the lead. The man was about the same age or older than him, a little bit fatter than he was but Dave was sure he could still manage the man’s uniform if he were to snatch it. The only problem was the man’s height, it was way below average. Dave began to compare the dark blue jean trouser he was putting on to the black coloured trouser the man had on. His dark blue could still been mistaken for black if anyone does not placed a keen stare on it. He decided he was going to make use of the man’s shirt when they got to his room.
‘Do you have up to a hundred rooms in this hotel?’ Dave tried to strike a conversation with his helper after leveling up with him.
‘Yes, we should have about a hundred.’ the man replied with a welcoming smile.
‘So where are numbers 100 above located?’ Dave asked as they both entered a lift.


‘They should be from the seventh floor above,’ the man replied, greeting with a casual nod a young woman that entered into the lift with them.
‘What about 40 below?’
‘We have thirty five to fifty on the same floor we are headed for, the rest are on the lower floors.’

‘Oh! I see, I really do hope I enjoy your services tonight.’ Dave said with a smile. He had gotten the information he needed, Stephanie and her mum had been assigned room 37.

‘You sure would,’ the man replied with a kinder smile.
Twenty minutes later
Stephanie sat at the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall and lost in thoughts. Madam Henrietta had gone to use the bathroom after making several calls to different people, including the police officers and the doctor.

Stephanie did not want to hurt madam Henrietta after all the woman had done for her. She appreciated the woman’s kindness and honesty to her. Some other woman could have lied that her real mother was dead so as to move her mind completely off it but madam Henrietta was different, she didn’t only tell her about her mum but also allowed them meet. Madam Henrietta therefore did not deserve to get hurt by her. But even with everything, Stephanie couldn’t think of leaving Nigeria yet, especially not at this time when she thought her real mother needed her.

On the first day she had met her mother, there was really no connection between them. She had wished on that day there she didn’t even knew a real mother existed somewhere. Before they met, she had it in mind to accuse the woman who claimed to give birth to her of abandoning her for several years and not even making an attempt to reach out to her. But as it happened, she couldn’t when they met. They only stared at each other for few minutes without saying anything to themselves. Only after the third time of meeting, did they began to speak to each other. Since then, they had met only three more times in three years. The last meeting had been a memorable one for Stephanie. Her mother had spoken for so long with her, telling her of so many things of the past and also giving her counsel on how to thread carefully in life.

A knock sounded on the door of the hotel room and it distracted Stephanie from her thoughts. She stared towards the direction of the bathroom wondering if her mum, Madam Henrietta had called for anything.

‘Come in,’ Steph said. She crossed her legs and stared at the door inquisitively.
A uniformed man with a face cap walked in and closed the door. He bowed to greet at the entrance where he stood. ‘Room service, you called for us?’ he said without lifting his head.


Stephanie felt like laughing as the man looked awkward to her in his oversized shirt which was tucked into a skinny trouser. The expression on her face turned into surprise when the man raised his head up and took off the cap.

‘Stephanie, are you alone?’
‘No,’ she replied, nodding her head sideways, still in surprise of how Dave got there.

‘Who’s it?’ a voice rang out from the bathroom. Madam Henrietta was coming out already.

Dave quickly walked to where she was seated and dropped a paper on her lap. ‘Call me as soon as possible,’ he said and turned, hurrying back to the door.

‘Who’s that?’ Madam Henrietta stepped out of the bathroom just as Dave slammed the door. She stared at Stephanie’s face for a response.


‘A staff of the hotel, he came to the wrong room.’ she replied.


‘What nonsense!’ Madam Henrietta seemed pissed by the scenario. She walked to the landphone placed by the window side.
‘You don’t need to report mum, he apologized already.’ Stephanie said, knowing what her mum was about to do.
‘No, I have to. He could be a thief for all I care,’ she said as she raised the receiver to her ear. ‘Now, go ensure that the door is properly locked.’ she said to Stephanie while waiting for her call to be answered.
‘But we’re still waiting for dinner,’ Stephanie replied but Madam Henrietta was already expressing her rage to the receiver of the call.