Episode 1: The Drive to UNEC
The day I bought my Lexus RX 350, I felt like life was finally beginning to cooperate with me.
It wasn’t brand new, but to me it might as well have been fresh from the factory. The leather seats still had that soft smell, the engine purred like a satisfied cat, and the dashboard lights glowed like something from a movie.
I had worked three years after NYSC to afford that car. Long nights trading forex and coins, saving every profit. I had returned to my town in Nsukka in order to focus and save instead of living in any expensive city.
But honestly, the car itself was not the real excitement that Friday afternoon.
Adaeze was.
Adaeze was my girlfriend studying Mass Communication at UNEC—University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
She had called me earlier that week.
“Chinedu, when are you coming to see me again?” she asked.
“Soon,” I said.
“You always say soon.”
I smiled.
“Okay, I’ll come Friday.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She paused.
“Come and pick me. Let’s go to your house this weekend.”
“Deal.”
She didn’t know about the Lexus yet. I wanted it to be a surprise.
The Road to Enugu
I left Nsukka around 2:30 pm.
The road was calm. Harmattan dust floated lazily across the asphalt.
Driving the Lexus felt unreal. Every time I pressed the accelerator, the car moved smoothly like it was floating.
At one point I laughed alone in the car.
“Chinedu, your life is changing.”
I imagined Adaeze’s reaction.
She would scream.
Maybe even hug me too tight.
I reached Enugu around 4 pm.
The campus gate was busy as usual
I parked near her hostel and called her.
“Where are you?”
“Hostel,” she said.
“Come outside.”
“Why?”
“Just come.”
Five minutes later I saw her walking out.
White top.
Blue jeans.
Her hair tied in a loose bun.
The moment she saw the Lexus, she stopped walking.
Then she covered her mouth.
“Chi… Chinedu… is that… your car?”
I leaned out of the window.
“Yes, madam.”
She ran toward me.
“YOU BOUGHT A LEXUS???”
Students nearby started looking at us.
She opened the passenger door and entered the car.
“God! The inside is even finer!”
She touched the dashboard.
“Leather seats? Are you serious?”
I laughed.
“Relax. It’s just a car.”
She turned and looked at me.
“You worked hard for this.”
Then she kissed my cheek softly.
“I’m proud of you.”
Those words meant more than the car.
Leaving UNEC
We left campus around 5:15 pm.
Traffic was heavy around Ogui Road, but once we joined the Enugu–Nsukka road, the movement became smoother.
Adaeze connected her phone to the car.
Afrobeats filled the cabin.
She leaned back comfortably.
“This car is sweet o.”
“Of course.”
“Next thing now you will go and marry another girl.”
I laughed.
“You are the only problem in my life.”
She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder for a moment.
The evening sun painted the road orange.
Everything felt peaceful.
Too peaceful.
The First Sign
After Ugwuogo Nike, I noticed something strange.
A Toyota Sienna was parked slightly off the road.
The bonnet was open.
Two men stood beside it.
Another man waved his hand at passing cars.
At first I thought they needed help.
Adaeze even said,
“Maybe their car broke down.”
But something inside me felt wrong.
The man waving us down didn’t look desperate.
He looked watchful.
Like someone waiting.
As we zoomed past, another thing caught my eye, almost after a kilometer.
Two men on black manning a checkpoint with a Sienna parked across the road.
They appeared like policemen on duty.
But enough to trigger my instincts.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Chinedu?” Adaeze asked.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you slowing down?
The Trap
As we got closer, the man in the road stepped forward.
Blocking my lane.
Then suddenly…
Two more men appeared from the bush waving their guns. I instantly knew they weren’t policemen.
My heart exploded inside my chest.
“Jesus…” Adaeze whispered.
The first man blocking us at the check point shouted.
“STOP THE CAR!”
Everything in my head started racing.
If I stopped…
We were finished..
Adaeze grabbed my arm.
“Chinedu…”
Her voice was shaking.
“Please stop… please stop…”
I looked at her.
Then I looked at the guns.
Then something in me snapped.
I slammed my foot on the accelerator.
The Lexus roared forward.
And he pulled the trigger.
