THE DOUBLE BLIND (FICTION)

 

It was a hellishly hot day. The weather was dry and lacked humidity. The little breeze that blew was uncomfortable and irritating.

      Ronald looked into the unforgiving sky as he wiped the sweat off his brow. He dropped the shovel he had just used in burying the last corpse. It seemed like everybody was dying in Lagos today.

      Ronald was an undertaker. His job was to bury the dead and, it was a job he loved. Today he had buried over eighty corpses, and it had been very difficult and tedious. He was glad when his shift was over and he could relax. He knew where to go for such.

      He left the cemetery and took a quick bus ride to his favorite bar. It was a local joint that served very cold beer and very hot pepper soup.

      He was on his second bottle when a handsome-looking young man joined the table. They got into a conversation about the merits and demerits of the national football coach, and very soon, they were talking like old friends.  Football was a subject that Ronald believed he was an expert on and, because of this, he spoke in a very opinionated voice.                They spoke at length about the state of the national football team and how the foreign coach was managing it. The argument was heated but good-natured. As the evening wore on, the young man who had identified himself as Mark decided to supply the table with more chilled bottles of beer.

      After a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable evening, Mark paid for all the drinks and invited Ronald to his house for a party. Ronald was reluctant and explained that he had to be at work early the next day. Mark prevailed on him explaining that, that day was his birthday and his friends had called him when he had gone to the restroom. They were throwing an impromptu party for him at his house. They had arranged a lot of food and drinks.

      Ronald thought of the situation, but the idea of more free food and drinks persuaded him against his better judgment, so, he went home with Mark.

      Mark's house was somewhere in the suburbs, and it took some time to get there.

As they entered the tastefully furnished apartments, they were met by half-naked dancing girls and a lot of young men drinking and toasting the celebrant.

      It was obvious that the party had been going on for some time. Before Ronald knew what was happening a drink had been thrust into his hands and, a very delicious-looking lady had started dancing with him. She was young, sweet, and very interested in everything Ronald had to say. He was flattered, although he considered himself good-looking, this was the first time that a woman would be hitting on him so openly. 

      She told him that her name was Fiona and that she was a student at the local University. As they drank and danced the night away they became more intimate. The next thing Ronald knew was that they were on a bed in one of the bedrooms. Their clothes came off as if it was on fire and they coupled vigorously. The dance of love continued for hours. Positions were changed, variations were experimented with, forbidden practices we are indulged in.

       Fueled by hormones and alcohol they continued the dance of ecstasy for almost three hours.

      Suddenly, Ronald noticed that Fiona was no longer moving. He thought that maybe she had passed out from too much enjoyment. However, the way she lay still was a bit disconcerting. Then he took a closer look at her. He noticed the blank staring eyes and the slack mouth.

      Ronald's body went cold with dread and he lost his erection immediately. He got off the bed and shook the girl vigorously. There was no response.

      Ronald had seen enough dead bodies to know that Fiona was dead. His blood ran cold! What had happened. He was confused and he did not understand exactly what was going on. His mind ran in confused circles. Panic set in! 

      He thought of putting on his clothes and sneaking out of the party. Then he looked at the girl again and wondered if she could be helped. He knelt beside the bed and took a good look at her. After a close examination, it was obvious that she was beyond any help. She had less life in her than a piece of stone.

      He decided that the best thing he could do was sneak out of the party. After all, he had just met Mark for the first time and, it was doubtful that he would be able to trace him. All he had to do was avoid going to the bar where they had met and he would be safe. As this thought passed through his mind, he felt a tinge of guilt. He knew that he would be putting Mark in a very, very bad situation and, he knew that Mark would suffer needlessly for something he knew absolutely nothing about.

       He quickly banished this feeling from his mind. This was a time for self-preservation, not weak-minded emotionalism.

      He quickly put on his clothes and as he was about to turn around and leave the room, the door opened. Mark, two other boys with three other girls staggered into the room.

      They immediately noticed the girl on the bed and saw that something was wrong.

They tried to revive the girl but to no avail, it was obvious that she was dead.  

      One of the boys in the room claimed to be friends with Fiona and immediately attacked Ronald, accusing him of murdering her. A scuffle ensued and the others broke it up.  

      Charles, Fiona’s friend, accused Ronald of having sex with Fiona and then murdering her in cold blood. Ronald protested vehemently. He swore that all they had had was sex. Suddenly, he had noticed that she was no longer moving and when he examined her she was dead.

      Charles refused to believe his story claiming that what had happened to Fiona was a case of somebody who was twisted in the mind, having sex with a young, beautiful woman and then murdering her. The others supported Charles and insisted that the police had to be called. Ronald was to be handed over to the police.

      Ronald begged vehemently and swore that he was innocent. As all this was going on, Mark kept quiet and continued to watch the exchange. At this time, all the other guests at the party were now in the bedroom where Fiona was lay dead on the bed and, Ronald was trying to convince everybody that he was not the one that killed her. Some people believed him but, most did not. All in all, there were about nine people in that bedroom.

        Somebody said they could not just stand there and do nothing. They had to call the police. They could all be punished for a crime that had been committed by Ronald. 

      Roland begged and argued but, the voices of those who were insisting that the police should be called overrode the one or two people that were supporting him and asking for a solution to be found to the problem.

       Mark stood there as if he was a zombie, completely out of his wits. He did not know what to do. He was confused and, he was scared. Here he was with a dead girl in his room not knowing how this disaster had occurred. He knew that the justice system in the country was not only slow, but it was also cruel. He knew that once the police entered into the picture his life might as well be over. It was such a sad situation. Then someone made a suggestion. 

       First, it had become obvious that only Charles knew Fiona intimately. She had come to the party in his company.  Charles claimed to have met her casually, just as Ronald had met Mark casually at the bar. According to him, he had liked her looks and had decided to bring her to the party.

      With this revelation, people started thinking hard.  Somebody suggested that they should wrap the body of the dead girl in some sheets and wait till it's dark. Then they could dump it somewhere, and everybody would go their own way. Some argued against this, claiming that that was inhuman. It was, according to them, the most disrespectful thing to do to the dead.  People will be looking for her, and she probably has parents and loved ones who would be in agony for a long time. Others argued that they will be caught in the act. That these things always go down like that. That dumping a dead body anywhere in Lagos is one of the most dangerous and stupid things to do.

       The argument swung back to the idea that they should call the police, and let them take care of the matter. But others pointed out that once the police came in, all of them would not only be suspects, at the very least they will be accessories to murder. This line of thought chilled everybody to the marrow. 

      Suddenly, everybody was on the same page. The problem now is, how to dispose of the body. They argued at length. At the end of the day, somebody suggested that the best thing for them to do was to bury the body. The problem now was, where will they bury the body.    

      Suddenly, Ronald felt very, very calm. He told them that he knew a place where they could bury a body and there would be no questions asked. They all looked at him as if he had gone mad, and reminded him that he was the one that caused the problem. Charles called him an insensitive psychopath.

       It was at this stage that Ronald told everybody where he worked. He now proposed a plan of action. He said that all they needed was enough money to bribe the cemetery gatekeeper and the rest he would handle by himself. However, they had to wait till around midnight before they could make their move. 

        After a little argument, they all agreed to carry out the plan. However, they had to wait a little while for the night to come.

      At midnight, they wrapped the girl in a sheet and put her in the boot of a car. The others got into two other cars, while Ronald and Mark got in the car with the dead girl.       

      They drove straight to the cemetery without any incident. Ronald got out of the car, spoke to the gatekeeper and money exchanged hands. The gate was opened and the convoy of cars drove to the end of the cemetery. An area that was not yet developed.

      Ronald left them there, went to a shed, and came back with a pickaxe and shovel. He used the car's headlights for illumination and started digging an unauthorized grave. 

      The weather was still, and a weak moon shone down in a mournful glow. He dug the grave very quickly. He wasn’t bothered that the others refused to offer a helping hand, it was obvious that they believed that it was his mess and that he should do the tedious work alone. No problem, this was what he did for a living. The best thing was to do everything quickly and get over this unpleasant episode in his life. It was when he had finished digging that he realized that he had dug deeper than was necessary. Well, that’s better, since this was a nasty business anyway.

      The dead girl, still wrapped in sheets was brought out of the car and placed beside the grave. They all stood there looking at her in silence. Then, one of the girls suggested that they say a prayer for her before burying her. There was a little argument about this, then they all agreed.

      Charles agreed to officiate the impromptu rites and proceeded with the unhappy ceremony. Ronald on his part was beside himself with impatience. He just wanted to get on with this sad affair and see it end.

      With the prayers concluded, the bunch at the graveside instructed Ronald to put Fiona into it. Ronald simply rolled the corpse into the grave with his foot.

      The corpse landed at the bottom of the pit with a soft thud. Roland picked up his lamp to take a look at it then, he froze. He looked closer at the person in the grave, he knelt to take a very close look. To be sure that he was seeing what he was seeing; he shone the lamp steadily into the grave for some time, then he stood up.

        As he had rolled Fiona into the grave, the sheets over her face had fallen away. In the cold lights of the lamp and headlights, the face of the corpse in the grave was not Fiona’s!!! He turned around to look at his new friends and was met with stony stares all around. They all neither looked surprised nor alarmed. What is going on here?

      Roland was about to protest when felt a cold metallic object in his back. He knew without looking that it was a gun. Mark told him in a very cold voice that if he did not complete the job he had started, he would be shot and buried along with the unknown woman.

     Ronald knew that he didn’t have a choice, he was outnumbered and unarmed. He picked up the shovel and filled the grave with dirt, burying the unknown woman completely. It was after this that he was shown a mobile phone recording of him doing all the things he shouldn’t have done. He felt like a fish that had been caught on a hook. They had him.

      They all got into the cars and left the cemetery. They drove through the quiet Lagos night until they got to his residence. Roland was shocked to know that they knew where he lived. He was instructed to get down and then told in very clinical terms that he would be summoned any time he was needed. If he tried to make waves, a video of him burying a murdered woman would be sent to the authorities.

       As they drove off, an envelope was handed over to him. It contained a hundred thousand. He immediately felt the constraining bonds of criminal slavery.