I remember receiving an unexpected call from my elder sister a few minutes after I said goodbye to her for work.
It was unusual for her to call me just a few minutes after I left the house. So I was eager to hear what she had to say. Immediately, I picked up and I could feel the uneasiness in her voice as she was saying, " you have to come back home right away there are some local police here because of you" I was like what business do I have with local police? She told me to just turn back and start coming and that she will explain everything once I reach where she was. Besides, I should just stop by the station.
The station was not far from our house. It was just a few streets away.
On getting there, some officials that spoke to me asked if I knew who Grace is and I told them yes, that she is my friend. He proceed to ask, "when was the last time I saw her?" I told them yesterday. All this while I was still very surprised and had no clue what was happening.
The officers continue to ask me where is Grace now, and I was like she should be at her working place as that was where I left her after checking on her yesterday.
He said, Grace ran away and as her only friend in this town she must her told you where she was going. I just opened my mouth and words were not coming out. As it was down on me that she wasn't telling me her whole plan when we met last night.
The only thing she mentioned was that she is tired of her working place and needs to leave. She never said when and where. She was a bartender and according to her, the boss wasn't treating her well so she needed to leave. That was all we talked about her leaving before a customer interrupted our discussion. And we never talked about that again that night.
Grace was my friend for four years. We met in my third year in secondary school when she was transferred to join my class and we became very close ever since. Unlike other of my mates, she is from my tribe so we speak the same language. Aside from this, she is way mature more and older than I was, and most time I kind of look up to her because she has more experiences in life than I do. Our relationship was like an elder sister to a younger sister.
After our graduation, I got my first ever job, as a cashier in a photo lab in a nearby town where my elder sister lives. Then one day her call came through telling me she had gotten a bartender job in the same town. Some Sundays I will join her at the bar toward the evening. As she was the only friend I had in the town. My work was very demanding and so was hers. We both can only meet on Sunday when she has fewer customers.
Back at the station, I narrated to the officials and her boss what she told me the previous night. But they never believed a word I said. Her boss was hell-bent on finding a scapegoat and I just happened to be in that position for her to hold responsible for my friend leaving without informing her.
The most astonishing thing was her boss' sister who came forward as a witness against me. She told the officials that I was lying as she saw me helping Grace carry her luggage to my house the previous night. And all my sister's efforts to debunk her lies have proven abortive. Her boss was very rich and well-connected, from the looks of things she already had her way with the police. So, nothing I said that they will listen to.
I asked her boss if Grace had stolen any money and she said no, then why was she troubling herself this much? She told us that what if something happens to her and her family came looking and she could not produce her?
Thought her reason was valid but why lie on my head just to prove her point? So I thought to myself.
I told them how far my relationship with Grace goes. Her family house was a few hour's drive and I could tell them where they lives. All this while my attempt to reach Grace was not successful. As she was not picking up my calls, none replied to my messages. I reached out to her two brothers and I was told they knew where she went and that she is fine but her boss and the officials won't let me go not until they visited her parents in the next town and they were told not to worry about their daughter that she is fine where she is.
Before they could come back to the station it was around 7 pm and my sister and I was told that the official in charge of my case has left, I will have to stay at the station till the following morning until I will be able to process my bail.
That was how I spent the night at the station and my sister stayed with me all through.
Another thing that surprised me was upon all the text messages I sent to my friend and his two brothers about my plight, she never called back or reached out to me until about a year later.
She called me one day and started apologizing for her behavior toward the situation. Really? I forgave her but never let myself close to her ever since. If she had been a true friend she could have simply called her boss, and told her that she was alright so that I could be free. After all, she wasn't accused of anything other than not informing her boss about leaving but she chose to think only of herself. If the table should turn, I will never leave her hanging like that.