TAITAI STORIES – PART 7 I didn’t think. The dark passage behind us hissed again, sucking in cold air. If I stayed, that gun would go off. If I ran with Adebayo, I’d be running with a liar. Mama’s crying face was still burned into the laptop screen. “Don’t trust Adebayo.” But her voice was shaky. Like she’d been forced to say it. I looked at Adebayo. His hands were still up, but his eyes weren’t on the masked men. They were on me. “Trust me,” he said again. Quiet. Desperate. “Move!” The tallest masked man shouted, raising his AK-47. That was enough. I grabbed Adebayo’s wrist and ran. The passage swallowed us whole. Behind us, gunfire cracked. Splinters exploded from the wall where we’d been standing. We ran blind, the laptop clutched to my chest, Adebayo pulling me forward. My lungs burned. My legs shook. “Where are we going?” I gasped. “To the truth,” he said. The tunnel sloped downward. The air smelled like old metal and damp concrete. Somewhere ahead, I heard water dripping. “You lied about my mother,” I said between breaths. “You lied about everything.” “I know.” His voice was rough. “But I never lied about keeping you alive.” The tunnel ended at a steel door. No handle. Just a keypad with a red light blinking. Adebayo let go of me and typed in a code fast. 1-9-7-4. The light turned green. The door clicked open. Inside was a small room. No windows. Just a table, two chairs, and a second laptop. On the wall, a single photo. It was Adebayo. Younger. Standing next to a boy who looked exactly like him. Same eyes. Same scar on the eyebrow. “My brother,” Adebayo said. “Femi.” The laptop on the table beeped. The screen turned on by itself. And there he was. Femi. Live. Sitting in the same room where Mama was tied up. He smiled at the camera. Not a kind smile. “Hello, sister,” he said, looking straight at me. “Surprised?” My knees nearly gave out. Sister? The room tilted. Adebayo stepped between me and the screen. “Don’t listen to him, Tola. He’s been lying to both of us for years.” Femi laughed on the screen. “Then tell her why Dad left you the company and not me. Tell her why you let me take the fall for it.” Adebayo’s jaw clenched. Outside the door, footsteps echoed. The masked men were close. Femi leaned forward, his voice dropping low. “You have ten seconds before I put a bullet in Mama’s knee. Unless you give me the laptop with the files.” He looked at me. “Your choice, Tolani. Me… or him.” The door behind us started to shake. TO BE CONTINUED…
