Update 5

***

Peter and a few chosen other newcomers were being directed down a long dark and dirty corridor; the two dozen inmates were being herded like sheep towards the cell blocks by a warder and two armed guards, one leading and the other following behind, their weapons drawn and their fingers rested readily on their triggers. Peter was uneasy; one of the guards’ fingers might accidentally twitch and cause him to discharge. He knew the guards were not supposed to place their fingers on their triggers except they felt trouble looming. But so far so good, all the prisoners had been cooperative; the guards had no reason to maintain this kind of stance against them. What if they mistakenly shot their guns and an inmate got hit? Would they be held responsible? Peter doubted it; prisoners’ lives were taken with a grain of salt around here. If anyone got killed due to accidental discharge, then bad luck for the victim, obviously. Black wondered when someone would tell these animals how to handle their weapons right; whatever the case might be, Peter knew he wasn’t going to be the one to tell them.

To Peter’s surprise, they were marched into a large hall where some other wardens were waiting. As soon as they stepped into the hall, one of the wardens holding a baton stepped forward. He had a thin scar under his right eye. Peter would learn later that the warden was the most notorious of them all, and he got his scar about a year earlier when one of the inmates targeted his eyeballs with a small knife but missed. Everyone had thought an attempt on his life would make him soft towards the prisoners, but it seemed to make him more brutal. He had caused the untimely death of more prisoners in this prison than any other prison in the nation. Peter felt a qualm as soon as the man stepped forward to address them. even without knowing anything yet about the man, Peter knew the man represented trouble, and a gut feeling told him he would be entangled in the same web with this despicable human being – he loathed that thought.

“I am warden Kareem. I won’t tell you anything more about me. Some of you who have once been here before must know me so I’m not going to introduce myself any further. You’re fellow prisoners would tell you who I am. However, one thing you need to know is that nothing goes on in this prison without my awareness. I am the lead warden of this prison and I consider myself the second in command to the governor. If the governor retires today, or anything happens to him, you should know that I’m going to take charge after him.”

The last statement made Peter look up sharply at the man. Immediately, he became suspicious of the man. Something was obviously going on in this prison. The other prisoners might not read anything to the man’s statement, but he, Peter Black, knew when something was wrong. It was obvious to him that Warden Kareem wanted the job of the governor. He became more interested in knowing what kind of person this warden was.

“Now I want you all to line up in a straight line,” Kareem said.

The prisoners obeyed immediately. Peter Black was fifth in the line. The first prisoner was the same devious inmate Peter had spoken with moments ago; the same one who said this was not his first time in the prison. Without being instructed, he started taking off his clothes. Everyone watched him as he performed the ritual of taking off all his clothes and standing naked in front of everybody. He was smiling sheepishly.

“Warden Mike, give him his uniform,” Warden Kareem ordered and faced the prisoner. “As you already know, Bruno, the number at the back of your uniform is your prison number. Memorise it. You know the drills don’t you. That is what you will be called by. No one is interested in whatever name you bear in this prison. Well, I personally don’t give a hoot about who you may be. Just remember your number and respond whenever you are called by it. Now do you all understand?”

“Yes warden,” echoed the replies in the hall.

The man who the lead warden had called Bruno was given a pair of prison uniform. And also in the presence of everyone, he wore the clothes like someone going for a job interview. When he was done, he was told to step aside and another prisoner was asked to strip. Peter looked around at the rest of the prisoners, surely they couldn’t possibly like being treated this way. They were supposed to dress up privately, not in the presence of a million eyes looking at you as you UnCloth. All he could see in the prisoners’ faces were resignation, a few of them looked outraged but no one spoke anything but most of them were indifferent. The only person who seemed self conscious was the prisoner before him. Peter could see his reluctance to UnCloth before everyone. It was clear that this was the first prison experience for this young man, just like him.
When it was Peter’s turn, he stood in the middle of the hall, in front of the wardens, without taking off any of his clothes.

“We don’t have all day, Mr Peter Black,” Kareem said to Peter. Again, Peter was surprised that even this warden knew who he was. He started wondering if practically everyone recognised him; and that would not bode well for him if that was the case.

Still Black was reluctant to UnCloth before all the people. Both the inmates and the officers were observing him with impatience. After what seemed like forever and it Peter obviously wasn’t ready to strip, Warden Kareem approached him, his face creased into a frown.

“What’s wrong, Mr Black?” he asked, “Are you thinking of who to rob?” The other wardens burst into laughter. Obviously, they all knew who he was. Peter had no idea that he was this popular even in the prison community. It was as if the prison had prepared a table for his arrival.

“Can I have a private place for me to change, please?” Peter asked politely.

At first there was complete silence in the hall, like everyone was trying to process what he had just said, then there followed a sudden guffaw among the other wardens. One laughed so hard that he almost choked in his own laughter, with tears dripping from his eyes. Even the other inmates exchanged glances at how ridiculous his request sounded.

But Warden Kareem wasn’t laughing; instead, he was staring at Peter with interest. It was obvious that a thought was running through his mind. After a while he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay.”

The other wardens stared at Kareem in disbelief. Even the inmates regarded him with disapproval. Though they didn’t speak – since they were not allowed to – Peter could feel their displeasure. Surely, they must be thinking that it was unfair that Peter would be treated separately from the rest of them.

“Warden Mike, kindly pass me Peter Black’s uniform,” Kareem said.

“Why can’t he dress up here?” Mike demanded.

“That’s none of your business, Mike. Do what I told you!” Kareem growled.

Even Peter himself failed to understand what was going on here. As a matter of fact, he never thought his request would be granted, at least not by the hideous-looking warden Kareem, of all people. But the man was agreeing to his request. Peter didn’t know how to process this in his head. By the time the warden collected the uniform and led him out of the hall, Peter begun to feel that his request was a grave mistake. He suddenly remembered how the guards had beaten up a prisoner to stupor and carried him away from the rest of the inmates. As Peter followed Kareem, his legs felt heavy; he felt like a ram being led to the slaughter. He wondered if he would return in one piece – or if he would ever return.

“We’re almost there,” Kareem said as he led him past series of corridors and hallways. After about five minutes, the warden opened the door to an office and ushered Peter in. “This is my private office,” he told Peter.

Black stepped in warily. The office was a well furnished one, and things were neatly arranged. A vase that bred flower stood close to the window, and a coat hanged on the wall behind the chair that sat behind the desk that accommodated a typewriter. Peter looked to his left and found another door. Warden Kareem handed him his uniform and pointed him towards the door.

“Go through that door and change,” he told Black.

Peter collected the prison clothes, bowed and stepped through the door. This one was like a personal room. He wondered if Kareem practically lived in the prison or he worked on shifts. He dressed up as quickly as possible and returned to the office. Warden Kareem was waiting for him. He found the man leaning against the desk with arms folded. He was smiling broadly at Peter.

“IPS-6291,” the man said.

“Huh?”

The man chuckled. “That’s your prison number. It’s printed at the back of your uniform. Well, it’s a temporary number though. Another one might be given to you. When that time come, you will have to give up this uniform.”

Peter didn’t know what reply to give to that, so he remained silent. He continued wondering why the man was being nice to him; Peter could bet that the man had no nice blood in him; there must be a catch somewhere. He was still pondering on that when the man suddenly approached him. Peter, thinking it was time for the inevitable, steeled himself for an attack. Surely, he would be used as the second scapegoat for today.

But to his utter befuddlement, the man didn’t attack him. Instead, the man reached into his pocket and extracted a sum of money. He handed the money to Peter.

“This is five thousand naira,” he said as he stretched it out to Peter. “Keep it, it’s yours.”

Peter stepped back and stared suspiciously at the man. “Why are you giving me money?” he asked. This was the last thing Peter expected.

“It’s your money,” replied Warden Kareem. “I was told to give it to you. I swear, I was told to give you five thousand naira. I didn’t take anything out.”

Black was finding everything hard to believe.

“What’s going on here? I don’t understand. Were you already expecting me before? Who told you to give me the money? Nothing makes sense to me.”

Warden Kareem sighed and said, “I’m sorry I can’t tell you who told me to give this money to you. The person wants to remain anonymous for an obvious reason.”

Peter was confused. Even though the warden would not say, Peter suspected who the person might be. The only person who could send him money in prison was only one person in the world who knew the exact prison he was being taken to – the same person who told the governor about his plan to escape. It was his arch-enemy: Officer John Balewa – Basket.

Kaycee9242:
Thanks for the update larry u are always a legend. But considering the period this event took place don't u think that 5k was too much to be handed over to Peter just like that?

Doubra12:
I don't think officer JB did that,I think that anonymous group that killed that Italian guy did it.
More ink to your pen Larry

LarrySun:
Not really. That was 1995/96. Still considerable.

Brightdboy01:
Is like under cover agent is working for him which he is not aware of it.

Rick9:
We are waiting.
.

LarrySun:
I'm sorry. My laptop charger got burnt yesterday. I just got another one today.

Inkopere:
I don't think the money is from JB