The Shady Neighbour

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The thick smell of rain against the earth filled the air. The heavens still had clear intentions to send down heavy showers. The chilly night breeze from Amara's open window was becoming unbearable for her.

Under the big blue duvet, Amara was cuddled up in bed. She got up and walked over to the window to slide it shut. Her eyes caught movements from the dimly lit apartment opposite hers. It was Mr Udo's apartment. The handsome but shady-looking neighbour with dreadlocks the size of a Jamaican reggae singer.

Over six months, Amara had lived in that apartment; never had she seen Mr. Udo interact with anyone from the neighbourhood. He never smiled nor waved at anyone. Severally, at night, she tried to get him into a conversation when they crossed paths in the hallway, but Mr Udo would quickly brush past her with his two big body bags, either dragging them along or slung over his shoulders. And he would only return in the morning without the bags.

Amara had always wondered what was inside those body bags. Her curiosity was piqued when, one of the nights, she had watched Mr Udo step out of his apartment with a bag slung over his shoulders. This time, there was a red liquid dripping out of the bag, which Amara believed to be something else.

One time, she had talked to her friend, Miriam, about her belief that Mr Udo was in a shady business, narrating the night he had the bag with a red stain on it. But her friend had told her it might be a paint stain dripping from the bag. But Amara was sure of what she saw and didn't want to believe it to be a paint stain.

“Come on Miriam, who carries a heavy bag like that almost every night?” unable to shake off the unease that settled in her bones.

"Anybody can be into a business that requires carrying bags?" Miriam replied from the kitchen where she was turning eba (cassava flakes) "Come on girl, you're putting so much thought into this. Mind your business"

But Amara couldn't mind her business.

Just as she stood at that window that night, watching Mr Udo step out of his apartment to his car, where he pulled out another heavy bag from his car trunk. Her imagination began to run wild again. She tried so much to convince herself that Miriam was right and that she should mind her business, but at that point, she couldn't.

She needed to know what was in those bags.

She quickly threw her jacket on and stepped out of her room. She was going to accidentally bump into him and ask to help him since he appeared to be struggling with the bags. Just at the stairs, she found him dragging his bags that felt heavier than what she saw from her apartment window and another that was covered with splatters of strong stains.

Faking to have missed a step, she bumped into Mr Udo

"Oh, I'm so sorry", she apologised, giving the best acting she had ever done in her life.

Mr Udo looked at her with dark but almost unreadable eyes. One would think at that moment, he was about to lash out at her. "It's fine", he answered and continued dragging the bag.

"Need a hand with those?" She asked, quickly bending over to grab the handle of the bag before he declined. The bag was cold. She tried peering inside the bag, but its content was wrapped with a thick fabric. Her bravery at that moment was above the charts.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, his voice low and gruff.

They got to Mr Udo's already open door, and he kicked it open with his legs. They staggered into his dark apartment grunting and breathing heavily.

"There", Mr Udo motioned to a rug, and gently placed the bag down on it. Then he'd walked over to a light switch and flipped it on to reveal a room filled with sculptures and paintings of different figures, animals, and some other toys mainly for kids.

"You.. you paint?" Amara asked with a wide mouth agape.

"Yeah. I uhm I'm in contract to make paintings for the new children’s hospital,”

"The one downtown?" Amara asked, realising that she must have been wrong.

"Yeah"

“Although the sculptures are mainly for those kids who don’t get to play outside. It's put in a particular room with an outdoor feel. Give them something to look at, something to imagine like they're outside.”

Amara felt herself washed over with guilt. She had spent weeks thinking Mr Udo was into something shady. Labelling him a monster but he wasn't. He was just a man diligent in his work.

"I got to head back," she gently said. Not knowing what to think or what to say anymore she decided it was time to head back to her apartment and brood over being wrong.

"Thanks for your help".