John came with his family to welcome me back from a diplomatic assignment that took me abroad for about two years.
He had packed into his house in my neighborhood shortly before I traveled and both in my presence and absence, he proved to be a brother and not just a friend.
As I was walking them through the doorway after spending a little time with us, he whispered to me that he would be hosting me for dinner in a hotel the following day.
"Wow. Aren't you tired? You have done a lot in my absence for my family. Don't bother yourself spending money again for my course."
"You deserve more than whatever I am doing. You can invite a few of your friends to join us by 6 pm tomorrow." He responded.
I informed my wife of the proposed dinner by John and she gave her approval.
"Try to be safe. Don't forget to get us some packages while coming back." She requested.
Feeling tired and dizzy, I dashed into the bathroom to cool down my system. I finished in minutes and went straight to bed.
I had the following day off from work in order to rest from the stress of the trip.
I got prepared for the dinner in my jeans and t-shirt with a matching snicker.
"Wow, you are really ready for the party. You remind me of our good old days. You look smart." My wife who met me tying my shoelaces brought the genesis of our marital journey back to memory.
"I will still come back to my old self. The appearance you fell in love with." I responded as we both laughed while I stood up to perfect my dressing in front of a standing mirror.
"I am your best mirror, common !!!"
"Oooh, pardon me baby. Here I am. Access me."
After standing in front of her for a few seconds, he commended my dress sense and hugged me.
"That's my love. You are indeed the best of mirrors for me. I need to go dear." I checked out for my key and I left the house.
I was approaching the hotel when a call came from Fred, my University mate whom I had invited to join me for the event.
"I am at the front of Billy Hotels, are you inside?" He asked.
"I will be with you in 10 minutes."
I met Fred standing by his car outside the hotel. We drove in immediately and checked into the hotel room reserved for me earlier by John. I was to receive guests there before being invited specially for the dinner that was to take place at the hotel bar.
"How was your trip? See how you became chubby in two years." I guess you had the best experience over there.
I was dropping the glass of water in my hand to respond to Fred when I got a message from John that he was in the premises.
"Fred, I have a lot of good experiences to share. My very good neighbor is around, let's usher him in, then we will have the whole time for us to chat."
We walked through the passage and as we stepped through the doorway, we met John who was coming to meet me at my room.
"Meet my very good neighbor, John." I introduced John to Fred.
Fred's hand was cold as he shook John. "Nice meeting you, he remarked as his eyeballs scanned John multiples times from head till toes."
"Excuse me, Joe." Fred held my hands and moved some steps aside.
"Who is this man to you?" He asked.
"John is like a brother. He is a philanthropist, a humanist and many more."
"Wow, where does he work?" He asked
"What's the problem? I don't understand these questions." I expressed my confusion.
"Where does he work?" He repeated the question.
"John is a clearing and forwarding agent."
"Wow, that's what he told you. No problem, let's go, we will be discussing the rest later."
I was in a state of confusion when I got a message on my phone from Fred requesting that we complete the remaining conversation on WhatsApp.
I opened my WhatsApp messenger immediately and met a bombshell.
"Your neighbor is a notorious armed robber."
I raised my head from my phone screen to look at Fred. He smiled as he stood up to order drinks from the bar man.
"What do you mean?" I demanded for clarification.
He dropped a picture of John with three others where they were declared wanted by the police. He followed the picture with an article about the crimes that they committed.
I spent another few minutes reading the article and it was in it that I realized that John is an alleged car snatcher at gunpoint. Many cases were listed there for which he had participated.
Throughout this point, Fred was busy bringing one topic of discussion or the other to keep the sitting lifely and to conceal what was happening through our chatting from John. He was doing this effortlessly as a secret police.
I wasn't finding it easy to comprehend what was playing out. I lost interest in taking any drink. In fact, I couldn't hide my uneasiness.
"Are you okay?" John asked me.
"I am fine. Don't mind me. I need to pass information to someone but the phone number isn't connected." I tried to fake my mood for John.
"I need to invite my backup team to effect this arrest now." Fred dropped the concluding message.
"Please hold on Fred." I pleaded.
I don't condone crime but the circumstances surrounding that revelation at that particular time left me confused. The allegations were damning but I had wished he wasn't arrested at that point because he was there for my course.
I excused myself from there to consult my wife.
"Dear, there is a problem." I told her via phone call.
"I am right at the gate of the hotel. Come outside so that we talk." My wife replied to me.
I rushed to the gate and met her with our three children.
"You didn't tell me that you would be coming. What's happening?"
She responded by explaining to me how John planned the party with her and decided to keep it secret from me. She was to show up unexpectedly with the children to add colors to the dinner.
"Dear, there is a problem now. My friend working with the State Security Services who joined us for the party has some damning revelations about John."
I dragged her closer and showed her the details on my phone.
"Car snatcher!!!" My wife shouted in surprise.
"Stop that, must you shout it out?"
"What should I do now?" I sought her advice.
"Well, we haven't known uncle John beyond being a kind neighbor. I think it's good you allow your friend to invite his people to do his job. Car snatching at gunpoint isn't a crime to overlook at all. Your reputation is at stake if you end up preventing Fred from effecting an arrest. Let him call his backup team." She advised.
"How will he come to arrest just him without thinking that I set him up? Dear, did you think of this?"
"I don't think you have any business with feeling guilty to set an alleged criminal up for arrest for him to face the consequences of his actions. Be it as it may, tell Fred to arrest all of us so that the innocent can later bail themselves out." She concluded.
I bought into the idea and I led her to the bar to meet my friends.
She took her seat with my kids and fish pepper soup was ordered for them.
I responded to Fred via WhatsApp for him to invite his team to effect the arrest. I also suggested to him that we all should be arrested.
Some minutes later, a secret police van drove in with armed personnel and we were all arrested.
John resisted arrest, to my surprise, till he was overpowered and handcuffed.
We were driven straight to their office where we wrote our statements.
John, on sighting his colleague that was earlier arrested, confessed to all the crimes he was accused of committing. He exonerated my family and I in his confessional statements.
We were released to go home a few hours later and Fred, who is the head of the unit, mobilized some of his men to escort us.
"Your dinner served perfectly as an instrument of justice." Fred stated before we parted ways.
The criminals would have their days in the Court according to the police.