The Chief Constable was in his office with his daughter, both silent. They were impatiently waiting for Wisdom's arrival. He looked at the wall clock and sighed. "It's past 9 and your partner isn't here", she shook his head, complaining to Careen.
     A knock was heard almost immediately at the door. "Come in!", he responded. The door was opened and it was Wisdom who rolled up. "Speaking of the devil", he stared at Wisdom.
     Wisdom turned back in wonder. "Where's the devil please?", he asked Mr Eddie.
     "You're the devil", Mr Eddie replied vaguely.
     "How am I the devil Sir?", he became confused, having his seat.
     Ignoring his question, Mr Eddie inquired;"Why did you roll up late?"
     "I was clearing and washing the pot", he replied straight away.
     "How? Why should that make you arrive late?", Mr Eddie asked, shocked by his response.
     "The food in the pot was extremely burnt up. It wasn't easy for me to wash it", he squeezed his face to express difficulty.
     "How did it get burnt?", Mr Eddie became very curious this time.
     "I left food on fire and slept off", he answered casually.
     "Oh!", the officer exclaimed in amazement.
     "Daddy! What did you summon us for?", Careen decided to end their gist abruptly.
     "Yes!", her Dad remembered, "We got a complaint", he informed them. He got up and dressed down the big green button on the wall. A large screen hanged down from the ceiling. It displayed to them the map of Lagos, Nigeria.
     "Show me the Heavens Gate Hotel", he instructed the computer and it did so.
     "What's going on in Heavens Gate?", his daughter asked.
     "By past 8 this morning, we had an emergency call. The unknown caller reported the chargé d'affaires of Nigeria to Botswana is lodging in at Heavens Gate for an illegal business. The person claimed to be a friend of his and he said the chargé d'affaires didn't just come for the forthcoming celebration to be held at the hotel, he's been accused of lodging in there for an illegal drug business. He added that the official is in partnership with the Manager of Heavens Gate", he narrated.
     "Oooh!", Wisdom reacted, "That's a really big accusation."
     "How sure was he?", Careen questioned.
     "He claimed he was told by the official himself", her Dad replied, "He said he's revealing this to us because his son was once a victim and he's still very much aware of what his son passed through to recover from such situation. To insist he was telling the truth, he vehemently claimed he was a very close friend to the official...in the inner circle."
     "But how are we going to find out? How are we going to gather evidence and turn him in?", asked Wisdom, stroking his chin to think.
     "That's no problem. I know a way to get the both of you into the hotel premises", Careen's Dad took his seat. "The Manager of Heavens Gate has a lot of Spanish friends from my research. He wants to hire two chefs capable of preparing wonderful Spanish cuisines for them during their stay", he smirked.
     "How did you know about this?", Wisdom asked.
     Mr Eddie tried not to get annoyed because of the stupid question. "I saw a flyer about it", he responded.
     "So we're going to be the chefs right?", Careen looked at him intently.
     "I'm not even good at warming up food, how will I be able to prepare Spanish foods?", Wisdom shrugged.
     "I can prepare a lot of Spanish foods...I learnt all of them online so that's not an issue", Careen bragged.
     "The two chefs will be given a free two-bedroom apartment", her Dad revealed.
     "When are we going to apply for the job?", she inquired.
     "Well...we'll be going there tomorrow", her Dad gave it a little thought, "Meet me at the shopping mall close by tomorrow by 9am", he said to Wisdom.
     "Am I to come with my luggages?", Wisdom asked, raising up a finger.
     "No! Come with your Mum's luggages", he replied ironically with a frown.
     *                      *                     *
     "This will be our biggest mission yet", Nicholas felt nervous. He was in the computer room with Sarah, Careen and Wisdom.
     "I'm trying to hack into the hotel's security system but it seems impossible", Sarah gestured for everyone to come over.
     "Thought you guys are lab scientists?", Wisdom questioned, wondering why they were in a computer lab.
     "Of course we are! This is a computer LAB", Nicholas replied, emphasizing on the last word.
     "So what did you say is the problem?", Careen asked Sarah, trying to understand what she was doing.
     "Their security system is very very secured. It's going to be really difficult to access it", Sarah replied, giving up on the computer she was operating on.
     Careen sat on the swivel chair beside Sarah and moaned with worry. "All my missions have always been easy to handle, don't know why I feel nervous about this very one", she said, bending her head downwards and supporting it with her hands. She raised her head up in surprise when she heard no one's response.
     "I expected a response from you mates", she looked at them with a straight face.
     Three of them turned to her with surprise written on their faces. "Did you say anything before that?", asked Wisdom.
     "Just forget it before I get annoyed", she laid her head on the platform.
     *                      *                      *
     "I'll be lodging in at Heavens Gate Hotel tomorrow", Wisdom informed his Mum.
     "Why are you lodging in at a hotel and an expensive one for that matter?", she felt curious and worried.
     "I'll be working there as a chef...it's part of a missing I'm embarking on", he explained.
     "Chef?", his Mum rolled about, "You're going to burn down the hotel", she teased him.
     "Luckily Careen's a good cook, she'll cover up for me", he giggled.
     "Oh yeah!", she remembered, "You've given your father his suit?", she asked him.
     "Yes he has! You both are here gossiping about me right?", Mr Okechukwu joined them.
     "No we're not", his wife replied, finding his question absurd. "By the way...Wisdom will be away for some days. He just told me", she informed him.
     He girl delighted;"Are you for real?" His wife wondered why he was so happy.
     "It's a mission I'm embarking on so I won't be here for some days", Wisdom added.
     "Oh! Thank God!", his Dad felt relieved, looking upwards to heaven.
     "You don't even want to know where he's going to?", his wife gawped at him.
     "I trust my son's choice, wherever he'd stay is well secured", he said non-chalantly with a giggle.
     "Really? First good thing you've said to me. Thanks Dad!", Wisdom was very happy.
     "Don't mention it Son", he placed his hands across his son's shoulders, smiling widely at him. Mum soughed and covered her face in disappointment.
     *                      *                     *
     The next day in the morning by 8am, Wisdom and his mother stood by the road, waiting for Wisdom's ride. "We've waited a little bit more than I expected", Wisdom kept this fed up expression look towards the left, looking for this ride.
     A commercial taxi pulled over in front of them and wound down the glass of the passenger seat in front. "Hop in for a drop", he said to them.
     "Thank you Sir", Mrs Okechukwu opened the back seat to stow the two big boxes away but her son stopped her at once.
     "Why did you tell him thank you? It's not free", he asked her, looking startled.
     "We've been waiting for your ride but it hasn't rolled up", she gestured.
     "No Mommy! Let's not use this car", he pleaded.
     "What's the difference between my car and the one you're waiting for?", the taxi driver questioned.
     "Yours is not standard", Wisdom replied rudely which provoked the driver.
     "You?", he asked in a surprising manner, "When did YOU become standard?", he came out of his car and stood by his seat, resting his hand on his door. He looked at Wisdom from head to toe in mockery.
     "I don't understand what you mean", Wisdom stuttered in shame after recognizing the driver. His Mum just glimpsed at both of them interchangeably, not able to fathom what was going on.
     "Was it not you that begged me to let you wash my car so I could pay you?", the driver pointed at him.
     "What?!", Mrs Okechukwu reacted, looking at her son in shock.
     "Don't mind him Mum! That was a long time ago", Wisdom spoke sheepishly. "Who sent this man?", he said inwardly.
     "Ehn?! Long time ago", the driver got fazed by what he said for a while. "Don't mind your son Ma! This thing I'm saying happened last week", he leaked to her.
     "Wisdom please tell me we're acting a comedy skit", she gasped.
     "Okay Mum...the truth is I did so, what he's saying is the truth. I wanted to buy airtime for my phone", he kept a pale face.
     "How about the pocket money your Dad and I have been giving you?", she gasped out.
     "I used it to record some songs in the studio", he replied reluctantly.
     Mrs Okechukwu carried her two hands to her head in astonishment. "When you don't even have a good voice", she stared at him in wonder.
     "You're now here saying my car isn't standard. Idiot!", hissed the driver. He got into his car and sped off.
     Wisdom looked at his mother in an apologetic manner. "I don't want to see your face", she muttered. He quickly turned away.
____________________________________
Wisdom's life is quite an interesting one...lol
Question for the chapter: What did you learn from the last scene?