DOPPELGANGER

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DOPPEL GANGER

CHAPTER 1

It was promising to be a very bright morning. I had woken up early to prepare my three years old daughter for school. She hated being woken up so early because she always kept late nights watching movies with me after helping her to do her assignments. My wife, of four years, Bessem, had always warned me to stop spoiling her, but what could I do. I loved her so much and had such a soft spot for her that every time she asked of something, I couldn’t refuse her. She was my only child at the moment, and I intended to give her all the comforts she deserved.

I could remember one day around midnight, my daughter, Mayraya and I were in the living room watching a movie when her mum who had gone to bed earlier happened to find us. She was very crossed.

“Emile!!” She shouted, for that was my name. “What are you and Mayraya still up doing?”

“Watching movies, sweetheart. What else?” I replied good-humoredly.

“Movies? At this time? And it is even a horror movie.”

“Yes, babe. What is your problem na? Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? You ask me that? Alright, let me show you what it means to be jealous. Now, Mayraya, pass go sleep.” She fused in pidgin English.

Little Mayraya could not believe that her movie night was going to be so abruptly ruined and by no other person, but her very own mother. She was a strange little child. At her age, other children would watch nothing else but cartoon. Mayraya, instead, found cartoon boring. Instead, she loved WWE wrestling, action movies and horror. Now, she was blissfully watching a horror movie titled ELVIRA adapted from a novel by a writer called Rentyna of the same title, and her mum had come to put sand in her garri.

She raised her little eyes and looked at me. She was waiting for my intervention.

“Dad, say something. Mum wants me to go sleep.” She spoke.

“Well, maybe you should go with her. It’s already late, don’t you see?” I replied.

“But Dad, the movie is not finished yet.” She protested.

“Yes, but luckily, it’s on Netflix that we are watching it. So, next time we have another opportunity to watch, we would resume from where we have stopped now.”

“Okay, Dad, promise?”

“Promise.”

“Pinky swear?”

“Pinky swear, darling.”

After giving me a peck and a hug, she went to meet her mum who dragged her away, complaining as she did so.

“You like keeping the child up late knowing very well that she has to go to school early the next day.”

“What is your problem again? Have I not let her go. You don’t want people to enjoy what they love. How about you who can listens to music all day, every day.”

“So, what?”

My wife, Bessem was obsessed with music. She knew the names of all hollywood and Nollywood stars and follows them all on Facebook, YouTube and many other media. I remember when the late Cameroonian multitalented musician, Fhish, died. She was the one who broke the news to me. I remember that morning, I was deep asleep when she went to the living room and put Fhish’s famous song, Njoh, on repeat. In spite of the fact that I was still curled up in bed, I didn’t complain of the loud music that early morning because it was a song I loved too.

However, when the music kept repeating itself, I had no choice but to come to the living room and asked her what was going on. Then, she told me to check my inkitt page. I logged in and lo and behold, the worst news of the year. It would forever be a December to remember.

So, that morning, as I nodded and swayed to the rhythm of Closure by Askia ft. Loic Sumfor, which I had put on repeat, I went back to the bedroom and tapped my daughter gently.

“Mayraya, sweetheart. It is time to wake up, please.”

“Please, dad. Let me ‘shleep’ a bit.” She begged sleepily.

“My friend, wake up and go prepare for school. If it is to watch movies late into the night, you won’t complain.” My wife shouted.

“Leave the child alone?” I spoke lightheartedly.

“I don’t blame you.” She retorted.

After much convincing and gentle urging, I finally succeeded to get Mayraya out of bed and took her to have her bath. You may wonder why I was the one preparing the child for school. It is because my wife and I had a roster. Three days a week, I was the one to prepare the child for school, while she had the other two days. However, today was supposed to be her turn, but she was almost two months pregnant and was already developing a little bulge. So, I was compelled to be the fulltime man for preparing my daughter for school.

An hour later, and Mayraya had finished having her breakfast, I carried her in my arms and gently placed her in the front passenger seat of my car and put on her seatbelt. I went back into the bedroom to kiss my wife goodbye. I was not going to see her again till around 2:00 PM when Mayraya closed from school, and I had to go pick her from school and take her home.

“Sweetheart, we are leaving.” I informed her.

“Already?” She replied sleepily. 

“Are you in dreamland? It’s getting late already.”

“Oh no, please let’s have a fast one before you go. The weather is too cold.” She suggested.

“What? It is getting late already and Mayraya is all alone in the car.”

“I know, you can make it quick.”

“You are not serious. That was how you made and got this one. Please, leave me alone. I have to go now. Remember, I have to go drop our daughter and then, go open my shop. I don’t want to be late.” I explained.

“Yish! Go. I hate you.”

“And I love you, very much. Muahhh!!” I kissed her and ran off to meet our daughter before she did some mischief in the car.

I got to Mayraya’s school some twenty minutes later because there was no traffic. When I was driving to her school, I realized that the streets were uncharacteristically empty and almost all shops were closed. I wondered what could be happening. When I dropped her, I drove back to my shop and was about to open it when the cleaner of the premises reminded me that shops were not allowed to open until 12:00 PM.

“Why?” I asked.

“Sir, have you forgotten that today is the day set aside for general sanitation.”

“Oh! I forgot completely. “Thank you very much.”

I got into my car and drove back home. It all made sense now why the streets were empty, and shops were locked. When I got back home, my wife had woken up and was playing loud music. I rang the doorbell several times before she opened the door. She was surprised to see me back home.

“Didn’t you hear the bell ring?” I shouted over the music.

“Can’t you hear the music?” She replied.

“Must you play music so loud?”

“Must you watch movies late into the night?”

“Look at you, keep hanging on that one, okay?” I laughed.

“Why did you come back?” She asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“I forgot that today is Thursday, the first Thursday of the month, set aside for cleaning of the whole city.”

“Oh! That is true. I completely forgot, too.”

“So, do you still have time for that thing that you asked me before I left.”

“Of course, I do.” She laughed. “let’s go.”

She dragged me to the bedroom and before we could even get there, all my dresses were already off. We made sweet love again that morning while waiting for 12:00 PM to reach. When twelve finally came, I quickly dressed up and drove back to the shop. As I got there, I noticed that my salesgirl was just showing up too. She smiled when she saw me.

“Good morning, Sir.” She greeted.

“I am not answering. Thank you very much.” I replied, playfully annoyed.

“Why are you thanking me, Sir.” She was confused.

“So, today was first Thursday of the month and you didn’t remind me.”

“Oh! Sir, don’t tell me that you came here earlier.” She burst out laughing.

“Can you imagine, my dear. Wasted fuel for nothing.” I laughed too.

“I am sorry, Sir. I apologize.”

“Okay, I accept your apology, but I am still very angry.”

She knew I was only joking. She opened the shop and as she was setting up the place, I noticed that there were a group of men cheering and drinking in an off-license close by. Most of them were people I knew. In fact, they were people who had shops in the same area as me.

“Gladys!” I called the salesgirl.

“Sah.”

“What is going on there? Why is Mr. Bertrand and the other people cheering and drinking?”

“Mr. Bertrand’s wife just put to bed this morning.”

“Wow!! That is great news. That alcoholic Bertrand, instead of him to stay with his wife and newborn child, he is here drinking with friends. Anyway, let me go and join them. Please, take care of the shop.”

“Sir, you just called him an alcoholic.” Gladys spoke.

“Yes. So?”

“But you are going to join them.” She laughed.

“My friend, mind your own business. Allow me to enjoy myself. Please, take good care of my shop.”

When I got there, I was given a cold bottle of Icenberg, and we drank and shouted and cheered and made merry. As I was going to the bar to get another bottle, I noticed that I saw Mayraya’s class teacher. I wondered what she would be doing in an off-license at that hour of the day. Well, the off-license was actually a bakery that also sold alcoholic drinks. So, maybe she came to get something for the kids in kindergarten.

“Madam Armelle.” I called.

“Good morning, Sir. I was just about to call you.”

“Why? Is anything the matter? Hope nothing has happened to my daughter.” My heart was beginning to thump.

“No, Sir. But I am just surprised. I just saw Mayraya now and I was surprised because I left her in class. I was wondering when you came and got her until you have already changed her uniform.”

“You just saw Maraya? Where?” I was confused.

“There, that is her with that man.” She pointed at one man sitting among a group of strange men at one corner of the place.

From that distance, she actually looked like my daughter. Confused, we both went to where the man was sitting and I took a closer look at the little girl. Truly, she had a striking resemblance to my daughter. In fact, she was her doppelganger.

“Mayraya!” I called but she showed no recognition of me.

“Madam Armelle, please, call the school to make sure my daughter is safe. In fact, do a video call. Who is in your class now that you are here?”

“The nursery attendant.”

“I am sure she has a smart phone.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Please, call her on video.”

The video call was made and I saw my child in class with my very own eyes. So, what could this mean? Who could be this child that had a striking resemblance to my daughter and to me. Our family face was unique. You couldn’t miss it for anything. As I was about to talk to the man about his daughter’s resemblance to mine, my phone rang. I checked and it was my younger sister, Vanelle, who lived in another city. I picked immediately.

“Vanelle!”

“Emile, where are you?”

“I am at my shop, of course. What is the matter? Why does your voice sound like that?” I was concerned.

“Emile, Adele is missing. She has been missing since last night and I don’t know what to do.” She was crying.

“Last night? And you are just telling me now? Have you gone to the police?”

“They said I had to wait for twenty-four hours before filling a missing person report.”

“What rubbish? Even if the missing person was a child?”

“I don’t know, Emile. I am dying, my brother. I am dying.”

At that same moment, I noticed that the man who was sitting with the child that looked like my daughter, Mayraya, suspected something was not right. He grabbed the child by the hand and was about to leave.

“Please, Vanelle, let me talk to you later. I have to attend to something.”

I dropped the call and walked up to the man and blocked his way. He looked at me in anger and in fear. Then, he asked.

“What do you want, Monsieur?”

“I want to know where you got this little girl from.” I replied.

He froze.