THE PRANK
Prank gone wrong
“Let’s do something fun” I said grabbing the phone from the tabletop.
My sister, Kanyinsola who was laying down on the bed next to me and staring at the ceiling turned sideways, her head resting on her arm.
“What do you have in mind?” She asked, her eyes large with excitement.
I stroked my chin pretending to think about what we could do when I already had a good idea. At least, I hoped it was good.
I snapped my fingers “I know. Let’s call Mrs Bode next door”.
My sister frowned “Call Mrs Bode? What for? I thought you said something fun”
“Chill” I said turning towards her “We will use an unknown number to call her and tell her that she won some money”.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea”.
“Why not?”.
“She’s an old woman. I don’t want to give her a heart attack. It just seems somehow. What if she cries when she finds out that it’s a lie ”
I rolled my eyes “You are too soft. That woman that is as strong as a rock. She will not cry. She will just hiss or something or better still she would think it’s 419”.
“What If we get caught?”.
“I doubt that would happen”.
Kanyinsola sighed “I guess we can give it a try”
“That’s the spirit! “I said already dialing our neighbour’s number
Mrs Bode had been our neighbour for as long as I could remember. She was a very old lady, so old that her skin was sagging and she couldn’t stand or sit up straight but carefully looking at her you could tell that she must have been beautiful when she was younger.
Many people say that she had been living in the house across us for as long as 50 years and although I don’t know how true that was, all I knew was that sometimes she creeped me out. She had a habit of watching people through her window. I know about it because there was a day I was pulling my sister’s hair in front of the house and as my sister screamed in pain while I was laughing, I could feel eyes staring at me. I turned and there was Mrs Bode across the street. Staring. Her eyes were fixated on me and I could feel the chills creep up my body.
I never liked her and I believe my parents are also not fond of her even though they try to help her out at the slightest chance. You know, trying to be good neighbours.
“How did you get her number?” Kanyinsola asked.
“Remember the day she got a delivery and I had to keep it for her till she got back from church”.
“No”.
“Well, there was a day like that. Mummy gave her my number and she kept on calling me to ask if the man had come’”.
“Okay. So call her”.
I clicked on the dial button while placing the phone on loud speaker and could already feel my heartbeat as I anticipated what was going to happen, It rang for a while before I heard a voice say ‘The number you are dialling is not answering. Please try again later’.
“Not answering ke” Kanyinsola said.
“I’ll try again. You know all these old people and their inability to handle a phone” I dialled the number again and after it rang for some time, she picked the phone call.
“Hello” I said trying to sound older than I was and official
There was no sound on the other side of the phone.
“Hello?” I said again with a slight frown.
All of a sudden, I heard a distant voice. It sounded like Mrs Bode, I would recognise her husky voice anywhere.
“…. leave my house…” I heard her say.
“Did you hear that?” I asked Kanyinsola who sat up straight on the bed.
She nodded.
“Mrs Bode?” I said through the phone.
“…I need to end this once and for all” A voice that was most probably male said with a growl.
I could feel my palms get sweaty.
“ What is going…” Kanyinsola started to say but I hushed her with my finger on my lips.
“… You can take my money, my car, anything but please don’t kill me” Her voice was shaking. Mrs Bode that I knew as a firm woman sounded like a little girl.
I heard nothing for a while and all of a sudden, I heard a scream before everywhere went silent again.
I looked at Kanyonsola who was breathing heavily beside me. She looked at me, her eyes wide open.
“What do we do?”
I quickly ended the call and threw my phone on my bed
“What do you think happened?” Kanyinsola asked me
I was lost for words. I just couldn’t imagine what had happened.
I turned to Kanyinsola and looked her in the eyes.
“I think we just heard a murder”.
Kanyinsola gasped.
We decided to go over to Mrs Bode’s house. I could hear my own heartbeat as we headed towards the house opposite ours. We got to her door and as I was about to knock, Kanyinsola held my hand.
“What if it’s a misunderstanding? What if it was her TV making noise? What will we tell her? How will we tell her that we heard a noise and we called her?” Kanyinsola blurted out.
I shook my head “You ask too many questions. We will cross the bridge when we get there”.
I knocked on the door.
No answer.
I tried to knock louder and longer.
No sound.
I looked at Kanyinsola “ I think we should try and go inside, what if she fell down?”
“Hmmm… Tinuke, if it’s not what we think it is, there will be a problem”.
“But what if it is?” I said as I tried the doorknob. The door was unlocked. Kanyinsola and I looked at each other before I took the first step inside.
We entered Mrs Bode’s apartment. It was neat and didn’t look out of the ordinary. I had never been there before. I had no reason to but the sitting room looked normal with its flowery cushions and brown throw pillows. The Tv sat on a table and it was off.
“Mrs Bode?” I said as Kanyinsola entered the house and closed the door.
“Let’s check the kitchen” Kanyinsola said. I headed straight to where I assumed was the kitchen and all I saw at first was the kitchen counter and something that seemed red. As I headed towards the counter, my leg hit something.
I frowned as I looked down.
And then I screamed.
Kanyinsola ran to where I was and when she saw what was in front of me she gasped.
Mrs Bode was lying cold on the floor with her mouth and her eyes open and a knife to her chest.
I felt numb.
Who would do such a thing?
“What time did you call Mrs Bode” The policeman who had a protruding stomach and a pen and notebook in his hand asked me.
I was sitting down on the couch in our living room with Kanyinsola sitting beside me. Our parents were in the room with us. My mother talking to someone on the phone, probably telling her friend or sister about what just happened and my dad leaning against the wall with his arms folded and out of the corner of my eye, I could see that he was livid.
“B…by… Around 2 pm”.
The policeman who was sitting down on a plastic chair and directly facing my sister and I wrote down something in his jotter
“Why did you call her?” He asked without looking up from his notebook.
I looked at my dad who was tapping his feet on the ground, I looked at Kanyinsola who had tears streaming down her face, My mum had finished her call and was standing next to my father. There was no doubt that they were curious about the call.
There was something uneasy about my father’s movement. I knew he was angry but this was different. Almost uncomfortable, I would say but why?
“W…we … we just wanted to greet her” I said. I couldn’t say the truth; my dad would kill me if he found out that we were trying to prank the woman.
“Is that a normal thing you do or was today the only day you decided to call her?”
“Today is the only day. She just came to our mind”.
“And you are sure that was what you heard?”
“Yes. I told you everything I know”.
The policeman sighed as he closed his notebook. He leaned forward as he looked at me straight in the eyes.
“Mrs Bode was found in her kitchen with a slit across her throat and by the two of you” he gave us a quick glance “Before she was rushed to the hospital, we lost her. It was a good thing you called the ambulance” He stood up and turned towards my parents “If you get any information, probably anything that can help the investigation please let us know” He said. My dad saw him off to the door while my mum sat down on the chair the policeman had occupied.
“Tinuke. Kanyinsola”.
“Ma” My sister and I said in unison.
“Why did you call Mrs Bode?” She asked with her hands akimbo
Kanyinsola and I looked at each other.
“Answer me!” My mum shouted “I know you people don’t care about that woman, what’s with the sudden change”.
None of us said anything. We knew better than to talk when my mum was fuming.
“Imagine if they had arrested the both of you because you are suspects”.
I was sure that was not how it worked but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“I don’t even know what to do with the both of you”
We heard our front door close with a bang and we knew our father was back in the house. He walked towards us and everyone kept quiet, even my mother. I could feel his eyes on us as the whole place was quiet.
“Go to your room. I don’t have anything to say to the both of you” He said. He didn’t need to say it twice because my sister and I had sprung up from the couch and ran to our room. I was the last to enter the room and I did not hesitate to lock the door.
I turned to face Kanyinsola who was sitting down on the edge of the bed tears rolling down her eyes. I was furious. She left me to do all the talking, it was my idea but we both made the call together.
“Why did you leave me to do everything by myself?” I asked her as I leaned against the door.
She didn’t look at me, she played with her fingers as she started sobbing. I narrowed my eyes. There seemed to be more to her silence than I thought there was.
I sat down beside her on the bed and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“What is it Kanyin?” I asked shaking her slightly.
Her sob became louder. I let her cry for a while before she turned towards me, her eyes red and puffy and her face wet with tears
“The man that spoke to Mrs Bode in the call…”
I felt my heart skip a beat.
“Yes? What about him?”
“That voice… It was so familiar”.
“Kanyinsola, what are you talking about?”
Kanyin sniffed “… It was daddy”.
“What?”
“It was Daddy that killed Mrs Bode”.
