Happiness is merely a visitor. Even if it comes with a baggage so big, you think it's there to stay. That's why you can win the lottery today and lose your girlfriend tomorrow. And then all the mirth you felt after realizing you guessed all the numbers right at the bar vanishes — as if you weren't the same person who experienced those sparks of glee, that surge of serotonin just a few hours ago.

This was Celine's current state. Finding the piece of paper from the doll was like a form of vindication for her at that very moment. It made her forget that she'd spent minutes crying in the empty house. It had been a consoler. Later on, it no longer seemed that way.

The big issue now was finding where the ‘middle of nowhere’ was. Celine tried to think outside the box and resisted the temptation to conclude that the middle of nowhere was at the center of an enormous forest. The middle of nowhere could be a quaint building surrounded by dilapidated construction. It could be a riverine house.

Her guesses were merely candidates for the big puzzle. They were eligible to fit in but whether they were the right ones was where the uncertainty lay. But Celine did not want to play a game of probability when so much was at stake. So she took the risk that the acquisition of truth required.

Celine went back to David’s neighborhood. Since it was a sparsely populated area, she knew it would be hard to come across people. Thus, she checked the light stands on the streets for surveillance cameras but found nothing. She was on the verge of feeling disappointed when she remembered that this was Nigeria - a place where uptight security felt like a blessing when it was supposed to be a basic provision.

Besides, David's house, like the description on the paper, was almost in the middle of nowhere, so who cared to install devices to survey what was going on there? With a frustrated release of breath, Celine decided to go the extra mile by walking through the avenue to see If she was going to find a living soul.

The sun was scorching, and it was as though it had been fixated at a certain angle in the sky to punish her with its heat waves. The strands of grass that pricked her ankles did not make her walk any more comforting. The two people she'd finally seen after strolling for twenty minutes made her wish she could threaten them to give her good information.

When she asked them if they had seen David's car or a truck full of furniture and home appliances in the neighborhood within the past few days, one responded by saying she wasn't a resident of the vicinity. The other, an inhabitant, said she'd seen David's car drive by at night, but she hadn't noticed any special.

Later on, she met an old man who lived in an old-fashioned bungalow. Finally, a person who seems to have lived in the estate for a long time!  Celine celebrated internally, just like the day she found the paper, but her joy was just as short-lived when she learned that the elder had Alzheimer's. There was not much use he could be to her. He had a young maid who looked after him, though. But the lady wasn't quite the talker.

When Celine asked the maid if she had noticed anything weird about David, the guy who lived in the cream duplex, the young lady was mute as though she wasn't the one who'd been asked a question. Eventually, the elder spoke, although his speech was incoherent and slurry.  He revealed that David did not relate with anyone in the neighborhood, which was a very obvious thing.

So the elder and his maid were not people with which she could effectively communicate. Nevertheless, she left her phone number with them and urged them to reach out to her if they got to know anything later on. Deep down, she hoped that later on would be soon.

After a frustrating trip back home that day, Celine realized and accepted that she needed an investigation partner. She was in a messy condition — her spy was dead, the girls were far away from her, and Gertrude's parents' contacts was something she had failed to obtain. All along, she'd tried to find the girls by her strength and hadn't been doing well. Perhaps now, she needed someone superior to her in knowledge and investigative skill.

She was no detective, and for that reason, she was probably not going about catching the bad guy in the right way. She needed guidance. Hence, she discussed or at least tried to discuss with David's mother at the roadside close to the water factory, their usual spot.

“David ran away with the girls and took them to another place - the middle of nowhere. I tried to get the contact information of one of his victims' parents with the help of a spy, but he killed my spy. He sent his bloodstained clothes to me as evidence,” Celine broke the news to Folakemi as soon as she settled on the passenger seat. There was no time to waste.

“He killed your spy?” Folake's eyes were calm. That instant spark of horror that Celine had thought her words would elicit in her eyes was absent. It was almost as if she'd nit-picked on that particular part of the news because it sounded catchy. She didn't seem to care about the other things Celine had mentioned in the same sentence.

Celine couldn't blame this on her being overly sensitive at the moment. Folake's usual compassion was vividly missing.

“Yes,” Celine decided not to point it out yet. “Now, he's taken those girls to another place, and I have difficulty finding him. I searched the house, though, and I found something,” She spoke about the piece of paper. “I plan on locating his whereabouts by all means, and I'm informing you because I need your help and support at this time, ma.”

“First, if you could help me speak with your daughter, Mrs. Yemisi, to help me out with the investigation so it would be easier to know where David is, I'd appreciate it. She's the perfect person to help. If you can't get her to aid me though, it's okay. You can assign another private investigator — perhaps, one that works under or with her.

Also, I'm letting you know of my plans so in case anything happens to me in the process of trying to find David, you can know how to find me.”

“I might not know how to find you because Yemisi is currently out of the country with her co-investigators.”

Celine didn't say anything because she waited for Folake to say more. That curt reply could not be all the response she had to give. But David's mother didn't say anything else. Her mouth didn't even move in a way that showed that she was trying to utter something else. Instead, she was staring at the steering wheel, and her mouth was so stiffly closed as though it had been bolted. Celine could not believe what she was witnessing. She thought Folake was in with her on the whole thing. What was with the coldness?

Deep down, Folake wanted Celine to stop because if she went further, the police would get involved, and that would require her son to go to jail or get a death sentence. Folake had thought she could stomach whatever it was that would come out of her collaboration with Celine to help David let go of the girls.

However, now that the probable outcome was much clearer and was taking a route that she'd tried so hard to deny, she wanted Celine to put an end to her investigation. In fact, it took a lot of restraint from her not to tell Celine to get out of her car.

Perhaps, it was time for her and Celine to accept that the girls would forever be in David’s hold. The harder they tried, the farther he went. Running was something he'd always done over the years and would continue to do. If she would never see her son, then so be it. Provided he wasn't in jail and could successfully avoid the police for the rest of his life. She was tired of chasing someone who didn't want to be found. All she could do was pray for him from a distance.

Celine had seen through the state of Folakemi's mind, so she addressed it when she spoke.

“Then, is there something else you can do to help me? Anything to stop David? We can't leave him be to continue being a criminal, can we?” The desperation slipped out of Celine's impenetrable walls when her voice cracked as she pleaded, ‘anything to stop David?’

“My son is not a criminal,” Folake's retort conveyed messages that even she didn't have a say over. It was more than the words. It was in the way she gripped the steering wheel, the way her jaw clenched.

Celine wanted to snap right back and tell her that her son was a criminal, a psychopath even. But she took a step back and gave the situation a second thought. When she did, she realized that Folake's new behavior wasn't so much of a shock after all. It wouldn't sit perfectly well with a mother to let her child go to jail or get a death sentence. Her selfishness wasn't that strange at the end of the day.

“Okay, I apologize, ma.  He's not a criminal. He just misses his sister a lot,” Celine was calm. “But, ma’am, those children have parents. If we leave him because we don't want him to go to jail, the law would still catch up with him. One can't run forever. Even if he succeeds at not getting caught, don't you want to see your son still? We should find him and have him admitted to a mental hospital. We should try to mitigate the harshness of the jail sentence that awaits him. You deserve to witness your son get better. He shouldn't be left alone to do more atrocious things.”

Folake was looking through the window, avoiding Celine’s gaze and still saying nothing when words were expected from her. Celine studied her silence to see if it was pregnant with something positive — perhaps, she would sigh and say, ‘okay, I'll help you.’ However, when she noticed that it was an adamant silence, one that had already made the resolve not to assist in any way, Celine took the refusal as her cue to leave.

“Alright, ma. I'll be off now.”

The only thing she hoped for as she walked away was that Folake wouldn't try to stop her from trying to find David on her own.

***

Celine didn't give up on her search for a private investigator. She visited police stations in the city and inquired about officers who could work with her, but there weren't positive results from her request. The first station asked for a price too huge. It was apparent that they worked for the higher-ups to do shady things. So they had feasted with powerful men and had seen what life was like on the bright side. They could not afford to go below that standard.

The other police stations declined, stating that they had more cases to investigate and that it was against their code of conduct as officers to work as private detectives for ordinary civilians. It all felt like a lie to Celine, which was messed up. It was as if all the police officers in the city knew David and had benefited from him in some way. Perhaps, he was one of the mighty men who'd given the officers the taste of luxurious living.

Thus, she was left all alone once again. Now, she was in her living room, pondering again where the middle of nowhere could be. The more she recalled what she'd read on the paper, the more she felt as though there was a clue she was missing. She needed to rub minds with someone. The fact that there was no person who possessed better knowledge by her side to tell her their opinion was nerve-wracking.

For this reason, she rushed to the dining table and began to punch some digits on the landline. The sickening feeling that came at the crossroad of desperation and succumbing to the option it offered was so overwhelming that Celine could feel herself breathing rapidly and gasping for air. She knew she was stooping low, but she was frantic and needed to get over that feeling. Besides, desperation had a way of eliminating shame.

“Hello, ma,” She greeted Folake, finally feeling a bit of airflow in her lungs. “Please, I really need your help with a private investigator. If you don't know anyone besides your daughter and her subordinates, you can recommend someone else to me. The person does not have to be a professional. Please, ma'am, I'll appreciate anything you can do to assist me.”

There was a lull on the other end of the line for a period that felt like an eternity. Celine waited, hoping foolishly again that the stillness would birth something positive.

“I don’t know anyone.”

Then David's mom hung up.

Celine slammed the handset against the phone and stomped her foot on the floor. Her folly was now dawning on her fully. It was preposterous of her to have contacted David's mom to help her with an investigator who would expose her son's wrongdoings when she was clearly against it from the last time they spoke to each other. She had no other person to blame but herself for being deeply involved in the whole mess.

Sometimes, being a good person was being nosy and dangerously so at the expense of one's peace of mind. Saving the girls wasn't going to be of any benefit to her, but she just could not refrain from doing something to help, especially since her so-called friend was the perpetrator. Somehow, that had made her feel obligated to help. Now though, she felt so miserable she wanted to go to the balcony and scream all of her frustration until her throat parched.

She couldn't do that, though, because she had a child.  When Autumn came to her mind, she laughed and thought of how awful of a mom she'd been to her baby within the past couple of days. She'd missed spending time with her child.

Autumn was reading an English literature story in her room when Celine stepped in. The little girl hadn't noticed her mom's presence immediately, and Celine let it remain that way for a little while as she stared and adored her child.

She was grateful that her baby didn't look like her dad. The defined cheekbones and the angular thinness of her face were physical qualities that Autumn had taken from her. She'd also taken her good intellect and sharpness. Celine was happy that her child had been kind to her — kind enough to come as the joy to her sorrow and to make her forget the pathetic life she once lived with an abusive partner. And she didn't even have to do much. Looking like her was more than enough.

“Do you mind if I join you, my princess?”

Autumn's eyes sparkled with joy upon seeing her mother at the doorstep. Then she shook her head excitedly. Celine took off her slippers and lay on the bed with her daughter.

“So tell me, what are you reading?” She snuggled close to her daughter and stroked her hair while glancing at the pages of the book.

“Fifteen Dollars and Thirty-Five Cents.”

“Hmm,” Celine commented with piqued interest. “What is it about?”

“It is about two friends — Joseph and Devon. One day, they saw money in the schoolyard. Joseph wanted to keep the money, but Devon wanted them to find the owner of the money. One of their classmates, Lin, was looking for the money. Devon wanted to return the money to him, but he had to try and make Joseph agree first because he didn't want to make Joseph angry.”

“Wow. So what choice does Joseph eventually make?”

“Joseph decided to help Devon look for the owner of the money because he wanted Devon to be happy with him.”

“Wow. It must have been hard for Joseph to make that choice, but he did the right thing for the sake of his friendship.” She was fascinated by how deep the storyline was and how it spoke to her situation. 

“Yes.”

“That's a powerful story you're reading right there, my princess. So tell me something. Mommy needs your advice. Mommy needs to save some girls because they are in danger. But she is tired and hasn't been spending time with her baby. She might have to be away from her baby for a little while so she can rescue the girls.

Should mommy save the girls but leave her baby alone for a while or should she stay with her kid and forget about the girls? Should she be like Joseph?”

“Yes, mommy should be like Joseph because her baby would be happy too. Also, mommy will go back to her baby later, and her baby will be happy. This will make mommy a hero.”

Celine didn't know when a tear dropped from her eyes until Autumn reached out and wiped it away from her cheek. She pulled her child close and hugged her as though her life depended on it. Autumn was so intelligent and adorable. Every moment spent with her during tough times was soothing and made her feel better.

She was willing to stay in her daughter's arms forever, but reality was not a respecter of anything blissful. Her phone rang.

There was an anticipation she felt while she pulled out her phone. She wasn't sure who she was expecting to hear from — perhaps, from Folakemi saying that there was someone she knew. However, the phone number that showed on her screen was an unknown one.

“Hello?” the person said.

“Hello? Who am I speaking with?” The voice sounded familiar to her.

“The maid from the other day. The one that is taking care of the man with memory loss.”

“Oh, oh,” Celine rose from the bed immediately.

“I have something to tell you, ma. My oga remembered something today, and he told me. I recorded it on the phone because he may not remember again.”

“I understand. That's very wise of you. I'll come around tomorrow morning. Thank you very much.”

Celine wanted to go instantly, but she had to sort out Autumn’s well-being first. She was going to take her to her cousin's place to stay until she came back for her.

“The time has come for mommy to be away, but it won't be long, okay?”

“Okay.” Autumn nodded boldly,  trusting that her mother would be back soon.

***

The old man with Alzheimer's had seen a man go back to David's house a day after he'd evacuated the place with the girls. It was one of his guards. The guard was standing next to a trash can by the gate. He then found a flier next to the bin. He picked it up and tore it angrily into half a few seconds later.

The elder was curious about what made the guard tear the flier into pieces. So he went to the bin long after the guard left the place and picked up the torn pieces. Then he tried to match them together into a complete picture. Then he discovered that it was an advertisement flier for a forest house on the outskirts of Victoria Island. Her first guess had been correct, after all. The middle of nowhere was a house at the center of a thick forest.

Thanks to this great information, Celine was able to find the new place. She couldn't deny the chills she felt in her spine as she stood like a minion in the middle of a vast area of land shielded by gigantic trees with decayed leaves that had taken on a brown pigment. It was a sickening sight to behold because she could only imagine how good of a home this environment was for snakes with camouflage skin and bizarre beasts that scurried on the earth.

She tried to think of how the girls must feel, waking up to an atmosphere that bore no atom of vibrancy or life. They didn't need to be tortured physically or emotionally. That alone was enough to plant seeds of distress in their minds. If she felt this creeped out, she could only wonder what those young girls were going through. Escaping was impossible because even if they tried, the possibility of getting bitten by a snake in the forest could not be ignored.

As she stared at the windows of the house, wondering what was going on in there, she made a resolve in her mind to do her best to save those girls. This was her last chance. She knew she was going to meet the young children this time, but the certainty that she would be able to rescue them was what she couldn't guarantee. However, she was going to give it her all.

She was alone, with no bodyguard or support system of any kind. She knew it was astoundingly foolish to have come by herself into a place where the rays of sunlight from the sky peeped in as though it were an intruder.

However, it wasn't her fault. She'd done all she could to find someone to work with and when her efforts had proved futile, she decided she would confront this devil on her own.

She could only hope that she would win in the end.

After saying a prayer under her breath, she mustered the courage to stretch her hand towards the gate. Then she knocked.

***

If you understand what the title of this chapter means, I'll be so happy! Because it's a thought-provoking question that goes really well with what happened in the chapter. You can try guessing. I'd like to see your comments.