YELLOW BAG - by Sewuese Adason

Chapter 3“We found a body, and I think it’s best you come to identify the body yourself.” Mrs. Job was driven aback with an instant headache. She managed to put her mind together and walked with her husband to where the body was. They entered the morgue, and a chill ran down her spine. The last time she entered a morgue was when her grandmother passed, and she had stubbornly followed her brother to see the corpse. Now, she was going to identify a body that might be her son’s. “Here it is. We found it beside the old Catholic Church.” Mr. Martins unzipped the body bag. “Ahhhh! It’s not Mike. This is not him!” Mrs. Job screamed, holding tightly onto her husband. Was it a relief to find out her son wasn’t in a body bag? Yes. But it was only a small relief. Mike was still missing. “Well, now that we know he’s not Mike, I think we better begin a proper search and investigate the case,” Mr. Martins said. “We need a statement from Dessy. We need to know everything from the beginning so we can know how and where to go about this.” Mr. and Mrs. Job wrote down their statements without missing any details. Meanwhile, Mrs. Job had already called their neighbour to bring Dessy over to the station. By the time they were done, it was past 2 p.m. The drive back home was quiet. Nobody said a word. Dessy sat in the back seat, staring through the window. His eyes were swollen from crying, and guilt sat heavily on his face. As they approached their street, he suddenly noticed something. “Daddy.” Mr. Job looked at him through the rear-view mirror. “What?” “I remember something.” “What do you remember?” Dessy swallowed hard. “When I left the game store…” His mother turned around immediately. “Go on.” “I saw Mike.” Mr. Job stepped on the brakes slightly before continuing. “You saw Mike? Where?” “Near the old provision shop.” “What was he doing?” Dessy shook his head. “I don’t know. He was standing there.” “And you left him?” Dessy lowered his head. “I thought he would follow me.” Mrs. Job closed her eyes. “Dessy, what else did you see?” He remained silent for a few seconds. Then he whispered. “There was a man.” “What man?” “I don’t know him.” Mr. Job’s grip tightened around the steering wheel. “What did he look like?” Dessy struggled to remember. “He was wearing black.” “Anything else?” Dessy nodded slowly. “He had a yellow bag.” The car suddenly became silent. “A yellow bag?” Mrs. Job repeated. “Yes, Mommy.” Mr. Job exchanged a quick glance with his wife. “Are you sure?” Dessy nodded. “Yes.” “What happened after that?” Dessy looked down at his hands. “The man called Mike.” Mrs. Job’s heart dropped. “He called him by his name?” “Yes.” “And Mike went to him?” Dessy nodded. “I thought they knew each other.” Nobody spoke again. When they got home, Mr. Job immediately called Mr. Martins. “Martins, there’s something else.” “What is it?” “My son remembered seeing a man with Mike.” There was silence on the other end. “What did the man look like?” “Black clothes. And he had a yellow bag.” Mr. Martins became quiet. “Ken…” “Yes?” “Don’t tell anyone about the yellow bag yet.” “Why?” “We found something at the scene where the body was discovered.” Mr. Job’s heart began to race. “What did you find?” “A piece of yellow fabric.” The phone nearly slipped from Mr. Job’s hand. “Martins…” “I’ll come over tonight. Don’t let Dessy tell this story to anyone else for now.” The call ended. Mr. Job stood in the middle of the sitting room, staring at the phone. Behind him, Mrs. Job was watching. “What did he say?” He turned slowly. “He found something.” “What?” “A piece of yellow fabric.” Mrs. Job’s face went pale. At that exact moment, someone knocked on their door. Three slow knocks. Nobody moved. Then another three. Knock. Knock. Knock. Mr. Job walked toward the door. “Who is there?” No answer. He opened it slowly. Nobody was standing outside. But something was lying on the floor. A small yellow bag. Mrs. Job screamed. “KEN!” Mr. Job froze. Neither of them dared to touch it. From inside the house, Dessy stared at the bag. Then he whispered, “That is the bag.” The same yellow bag he had seen beside the man.

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