Kene was livid but he
had to be calm for Iyeke's sake, he had to remain calm. He looked around the
dingy bar. He could see a lot of people smoking and drinking. He recognised a
few people whom he suspected were with Koba. He had to give it to the guy, he
was wise and had chosen this place for protection. Kene knew not to try
anything stupid.
“Koba, be reasonable.
Where you expect me to get N20Million naira from? Do you think money grow on
trees”?
“By the look of
things, it does for you or would I say it rains for you”? Koba said, directing
Kene’s attention to his Porsche.
Kene followed his
eyes and rested them on his car. Koba had always been a cheap thief. No wonder
he was kicked out of “The Brother”. The guy had no self-discipline and would do
anything, except kill for money. He never had the stomach for shedding blood, unlike
him, who had two under his belt and had Koba being alone, he would have been
celebrating his third kill…well another day.
“Is the car your
problem? You can have it. Here is the key, enjoy and just release the girl”.
With that, he threw the keys at Koba, who seemingly dodged the “welcomed”
assault.
“Nah, it is not as
easy as that. Do you think I don’t know how much the car is worth? Do you think
I am stupid? Look, when you are ready to talk money, call me”. With that, Koba
took the keys to the car and threw it back at Kene whilst smiling.
Kene sat at the table
and watched Koba and three other guys rise and leave the room. One of them
looked at him, smiled and gave him a “Hand-gun” signal.
He picked up his
phone, dialled a number. “We have to move to plan B”.
*************************************************************************************
Iyeke crawled towards
the bed. It had been 4 days since she was brought here and had no idea when she
would leave this room or if she will leave the room alive. All the prayers she
had prayed in her 27 years of living in this world cannot be compared to the
amount of prayers she had offered in this four days. She had promised God a
lot, should she be freed but one part of her knew she didn’t really mean it.
She got on the bed
and laid on it with a loud thud that surprised her, seeing as she had lost a
lot of weight for having not eaten. Not that her captors’ were not feeding her,
on the contrary, they were feeding her well but she was afraid of being
poisoned. A story was told of a Lady who was abducted and she lavishly ate the
food of the kidnappers and even started demanding for the impossible. Needless
to say, they found her body by a river bank.
A noise at the door
made her jump and she retreated to the end of the bed. The door opened and a
masked man came in.
“Time for your
bathroom break and do not try anything stupid or you will be seeing the devil
very soon”. The masked man said.
“Please don’t hurt
me, I will not try anything”. With that, she got down from the bed and walked
towards the man. She really needed this “one a day” bathroom break, as it meant
she won’t have to pee anywhere in the room. Besides, it was an opportunity to
look around, just in case she found and escape route.
After her bathroom
break, she walked quietly to the bed.
“You still don’t want
to eat? You will just die for nothing. Better get yourself together and eat
because you will be here for a while. So whether you die or not, we go still
get our money” The masked man told her, turned and left the room.
When she heard the
click, signifying that the door had been locked, she turned her face to the
wall and started crying. Why was this happening to her? She thought. What will
happen to my grandmother if I die? She knew for sure that her grand-mother will
die as she was the only grandchild who didn’t give her problems. With that, she
prayed to God to keep her grand-mother.
*************************************************************************************
“Which child are we
talking about Ogoshukwu? The one you abandoned before she could even suckle
your breast or the child you abandoned for 27 years and have not even said
anything to her?” Mama Edosa said.
When Ogochukwu told
her that she came so Iyeke could know her, Mama Edosa had taken one look at her
and walked away. It had been days before she finally decided to speak to her about
Iyeke.
“Mama, you know I couldn’t
look at the child. Looking at her reminded me of the wrong her father did to me
and I couldn’t take it”. Ogochukwu replied.
“So why are you here?
You understand that her face has not changed and you will still experience the
same thing you did years ago”.
“I know. I thought
her father did me wrong years ago but it is actually something worse than death
itself and I have to warn her before she too falls into the same circumstances I
found myself”. Ogochukwu said.
“I guess you won’t
tell me this and I am not going to ask. Iyeke has not called for a week now but
I am not worried because she does call”.
“You don’t have her
phone number”?
“No, she calls with
so many numbers that I have lost count. You have to be patient, she does call”.
Ogochukwu used her hand
to support her chin. She really need to speak to her daughter. She knew she hadn’t
been a mother to this girl but this old woman would not deny that she didn’t get
all the gift items she sent to use in take care of the child. Her only wish was
that she want too late.
“Mama, did you for
once tell her about me? I mean her mother?” Ogochukwu asked with an unsure
voice.
“Which mother? As far
as that girl is concerned, her parents died in a car accident and I, her
grand-mother has been taking care of her”.
Tears poured down
Ogochukwu’s face and dropped on the sandy floor. She hoped she wasn’t too late.
**************************************************************************************
The sound of gunshots
startled her out of her sleep. Earlier, she had stomach cramps from not eating
for days and was already considering eating the food that the masked man had
dropped on the table. As she lay there deliberating, sleep came upon her and drifted
into a dreamless sleep that was surprising even for her.
She jumped off the
bed and ran to the slab and hid behind it. She knew it was stupid but at least
she could buy 5mins before they found and killed her.
Trembling, she
started praying frantically to God. She made all sorts of promises and waited
patiently for death.
She could still hear
the gunshots and noise. A man screamed, more gunshots and then there was total
silence. This was it, apart from getting married, she had a fulfilled life. She
asked God to forgive her of all her sins and she closed her eyes and waited.
She could hear doors
open and finally, the door to the room she was staying in opened. Suddenly the room
was flooded with lights then she heard a female voice calling out her name. The
voice was familiar but it couldn’t be. Slowly she came out of her hiding place
and was facing Emem.
Can't wait.
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