SAINTS AND SINNERS

The motorized stairs came to a stop underneath the open hatch of the airbus A321 plane, the name of the airline company were displayed boldly in blue italics on the fuselage, since the demise of the Nigerian national carrier in 2003, there had been a boom in the number of privately owned airlines in the country. This was the oldest in a fleet of three owned by a retired Senator and self proclaimed self made businessman; he had bought this particular aircraft from a Russian outfit looking to offload some of its older machines to make room for new ones. The others had followed after the huge success of the first. The condition of the fuselage belied the true age of the domestic airline, one only begun to see its true age by the condition of its interior; the worn seats and browning luggage hold were the first giveaways but the sound of the engine was good enough to fool even the most seasoned of travelers and most learned professionals in the field. The plane might be old but its owners treated it like a prized possession. Eager passengers scrambled out from the gate, luggage in tow, rushing to get to on the airplane not because it was final call but basically because it was the Nigerian way; people were always in a hurry to get nowhere, the plane wasn’t scheduled to leave for another thirty minutes but it looked like the passengers could not wait to be free of the automated atmosphere of the airport. The cabin was a alive with activity, passengers clamored to locate their seats and stow away their luggage, a burly man who looked to be in his early thirties was trying to force his small carry-on into the vacant space in the luggage hold just above, his potbelly hitting the young man seated below the luggage hold with each shove. A rancid smell wafted out from his sweaty armpit causing the passengers below to cringe in disgust. Unable to take the onslaught in his private space, the man said abruptly, “Oga e don do, make I help you.” An offer the burly man gratefully accepted and sauntered to his seat. “Gosh!! That man smells!” He exclaimed softly, pushing the bag into place. The girl seated beside him giggled. The engine of the plane continued to purr gently, under the noise of people trying to settle down with the hostesses doing their best to ensure calm in the confined space. Soon the electronic voice of the pilot came over the PAS, cool, calm and collected, reeling out pleasantries and assurances, it was followed by the equally beautiful voice of the Flight attendant, who went on a litany of air safety precautions, while a tall beautiful lady of about twenty five dressed in the white and orange colors of the airline, with jet black hair cascading down to her rib cage and a face fit for the runway stood at the end of the gangway bringing the Flight attendant’s words to life with hand gestures. The plane was soon taxiing down the runway, the tarmac disappearing under its vast wings; Lawrence watched the dizzying motion with fascination before turning his attention back to his girlfriend Rebecca, whose head was nestled in the crook of his neck. He studied the plane of her face, as the glimmering rays of the sun played on its flawless features, caressing them with its golden fingers. He stared in amazement at how after four years, he was still head over heels in love with her, he felt his breath catch in his throat, it was like looking at the rising sun’s reflection in the morning river in its shimmering beauty. They were going to get married as soon as they could; Rebecca’s father already had a job lined up for her at a multinational company, while he had an interview lined up with an NGO which had been arranged by the Irish priest, Father O’Connor on behalf of his widowed mother. The future did not look bad at all, they just had to maneuver past the second semester of their final year in the university and the one year compulsory youth service and they would go conquer the world, together. “You know people will start to think you are about to eat me.” Rebecca said cutting him out of his reverie. He chuckled, as she sat up to look at him. “I could feel you looking at me.” “What can I say, I enjoy looking at you.” “And I enjoy being the centre of your attention.” She nuzzled his neck and remained there. “Have you heard from Ice Man?” “Yea, I spoke to him right before we boarded, he will be waiting at the airport.” “It is really nice of him to invite us down to Calabar. I have always wanted to visit but have never being able to make up my mind about it.” “And me too.” Lawrence said unable to mask the excitement in his voice. She chuckled, punching him softly as she did. “I know why you are excited. Big head, you want to go ogle at those half naked girls at the carnival, I am going to rip your eyes out for the duration of the carnival.” Ever since the inaugural festival in 2004, Lawrence had wanted to catch the spectacle live but could never save enough to make the trip up to Calabar and so he kept procrastinating, until his friend and neighbor Isaac; popularly known as Ice Man invited him down and also paid for both his and Rebecca’s flight ticket, which Lawrence had thought was strange at first because Isaac was a thrift man but Isaac had told him that he had won a huge bet and wanted to spoil him a little for helping him out in the last examination. Convincing Rebecca to come with him was easy, they would spend a week in Calabar and then travel back to their respective hometowns to spend Christmas with their family. Rebecca’s parents had resisted at first, as expected, her father saw no sense in her frolicking with miscreants and lowlifes especially as the country was at its most trying times. But never one to deny his precious daughter anything, Engr. Daniel Eze had yielded on the condition that she stayed safe, was in good company and called as often as possible. Isaac had told them he would be waiting for them at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport and true to his words, he was there patiently waiting, a bottle of soda in his hands. He waved them over when he saw them and walked to meet them half way. “How was your trip?” He asked to no one in particular. “It was awesome man. Thanks once again for this.” Lawrence said vigorously shaking the other man’s hands. “Yes, thanks a lot for this, it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me in a while.” Rebecca said genuinely. She had never liked Isaac, something about him struck her as odd and she had let Lawrence know as much and had warned him as such. There were rumors that he was a member of a cult in school and when she had told her boyfriend about it, he had brushed it off and she had never brought it up again. Still she was always uncomfortable when he was around but tried not to show it but she always felt Isaac knew he did not like her and somehow knew the feeling was mutual, which was why she was plenty surprised when Lawrence had told her that Isaac had invited them for the holiday in Calabar. The capital of Cross River State; Calabar was a port city with a common border with Cameroon, rich with history, some of the older parts of the town still sport old British colonial architecture, including Henshaw Town, Duke Town and the water front area. One of Nigeria’s oldest churches; Duke Town Cathedral, whose roots go as far back as the 19th century was located in the city of Calabar. The city also boasts of a National Museum; which had memorabilia’s from the Nigerian civil war and the colonial era, a World War 1 Cenotaph, the Millennium Park and in another part of the state was the famous Obudu Cattle ranch. As the Uber taxi drifted through traffic, Lawrence intermittently took pictures with his phone, an excited smile carved permanently on his face, he had read a lot of literature about Calabar and was excited to finally visit. He had already made provisions for Rebecca and him to visit the Cattle Ranch, maybe even go on a tram ride across the vast green scenery he had always seen on the TV. He was mortified of heights but going on a tram ride was on his bucket list and what better time to tick it off than now? “I swear you are drooling right now.” Becca stated, bringing her daydreaming boyfriend back to earth, her voice rich with laughter. Lawrence smiled shyly, his dreamy eyes coming to rest on his girlfriend; he put a hand across her shoulder and drew her closer. His gaze lingered on the slender frame of his girlfriend before it moved to the other passengers; the driver and Isaac, who was unusually quiet and typing away at his phone. “Baba what are you doing?!” Lawrence asked peering over his friend’s shoulder. Isaac quickly pocketed his phone. “How far are we from our destination?” “Not far.” Isaac said offhandedly. “We should be there in less than ten minutes.” The driver concurred pointing to the phone propped up on the dashboard. True to his words, the Toyota Corolla pulled up in front of a sprawling, white, majestic work of architectural genius a few minutes later. A simple terrace detached duplex with gold colored cornice trim running around it, a French window that ran almost the length of one wall, gold rimmed columns and front steps, amazing outdoor and garden lighting, a PVC door was set into a pediment finish. “Whose house is this?” Rebecca asked. “It’s my uncle’s, he is out of the country and I have been using it in his absence.” “Wow, it is really beautiful. You have this all by yourself?!” Lawrence exclaimed, to which Ice Man snickered. “If you think it is beautiful on the outside, wait till you see what the interior looks like.” Ice Man He was not lying, the interior was heavenly; the exterior of the house belied its real size, boasting of five en-suite bedrooms and an ante room all with porcelain tiles. The staircase boasted of a marble finish with a wrought iron railing, the master bedroom, which Ice Man graciously gave to Rebecca and him, was fitted with a suspended WC and a Jacuzzi, a huge queen size bed that felt soft to touch and feel sat in the middle of the bed, its immediate surrounding covered in the softest carpet Lawrence had ever walked on. The room had three doors, to let you in, the other led to the bathroom and the other led into a walk in closet that Lawrence thought could have been best suited for use as a boutique instead. One wall had space for enough cloths to last a person two years without having to reuse any, the other side was lined with racks that could hold almost a hundred shoes and in between both walls, was a wall of mirror that went from the ceiling to the floor. The same carpet covered every inch of the floor. Rebecca, who was one never to get impressed, was overwhelmed and could not hide her surprise. “This guy sure knows how to live!” She exclaimed, her voice trembling with excitement. “Who did you say owned this place again?” Ice Man laughed and replied, “My Uncle.” A few seconds passed before he took his leave, so they could rest and prepare for a night of hard partying. When he was gone, Lawrence took Rebecca in his arms, his hand coming to rest on the small of her back, her slender frame pressing into his rigid form. He looked into her sparkly brown eyes and for a brief moment felt as if he was falling into them. “I can guarantee you before we leave here, you would be pregnant.” He joked. She shoved him away, hitting him playfully. “My dad will kill us both.” “Then I would gladly die.” He said, pulling her into his embrace again. Suddenly Rebecca’s face took on a more serious look. “What is it?” “What did Ice Man say his uncle did again?” He could hear the concern in her voice and had wondered too what a man who could build a house like this did for a living. “He probably is into Oil business or possible a politician, which would explain the opulence. But I will ask Ice next time I see him.” He felt her sigh into his chest, somehow he knew she was not convinced but that had to do for now. TBC

REGISTER @freshgirl @qeenvick @denciebabe @victoriouschild @jummybabe @frankkay @pearl @fridex @jerrie @john451 @pappyjay @c-roderick @cookey @isabella1 @sanctus4real @ryder @temmyluv @jacopet @wizy308 @coolval222-2 @itzprince @sabinto @bestabbey @pearlily @delexzy01 @luvlydamsel @hormortiyor @fb-mhizlilygold @elisco1453 @anachrist @fridex @royalgold and others come o

anoda new tori i dey gbam gbam

Nothing do you @bb9ja

Nice one bro, #following

Ride on ooo, dis story go make sense wey wey

Seated

I think Isaac has sometin bad up his sleeves

********* The building with the sign that read “Gemini” was pocketed between a shopping complex and another occupied by a telecommunication giant whose sign lit up the night’s sky; both buildings were quiet, dark and deserted now a contrast to a couple of hours before when both buildings were alive with activities, now they slept while Gemini played host to night revelers. Somehow it reminded Rebecca of the circle of life; whilst one child was born, someone, somewhere was dying. The nice air was crisp and cold; the sky was bathed in the luminescent glow of stars, the serenity of the night sky seemed a stark contrast to the buzz of the evening activities, it was a synergy of organized chaos, as the sounds of the traffic, people and night animals blended into one seamless noise. As they drew closer to Gemini, the muffled sound of music reached them, standing in front of the main entrance of the club five heavily built men dressed in black suits stood guard waiting to search those who wanted to enter, they turned away those who were not properly dressed, Ice Man told them. Rebecca felt self-conscious as they approached; Ice Man noticed and reassured her that she was Gemini worthy. “You see all those ladies standing along the road, they are not allowed into the premises because they are ladies of the night, plus you are with us, we’ve got you covered.” “I thought they were waiting for a taxi!” Rebecca exclaimed. Laughing, Ice Man asked, “All twenty something of them?! Don’t be naive. There will be a handful of them in the club; they let in just enough to add some spice to the place but not enough to taint the image of the establishment. You don’t want men grinding on each other do you?!” Lawrence and Rebecca laughed. “If you did not have a girlfriend, I would have hooked you up.” Ice Man said nonchalantly. Lawrence immediately wiped off the smirk on his face as Rebecca threw daggers at him with her eyes. He mouthed the word sorry to her and continued they continued the casual stroll towards the main entrance. The bouncers were nice and let them in without any fuss, when one of the bouncers pushed open the door at the bottom of the step, the sound of loud music and a chill breeze that was a mixture of human breath, tobacco and perfume hit them hard, they walked into the dimly lit room, Ice Man leading the way. All around them, people were feeding their cravings, while some danced, there were some who were perched in corners smoking cigarettes or hookah while nursing a drink, there were those also who engaged each other in conversations, Rebecca found herself wondering how they could hear themselves over the really loud music blasting from speakers hidden out of sight. The DJ whose booth was set high above the dance floor churned out popular tune after popular tune, the crowd letting their delight known each time he switched songs. Electric was the one word that best described the atmosphere and she was enjoying every moment of it. Before she met Lawrence, Rebecca could count on one hand the number of times she had been inside a club, it wasn’t because she was an introvert, far from it, and she was just not really attracted to the scene. She preferred the company of friends and acquaintances, yet still, she could name the clubs she had been to and the number of times she had been in them. Gemini just went into the list of clubs Rebecca Eze had being to, she thought wryly, as Ice Man led them into the VIP booth which was perched above the dance floor, giving its occupants a bird’s eye view of happenings below. Ice Man asked for a bottle of whiskey and proceeded to light a cigarette; another reason Rebecca did not like him, for someone named Ice Man, he sure breathed a lot of fire. He always wore the lingering smell of spent fumes, something that repulsed her at the beginning but had waned after a time. Their drink soon arrived and Rebecca poured herself a drink, which she nursed gently, while watching the people below dance and revel. A cool voice forced her to turn her attention to the VIP booth, standing just at the entrance of the booth, was a tall slender girl in a figure fitting sequined dress that stopped a few inches under the cuff of her buttocks, her full breast packed in an undersized bra causing it to appear even fuller, her slender hips ran into long gazelle like legs, ending in a flat soled shoe that looked like it cost a fortune. Seated above an equally slender neck was a pretty enough face, which she could not see given the poor lighting in the room. She walked casually to where Ice Man was seated and plopped down on his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Guys lemme introduce you to my lady, Loretta. Loretta these are my peeps.” He said with a swing of the hand. “Nice to meet you” Both Lawrence and Rebecca chorused, taking her surprisingly coarse hand one after the other in handshake. Loretta was a free spirit and easy to get along with and in no time was chatting with Becca and Lawrence like they had been long lost friends and pretty soon she had them dancing and belting out tunes along with music blaring from the speakers. Becca had not had this much fun in a while, she could not remember the last time she had danced this hard or this long, maybe it was probably because she was on her fifth cup of whiskey. She ground against Lawrence, who was only too happy to respond in kind. “Where your phone, lemme take a picture of you and Lawrence?” Isaac offered. “Here it is.” Becca said pulling it out of the pocket of her figure fitting jeans. They struck pose after pose while Ice Man clicked away, Loretta joined in too, striking playful poses as her man snapped away. “Loretta, here take the phone and take some pictures of me and them.” “Okay.” She said and reached for the phone. It happened in a flash, just as her fingers were closing in around the phone, it dropped into the ice bucket. Ice Man clumsily tried to fish it out and finally succeeded. “I am so sorry.” He blurted out. “It does not matter,” Rebecca said taking the phone from him and trying to drain out as much water as possible. She could not remove her battery as this phone’s came, inbuilt. After a while of trying, she flung the phone aside and went back to dancing with Lawrence. The phone soon relegated to the back of her mind. The rest of the night went by in a blur, the next thing she remembered was waking up next to Lawrence at the mansion fully clothed, her temple was pounding and her mouth was completely parched. “What happened last night?” She searched herself and could not find her phone, panic rising; her eyes perused the room till it fell on her phone resting on the nightstand. She retrieved it and tried to turn it on to no avail. “What happened to my phone? It wouldn’t not turn on” Her panicked voice rising as she shook Lawrence. “Eh…” Lawrence opened his eyes and shut it again against the glare of the morning light. “What is it?” “My phone has refused to turn on!” “Oh that,” Lawrence sat up, “don’t you remember? It fell into the ice bucket at the club last night.” “When, how, who dropped it in the water?” “While Ice Man was using it to take pictures, it slipped and fell into the ice bucket. In fact you told him to forget about it and flung it aside. I picked it up and brought it home.” She was now perched at the edge of the huge mattress, her face a display of befuddlement, trying to recall the night before, her head hurt her more at the effort. “I should never have drunk so much alcohol. My parents would start to panic when they can’t reach me on the phone.” She said worried. “Come here,” Lawrence said lifting the blanket. “Ice Man left to go get you a new phone, we would get a new SIM later in the day, and in the meantime we can use my phone to talk to your folks.” “Aw, thanks babe. You are the best and it is mighty nice of Ice Man to offer to get me another phone.” “He wouldn’t have to if you had heeded my advice and gotten a smaller phone, so you never get to be offline.” “Gerout jor!!” She said turning playful from him, making sure her butt was pressed to his crotch. Lawrence’s hand snaked its way up her body and came to rest on her breast. “What are you doing?” She asked, pulling away from him. “Making you feel better.” He replied, his hand continuing its lazy journey into her blouse until it found flesh. She sighed as his hands fondled her breasts, slowly; she turned to face him, allowing him to cover her lips with his, her headache beginning to ebb, her phone, once again forgotten. She moaned as his wandering hands continue to traverse the vast expanse of her body. Lawrence was a great kisser and his kisses always left her light headed and breathless but she did not want him to stop, she pulled him closer, wishing they could fuse and become one. They were in the throe of passion when a knock sounded on the door, interrupting them. Iceman poked his head out of the side of the door. “Good morning guys.” He noticed Becca’s undone blouse and the flush of her face. “Did I interrupt something?” He asked with a grin. “Good morning, did you get the phone?” Lawrence asked with a growl. “Yes, I placed an order for it; it should be here by noon.” “Thank you Ice Man for offering to buy me a new phone, I really appreciate it.” “It no problem, after all it was I who dropped it in water.” “But still….” “No worry, money dey, I dey expect better money soon. How much be phone?” He laughed.

REGISTER @freshgirl @qeenvick @denciebabe @victoriouschild @jummybabe @frankkay @pearl @fridex @jerrie @john451 @pappyjay @c-roderick @cookey @isabella1 @sanctus4real @ryder @temmyluv @jacopet @wizy308 @coolval222-2 @itzprince @sabinto @bestabbey @pearlily @delexzy01 @luvlydamsel @hormortiyor @fb-mhizlilygold @elisco1453 @anachrist @fridex @royalgold and others come o.

“….mommy Rebecca’s number is still not going through.” Isabella called out to her mother who was busy in kitchen making lunch. “Keep trying, it is probably the network.” She replied as she poured freshly cut onion rings in the simmering oil. Isabella was like her father, they both worried too much, even the littlest things unsettled them. Isabella was fourteen but already a first class worrier, when her dress did not match her shoes, she worried, when she wrote an exam, she worried. Mrs. Eze poked her head out of the kitchen and found her youngest daughter pacing the floor and fretting with her phone; her age mates would be making the most of the Christmas holiday but not Isabella, instead of catching up with friends and favorite TV shows, she had been cooped up indoors worrying about her big sister. A smile broke out across Mrs. Eze’s face, she wished her younger sister had looked at her with half the admiration Isabella did her big sister, instead they had been cat and dog, always at each other’s throat, her poor mother; God bless her soul, had had quite a tumultuous task separating them. It got so bad; they had to send her away to live with relatives. Despite how long ago that had been, her sister and her still did not get along well but they had learnt to manage their relationship. Catherine Eze figured it was probably because her sister and she had just a year between them unlike Rebecca and Isabella, who had twelve. Isabella had been what she and her husband called a “mistake”, it had just happened after they had put paid on having more kids. The moment she had walked through the door Rebecca had taken an instant liking to baby Isabella and it seemed to be mutual, Isabella would be crying on top of her lungs and the instant twelve year old Becca picked her up, she would stop immediately. When she was three, she would always insist on sleeping in same bed as her big sister, where there was Becca, there was always the pitter patter of Bella’s little feet. And Rebecca was always happy to play big sister and enjoyed doing it, it was she who taught her little sister to wear a makeup, she would play Barbie with her even till her teen ages, so it was no surprise that no one cried the hardest when Rebecca had to leave for boarding school and then the university. Their grandmother had always remarked that they were twins born several years apart; they did both bear a striking resemblance to each other, they truly would have passed for twins if their age difference wasn’t so different. “Bia Isabella Chiamaka Eze, drop that phone and come help me in the kitchen.” Mrs Catherine Eze called out from the kitchen. “But mom, I am trying to reach Becks all morning, why are you not worried?” “Because I have your dad and you to do that for me,” She replied playful, “oya bia nyem aka osiso! (come and give a hand), your sister will call you when she is ready.” “But she never misses a call!” “Nne your sister is safe, I know it.” “How do you know mommy?” “A mother knows these things, put that phone aside and come help your mother.” “Yes ma.” She said begrudgingly. Breakfast was almost done when her husband burst into the kitchen, bearing his phone, his face a cascade of concern. “Have you seen this?” He said, his voice trembling a bit. “Seen what?” His wife asked, wiping her hand on the kitchen towel before taking the phone. She did a double take before handing the phone back to her husband. “Did you try the number?!” She whispered, her heart beating fast against her chest, causing her to lose her breath. “Isa, go to your room.” Her father barked. “What did I do now?” She grumbled under her voice as she left her parents. “Have you called the number?!” Catherine asked apprehensive “It is ringing but no one is picking up.” Catherine could not help but notice how calm her husband was. She took the phone and read the text again; “We have your daughter, we will contact you for further information. Call the police and she dies.” She felt faint all of a sudden and went to lean on the kitchen sink. “Are you alright?!” Mr. Raymond Eze asked coming to stand by his wife. “How can I be alright, my daughter has just kidnapped and you ask if I am alright?! I am not alright Raymond; I am going out of my mind!” “Her number is switched off, tried it several times after I got the text.” “I know, Isabella has been trying it all morning!” She instantly regretted scolding Isabella earlier. “Jesus!! I swear I kept hoping this was some sort of joke, that I would wake up and find out it was a dream. I should never have allowed her go to that stupid carnival!” “Do not blame yourself, it was always fated to happen.” Catherine said soothingly to her husband. “I have called Emeka….” “You did what?! The text clearly said not to call the police. I swear to God, if anything happens to my daughter….” She left the last part to his imagination. “Nne, you know we have to involve the police, these people might not release our dear Rebecca even after we pay, so it is best we involve the law, so they can help find her even before we pay.” That seemed to pacify his wife a bit. “Okay.” ******* The carpet felt lush under her feet, she lifted herself off the edge of the bed and walked to the huge mirror on the nightstand, she cracked a smile and her naked reflection smiled back and all of a sudden she felt self conscious, she looked around the room for any form of clothing and grabbed her boyfriend’s shirt, the material felt smooth caressing her naked body. Her boyfriend was still in bed snoring softly, she smiled knowing she had worn him out; actually they had worn each other out but who was counting. She needed something to drink, eat and to call home as soon as possible, she had not called home since they landed and knowing her folks they would be worried sick, especially her cute faced little sister. She suddenly wished she was home. She walked over to the bedside drawer where Lawrence’s phone was lying and picked it up, battery was dead! The silly boy had been playing games on it all day. Where was the damned charger? She thought to herself as she rummaged through his luggage, when she couldn’t find it, she went downstairs to get something to eat. “Where the heck is Isaac by the way, it is already past noon and the phone isn’t here yet, my old phone is nowhere to be found, at least lemme try and see if my SIM still works!” She grumbled as she walked across the marbled floor to the oak door leading to the kitchen. When she got back upstairs Lawrence was already up. “There is indomie downstairs if you want to eat. By the way, where is Isaac, he promised he would have my new phone here by noon, but it is almost past noon and he is nowhere to be found!” “You know how Isaac is, he is never one to seat still for more than a minute, he probably is somewhere doing God knows what.” Lawrence said with a stiff yawn. “On another note, the carnival does not start for a few days, I have arranged for us to visit the famous Obudu cattle ranch.” Her face lit up. “I have booked us a room for two nights, we can go for a ride on the cable car, catch the sights before the main event. Pack a few things, we live in a few hours.” “Babe, from where did you get the money for this?!” She asked her voice carrying a storm of concern. “I have saved for this moment for a long time; I want to make it special for you.” He pulled her into his embrace. “Babe, you do not need to spend a dime to impress me, I love you just the way you are. That money would have been best used for something important. All these are not important to me, just you.” “You are important to me, so the money was put to good use.” He kissed her firmly. “Lemme go shower, I will eat when I come, then we move.” ******* The voice sounded strange, like the speaker was speaking into an empty cup, it was obvious he was trying to disguise their voice. “….can you hear me?” It was asking. “Yes I can.” Mr. Eze said, moving the phone to the other ear. “If you ever want to see your daughter again, you would need ten million to secure her freedom.” Mr. Eze hated not being able to gauge the emotion of the speaker; he or she appeared calm and confident. “Ten million is a load of money sir,” For all he knew, the caller was fifteen and he had just called him sir. Well to hell with that, he would beg and grovel, if he needed to just as long as he got his daughter back, unharmed, “where am I to find ten million in the short time you have given me?” “Stupidity does not suit you Engineer Ifeanyichukwu Anthony Eze, you are worth ten times that amount and even if you weren’t; your extended family is so rich that if they all pooled their pocket change together they would more than raise that money in twenty minutes.” These people had done their research. “How do I know my daughter is still alive? I need proof of life.” “You will.” The line went dead immediately. “What did he say nna?!” His teary eyed wife asked. All she had done all day long was cry her eyes out; the meal she had been making sat cold in the pot, untouched. Isabella had been sent to stay at a relative’s till everything was sorted out, she did not need to be privy to the gory details. Her husband’s cousin; Emeka, who was a senior police officer had been contacted earlier and asked to be kept abreast of the situation, he had already sent plain police details to the area, to keep an eye on the Eze house and monitor it for suspicious behavior. He had had all their phones tapped, so he and his tech guys would be able to trace the caller. He was certain they would be able to capture the criminals in no time; they just had to act fast. Mr. Eze’s phone rang again and this time it was his cousin at the other end. “Any news?” He asked apprehensively. “The call was traced to Amikwo, here in Awka, we have men combing the area now but the SIM was unregistered and thus we could not find the user. But I have my tech guys communicating with the network provider to know who sold that SIM, as a rule, all SIMs must be registered. So my brother wey tuo obi (calm down), we will get them. I promise you that.” “Oh my brother, I have heard you.” When he hung up, he felt considerably calmer and more confident that they would catch the perpetrators of this heinous crime. As he relayed the contents of his conversation with Emeka, he could not help but notice how much lighter he felt relating his cousin’s progress to his wife. She swallowed every detail up, urging him to repeat when he was too fast and he obliged because that was her way of coping with what must be a traumatic experience for her, as it was for him. ******* The caller discarded the SIM, fixed a new one and punched the screen a couple of times and brought it to his ears. “Hello, he wants a proof of life….yes….a video or picture would do. Make it believable.” He hung up, shoved the phone into his pocket and hailed a taxi.

REGISTER @freshgirl @qeenvick @denciebabe @victoriouschild @jummybabe @frankkay @pearl @fridex @jerrie @john451 @pappyjay @c-roderick @cookey @isabella1 @sanctus4real @ryder @temmyluv @jacopet @wizy308 @coolval222-2 @itzprince @sabinto @bestabbey @pearlily @delexzy01 @luvlydamsel @hormortiyor @fb-mhizlilygold @elisco1453 @anachrist @fridex @royalgold and others come o..

@hormortiyor @jummybabe @frankkay what should I do so that you guys will be adding my stories to the updated stories page?

@itzprince, but it was added when you posted Episode 2. But no worries. It will be added

Members don't just wanna comment

@hormortiyor check it na since I posted episode 3 it has not been added.. Even THE UNEXPECTED and ESCAPE FROM THE SHADOWS. Its been two days now

Apologies tendered pls

Just post a new episode/chapter of each story and you are gonna see it added and followed up.

Thanks for your contribution

well apologies will be accepted when the change is effected @hormortiyor

No qualms. The boss is aware

@coolval222-2

nicf story u got here

The phrase God is good never made more sense than it did now; the scene before them was picture perfect, a blend of man’s artistry and nature’s wonders. The winding roads were woven with such serpentine dexterity into the lush green of the hills, thick mists rising at the peaks, giving the landscape a surreal appearance. The air was chilly; she had to fold her hand across her chest to ward it off, she watched as the taxi drifted off into the distance, she suddenly felt scared, as if she was being left behind, eerily it reminded her of her first day in boarding school, watching her father drive off, leaving her alone and in the care strangers, she had had a torrid time in boarding school and had last just six terms, six long and hard terms. “Are you cold? Oya come here.” Lawrence said rubbing her hands. “We should go find our hotel room, before you freeze to death.” The bellboy was a tall, chatty, pimply faced kid of about twenty; he said his name was Stanley and was only working at the hotel until school resumes, so he could have money to flex. Rebecca could not help but think he was remarkably handsome and had a smile that showcased his pearl white teeth; a lady killer, this one. The hotel’s white and black uniform fit snuggly on his slim frame and was tucked into shiny brown boots; he carried their luggage on either hand as he led them to their room. When he got there, he opened the door and ushered them in. “Welcome to your humble abode.” He flashed his smile again, while he curtsied, both Rebecca and Lawrence. “I think someone likes you.” Lawrence whispered to his girlfriend. “Has anyone told you how much you look like the actress Linda Ejiofor?” Stanley asked as an afterthought on his way to the door. Rebecca had heard that so many times, she had lost count, Isabella had first mentioned it to her and had put her on the trail of said actress and they did share certain physical features but where the actress was pretty light skinned, she was a perfect tan, she was certain she was a foot or two taller than the actress. And she was better looking, was what she would have said but stopped herself before the words formed on her lips. She flashed the bellboy a smile. “Can I take a picture with you, so I can show off a bit?” Stanley asked politely. The last thing Linda wanted to do was take a picture, what she craved was a long, warm bath and a long nap. But she begrudgingly agreed. The excited boy gave his phone, which was a high end Asian product to Lawrence to capture the moment, picture taken, the boy bade them good bye and left. “Finally, I thought he would never leave!” Rebecca exclaimed, lying down on the bed. “You should treat your fans better, Ms. Celebrity.” Lawrence chuckled. “I will give you a few minutes to rest, we can’t waste a moment in this room, there are tons of sights to take in and I want to go for a ride in the cable car.” He said excitedly. “Please, I wan just sleep, abeg!” She said in mock plea. “No way, twenty minutes is all you get, it’s getting dark.” ”Yes sir.” When she saw the picture, Catherine let out a heart wrenching cry; the picture had been a confirmation that she was not having a nightmare after all, this was really happening to her, her daughter was probably being held in a dingy room and God knows what her captors were doing to her, who is to say that she would be released if the ransom was paid? She had heard of cases where the captives were killed despite their captors getting the ransom on time. She quickly shook such negative thought out of her head, this was not going to be her lot, and her daughter was going to come home safe, she had to believe that. Her pastor had said that she must pray and only think positive thoughts. But it was getting harder to stay positive, as seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours, the only lead the police had, turned out to be a bust, they no longer had a location on the SIM that had called them; in fact it had been deactivated. They had started to run a trace on the number that sent the picture but the police had told them not to expect much because like the other one, this one too was not registered. Both were part of a bulk that was reported stolen a couple of weeks ago from a registered distributor of said SIM. The police had issued a warrant to the telecommunication company to block all SIM from the stolen batch and they had been only too glad to help but they knew that would not stop the perpetrators. Catherine Eze looked at the picture of her daughter again, she looked so frail, so tired, so scared, she ran a finger gently across the screen of the phone, as if somehow her daughter would feel that even in her darkness moments, she had her mother’s love. She left the living room before the tears welling in her eyes came to fore. “Nwannem (my brother), do not worry, we are currently doing everything in our powers to ensure the safe return of my niece, I promise you that no harm will come her way.” Even as those words left his lips, he knew he should not make promises over something he had no power over but it could not be helped, the sight of his cousin and sister in-law looking drained of spirit had prompted it. He could only imagine the torment they were going through, moments before Catherine had gone in teary eyed trying to be brave, her husband on the other hand looked worn and kept staring at the floor and sighing. “Why haven’t they called with their demands? It has been an hour since they sent that picture.” Mr. Gregory Eze asked looking forlorn. “They will call.” “Bros, police full here, they dey inside the house, them dey roam the streets with mufti.” The man spat into the phone. The voice at the other end said, “That was to be expected, I would have been disappointed if he did not call the police. Like I said, keep an eye out, lemme know when something suspicious happens.” “Okay, I will do that.” With that, he put the phone in his pocket and blended in with the dusk traffic. A pretty somber atmosphere hung in the hitherto cozy living room, the expensive décor did nothing to lighten the mood, as everyone in it sat with their heads hung; Emeka on the other hand was pacing holes into the tiled floor, his hands clasped behind his back. Then suddenly the phone that had been sitting idly on the tampered glass top, vibrated into life, its shrill ringtone filling the empty, soulless vacuum in the house. No name, just digits, Emeka noticed as his cousin brought the phone to his ear. “Hello?” There was a long silence, only the static came over the speakers that the phone was connected to. “I explicitly said no police, the ransom has been increased to twenty million and if you want to test my patience again, I would seriously not recommend that. I will call you by noon tomorrow with more instruction.” The phone went dead.

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His hands shock terribly, his vision became blurry, a sharp pain bit him unrelentingly underneath his armpit, he lowered himself to the seat but the pain did not subside, his hands felt wobbly, he could not hold on to the phone in his hand, it dropped to the floor with a clatter, it felt like a horse had kicked him in the chest, he grabbed at the pain but it did nothing to pacify it. He could hear his name but it sounded as though it was coming from the far end of the tunnel, he was aware of the raucous around him as his vision began to blur and fade, till it turned black. ******* From the balcony of the two storey building, he had a clear sight of the building in front of him, it was a bunch of office buildings, the one he was seated in front of was a cyber café, no one was going to worry about a guy leaning on the railing smoking cigarette but he did well to keep out of sight, better safe than sorry. He had signed up a week earlier to learn photo-shopping and video editing and had paid a hefty fee for it but in truth, it was the perfect excuse to be at the café everyday and every opportunity he got. A smile split his lips and his hand hung midair with the cigarette, he had learnt Photoshop and video years ago and was very adept at it, in fact that was how he earned his living but what cracked him up was having to seat for four hours every day listening to a quack give him a half baked lecture about editing tools, using outdated applications on an outdated computer system. He joked that the computer OS must have been a Pentium One; it was little wonder that it spent most of the time frozen, then the hack would have them copy notes. Notes! Who copied notes for a subject that required ninety five percent practical and five percent writing? The owner of the café, a soft spoken, lanky young man in his mid thirties who liked to be called Sparkles, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but running an ailing business, once running an internet café had been big business but not anymore, the emergence of GSM and cheap internet had made access to information easier. Today cyber cafes were considered dinosaurs trying to stay relevant, they had slowly morphed into business centers, opting to do more photocopying and printing as people who walked through the door seeking to use the internet grew smaller and smaller. He sucked hard on the butt of the stick in his hand and blew out a thick cloud of smoke, suddenly something caught his attention in the building across the road, first it had been what seemed like the guttural cry of a woman, and this was followed closely by scampering of people in the compound. The next instant, the gate was thrown open and a car flew threw it. He flung his cigarette and dashed downstairs. “Hello, yes, a car just left the house, yes, I will try to make inquiries and get back to you. Okay, thank you.” Minutes later he found himself in a vast compound and he walked into it. The place reeked of disinfectants and something sinister; sickness with a tinge of death, he really hated hospitals, he always shirked any opportunity of visiting them, somehow he felt that whatever sickness lurked therein will infect him and that would mean taking medications or worst still; injection. Those were the worst. There were about ten people waiting in the large reception when he walked in, some looked sickly, the others he figured had come to visit their loved ones. He stood surveying them and trying to figure out his next move. Going from room to room was bound to raise suspicion, so he decided to go with option B; ask the receptionist. The receptionist was scribbling furiously on the paper in front of her, barely aware of the people around her, once in a while the intercom would ring and she’d pick up and go on to answer in the affirmative and then hang up and go back to writing. “Good morning ma.” He said when he walked up to the desk. “Good morning.” She replied, looking up at him. When she looked up, he realized that she was no older than twenty-four and hoped calling her ma would not have made her feel offended. She had a pretty, oval face on which were set two sets of curious eyes, a pointy nose and very thin lips that had been painted in a pink coat of lipstick. Despite this, she wore a straight, unsmiling face, a typical nurse’s face, blank and emotionless. “My name is Chuka, my uncle was brought here earlier, please what room is he in. I have been trying my aunt’s number and have been unable to connect; can you direct me to his room?” “Who is your uncle?” She asked, her eyes never leaving his, which made him very uncomfortable. “Engineer Eze, he was brought in here around 2 PM.” She fiddled with the keyboard in front of her for a moment before returning her gaze to him. “He is in the West Wing of the hospital, room 105.” “Thanks a lot for your help. How do I get to the West Wing?” “Go back the way you came in, follow the path way on your right, at the T-junction, continue to your right, the West Wing is the huge building in front of you; you can’t miss it.” “Thanks again.” And with that he disappeared out the door. It surprised him the number of people at the hospital, there were more than a three dozen cars in the parking lot to his left and he knew that was not the only parking space at the hospital, there was also twice that number of people roaming the hospital, all these people can’t all be having health issues, he found himself asking. Hospitals reminded him always of the mortality of man, you spend your days working hard, trying to make ends meet, one day you fall ill and they say it’s cancer or some incurable disease and then you die and other people get to get fat off of your sweat. He felt a chill course down his spine; he could not wait to leave this hospital behind. The West Wing loomed in front of him like a phoenix, big and resplendent, covering area of about 80 x 80 feet, it was a building of about three storey, painted the same white as the rest of the hospital with crimson beams and lintel, its well manicured lawn and flower screamed “rich people” and unlike the wing he had come from, this place had a lighter traffic and its parking lot was almost empty. Its automated door parted into a pristine white, air conditioned lobby, the white color of the wall flowed into the white tile that covered the entire floor. Against a corner by the door that led to the various was a glass desk and behind sat another pretty nurse but this one looked out of place here, she looked like she should be walking the runway somewhere wearing designers and strutting her stuff. The frosted glass of the desk prevented him from looking beyond her neck, too bad; he would have liked to see more of her. “Good day, how do I get to Room 105?” “Who are you here to see?” “My uncle, he was brought in here not more than an hour ago.” The nurse looked at him skeptically, and then turned to her computer and a few seconds later turned back to him. “Two patients were brought in here within the time period you said but they are both not allowed visitors, so I am sorry, you cannot see him.” She said firmly. “I see.” He said disappointed and as an afterthought, “but can I ask how he is?” “Who did you say your uncle was again?” “Eze, Ifeanyichukwu Eze.” She consulted her computer again. “Mr. Eze, 50 years, brought in with a mild cardiac arrest, in stable condition now but would be bedridden for a few days.” She said. “I really appreciate this; my dad would really love to hear that. Thanks a lot.” As he spoke, he noticed Mrs. Eze walking towards the lobby, she must not see him, he immediately brought his phone to his ears, pretending to take a call. “Sorry, I have to take this.” And immediately made a hasty exit, as he stepped through the door, he could hear the other door open and the shuffle of feet follow it, just as the automated door was shutting. As soon as he was in the sun, he broke into quick strides, determined to put as much distance between him and the West Wing. He heard their voices before he saw them, three heavily armed policemen following in his trail and calling for him to stop, he broke into a run, eager to get to the taxi that was waiting for him at the gates, good thing he had chosen to let the driver park outside. He ran faster as soon as the taxi came into view, jumping in as soon as he was near it and screamed to the driver to drive off. When he looked back, the policemen were disappearing like specks into the horizon, phew that was close. Time to break the bad news to his bosses ****** He hated elevators, he hated air flights, yet he did not know why he thought being in a cable car would be any different. It had being exciting at first, when he could still see the ground below but as soon as the cable gained more height, he became apprehensive and his breath started coming in quick successions, the ground below looked like a bottomless pit of mist and greenery, if he wasn’t so scared out of his mind, he would have taken time to appreciate how in the midst of the corruption and garbage that was rife in the country, there was still a place still mostly untouched by man and basking in its natural glory. From up here everything seemed so small, so different, like the trees he had seen from the Airport before takeoff, they looked like broccolis from up here, he found himself thinking that if people took time off their problems to look at them from a bird’s eye view, they’d realize how little they were compared to everything else going on around them. Somehow he began to feel better, his thoughts beginning to wander to other matters that didn’t involve the cable snapping and the car plunging down hundreds of feet to their deaths. Rebecca covered his hands in hers, forcing him to look at her, why was he worrying? She was here; his own guardian angel, nothing would happen to him while she was around. She flashed him a smile and his heart beat quickened again, why did he love this woman so? “I love you.” He heard himself saying. “I love you too.” She replied, surprised he had said that out loud, given his reservation for public display of affection. The other couple in the car with them; Europeans by the looks of them, flashed them a smile and a knowing nod. The wife, a woman in her seventies chuckled and looked up at her husband, whose attention had returned to the scenery. “You remind me a bit of myself.” She said with a thick German accent. Rebecca smiled. “We met when we were about your age and we have been together ever since. Enjoy it while it lasts,” she pointed to Lawrence, “soon they would be too occupied with trees and fine landscaping to notice you.” She added playfully. “Come Hannah, you know I will always notice you.” Her husband said in a husky voice and planted a kiss on her lips. She turned a bright red and snuggled closer to her husband. “He moved to Nigeria in 1998 and I came to join him in 2010 after the last of our kids left home, we have four, those twelve years in between were really hard and despite the fact he shuttled between Bremen and Lagos, it wasn’t easy especially for the kids. One time, in maybe 2003, the whole family spent about nine months in Lagos, that time I did not appreciate Nigeria as I do now.” She smiled her mind wandering. “Now I don tey for here.” She added in manageable pidgin causing everyone to break into a fit of laughter. The rest of the ride she talked of her love of the Nigerian culture and food, she had a particular liking for jollof rice and egusi soup, they had visited more than twenty states in Nigeria since her husband retired years ago, Rivers was another check on their list of places to visit before they finally returned to their home country. When the cable car journey ended, Hans and Hannah asked them to join them for dinner, which they readily accepted. Dinner was filled with laughter and beautiful conversation about the past and future, Hannah was full of questions about the young couple’s relationship which Hans kept apologizing for, but in truth they did not mind answering. She offered relationship tips to then and told them not to give up, no matter how difficult it got, citing her relationship with Hans. The highlight of the evening had been when she asked them about sex and her poor husband almost choked on his wine. “Hannah! That is enough, you have put the kids through enough as it is.” He reprimanded her softly. The older woman gave a throaty laugh and soon enough her husband joined her, before long the table was abuzz with laughter. Rebecca was telling them about her plans after she graduated when his phone rang; he excused himself and moved away from the table, after a brief moment, he returned. “I am sorry, but we have to call it a night.” Lawrence announced suddenly. “Aw, so soon?” The older woman exclaimed, “I was hoping you would stay a little longer, it has been fun having another company other than this old man.” “Well this old man is off to bed.” Hans said getting up, he extended a hand to both Lawrence, which they took, one after the other, “It has been a pleasure, I hope someday you can visit Germany, look us up.” He thrust a card into Larry’s hand. “Uh, that would be lovely ja?” Hannah added with glee. “Thank you for a lovely evening Mr. and Mrs. Fischer” “It’s a pleasure. Good night.” “Why did we have to leave so early?!” Rebecca asked when they were out of earshot. “Ice Man is here.” Hopefully, with her new phone and SIM card, she thought. Her parents would be worried sick; Isabella would probably be pulling her hair out now. She picked up pace eager to reach Isaac, sooner rather than later. “Where is he?” “At the lobby.” ******* While he waited in the cool lobby of the hotel, his phone vibrated in his pocket, he went outside to answer it, this was one conversation, no one else should be privy to. “Hello?” “Hello, Coach.” It was Evans on the line. “How far, so wetin be the latest?” “Omo the man dey hospital oh and them say he go dey bed rest for a few days and that go scatter our plans oh!” “Nothing changes, we go on as planned, tomorrow I will call and demand for the ransom, you and the guys be prepared to move at anytime. I will call with the location of the drop when I have it.” “Coach!!” he hailed and hung up.

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Hmmmm,,,, I think dia is sometin up dat ice man sleeves

It had been over an hour and she still hadn’t been able to get through to her parents, she had used both Lawrence and her phone and still was not able to connect and she was getting frustrated. Each time it would seem like it was about to connect and then the line went dead, she thought it was her phone but when Lawrence’s did the same thing she just about gave up. She tried texting and it kept failing to deliver, even the bloody wifi in the hotel would not connect, she had called the reception and they said there was no problem with the wifi, so it must be her damned phone. She pushed it aside, eager to push away every thought of her inability to connect with her loved ones; it was so frustrating. The phone Isaac had gotten her was twice as expensive and twice as stupid as the one she had before, she had wanted to refuse it; because she hated to be indebted to anyone especially Isaac but he had insisted she accept it as a gift and penance, she gave in when Lawrence coaxed her into accepting it, now as she looked at the fancy gadget perched at the corner of the dresser, she wished she had resisted and accepted a simpler phone. “Becca your parents are fine, stop being such a mommy’s pet and come over to the bed, it’s getting late and you know tomorrow is packed full of activities.” “I have half a mind to call a cab right and head on home; I would feel so much at ease if I can only hear Isabella’s voice, just to know if she is alright. Right now, my heart feels like I lost someone.” Lawrence heaved a sigh. Women, he thought, always worrying about the littlest things, he got out of bed and went to sit with her at the dresser. He put a hand across her shoulder and she leaned in. “They are all alright and you are worrying your forehead into a knot because that is what you do. I promise you, tomorrow, we will find a means to get across to your folks, even if it means knocking down all the doors in Cross River to get a damned phone that works. It is the network; you know how it gets during this time of the year?” She felt a little bit better, but deep down she still felt something was wrong and knew only the voice of her parents or either of her siblings would set that feeling, still she followed her boyfriend when he pulled her towards the bed, tucked her in and turned off the light and somehow her worries seemed to go to sleep too. There would be ample time to worry tomorrow, she thought as the dark hands of sleep embraced her. ***** Thick smoke bellowed from his pursed lips and dissipated into thin air as it made its ascent towards the POP ceiling, the air conditioned room was at least eighteen degrees, yet he sat naked from the waist up, his mind occupied with thoughts that far outweighed the cold. Isaac had known for a long time that he was not destined to make it in life the right way, he was not the clichéd good boy turned bad or poor boy hustling any which way to make ends meet, in fact he came from a very wealthy family, so wealthy even that his father had disowned him because his wayward ways were threatening to tarnish the pristine image, he had spent years and fortune creating. His father was good with numbers, his older brother was good with people, their only sister was a medical doctor, his younger brother was on his way to becoming a practicing lawyer, yet Isaac had been stuck seven years in the university reading a four year course. Education was not his calling, he had told his father that much but the old man would not listen; he was not going to have a half baked literate in his home, he had told Isaac several times. Isaac had his father’s penchant for numbers and his brother; Albert’s finesse with people and had wanted a little money to travel abroad and get into the import and export business but his father had insisted that he must first finish school before he started to nurse any such thought. His first dance with crime was in his first year in the university, he had walked into his father’s room on an errand and happened upon his cheque book, he tore out three slips, from in between the sleeves, so that only a keen eye would notice the discrepancies with the serial numbers. Forging his father’s signature had been easy; needless to say his first year was glorious, since the guys and girls flocked around the one with the biggest wad in his pocket. Since he could not depend on the chance that his father would leave his cheque book unguarded again, he sorts other means to fuel his lavish lifestyle. It was during this period that he had been introduced to the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, where he met a lot of people of like mind and drive; rules were wasted on them and they were all on a fast lane to life. At this point his education began to suffer, while others were in school, he and his friends would be at the bar drinking beer and making trouble, even when he did go to school, he always ended up at the back which was always reserved for the NAS (Non Academic Students); students who weren’t actually considered students by their peers, because they only appeared during tests and exams. For a while he got by on his pocket money and what he “obtained” from other students but when the schools anti-cult began to clamp down on cult activities within the campus and its environs, “obtaining” became difficult and after four years, money stopped coming from home as his folks believed he had graduated, even though they did not see any evidence to that effect, still his father had cut him off. Internet scam became his most viable source of income, it was rife amongst students at the time, the universities were filled with students with questionable source of income, who drove flashy cars and lived luxurious lives. At first it had only being targeting vulnerable older women while posing as foreigners working overseas, the profiles they created to gain access to these women; were usually invented and beautifully crafted or stolen from other social media sites, and were so water tight, that even if a skeptic were to dig, they would not find much, unless they were the FBI or Interpol. They would first begin with small talk and getting to know each other and what they did for a living, where they resided and the likes, then they would arrange a date for when he “got back in four months from his post as an engineer in Africa” helping to build one of the continent’s longest bridge to make up for keeping her waiting, a “small gift” usually jewelry bought with stolen credit cards and the location of the goods bought were rerouted electronically, so many times that authorities lost track of them. Over time he would buy clothes, shoes and anything else that would tickle the fancy of the mark, all these was done to gain her confidence. Then on the day he would have had to arrive, he would call his mark that he had been robbed by the taxi he had taken to the airport and was now stranded and needed just a few dollars for his flight, hotel and a new phone with a promise of payment on arrival, since he has spent over a thousand dollars on her, his mark would have no qualms sending him two thousand dollars which amounted to about four hundred Nigerian naira; usually a Yahoo boy had more than one mark, some worked out, others didn’t but if three out of five paid that was about one point two million, a lot of money for a student. Once payment was made, the point man was scrubbed out of existence and a fresh one created. But even “magas”; a term they used for their marks, would not be magas forever and soon the internet love scam began to wane in popularity and they delved into hacking and ATM card splicing which was even more popular and lucrative, even though it required more work. Isaac found himself thinking of the first time he had conceived this kidnap plan, it had come to him by accident; a joke Lawrence had told his girlfriend. They had been watching an episode of the popular US series CSI, about a girl who had planned her own kidnapping with her boyfriend to get her father’s attention, only for her to accidentally end up dead. He remembered vividly what Lawrence had said that day, “I will just lock you up in my room for one week and demand ransom for you and you and your dad will be non-the-wiser.” They had all laughed at the ridiculousness of it all but somehow the thought kept nagging at him, what if it could be done? Can it be called kidnapping if there was no actual kidnapping? Of course it could be done, all he had to do was create an illusion, keep his audience focused on the big picture while the real magic happened in the background. Now the plan was hatched, there was no going back. He eased out of the bed, the girl in the bed beside him stirred, he paused, anxious for her not to wake up. He went into the bathroom with the voice muffler to make a call, he made sure the door was secure before perching on the corner of the bathtub. The phone rang three times and on the fourth time, someone at the other end picked up and as expected it was not the Engineer. For what seemed like an eternity all he could hear was the breath of the person at the other end, calm and steady, waiting for him to speak. He waited a while, knowing every second wasted was one he could never recover. “Nothing has changed; we are still a go for tomorrow.” “But the money is not ready, as we speak Engineer Ifeanyi is bedridden, please give us more time.” “I could give you forever but each second I give you is a second that Rebecca does not have. Noon tomorrow, better have my money or it is bye-bye.” “But….” The phone went dead before he could finish. Isaac sneaked back to bed and slid under the covers, his mind already fine tuning every detail for the drop off tomorrow. He knew the cops would be everywhere, he counted on that and had already made contingency plans for that, by the time he was done with his plans the Eze’s would not know what hit them. He was too excited to sleep, so he preoccupied his thoughts with what he would do with the money, obviously he would have to share it with his accomplices but once that was done, he was going to take his share of the money and flee the country; he had not made mention of his intention to anybody, just so if ever they were found out, no one would know where to start looking. He was going to spend the first few years hiding in different African countries before he made the giant stride to Europe. He could not wait. As the phone went dead, Emeka looked at his subordinates for confirmation and as expected they were able to pinpoint it to somewhere in Abia state, Ebonyi or Cross River, there was no need to chase the trail, it would be another ghost hunt. His distraught sister-in-law had already made available the ransom, she looked like she had lost a ton in the last hour and looked a shell of her bubbly self. He would have to take charge of the situation and try not to burden the poor woman with the detail, all she needed was husband and daughter home and hearty. “Obidi get your men ready to move on my order tomorrow. They should be waiting and ready, these miscreants must not slip through our fingers.” He said tersely. “Yesah.” The subordinate officer said walking brusquely out of the room. Emeka’s men had been combing all known kidnapper’s hideout in and around the state, he had been half tempted to put up a missing person’s advertisement on the social media and television but feared the repercussion of his action, the kidnappers had already been ticked off that the police were already involved, doing that might push them off the edge. Then it struck Emeka, how is it that the kidnappers seemed to be well informed about everything going on? The last caller did not seem surprised that it was he instead of his cousin; Ifeanyi, who had picked the call. Did that mean they had an inside person, who could it be? As was the protocol, everybody close to the family had earlier being questioned and struck off the list of suspects, as it remained, the only people he had doubts about was the gate man, who did not seem to have an alibi for the day Rebecca went missing and then there was her boyfriend, what was his name again? Lawrence. Officers had been sent to his known addresses and had discovered that like the Eze’s, his family too were also being held at a ransom but unlike the Eze’s, they did not have the monetary capacity to meet the kidnapper’s demand or the connections to follow it through but somehow they had been able to scrape together one hundred and fifty thousand of the two hundred thousand merger ransom money. He had offered them the remaining fifty, which they generously accepted. What broke his heart was the news that the boy’s mom was bed ridden by cancer; treatment of which had left the family on the brink of abject poverty. Maybe the boy would not have been kidnapped if he was not with the daughter of a wealthy man. Maybe. After this was over, he promised himself, that he would go visit the family and pay his respect, for now he had to concentrate on securing the release of both kids, supposing it was possible. ******* It surprised him how easily one’s life could change in a blink of an eye, one moment life was rosy and full of sunshine, the next minute it was cloudy and raining on your parade. He fiddled with the frail looking hand in his hand, his mind absently studying the small container that was feeding oxygen to the transparent tube attached to the mask that sat snuggly over the face of his wife. Her body felt smooth to the touch, the doctor said it was a result of the aggressive chemotherapy, he felt his heart constrict in sorrow as he watched his wife’s chest rise in tune with her ragged breath, her now tiny frame clothed in an over sized dress, her once beautiful hair had receded a great deal, her skin stretched taut over her bones, he could see she was in great pain, she complained as such every time she woke up from her sleep; which is what she did often these days. He felt hot liquid slither down his face and disappear into the bush that caressed his upper lip, for a whole year she had fought this disease and it did not look like it was getting any better. He remembered the first time she had been diagnosed, she had gone to the hospital for a routine check up after complaining of extreme weakness, the doctor had informed her that she had cancer, it had rocked all of them as a family but they were determined to fight through it, it was a disease, not a death sentence. It did not take long for the strain to start to bear on the family, chemotherapy was tough on her and left her sick most of the time, leading her to leave her job indefinitely; hence cutting off that source of income. That had been hard on the family too, as she needed constant care and the kids were away in school and the responsibility fell on him. He was a business man and his business began to suffer both from his absence and the money it was costing to treat his wife. His mother-in-law soon came to relieve him of the burden but by then the treatment had eaten deep into their finances and they were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, he had had to sell the few landed properties he had but yet it did not measure up to the cost of keeping his wife alive. As if life was not done dealing him low blows, now his stupid son had gone and had himself kidnapped. Kids never listened and that piqued him more than anything, he had never warmed up to the Eze girl, something about the family spelt trouble, he had tried to explain that to Lawrence but the pigheaded, bumbling idiot wouldn’t listen and as usual his words went in one ear and went out the other. At least the Eze’s were taking responsibility for their actions, that fifty thousand and the hundred and fifty he got selling his old Honda was about enough to cover the ransom money but that also had eaten a chunk into the money he had saved for his wife’s treatment. He let out a heavy sigh, conscious of the other patients in the room, this was not a time to worry, he had to be strong for himself and his family, just then his wife’s hand moved, jerking him back to reality. He looked up to find that she had eased off the mask and was looking at him through a forest of eyelids. “What are you thinking about oga?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper. She lost her voice after she started chemo and radiotherapy, so much so at first, they had had to strain to hear her speak but over time it had become easier to understand what she was saying. “Nothing my love, I was just meditating.” He had to lie, she was already burdened enough as it was. Her pale cracked lips broke into a faint smile, “Lair.” He looked away as his eyes began to moisten, what type of temptation is this? He thought silently to himself. How can all these be happening to one family at once? Was there really a God and if there was, why would he let his faithful suffer this much? “I will be alright, I know it. Don’t worry, I feel better already. Soon I will be home and all these will become stories we will tell our grand-kids and in-laws.” “I know, I know.” He murmured, eager to believe, eager to sound as positive as she did. ****** It had been three days since she had been sent to stay at a family friend’s home; she had not being allowed to contact her parents and her sister’s number was still unavailable, she might still technically be a kid but Isabella knew something was not right. The other day, Mrs. Dike had come home looking distraught and when she had asked what was wrong, the woman said it was nothing, several times she had walked in on Mr. and Mrs. Dike talking in low tones and as soon as she came in they stopped talking. Then one evening, Chi-Chi; the second of the three kids, who was also her classmate, walked up to her after dinner in a conspirators manner, her eyes beaming with excitement. “I overheard mom and dad saying that your dad had a heart attack and that your sister Rebecca has been kidnapped, which explains why you have been unable to reach her.” Isabella did not want to believe that and immediately went downstairs to confront the Dikes. They did not answer her, neither did they deny it, all they wanted to know was who gave her the information and when she named Chi-Chi, Mrs. Dike disappeared upstairs and a couple of seconds later, she could hear the sound of cane connecting with flesh and the guttural screams it elicited. She was ushered off to the room she shared with Chi-Chi moments later, her question unanswered. Chi-Chi was still heaving in a heap on the bed when she got in, she climbed into the bed beside her, facing the wall. Then as if on queue, a torrent of tears started its descent down her face, soaking the pillow, she felt so alone and rejected, she was not a child anymore and deserved to be treated like an adult. She crept out of bed, having decided to go back home, she would call an Uber and minutes she would be home, she had some money on her and it ought to be enough. She stuffed some cloths into her backpack, checked to see that Chi-Chi was fast asleep and walked almost soundlessly to the door. Just as she was about to open the door, it pushed open.

Music blared from musical equipment mounted on the back of the flatbed as it rolled slowly behind a dancing crew dressed in red and white; the men in tight T-shirts and flared trousers and the women in sleeveless tank tops with skimpy skirts. The women danced and wiggled their waist to a popular tune by a Nigerian musician, whilst the men performed intricate, synchronized acrobatic stunts that elicited stunned gasps and cheers from the audience. In one instant they built a ten-man pyramid, after which the man at the apex, did a back flip with a mid-air twist before landing catlike on his haunches. Following closely behind the acrobatic bunch were a troupe of full figured women dressed in colorful carnival costumes that left little to the imagination, their bodies swayed to the rhythm of the drums, their waist gyrating sensually as they moved their sweat glistened bodies to the delight of the onlookers, many of whom had cameras trained on them. The lead dancer was the main attraction, a buxom woman, garbed in a bejeweled lemon green bra; that was only managing to keep her massive breast in place, a diamond crusted link ran the length of her cleavage to her navel, where it continued in an arc around her curvy hips to join the crusted helm of her scant bejeweled G-string, around her upper thighs were tied ribbons the same colors of her ensemble. On her head was a crown of feathers also in lemon green, spiked with tall, grey, straight feathers. Her glorious crown continued down both shoulders in a cascade of lemon green, white and grey feathers that flowed to her ankle. Her feet were also clad in diamond crusted stilettos. She moved effortlessly with the grace of a prancing cat, the sun reflecting off of her many jewels and her oiled bronze body, causing her to radiate in the afternoon light; each step deliberate and sensual. A human peacock. In the distant men draped in riding gears and helmets mounting varying degrees of machines from choppers of all kinds, to power bikes and ATVs made up the rear, the sound of their engines renting the air; the air heavy with the acrid smell of its fume. In the middle of the crew that looked like a biker gang, dirt bikes and power bikes were preforming wheelies, burnout, circle and 12 o’clock, in the space other bikers had created, to the delight of the teeming crowd. They gasped when one of the bikers lost control and fell off his huge beast of a bike; there was a moment of silence when only the idling sound of the many bikes could be heard, then the biker was up on his feet like nothing had happened, he walked casually to where his bike was to survey the damage done to it, when he was sure it had not suffered any significant damage, he was back on it performing even more daring stunts to the delight of the spectators and his fellow bikers. In crowd Lawrence and Rebecca watched in awe and excitement, they had been watching the dancing troupe, till Lawrence decided the bikers made a better spectacle. He had always fantasied about owning a bike someday, nothing fancy but something fancy enough that anytime he straddled it, could feel the wind in his face, the open road before, wide and ready for the taking. It had been a fantacy he had since he was a kid, probably because of the many pictures he had seen of his dad on his Honda CD 125 bike, he had looked so bad ass and he figured he would too. His dad had called it “lady magnet”, his father had told him so many tales of his adventure on his precious machine; he had bought it soon after his return from the war in the late 1970 for about N30, he had been the first of his peers to do that, though there already were car owners in the village even before the war but he was definitely the first to own a CD 125 with its double exhaust and the metallic roar of a dragon. It was the 70s and he was considered successful, his textile business was doing well in the fledgling Onitsha market; that was in the process of rebuilding after the devastation of the civil war and thus his name was oft on the name of eligible spinsters, who would often cheer his name when he breezed by. Those were happier times, he had said, up was up and down was down, everything made sense and life had been simpler. With N2, one could buy enough drink to keep his whole crew sated for hours, because he was a spendthrift; people both men and women flocked to him like bees to nectar. His antics did not seem to attract the attention of the beautiful maiden whose parents ran the beer parlor which he always patronized, she always wore her dark hair full; as was the style back then, and helmed it with a ribbon; a different color every day, her slender figure was always fitted into a flowing gown that covered her knee. She had eyes that captivated anyone who had the courage to look into them, whenever she dared look up at you; she was nice to the patrons, many of them who always tried to act inappropriately whenever the drinks got to their heads, she always knew how to negotiate herself out of those squeaky situations, her voice when she spoke was a little husky but firm and confident. His father would always admire her from far, his eyes searching the parlor for hers anytime he came around, she was friendly with him but she never let it get too far. She would always say; “Mazi leave me before one of your girlfriends decides I am trespassing and calls thugs to beat me up.” They would laugh it off but it did not stop his dad flirting and trying to win her hand. One day, just after the “e wa ji” festival (New yam festival), at the village square, he had noticed her and her siblings walking down the road, he trailed along beside them, trying to get them to stop, they only giggled and laughed and continued walking, he had to drive ahead and park, his bike blocking their path. “I would like to marry you nne, you are the most beautiful maiden in all of Uka and I have admired you for months and I know I can be a good husband to you and you a good wife.” She laughed a throaty laugh; he said he remembers till date. Before replying; “Just like that, you want to marry me, without knowledge of who I am or what I am like?!” She asked bemused. “Your name is Nkiru Maryann, you are twenty-four, these are your sisters, Oby and Nneoma, you were a student in University of Nigeria; Nsukka before the war broke out. So yes, I know you enough to say I would like to take you on a date sometimes.” She looked at him in awe, surprised that he knew that much about her, so she agreed to go out with him but only if her father gave his consent, her father readily gave his consent to one of the most eligible bachelors in the village, who wouldn’t want an in-law who had fought for his fatherland and was doing well in business at a time when the East was going through a makeover? For their first date, he had wanted to impress her, so he planned to take her to a town some kilometers from their hometown that boasted of having the best bush meat and palm wine in the area. He could not recall much of that day but he said he would never forget how it felt having her arms around his midsection as she clung on for safety or the feel of her breath on his neck as she spoke to him, he wanted to drive forever but time passes by fast when you are having fun and in no time, their ten kilometer journey was at an end. His father would credit “lady magnet” for helping him land their mother, something she vehemently denies, even though halfheartedly. Lawrence could still hear the nostalgia in his father’s voice as he told the story of his first date with his mother, he could still see the excitement and happiness in his every description and it made him happy to think that his parents were once in the same position as he found himself now. “Knock, knock, anyone home?” Lawrence crashed back to the present with a start. “So sorry.” “It was you who was all psyched about going to the festival and here you are daydreaming, while life is happening before you. What are you thinking about anyways?” She prodded. “It’s nothing really; just thinking about my mom and the fact that I have not spoken to her since we got here.” For a brief moment they both stood silence, their minds occupied with thoughts of families who were probably worried sick while they frolicked. He did not know how many minutes had passed but he knew the silence had become unbearable, “the upside is that tomorrow we would be headed home.” “Yes.” Rebecca grunted, all of a sudden she wished she was already on the plane home. She could not wait to run into her mother’s arm, feel her father’s warm embrace or the excited squeaky voice of her little sister. Her brother was still abroad, so she didn’t miss him as much. “Hey it is the camera, wave.” Lawrence said excitedly as the man with the huge television camera on shoulder panned the camera in their direction. She waved enthusiastically, wondering if anyone she knew would see. “What station is that?” she asked. “I cannot tell for sure but it seems to be SETV.” “Do you think anyone we know will be watching?” She asked smiling. “I sure hope so, I have never been on TV and it would sure suck if no one I know sees it.” “Abi?!” They both roared in laughter. ***** The air was crisp with tension, so electrifying the people in the room could actually feel it course through their bodies, it was past twelve and the phone still hadn’t rung. Everyone in the room was huddled around the table on which the phone was seated willing it to ring, every second that passed by felt like an eternity, and then the phone lit up and filled the room with its sound, somewhere in the room, someone gasped. Emeka picked up the phone and put it on speaker. “Hello?” He said tersely. “I want twenty million in stacks of hundred dollar bills, which should fit nicely in a large school bag; I will give you an hour to put it all together, no funny business. I will call by 1.30 with further direction.” The phone went dead immediately. An hour later the money had been packed in the school bag in hundred dollar stacks as the caller had instructed, while Emeka waited impatiently for the phone to ring. “What if we give them this money and they kill my daughter?” Mrs. Eze asked and rebuked herself immediately for thinking such evil thought. “But such things have happened, what if these guys take the money and still refuse to release my daughter?!” “Nne Chidi, you need to stop thinking like this, just pray everything goes as planned, so far they have not given us reasons to doubt that they will release Becca, moreover I have over fifty men working on this case and we will try to intercept them during the exchange. So do not worry, I will do everything in my power to bring my niece back home safely and to your arms.” It had been a hectic afternoon, gathering the twenty million had been harder than expected even though the money was readily available; the curb on daily withdrawal from the banks had made it almost impossible to remove large sums at a time from the bank either from the ATM or over the counter, so they had had to use several accounts and different people, the trick was trying to keep a low profile and not to raise suspicion, which was going fine until they had gone to make the last withdrawal; which involved him going with his sister-in-law to the bank; this was a joint account her husband and her had shared for more than two decades and had used to save for the kids and a rainy day; it could not get any rainier than today. “…I am sorry ma, but due to the CBN directive, we cannot allow you make such withdrawal and I will have to notify management, who in turn are duty bound to report to the police.” The clean shaven man behind the marble counter stated diligent and unsmiling. Mrs. Eze wanted to scream, but her brother-in-law’s arm on her shoulder acted as a pacifier of sort, so she breathed in and said calmly, “I have done business with this bank for more than a decade, I have known all Branch Managers and every cashier by name and for Christ’s sake, it is my money and I can withdraw however much I want!” She could not help the last part. Calmly the bespectacled Cashier said; “It might be your money, but I am not allowed to give it to you; that is the law.” What happened next caught the people in the large ventilated space off-guard, first Catherine Eze had gone mortally silent and Emeka had braced himself for a tirade of words but instead her face crumbled and she started to cry, to the dismay of the Cashier, who looked completely uncomfortable about the whole situation, searching left and right for a colleague to come help him out but no one came, they all seemed as perplexed as he was. All transaction stopped as he and Catherine became the center of attraction; the various eyeballs felt like a million darts and made him feel uneasy. “Catherine you have to get yourself together, we do not need to attract the wrong kind of attention.” He spoke calmly into her ear. “What is left for me, eh Emeka? My husband is lying in the hospital and my daughter is God knows where and these people do not want to give me my own money! Which kind of country do we live in, where no one has no control of their own lives?” “Play it cool please, people are watching!” “Let them watch!! Ah, ah, what is it; this is just too much for me! Let them watch Emeka. Ike agwu gom! (I am tired)” “What might be the problem?” A man garbed in a well-tailored suit asked, entering the booth of the Cashier attending to them. “My name is Agaba Dura, I am the BM here, and how may we help you?” He sounded genuinely eager to help them but Emeka knew he was trying to avoid a PR disaster; this was just damage control. “Can we speak somewhere private?” Emeka asked softly. “Of course, let’s go to my office.” He said with a smile, before leaving the booth. “Carry on.” He said to the Cashier, flashing a smile to the other customers. He led the way upstairs to a glass partitioned cozy office, not to too small but functional, a huge photocopier sat on a small stool behind his swivel chair, a small printer; a file holder and an open laptop were the only occupants of his big table. He waited till Mrs. Eze regained her composure and was settled in, before asking; “How may I help you?” To avoid another round of water works, Emeka cut in. “We would like to make a withdrawal of 10,000 dollars from a joint account owned by my sister-in-law and her husband; my cousin. It is an emergency and we would need it for immediate medical purposes abroad.” “I understand your plight but due to the CBN….” “I am Chief Inspector Emeka Udoh; the head of SARS in Awka etiti, here is my identification.” He said flashing his card; I would not be doing this if it was not a matter of life and death. So please help us and I promise to come back here myself and explain everything.” Thirty minutes later they were seated at home waiting for the phone to ring, Emeka could not wait to get on with the day, since Ifeanyi had called him about the kidnapping, all he had dreamt of was nabbing the kidnappers, so he could add them to his list of achievements since he was made the head of the special division on security by the state Governor. Plans were already in motion to get them behind bars, he fingered the school bag; marveling at the fact that this small back contained TWENTY MILLION! Where did these guys get the nerve to ask for these exorbitant sums, what right did they have to reap where they did not sow? His finger ran over the tiny ridge where they had buried a tracker, he allowed himself a small smile of victory, he had them cornered. The phone rang at exactly 1:30 and without hesitation Emeka picked the phone. “Go to Eke Awka, when you get there walk down Abuja line, someone will meet you there. Remember, no police should be in sight. The girl will be released when we have the money.” Eke Awka was the biggest and most popular market in the state capital of Anambra; Awka. At a time it had over a hundred thousand people in it; including customers, shop owners, delivery people and freighters. Because of its size, the market was divided into aisles, which over time had become known as “lines” and each line catered to different class of customer. Abuja line specialized in the sale of men clothing and was one of the busiest parts of the market but it was nothing compared to the produce market. Emeka wondered why they had not picked the produce line, where they had a better chance of getting lost in the crowd. “What guarantee do we have that you will let her go?” He asked nonchalantly. The voice snickered and answered, “I told you, you have to trust me. You have my word; Rebecca will be with you by the end of the day.” “But…” The phone went dead before he could finish. Without wasting time, “Obidi you still have your men on standby?” He asked the burly man who was standing in the corner waiting for instructions. “Yes sir, they are ready and waiting.” “Okay and Joseph put a call to the DPO at B division; tell him to dispatch mufti men to secure all entrance leading in and out of Eke Awka and all roads to and fro also.” “Right away sir.” He said disappearing through the front door of the mansion. “The rest of you will come with me, make sure to keep out of sight and at a very safe distant, I do not want to spook them. Grab the money, is the tracker working?” “Yes it is sir.” The technician a pimply faced man, who looked 20 but was actually 28, answered. He followed the others out of the house, his laptop hugged close to his chest, a headset hanging from his neck. “Catherine, I promise you I will do everything in my power to get your kid home.” Emeka said reassuringly at the door. “I do not care about the money, just get my daughter home.” Emeka could see the tiredness in her eyes and felt sorry for her. He hugged her and disappeared behind the huge French door. Catherine knew all she could do now was hope and pray and so she reached for her bible and did what she knew best. ***** When the door opened the night before, Mrs. Dike had been astounded to find her packed and ready to flee the nest but instead of scolding her, she had led her into the kitchen for a one on one talk. She had gone on to tell her how her sister Rebecca had been kidnapped; which explained why her calls were not connecting, their father had also suffered a minor cardiac arrest as a result of the stress of it all and was currently at the hospital. They did not tell her because they did not want her to worry but that was an oversight on their part and she apologized and promised to be forthcoming henceforth. When Isabella had enquired as to when she could go back home, Mrs. Dike had said she could only go home when her sister was safely home and all the chaos there had subsided, their mother did not want her around the police or near enough to hear any news untoward. She was safer away from the house. After their talk, Mrs. Dike had made her chocolate drink and then walked her to bed. When she woke up, Chi-Chi’s bed was empty but she had failed to wake her, as she had done since they had been sharing a room, after doing her morning chores, she went to the living room to join her friend but Chi-Chi left the instant she came in. “Chi-Chi, I am sorry.” She cooed. Chi-Chi just hissed and headed upstairs to the room they shared together, torn between following on her heels or giving her some space, Isabella picked the latter, her friend just needed time to cool off, she was still angry at her for getting her whooped the night before. So she settled into a chair and picked up the TV remote, the Dikes had probably left for their places of business, leaving her and Chi-Chi in the care of the Help and her older siblings. She flipped through several channels and finally settled on one, where they were having some sort of fair, there was a lot of dancing and Isabella was a sucker for dancing, so she put the remote down and watched, she was totally engrossed in the activities on the satellite TV when she noticed it, it caught her off-guard, so she did not take note of it immediately. She waited patiently for the camera to pan that way again, when it didn’t, she rewound it and paused just when it came to view, true to her imagination, she was correct. She let out an ear shattering scream.

REGISTER @freshgirl @qeenvick @denciebabe @victoriouschild @jummybabe @frankkay @pearl @fridex @jerrie @john451 @pappyjay @c-roderick @cookey @isabella1 @sanctus4real @ryder @temmyluv @jacopet @wizy308 @coolval222-2 @itzprince @sabinto @bestabbey @pearlily @delexzy01 @luvlydamsel @hormortiyor @fb-mhizlilygold @elisco1453 @anachrist @fridex @royalgold and others come o new episode.....

Emesa have got lot to do to get the kids

***** He started to understand why the voice on the phone had picked the market, the road leading to it was gridlocked and the traffic in front of him was packed full with vehicles and people oblivious to the plight of the people stuck in the slow moving afternoon traffic, except their own. He had failed to put into consideration the fact that it was a festive period and the market would be busier than usual, dread began to swim around in the pits of his stomach like ants on sugar; doubt started to claw at him, gradually stripping him of his confidence. He should have involved his superiors in this, maybe they would have come up with a better plan than his but deep down he knew involving them would have given it the sort of publicity that could have gotten his niece dead. He might be in over his head but at least he still had a chance to get his niece back alive. He finally found a parking space and had to negotiate his way through a crowd of “okpa” sellers and sellers of small items, who could not afford to pay the rent of a shop in the market, so they set up small stalls in front of the market, they were subject to constant raids by the government task force, they were illegal occupants and caused unnecessary traffic. “Oga bia go okpa di oku. (Come and buy hot okpa.)” A woman with a raffia hat said showcasing her ware, her okpa soiled knife, oily and caked in her hand, waiting to cut into the yellow flesh of the bean cake. He just shook his head, clutched tight to the backpack and walked into Abuja line. As was the exterior, the little space between shops that ran for about fifty meters served as a pathway and was packed full with humans; some people had even displayed their wares on the pathway, making an already difficult act, even more so. The roofs of the one storey complex were covered all the way through, to shield customers and shop owners from the weather and so it was cooler in here than it was outside, the sounds of different generator, somewhere someone was playing the music just too loudly, but in the midst of all the other commotion, no one seemed to be bothered. In front of a shop that specialized in men shoes, it seemed, a couple of boys in the mid twenties were discussing football and seemed so engrossed in it. The path was littered with debris from opened cardboard boxes and strings of all kinds; a job for the cleaners, because nobody paid it any mind. He squeezed his way through the crowd of people, wondering how people did this every day, shop owners beckoned at him as he passed by, immediately turning their attention to the next person when he did not oblige. He kept walking, that was what the voice said keep walking; he noticed side entrances that led to other corners and he hoped that they were manned by his men, he had noticed a couple of them in the crowd and that reassured him. “Oga come check us na.” A man said pointing to a shop that looked like Aba had thrown up in it. “This one na grade one Italian and e cheap well-well.” “I am not interested.” He made to move on but the man blocked his path. “Oga oya come test this one, e go match this trouser wey you wear.” He said holding up a shoe and wearing a huge grin. “Oga I say I no want!” That seemed to finally get to the man and he moved aside to allow him pass. Just then a young man moved in alongside him, his face cap drawn tight over his head and his face down. Emeka did not think much of him, there were hundreds dressed like him here, so he continued to walk. “Give me the bag, slowly, be careful I see all the police hiding in plain sight, we all know what is at stake.” He still did not lift is head. “So how do we know you will keep your end of the bargain?” He asked tentatively. “Take this.” He said handing him a phone. “You will get a call on this when she is on her way home.” He took the phone, a 99 Nokia. Who still uses these?! When he looked up the boy was gone and with him the bag, he searched for him in the crowd and caught him dashing into one of the side streets, he immediately reached for his radio. All units be on the lookout for a male wearing a brown jacket over a blue jean and a palm slippers, he is carrying a black bag, approach him with caution, do not capture him but follow him.” He dashed into the path after him but he had disappeared. He swerved through the crowd, taking his cloth off as he walked. He stashed the jacket and cap in a refuse dump and continued on; he looked around and began to search for faces that looked out of place in the market. When he reached the designated place, he ducked behind a pillar where another person was waiting to continue the journey. They moved the money into a new bag and the guy in the brown jacket, continued on with it, till he got to the parking lot where trucks were loading and offloading goods. He found one that was about to leave and dropped the bag in the back. Let the police have fun with that, he thought gleefully as he sauntered away. “Sir we have no visual on the suspects but the bag is still in motion, it just left the market now.” Obidi said over the radio. “Alright follow them, till they lead you to their hideout. I do not need to remind you to keep your distance.” He said firmly. ***** It had been a long and hectic day for Chima; it was the festive period and jobs came at him thick and fast and he loved it. More jobs meant more money and more money meant peace for him and for Christmas all he wanted was peace. His wife was already on his case demanding money for the purchase of Christmas clothes for the children, as if his parents bought him any when he was their age! He shook his head in anger but he had to do it, especially as his neighbor Ekene who was just a mere laborer had already bought for his kids the week before. His nagging wife would not let him hear the last of it, it was Ekene this, Ekene that, forcing him to spend most of his nights at a bar parlor and getting home drunk enough not to care about her bickering. But he knew he could not shirk from his responsibility for too long, his kids deserved to look nice on Christmas day like other kids their age, there wasn’t any need denying them that pleasure, his childhood should not determine theirs. He reached under his chair and felt the money again, that was more than enough to buy Christmas clothes, a small goat and still have some to spend on his girlfriend Nkechi. He felt a stirring in his loins, they were to meet tonight, she was finally going to allow him visit her after many weeks of asking, she was a waitress at the beer parlor he frequented. For weeks she had given him many a sleepless night, his dreams were often filled with images of her tight young body and he always hated waking up next to his wife with her sagging body. Tonight was the night to make his dream a reality. He pulled up at his home and was just getting down from his truck when he was surrounded by armed men, shouting commands at him. Thieves he thought to himself, they had come to steal the money he had spent all day daydreaming about. His wife would never believe him! He lay flat on the cold floor, his nose immediately filled with the earthy smell of the ground, his body shook with fear, apprehension and despair. “Where is the money, where is the girl?!” The men kept yelling at him. “What girl? Oga I no know wetin you dey talk about!” He managed between blows and kicks landed on him by expert hands and heavy boots. “The money dey under my seat.” One of the men reached under his seat and pulled out the plastic bag. “Sir, it is just thirty thousand here!!” “I found the bag!” A voice called from the back of the truck. He had a brief reprieve as the men all went to see the said bag, what bag are they talking about? He wondered. His question was answered when one of the men who had been pummeling him came up to him with an empty school bag. “How did you get this bag?!” The burly man who had been kicking asked. “I swear oga, I never see that bag for my life!” “Talk true!” Another said smacking him above the head. “Oga na true, I no know where e come from. As you see am, na so I see am.” The burly man moved aside and started talking into the radio. “Sir, this is Obidi, we found the bag but the money is gone. We have a man in custody, the bag was in his possession. Yes sir, we will bring him back to the station.” “Ah Oga, station?! Wetin I do na?! Na work I just dey close from now. I no do anything oh!! Abeg, I no do anything oh.” His entire plea fell on deaf ear as he was handcuffed and bundled off in a police vehicle. ***** Catherine had just finished saying her rosary when her phone rang, she did not recognize the phone number, she hesitated, deliberating whether to pick it or not, ever since the kidnap of her daughter, she had become suspicious of unknown numbers. The phone rang and stop and began again and the third time she finally picked. “Hello?” She squeaked. “Mommy, mommy, turn on the TV, Rebecca is on TV!” “What?!” “She is on SETV, I just saw her now. Turn on the TV!” Why did Isabella sound so excited, her heart was ramming fast against her rib cage, threatening to burst through. Had something bad happened to her Rebecca? Why was she on TV? Oh God please keep her safe. She turned on the TV and rewound the footage, thank God for modern technology. She screamed for joy when the image of her eldest daughter and her boyfriend appeared, she did a little victory dance round the table. “Hello Isabelle, yes I just saw your sister, she is free, and this is live. She is free, she is well. Lemme call your uncle.” I hope they have not given them that money, she thought to herself as she dialed Emeka’s number. ***** After Emeka hung up, he sat at his desk, a torrid of emotions coursing through him. These guys had played them all for fools, from the get go; they had had them chasing ghosts. Was it really a kidnapping if there wasn’t an actual kidnapping? It might not be that was left to the court to decide but if they were guilty of anything, then it had to be extortion and that in itself was a grievous crime. The criminals had vanished into thin air, the only suspect they had in their custody was a lowly truck driver who just happened to be bait in a real big game of catch and release. He had long being released, he had made a call to the family of the boy who was supposedly kidnapped alongside Rebecca and like them, and they had parted with some money, even though it was considerably smaller than theirs. The police were under orders to search anybody with a backpack or any bag of any kind, all trunks and all cars leaving the city, he knew that they were casting their net in shallow waters but they had to try, they could get lucky but even he had to admit that the chances of that happen was next to impossible. “Obidi, come in.” “Obidi here, over.” “Any development on the case? Over.” “Nothing yet, we have some people in custody but I suspect that we do not have our targets. Over” “Okay, keep up the good work. Over and out.” **** The police had asked them to get down and everyone was being searched amidst silent protests and grumbles, there were two people in front of him on the line waiting their turn to be searched, the bag had passed through the hands of about five people before he got a hold of it and as per the plan, was to deliver it to Ice Man in Port Harcourt and Chijioke was determined to carry the plan through regardless. Without hesitation, he dashed in between two cars and disappeared into the bush, conscious of the voice yelling for him to stop but he did not stop. Something wheezed past his ear and before another bit into his midriff knocking him to the ground. He stood up gasping for breath; he could hear movements in the bushes around him and more gunfire, bullets were flying around him like fireflies, he crouched as he made a break for it, aware of the wet, warm liquid sliding down his jeans and the aching pain burning in his side. He just needed to put a huge distance between him and the police.

CHAPTER NINE He kept running but his legs felt weighted down by led, in the distance he could see the door; his escape route but try as he may he could not reach it, the door seemed to be running away from him. Behind him he could hear the wails of sirens, the barking of pursuit dogs and the pounding of feet as the police followed hot on his tail, he looked around for a place to hide but in the darkness, all he could see was the door ahead and not much else. He could feel a sweat run a cold, slippery, path down the burrows of his back and melting into the helm of his jeans, his feet made a squishing sound in his shoes as blood from the wound in his side filled it up. The pain in his side felt like an icy jolt of lightening each time his feet hit the moss covered ground. The bag on his back made a “pam” “pam” noise as it bounced around, its weight doing little to aid his escape, the door was coming more and more into perspective as he came closer to it, he could see the dogs; big as rams, their shaggy bodies weaving expertly through the darkness, their eyes like burning lamps in the blackness, their yellowed teeth glistening, lit up by the fire from their eyes. If only he could reach that door, he could shut this nightmare behind him, he put more spring in his steps, his outstretched hand reaching for the door. Suddenly he could not move, try as he could his legs would not obey his command, the darkness gave way to light and he found himself standing ankle deep in mud; where had it come from. The dogs and their keepers were drawing closer, screams of “kill am, kill am” filled the air, he was sinking now and the more he tried the faster he sank, the wetness of the ground had now reached his chest and he knew that he would soon be buried in this wet, rubbery, red soil, the door had disappeared, in its place were bright lights and its luminosity was blinding him, forcing him to momentarily forget that he was sinking and shield his eyes from the fierce, bright light. “Chijioke, Chijioke.” One of the policemen slapped him hard across the face. He felt helpless, disappointment filling his heart, he had failed, after all they had been through; he had failed them. He opened his eyes to find a scrawny looking man hovering over him in a dimly lit room, his face furrowed in concern. He sprang up alert but the pain in his side forced him to lie back with a wince. “Chijioke, what mischief have you been up to now?” His cousin Chuma asked. “You came here bleeding like a Christmas goat last night and blacked out as soon as you walked in.” “Where is the bag?!” Chijioke asked wide eyed. “Relax nwokem, I kept it in the corner,” he said pointing to the blood stain covered bag, “and do not worry, I did not open it, whatever problem it is you have caused now, I do not want to be party to it.” After a brief pause, he continued. “Are you the reason there are policemen roaming the streets?” When his cousin did not answer, he left his side to go look out the window. Chuma was not under the illusion that his cousin was innocent, he had heard rumors of his exploit as a cultist, it had been hard to accept it because he was still the same boy who had been a mass server as a kid and led prayers during the Block Rosary, whose parents were outstanding members of the catholic community! The apple did fall far from the tree on this one. He had seen it coming, the friends he kept were far from saints and all advice for him to steer clear of them had fallen on deaf ears. That was a gunshot wound, he knew that for sure, he had seen a number of cadavers with the same wound and was certain the gunshots from the night before and the presence of the police in the area were all connected to his cousin but he had learnt long ago to always mind his business and he was going to do just that. “Jioke, you know you cannot stay here? You have to leave, I do not want any problems with the authorities, I would be graduating in less than six months and I do not want to jeopardize that. I hope you understand.” Slowly rising from the bed, his every movement marked by pain, he felt run over by a fourteen wheeler, his left side where the bullet had lodged was on fire causing him to grimace with pain. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, his body print marked by sweat from lying down on the bed, his head felt woozy as he tried to stand, so instead he reached for the shirt his cousin had given him and shrugged it on, heaving a sigh when it was finally on. “You can fear sef! Jew man!!” His cousin just sniffed and continued looking out the window. “You still have that your cab guy’s number?” “Yes I do.” Chuma replied going to collect his phone, he gave Chijioke the number and returned to his post at the window. An hour later the cab arrived just in front of the self-contain apartment, Chuma helped his cousin to the door, sorry to have turned him out but knowing it was best for both of them, as it was only a matter of time before the police commenced door to door search. “Nna be careful.” He said his voice laden with emotion as he hugged him. “E don do na, leave me before the taxi waka leave me.” Chijioke joked as he opened the door and walked into the bright light of the afternoon. ***** Her phone was suddenly working again, it had been beeping all morning, her voicemail was filled, she had almost a thousand messages across various messaging applications, she caught the eyes of the driver looking at her funny and read the question in his eyes. She put her phone on vibrate and placed it aside till it finally stopped vibrating. She picked it up again, the first message was from her friend Claire; “Babe how far, I know say you dey flex, that boy go use enjoyment kill you.” as generic as always. Isabella had sent her an astounding hundred messages, what the hell? She thought. She would have a talk with her when she got home, she was no longer a kid and needed to learn to respect her space, this was no longer cute. “Where are you, you cannot call again abi? I am worried jor, call when you get this oh!” “Daddy was taking to the hospital today! I do not know what is going on but somehow I know it is connected with you!” Her father had been hospitalized, what happened?! She dialed her kid sister’s number. She picked on the first ring. The squeal at the other end made her pull the phone from her ear. When she returned it, her sister was asking a barrage of questions. Like where she was, how she was doing, what she was doing, she was coming home. She let her finish before she spoke. “Bella where is daddy?” She heard the sigh and the drop of emotion in her sister’s countenance. “Mommy says his condition has not changed.” “Where is mommy?” “I don’t know I have not seen her once all morning, it is chaos here; it has been ever since your kidnap.” That took her aback, did she say kidnap?! “Hold up! Who was kidnapped?!” “You.” The phone almost fell out of her hand. “Who says I was kidnapped?! I have been in Cross River with friends, like I told daddy.” “Lawrence abi? Wasn’t he kidnapped with you?!” “No! no one was kidnapped!” She snapped. “That is what Uncle Emeka said but I wanted to find out for myself.” “Why all the kidnap question?” “Just hurry home and find out for yourself.” When the cab pulled up to the gate, true to her kid sister’s words the house was swarming with policemen, one of the two posted at the gate walked up to them. “Wetin una dey find here?” He said in a gruff voice. “I live here.” Rebecca stated tersely, she had little patience for policemen. “How we wan take know say you dey live here? Driver reserve, go park for the other side.” When the driver seemed to hesitate, he cocked his rifle. “Oga I go bust this your tire! Come on move this your kpalasa comot for here!” He barked; his face a mask of anger. “Isabella I am at the gate, these policemen would not let me in.” She said eyeing the men with disgust. Seconds later her mother and kid sister stormed out of the gate, a picture of raw emotion, their hands waving in the air, their screams mixing with the chaos of the afternoon traffic. She climbed out of the car to meet them, surprised at their reaction; she had only being away a couple of days, yet they were acting like she had been away for years. Was it the kidnapping thing? Maybe Bella was not lying after all. “Nwa’m oh! (My child!)” Her mother cried, scooping her delicately off the floor, her bosom pressing into her. “Nwa’m.” She kept saying, touching her all over as if checking for an affliction. Tears flowed freely down her cheek soaking her blouse. “Mommy stop it.” She said quietly, conscious of the eyes beginning to gather around them. “Ehn, let us go inside, have you paid the taxi?” “Yes ma.” “Sule, come help my daughter carry her luggage inside.” She said softly to one the policemen. “Mommy, where is daddy?” “We will talk more when we get inside.” When inside, she braced herself for the worst, expecting to hear stories of her father’s demise, the kidnap was a ruse to keep her mind occupied before they broke the sad news to her. She did not know how to handle the news when it came but it was going to come anyway. When her mom started to talk, it felt as if someone had opened a floodgate of fire and it was consuming her one emotion after another. While she was frolicking, someone, an evil bastard had plotted to steal money from her family and in the process had sent her father to the hospital. Only one person could have done this, someone who had her itinerary and knew to manipulate the situation such that her parents felt she had been kidnapped. Ice Man. Rage boiled hot inside of her, as she listened to her mom sob through her narration, her body quivering with the heat building up inside her head. He was not going to get away with this, she would see to it. The rest of the afternoon, she spent it answering a number of questions from the police, most of which were asked by her uncle; who had seized to be her uncle the instant she sat before him, a man he called Obidi was also present in the room, taking notes. They wanted to know her whereabouts for the past week; who she had been with, where they had stayed, they also wanted to know everyone she had spoken to and their phone numbers. They also wanted addresses and room numbers of all the places they had stayed in. They also grilled her about Stanley the bellboy; that had caught her off-guard, she had been so fixated on Isaac she had not giving thought to the idea that he had to have had accomplices keeping tabs on them. Pimply faced Stanley had been so nice and so innocent looking, that she would have argued in his stead if her uncle had not shown her the picture they had taken in the hotel room but he had been conveniently cropped out. Her chest felt as if a rabbit was running circles in it, leaving her feeling faint and breathless. Who else was involved, God not Lawrence too! The thought of the man who she hoped someday to be married to being involved in extorting her family, made her feel dirty. She embraced herself, somehow trying to shield herself from the shame that would come with the knowledge. As if sensing her doubt, her uncle said; “Your boyfriend’s family was extorted too, we went to visit the family, when the news broke. I thought he was involved; turns out I might have been wrong. But we will still be keeping a tab on him.” Her uncle’s statement seemed to be a rock off her shoulder, leaving her paralyzed with relief. He was innocent; she felt that in her bones. She was both physically and mentally fatigued by the time she was done with the police men, she literally had to drag herself to her bedroom, where she fell asleep immediately she laid her head on the bed. They would go see her dad later in the day, her mom had promised. ***** The pile of money sat on the table, crisp and clean, its scent filled the cool interior of the hotel room, Chijioke was seated in the only sofa in the room nursing a flute of champagne; once in a while he would grimace, as his wound still restricted his movement. Sixty four thousand dollars! He had never seen or touched that type of money in his life. He touched it again, just to ascertain he was not dreaming, burying his face in it for good measure. This was the stuff of dreams. He whooped at the top of his voice startling the other occupants of the room. Chijioke and Loretta. “I am fucking rich man!!” His voice was rich with pride and excitement. “Babe I will give you the world.” Loretta guffawed. He had had his doubts while he cooked up this plan; he had expected a few hiccups but save the Engineer’s stroke and Chijioke’s brush with death, the plan had gone flawlessly, though he had to admit to himself that there was a time when he thought Chijioke had absconded with the money. When the money did not arrive at the appointed time, he had tried Chijioke’s number and found it had been switched off, he reached out to their other associates and they assured him that he had left and was headed to Cross River to meet him. An hour later, he still had not arrived, he ordered his associates to find out if he had being arrested and that too came up as negative. To say he got any sleep that night was a fallacy, as he tossed and turned, wondering what had become of Chijioke and his ransom. When he heard the knock on the door the next day, he almost exploded with joy when he found a pale looking Chijioke at the door, loot in hand. First thing he did, was leave his place and rent a hotel in one of the worst parts of town, he would lie low there for a few days before he made his next move. The police were probably onto him now, both Larry and Becca; especially Becca would not hesitate to flip on him when they find out what he had done, so keeping a low profile was an absolute necessity now. “Here is your share, make sure you share in amicably amongst yourselves. You guys did an awesome job; the police are still chasing shadows. I do not have to remind you of the need to keep your head down till the heat cools off.” “Haba, you no need tell me.” “Here is something for you to go treat yourself.” He offered him a wad. “Chairmo! You too mush!” “This is for me and my people.” He said putting a larger pile, bundle after bundle inside a duffle bag. “By next week, I go don jaway from this country.” “What about my share?” Loretta chimed in. “My share is your share.” He said with a forced smile. He noticed her forehead furrow into a frown. I hope she does not turn out to be a problem for me or else. He let the thought drift away, she could be taken care of; he need not worry too much about her. “Chijioke call down for a chicken pepper soup, I need to wash down this happiness with something hot and peppery.” ***** Two weeks had passed since the kidnap saga and the police had not managed to make any arrest, the closest they had come to making an arrest had been a bust, as the guy was already in the wind but they had a name and they were adding more and more names to the list on which Isaac sat as number one. When Rebecca had informed her uncle of her suspicions, they had mobilized men to search the premises of his said uncle’s house, only to discover it was a house on lease and its owner was abroad and was in no way related to Isaac. They had tracked down his family but they too had not being in contact with him for months, careful scouring had unearthed a blurry image of the cap wearing fiend who had taken the bag from him, captured by an unsuspecting girl who was just taking pictures, an ATM camera had also captured another man carrying what they hoped was the same bag, heading away from the market, it was not much but it was enough to rustle the leaves and cause them to make mistakes and hopefully smoke them out. These pictures had been circulated around all stations in the country and an APB had been placed on all of them including their inside man inside the telecomm giant company. Emeka knew that as days turned to weeks and weeks to months, the chances of their wide spread net capturing its targets grew slim but he trusted that they would make a mistake as was human nature and they would be captured. For now they had to bide their time, his hands were filled with trying to explain to his superior why they were left in the dark about one of the biggest kidnap cases to have hit the state in recent times. He puffed out his cheek in frustration and went back to the paper work on his desk. **** His mom was getting better according to the doctor but needed to undergo the surgery as soon as possible to enable her continue her recovery, the dilemma was finding the money, his dad had exhausted all options open to him and all he did now was pray, every moment of the day, pray that God will somehow miraculously cure his wife, which he thought was pathetic. God had forsaken them, if he hadn’t, his mother would not be lying in bed near death. His decision to travel to Cross River after his school closed for the semester instead of Abuja where his family lived was firmly because he wanted to be as far away from the depressive and death wrenched air that had encompassed his family of late. It still hung heavy in the air but somehow he did not feel affected by it. He felt his mother’s frail hands, her pulse was weak but it was there, she had barely opened her eyes in the past couple of days, all she did was sleep and eat what little she could and sleep again. “Mommy, you will be okay, I promise.” He said caressing her arm gently. Somewhere in the room, a patient released flatulence, to his disgust; he could not wait to get his mother out of this pigsty of a ward! His phone rang, it was Becca, their relationship had become strained since they got back, she partly blamed him for her dad having to walk with a cane for possibly the rest of his life, if he had not walked Isaac into her life, all these would never have happened. They had fought every time they spoke and they were both avoiding talking to each other, it had been close to a week since they last spoke now and Lawrence found himself wishing she was not begging for a fight as he was not in the mood for one. When he was outside the ward, he answered the call. “Hello.” He said emotionless. “Hi babe, how is your mom?” She had not called him babe for the longest time. “Her condition is still the same, she still needs that surgery.” He heard her sigh. “I wish there was something I could do, I had planned on asking my dad to help but then this happened.” There was a moment of awkward silence that seemed to last an eternity, with nothing but their breaths coming over the phone. “I got to go babe. I will call you later; I think the doctor just went to my mom’s bedside.” He lied, as the silence was making him uncomfortable. “Alright, I will call you in the evening. I love you.” “I love you too.” He said, a few weeks ago he would not have doubted if he meant it but nowadays it felt so untrue. As he made to go inside an orderly brushed past him in a hurry. “Oh boy watch where you dey go na!” If he heard his protest, the man did seem to be bothered as he continued on in a hurry. “Idiot!” He spat out. When he got to his mother’s bedside, he found a package with his name waiting for him. There was about eleven thousand dollars in the box and a brand new iPhone, the phone started to ring and he answered. “Baba, how you dey now, you don get your share abi? If no be you this deal for no happen. Money wey dey there dey enough to carry your momsy go abroad for treatment. Keep your head low brother, I hear say eke dey find me upandan; me, Chijioke, Earnest and Ukpaka. I dey SA as I dey talk to you now, boy flexing for Naija na joke, choi! I dey plan enter Europe soon, you know say mans need dey waka around. Try jaway as soon as your mama well, you hear?” The phone went dead immediately. Tears welled up in his eyes; finally his mom was going to be okay, when he did not hear from Isaac for a while he had thought he had disappeared with his share of the ransom. The last week had been a torment, worrying about being caught had left him emaciated and a shadow of himself, his family had being worried and had chalked it down to his mother’s condition, if only they knew. He had been racked by guilt for deceiving his girlfriend but he had no choice, his mother’s life was at stake and he had made the not so hard decision to indulge in crime to get her better health care. One day he would confess his crimes to his beloved and he hoped he would be rich enough to pay back the Eze’s, for now his mom was his number one concern. His mother stared in bed and opened her eyes, Lawrence smiled at her. “Don’t worry; everything will be alright from now on.” THE END

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