Abducted by Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

"Why do it, when you can pay someone else to do it for you?" Says Ibitoru Davids, the only daughter of the former Governor Sotonye Davids and the heiress to all her father has.

Ibitoru Davids is a spoilt child full of herself, snobbish, unapologetic, an ingrate, So to say, rude and arrogant. She believes poverty is a criminal offence and should be punishable under the law.

But things went out of place when she was kidnapped and the kidnapper seem to be more interested in something else than money.

Ibitoru Davids is literally a model and she's brilliant but for the first time in her 24 years she's confused!

Who is this man? What does he wants? Why is she here? How would she escape this God forsaken place with a beast as the keeper?

Well, will she be able to handle the truth when it springs forth?

Love, betrayal, scandal; Suspense, action, romance. Thus, this is a complete package. Check it out!


Read more here - www.youngicee.com/category/abducted

Abducted - Episode 1
© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu

6: 15am!

Pretty Miss Why-Do-It-Yourself-When-You-Can-Pay-Someone-To-Do-It stretched out lazily on her big soft canopy bed with a loud, surprisingly lady-like yawn courtesy of many years of practice. She sat up reluctantly. She hated it when she got up this early but today, she didn’t have much of a choice. She had places to go, people to see.

The door opened and a girl in her late teens walked into the bedroom. Ibitoru occupied a suite in her father’s twelve bedroom mansion in GRA Phase 3. She had her own expensively furnished sitting room complete with a bar for entertaining her guests. The adjoining bedroom was massive with her canopy bed covered with expensive red velvet bed sheets and six pillows with matching pillow cases. Two large teddy bears lay on the now scattered bed, Ibitoru’s favourite buddies – Gabe and Sammy.

‘Good Morning, Miss Davids.’ Her personal maid, Mary greeted.

Ibitoru didn’t respond to her greeting but Mary was used to it. In the last eight months, over six maids had been hired and fired but Mary had lasted a little over a two months because she had the temperament to put up with Ibitoru’s snobbish attitude.

‘Is the heater on, Mary?’

‘Yes, ma. I put it on earlier.’

Ibitoru loved the feel of the soft red rug which spanned the length of her bedroom on her bare feet. She strolled past the dressing table with its heart shaped vanity mirror and wooden surface lined up with designer perfumes, creams and makeup. She paused before the walk-in closet with more clothes than she needed. She shivered slightly as she undressed as a result of the two Panasonic split units. She tossed her white negligee to one corner of the room. She selected the clothes she would be putting on after her bath and handed them over to Mary.

She wrapped herself in the soft white towel Mary held up for her and crossed the room to the adjoining bathroom. The bathroom looked like something you would find in a seven star hotel: marble bath tub, large enough for two with a shower overhead and golden taps, an adjoining shower stall with glass doors and curtains, and marble toilet and sink.

About an hour later, she returned to her bedroom where Mary had laid out her under wears and the neatly ironed clothes she would be putting on for the day. She also noticed that Mary had straightened the bed, pulled aside the drapes and swept the bedroom. There was nothing out of place. It felt so good to have someone clean up after her. IB thought work of any kind was restricted to the commoners or peasants as her father would say. Supervisory roles belonged to the wealthy, like her.

Poverty should be made a criminal offence!

She was the only child of a Kalabari High Chief, a former governor of the state, one time Minister of Finance and Deputy Senate President. Her father made things happen in Nigeria and he had more connections than the president. She was the apple of his eyes and spoilt rotten since birth. She had been taught that she didn’t have to do anything but rather, there were persons created for the sole purpose of serving her.

All she had to exert her energy on was her studies. And at twenty-three, she had a first class Degree in Business Management and a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. With her extra-ordinary beauty and amazing figure which she had inherited from her maternal grandmother, IB had more suitors than she could handle. But she had class and she had her own demands. She had a long list of characteristics she wanted in a husband.

1. He had to be very wealthy. Wealthy enough to give her the kind of life she was used to.

2. He had to love her totally, completely, unconditionally and treat her like the princess she was.

3. He had to be exceptionally good looking with a physique to die for. She didn’t want ugly children.

4. He had to be strong enough to protect her and quick enough to defend her.

5. He had to be attentive to ALL her needs.

6. He had to be well educated with the minimum of a Masters Degree.

7. He must have impeccable manners.

8. He must make her his NUMBER 1 priority.

9. He must have self discipline and self control. Keep his zip up whenever she wasn’t around.

10. He must be able to stand up to her father.

11. He should be blind to ALL her faults, not that she had any.

12. He should have a will of his own, but where there was a conflict, her will SHOULD always prevail.

13. He should keep his family away from her if they were going to pose a problem.

Her list went on and on. Her taste was highly placed, she would concede, but she was quite certain she would find a man who would meet all her requirements.

Presently, she worked with her father in his company, IBITRONS LIMITED. She was very class conscious and wouldn’t settle down with just any person. All her friends were either wealthy or had wealthy parents and had their own cars and expensive phones. She couldn’t abide anyone beneath her class.

Her one month leave officially began today but she had a few things to put together before her vacation in Sweden and Norway. IB loved travelling, seeing new places and with the money at her disposal, it was no problem at all. Besides, she had a new catch, Steve, who resided in Sweden. They had met during his father’s sixtieth birthday party in London a few weeks earlier and they had hit it off. He had invited IB to Stockholm and she had accepted the invitation.

He was the first son of a wealthy entrepreneur who was friends with her father and the heir to his father’s billions. If he met all her requirements, she might be walking down the aisle real soon, IB thought as she sprayed her favourite perfume and rose from the seat before the dressing table. She took a few steps then turned to face the mirror that occupied an entire wall in the room.

And she liked what she saw.

A tall dark skinned young woman with a killer figure, full bust, slender waist and full hips. Her long legs were emphasised by her mini jean skirt and expensive sneakers. She tossed her long hair back as she admired herself. She was breathtakingly beautiful and knew it and took advantage of it. She batted her long lashes and laughed.

‘Baby, you are too much,’ she told herself.

~*~*~*~

‘Good morning, daddy,’ she greeted as she joined her father in the dining room.

Chief Sotonye Davids was a thickly built man with an imposing height that could easily intimidate others. He was in his late fifties but still handsome enough to attract the younger women. He took such great care of himself, travelling twice a year for routine medical checks and his money ensured that he looked years younger than he really was.

Like his daughter, Sotonye used his good looks without apologies. However, where his daughter simply flirted with the young men without getting the least bit serious with them, Sotonye kept mistresses. His infidelity was no secret but as long as he made fat allowances at her disposal and used protection with her, his wife, Ibitrokoemi Davids didn’t care who her husband took to bed. She was his only wife and he didn’t bring them to the house, and so she was fine with it.

Their marriage had a faulty foundation. Emi had married Sotonye because their parents were good friends and wanted a union between both families. Emi had been attracted to Sotonye but did not love him. Presently, after twenty-eight years of marriage, they were not in love but they had an understanding. Athough there was nothing IB could do about it, she at least had their love and they ensured that she had everything she wanted and needed. That was all that mattered to her.

At least her father’s taste had changed from underaged girls to adults. No, she wouldn’t even think about it. She wouldn’t think about the incident that had occurred in the Government House, years earlier, when her father was Governor or her part in hiding the truth. It still haunted her every now and then but most of the time, she liked to pretend it didn’t happen because the female involved was a little nobody. But her eyes, those blue eyes, haunted IB more than the act itself.

Her silence had paid off. She had ended up studying in the United States and she could easily get any amount of money she sought from her father.

‘How are you, my dear?’ Sotonye enquired as his daughter took a seat opposite him.

‘Just great, dad,’ she replied.

‘Preparing for your vacation?’

‘You bet,’ she stretched out a slender hand to select four slices of bread which she placed in her plate alongside the scrambled eyes and then poured out coffee into her mug.

‘I need to do a little shopping at the EXCLUSIVE.’

The Exclusive was a one stop shop of international standard and had top designer wears for ladies and gents, provided professional hairstylists and makeovers for customers who enjoyed free snacks and coffee/tea. There were also sections that sold gym equipments, provisions, household goods etc. You haven’t shopped until you have been to the Exclusive. The only problem Ib had with this wonderful place was that just as it provided lots of things for the wealthy, it also had affordable things for those who weren’t wealthy. She figured it had to do with the nature of man who owned the place. Dienye Daniel-Hart. He was a well known philanthropist. However, Ib hated the idea of shopping with ‘poor’ people but then you haven’t done any shopping unless you’ve been to THE EXCLUSIVE.

‘You don’t want to shop outside the country this time?’

‘I intend to. But I need to pick up a few things.’ she said.

She took a bite from her bread.

‘Don’t forget that we are expecting guests tonight, my dear. And you are to help your mother as a co-hostess.’

‘Is there such a thing as co-hostess?’

‘If there isn’t, then I’m inventing it,’ Sotonye laughed.

‘I’ll be there in time. Besides, the evening gown and accessories I ordered will be available today.’

‘Good. And be warned that there will be some young eligible bachelors present.”

“I’ll be in my best behaviour.’

‘You are 23, IB. You should be thinking of settling down. You haven’t introduced anyone to me since you broke with Dagogo.’

‘In good time, dad. For now, it is not a priority.’

Her ex-boyfriend Dagogo, the nephew of her father’s political godfather, as far as IB was concerned, did not deserve her. They had dated for ten months and he couldn’t keep his hands off other women because she was old fashioned enough to want to wait until marriage to have sex. And her three weeks in the Scandinavia would give her a break from the multitude of persons seeking her hand.

‘It’s not a priority!’ her father repeated. ‘What can be more important than that, at least to a single woman?’

‘A lot of things, dad but I’d rather not go into them.’

‘Why not? I have introduced you to several wealthy and good natured young men but you turned down their proposals. These are men with great potential.’

‘But not the kind of men I seek. When I see the man who meets my requirements, I shall let you know. Until then I am not interested in settling down. I am not going to settle for second best.’

‘Your mother and I -’

‘Married for the wrong reasons and that is why you can afford to tolerate each other’s infidelities.’

‘Do not speak to me like that!’ Sotonye thundered.

‘If you say so but I only speak the truth.’

‘Keep it to yourself.’

‘Of course. Until one of the women shows up and the civil war is re-enacted.’

‘Quit this ridiculous line of conversation. You want money, then ask for it without digging your claws into a matter that is no business of yours.’

‘I am a member of this family and so it concerns me.’

‘It is not your business. So drop it!’

He gave her a look which would have intimidated someone else but not his daughter. She met his look head on but changed the topic all the same.

To be continued

You can read episode 2 here - http://youngicee.com/2019/01/abducted-episode-2.html

Abducted - Episode 2

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

‘Take your filthy self off my car,’ IB ordered the man leaning against her new Nissan jeep like he owned the vehicle.

That upper part of his face was hidden beneath by the baseball cap he wore but he was dressed up in a white shirt, over a faded a pair of jeans and shoes that had seen better days.

‘Didn’t you hear me?’

Her car was parked in front of the ‘EVERYDAY EMPORIUM’ where she’d stopped to meet up with a friend. She had stepped out to find the man leaning so comfortably against her Infinity jeep. She hated it when people did that. It pissed her off. And to make matters worse, he didn’t move an inch. At that moment, it didn’t occur to her to draw the attention of the security.

‘Are you deaf or something? If you want a car to lean on,’ she continued rudely, ‘then you either buy yours or apply to be my driver but never lean against my car.’

She tossed the provisions into the backseat of the car and drove off stopping at the EXCLUSIVE.

The gown she’d ordered had arrived, with its accessories- a matching purse. She went into one of the numerous air-conditioned changing rooms to try the outfit.

‘How do I look?’ she asked the lady attending to her.

‘Like a modern day princess, Miss Davids.’

IB looked at her reflection and she liked what she saw. The gown fitted her hour glass figure showcasing her full Kalabari hips like a glove. It was a sky blue gown with a scoop neck and it was backless. It had a full skirt ending at the soles of her feet with thigh length slits revealing long shapely legs. It came with a midnight blue purse and sandals with 4 inch stiletto heels. It was breathtaking and worth the money she had spent for it. This was definitely a head turner. She had also ordered the jewelleries which would go perfectly with the gown. Matching earrings, pendant and bracelets. She was set to roll. The clothes and accessories were put in shopping bags. They had been paid for ahead of time.

She headed for the salon to have her hair done and a manicure and pedicure. She had booked for tiny braids which she would carry for a month. As much as she hated having to wear her braids for more than a week, she couldn’t stand sitting for hours every week just to make her hair!

‘Hey girlfriend.’

IB turned to see a young woman about her age having her hair styled. It was Cynthia Owunari, her good friend. They hugged each other before Cynthia leaned back into the chair to allow the professional hair stylist continue working on her.

‘So what’s up with you?’ IB asked Cynthia.

‘Nothing much. Just thinking of settling down.’

IB looked at her. ‘Seriously?’

Both women had planned to tour the world before settling down, so Cynthia’s statement came as a surprise to IB. ‘What changed your mind? You weren’t thinking of settling down a few days ago.’

‘Oruye happened.’

‘Oruye? You have been dating him for four years and at no time did you plan on settling down before you were done with your tour.’

‘He wants to settle down with me and he assures me that we can still travel around if I want.’

‘But not as much as if you are single. Girlfriend, you are only twenty-four.’

‘Twenty-five next month.’

‘Whatever. But you are not old enough to start getting desperate.’

‘I am not desperate, IB. Settling down is a good thing.’

‘I am not saying that it is not. What I am saying is that it is too early.’

‘I want to have all my children before I turn thirty.’

‘So do I but you don’t see me rushing.’

‘You should be happy for me.’

‘I am happy. And I like Oruye but I just don’t want you to rush into this and end up wishing you had awaited a little.’

‘If I do that, feel free to tell me ‘I told you so,’ Cynthia told her. ‘And I intend for you to be my chief bridesmaid.’

‘You had better.’ IB laughed.

Cynthia was thinking of settling down. That was another friend leaving their travelling clique. Two weeks earlier, they had been bridesmaids for one of their friends, Jessica Amadi, the daughter of a former Minister for Education. And now, she was losing Cynthia. She was happy for Cynthia. Oruye loved her friend and worshipped the ground she walked on, but IB felt it was too early to lose one’s independence.

‘So what’s up with you?’

‘You remember that creepy saucer eyed guy I told you about?’

‘The one who considered himself worthy to be one of your suitors?’

‘The same. I met him four days ago and he had the guts to ask me out.’

‘What! The man must be as stubborn as mule.’

‘Obviously, after what happened the last time he came around. The dogs dealt with him.’

‘And yet he came back.’

‘Yes. If he had been good looking I would have found his attitude a little, how do I put it, ‘cute’? But he is not and he has three children. I am not looking for a ready-made family, not with a wealthy man, let alone someone whose wages for the year cannot afford to pay for one of my handbags.’

The man in question was about her height, 5” 11 and lived in a one bedroom apartment with his family in Diobu. He was probably hoping that with her money he could improve his life. Like she would stoop so low! But she had to hand it to him. It took guts to do what he had done.

‘You had him investigated?’

‘Yes I did. And you won’t believe what he does for a living.’

‘What?’

‘He is an assistant in one of those electronic shops at Iloabuchi Street, close to the RSUST back gate.’

‘You don’t say. A mere assistant!’

‘He is infested with poverty and was looking for a way to afflict me with his disease. But tufiakwa, I reject it.’ IB said, passing her right hand around her head and snapping her finger for emphasis. ‘If he wanted money, all he had to do was ask for it.’

‘And we both know you wouldn’t have given it to him.’

‘My hard earned money? No way. I don’t do charity. He is a man and it is an offence for him to be poor. If you ask me, poverty should be enshrined as an offence under the Criminal Code Act, punishable with a minimum of seven years imprisonment with or without caning.’

‘Babe, you harsh o.’ Her friend laughed.

‘I no harsh at all. That’s life. Well, I don’t blame him. I stood there long enough for him to talk to me. I was too shocked by his audacity to react immediately. But I have dealt with him in my own way. I made a report at the Mini Okoro police station accusing him of stalking me. And after paying N70, 000.00, they would certainly not be in a hurry to release him.’

‘What if he brings a fundamental rights action against you? I heard lawyers are making money now from such cases.’

‘He cannot even afford three square meals, I seriously doubt that he would waste his meagre resources obtaining the services of a lawyer.’

‘Well, that serves him right. Next time, he’ll look for someone in his own class.’

‘Trust Naija police. Police dey find work you come give am work. By the time they are through with him, he would take a well deserved vow of celibacy.’

~*~*~*~

The dinner was a success. IB dazzled her father’s guests with her beauty and charm. They couldn’t keep their eyes off her and she was a natural hostess.

~*~*~*~

IB had booked for an evening flight with Aerocontractors to Lagos where she would be boarding the Air France connecting flight to Sweden. She would be staying at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.

Her flight to Sweden was fixed for the following evening and IB wasn’t taking any chances.

She rose to her feet and staggered to the bathroom where she took her time to bathe. An hour and a half later, she drove down to EXCLUSIVE to pick up a few underclothes, made a dash to Kingfishers fast food at Olu Obasanjo Road to pick up some snacks for her little cousin before heading home.

While in traffic, she went through the CD plates in her vehicle, selecting P-Sqaure’s ‘Get Squared.’ She slot it into her CD player and immediately the car was filed with tunes from the rising stars. She couldn’t wait to see Steve again. He called her every morning and every night just to hear her voice.

‘Oh Steve!’ she groaned.

P-Square’s ‘buzzy body’ was soon playing and she sang along with them. She loved that particular track.

‘Boy you know say if I give you body, body, you go soji, soj. You no go fit run the MIC, you go lose control…’

‘I no go lose control.’ A male voice, certainly not from the track came up and so close to her right ear.’

‘Oh my God!’ IB gasped and almost lost control of the steering wheel. She quickly adjusted as she felt a warm breath against her skin. The hairs on her body stood upright. One look at the rear view mirror confirmed that it wasn’t her imagination. There was a man in her car!

‘Who are you?’ she demanded.

‘That is for me to know and for you to find out. Keep on driving.’

She felt something cold against her skin and she knew without instinctively told what it was. She was now positively frightened. He gave her directions with the gun pressed against her side, the tinted glasses hiding his presence from watching eyes. He warned her against attracting attention to herself.

‘If you want the car, I’ll gladly step out and hand the keys over to you.’ She told him.

‘And you think I am stupid enough to play this game with you?’

‘I swear I won’t make any false move. I’ll even pay you. I am -’

‘I know very well who you are, Ibitoru Davids.’

‘Then you know that I can pay you-’

‘One more word from you and I shall end your miserable life.’

That shut her up and with it came the comprehension that this was an abduction. She had heard and read about the horrors kidnapped victims went through especially women who were abused nonstop until the ransom was paid. She was mentally calculating her escape when he asked her to pull over somewhere between Isiokpo and Elele with no houses in view and only a few cars on the road. She pulled over and he immediately held a piece of cloth over her nose. Her last thought was ‘please let this not be a ritual killer.’

~*~*~*~

‘Mission accomplished.’ Her abductor told himself as he transferred the young woman from the driver’s side to the boot of the vehicle. She deserved it, he told himself to justify his actions.

The drug he had used would keep her unconscious for a few hours which would give him the opportunity to drive to his destination without any interruption. A car drove by just as he was climbing into the passenger seat but no one had seen him toss her into the boot. There was enough ventilation for her there, he thought.

He put on his black suit over light blue shirt and black trousers, looking very much like the owner of the expensive jeep. He replaced her particulars with his own just in case of a search by the police. Several minutes later, he took a side road and kept on driving. After several turns, he drove into the garage of a bungalow.

He stepped out of the vehicle and locked the garage from the inside before rescuing the still unconscious young woman. For a slim woman she was heavy, he thought as he unlocked a side door and carried her into a semi- dark sitting room courtesy of the drawn drapes. He crossed the room and walked through a narrow passage. He pushed open a door revealing a tiny bedroom.

He deposited her on the bed in the room. She gave a little moan but did not wake up. He left the room and headed for the garage where he took out the car battery and hid it in one of the stacked cartons in the garage. He picked up her handbag and shopping articles and left them on the wooden centre table in the sitting room.

He returned to the bedroom. A tiny room with an eight spring bed on a carpeted floor. He had worked on that room when he planned this abduction. He had read about her in the papers. A rich snub who hung around her popular father. A man he had every reason to hate. Her father had given her the best of everything and she had a stubborn streak that he would enjoy taming.

She would attract a heavy ransom as the only daughter of a top politician. Her father would pay through his teeth to get her back. And he would have sleepless nights imagining the things he was doing to his little girl.

The bed creaked as he sat on it looking at the unconscious woman. The ice princess who felt she owned the world and therefore had the right to deal with others as she pleased. She was beautiful and intelligent, so full of herself. She was more beautiful than any woman had the right to be and she used it to her advantage. Vain and useless, well not completely a hopeless case. But she led men on and then dumped them like a sack of potatoes. It was thus surprising that none of them had successfully planned her demise or taken her against her will.

She had been back to the country only a few months and was already making waves as the ice princess. She treated others around her as though they had crawled out from underneath a rock and he was no exception. Buy his own car or apply to be her driver indeed. He would teach her a lesson she would not forget in a hurry. Only then would she know of his intention towards her.

He lifted her to a sitting position and slowly lifted her top over her flat stomach and up over her head tossing the expensive material aside. Her tight mini skirt followed. Why a woman would choose to dress so provocatively beat him. He left her in her underclothes, certain that in her current state of UnCloth, she wouldn’t entertain thoughts of leaving the building.

He went through her hand bag which contained the usual things you would find in a hand bag including a comb, makeup set, different shades of lip stick, body spray, perfume, pocket tissue. He found a Zenith Bank cheque book which he placed with her clothes, Zenith Bank and First Bank ATM Cards, an address book, a thick roll of money in her purse which he discovered on counting, was N73, 000.00. He also took out her Ipad, a blackberry and Samsung Galaxy note 7. He took out the sim cards and batteries so she wouldn’t be able to make a call even if she found the phones and Ipad. After a thorough search, he also found an Airtel sim card in one of the inner pockets of the handbag which was big enough to fit in a baby.

He left her in the bedroom and locked her in.


Read more here - www.youngicee.com

Abducted - Episode 3

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

IB woke up with a headache and stretched out on the bed. But instead of soft silk against her skin, she felt a starchy material like something you would find in a hospital. She bolted up. This was not her bedroom. This bed was small. Her teddy bears were missing. There was one pillow instead of six and the bedroom was smaller than her bathroom.

Come to think of it, she was sweating. The air conditioners in her bedroom were always left on and when there was no light, the stand by generator came on. Her body was slick with sweat, something that hadn’t happened to her in years. And she was in her under wear.

She never slept in her underwear. She climbed out of the bed in the semi-dark room. Instead of soft rug, she felt cold carpet. If she had thought she was dreaming, there was no doubt now that she wasn’t. This was a real nightmare, no ordinary dream.

Where was she? Why was she here?

She wracked her brain, trying to figure out how she ended up in this place. She was supposed to be in a flight to Lagos this evening. She had left home quite early and made a few stops. She was driving back home, singing P-Square’s buzzy body when a male voice joined her, alerting her to the fact that she wasn’t alone in her car. He had held a gun to her neck and subsequently asked her to pull over. That was the last thing she remembered. She had been abducted. How he’d got into her car was a mystery.

She had heard stories and read novels about heiresses being abducted and ransomed by men who couldn’t bear to work for a living, men who wanted quick and easy money. But never in her wildest imagination had she thought she would one day find herself a victim. Now she wished she hadn’t resisted her father’s attempts to get her a driver. She loved driving and that was now her undoing!

It was dark and she guessed it was over 7pm. She had missed her flight to Lagos. Damn it. How dared he? Her abductor was going to pay dearly for what he had done to her! She moved slowly to the window noting, to her annoyance, that it had a mosquito net as well as iron protectors. There was no way she could escape from the room. She tried the door and wasn’t surprised to find it locked.

She had to get out of there! The room was like a cubicle and made her feel claustrophobic.

She felt the walls with her hands and found a light switch. She flicked the switch but the lights didn’t come on. She made her way back to the bed surprised to find her handbag there. She reached for her phones, surprised that her abductor had been stupid enough to leave them there. None of the phones came on. She removed the back of each phone and found that there were no batteries. Her sim cards were also missing. So he wasn’t stupid after all. She searched further and found that her purse and cheque book were also missing from the bag.

‘Damn!’

‘I have to leave this place,’ she thought and almost immediately, she heard the key turn in the lock and the door open.

A man stepped into the room with a lit lantern. Lantern in this millennium! The shadows from the light danced around his face making it difficult for her to discern his features, but he was a few inches taller than she was. Suddenly aware of her state of UnCloth, she quickly grabbed the wrapper on the bed and covered herself with it.

‘It’s too late. I have already seen the merchandise,’ he told her.

‘Where am I? Where are my clothes?’ she demanded.

‘In safe keeping,’ was his reply and just then the lights came on. He blew out the flame from the lantern.

With the lights on, she was able to appreciate his features and recognise him as the man who had been leaning against her car a few days earlier. He was fair skinned with wide spaced blue eyes which she suspected were contact lenses, straight nose and full lips. His hair was curly betraying his foreign ancestry. He was obviously of mixed race.

His inscrutable expression annoyed IB who demanded: ‘Why am I here?’

‘You’ll know at the appropriate time. Now, come with me. I made an early meal for us.’

Early meal, ke. And he just expected her to follow him!

‘I have a flight to catch.’

‘It left a few minutes ago.’

‘No thanks to you. But mark my words, you’ll pay for it, you poverty infested being.’

‘And you are in no position to make threats, spoilt brat,’ he returned. ‘Now I want you out of this room before I am compelled to use force on you.’

‘You are not a gentleman.’

‘I never professed to be one.’

Her eyes gave him a once over, taking note of his black t-shirt and combat shorts. He was also barefooted.

‘I need my clothes.’

‘You’ll have to make do with the wrapper. After all, it’s not like you’re going anywhere.’

‘You can’t keep me here.’

He ignored her. She took a haughty position and walked past him ensuring that there was no contact whatsoever with their bodies. He shut the door behind her and headed in the direction of the kitchen which was just off the tiny sitting room. The sitting room was about a third of the size of her personal living room and furnished with old but neat cushioned chairs, (the kind she expected to find in the home of grandparents), a wooden table, a television so old it looked like it could only show pictures in black and white, the type that you hit twice before it started. There were no personal effects. No photographs to say something about the owner of the house.

The kitchen was so tiny it barely fit the two of them. It was furnished with a wall cabinet spanning the length of one wall, a cooking surface with two stoves and a sink. There was also a drum in the kitchen and she figured that it was filled with water. A table top fridge groaned like something about to die.

‘Why am I here?’ she asked for the second time.

He ignored her concentrating on the jollof rice inside the pot on one of the stoves. He deposited the pot on a wooden triangular pot stand.

‘Are you deaf or something?’ she continued rudely, her eyes scanning the room in search of something she could use on as a weapon, most likely on his head.

‘Where are we?’

‘Do I look stupid?’

‘You don’t want to know the answer to that, but I’ll tell you anyway. You are stupid because only a fool will mess with the daughter of a man who can put his sorry self in jail and ensure that he stays there for life.’

‘If that little speech is calculated at upsetting me, I must warn you that you are wasting your time, brat.’

‘What did you just call me?’ she demanded affronted.

‘Brat. Spelt as pronounced just in case you didn’t know.’

She recognised an insult when she saw one.

‘I’ll have you know that I have a first class degree and Masters from the Harvard University.’

‘How exciting,’ he said, sarcasm apparent in his voice.

‘It’s not my fault that you lack basic education, half breed.’ She told him nastily.

She realised she had gone too far when his eyes narrowed dangerously.

‘What did you just call me?’

Common sense warned her that she was already stepping on dangerous grounds but she still responded all the same.

‘Nothing more derogatory than what you used on me, half breed,’ she said.

He moved so quickly that she didn’t even see him coming until she found herself pressed against the wall, his fingers digging into her shoulders, his breath warm against her skin. His eyes were dark with fury.

‘Get your filthy hands off me,’ she ordered.

‘Or you’ll do what? Tell daddy?’ he mocked.

‘You’ll be in real soup when he gets hold of you. Death won’t even provide the relief you seek,’ she threatened him.

‘And I am so scared,’ he taunted. ‘Now, call me half breed one more time and I -’

‘Do you prefer cross breed? Because you are neither black not Caucasian.’

His fist slammed on the wall on the left side of her head and she flinched.

‘I am not scared of you,’ she told him boldly, thinking inwardly how much she would like to torture him by chopping his unfortunately great physique into tiny pieces and feeding each piece to him. ‘There are only two things you can do to me: kill me or rape me and neither of these two can make you a real man.’

He gave her an insulting once over.

‘That’s where you are wrong. Call me a half breed once more and you will find out that there are worse things I can do to you than rape and kill you.’

She parted her lips but sensibly shut them up once more.

He returned to the pot and she watched his back for a moment, hating him. He didn’t know who he was dealing with. Who the hell did he think he was? Filthy peasant and not worthy so much as to clean her sneakers let alone breathe in the same air that she did. He might be handsome with a good physique, but without money to his name, his physical look was useless unless you were looking for a temporary distraction.

Well, first things first. She had noticed the protector before one of the doors in the sitting room and it had been unlocked. If she was lucky, the door itself would be unlocked and she could make her escape. Her eyes scanned the tiny room once more in search of a weapon and she found one.

A rolling pin.

It was the last thing she expected to see in a bachelor’s kitchen but it was just her luck. Moving slowly as he dished the jollof rice into a bowl, she reached for the rolling pin and before it occurred to him that he was about to be attacked, she sent the rolling pin down on his head. She took off even as she heard the shattering of a plate. She shut the kitchen door behind her to delay him. The wrapper made running difficult but she was soon at the door. Her prayers were answered: the door was unlocked.

She shut it behind her and raced into the night. There was no light indicating nearby homes, just grasses but she didn’t let this deter her. She heard her abductor’s movement behind her. She gave him a good run, showing off her skills as a one-time 100 metres champion in her secondary school but the night and the lack of knowledge of her surroundings were her undoing and he finally caught up with her. As she screamed a large hand closed over her mouth and another clasped around her neck.

‘Brat!’ he swore.

She tried to bite into his palm but found it impossible to do so. His hold pressed her against his body so she could feel the heat emanating from him. She struggled with him and the grip on her neck tightened. She lifted one foot and brought it down on his own with all the strength she could muster but it didn’t have a satisfying effect since she was barefooted. If she had one of her long stiletto heeled shoes on, she would have successfully and satisfactorily maimed him for life!

He lifted her fireman style and ignored the punches she gave his back and neck as he headed back into the building. He released her, tossing her on one of the chairs. She landed with a thud. Before she could protest he assured her that the next time she tried to escape he would shoot both legs and let her go through life as a paraplegic. His cold eyes dared her to contradict him and she sensibly didn’t.

He locked up and returned to her.

‘Let’s get one thing straight. I am not your babysitter. You are my prisoner and you shall do as you are asked.’

She eyed the gun he was waving over her face, not sure whether it was a real one or a fake one but not prepared to find out. Besides, she had heard of accidental discharges, and although he appeared to be in control, he could do it just to spite her.

‘Do you mind keeping that where you got it from,’ she told him, moving out of its range, ‘before you hurt somebody.’

‘It would serve you right,’ he told her before sticking it into the waist band of his jean.

‘And it would serve you right if you accidentally shoot yourself in the groin. That way, the world wouldn’t worry about you producing more of your likeness,’ she returned. ‘Now, what do you want from me?’

He warned her to stay put while he hurried into the kitchen and returned with a tray and a big bowl of food, 2 ceramic plates, 2 aluminium cups and a bottle of water. One look at the water told her that he hadn’t bought it but had perhaps fetched it from a tap outside.

‘I am not hungry,’ she informed him, folding her arms across her chest.

Did he really expect her to eat anything he had cooked? Or even worse, use a ceramic plate? She had never eaten in one. Even as a little child. And aluminium cups? God forbid!

‘Starving yourself isn’t going to make me sweet on you.’

He picked one of the ceramic plates and dished out food for himself.

‘I’ll pass,’ she told him stubbornly. ‘You eat your own poison.’

He ignored her and began to eat.

‘Where are my batteries and sim cards?’

‘In safe custody.’

‘I want them back.’

‘You’ll get them when I am ready to release them to you.’

‘And my purse and chequebook?’

‘The same applies to them.’

‘I don’t trust you.’

‘I would be feeding you for the duration of your stay here and it is only fair that you pay for your keep,’ he simply told her.

‘And I didn’t ask to be abducted. Look, this joke is getting too expensive. Which one of my friends put you up to this?’

‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’

‘Don’t you? If you had been a regular kidnapper you would have made a call to my father by now and asked for a ransom.’

He ignored her and walked over to the television, turning in on.

‘And to my surprise, you didn’t have to hit it for it to start,’ she said sarcastically. ‘And look, it actually shows colours beyond black and white.’

He ignored her.

‘Well, who put you up to this?’ she asked, returning to her earlier question.

He picked up his plate and focused on the programme that came on and this annoyed her. She rose to her feet and stood between him and the television.

‘Get away from there this minute,’ he told her.

‘Or you’ll do what? Assault me?’

‘I am sure you would love to have my hands all over you,’ he said insultingly. ‘You can come to my room later tonight and I will give you the night of your life, but at this moment I have no use for your body. Now move!’

‘You bastard!’

‘Move Ibitoru.’

The dangerous glint in his blue eyes made her move aside even though she was physically steaming.

‘Enough is enough. I want my things now,’ she insisted.

‘And you are becoming a nuisance.’

‘How dare you speak to me like that?’ she demanded with righteous indignation. ‘Don’t you know who I am?’

‘Ibitoru Davids, the spoilt and undomesticated daughter of Senator Sotonye Davids. Now leave me in peace, woman.’

‘Woman! Don’t you dare use that condescending tone on me. On a good day you wouldn’t have the guts to speak to me.’

‘You are trying my patience.’

‘You should have left me in peace. By now, I should have been in Lagos.’

He ignored her and continued eating.

‘I’ll pay you N1,000,000.00 to free me.’

I am being too generous, she thought.

‘All right, N3, 000, 000. 00,’ she amended when he said nothing. ‘I am sure it would make a huge difference in your life. I’ll get the money back from my father and we can both pretend this incident never happened. You’ll have your money and I’ll be on my way for my vacation. I am sure I can get another flight to Lagos tomorrow morning.’

‘Shut up.’ He snapped at her.

‘I can pay you. Keeping me here is very risky. My dad has his connections and when they find you what will happen to you will make the holocaust look like a Sunday picnic. I am actually doing you a favour, you know. I don’t owe you one and if you had any sense at all you will take it.’

‘If I need your money, I’ll let you know.’

‘My father may not give you that amount of money. Even if he does, you would have to pay through your nose and you may not be able to raise N3,000,000 even if you were given the rest of your sorry life to do so.’

He didn’t bother responding.

‘N3,000,000 is a lot of money,’ she continued. ‘I won’t ask for a refund.’

‘I am sure you won’t,’ he ground out. ‘But one more word about your money and I shall silence that thing you call a mouth.’

Her lips parted to make a suitable retort but his look shut her up.

‘Ill-tempered mule,’ she thought as she headed for the bedroom he had kept her in.

He ignored her completely to her annoyance and she banged the door with relish.

~*~*~*~

The young man told himself that he had his hands full keeping Ibitoru there with him. She was proud, saucy and stubborn, a total spoilt brat, but he was going to tame her. He was going to make her useful to herself and to others. He wouldn’t have wasted his precious time with her if he didn’t have to pay her father back for a wrong he had committed while he was a serving Governor and thus immune to criminal and civil suits. He could call her father’s line right now and make a huge demand on him but that wouldn’t make up for what her father had done. Keeping his only child for a long time would have more effect.

He was no rapist. He believed that only a man who had serious issues with his sexuality would force himself on a woman and he frowned strongly at that. But Ibitoru didn’t know this and that would work to his advantage. She said there were only two things he could do to her: rape or kill her. And for all her boldness, she wouldn’t survive a rape. She hadn’t kept her virginity this long only to have it taken by force. It was something she used as a bargaining chip, to get the guys interested, dangling it over their noses like a bone before a dog.

She was beautiful. He would give her that. She took after her paternal grandmother who at the age of seventy-nine was still breathtaking. But her parents hadn’t given her the least home training, unlike his mother who had domesticated all her sons.

Let Chief Davids lose sleep wondering what he was doing to his beautiful little girl. When he was tired of keeping Ibitoru, he would make his request known.

To be continued

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Abducted - Episode 4

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

‘Have you ever heard of the word courtesy?’ Ibitoru demanded when the man came into the bedroom without so much as a knock on the door. She pulled the wrapper to herself, glaring at him.

‘It’s my house so I can do as I damn well please,’ he told her simply, ‘now you are going to make a call.’

‘Finally, for a moment there I thought you were going to keep me here beyond tomorrow. Satisfy my curiosity, how much do you intend to ask for?’

‘N 10,000’

‘What!’ Her jaw dropped but she quickly shut it back. ‘Are you trying to say that I’m worth only N10,000?’

‘Or less,’ he continued unrepentantly, adding before she could flare up. ‘This call is not to your father.’

‘Then who the hell do you want me to call?’

‘Such language is not befitting of a lady.’

‘You use it so don’t be quick to judge. Who do you want me to call?’ She asked again eyeing the old nokia phone in his hand, the type you could easily get for less than

N4000.

Was the guy so poor that he couldn’t afford a decent phone? She wondered.

His ridiculously tiny house with two tiny bedrooms was a little above that of a man living in abject poverty but that was not to say that somewhere along the line this man had not run short of money.

‘A week ago you had a man detained simply because he offered himself as one of your suitors.’

‘That little nobody! He deserved it.’

‘May I remind you that he is a family man with two little children?’

‘Like I care. He insulted me by approaching me to begin with, like I have no taste. He came to me reeking of abject poverty expecting me to accept his proposal so he could use my money to better his life.’

He glared at her.

‘You had no right to have him detained. All you had to do was say no.’

‘Just no? You must be joking. A riff-raff, a good for nothing gold digger insults me and you expect me to leave him with a simple no! You are not serious. If he had looked for a classless citizen like himself he wouldn’t be spending his days and night in jail.’

Her snobbish attitude pissed the man off.

‘You are useless, so you ought to be filled with gratitude that he saw something good in you.’

‘Don’t you dare insult me!’

‘Afraid of the truth? You are a spoilt brat with nothing to recommend you but your beauty and wealth. Your brain wouldn’t take you anywhere outside the business arena. That someone took the risk of coming to you is something to give thanks for knowing that you are not worth it.’

She slapped him and he caught her wrist in a vice grip, releasing her when she cried out.

‘You are going to call your police friends and tell them to release that man tonight.’

‘What is ‘saucer eyes’ to you anyway? You don’t look alike.’

‘He doesn’t know who I am.’

‘And yet you are getting involved in a matter that is no business of yours.’

‘I am making it my business.’

‘Are you one of those human rights freaks?’ she asked.

‘Whatever. Now call him.’

He gave her the funny looking phone.

‘And if I don’t?’

‘You don’t have a choice.’

Suddenly that gun was before her once more.

‘Weren’t you taught that it is impolite to threaten a woman with a gun? – never mind, a man like you certainly can’t have been in a woman’s womb for 7 or 9 months or you wouldn’t be acting in this manner. You probably dropped out of space. Yes that’s it. You are a martian.’

‘Shut up, brat!’

‘Stop calling me that!’ she yelled at him.

He leaned forward until his face was inches from hers.

‘You know, accidents do happen. I might get so upset that I might reflexively pull the trigger, and Boom!’ She flinched, ‘And you are in trouble. Now look for that number and call.’

She glared at him.

‘Which one of my lines is in there?’

‘MTN,’ he replied.

She thought of lying that she had saved the ASP’s number in her glo line but thought better of it. She scrolled down the names that appeared on the screen of his phone then pressed the call button when she got to the name she was searching for.

‘Tell him that you have decided out of the goodness of your heart to set the guy free,’ her abductor told her.

‘ASP – Good evening, this is Miss Davids. I am fine. Is that man still in your custody? He is? Okay, you can release him.’ She said her eyes on the gun before her. ‘But leave him with a warning that next time he comes within a mile of me, you shall rid the world of his sorry self. Do just that, ASP.’

‘No funny games,’ her abductor warned in a whisper.

She returned the phone to him, saying ‘This phone is out of date. You should get something better.’

‘As long as I can call and receive, that’s all that matters.’

‘What planet did you come out from Zusky?’

‘The same one you did, Kaput.’

‘Touché’

Kaput and Zusky were characters from their own cartoon who were always trying to take over planets.

‘When do you intend to call my father?’ She enquired.

‘When I am in the mood.’

‘My vacation begins tomorrow.’

‘Of course but you will be spending it here.’

‘Oh puhleeze! Like I’d want a vacation in your company.’

‘You don’t have a choice.

He began to walk away.

‘You can’t be serious about keeping me here for the next three weeks, or are you?’

‘I am dead serious.’

‘You are asking for trouble. My dad-’

‘Would be restless, imagining all the wicked things I am doing to his little girl, wondering if you would be with child by the time I release you.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’

‘Oh I would. Make no mistake about that,’ he told her, then added, ‘for all you know, I may be intending to use your child to secure a ransom.’

‘What are you talking about? I don’t have a…’ she paused, her eyes widening in horror as his words became clear.

‘That should give you something to think about,’ he said, enjoying the shocked look on her face. ‘You should consider yourself fortunate that I have no time for your kind.’

‘You think you are too good for me?’ she blurted out affronted. ‘May I remind you that you are a peasant? A mere commoner under a jurisdiction that was once my father’s! If I so much as offer my fingers to you, you should feel highly honoured let alone my hand.’

‘The problem with you, Davids, is that you think you are God’s gift to the male folk but welcome to the real world. No man is genuinely interested in a spoilt brat who can’t do anything on her own. The only use you are good for, if I decide to go ahead with it, is providing me with a child that I will use for the bargain.’

He walked out of the room.

‘Beast!’ She ground out.

To be continued

Abducted - Episode 5

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

She felt hot and in need of a shower. She also needed to attend to her private needs. She found him in the sitting room, his face hard and unsmiling. What was his problem anyway?

‘Excuse me.’

‘What do you want?’ he snapped.

‘I need a bath.’

‘Do you expect me to bathe you?’ he asked, deliberately misunderstanding her words.

She flushed angrily. ‘Pervert. You know that’s not what I meant. I need hot water to bathe with. I doubt if you have a heater.’

‘You’d have to get your own water, whether cold or hot,’ he informed her rising to his feet and walking across the sitting room, towards the kitchen.

‘I can’t believe this! There is no water running in the house!’

‘If it ran past then I didn’t see it.’

‘And you have a warped sense of humour.

‘Ha! Ha! Very funny. You fetch water from the well.

‘So you brought me here knowing that there is no water. In my home, there is constant water and I can use a heater when I need a shower.’

‘Here if you want something, you get it yourself. You want hot water you heat it if there’s light or boil one in the absence of light.’

‘You are no gentleman.’

‘I never claimed to be one.’

‘If you were going to abduct a woman with class, common sense demands that you take her to at least a four star hotel,’ she told him, wrinkling her nose as she looked around the room.

He ignored her, retraced his steps and walked through the corridor opening a door. He returned with a bucket which he thrust in her direction. She looked at it, her expression fierce.

‘I have never carried a bucket of water in my life.’

‘There’s always a first time for everything.’

He thrust the bucket at her once more, wrapping her fingers about its iron handle and asked her to follow him. They went through a door in the kitchen ending up outside. The well was a few feet from the wall and covered. She had only seen well in pictures and programmes on the television. She could just imagine how many diseases she would have to treat once she got back home. The mere thought gave her goose pimples.

He stepped aside.

‘Well?’ She demanded.

‘Well what?’

‘Aren’t you going to help me out?’

‘Why should I?’

‘Because I don’t know how to.’

‘Spoilt brat!’ He muttered.

He took off the cover of the well and threw in a rope with a small bucket, pulling it up to pour clean water into the bucket. She could tell it was clean, courtesy of the light from the kitchen door but that didn’t mean that there weren’t hidden bacteria that could be caught beneath a microscope. He handed the rope to her and she realized that he was not going to offer further help, she decided to do it herself and teach him that she could do it as well as he.

It took her minutes to fill the bucket, pouring more water on the soil than into her bucket. He watched her amused and she cursed him with words that could render a puritan deaf.

She hefted the bucket with both hands past him leaving a large drop of water in her trail as she struggled with the bucket. He didn’t offer to help her.

She dropped the bucket before the bathroom door and pushed the door open. The bathroom was tiny with a flat tiny white bathtub, with just enough room for you to stand in, a toilet and a sink. She noticed a big barrel that occupied a major space in the tiny bathroom enough to make one claustrophobic. Heck, the entire house was small enough to make one claustrophobic!

She deposited her bucket in the bathtub and lifted the lid of the barrel shocked to find it filled with water. And to think that that nameless man had made her fetch her own water.

She told him her mind as she left the bathroom.

‘The water is mine,’ he informed her. ‘You want water, you fetch it.’

He held out an old towel to her.

She threw back her head in disgust. ‘Surely you do not expect me to bathe with that!’

She thought of the rashes the use of such a towel would leave on her spotless body. This man was just desperate to give her craw-craw before he freed her!

‘I didn’t ask you to. I expect you to use it to mop the water you spilled.’

‘There is no way I’m going to-’

‘Don’t make me mad, brat! You pour water, you mop.’

He thrust the rag at her and compelled her to bend over and start cleaning the trail of water she had left behind, supervising her.

‘I have never been so humiliated in my life,’ she cried.

‘Look at the bright side. At least you can add this to your curriculum vitae: can clean exceeding well.’

‘Don’t you dare mock me. I never done this before. Not even in my own home.’

‘That’s just too bad. Now clean up.’

When she was through, he made her rinse the towel and showed her where to spread it. She glared at him but it had no effect on him. He took the back door keys with him taking the short corridor and going into his bedroom.

She marched towards the bathroom, upset but his words “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Stopped her.

‘What!’ she snapped.

‘Soap, towel and sponge.’

‘I’ll manage.’

‘You’ll do no such thing.’

‘Surely you don’t expect me to share such private things with a peasant!’

‘You don’t have a choice.

He forced them into her hands and pushed her gently into the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

She seethed in there, hating him. She deposited the items on the tiny cabinet attached to the wall and walked over the tight space to the sink where she found a new tooth brush besides an old one and a Maclean’s toothpaste.

She tore off the seal and pressed the toothpaste unto the brush. She missed her very expensive toothpaste at home. She thought as she began to brush her teeth.

She was going to leave this place one way or the other before she lost her mind. She never bathed with cold water but she was going to cope with it rather than give him the pleasure of knowing that she couldn’t do the simple task of heating water.

She unwrapped the lux soap he’d given her. It had a nice smell but lacked the fragrance of the soap she used back at home. A big pink soap and very expensive.

She spent over half an hour in the bathroom, washing herself clean of the sweat that clung to her body. When she was through. She wrapped herself in his big blue towel.

She left the bathroom in the towel, her undies and the wrapper in her arms. He gave her a disinterested look before returning his attention to the television screen.

She went into the bedroom she was occupying and returned a moment later.

‘Hey!’ She called to him insultingly.

He didn’t even look at her.

‘Excuse me!’ She amended.

He turned. ‘What do you want?’

‘I need my clothes.’

‘And I won’t have you trying to escape.’

‘I can’t move around in this towel.’

Without saying a word he went into his bedroom returning with a T-shirt and boxers which he tossed to her.

‘Weren’t you taught hygiene in school?’ She asked insultingly. ‘You don’t share clothes and definitely not inner wears.’

‘You are in no position to complain.’

‘Excuse me! Well I’d rather have the towel.’

‘Suit yourself. But I’ll need it when I take my bath in less than an hour’s time and I won’t have u strutting about my house in your birthday suit.’

She flushed angrily. ‘This is a deliberate attempt to annoy me isn’t it? What’s your name anyway?’

‘That is not important.’

‘Then I’ll call you, stoneface.’

‘You do that and I’ll give you so hard a paddling that you won’t be able to sit for a full month.

‘Then give me a name.’

‘I’m sure you can come up with something better.’

‘Like Amos?’

‘Very funny. But I’m not amused.’

‘All right, Richard. That’s one of my favourite English names. So you should feel privileged.’

‘I hear.’

‘So Richard, were you serious about keeping me here for three weeks? My N3m offer is still open.’

‘Two to nine months depending on my mood.’

‘Two to nine what! What exactly do you want from me? I’ve already promised to give you N3m.’

‘When I need the money I’ll request for it but for now-’

‘I have a life even if you don’t have one. And I hate being disorganized. I have people to meet, places to see.’

‘That’s just too bad.’

‘I don’t know what you want from me Richard but I’ll tell you this, you won’t get it easily.’

‘And what do you think I want from you?’ He questioned both hands on the wall on either side of her face so close she could inhale his clean male scent.

She held her breath.

‘You know you shouldn’t be giving a guy ideas when you are dressed in only a towel. You might get more than you bargained for,’ he warned.

Her eyes grew wide and he stepped back from her.

‘Pervert!’ She thought.

He told her to change into the clothes he’d given her and return the towel to the bathroom. She grumbled as she went into the bedroom wishing the door had an internal bolt. She hurried into the clothes after pulling on her underclothes, and then returned the towel to the bathroom like he’d ordered.

She couldn’t believe that she was taking orders from a peasant! Two days ago she would have thought it impossible but it was happening.

She felt ridiculous in his clothes. Clean or otherwise.

‘First of all, he kidnaps me, then he insults me and now I have to smell like him! You’ll pay for this Richard or whatever your bloody name is!’

To be continued

Abducted - Episode 6

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Chief Sotonye Davids kept on trying his daughter’s lines but all of them were switched off. At first her MTN line had been busy and subsequently switched off. It was so unlike his daughter to switch off all her lines at the same time.

He had expected her home hours earlier and she hadn’t called to say she would be late.

‘Where the hell are you, Ibitoru!’

She had missed her flight to Lagos. Her bags were packed and still in her bedroom. He thought of calling the police but felt that it was too early to do so. She might return with a good excuse for not returning home in time.

~*~*~*~

Ibitoru woke up in the middle of the night, opened her door quietly. The sitting room was dark and so was the passage. She went into the bathroom where she attended to her needs. When she was done, she shut the door, stopping to peep beneath Richard’s door. His room was in darkness.

She returned to her own room, opened the door and shut it again so it would seem like she had returned to her room just in case Richard was still awake.

She tiptoed, careful not to bump into anything. She quietly searched the drawers of a cupboard in the sitting room, cursing softly when she couldn’t find his keys. She tiptoed into the kitchen where she checked the cabinets. She didn’t plan on escaping that night. It was late. But if she found the keys she was searching for she could make her escape in the morning.

She found a set of keys in the third kitchen cabinet. As she reached for the keys, another hand quickly snatched them up.

‘Don’t ever sneak up on me!’ She yelled at him feeling like ten years of her life had just fled. ‘You almost frightened me to death.’

‘I thought I warned you about trying to escape.’ He turned on the lights. ‘Do I have to tie you up before you use your senses?’

‘What did you expect me to do? Sit back and enjoy your hospitality. In case you haven’t noticed, this place is not good enough for me. The fan in that room makes me hot and I am used to an air conditioning system.’

‘You want an AC?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then you’ll have it for five minutes.’

He tossed her over his shoulder and turning the light off, carried her to his bedroom. He pushed open the door and a quick rush of cold air hit Ibitoru. He deposited her on her feet and flicked the switch, light pouring into the room. His room was like hers but the bed was bigger, the mattress thicker and looked more comfortable. An old model AC ensured that the bedroom was chilled.

She reeled at him.

‘Why did you put me in the other room with a rickety ceiling fan that blows only hot air? Knowing that you had an AC in this room!’

‘Surely, you didn’t think that I would give up my bedroom for you!’

‘That is what a gentleman would have done.’

‘Well, I’m not a gentleman.’

‘I can’t share this room with you.’

‘I never asked you to. I want the AC and so do you.’

‘And as a female I should get the AC and you the fan.’

‘You must be joking. Your five minutes is up. You’d better get back to your bedroom.’

‘You don’t have a single gentleman’s bone in your body.’

‘That has been long established.’

‘You really should consider exchanging rooms.’

‘If I shut my door, I am going to lock you in and believe me sleeping is the last thing we’ll be doing. And I won’t be responsible for whatever happens here.’

‘Bloody pervert,’ she swore as she fled from his small but comfortable bedroom.

She wanted an AC but not to her detriment. If he wanted a woman to share his bed, he should go outside and get one!

She returned to her bedroom which felt warm after the few minutes in his air conditioned room. He could stay in his bedroom and keep on hoping that the crave for the AC would send her knocking on his door. She wasn’t that desperate.

But she had one very uncomfortable night.

~*~*~*~

‘No sir,’ Cynthia told Ibitoru’s father for the fifth time that morning. ‘I haven’t seen her. And no she was not at my place last night. And I have absolutely no idea where she is.’

The last time Ibitoru had pulled a stunt like this, she had a quarrel with her father and stayed out of home and incommunicado for three days.

Sotonye raked his brain trying to come up with the reason for Ibitoru’s sudden disappearance. At least he was sure that she hadn’t left for Lagos. Her clothes were still intact in her bedroom. Nothing was missing. And she had been looking forward to this vacation for months. She wouldn’t give it up now.

He tried her numbers a few more times and got the same response. Her phones had been switched off. Either she was playing an expensive game with him or there was indeed something to be worried about. With Ibitoru, it was almost impossible to make the distinction.

If she’d had an accident, he would have been informed earlier, so the conclusion was ruled out. He called the airline services to see if she had booked another flight. The answer was NO.

The fact that her clothes were in the bedroom didn’t necessarily mean that she couldn’t have travelled without them. His daughter was a spendthrift, so extravagant in her spending. She could decide to start her shopping all over again in Lagos. He wouldn’t put that past her. But the problem was this: she hadn’t travelled! And he knew his daughter well enough not to suspect that she’d take a night bus to Lagos. Ibitoru would never take a public transportation on land no matter how comfortable. If she was going to go anywhere on land, it was going to be in her car or in a chauffeur driven air-conditioned car. She’d had a driver assigned to her throughout her stay in the States for the days when she didn’t feel like driving herself.

As much as he believed that she was playing one of her expensive jokes, he thought that it was better to be safe than sorry and so he called the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, who owed his appointment to him, and asked him to kindly inform his men to be on the lookout for his daughter or her car. If Ibitoru returned and felt embarrassed by this, he knew how to calm her down.

~*~*~*~

The man felt Ibitoru’s hateful glance pierce his back, through the shirt he wore and bit back a laugh. He was unlocking the front door, feeling the need to drive into town.

‘Where are you going to?’ she demanded.

‘Out,’ was his simple, annoying reply.

‘I know you are going out, but where?’

That is for me to know,’ he replied.

‘You can’t leave me here.’

He turned to face her. ‘That’s exactly what I intend to do. And don’t bother exerting yourself. I didn’t leave anything you could use to make an escape,’ he assured her. You are going to stay in here like a good little girl until I get back.’

‘Doing what? In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no light.’

‘You’ll watch a TV programme when there’s one. Fortunately for you, in this side of town, you can boast of at least 13 hours of light.’

‘Haven’t you ever heard of a generator?’

He pretended to think about it. ‘Don’t believe I have. Is that a new word?’

‘It’s the equipment you turn on when there’s no power supply. I’m sure with part of the money you took from my purse; u can buy a little one.’

‘And who’s going to put it on?’

‘You of course.’

‘Fat luck,’ he held the door open.

‘I mean it Richard.’

‘You can occupy yourself with the novel I let in your room.’

‘Stephen King! No thanks.’

‘Suit yourself.’

‘You brought me here and you owe it to me to see that I am as comfortable as possible.’

‘Don’t make me regret not tying you up. I’d gladly do that before I leave.’

He took a menacing step towards her and she retreated. ‘Don’t you dare tie me up!’ she screamed.

‘Then behave yourself. You have been nothing but a nuisance since I brought you here.’

‘All you have to do is send me back home.’

‘You wish!’

‘Look, it’s not my fault that you woke up on the wrong side of your bed.’

‘Maybe if you had slept in it, I would have woken up on the right side of the bed.’

‘Please don’t insult me. Like I don’t have taste!’ She said insultingly, wisely keeping her distance.’

‘Don’t worry, you’re not my type,’ he returned.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

‘I wouldn’t date a guy like you even if my life depended on it.’

‘And I could take that as a challenge if I had the time but as it is, I have better things to do than listen to a spoilt brat who thinks beauty is everything.’

‘So you think I’m beautiful,’ she smiled, her hands on her hips emphasizing straight spotless legs revealed by the boxers shorts, throwing her head back in a seductive manner.

‘Flirting with me is not going to ensure your release,’ he assured her. ‘It would only serve to keep you here and in my bed for a very long time.’

She glared at him.

‘Is that all you can think about?’

‘Let’s see: two young persons of the opposite sex, unattached and locked up in a building in a secluded area? What else would one think about?’

‘Like I’ve said before you are a pervert.’

His face was inscrutable as he walked back to the door.

‘I could destroy a lot of things before you get back.’

‘Only if you want to see the other side of me. Then you’ll know what it’s like to be a prisoner.’

He locked the protector with three heavy padlocks before shutting the door and locking it too.

Bastard, she thought. You’ll pay for this.

~*~*~*~

An hour later, she was still looking for a means of escape and meeting a dead end. Her right arm ached from trying to force his locked bedroom door open.

‘Damn you Richard!’ She swore under her breath.

She searched everywhere, finding nothing. He had meant it when he said he’d left nothing she could use to make her escape. After two hours, she sat on the sofa feeling utterly frustrated.

Why didn’t he just call her father and make his request? She asked herself. If he released her this week, she could make fresh plans for her vacation.


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Abducted - Episode 7

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Richard didn’t return until night and Ibitoru was very hungry but she would cope with the hunger rather than learn how to use the stove and probably end up burning herself.

She was furious by the time he returned. She went into her bedroom seething. She spent several minutes there hoping he would come over and apologize to her but he didn’t. The minutes stretched to hours and she heard him turning off the lights and locking up; heard him shut the door to his bedroom. She couldn’t believe that he had gone to bed with a clear mind. Without even asking her if she would eat supper or whether she’d eaten all day!

~*~*~*~

Hunger pushed her out of the bed. She left her room quietly and walked into the kitchen. She turned on the lights and began to search for something edible. Fortunately, she found yam porridge in one of the pots. It was very cold but beggars can’t be choosy, she thought.

She emptied the contents of the pot into a flowery ceramic plate and walked out of the kitchen turning off the lights as she did so. She occupied the sofa and began to eat despite the fact that there was no chicken, beef or fish to go with it. She ate the food to her satisfaction, gulping down a cup of warm water. With every passing hour, the man was just adding to his numerous sins. The light was wasted if he didn’t have a water dispenser or a common fridge. What was the cost of the bloody thing for crying out loud? He had her money, all he had to do was use it for something useful!

If she was to eat yam porridge back home, it would have lots of dry fish in it and peppered chicken parts. And it would be served with wine or juice depending on what she was in the mood for. She’d concede that he was a good cook for a guy although she couldn’t understand why a man would go through the pains of learning how to prepare his own meal. Then again that must be normal for poor men.

She yawned and rose to her feet leaving the plate on the table.

~*~*~*~

‘Wake up. Now!’ A hard voice thundered, penetrating her dreams and causing her to sit up on the bed with a start.

She saw the man thundering over her like a T-rex in a white singlet and a pair of jeans that showed off his superb physique. He didn’t have to lose the singlet for her to know that he had a six pack, she thought sleepily. He should be participating in one of those bodybuilding competitions instead of going around abducting women!

‘Get up now,’ he ordered.

‘Well good morning to you too,’ she muttered stretching herself out on the bed. ‘I’m sure you had a lovely night.’

‘No smart mouthing this morning,’ he ground out.

‘What is your problem?’

‘You are. Get out of that bed before I drag you out of it.’

‘It’s not like the stupid bed is comfortable,’ she grumbled as she headed for the door.

‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’

She followed the direction of his hand. Her bed. Or rather, the bed in the bedroom he’d kept her in.

‘What about the bed?’ She queried.

‘Do I need to spell it out to you? Dress it.’

‘Geez, you must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed once more,’ she taunted. ‘Either that or you think that you are a drill sergeant.’

‘Dress it,’ he repeated.

‘All right. All right.’

She tried to straighten the bed in the best way she could mumbling bitterly.

‘I’m done,’ she informed him.

He wasn’t satisfied with her best, so he dragged her to his bedroom pointing to the neatly dressed bed in his bedroom, with nothing out of place.

‘I want your bed like this,’ he told her.

‘I don’t dress beds.’

‘Just as you don’t wash your plates after eating. You’ll learn how to do both today. After washing the plate you ate with last night I expect you to keep yourself busy doing some household chores.’

‘And you?’ she enquired.

‘I’m the boss here.’

‘I don’t clean up in my house and I refuse to be transformed into an unpaid maid by you.’

‘You will do as you are told and not question my authority.’

‘Who do you think you are? You-’

‘In case you have forgotten, you are my prisoner. Do not allow me to treat you as one. I’ll do it gladly.’

‘I’m sure you will.’

She marched off, glaring at him and cursing him under her breath.

‘Curses, Miss Davids?’ He taunted. ‘I thought you were supposed to be a polished lady.’

She cleaned up her bedroom, prepared to show him that although she’d never done such a thing it didn’t mean that she couldn’t do it. If she put her mind to it. She straightened the bed.

‘The bed sheets are still sticking out at the edges,’ he told her.

‘You are just enjoying yourself at my expense.’

‘Immensely, my dear, now rectify it.’

He learned against the wall, arms crossed about his muscular chest, looking for all the world like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

I wish there was something I could use to wipe the expression from his face, she thought.

She kept at it until he gave her a nod of satisfaction like she was a recalcitrant child he was trying to teach some manners. Why didn’t he just go ahead and give her a pat on the head and say ‘very good, my dear, keep it up’? And to her horror, he did just that as though he’d read her mind. She gave him one of her glares that had guys keeping their distances but this guy was obviously made of sterner stuff than that, she thought, when he didn’t react as she had expected but rather informed her that she had more chores to do in the kitchen.

In the sitting room, she found the plate and cup she’d used for her supper still on the table.

‘You should have just taken them into the kitchen when you were drawing the drapes,’ she chastised.

‘Sorry, I don’t clean up after spoilt brats. You make dirt, you clean it up yourself. Now pick those and take them to the kitchen,’ he ordered in a voice that broke no argument.’

She grumbled under her breath as she did his bidding. She was beginning to sound like Muttley, Dick Dastardly’s side kick from wacky races!

In the kitchen, he not only made her wash the plates and the cup, he also made her wash the pot.

‘You used it too,’ she protested.

‘But you used it last,’ he reminded her, his voice mimicking hers. ‘Now wash!’

‘You know what! I believe you were given a lot of orders while growing up and you feel you can now take it out on me because I’m unfortunate to be here. Well, let me remind you that I am neither your daughter, nor your little sister.’

‘If you were my daughter, you wouldn’t be a spoilt brat. I would have seen to that.’

‘By flogging me until I learnt some manners?’

‘Maybe,’ he said vaguely. ‘Now wash.’

She washed the pot, seething, and careful with the nails she’d recently fixed.

‘Not clean enough.’

‘You should have got yourself a dish washer.’

‘There isn’t one, so wash.’

‘If you don’t like it, do it yourself. I am tired of taking orders from you.’

He was suddenly behind her. He caught her wrists and dipped her hands into the soapy water.

‘Careful with the nails. I paid a fortune for them.’

‘That’s just too bad.’

‘I’ll get you for this if it’s the last thing I do,’ she swore.

‘Promises. Promises.’

~*~*~*~

It took her over fifteen minutes to get it right. By then her fingers were soft and almost white. If she’d thought that she hated him before, it was nothing compared to the way she felt now.

‘I hate you,’ she told him.

‘Tell me something new,’ he returned, shoving a broom in her direction.

She looked at him like he was an alien.

‘What is that for?’

‘To sweep the sitting room.’

‘Oh no you don’t,’ she flared up. ‘I have cleaned my room. I have washed your damn plates and your damn pots. There is no bloody way I am going to sweep your house.’

‘Such colourful words, princess! You don’t have a choice.’

‘I won’t do it.’

‘Oh yes you will. You are going to do your own share of the work here, brat!’

‘You can’t make me. And my name is Ibitoru and not brat!

‘Take this broom, brat!

‘No way.

She cried out as he tossed her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. She pounded at his back with her fists.

‘Desist from that, you wild cat,’ he warned. ‘before you topple us both and believe me, your head is going to take the full impact of your fall and then you’ll have just your beauty to recommend you!’

He tossed her on the bed she had just straightened.

‘You are going to remain here-’

‘Bastard!’ She spat at his face.

He wiped it with his palm and cleaned it on her thighs.

‘You are going to stay here until you purge yourself of your contempt.’

‘I haven’t had my bath.’

‘Too bad! When you are ready to work, knock on the door.’

~*~*~*~

He swept the sitting room, kitchen and passage and washed up the bathroom and toilets. He was one of quadruplets – two males and two females and his parents had taught them how to take care of their home. How to fend for themselves saying that it wasn’t strictly a woman’s job.

His mother was half Italian and half American and brought up with a silver spoon but taught her children that it was a virtue to be domestic. And she ensured that none of her kids were spoilt. She had raised hardworking kids who were not afraid to work.

When after two hours had passed and Ibitoru hadn’t knocked on the door, he realized that she had no intention of doing that. She was probably sitting down on the bed waiting for him to apologize to her. It would be a cold day in hell before he did that.

‘Proud brat!’ He swore under his breath.

By the time he was through with her, she’d be very domestic and useful to someone.

To be continued

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Abducted - Episode 8

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Later in the day he locked up and drove to the supermarket where he bought provisions. When he returned he heard no movement from her room and figured that either she was sleeping or thinking of all the wicked things she could do to him.

He unlocked the door and stepped into the room. She sat cross legged on the bed, a novel in one hand, glaring at him.

‘Repentant, yet?’ he asked her.

‘There is no way you are going to get me to do any domestic work. You want a clean house, do it yourself.’

‘I see, still unrepentant. Then you’ll have to spend the rest of your day in here.’

‘Wait a damn minute!’ she started outraged as she left the bed and stood before him. ‘You can’t leave me here to starve. It is not enough that I have neither brushed my teeth nor had a bath, you can’t starve me,’ she finished with righteous indignation.

‘I’m not starving you. You are starving yourself by refusing to perform a simple task.’

‘Why should I clean up your home?’

‘Because it is yours until I free you.’

She gave a derisive snort, ‘like I’d consider this dump my home!’

‘You should count yourself lucky. No prisoner enjoys such luxury. At least you have good food to eat, a telly to watch. a fan in your room and novels to keep you company.’

‘Yeah right!’ she snorted as she conceded that he was right but she wasn’t going to tell him so.

‘Here, you have to do your own chores. And you are going to do them or spend the rest of the day in this room.’

‘And if I need to relieve myself?’

‘You do it in here and whenever you are purged of your contempt, you clean up your own filth.

‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I am, believe me. Maybe if I am in a better mood, I’ll let you do it outside.’

‘And what’s wrong with the toilet?’

‘I washed it. Until you learn to clean up after yourself, you take care of your needs outside.’

‘Even in the middle of the night?’

‘Yes.’

‘It’s not my fault that you don’t have water running inside your house.’

‘And there’s a big barrel in there,’ he reminded her.

‘Whatever. You are just trying to be cruel.’

‘Cruel! Your father might call what he did to you training but I call it over indulgence. One that renders you lazy and almost useless to yourself. For the duration of your stay here, you are going to learn real hard work and to clean up after yourself.’

‘Who died and made you king?’ She snarled, insulted.

He ignored her.

‘I’ll leave you here. When you are repentant all you have to do is knock on the door or you might refer today as the day you did an all day dry fast. Who knows, you might get your prayers answered.’

He locked the door behind him.

~*~*~*~

She didn’t knock. Not once, but he let her out for a few minutes to ease herself. Outside! To her greatest surprise. Shock was more like it.

‘You are not serious,’ she blurted when he pointed to a clearing at the back of the house.

‘You have just two minutes, brat!’ he reminded her, ‘and you have already used up thirty or so seconds.’

‘You don’t expect me to – to act like a common peasant.’

‘Here your millions don’t count. I call the shots. Seventy-five seconds to go,’ he counted.

She was seething. The mere thought of using the bushes as a toilet was in itself a nightmare. There was no way she was going to do it!

‘Fifty-five seconds to go!’

He is doing this deliberately to embarrass me, she thought. Like it’s my fault that he is poor and I am rich.

‘Forty seconds to go!’

Damn him! But her bladder felt like it was going to explode. How dare he do this to her?

‘Thirty seconds to go!’

‘All right! All right!’ she yelled, ‘but you’d better look the other way.’

‘Or you’ll tell daddy that I’ve been so naughty?’ he taunted. He didn’t turn around but looked away. He didn’t trust her not to do something as stupid as race into the bushes.

IB made use of the clearing telling herself that she had never been so humiliated in her entire life. She was so angry that it didn’t occur to her to escape until it was too late.

He locked her up once more in the bedroom and she told herself that she would rather nibble on goat shit than beg him to let her out.

She waited for him to apologise to her and set her free but he went to bed that night without releasing her.

~*~*~*~

He was up early the next morning. He brushed and bathed after taking care of the necessary chores. For the fun of it, he knocked on her door and almost laughed when he heard the words ‘Go to hell’.

He went into the kitchen returning a moment later with a flat plate, sliced bread, blue band butter and a mug of coffee all in a tray. He thought of Ibitoru and told himself that he had done nothing wrong. She was the one who was so proud that she’d rather starve than do a simple job.

~*~*~*~

In her bedroom IB seethed. A day had passed and she hadn’t had a bath. Something she had never done. She bathed and brushed her teeth at least twice a day. But she’d done neither of them for twenty-four hours.

He had made her go hungry just because she had refused to sweep his house!

Damn him!

She heard the sound of steel connecting with ceramic and her eyes narrowed. How could he eat with a clear conscience knowing that she was starving in her room? Her stomach grumbled bitterly and Ibitoru knew she just had to take something.

She headed for the door, drew a deep breath before knocking. It took him a few minutes to unlock the door.

‘Repentant yet!’ He queried

‘Yes. Damn you. I’ll do the bloody sweeping.’

‘Such colourful language is unladylike.’

‘Then sue me.’

He gave her room to walk past him, taking the keys with him and thrusting them into the pocket of his three-quarter length combat shorts.

He walked into the sitting room, returning to the breakfast. As she moved to take a slice, he gently slapped her hand off.

‘Go brush your teeth and take a bath first.’

‘Are you insinuating that I stink?’

‘Yes you are. Off with you.’

‘Do you always have to be so domineering?’

‘It feels good, now scoot.’

She murmured as she headed for the bathroom.

‘Clean up after yourself,’ he called after her, ‘or I’ll make you mop with your tongue.’

She let out a string of curses in her dialect.

‘What did you say?’

‘Nothing.’

She had a thorough bath, brushed her teeth and mopped the wet floor with the rag in the bathroom telling herself that he was lucky that she was in a good mood!

‘I need a change of clothes, she told him later.

‘What happened to the one you have on?’

‘It’s dirty.’

‘Then wash it.’

‘That means that I’ll have to move around in a towel.’

‘Why the complaint? It’s more decent than the low neck and the micro mini skirt you wore two days ago.’

She glared at him.

‘Don’t tell me, you can’t wash your own clothes!’

‘Why wash when the washing machine can do the job?’

‘Is there anything you can actually do?’ he asked her.

‘I head a department in my dad’s company,’ she blurted out affronted.

‘Besides that. You can’t wash. You can’t clean up. You can’t even cook. Of what good are you to anyone?’

‘Don’t you dare insult me. At least I don’t go about abducting people and making them wear my clothes because I can’t ask a girl out.’

‘Don’t talk rubbish.’

‘The truth hurts doesn’t it? Because you can’t afford me, you want me to put on your clothes so that you can pretend in that warped mind of yours that I was a successful conquest.’

‘I won’t even respond to that,’ he bit out and took a bite of bread, thinking that she was crazy.

‘You don’t have to because it’s true.’

‘If you feel strongly about the clothes I gave you, then wash them clean and move about in your underclothes.’

‘You would love that, wouldn’t you?’ she insulted.

His gaze was insulting. ‘You are not my type.’

‘Yeah right! As if you aren’t moved.’

‘Don’t play with fire Ibitoru. You’ll get burnt,’ he warned her.

She would have made a smart response, however, his tone warned her of the implication of her continuing in that direction.

‘Why won’t you give me my own clothes?’

‘You know why,’ was his simple response.

He took the last bite of his bread, then gulped down the coffee that was snow cold. He’d suspended his eating when she’d gone into the bathroom and resumed when she’s returned.

‘I can’t believe I’m doing this,’ she muttered as she sat beside him leaning forward to pick a slice of bread. She buttered it and took a bite. Then a second bite.

He reclined in the sofa and shut his eyes. She caught a whiff of his cologne as she leaned forward once more to pick up another slice.

He is a strange man, she thought.

‘Today is Wednesday,’ she announced.

‘Oh it’s your birthday? Happy birthday darling.’

‘You’re crazy, you know that? Well, I’m meant to be in Sweden today.’

‘So what?’ He repeated in an annoying manner.

‘I am still in Nigeria. My parents will be looking for me.’

‘So what?’

‘You’re beginning to sound like a broken record.’

‘Then sue me.’

‘The police will be hot on your trail.’

‘Like I care. I can keep you here for a year and no one will find you,’ he assured her.

‘Rivers State isn’t that big.’

He withdrew into his thoughts, ignoring her completely. He was silent for so long that she almost believed he was asleep. She went into the kitchen, returning with a mug of coffee. She’d found hot water in a tiny flask in the kitchen.

‘Since you intend to keep me here, don’t you think it’s about time you did something about my clothes?’

‘I have better things to do with my money.’

‘And I’m sure you can’t afford the clothes I put on, I was referring to the money in my purse. I need good clothes. I’m a size 10. And all my skirts must be above the knee.’

‘Who is doing the shopping?’

‘You of course, since you insist on keeping me here.

‘A prisoner has no say. That’s why you are my prisoner. I have been to lenient with you. Don’t push me.’

He had to have an ulterior motive for being kind to her, she thought. After all, from all she had heard about kidnappers, they were not nice even if they were expecting a ransom in hard currency.

‘Are you always this dour, or is it just with me?’

‘What do you think?’

‘That you have a problem.’

‘Really?’

‘It’s been three days and I haven’t seen a ghost of a smile on your face.’

‘I have no reason to smile.’

‘Frustration?’

‘I won’t even answer that.’

She applied butter to another slice of bread and took a bite from it.

‘Do you have a mother, Richard?’

‘Why do you ask?’

‘If you have one, would you want someone to put her through this trauma you are putting my parents through?’

‘Trauma! You are 24. An adult.’

“And my parents would be worried wondering what’s become of me.”

“They’ll know when I call them.”

She stared at him for a long time then said “I’ll leave here the slightest chance I get, you know.”

“I dare you to try it. Now quit bothering me”.

~*~*~*~

“Any information yet? Chief Davids asked the Commissioner of Police immediately he came on the line.

“Not yet, sir,” Jude Haruna, Commissioner of Police replied.

The Commissioner had sent out some of his best detectives to investigate the disappearance of the ex-Governor’s daughter. A formal report was entered at the State Head Quarters, Moscow Road and the Commissioner had asked his men to treat this case as top priority.

None of Ibitoru’s friends had seen her around and no one had seen her in the last two days. No one had noticed anything suspicious the day she got missing.

The airlines confirmed that her name had been on the list for those to travel to Lagos on Monday evening but she hadn’t shown up that evening.

Roadblocks had been mounted and thorough searches conducted but Ibitoru Davids seemed to have disappeared without a trace. No accident involving a black infinity jeep had been reported and although it seemed too early to assume, the commissioner was quite convinced that the heiress had been abducted.

We are doing our best, sir! He assured Chief Davids, I believe that she might have been abducted and I think you should keep your line free in case the culprit calls to make request for a ransom.

Sotonye didn’t want to consider the fact that someone would be so bold as to kidnap his daughter, knowing the kind of connections he had.

‘Find my daughter, commissioner.’

‘We’ll do our best, sir.’

‘I want more than your best, commissioner. I want my daughter found and brought back to me.’

Sotonye Davids wanted to believe that his daughter was trying to be mischievous to get his attention but what if she had really been abducted? He didn’t want to think of what those men would do to her! No he wouldn’t even consider it. Ibitoru would be back and this would all be a bad joke.

To be continued

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Hmm

Abducted – Episode 9
© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.
Ibitoru missed her home. Being here was not funny at all. On Saturday, he had made her scrub the house with him.
He made her scrub to his satisfaction and she perspired like she had never done in her twenty-four years while he scrubbed like it was the most natural thing to do, barely breaking a sweat. By the time she was done, she felt like some essential bones in her body had broken, while he did his usual press-up.
In the eight days she had been in his home, she had learnt that he loved working out: jogging, sit-ups and press-ups. No wonder he looked so fit. No she couldn’t even think about his superb physique. He was the enemy and she could concern herself with ways of escaping.
She looked down at the plaster on the top of her left forefinger, and recalled how it came to be there.
~*~*~*~
‘Wake up!’ Her annoying alarm clock thundered and Ibitoru sat up with a start, her eyes red and heavy. “Isn’t it too early?” she asked the man who stood before her.
‘No it’s not,’ he countered. ‘I’m going out in an hour’s time and I need you in the kitchen with me.’
‘No way.’
‘You are getting out of that bed right now.’
‘You can’t make me.’
She cried out as he dragged her out of the bed and forced her to dress the bed before pulling her with him as he went through the door and headed for the kitchen.
‘No wonder you don’t have a girlfriend,’ she jabbed. ‘You don’t know how to treat a lady.’
He stopped when he was inside the kitchen.
‘I can’t be cooking when there is a female in this house,’ he said.
‘That is so sexist. You can’t get me to cook. Not unless you want your simple home razed to the ground.’
‘And you think it’s an achievement not knowing how to cook?’
‘Why cook when there are people paid to do it for you?’
‘And your parents call that home training?’
‘Leave my parents out of this.’
‘I already feel sorry for your Steve.’
‘How do you know Steve? And for your information, Steve has paid help in his home.’
‘But of course. That’s why you are warming to him. Lazy brat.’
‘Stop using that derogatory term on me.’
‘I will until you quit being lazy. It’s very unbecoming of a female.’
‘And I bet you have sisters who are good in the kitchen.’
‘I do. Make no mistake about that. And they know how to keep their homes with or without paid help. You are twenty-four and you can’t do a simple house work. I’m not saying a woman’s place is in the kitchen, but you need to know how to prepare a basic meal, for crying out loud.’
She stuck out her tongue at him.
‘You are just upset because I’m rich and you are not. That’s why you planned this abduction to begin with,’ she taunted.
‘I don’t owe you this,’ he told her, ‘but so help me, by the time you are released to the public, you will be of use to the society and the unfortunate man you end up marrying.’
‘I won’t pay you,’ she said rudely.
‘I’ll consider it my contribution to the society.’
She glared at him and he glared back.
‘What’s your problem anyway?’
‘You are.’
She placed both hands on her hips. ‘You are the one who abducted me and prevented me from escaping three times. I never asked to be abducted. You should release me if I annoy you so much, and maybe I’ll be nice enough to forget all this insult.’
‘Shut up, woman.’
‘Woman! You won’t speak to me in that dreadful tone on a normal day. But do I blame you? No, it’s just the circumstance we’ve found ourselves in. You-’
‘Shut up before-’
‘Before you what? Hit me?’
‘I’m sure you’d like that. Anything to get my hands on you.’
Her jaw dropped. ‘Why, you -. I won’t even crave for your touch if you were the last man of earth.’
‘And as much as you’d like me to put that to the test, I don’t have the time or the desire to do it.’
‘I have never been insulted in my – oof.’
He’d stuck one end of a cucumber into her mouth and that shut her up. She took it out and glared at him.
‘Make yourself useful.’
He was cooking two pots of soup and asked her to cut the vegetable. He showed her how to do it but he shouldn’t have trusted her with a knife because she cut her finger within three seconds of cutting big chunks.
Her scream rent the air as though she had been stabbed. She held her hand out and wailed. The sight was amusing but he didn’t laugh. He got a bowl, filled it with water and taking her injured hand in his, rinsed the cut with the water until the blood stopped flowing.
He led her to the sitting room like a child and asked her to sit. He went to the first aid box in the room and took out a roll of plaster and an ointment.
This is going to sting, he told her, holding unto her wrist as she tried to withdraw her hand. He applied the ointment to it and it stung. Her eyes watered once more. He wrapped the cut with the plaster.
‘It’s okay,’ he told her as she stared at the plastered finger like it was not part of her hand.
‘I never get injured.’
‘It’s part of life,’ he assured her. ‘Now we have to go back to the kitchen.’
Her eyes widened in horror. ‘You are not going to make me cut that vegetable again, are you?’
‘No,’ he assured her, ‘but you will keep me company.’
‘And if I don’t?’
‘That wasn’t a request, Ibitoru. And before you say anything, as soon as your cut heals, I’m going to teach you to cook and you are going to start contributing your quota here.’
Her glare didn’t work on him.
Four days in his house and it felt like four years!
~*~*~*~
Presently, she sat in his living room thinking of a way of escape. She hated being told what to do. Especially by a man she could have imprisoned with just one call. A nobody compared to her standing in life.
He left for work each morning but wouldn’t tell her what he did for a living. Did his colleagues know he kidnapped women as a hubby? Or was he one of those men no one believed could do any wrong? He might be one of those hardworking, trust worthy workers that always got the employer of the month award which made it impossible for anyone to suspect he had an alternative life.
She had tried screaming out of the window but no one had come to her rescue. Although she hadn’t seen any house around the vicinity the first time she had escaped, she had been hoping that there were farms within the area. Eight out of twenty-one days gone! Just like that! A trip to the Scandinavians had ended up being a trip to the middle of nowhere with a sadist!
He had shown her a copy of the guardians newspaper a few days earlier in which her father was offering ten million naira to whoever found his daughter. And yet he didn’t feel in the least bit concerned. If anything, his resolve to keep her in his home was strengthened. He was yet to give her his real name and his reason for abducting her. In fact he acted like having her in his little home was the most natural thing on earth.
He’d leave for work early and get back in the evening hours and expect her to have a meal ready for him like she was his wife or mistress. He’d taught her to cook. In fact he had compelled her to do so. She was still learning. A little or too much of salt, little spice, big chunks of vegetable once with a part of an artificial nail she’d fixed, too much water in the soup, rice too soft. Spaghetti sticking together and what not. Sometimes he had to cook himself, saying that he didn’t want the lining of his stomach destroyed by bad cooking. Not once did he compliment her cooking.
He cooked the soup himself and had her re-heat it. The first time she used the stove, she almost burnt down the kitchen. Parts of the kitchen wall had been stained with soot, but she had improved.
She told herself that soon she’d be back home and to the life she was used to and all this would be forgotten. She wouldn’t have to step into the kitchen unless she was supervising the cooking. And she’d never break her nails in the process of washing plates or scrubbing floors like a common housemaid.
She’d concede that she couldn’t understand this arrangement. She was supposed to be his prisoner but she was able to move around the house, unfettered. All she couldn’t do was leave the house, not for want of trying, because she had, short of breaking her arm by trying to force the door open.
He still hadn’t made that call his father and she found herself wondering if he’d actually abducted her to make money from her father. She recalled him saying that he wanted her father to keep on wondering what he was doing to her and she could imagine the thought going through her father’s mind, especially with some victims of abduction complaining of being raped.
She didn’t even want to think about her mother and what she must be going through. Her mother loved attending occasions where she could show off her designer wears, her very expensive lace and gele, matching bags, shoes and jewelleries. And her mother had a lot of occasions scheduled for that month but she wouldn’t go anywhere because of her missing daughter.
By abducting her, Richard had not only disrupted her life but that of other persons. By the time her father got hold of him, he would wish he’d never met her. He hadn’t hurt her yet, at least not physically, but that didn’t meant that mean that he couldn’t or wouldn’t.
She just had to find a way out.
___
Chief Davids waited for news of his missing daughter. None came. No call had come demanding ransom money in exchange for her release. Her body was not in any of the mortuaries in the state so she had to be alive.
What was her abductor doing to her? He prayed that she wouldn’t be abused by him. The commissioner of police had assured him that they were doing everything in their power to find her. And inspite of the ten million naira offered, there was no information, as though she’d just disappeared from the face of the earth.
Where are you IB?

Read more here - www.youngicee.com/category/abducted

Abducted - Episode 10

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Ibitoru planned her escape but each plan met a dead end. She thought about waiting for him return and then hitting him on the head with something really hard even if she ended up dislocating her arm, but the problem was this: he’d have to open the door before the protector gate and would see her before she could do anything.

She thought of putting something in his meal to render him unconscious but he didn’t trust her. So whenever she had to cook, he ensured that they ate from the same plate and he stirred the food first. That was risky. But she had to come up with something.

Her opportunity came exactly twelve days after her abduction. He had left the house in a hurry and forgot to lock his bedroom door. Ibitoru took advantage of this. She gave him about an hour, to be certain that he wouldn’t come back, before going into his neat bedroom.

They’d had a quarrel that previous evening which had strengthened her resolve to escape. He hadn’t hit her but she would have preferred it if he had. He had returned from wherever it was that he went to and in a sore mood. He had taken it out on her saying hurtful things because she had been watching a movie and had forgotten that she was cooking. By the time she remembered this, the house was filled with the choking odour of burnt food. He’d told her, amongst other things, that he didn’t know why he was wasting his time on her. That she was hopeless in the kitchen and he felt sorry for the man who would be saddled with a liability like her for life. He concluded by saying that he should have just locked her up until he made a demand on her father and had his demands was met.

Just because she was stuck in his home, he felt like he had the right to tell her anything he liked and get away with it!

You’ll rot in jail, Richard, she’d thought. You’ll know that I’m not useless when it comes to the matter of connection.

She’d admit that in the twelve days they’d been together, there had been a few moments when he’d been kind to her, although he still kept the inscrutable expression on his face. But that didn’t make him any less than what he was. A criminal. Abduction was a criminal offence, wasn’t it? The fact that the culprit was very good looking and with an excellent physique did not change that.

This is not the time to be thinking of his superb physique, she told herself, although he had the kind of physique that could get any girl thinking real hard. Well if he’s your type, she added to herself. She had heard about Stockholm Syndrome, that situation whereby a victim developed strong feelings of trust or affection towards her captor. Well, that was never going to happen to her, even if he decided to cook all the meals and handle all the chores!

She went through his things ensuring that she returned them in the position she’d found them. She found novels with only initials on a tiny shelf beside his bed. On a table were his cologne, roll on, shaving cream and sticks, comb, powder etc.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked over to the switch of the AC and put it on. Why sweat when there was a good way to get cool? She didn’t bother with the fan over the bed. The AC would do just fine.

She searched his drawers, finding a Bible. The Bible had the following inscription:

To my dearest Toni

With love, mum.

Toni! So that was his name.

She kept on searching, going through the pockets of his trousers, careful to fold them back the way she found them. He was a neat freak, she thought. He left nothing out of place. No wonder she pissed him off. Well so was she, as long as she didn’t have to clean up after herself.

She had almost given up on the search when something fell from one of the clothes. An MTN sim card. This gave her hope. After a thorough search she found a blackberry battery. Not bothering to search for others, she left his bedroom and ran straight to her room to retrieve one of her phones. She took off the back and inserted the sim card and the battery before replacing the back of the phone. Once the phone came on, she scrolled through the names on her phone and settled for her father’s number.

Pick up daddy. Pick up.

~*~*~*~

Chief Davids was yelling at the commissioner of police at the incompetence of the police evident in their failure to find his daughter who was missing for two weeks now when his second mobile phone rang.

He ignored it but the caller persisted. He told the COP to hang up and pressed the receiving button on his second phone without looking at the screen ready to yell at whoever had interrupted him.

‘Daddy!’

‘Ibitoru Davids, where the hell are you? Your mother and I have been so worried.’

‘I’m in trouble dad. I was abducted on my way home.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘For now. I couldn’t call you earlier because he took my sim cards and batteries. I was only able to retrieve this line because he left the house. I’m scared daddy.’

‘It’s all right baby. Just tell daddy where you are and daddy will come and get you.’

‘I have no idea where I am. I was drugged on the way back here. All I know is that there are lots of bushes around the place with no other house in sight.’

‘Can you describe the building?’

‘It’s a bungalow and unpainted.’

‘Any distinct feature?’

‘None really, but it has a garage.’

‘Do you know his name?’

‘Toni. I don’t know his surname. Just Toni. But he is a mullatto. Good looking, about 6”4, late twenties, early thirties, lean and muscular.’

‘Anything else?’

‘He uses a pair of blue contact lens.’

‘Nothing else?’

‘No,’ she replied.

‘The information you have given isn’t enough to find you but I’ll give it to the COP to see if they can identify him. I need you to do something for me. Call the customer service line of your banks and tell them to report any withdrawal made on your account to the police. Then if you can, lure him to the bank with a cheque. In the meantime see if there’s any way you can find out where you are. A sign post or something.’

‘I’m locked in.’

‘And you can’t try to escape?’

‘No. Besides, I’ve searched for and can’t find any set of keys.’

‘Hmm. We’ll see what we can do about it. I’ll call you. Be careful, okay.’

‘I will daddy.’

She called her account officer with Zenith Bank to report any proposed withdrawal on her account to the police and to put out a notice to that effect so that withdrawals could not be made from another branch. She wished she was in a country where a call could be traced. She put her phone on vibration and threw it into her hand bag, returning to Toni’s bedroom.

She was searching for her other lines when she heard him unlocking the door and soon the protector. He was back. There was no time to get out of his bedroom because he would see her crossing over. Besides, he would be suspicious the moment he walked into his bedroom and found it cold.

She heard his footsteps as he headed for the room. She quickly dived into his bed and tucked his blanket beneath her chin. She lay on her stomach facing the wall and in time because he was soon inside the room.

~*~*~*~

Toni walked into the bedroom shutting the door behind him. He’d forgotten to lock his bedroom. He wondered what IB was doing in her room. She hadn’t spoken to him since their quarrel the previous day but he wasn’t prepared to face a sulking brat.

The coolness of the room hit him. He might have left the door unlocked but he was certain he hadn’t left the air conditioner on. One look at his bed and his conviction was confirmed. Ibitoru was on his bed and asleep.

Her crave for AC is strong, he thought.

He wanted to wake her up but changed his mind. He was hot and needed a bath as well as food in his stomach. He tossed his phone and keys on the dressing table and strolled to the wall hangar. He began to UnCloth. Once he was done with his bath he would go through his things to be certain she hadn’t tampered with anything. He didn’t trust her one bit.

To be continued

Abducted - Episode 11

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Ibitoru took a peek at Toni from beneath her long lashes noticing the way his muscles rippled as he moved. She shut her eyes as he moved in her direction to drop his shirt and trouser on the only chair in the room. He left the bedroom, leaving the door partially open. She waited until she heard him turn the key on the bathroom door before rising from the bed.

She picked the keys and his handset, tossing the latter into the bag he’d somehow missed, tiptoeing out of the room. Could she get the door open without his finding out?

She didn’t have to answer that question because she soon noticed that he hadn’t locked the bathroom door but had rather been unlocking the door. The key was still at the entrance. She’d locked it after washing the bathroom at his orders that morning. And it was to her advantage.

She quickly turned the key, locking the door with relish.

‘What the…’ She heard him swear.

She also heard a thud as he hurried out of the bathtub hitting something in his haste. Soon he was pulling at the door handle from the inside.

‘Open this door this minute, Ibitoru.’

‘Make me!’ She jeered as she hurried to the front door.

She began to try the keys on the key ring, noting that the keys were of the same make but didn’t open the same padlock. She had succeeded in opening two padlocks when she heard him heave against the bathroom door.

‘If I get you, Ibitoru Davids, you will rue the day you flaunted my orders.’

‘Oh I’m so scared, I’m shaking!’ she laughed.

The door was beginning to give way. She hurried into the kitchen where she took an empty pot to buy herself time. She reached the bathroom door in time for the door to give way. He fell over and without thought she hit him twice in quick succession on the head with the pot, wishing the rolling pin had been available.

He groaned as he lay there in his towel, the rest of his body covered in soap. As she tried to walk past him, one hand stretched out and fingers wrapped around her ankle tripping her. She fell, the pot flying out of her hand. Toni tried to pull her to him but she struggled, trying to reach for her weapon. Soon she got hold of it and with all the force she could manage, sent it crashing once more on the side of his head. He freed her immediately.

Back on her feet, she returned to the front door, unlocking the last padlock. The wooden door was no problem at all. Within seconds she was out of the house and had succeeded in locking him in. She held onto the purse she had found earlier and which to her surprise still had the money in it. She ran as fast as her legs could take her in the shirt she had grabbed from his wardrobe and his shorts, but this was the least of her problems. What was important was that she was finally free.

At some point, her conscience began to bother her. What if she had injured him more than she realized? She had seen blood on the side of the pot when she’d tossed it away. Could she live with his death on her conscience?

No, all he’d have is a nasty headache, a voice in her head told her. If you go back to that house, he is going to deal decisively with you. And he’s going to forget that you came back to save his life.

That was it! She’d leave and if he got worse he wouldn’t take it out on her. He didn’t deserve her kind thoughts at all.

~*~*~*~

Toni struggled to his feet, the wound on the side of his head bleeding profusely. She had succeeded in knocking him out for only a few minutes. He poured water over his head, watching as the blood flowed into the sink. He might require a stitch or two, he thought.

Good riddance, he thought but he had to stop her.

If she succeeded in getting away she could reveal this hideout to the police. He could leave this place but he didn’t cherish the thought of spending the night in a hotel or relocating immediately. This house was situated a few miles from other houses that was why he’d chosen it. This part of town was just being developed so it would take years before buildings replaced the grasses and trees. Until then, Ibitoru just had a large stretch of land with different turns to pass. But he couldn’t take the risk. One of the owners of the large acres of land around might just drive by and rescue her.

He placed the first aid box on the table and took out a large roll of bandage which he wrapped around his head to stop the bleeding. He adjusted the towel around his waist as he headed for his bedroom where he put on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Fortunately, he’d left his car keys in the pocket of the trouser he’d worn to work.

He swore when he recalled that she had locked him in. To get the spare keys would take time. He looked for and found the keys to the back door. Within minutes he was on the road in a deep blue Peugeot 504 searching for her. His head ached but he ignored the pain, intent on finding her.

~*~*~*~

Ibitoru was so tired. She had been running for some time and was exhausted. There still wasn’t a building in sight.

Damn! Where had he taken her to?

There was also no sign post in sight. She took out her phone and hissed when she discovered that there was no service out there. Not even with his own phone.

She began to walk, breathing heavily wondering if there was really a house around there. Suddenly she heard the sound of a moving vehicle. Finally, help had come!

She stood aside and flagged the driver of the peugeot down. It wasn’t until the driver pulled over that she realized that it was the very same person she was trying to escape from.

How could fate be so cruel?

She took to her heels but he came after her pulling over a little distance ahead of her. He caught her before she could escape pulling her down with him and spraining his left arm in the process but he held unto her. Her struggles hurt him more but he stubbornly held her in place. He dragged her to her feet, threatening to break her wrist. If she didn’t quit struggling. And in his present frame of mind, he would carry out that threat.

He fought a dizzy spell as he dragged her none too gently to the car. He pushed her into the front passenger seat, fastening her seat belt. He hurried to his side catching her as she made to climb out of the car. He pointed his gun at her.

‘You won’t dare it,’ she told him

‘Is that a challenge?’

‘All right I’ll be good,’ she assured him, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was, ‘but you should have let me escape.’

‘To whose detriment?’

‘I already offered you three million naira. The offer is still open. My cheque book is here. I can sign it and we’ll both be happy.’

She waited until he did a quick reverse and they were headed in the direction of his house, before lifting her fist to hit him on the head. His bandage was soaked with blood. He saw it coming and caught her wrist in a grip that had her screaming in pain. He controlled the steering wheel with his injured hand biting back a cry as pain shot through his arm. He held unto her wrist until they got back to the house. He pulled over at a spot where his vehicle would not be easily detected and came out of the car.

He dragged her through the back door, through the kitchen and into the sitting room where he pushed her into one of the seats.

‘Take the three million naira and let me go,’ she told him.

‘After the stunt you just pulled. I should just shoot you and feed your corpse to the vultures.’

‘You are a fine one to talk,’ she told him. ‘You are the one keeping me here against my will, threatening me with a gun. You want money, and so if you feel the three million naira I’m offering you is not enough, then call my dad and make a request for more. There’s no need to keep me in your rotten dilapidated home.’

He ignored her, unwrapping the soiled bandage with his good arm.

‘You know, if you’d let me go, I wouldn’t have called the police. I would have just made other plans for my vacation and put this unfortunate incident behind me.’

‘I don’t trust you.’

‘That’s your problem.’

‘Get me the first aid box,’ he ordered.

‘Why should I?’ she returned stubbornly

‘That was an order.’

‘You are in no position to order me around.’

He gave her a thunderous look and ended up giving himself a severe headache. He winced.

‘I’ll-’

‘You will do what? It’s only a matter of time before you pass out and I’ll be out of here,’ she told him matter-of-factly.

‘I’m a lot stronger than you think,’ he informed her, ‘now get me the first aid box.’

She got on her feet but only so she could retrieve the blood stained pot. His eyes narrowed as he watched her.

‘I’m sick and tired of taking orders from A NOBODY – AN INSIGNIFICANT MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY.’

‘Put that down before you hurt someone,’ he warned her.

‘And I’m tired of taking orders from you.’

When she attempted to hit him on the head with the pot, he grabbed the pot, dragging her down with it. She fell over him and his arm went about her waist in a vice grip. His grip tightened as she struggled with him.

‘Let go of me this minute, you bloody Neanderthal,’ she yelled, trying to push herself away from his body.

‘You are going to pay for the damage you have caused.’

‘Let go of me, you bastard.’

She clenched her fingers into fist and sent it crashing down on his head, aiming for the exact spot where he was injured. He winced, releasing her immediately as fresh blood began to flow from his wound. As though possessed, she began to hit him wanting to draw more blood, taking out her annoyance at him.

Toni lifted his hand to shield his wound fighting a dizzy spell. In self-defence, he pushed her off him. Although that wasn’t his intention, IB fell back hitting her head on the side of the table and passed out. Breathing heavily, Toni staggered to his feet, his body aching. He bent over her unconscious body and checked her pulse. Normal. There was no blood beneath her hair which meant that she wasn’t seriously injured but she’d have a headache by the time she regained consciousness. Until then he had to do something about her.

Wincing with pain, he dragged her to her bedroom, crying out as excruciating pain hit him as he heaved her onto the bed. He had to see a doctor. He blamed himself for her escape. If he’d locked his bedroom earlier, she wouldn’t have had access to his shirt and shorts.

He retrieved his shirt and staggered out of the room. He locked her in and headed out through the kitchen door after retrieving his phone from her bag.

*******

‘Ikechukwu Antonio Ekwueme! What have you done to yourself?’ The slender proud mother of quadruplets demanded.

Toni winced.

Whenever his mother called him by his full name, he knew he was in big trouble. Marina Ekwueme had never failed to use a stern hand on her children when it was absolutely necessary. Even as adults, they still tried not to get into trouble.

Toni had found his way to the hospital with difficulty fearing he’d pass out before he got to her. And it had been difficult fighting the dizzy spells that came over him with each move he made. Fortunately he hadn’t passed out until he’d stepped out of the car in the car park of Liberty Hospital.

He had no idea that his mother, a consulting neurologist, consulted there. But it had been a relief to see her there though. After his cut had been stitched and his mother had confirmed that he had just a mild concussion and there was no need for his arm to be in a cast, Marina was more than ready to hear all the excuses her youngest child had to give.

‘You have some explaining to do,’ she started.

They were in her office. He reclined on the bed in there, eyes closed.

‘Can we save this for another time, mum?’ He winced lifting a hand to his neatly bandaged head.

‘You are not getting out of this one, Toni.’

Her mother, an Italian, was married to an Igbo man, was grounded in the tradition of her people by marriage, except those she didn’t agree with and she spoke very fluent Igbo, like her children, in addition to her English, Italian and French. She preferred calling her youngest son, Toni (Antonio) and she was the only one who did that. Others referred him as Iyke.

Her children all had Italian names, Alessandro, Ariana, Gianna and Antonio, in addition to their Igbo names and these Italian names were used only in private by their mother.

‘It was an accident, madre .’

‘An accident you say. The car in which you drove down here is in good shape and you were obviously not attacked by thieves because the car is still in your possession. So I’d like to know, what kind of accident were you involved in?’

‘Domestic accident?’ he supplied.

‘Don’t tell me you ran into a wall, because I won’t believe that.’

‘I wasn’t about to. If you must know, I had a little altercation and my hear took the brunt of it.’

‘Have you been fighting Antonio?’

‘No, mum. Just got beaten up. Our dearest madre taught us never to fight and never to raise our hand against… Never mind.’

‘Never to raise a hand against a woman,’ Marina completed. ‘Antonio Ekwueme, did you raise a hand against a woman?’

Did pushing a woman who was crazy enough to bash his head in with tiny fists, away from him qualify as raising a hand against a woman? No it didn’t, he answered his own question.

‘No, madre . I didn’t. I have better training than that.’

‘Good. So why did she hit you and with what?’

‘We had a disagreement and she hit me with a pot.’

‘With a pot!’

‘Yes. At least she didn’t have the rolling pin at her disposal this time.’

He couldn’t tell her the circumstances under which Ibitoru was living with him. She would disapprove.

‘Pot. Rolling pin. What kind of woman are you dating? Is she living with you?’

‘Kind of.’

‘What sort of an answer is that?’

‘You really should mind your own business, madre .’

‘How can I mind it when my little boy is brought into the hospital looking like shit.’

‘Oh oh. You just said the ‘S’ word,’ Toni jeered.

‘You are the only one who makes me use words like that. How do you expect me to mind my business with you looking like a mob attacked you? You must have really provoked that woman to have made her give you such a thorough beating.’

‘Don’t burn my rep, madre . My upbringing made it impossible for me to defend myself or you would have called upon all the patron saints of the abused to pray for my damned soul.’

‘What rep? If you were twenty years younger I would have taken a cane to you fair backside.’

‘Fortunately I’m twenty years older.’

‘Are you going to tell me exactly what happened?’

‘No, madre . Just know that it is not going to repeat itself. I need to get back.’ He winced as he tried to sit up and fell back against the elevated portion of the bed.

‘I’m keeping you here tonight.’

‘And you know how much I hate the smell of hospitals.’

‘You should have thought of that before now. You are spending the night. You may leave in the morning if I’m satisfied that you won’t be a danger to yourself in your present condition.’

‘I’m okay madre , all I need are painkillers.’

‘Who is the doctor here?’

‘You are, but-’

‘The doctor knows best. You are in no condition to drive home and although I have a quiver full, I am not eager to lose one of my sons.’

‘I’ll take a taxi home and come back for the car when I’m stronger.’

‘You are in no condition to leave.’

‘I’m still leaving. I can’t spend the night in a hospital, I’ll go mad.’

‘You are exaggerating. I need to-’

‘Madre , I am not staying,’ he interjected. ‘And you can feel free to give me the drugs you intend to give me for the week. There is no way I’m going to spend the night here.’

‘Good thing I know my boy,’ Marina smiled and suspicious.

~*~*~*~

Ibitoru cursed as she found her door locked. She couldn’t believe he had locked her in the bedroom! She had woken up several minutes earlier with a slight headache, recalling what had transpired between Toni and herself. She should have hit him thrice with the pot. That should have made her escape successful but she’d pitied him and here she was! You would think he was a friend she didn’t want to hurt.

He had her hand bag and so she would not be able to make a call. Damn! She needed a sachet of Panadol extra. In addition to that, she was hungry and she also needed to use the convenience.

Where the hell are you, Toni or whatever your name is?

To be continued

Abducted - Episode 12

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Toni returned early the next morning after a sumptuous breakfast courtesy of his mother. She had fussed over him so much that he was glad to escape from the hospital. He loved his mother to bits and she felt exactly the same way about him, but a man could take just about enough fussing.

‘I expect you to keep off everything strenuous this week,’ Marina had told him. ‘And I mean it Toni. No press ups, no sit-ups. No altercations. And make sure you return here in a week’s time to have your stitches removed.’

‘You forgot to add: stay away from the ladies.’

‘I did forget,’ she had smiled. ‘You stay away from the ladies.’ Her twinkling blue eyes rendered the sternness of her voice useless. ‘I can’t wait to see you finally settled down, Toni, mio caro.’

‘I doubt if you really want this particular son, mascalzone as Nonna would say, imposed on some innocent unsuspecting woman,’ he teased.

‘The right woman wouldn’t mind,’ Marina had assured him. ‘At least she would keep your gorgeous head out of trouble.’

He had kissed her cheeks and said ‘I hope there is really such a woman out there.’

Presently he thought the house was too quiet, which was a good thing, but he’d expected to find Ibitoru watching a programme on telly or reading a book, and then glaring at him with her brown eyes. He smiled at that thought. She could glare for Africa but it didn’t work on him.

He saw her handbag on the carpet and recalled that he locked her up in her bedroom after she had attacked him like a wild cat.

‘Let her seethe,’ he thought.

~*~*~*~

Toni bent over to pick up her handbag, wincing as pain shot through his temple. He sat on the sofa and emptied her bag on it. He kept the purse and cheque book aside and was returning the other things in the bag when he noticed the screen saver of one of her phone. Bitting back a curse, he pressed a button and scrolled to the phone book section. Like he’d suspected she had been through his things!

This time he’d keep both phones. He went through the dialled calls and found that she had called her father twice, and then the bank. She had saved the number with ‘Bank’. No wonder Ibitoru had wanted him to make that withdrawal. She must have warned them to contact the police as soon as he came with the cheque.

She must think him a fool!

He picked up the things he had kept aside as well as her bag, and marched down to his bedroom where he checked and found out that every other thing was in place. He heard Ibitoru knocking on her bedroom door and ignored her. He was furious, his blue eyes dark with anger and his jaw clenched. This was how she had repaid him for his kindness! For treating her like a person and not a prisoner! He should have left her locked up in her bedroom.

He went through the dialled numbers in his phone to be certain that she hadn’t called her father with his number. It would have been very disastrous to have his phone number appear in the newspapers. Like a description of him was bound to. He had no doubt she had told her father what he looked like.

Damn it!

He was so upset. And he had every right to be.

She kept on knocking at the door. Frantically now.

‘Stop that infernal racket!’ he ordered.

‘Open the damn door, Toni.’

He paused. ‘What did you just call me?’

‘Toni. Isn’t that your name? Let me out this minute.’

‘You were snooping around yesterday, weren’t you?’

‘What did you expect me to do? You left your damned door open and I made good use of the opportunity.’

‘You are not even remorseful.’

‘It served its purpose. Now open the door.’

She kept banging on the door.

‘Look, if it’s an apology you want, then I’m sorry okay? Now I need you to unlock this door right now.’

‘And you are in no position to give me orders.’

‘Do I have to spell out to you? I need to relieve myself.’

‘None of my business.’

‘I could really mess up this room.’

‘And you will stay in the stench.’

A long pause.

‘Please my damned bladder is on fire.’

He had pity on her and unlocked the door. She was out of the room with the speed of light heading straight for the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the door behind her. The length of time she spent in there reminded him that she had she had held it all night. And that must hurt. That serves her right, he thought. If she hadn’t attempted to escape, he’d have had the need to lock her up.

‘You are a very cruel man,’ she accused feeling relieved for the first time in hours. ‘The worst I have had the misfortune of meeting. How could you lock me up all night?’

‘You deserved it. Now get back into the room.’

‘You can’t make me.’

She cried out when he caught her wrist and dragged her into the bedroom. She rubbed at her wrist shooting fiery darts at him with her brown eyes.

‘You are not a gentleman. No wonder you are not married.’

‘Shut up Ibitoru before I shut that thing you call a mouth for you.’

They glared at each other. He tossed the bag at her.

‘I’m sure you’d like to call daddy once more and tell him the fool just managed to get out in one piece.’

‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’

So she had left her phone on! Damn!

‘Don’t you dare lie to me or so help me-‘

‘Quit threatening me okay. I don’t know what your problem is but if anyone here is entitled to anger, that would be me. I am the one who had to spend a very uncomfortable night with a full bladder and don’t think that the fact that you returned this morning looking like a mummy exonerates you, because it does not.’

‘You ought to show more gratitude.’

Damn! His head hurt when he raised his voice.

‘Gratitude my sexy behind,’ she spat. ‘If you had not abducted me I wouldn’t have to be here putting up with your rudeness. You won’t even dare treat me in such a humiliating manner.’

His eyes gave her a once over, a rude one at that, making her conscious of what she had on. She had completely forgotten that he had taken his shirt from her in her unconscious state.

‘How do you expect to be treated when you stand before a man looking like someone trying to sell her favours,’ he told her.

He got a well deserved resounding slap for that insult. Damn, for a female, she was strong! he thought.

‘Bloody pervert!’ she yelled shutting the door almost in his face, but she would have felt better if it had connected with his face.

She picked up the wrapper on the bed and covered herself with it half expecting him to come in after her but all she heard was a click as he locked the bedroom door.

‘Miserable half-breed,’ she shouted.

The slap had sent the left side of his temple where he had his cut, throbbing. He deserved that slap but he was not going to apologize for his rudeness.

~*~*~*~

Ibitoru’s stomach growled in an undignified manner reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours and she didn’t have any of her food supplements in her bag. She heard the sound of cutlery connecting with a plate and realized that he was having lunch.

‘Hey!’ She banged on the door.’ You aren’t going to leave me here to starve, are you?’

He ignored her.

‘You can’t expect whatever food you are eating out there to digest knowing that you are starving another human being.’

He ignored her and she banged on the door until her knuckles hurt. She blew at them.

‘Damn you Toni. Why are you doing this? My stomach is presently curved like the inside of a plate.’

‘Look on the bright side, at least it would enhance your hour glass figure.’

‘That is not my problem right now. I need food.’

‘Not until I am ready to give you one.’

‘Starving me isn’t going to make you feel better.’

‘On the contrary, it would.

‘You want me to beg you?’

‘Save your breath.’

‘Well I won’t,’ she assured him. ‘I’m not that hungry.’

‘Of course that’s why your stomach is growling so loud.’

‘Forget it.’

She sat on the bed glaring at the door. The man was a royal pain in the butt, she thought. She was hungry but she’d hang on for another day if that was what it took. If he expected her to beg him then he was wasting his time. She wouldn’t.

He could eat his damn food and see if she cared. What she needed was a bath and real clothes. And a pair of boxer shorts and bra top didn’t qualify for one, even when the man in the house acted like a damn eunuch! She wouldn’t be surprised if he was gay.

He should be, she thought.

She had been in his home for weeks and he hadn’t, not even once, looked at her the way a man would look at a woman. Not once. And she had a kind of beauty that men irrespective of their ages couldn’t resist. She was used to being stared at and used it to her advantage. So the fact that this man looked at her like she was a fellow male felt like burning her reputation.

Not that she had any interest in him! Okay, so he was very good looking, but then so were numerous guys. Besides, she had never had a thing for mulattos who were neither black nor white. He had a superb physique, so what? Criminals were not her type. And he was one.

She wondered how many wealthy females he had kidnapped before her and why he insisted on keeping her without asking for money! If he had come on to her, she would have thought that was why he had brought her there, but he hadn’t.

~*~*~*~

He kept her locked up for a three days, releasing her only for her to take a bath in the morning, and relieve herself. Her meals were taken in her bedroom. He spent more time outside than he had in the past and she told herself: ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish.’ She was not going to beg him. This time when she made her escape she would ensure that she knocked him out completely. She would ensure that he’d wake up in a prison cell. And he would stay there until she gave an order for his release if she ever did.

He had insulted her one too many times especially through his actions. This time she would be the one to laugh. After all he who laughs last laughs best.

She missed seeing Steve! He would be so worried about her! Toni had absolutely no right to disorganize her life. No right whatsoever! She wasn’t doing anything here.

What exactly did he want from her?

~*~*~*~

Chief Davids had problems with his company that had been ongoing for months and having to deal with his daughter’s abduction wasn’t helping matters. He hadn’t spoken to her since the evening she called him and he was worried.

The policemen in charge of the case were yet to come up with the information about her whereabouts. It was as though the Toni guy had taken her to a place in the middle of nowhere. All the searches proved abortive but he wouldn’t give up. The police had informed him that it was in the best interest of his daughter if the abductor’s name and description were not released to the media, social media or general media, so as not to endanger her life. If he knew they were getting close, he might get desperate enough to kill her.

He had something else on his mind. He had discovered a few days before IB was abducted that he had a teenage son from one of his past lovers whom he had forgotten about until she reached out to him with the good news. He had been intending to break the news to his wife and then Ibitoru was abducted. But the news couldn’t be delayed anymore. He had every intention of bringing his son home. He would sponsor the seventeen year old to the United States for his degree programme after he had acknowledged him openly.

~*~*~*~

‘What!’ Emi Davids exclaimed.

‘I have a son,’ Sotonye repeated. ‘And I intend to acknowledge Damiete publicly.’

Emi’s mouth opened and shut again for a few seconds.

‘You are not serious, Sotonye. I won’t be in this house and watch you bring in another woman.’

‘I am not taking a second wife, not that you can stop it if I so decide to do so. Damiete’s mother wants me in his life and i intend to let the world know that I have a son.’

‘He is illegitimate.’

‘Not if I acknowledge him. I am his father and thus, he has a right to live in my house.’

‘And what do you think Ibitoru will say about this?’

‘That really isn’t important. He is her younger brother and she would have to accept him. My name is on his birth certificate and he bears my surname. This is his home and he is moving in.’

‘I won’t let you do this. You are not thinking straight, what with Ibitoru’s abduction and the problems at the company. You are not bringing anyone into this house. My daughter is top priority. She must be found.’

‘And the police is already involved in the matter.’

‘You think that justifies your action, Sotonye? You told me that our daughter was more than enough.’

‘But the male child is very important. I have given Ibitoru everything she deserves: the best education, a fat bank account and she gets away with everything. Soon she’ll be getting married, probably to Steve, bear his name and have his children. Then what happens to my name, tell me? Would you have preferred me to compel her to stay back home until she has a son born out of wedlock that would bear my name before I can permit her to get married? Would you have preferred that?’

‘Of course not. My daughter is not a LovePeddler.’

‘Good. I’m not disowning her. I am just accepting my son. The least you can do is to accept him as your step son. That way the gossip you fear will be almost non-existent.’

‘You don’t expect me to ……’

‘I’m still bringing him home. The least you can do is accept him and make him feel at home because this is going to be his home. If you won’t be his mother then you’ll only have yourself to blame for whatever happens. Be his mother and you’ll reap the benefits of being a mother.’

To be continued

Abducted - Episode 13

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

‘When are you going to introduce us to the woman in your life?’ Okey Alessandro Ekwueme asked his brother Toni.

Toni raised an eyebrow at the man who could easily pass for him. It was their birthday and the quadruplets who happened to be in town at that particular time were celebrating their thirty-fourth birthday in the family home.

‘When he has one,’ Njideka (Ariana) answered on Toni’s behalf.

‘He must have one,’ Ndidi (Gianna) countered. ‘Just take a look at him. Doesn’t he look like a man with a woman in his life?’

‘That’s why I asked. You haven’t answered my question, Iyke.’

‘When I have one,’ Toni replied echoing Njideka’s response.

Okey had been married for four years now and was the proud father of a set of twins. Njideka and Ndidi were also married with children of their own. Multiple births ran in the family. Their mum was a twin. Their late father had also been a twin. His twin brother, their Uncle Chukwuka, was married to a middle belter, from Kogi State. Iyke was expected to have multiple births in his home.

‘You can’t be serious,’ Ndidi stated. ‘You look like a man who’s got a woman in his life.’

‘Like Nnamdi did when he found you?’

‘No,’ Ndidi objected. ‘Your eyes lack that lovey-wushy look. Now when Nnamdi saw me, he just couldn’t take his eyes off me. He’d have this dreamy look in his eyes when I wasn’t around. An aching yearning like-’

‘That’s hearsay,’ Okey interjected.

‘You are just jealous because Yvonne didn’t swoon the first time she met you. Now my Nnamdi just couldn’t wait to walk me down the aisle even if I had to be strapped to his back. He told me from the first day we met that I was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.’

‘Please spare me.’

‘Like I said before you’re just jealous.’

Iyke was glad that the focus was no longer on him. For four years or so, his siblings had been on his throat to get married, like he could just go out there and pluck a wife!

His work took up most of his time so he didn’t have much time to spare for dating. The only woman in his life, apart from friends and relatives, was Ibitoru Davids. And he couldn’t exactly call her that since she was just a royal pain in the butt. But he wasn’t freeing her anytime soon. At least not before the deal he was working on came through.

So far, she hadn’t learnt her lesson. She was still too proud and very much a snub. He was doing her a favour and she was yet to realize that. She was still locked up in her bedroom, threatening to let hell loose if he didn’t free her. He had no doubt that if he let her move freely about the house, she’d seek for another means of escape. He still had the scar on the side of his head as a reminder of the last time she had tried to escape. He had taken the stitch out the previous day.

‘You really ought to get yourself a wife, brother of mine,’ Njideka told him. ‘Marriage is actually a sweet experience.’

‘I’m sure it is.’

‘Life isn’t about burying yourself in your work. You need to mix up more. Meet the girls.’

‘None of them interests me.’

‘And I know my brother is neither gay nor an eunuch. You shouldn’t waste that natural magnetism oozing from every pore of your body,’ said Ndidi. ‘Okey is taken. You should put the girls out of their misery by taking a wife.’

‘I will when I find someone I’m that interested in.’

‘You want Nd and I to scout for someone?’

‘Keep out of my love life,’ he immediately warned his sisters.

‘Love life? It’s presently non-existent.’

‘I thought you said that I look like a man with a woman in his life.’

‘I stand corrected, brother dearest. You actually look like a man desperately in need of a woman in his life.’

Seriously? he thought.

‘Certainly not one chosen for me.’

‘Don’t worry. We’ll make the best choice. In fact I think I have someone in mind who-‘

‘Don’t you dare sic one of your friends on me!’ he interjected.

‘Hey, no need to get so hot and bothered. I’m just trying to help out before you die of conji!’

Conji my foot! he ground out inwardly. He had to deal with Ib telling him he was only keeping her because he couldn’t get a woman, without his sister bringing up the conji issue. If he wanted a woman he knew where to find one.

‘I don’t need help in building up my love life.’

‘You can’t build something on nothing.’

Iyke took a large slice of cake, a bottle of wine and a pack of juice home with him later that night.

~*~*~*~

‘You forgot me once more,’ Ibitoru accused him when he unlocked her bedroom door, allowing her to go relieve herself.

She stood with her hands on her hips glaring at him. ‘If you know you are going to spend the whole day outside, you should at least lock the corridor entrance and let me have access to the bathroom. Having to hold myself all day is not good at all for my poor bladder.’

He ignored her, locking the door.

He walked into his bedroom where he undressed quickly and went into the bathroom. Minutes later he walked into the kitchen with the things he’d brought from the family house, dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, his hair damp.

He placed a portion of the cake in a saucer and put it in a tray, pouring out juice into a tall glass cup. A naughty idea came into his head and he headed for Ibitoru’s room. He knocked once.

‘Go to hell!’ She cursed. ‘Not not unless you brought me supper.’

He unlocked the door, thinking that she was predictable. Something had to be done to her choice of words.

She sat on the bed leaning against the wall, glaring at him.

‘What do you want?’ She demanded.

He shut the door behind him after picking up the tray he’d dropped and for the first time she noticed the tray in his hand. Expectancy illuminated in her face.

‘For me?’

‘No such luck.’

He took a bite of the cake. Like a hungry dog, her eyes followed his movement watching as he took a bite. He could have sworn that she swallowed when he did.

‘If you are not going to let me have a bite of that cake or a sip of that juice, then you had better leave my room.’

He ignored her, taking another bite. Then he lifted the glass cup to his lips with his fingers.

‘This is very wicked of you,’ she informed him. ‘You know that I’m hungry and you can do this to me.’

‘If you want it, all you have to do is beg for it.’

‘And I’m sure you’d like that, but no can do. I won’t beg for food not even if my life depends on it.’

‘Too bad.’ He took another bite. ‘You really should taste this. It is very delicious. Very scrumptious, very tantalizing.’

‘Stop that!’

‘Am I tempting you?’ He had the guts to look innocent.

‘You are just a wicked somebody!’

‘Am I?’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘This tastes heavenly. Are you sure you don’t want a sip? There is more from where that came from.’

‘You won’t succeed in turning me to a beggar.’

‘Like I said before, too bad!’

She watched him, not believing that he was actually going to eat up the cake and leave nothing for her, but in a matter of seconds she became convinced that this was actually his intention. She hurried out of the bed without thinking, rushed at him and grabbed the last piece before he could pick it once more. She tossed it into her mouth, thinking that he hadn’t been exaggerating. It tasted divine. Without taking permission she gulped down the juice in the tall glass cup.

This is more like it, she thought.

‘What are you celebrating?’ She asked. ‘Your birthday?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh. Happy birthday Toni.’

‘Thanks.’

‘More cake?’

‘Is that your way of asking for one?’ he returned.

‘Well?’

He smiled.

After a moment, she asked. ‘When are you going to place the call to my father?’

‘I’m not in a hurry to let you go yet.’

‘You have absolutely no right to keep me here. My vacation is almost over and I have a department to manage,’ she told him, hostility in her eyes. ‘Activities to supervise.’

When he said nothing, she added, ‘I am a manager in daddy’s company and he needs my services. I am supposed to resume work on Monday.’

‘You do know that you are not indispensable, don’t you?’

‘I am heir to the company.’

Not for long, he thought.

A lot of things had happened in the last few weeks which he would disclose to her at the appropriate time. Toni had heard from a reliable source that Sotonye Davids had a son outside his marriage. He had no doubt that the papers would soon carry the news. Ibitoru would be downright furious and subsequently very disappointed. Her castle was being invaded by a male child. Her position in the house was about to take a drastic turn. The heiress had just lost her place to an heir.

Three weeks earlier, he would have told himself that she deserved it but now he felt sorry for her. A great shock awaited her when she got home. He could easily bring the fact to her notice but he wasn’t that mean.

‘Well that isn’t my kettle of fish,’ Toni told Ibitoru. ‘Look, tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month and we will be doing a little contribution to the sanitation exercise.’

‘No way.’

‘I didn’t ask for your opinion. I’m telling you. Tomorrow we will weed the grasses around and do an intensive scrubbing of the house.’

‘Why don’t you lock me up for the duration? At least it will save me the pain of having to do any clearing for you.’

‘That’s about to change. Tomorrow you are going to work your hands out.’

‘You are not serious. Ibitoru Davids does not cut grass. Not even when I was in secondary school.’

‘There is a first time for everything. I expect you to be up by 6 am.’

‘No way. I-‘

‘Any act of insubordination and I shall ensure that you work until you break down.’

‘I don’t look like an Israelite, Ramses.’

‘Wait and see.’

He gave her dinner, waited for her to relieve herself then locked the bedroom door behind her.

Toni was an enigma. She had heard about kidnappings and the experiences of the female victims hadn’t been funny. He hadn’t made any sexual move on her and certainly hadn’t raised a hand against her. If anything he seemed more interested in domesticating her. Had someone dared him into taking her total domestication as a challenge?

To be continued

Read next episode here - www.youngicee.com/category/abducted

Nice update. Looking further to know what may likely happen to Toni....

Abducted - Episode 14

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

‘I have enough blisters to last me a life time.’ Ibitoru complained a cutlass in her right hand.

‘Blisters don’t kill,’ Toni informed her. ‘And they won’t stop you from working. Remember, no cutting, no meal for today.’

‘I won’t forget this,’ she swore. ‘You will pay dearly for what you are putting me through.’

‘And I’m so scared,’ he feigned fear, then seriously, ‘start cutting.’

He’d taught her how to cut the grass. It had taken time for her to learn how to hold the handle of the cutlass and while cutting, she had almost cut herself on the leg twice.

She mumbled and grumbled every step of the way. Louder when he made her scrub the floors of the house. She was sweating profusely. There was no light.

If she didn’t know better, she would have been convinced that he had brought her here to teach her how to do domestic chores. And the idea itself was ludicrous.

It was almost a month since her abduction and she was yet to find out why she was here. He was making her do things she never imagined she would ever do. She had been a day student at the secondary school she had attended and so there had been no fear that she would be made to do her own share of cleaning up. In place of Foods and Nutrition and Home Management, she had been a student of Agricutural Science, paying other students to work on her farm. Now she was forced to wield cutlass like a common labourer.

She looked up to glare at the man who was responsible. He did his own share. He was dressed in only a pair of shorts and his muscles rippled as he worked. He almost had her salivating as she watched but she looked away. He wasn’t a nice man. He had no right to punish a princess like this!

She mopped the area she had just scrubbed thinking that in her present state, she looked like a damned house maid: kneeling on the ground, her hair scattered all over head, one part flattened while the other stood upright like that of a person who had received an electric shock.

She adjusted the upper edge of her wrapper she had on. Her life had being totally disorganized by a man who believed that he could get away with it.

She missed giving orders in the company. She missed the men she flirted with. She missed the outdoors.

She missed Steve. And most of all, she missed her family, her home. She missed the comfort it provided. She missed her friends. So far, she hadn’t spoken to another female in almsot a month.

All she had for companion, when he was available, who was her jailor and he couldn’t be classified as a companion. Not with his countenance. He looked more like a man spoiling for a fight. He would stand there, his handsome face hard and unsmiling giving orders, like he was in the army. If she wasn’t partly convinced that he had to be gay or an eunuch, she would have attempted to seduce him. That would have earned her an escape. But this man looked at her like she was a mouse he wanted to squash for peeing in his bag of garri but didn’t, only because he needed her!

And that was an insult!

She was beautiful and shapely enough to go out there and win a Miss World competition. And she also had the brains. She was used to men staring whenever she passed, men better looking than her jailor but he was acting like she looked like something the cat dragged in or wouldn’t even drag in. She must look a fright without her make-up and her hair all over the place. Anyone who knew her would scream if he/she saw her in her current state.

She glared at Toni but it was wasted because he wasn’t looking at her.

‘Hey,’ she called insultingly.

He ignored her.

‘Toni,’ she amended and this time he looked at her.

‘What do you want?’

‘I’m done,’ she announced.

He looked at the area she’d been working on, then nodded for her to leave. An indirect way of dismissing her.

‘You know, a little compliment won’t hurt,” she told him.

‘Of course, like you compliment the servants in your home or the people working under you at the company.’

Her eyes narrowed into slits. ‘They get paid to do their work.’

He looked at her for a moment then walked up to her, close enough for her to smell sweat and his natural male scent. And be very aware of him.

‘You did a good job,’ he said patting her cheeks. ‘For that expect a raise in your salary this month.’

‘Why you-‘

‘Hey you wanted a compliment, didn’t you?’ He interjected.

‘Not an insult.’

‘You don’t compliment people especially those not in your class, so why expect me to do so?’

‘You are not in my class. You are a-‘

He caught her upper and lower lips between his fingers and held them in place, making it impossible for her to talk.

‘Sorry. I can’t stand foul language in the morning. It’s a bad omen. And you should learn to talk without using them. It is unladylike.’

He released her.

‘Ladylike my-‘ He shut her up once more.

‘Temper! Temper!’

She glared at him. If looks could kill, he would be dead right now, he thought. He let go of her once more.

‘Get your filthy hands off me.”

‘Or you’ll do what? Tell daddy?’

‘No. I’ll simply break your arm.’

‘Tough luck. There are so many ways to silence an angry woman.’

‘And you have been reading too many novels. Kiss me Toni, and I shall gladly scratch out your eyes.’

‘Is that a challenge?’ he asked arching an eyebrow.

She took a step backward. ‘It is a warning. One you should heed. I have no use for guys like you.’

‘You think that you are too good for me?’

‘I don’t think so. I know so.’

‘I am never one to turn down a good challenge.’

‘Don’t you dare. Hey!’ She cried out when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him.

His face was so close she could feel his warm breath. She was certain he was going to kiss her and prepared for all of the things she would do to him: bite his tongue, scratch his face and break his arm. She was so lost in the thought of all the things she would do to him that she didn’t even notice when he let her go.

‘On second thoughts, you are not my type,’ he told her. ‘Besides, there are different ways to silence a female that do not in any way require kissing her.’

She was not his type! The words sparked something in her head. How dared he act like he was too good for her?

Without thinking, she literally threw herself at him and kissed him. Toni laughed inwardly as took the bait. She was so predictable. He had known that once he made the comment about not being her types she would kiss him to prove the point that he wasn’t immune to her. Well, he got a slap for his effort. She kissed him for a few seconds and when she saw the look of triumph in his eyes, she gave him a hot slap.

‘What was that for?’ He demanded rubbing at his cheek.

‘For laying you filthy peasant lips on mine.’

‘Point of correction, you threw your rich lips at those filthy peasant lips which obviously just gave you pleasure.’

‘You pig!’ She swore turning to walk away missing a step in her haste to escape but he caught her quickly, saving her from a embarrassing fall. She glared at him and tugged her wrist free. ‘I’ll get you for this.’

‘Go take your bath. I’ll fix breakfast.’ he told her, his finger on his lips without even realising it.

~*~*~*~

Ib prepared lunch and he didn’t compliment her cooking. That pissed her off and she marched into her bedroom. He didn’t bother locking the door behind her.

About an hour later, and just for the fun of it, he walked into Ibitoru’s room. She lifted her face and grimaced.

‘You should learn to knock.’

‘In my own house?’

‘It doesn’t make a difference. You might just see something you least expect.’

‘I’m sure I won’t see anything that would make me run outside screaming and tugging at my hair.’

”Very funny Toni. Very funny. But then I am not in the least bit amused. And by the way, you owe me an apology.’

‘I owe you an apology? What for?’

‘You ate my food without saying thank you or paying me a damned compliment.’

‘And that hurt you?’

‘Of course. I’m a human being with emotions.’

‘You are learning fast,’ he said. ‘When the maids at your home give you your meals, do you say thank you or compliment them?’

‘Are you by any chance calling me a maid?’ She demanded her eyes blazing hot at what she considered an insult.

‘You haven’t answered my question.’

‘Why should I thank them when they are paid to do their job?’ She enquired like the idea was ridiculous.

He looked at her, his eyes slightly narrowed. She still had more lessons to learn. She had learnt a little but she still had a long way to go. As much as she felt that he was disrupting her life, he just felt that he had to do something about her attitude towards people especially those she felt were not in her class. He had no interest whatsoever in Chief Davids’ spoilt daughter despite the effect her short kiss seemed to have on him. The kiss only proved that he had been too long without a woman.

‘And you think that they are less than human?’

‘I haven’t thought about that. But we pay them to do their job so what is the problem if I don’t pay them compliments? They don’t complain about it.’

‘And that is because if you heard any of them complaining, you would have had them fired for being so bold.’

She glared at him for some time but what he said was the truth and she knew that. However, she would not admit that to him.

‘What are you anyway? An advocate for the less privileged?’

‘No, but unlike you I see people as people irrespective of their class.’

‘I never said that they weren’t people.’ she said in self-defence.

‘No, but you treat them that way. You remember the first time we met?’

‘You were leaning against my car.’

‘And you took that as an insult. You asked me to take my filthy self off your car.’

‘Well you had no business leaning over my car.’

‘Because it was a new car?’

‘It still is.’

‘The point is you act like people not in your class are lesser human beings and that is not a good attitude.’

‘Then sue me.’

‘You have a lot to learn, Ibitoru Davids and until you do you are going to remain here.’

‘What are you? My conscience?’

‘I won’t even take up such a tasking job. Now about the lunch, the dishes are still waiting for you in the kitchen.’

‘I can’t believe this. I spent almost an hour in that cardboard box fixing the damn meal, and while you ate to your fill, now you want me to wash up.’

‘Yes. You mess up, you clean up.’

‘I’m not your hired servant.’

‘Just do it. We’ll talk about the pay later.’

She cried out when she found herself off the bed and tossed over his shoulder. And to think that he did that with just one arm, made it more embarrassing.

‘Release me this instant, you brute.’

He didn’t oblige her until he got to the kitchen. She stood, her dark eyes shooting darts at him.

‘I might have been forced to remain in this dump but I’m sick and tired of being man handled. I scrub your damn floors. I cook for you. I get locked up in that damn bedroom and have to beg to be let out. My nails are all broken and misshapen and my hair is in dire need of a relaxer. I can put up with those for now but I will not tolerate being mauled by a-‘

‘A what? A little nobody? You are going to wash up …’

‘And if I don’t?’

‘You know the answer to that.’

‘You can lock me up here and I wouldn’t do anything.’

‘Let’s wait and see.’

He turned and began to walk away when she tossed at him. ‘And you better keep your filthy hands off me.’

He reeled back and grabbed her wrist pulling her to him. Their faces were less than an inch apart. She held her breath without even realizing it, expecting him to kiss her. His lips hovered over hers and she parted hers waiting. But nothing happened, instead he lifted his head and released her.

‘Wash up the plates and maybe that will put me in the mood to humour you with a kiss.’

‘Why you …’

He shut the door behind him.

How dare he do that to her! She thought. How dare he take her for a ride? Even as she thought of it, she heard a key turn in the lock as he locked her in the poorly ventilated kitchen.

‘I’m going for a walk,’ he said. ‘And I expect you to be done by the time I get back.’

‘Go and hug a transformer.’

She told herself she was not going to do anything but soon found herself grumbling as she washed up.

‘Damn you Toni! Damn you!’

~*~*~*~

Toni returned about half an hour later. Ibitoru didn’t utter a word to him as he had unlocked the kitchen door. He noticed that she kept her right hand hidden. As she walked past him, he pulled her backwards and heard the distinct sound of steel as the knife she held in her hand fell to the hard floor.

‘Murder, Miss Davids,’ he jeered as he picked up the knife. ‘I would never have expected that from you. That neck is too pretty to have a noose around it.’

‘And I’m sure the world would forgive me for getting rid of one bad seed,’ she countered.

He shook his head and returned the knife to the cabinet.

‘Any attempt on my life, Ibitoru and I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

‘What will you do? Kill me?’

‘It would be so easy, believe me, but as much as the thought of sending the corpse of Chief Davids daughter to him is appealing. I won’t be turned into a murderer. Neither of you is worth it.’

‘You’d have to tell me what you have against my father.’

‘Haven’t you figured that out?’

‘I’m not a seer.’

‘You’ll find out soon.’


Read more here - www.youngicee.com/category/ABDUCTED

Abducted - Episode 15

© Onyinyechukwu Mbeledogu.

Over the next few days, Ibitoru did most of the cooking. As much as she despised these chores she soon got used to them. Toni on the other hand was sometimes nice to her but most of the time, he treated her with indifference but naturally they were becoming more aware of each other as individuals.

She wasn’t comfortable with the feelings she was developing towards him. She had disliked him but with that one kiss he had set her up for, she found that she rarely gave Steve a thought. She had to force herself to remember that Toni had abducted her, depriving her of the life she was accustomed to and treating her like a servant. She found herself wodnering what he would look like he really smiled, if he didn’t try to look so intimidating. She’d bet he had a beautiful smile.

Whoa, hold on girl, she warned herself. You are treading on dangerous grounds. Start thinking of his smiles and you’ll start imagining things you have no business imagining.

And she could guess the kind of naughty thoughts that could infiltrate her mind.

~*~*~*~

Emi Davids sat in one of the sitting rooms in the Davids home in Abuja surrounded by a few persons who’d come to visit her. Her husband who shuffled between Abuja and Port Harcourt every week was in a meeting with the President at the Aso rock villa.

Emi had accepted Damiete as a son, not that she had any choice. But he was a good young man. She missed her only child Ibitoru. Ibitoru had been gone for over a month and the man who had abducted her hadn’t made his demands yet.

Why waste so much time?

He ought to have made his demands weeks ago. So why dilly-dally? Why make the family pass through this? The first time Ibitoru had called, she had said that she was okay. The man had to have realized that she’d somehow communicated with her father and seized the phones. This explained why she hadn’t called since then.

She wondered what the man was doing to her daughter. What Ibitoru was passing through. Most females who were kidnap victims had been raped. She recalled the story of some NYSC members who had been found pregnant after their release. Oh God, what was the man doing to her little gir?

The police still couldn’t come up with information about her, as though she had disappeared from the surface of the earth without a trace. Ten million naira had been set aside now from a purse that was no longer so large, just in case the abductor called. And she hoped he would call soon. It was enough that Ibitoru would be heart broken when she returned to find out that not only had the company been taken over by another company, that she also had a half brother and was no longer an heiress.

‘God is in control,’ one of the women told her. ‘You will find your daughter.’

‘The man is not even making demands,’ Emi complained. ‘That is what bothers me the most. He hasn’t called us. Not even once.’

‘I’m sure he will. They always do. But he must be so heartless to make you suffer like this.’

‘He is heartless,’ Emi agreed. ‘He probably doesn’t have a family, or he would have understood the pain this family is going through because of his selfishness.’

‘Such people have no respect, whatsoever, for family.’

‘He should leave my baby alone. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this kind of treatment. If he wants money, he should simply ask for it.’

~*~*~*~

Toni had no use for Chief Davids’ money. At the time he had planned her abduction, his intention had been to make Ibitoru’s father pay through his nose, but he’d later changed his mind. He had no use for the ransom. He had his own money.

Toni’s company, IKANEX had applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission three months earlier for a takeover of IBITRONS Limited, submitting the necessary documents. IBITRONS limited had been almost rendered bankrupt by an appealing but very risky deal Chief Davids had made on behalf of the company. The dissenting shareholders had been either paid like the consenting shareholders or had their shares valued. IKANEX as the Offeror company had paid the Target company IBITRONS the amount due for the shares of its dissenting shareholders as trustee. The offer had been concluded and the necessary documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bid had been registered thereby making IKANEX the parent body of IBITRONS with 90% shareholding.

It hadn’t been easy being in meetings with Chief Davids knowing that he had the man’s daughter in his custody. But the bid was over and the company his. One would think that he would release IB then but he kept her with him.

He had to give up the comfort of his home to be in this house. He knew its owner and had paid him for the use of the place, bringing in some of the things he needed. Domesticating IB hadn’t been part of the initial plan but he had found himself doing that. If he didn’t think it was possible, he would have believed that he indeed cared greatly about Chief Davids’ only daughter. He told himself he was merely doing it to annoy her since she hated chores of any kind.

She was improving and that was impressive. They communicated every now and then like housemates and when she was good he let her enjoy a few minutes of the airconditioner in his room. And of course, he was always in the room when she was there, he didn’t trust her not to do something.

His mother would scream if she heard what he had done, he thought with a smile. But it couldn’t be helped. Chief Sotonye Davids had hurt someone he cared about many years ago and he was only giving him a taste of his own medicine. As a Governor he couldn’t be prosecuted because of the constitutional immunity he had enjoyed. So let him spend his nights wondering what he, Toni, was doing to his little girl and wondering if he was about to find himself a grandfather.

He liked Ibitoru but not enough to want to get involved with her. He wanted no part of Chief Davids.

He caught Ibitoru’s wrist as her fingers closed around the handset he had placed on the arm rest of the chair he was sprawled in.

‘I thought you were engrossed in your thoughts.’

‘Obviously. What did you intend to do with it? Sneak into your room and tell daddy I haven’t been nice to you, and have him suggest a better way to incapacitate me?’

‘Maybe. It would serve you right.’

‘I’m not a fool Ibitoru Davids. Once bitten, twice shy.’

‘You’ve kept me here against my will for several weeks but you know what? You are only postponing the evil day.’

‘Oh I’m so scared,’ he jeered. ‘I’m shaking in my boots.’

‘When the time comes, you will beg for my favour but I won’t bother helping you out. Release me now and I shall ensure that you are not persecuted.’

‘How kind of you,’ his voice dripped with sarcasm.

‘You think this is a joke? You can keep me here for a year if you wish but very soon, you’ll have cause to wish you had left Chief Davids daughter alone. And this is no idle threat.’

‘We’ll see about that.’

He stretched out his long legs on the table and crossed his muscular arms about his chest. She had learnt in the weeks she’d been here that her host was a light sleeper. He could wake up at the slightest sound. If he had been a deep sleeper, she would have prayed for him to fall asleep. It would take only a few minutes to call home and find out how her parents were doing. But it won’t be possible.

‘Don’t waste your time entertaining thoughts of escaping,’ Toni warned without looking at her. ‘It won’t work.’

‘You are enjoying this, aren’t you? Soon, you’ll start paying for my company.’ She told him. ‘It makes you feel good having a beautiful woman in your home all day, doesn’t it?’

His eyelids lifted and he gave her a meaningful look.

‘It’s not as though you are sharing my bed, so what’s so special about your company?’

IB glared at him.

‘You know how to twist my statements.’

‘Is that what I’m doing?’ he asked arching an eyebrow.

‘Yes. And you know it.’

His lips curved into a little smile that was quite dangerous in its beauty. ‘You said having a beautiful woman in my home all day makes me feel good and I hold a contrary opinion. Where’s the twist? Or did I hit too close to the truth?’

‘What are you insinuating?’ she demanded, affronted.

‘Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t for once, fantasized about having blue eyed babies.’

Her jaw dropped open and she shut her mouth quickly, her eyes narrowing into tiny slits.

‘If I have such fantasies it definitely has nothing to do with you,’ she informed him.

‘And of course you have met so many blue eyed men in the past weeks.’

‘Whatever!’ She said having nothing more to say.

This time his smile increased. He was really good looking when he smiled. She stared at him feeling like butterflies were running around in her stomach. No, she had to think of Steve. She had been with Toni long enough to be having a clear case of Stockholm syndrome – a situation where a victim started falling for her abductor.

This was so not good. She was used to being in charge of her emotions especially where men were concerned. She flirted with them, drew them close and sent them parking while dashing their hopes of being with her. She had to leave this place before she found herself completely falling for the only man she had met/seen in weeks.

Toni caught her watching him but she couldn’t for the life of her imagine why she could not take her eyes off him. His smile faltered.

‘Do you mind?’ He queried, clearly feeling uncomfortable under her stare.

She looked away embarrassed. She had been staring like she had never seen a good looking man in her life. Steve was even better looking and yet… She looked at Toni once more and found him watching her curiously, his thick eyebrows arched.

‘You just smiled,’ she told him in self defense. ‘And that is what you haven’t done since I’ve been here.’

‘I must be slacking. No more smiles.’

‘You look better when you smile.’

‘You don’t say,’ he teased. ‘So just how good do I look when I smile? Good enough to …?’

‘If you want someone to stroke your ego, you are talking to the wrong person,’ she informed him.

‘Of course. And that’s why you were staring at me as though you wanted to have your wicked way with me.’

‘Such arrogance,’ she ground out.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

‘You do recall that we are alone here, right?’ he said unexpectedly. ‘So you can feel free to act out your greatest fantasies.’

He had guts, she had to give that to him. Especially when he caught her chin in his palm. She waited for his kiss but it didn’t come. Instead, he leaned forward close enough for her to feel his warm breath against her skin and inhale his intoxicating clean male scent mixed with the cologne he wore. For a man who clearly didn’t have money, he sure used an expensive cologne, she thought. Had he bought it with the money he had made from the last person he had abducted? Had he bought it with her money? No, he hadn’t touched the money in her purse. There were so many things about this man which didn’t fit.

His lips hovered over hers, his eyes holding hers captive. He remained that way. An expression she couldn’t interpret, on his handsome face. It occurred to her that he was testing her, that he wanted her to initiate the kiss. Several weeks ago, she would have pushed him away and said ‘go to hell, bloody peasant’ but this man had disrupted her carefully organised life and yet she couldn’t hate him. He was clearly not your average kidnapper. He hadn’t harmed her and he seemed to spend more time trying to domesticate her. Who does that? He was an enigma she couldn’t decode.

His gaze weakened her. His lips tempted her to kiss them, to taste them once more. The last time she had been in a hurry but she was tempted to take her time and explore those lips. Kicking herself mentally for allowing herself fall for the temptation he posed, she framed his face in her hands and kissed him. She felt his smile against her lips before he parted his lips beneath hers. Her arm went about his neck and her fingers caressed his soft black hair. His right arm drew her closer until she was almost laying against the hardness of his masculine body. The kiss grew deeper, their tongue entangled, bodies clinging to each other. However, she broke the kiss before it could get out of hand, saying ‘If you want more kisses then you have to work for it.’

He laughed but his flushed skin told her that the kiss had affected him as much as it had done her.

To be continued

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