C3 THE GREAT ORDEAL

THE GREAT ORDEAL

Prissy checking the clock for the 12th time with her phone in her other hand was wondering:

“why haven’t Essien come back from work?, this is 10pm and he still hasn’t called or reached me and his phone and work line isn’t going through...this is so unusual of him....in fact very unusual....let me try his number again”.

Just as she was about dialing his number, a call came into her cell phone. She picked, and was told not to shout, he told her that her husband was held hostage and if she planned to play an unfair game by inviting the police, he would kill her husband and that Bassey is also there with her husband. All Prissy needed to do was to give him ten million naira and they would release her husband, prissy felt her world crashing, she didn’t know what to do so she called James and explained everything in details what the kidnapper had said to her.

Some minutes later, one of the boys who engaged in kidnapping Essien and Bassey came and separated them, he told them that his boss asked him to keep them in detach rooms so they won’t strategize on how to escape. After a while the leader of the kidnapping squad came to Essien, he asked him to encourage his wife to bring the ten million they were requesting for, and the more she delays the longer they will keep him. He called one of his boys to go and buy some food for Essien, when the food was brought, he tasted the food first before giving it to Essien, but Essien would not concur, he had lost appetite and could not eat in such a situation. He asked about his friend Bassey and was told to his amazement that he had escaped but a search party was on the lookout for him. Essien prayed in his heart that Bassey would escape the hurt of these criminals and would in turn alert the police in order to get him out of there as well.

It was getting late, Prissy couldn’t call the police because she was scared of what the kidnappers might do to her husband if she involves the police but on the other hand she thought of calling the police to help her but her fear kept on assailing. She started crying then James came to console her, he told Prissy to dial the kidnapper’s number, and tell him she will bring the money, when she did, the kidnapper asked if she was ready to bring the money, Prissy agreed and asked the kidnapper to text the address of where she will offer the ransom. Having talked much with the kidnappers, Prissy pleaded to talk a little with her husband, she notified Essien not to be worried that she would bring the money for them, Essien was shocked because he wondered where Prissy would get such an amount of money, Essien used his native language to tell Prissy not to bring any money for the kidnappers hoping that since Bassey had escaped he must definitely come back to rescue him with the Police. Essien then told Prissy what she had to do

“Arrange the police and look for Bassey, through Bassey the police can come down to where I am directly without much investigation which will take a longer process” he said to her.

Prissy was happy that Bassey had escaped and will help them locate the kidnappers hide out.

The next day, Essien woke up with ropes still tied around him, the kidnapper came shouting at him, “Do you think we are playing? Your wife has refused to bring the money”. He started beating Essien, the kidnapper said he would have killed him but he will not because of the instruction from the person who asked them to kidnap him. Essien was pondering who might have asked the kidnappers to kidnap him. The kidnappers told Essien the more Prissy delays to bring the money the longer he remains with them.

Prissy went to Bassey’s house with high expectations, she knocked at his door, Bassey was inside, when he noticed it was Prissy he pretended not to be around, after a while prissy left. On her way home she met a man close to Bassey’s house she asked him if she knows a man call Bassey, the man said yes that he saw him last night. Prissy was now sure that Bassey was totally free from the kidnappers, so she went back home. After some hours James decided to drive around to clear his head. On his way he saw Bassey with some men he reversed the car to meet him but when Bassey saw James he ran away. Surprised James wondered why Bassey had to run when he saw him, and followed the direction Bassey ran through, he waited a little while and checked if he could figure it out but he couldn’t so he turned home. James didn’t tell Prissy that he saw Bassey, he kept it to himself.

Essien was thinking and praying at the same time for Bassey’s help because he knew even if he told his wife to report to the police without Bassey’s help it will take a longer time for the police to start the investigation and search to locate where the kidnappers held him hostage and if the kidnappers should know, they might end up killing him. So the best thing that could happen is that Bassey should be found because he will help bring the police to take on the kidnappers unaware.

Since it was already getting dark there was nothing Prissy could do rather than wait till the next day, she was so down all through the night, and despite James consolation she still felt desolate. James later came up with an idea to trick the kidnappers, he pointed how they would go about the plan, Prissy didn’t have confidence on the trick James pointed out, but there was nothing she could do rather than try it. Prissy picked up her phone dialed the number of her husband knowing it will be the kidnapper who will answer, she spoke with the kidnapper, she said that he shouldn’t harm her husband that she would bring the money as early as possible the following morning. The text was sent to her that night and the kidnapper called her to strictly warn before she plays an unfair game by coming along with the police; the kidnapper threaten to personally mutilate her husband if she tries that. This scared the daylight out of her but it did not deter her from going with James’s plans.