Claimed by the Mafia King

My eyes widened in shock. “Daddy I’m not going anywhere oh! What is this? Me I’m not going. Why does aunt Ego want me to come to her house all of a sudden.” I protested with a pouty voice.

“Will you shut up that your stinking mouth!” My dad shouted.

I grumbled on and on stomping my feet on the ground, but I shut up anyway. I wasn’t brave enough to face him yet.

“Why does Aunt Ego want her to come?” My mum asked, as confused as I was.

“Her husband called me now. Do you know that she almost had a miscarriage because of too much work.”

“Jesus Christ of Nazareth!” My mum and I exclaimed in unison. I put my hand over my heart to calm my breath.

I didn’t like aunty Ego even if she was my Dad’s only sister. She treated my mum badly and I hated her for it, but she had been looking for a child for so long it would be so painful if she lost this one.

“How is she?” It was my mum who asked.

“She’s better now but they urgently need a helping hand.”

“God will not let our enemies see us. They will not succeed!” My mum prayed. It was then that I knew that I was going to go to Port-Harcourt whether I liked it or not.

Traveling was the last thing I wanted to do now with how unsafe the roads were because of the gang war which had been affecting my town but I had no choice.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I quickly packed my bag and other necessities. I hugged my brothers good bye while promising to get toys for them on my return. I also hugged my mum and promised her that I would be on my best behavior.

My Dad offered to drive me to the park which he only did because my Aunt needed me. The ride to the park was tensed and quiet and I did appreciate the silence. It was better than having forced conversations with a man I didn’t like.

When we got to the park he booked a sit for me and gave me the ticket. “You had better respect yourself over there.” He warned, and drove away without telling me as much as a good bye.

I knew that it would be hard for me to cope in my Aunts house because first of all, I wasn’t used to staying away from home for such a long time as a month. Secondly, she didn’t like me and I didn’t like her.

I’ve always thought my family to be my responsibility. My whole family. Maybe it was something that came with being the first child. A kind of blessing, a Kind of curse, a little bit of both.

Soon it was turn for my bus to move and I entered it feeling all melancholic and sad. My mom promised that she would tell my Boss about the break I was having, but I doubted if he would not replace me before I got back. It made me sad because I wanted to earn enough money for myself before I got admission to the university because I didn’t trust my parents to fully cater for me considering their present financial status . I also didn’t want to have to burden my mum too much cause I knew that she would be the one to take care my college expenses.

My sit number was 8 so I sat on the second to last sit on the bus. I had my earpiece plugged while I listened to Michael Jackson’s Dangerous. He was and still is my best musician.

I soon started getting inspiration to pen down a poem like I always did when I felt sad and lonely.

I was about to unlock my phone when the bus was brought to an abrupt halt. I felt some kind of tension In the bus and so I pulled out my earplugs.

“Stop now!” I heard two men scream from outside the bus causing tension inside. The driver tried to move past them.

“You all calm down.” He urged us and we obeyed briefly. But before he could move another mile the bus was shot and all calmness flew out the window. Now there was nothing but tension, wails and a good dose of fear.

I stayed put for a while before the situation hit me like a stray bullet and I started to panic

“Lord save us!” The woman sitting across me cried out hugging her daughter who was about the same age as I was.

Everyone seemed to be with family or friend, I was with no one so I hugged my self. I wanted to call my mum but in situations like this, I was of better use than she was. She would only start panicking and I didn’t want her to die before her time.

One of the masked men opened the bus while the other stood by the side pointing the gun at the driver who had his hands up. When the man successfully opened the door one other masks man different from the one pointing the gun at the driver joined him in entering the bus.

Never had I been so afraid in my life. I thought I would die. It was obvious that they were from a gang but I didn’t know which gang they were from. My best bet was ‘White Lion’ because that was the gang that was known to cause the most havoc.

“If you speak I will shoot.” One of the men growled. His voice meant business. The other man looked around the bus as if there was something he had kept in the bus that he wanted to retrieve.

“Hey you get out of the car!” He ordered, pointing to the girl sitting next to me. She nodded slowly crying, her mother held her tight, refusing to let her go.

“Didn’t you hear me! Get out of the damn car!” He growled this time. She flinched, shaking from head to toe.

She stood up to leave sobbing and shaking. Her mother tried to hold her back pleading, but the man would have none of it. He hit her hard with the gun and she passed out. Her daughter screamed out and tried to fight but she was restrained by the second man who had given us the warning. He was taller than the other and looked more of a hardened criminal maybe because of the tribal marks on his face.

“I’m not here for drama. The next person will be hit by a bullet.” He warned. He turned to the girl sitting in front of me. “Get out of the bus!”

He ordered. Even before he finished she got down letting go of her younger brother whose tiny hands held her tight until she got down. In her case she was the protector.

The brother was crying and begging but his words were inaudible. One man who was in front restrained him and kept patting him on the back.

It was too much of a coincidence that they had asked two girls who were about the same age as me to leave the bus without even asking a single guy to leave. I was afraid that I would be next.

As if God was in my favor both men looked out of the bus and I used the opportunity to try to hide under the seat. My knees were on the ground and my head was already finding it’s way under when my hair was pulled back. “I saved the best for the last look at this one trying to escape. I like her what do you think.”

The other man who had been pointing the gun licked his lips and smirked. “I like her too but boss has to see them first.”

“He’s going to give her to us anyway.” The other guy laughed. He pulled me out of the car and into a van with the rest of the three girls. I was the only one not crying.

I had to organize my thoughts now. To plan an escape as I knew better. This was the best time to escape if I wanted to, now that they were only three of them. If I’m taken to the base then I might never leave because then there will be more of them. More of them to try to stop me.