The Pregnant Side Chick
Episode 4
By Israel Usulor
Juliet came down from the Uber ride and headed down the street that led to her house. The road that led to her house is bad and cannot be plied by cars. Only motorcycles plied the road since it was rainy season and it was swampy, which was why the Uber couldn’t take her home.
Juliet crossed the road and turned towards her street. She was dragging her bag with a lot of difficulty. She was tired and weighed down by all that had happened within the past two days. It was 6pm in the evening, so the sun was just setting and darkness had started to cover a little. A motorcycle was coming behind her. The motorcycle stopped and the cyclist started talking to her like an angel sent from above to help her out with her bag.
“Hi! Good evening. If you permit me, I would like to give you a ride to your house. It’s free; I promise you won’t have to pay. I see that you are pregnant and it’s not particularly good to walk alone with a heavy bag given your condition.” The cyclist said with a warm and kind voice that was hard to resist.
“Never mind! I’m so grateful to you but my house is not too far. I will just walk. I’m almost home. Thank you very much.” Juliet said. Inside her mind, she knew she needs the ride. She was tired and the baby in her belly has been kicking her tommy since she came down from the Uber. But she was scared to just hope on a bike whose rider she knew not.
“I insist I want to help you. Please allow me to take you home. My wife is also pregnant and I understand how difficult this could be for you.” The biker said as he came down from his bike and ran after Juliet who continued to walk ahead ab*sentmindedly.
“Please, let me help you. Don’t be scared.” The biker said, grabbing her bag from behind. He dragged it like a motor park tout looking for a passenger.
It was not long before Juliet gave in and took a few steps backward and then boarded the motorcycle. The cyclist placed her bag on the front of the motorcycle and they zoomed off.
Juliet expected the short ride to her house to be just about five minutes since it was not far from where the biker picked her up. But the journey became longer than expected. She wanted to ask the cyclist why he was not stopping, but she could not find the words. She wanted to shout but the voice did not come. She wanted to sl*ap the back of the cyclist and tell her not to go past her house but, her hands felt like they were tied to her body as she couldn’t lift them. The cyclist rode the bike into the bush far away from the town. Four other men who were already waiting inside the thick forest joined him and they tied Juliet up and had her sit on the ground like a slave.
“Where am I? Why did you bring me here?” Juliet asked the men when she managed to regain her senses and open her eyes. Her head felt dizzy and her reasoning was still cloudy. It felt like someone cast a strong spell on her.
“Keep quiet! We have kidnapped you.” The biker who picked Juliet from the road a few minutes ago said. His voice was very strong unlike how it sounded gently when he offered to take her home. Juliet looked around and saw that the men standing beside her all had g*uns. One of them had a cu*tlass on his waist and it had bl*ood st*ains on it. Juliet became very sc*ared.
“Please, release me. Let me go. I’m pregnant. Don’t you have conscience? Why would you kidnap a pregnant woman? Let me go, I beg you.” Juliet pleaded. But the three men laughed out loud as if wanting to mo*ck her for pleading to be released.
“My dear! Just relax. You are going nowhere. You are in danger zone! Now, we are calling your husband to bring us money. If he fails to come, we will k*ill you and b”utcher your body parts for sale.” The biker said. The other man drew the cu*tlass on his waist and started touching the s*harp edges as if he already wants to start c*utting Juliet up.
Meanwhile, Ekene got to Juliet’s house and he did not meet her. He started wondering where she must have gone to. The door was still locked. Ekene had Juliet’s spare key which he used to open the door but everywhere was empty with no sign of Juliet.
Ekene came out of the compound, picked up his phone and dialed Juliet’s number with speed and agitated spirit.
“Here we go! Your husband is calling just when I wanted to dial his number. You are incredibly lucky, you have a caring man who knows when you are in danger.” The biker said with a w*icked voice. The time is now 8:30pm and darkness had covered everywhere. The kidnappers had a very bright lamp hung on the tree beside them.
“Hello honey! Where are you? I just came out of your apartment and you are no were to be found. Where did you go to?” Ekene said over the phone hoping to hear Juliet’s voice.
“Listen my friend!” A strong voice said. It was the biker who kidnaped Juliet.
“This is not Juliet. This is me. Don’t bother about my name, but I have kidnapped your Juliet and we are now far far away in the thick bush. Now, listen very carefully and do as I say or you will never see her again.
“You will bring N25 million to me before I will release Juliet to you. If you fail to do this within 14 days, we will k*ill her, b*utcher her and the baby in her womb and sell their body parts. And let me warn you, you must not tell the police about this. Things will get worse if the police know and start looking for us. Remember, N25 million, 14 days and no police.” The kidnapper warned.
Ekene became very restless, sc*ared and a*gitated. He did not know when he started c*rying. Te*ars rolled down his eyes like water dropping from a tap. Ekene had heard horrible stories of people being kidnapped and kil*led in the street but he never knew it would come to him or any of his loved ones. He rushed to the road where he parked his car and started driving home with so much speed that the car nearly jumped off the fly-over just before his area. He drove into his house and matched the break and it screeched loudly like a w*ounded dog.
He jumped into the house like an a”ggressive lion prepared to po”unce on Sophia, his wife because he strongly believes she arranged and paid the boys who kidnapped Juliet. Now, Sophia is in a serious tr*ouble and there is fire on the mountain.
Watch out for episode 5.
