BAGAMOYO, 2020
Everything was dark. Was he locked in a dark room or were his eyes removed? He tried to lift his hands but they were tightly held by a rope behind the chair he was on. His legs were tied. Where was he? What happened? He felt as if someone was hammering his head.
As he kept questioning himself, the door opened. The incandescent light bulbs in the room went on. The room went bright. He squinted, hardly seeing two men entering the room. After a minute, he could see clearly. An old man of about 90 years old with a cane stick in his hand and another old man of about 70 years old was standing in front of him.
The room was small with no windows. There were bloodstains everywhere on the dark gray painted walls of the room. There was only one chair, the one he was sitting on. The floor was dirty. The smell of urine and feces bothered his nose. He saw his black bag at the corner of the room. The bag seemed unopened.
“Where am I? Who are you?” Leo mumbled.
The man with a cane stick smiled. “I’m a man with a single request.”
Leo turned to the man without a cane stick.
A man with a cane chuckled. “He is the man who will make sure I get what I request for, no matter what.”
Leo’s forehead puckered. “What do you want from me?”
“Your father gave you a card.” A man with a cane showed his card to Leo. “I want it.”
Leo’s heartbeat rate increased. “Never seen such a thing before.”
A man with a cane turned to the other man. “You said Abiola is lying on bed at IFISI hospital right now?”
A man without a cane nodded.
“Why?” said a man with a cane.
“Carotid artery disease. It’s getting worse. She needs an immediate TCAR.” A man without a cane said.
“How much time does she have?”
“Less than five days, if she’s lucky…”
“Oh—”
Leo gasped, trying to untie himself from the chair. “Don’t dare to touch my mother.”
A man with a cane smiled. “Looks like our friend has remembered something. The card…?”
Leo stared at the roof.
“Anha, let me put it this way.” A man with a cane said, “if you give me the card, I’ll arrange safe travel for your mother to India where she will get high-quality treatment from high-class doctors. I’ll pay for everything for her while in India and make sure she comes back home safely. Is that enough for you to give me a card?”
Leo remained silent.
“Oh my God!” a man with a cane said, “It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.”
Leo breathed heavily. “I know where the card is.”
A man with a cane smiled. “Do you think that’s fair?”
“What?” Leo said.
“Everything I have offered, just for a single card…?”
“You—”
“Do you know Sonia Japheth?”
Leo narrowed his eyes. “Yes—”
“Do you know Patrice?”
Leo nodded. “Wh—”
“These two have other cards similar to this. I want all the three cards and your mother won’t die.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible… the word itself says 'I'm possible'!”
“How will I get the cards?”
“I should be asking you. It was you and your friends who gave the cards to them.”
“What are you talking about?”
A man with a cane smiled. “A document that can save the school. Don’t tell me you believed in it?”
Leo’s eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
“Sonia and Patrice are not the people who they seem to be.”
“Why should I believe in you?”
The man chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that Sonia or SJ as you guys address her burnt the library so that she could get the cards. Thanks to you and your friends, she got the cards. I want them.”
“Who are you? What is so special with these cards?”
“Go get me the cards. Your mother’s life depends on it.”
Leo slammed his eyes shut.
“You have two days, more than that your mother dies. Talk to anyone about us, what you’ve seen or what we’ve talked about, and your mother dies. We’ll be watching your every move.”