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I did not dare to move or make a sound. My heart thumped furiously in my chest as blood rushed hotly through my veins.
My breathing sped up to the point I felt I would begin to hyperventilate.
The leader pressed the gun further into my back and I tried to remain as still as possible; the awareness of the barrel of the gun on my bare skin was all too real.
I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the panic and terror that was evident on my mom's face because I knew that if I kept on looking at her, I would break down into a crying mess and I was not about to give these intruders the satisfaction of seeing me break.
I wished I had made more memories instead of choosing to be antisocial and aloof ever since I moved here.
Initially, I had thought moving would be easy, but the fact that I had only gotten the motivation to move and make a life in Cambridge from a movie I had watched was not a great idea.
I did not know how hard the move would hit me. I was excited to experience winter; I loved exploring the city and campus with my brother but it was hard to make friends.
In Nigeria, the people whom I had considered my closest friends had only become my friends because they approached me first.
If they hadn't, I would never have even come close to talking to anyone or being friends with them.
On my first day in class, it seemed as if everyone had already formed friend groups, and therefore, I concluded that trying to talk to anyone would result in me being ignored and I didn't want to be embarrassed.
I kept to myself through the entire lecture and even after, no one spoke to me and I didn't speak to anyone.
In my room in trinity college where I stayed part-time whenever I didn't feel like being at home or lectures ended late, it took two weeks before my roommate said a word to me asides from when she introduced herself as Priscilla, the day I brought some of my things into the room.
"Hey, I'm going out to get some groceries, do you want me to grab anything for you?" She asked.
Startled, I began to fumble for words. It was a pretty simple question to answer but because I wasn't expecting her to ever talk to me, I had to force myself to respond.
"Oh, Uhm, could you get me two rolls of toilet paper? Thanks," I finally responded, handing over the money for it. And that was the beginning of a blossoming friendship.
Despite making a new friend, I still felt nostalgic about Nigeria, particularly the city of Lagos, the commercial capital, where I first lived.
I missed the hustle and bustle of the city, the way food and clothes vendors would shower compliments and praises whenever I walked past their stall but insult me under their breaths and sometimes openly when I failed to stop and purchase something.
If someone had told me that my life in Cambridge was going to turn upside down, then I would have had fun, made more friends, hung out with my mom more, and engaged in more homely activities in the house that she had worked so hard to decorate to both I and my brother's tastes.
If someone had told me that life would be comfortably smoking his cigar while planning for everything to go to shit for me, then I would surely have made the most of my time.
A whisper in my left ear from the leader sent shivers down my spine and brought me crashing down to earth; to the ordeal happening around me.
"Go and sit over on your couch quietly. This will all be over soon," His cigarette-scented breath oozed from his mask and into my nose, causing me to scrunch it up in disgust.
I obeyed and sat on the couch, but when I saw the basic-looking robber leading my mom away from me and into the kitchen, my obedience went straight out the window.
"Where the hell are you taking her?" I yelled, rising from the couch.
I was only able to take a few steps toward her before the leader's hand closed around my waist and dragged me back to him. He lifted his arm further up my body and trapped both my arms so I couldn't move them.
"Please, why are you doing this? Let us go, please. You've already taken our money and your... colleague up there is ransacking all the rooms, I'm sure. Just take what you want and go. You don't have to hurt us," I pleaded, trying to appeal to a sense of reason that I hoped he had.
"Shut up. I told you...to be quiet and sit. Try this again and I'll blow your bloody brains out," He threatened.
I had heard these words many times in many crime thrillers but that was the first time I felt terrified.
So, I kept my mouth shut and chose to assess the whole situation to find an outcome where my family would be safe in the end.
The robber holding my mom had taken her into the kitchen and dining area and from the couch I was sitting on, the bookshelf completely obstructed my vision.
I prayed a short prayer for her in my mind and then, I turned my attention to the scrawny one who was holding my brother.
The leader had called him a kid and he did seem to not want to engage in any form of violence.
I locked my eyes on him and studied him from head to toe.
I wasn't sure but from his physique and voice, he seemed to be no more than twenty years old.
The wheels in my head were turning furiously as I began to formulate a plan to get through to him in the event of a violent altercation that I fervently hoped would not happen.
Suddenly, a gloved hand clasped my thigh, severing me from my thoughts.
"You're a pretty girl, aren't you? Tell me, are you a student or...?" The leader asked.
I remained silent.
He chuckled a bit and shook his head. I prayed and wished he would leave me alone and not try to make small talk.
"What kind of twisted game was he trying to play, anyway?" I wondered.
Without warning, his meaty palms closed around my jaw, pulling my face discomfortingly close to his masked one.
"You. Will. Answer. Me. When. I. Ask. You. A. Question," He said through gritted teeth, enunciating every word.
"I'm sorry, I thought you told me to remain silent. I was simply obeying your orders," I replied defiantly.
He released my face and threw his head back in a bout of laughter.
When his annoying laughter finally subsided, a dark ambiance came over him. Though I couldn't see his face, I could feel danger radiating off of him in waves and that was when I realized that I couldn't be cocky or arrogant anymore or the violent altercation that I was trying to avoid would happen.
And I could not risk the life of my mom or my brother because I wanted to try to be a cocky action movie heroine.