TAKEN

[30]

Jeremiah Ifemezuie.... Or...Mustafa Suleiman's frame rose from the proximity where he'd been cuddling Mama. He did a 360-degree assessment of the camp.

A whoosh of air escaped his lips and he hissed subsequently. "What a waste!"

Mama's hands snaked into his, tenderly and pulled him closer. "Told you there was trouble but you never believed me."

My father was silent for a while and just as I expected him to say something, he began to growl like a beast, screaming into the raging flames, stomping his foot, and hitting the night wind.

To me, It was a useless expression of emotions, seeing that all was already lost in the fire. The Firefighters were now exhausted because it seemed as though the fire was difficult to quell. Only Carlos knew what he'd planted in this camp.

"The drugs?" He returned to where his lover was. "Did you manage to salvage anything?" His gaze was expectant.

Mama's gaze fell and his answer came as she shook her head repeatedly. "All....everything is gone!"

"Everything? As in everything?"

The woman nodded. "Including the shipment from last night."

"What? The whole thing?"

Mama's head went up and down. "They took me unawares. I couldn't have predicted that the coup was imminent. I thought I had it under control."

He sucked the air one more time and exhaled. "Then, you must have some left at the other camp. Right?"

His lover's head shook repeatedly. "They are all gone. I am so sorry."

Dazed by his loss, he walked away gently from her and let out another scream. The echo bounced off the forest trees and came back at us. Furious was an understatement to what he was exhibiting.

When he had exhausted himself with the screams, he lit a wrapped-up weed and smoked it up in a minute or so. When he was done, he began backing orders at the military men who were in a dark green khaki overall.

The teams ran off into the nearby bushes at his command. "Comb the whole perimeter and make sure no one is hiding."

My breath twisted in my stomach and suddenly gave me gas pain that wouldn't just go away. I was angry, absolutely enraged. So Carlos was right all along, but I never believed him. And to even find out that my father was Mama's major connect left my stomach twisted in knots.

Mama watched him with glee in her eyes and a mouth gaped in triumph. Everyone was at his beck and call. Her eyes followed his every move in admiration as he dished out orders to the men in uniform.

"I want every one of them found! Even if they are hiding inside a cave, I want every one of them!"

I cringed at his words, but hope flashed a reminder light in my head. They were safe, every one of them...well, except us. With everything happening at the same time, I knew I'd calculated wrong. This father of mine was turning out to be the devil I should be afraid of.

Soon our bodies were roughly lifted off the floor and planted right by the military trucks, as though we were facing a firing squad. As our hands stuck behind our backs and heads bowed. We stood there with machine guns pointed at us.

"Where is your leader?" My father asked the first person in the row. The guy lifted his head for a second and hissed.

He was the one who helped weave through Mama's maze-like camp. He'd been there longer and overseeing most of the logistics. Eman was his name. He was one of very few words and I feared what would become of his fate.