DESTINY MISMATCH
(A Compelling Story!)
Mr Lanre and his family drove to the airport accompanied by Florence who was looking forward to meeting Maya, who looked very posh in pictures on social media. The driver was hurrying up to meet up in time, years of driving a military man around had taught him to meet up with time. Precision and orderliness was one thing he had learnt from his boss. Florence was looking at him from the rear mirror, she noticed that he was rather cute for his job. Dressed in a white neatly pressed shirt and navy blue trousers, he appeared more like a cooperate man than a driver. She tried to establish eye contacts with him but he appeared too glued to his driving to notice her. She picked up her phone and sent Naya a WhatsApp message.
Florence: “Babe, this una driver cute o”.
Naya: “And what is that supposed to mean? Are you crushing on my father’s driver?”
Florence: “relax Jor, you are always too serious. I am just telling you what I observed about him”.
Naya: “let it stop at observation. Don’t come and distract him with your eyes, I don’t want to die via accident”.
Florence: “ Lmao”, she chuckled.
Mrs Lanre who was conversing with her husband noticed that the two girls were exchanging chats and she smiled and shook her head. Mr Lanre cleared his throat, everywhere fell silent. His wife and daughter and driver knew that anytime he did that, it meant that he had something to say.
Mr Lanre: “What was that I heard your friend saying about some boy breaking your heart when I called you yesterday?”
Florence: “Sir, it is Naya o. One boy is just playing with her heart anyhow and she doesn’t want to dump him”.
Naya: “Florence! Ha, can’t you even cover me for once?”
Mr Lanre: “So, instead of you to concentrate on your studies, you are busy going out with men right?”
Naya: “Daddy, it is not so o. Don’t mind Florence”.
Mr Lanre: “Anyway, we will discuss all these when we get home with your sister”.
They arrived the airport about ten minutes earlier than the scheduled time. The airport since it was under renovation had arranged bus services that conveyed passenger from Kaduna airport to Abuja airport, it was more convenient for passengers, especially those who were new to Kaduna and those who couldn’t find their way around. When the bus arrived, Maya was not in. One by one the passengers came down and there was no sign of Maya.
Mrs Lanre: “My dear, why is she not here yet? Is there another car coming in?”
Mr Lanre: “I am not sure about that; I will have to ask them”. When he enquired if there was another car coming in, he was told there was none coming in for the day and that some passengers had opted to come in through the train so they could have the experience.
Naya: “But she ought to have told us if she was using the train. She should have at least told me. And why is she not replying her messages?” She asked with concern written on her face.
Mrs Lanre: “I have been trying to call her too and it says number switched off. Probably there is no network on the train”.
Mr Lanre: “Driver, do you know the train station?”
Driver: “Yes, sir. It’s in Kubwa, opposite Daughters of Charity hospital”.
Mr Lanre: “Fine, let’s go there and wait for her”.
They learnt that the train had arrived for some minutes and that most passengers had gone. When there was no sign of Maya, her father asked for the Manifest of the train’s trip from kaduna, they went through it and her daughter’s name was nowhere to be found.
Naya: “I don’t understand this, dad. She sent me a message on Facebook to tell me their plane had landed Kaduna airport. I tried to call her back immediately but her number has not been available. Something tells me my twiny is in trouble”.
Mrs Lanre: “Don’t say that, there is power in the tongue, I have always told you that”.
Mr Lanre: “keep your nerves still and let me make some calls. There is no need to start panicking”.
Florence looked on, not able to say a word and wondering why things had to go wrong just when she was ready to enjoy the company of the family. Often times she had been told that she had ill luck that always had its way of rubbing off on people, they could be right, she thought.
They drove far into the Bush and then the driver stopped.
“Your money or your life”, he asked the frightened Maya who was shivering.
Maya: “I don’t have any money on me” She replied tearfully.
Man: “kai, no lie for me fa, I go just kill am for you. You don’t know me ko, I go just kill you trowey your body for here nothing go happen”.
Maya: “I have some few pounds with me, take it and also take my jewelries. That’s all I have, I usually don’t travel with cash”.
The men collected all that she had after ransacking her bag. “lie down, I want to do you “. He thundered.
Maya: “I beg your pardon? Say that again”.
Man: “You dey craze? I say I wan make love to you”
Maya: “Which love? Are we lovers? You want to rape me and you use love to cover it? Hell no, there’s no way I am going to allow you rape me”.
He suddenly grabbed her and cocked his gun to her skull and pulled the trigger. “Jesus!” Maya shouted and woke up with fright. She had fallen asleep shortly after entering the taxi. She remembered the details of her dream, reached for her phone in her bag but to her surprise it was not there. A sign that her dream may be a revelation of what may happen if she continued the journey with the people in the car.
“Pack the car here”, she suddenly shouted at the driver. The other passengers turned to stare at her but her face remained expressionless.
Maya: “I said park the car here, I want to ease myself”. She lied.
Driver: “I no fit park here o, this place na armed robbers and kidnappers den, anybody wey park for here, dem go attack the person”. He answered without slowing down or looking at her.
Maya looked up at him through the rear mirror and she thought she saw his mouth twitch; the same way she had seen the mouth of the driver twitch in the dream. When she locked eyes with him at the rear mirror, she saw him look quickly down. Her heart began to beat faster, she knew better than to take her dreams for granted, several times, she had ignored her dreams to her peril. She thought of jumping out of the car but it was an impossible mission considering the fact that she was sitting in between two people. She saw the notification of a military check point some few kilometers away and she knew that that was her chance to get out of the one chance vehicle she found herself in. As soon as they approached, she brought out her hand from the car and began to wave. The soldier man cocked his gun and ordered the driver to stop. Maya immediately got down from the car.
Maya: “Officer, please tell the driver to open his booth let me carry my box”.
Officer: “Why? Is there a problem?”
Maya: “I just don’t want to follow them again. The car is not well ventilated; I was almost choking in there”. she lied again.
The officer ordered the driver to open the booth and he complied immediately. He cast Maya a hateful glance when she carried her bag and she knew that she would have been in big trouble of she had not gotten out of the car.
She entered another car and in about an hour, she arrived Abuja. She was stranded, her parents had told her that they had relocated from the house they were living in when she went to London, she didn’t bother to get the address of the new house because she was sure that her father would come and pick her and take her home. She thought of calling to inform them that she was in Zuba park but she remembered that her phone had been stolen. She spoke to a good Samaritan in the park who allowed her use his phone and she called her father.
Maya: “Hello, dad, I am stranded in Zuba, I cannot call you, my phone was stolen, how do I locate my way home from here?”
Mr Lanre: “Maya! Goodness where have you been? You got us all worried”.
“Is that my daughter? Is that my twinnie?” Mrs Lanre and Naya chorused simultaneously. “She is the one”, he answered and put on his phone on loudspeaker. “Maya, tell us exactly where you are standing and what you are wearing, we will come and pick you from there”.
Maya: “Okay dad. I am in a poka dot black and white jumpsuit, I have a Versace Burberry bag in my hand and a size 3 ash colored Gucci box. I am standing at the front of one Clean Oil fuel station beside the Zuba garage”.
Mr Lanre: “Okay, just stay where you are, we will come pick you”.
While they were talking, someone in the car sent a text from a phone to some guys. “She is wearing a poka dot black and white jumpsuit, with a Versace Burberry bag in her hand and a size 3 ash colored Gucci box. She is standing at the front of one Clean Oil fuel station beside the Zuba garage. Go there and abduct her now, remember you have to be fast before we get there”. The person sent the text and smiled
....to be continued in Episode 4!
*Request for Episode 4 if this story is interesting....