MISSING - Episode 5

Ike ached with hopelessness, and his heart burned with frustration at the situation they were in. From the corner where he sat, chin in hand, he watched Kabir pace the length of the living room, muttering non-stop under his breath. He could sense the tenseness in Kabir’s strides and groaned at the absurdity of it all.

‘Eunice, where are you? It’s been close to two days with no sign of you. Where could you have disappeared to?’

He ran his hands through his already matted hair and groaned. Kabir was in his own world, his constant mumbling slightly grating on his nerves. They’d both been up all through the night wondering, worrying and trying to figure things out. It was now late afternoon, and there was still no word from their friend.

He wished he’d listened to his intuition the other evening when Eunice left late and had still insisted on visiting her cousin. Only a few hours later, all efforts to reach her to confirm her whereabouts had proven abortive. Her line had rang twice before becoming unreachable. He’d blamed it on network when Kabir insisted that he was overreacting. But when she was still unreachable the next afternoon, he’d convinced Kabir to visit her after work. They’d met her house locked, and her neighbours couldn’t confirm if she’d come home at all.

‘This is exactly why we kept trying to convince her to move in with Tola, because her place is closer to town. Instead she chose to stay at that far place, all in the name of independent living. It wouldn't have been for much longer. Tola's batch is set to pass out soon, so she would have had the place to herself.'

Kabir now stood in front of Ike, his hands clenched by his sides and his eyes taut with worry. He spoke to Ike, whispering low, but his words didn’t make an impression on Ike. He was hardly thinking. Kabir stared at him silently waiting for a response. Ike wasn’t sure what sort of response he expected so he stayed silent.

‘Ike, where do we start looking for her now?’

‘....’

‘Ike, we have to do something.’

‘Ike!’ Kabir yelled.

Ike dropped his hands from his face and sat up.

‘Kabir, what response do you want?’

‘Any response! Just say something. I can’t take this suspense anymore. You have been sitting there, not uttering a word. Who knows what could have happened to Eunice?’

‘….’

‘Ike, say something!”

‘What do you want me to say?!’ Ike stood sharply, his body shaking in response to the burst of emotion.

‘I’ve been worried sick, thinking that it’s somehow our fault that she did not get home the other night. We’ve gone to the police and NYSC officials, but all we’ve been told to do is to be patient. How long should we be patient for?’

His voice broke as he strained to remain calm, and Kabir stepped back. He continued speaking, and began pacing like Kabir did earlier.

‘There was hope when her line was reachable, but now the line is no longer reachable. So, tell me what we should do.’

Kabir scratched his head in response.

‘Maybe she pulled a disappearing act on us, you know.’ Kabir replied almost as if he was talking to himself. ‘We aren’t the only friends she has, so she could have gone to stay over somewhere. right?’

‘Oh,’ Ike scoffed, ‘Eunice would intentionally go out of sight knowing we would worry? You have to be kidding me.’

Kabir scratched his head again.

‘I didn’t mean it the way it sounded…’

‘What did you mean then? You know Eunice well, yet you spew such.’

His entire body shook with frustration. He felt deeply responsible for whatever had happened to Eunice and was angry with himself. Hearing Kabir speak this way angered him further.

‘Ike, calm down. You’re talking to me like we aren’t in this together.’ Kabir spoke and walked close to a wall.

‘Don’t tell me to calm down! Can you hear yourself and the theories you’re spinning over the place?’

Ike gestured to Kabir, his voice rising a notch. He knew he shouldn’t be yelling but he needed an out. Kabir leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as he examined Ike.

‘Guy, no be pikin you be,’ Kabir said in a tone that reminded Ike of his grandmother’s scoldings, ‘and you aren’t the only one who cares about her you know. I may not be nursing unsatisfied affections for her, but she’s my friend and I care about her too. So, instead of yelling at me, let’s think this through and do something more than worry.’

‘Unsatisfied affections?’ Ike stuttered and stared disbelievingly at Kabir. Sure, he had a point, but that didn’t give him the right to act bigheaded or talk loosely.

‘Is that why you think I’m acting this way?’

He stared at Kabir who ignored him and resumed his pacing. Then a phone rang. He watched as Kabir reached into his pocket for the phone to receive the call.

‘Hi Nneka…, No we haven’t heard anything.’

‘…’

‘Sure, I’ll let you know if we hear anything. Please keep your eyes and ears open too.’

Kabir dropped the call and gestured to Ike.

‘That was one of Eunice’s friends calling for updates.’

‘Okay…’ A ringing tone interrupted Ike again. This time, it came from his phone that lay on the couch. He walked to the couch, picked up the phone and paused, staring speechlessly at Eunice I.D blinking on the screen.

‘Who is it?’

Kabir’s curious voice jolted him and he received the call, putting it on speaker.

‘Hello, Eunice?’

‘We have the girl,’ a gruff voice responded, ‘if you want her back alive, call this line in the next 20 minutes.’

‘Hello, hello!’ Ike shouted frantically, but the call had ended abruptly. Ike dialed the line immediately but all he got was a dial tone. The line was once again unreachable. His heart sank and fear gripped him. He glanced over at Kabir who had sunk to the floor in hopeless surrender.

#election #thriller #nysc #kidnap #detective #novel