Click here for previous episodes of Decanter Of MemoriesRene called me some minutes later, he invited me for dinner. I told him that it would be impossible because I was sort of grounded.“I will come get you 5:45pm and I will deliver you home 7:30pm” he said.“Are you really sure of what you are saying? I do not want to get into trouble.” I replied.“I am a man of my word.”I hung up and I remembered Prof Nanya and I was worried, my mind thought about so many horrible things that might have happened to her. Rene was punctual, by the time he came by, I was already dressed but I knew I was forgetting something so I checked my chain bag and found out that my blackberry phone was missing.It was only my Nokia phone that was in the bag. I was not bothered. I kept asking René where we were going and he kept evading the question“You are safe with me mademoiselle.” he saidI smiled stupidly; little did I know he was taking me to his house. I was looking like an idiot when he said, “bienvenue  maison.” I smiled; I did not even know what it meant. After some few seconds I asked him to translate what he had just said to English, “welcome to my house.” he replied.We had dinner and that was the last thing I remembered. By the time I woke up, I found myself in the basement of the house. I wanted to move my hands but I could not because my hands were tied. A huge amount of Adrenaline was already being secreted. I thought I was hallucinating until I heard Prof Nanya’s voice.“They finally got you. I am sorry.” she said.I did not still understand what Prof Nanya was trying to tell me.“Solace and Rene are imposters and they work for my husband.” she said.There was a brief silence, I wanted to talk but when I heard footsteps I decided not to talk. I feigned unconsciousness to avoid suspicion. It was Dr Adigwe, I knew without seeing him because of his cologne. “I am so delighted Solace. As soon as we get your supposed mother’s signature, she’ll be allowed to reunite with Dubem. I do not know what I will do to Jessa; she’s too pretty to die. After my wife leaves this world, Jessa will become my wife.”A slap was all I needed to end my pretence. I was so sad, I should have known that nothing good came easy. I felt guilty; I was the cause of Prof Nanya’s predicament. Dr Adigwe came near me and asked, “who is laughing now?” I looked down and sighed, all I wanted to do was to kill Rene for luring me into the Lion’s den.I wished my purse was nearby. I wanted to call Mason, a voice said to me idiot! That was the first thing Rene took from you. Your phone! I regretted crushing on Rene. Dr Adigwe left after scrutinizing the place. Prof Nanya was crying so hard, I wanted to cry too but I decided against it. I needed to be strong for the poor woman. I thought about mom, dad, Jayde and Tare.I felt so foolish, if there was ever a crown for the World’s Most Foolish girl, I should have been bestowed the crown. I had to apologize to Professor Nanya, “I am so sorry because it is my entire fault.” She told me that there was no need to apologize because I was only trying to help. “It is not like you connived with them. My husband was one step ahead I should say two steps. He knew about the flash drive, I was careless. I am to blame for all these.” she said.“Are you going to sign the documents?” I asked“I have no idea my dear. I am praying for a savior from this mess.”Meanwhile, my family was going insane over my disappearance, my dad alerted the police about my disappearance but they told him nothing could be done because it had not yet been 24 hours since my disappearance. I could not sleep that night, so many nightmares. I spent the remaining hours of the night awake, Prof Nanya and I talked till the early hours of the next day.At about 5:15am I screamed, it was my own way alerting our captors that I needed to use the rest room. Solace came to meet us after ten minutes, she cursed as she led me to the rest room. She untied my hands, I left her and headed for the rest room, she wanted to follow me to the rest room.“What’s amusing in a lady watching a fellow lady urinate? I need privacy! It is not like I’ll escape through the rest room window.”She excused herself and I entered into the rest room. As I pulled up my gown, I felt something heavy so I released the gown and I discovered that my Ankara gown had a zip. The zip was hidden and I was to silly not to notice it. I unzipped and found Jayde’s blackberry “silly girl. You wore my gown without prior notice. I’ll deal with you when I see you” I thought. That’s if you still see her. A voice replied.Solace started hitting the door, “don’t try to be smart you fool because I will kill you.” I quickly put the phone back, eased myself. Solace cursed and cursed, I brought out the phone turned it on. At least blackberry phones didn’t have any power on tone. I quickly sent a text message to Mason; he was the only one I could think of. I put my name at the end. The message read thus;“You need to come save us. Dr Adigwe and his cohorts kidnapped me and Prof Nanya. They are threatening to kill us. You have to help; I have to go my love. Please reply as soon as you get this. Jessa” Solace kicked the door so hard and it opened forcefully, she came in, pulled me by hair and began to drag me out of the rest room. After getting to the basement, she slapped me so hard. Her hand felt like it was made of cement. My left cheek was in pain.I prayed fervently for Mason to get the text message. I switched off the phone while at the rest room to conserve battery. Solace tied my hands again. I wondered how I was going to switch on the phone now that my hands are incapacitated. I burst into tears because I felt like I was going to die here.When I got to the basement, Dubem’s mom wasn’t there. Suddenly, the door was flung open and I saw Rene, he pushed Prof Nanya from his side violently and slammed the door. Prof Nanya wept bitterly. She told me that her husband was responsible for the swollen state of her face.“I refused to sign the documents that would enable him become the sole heir to my estate. I’d rather die.”I screamed again and Rene rushed in, “I really need to use the toilet.” I said.Immediately I got to the toilet, I received a message from Mason; Mason was coming for me. I was so happy. I sent him another message and Rene interrupted and he caught me red handed. He snatched the blackberry phone from me and tried to power it on but he could not power it because the battery had fallen into the Water closet. I heaved a sigh of relief because he could not turn on the phone.He beat me mercilessly; I thought I was going to die. There was an iron rod around the corner and I kept on looking at it, hoping that I would be able to get hold of it. Rene kept hitting me on the face, my face felt so heavy. I grabbed his chest with my hands and scratched it with all my strength. I thought it was going to distract him but I thought wrong.Rene’s phone beeped and he had to leave me alone to answer the call and that was my golden opportunity. I picked the iron rod as fast as I could and used it to hit his crotch. I ran to the basement but on a second thought I went back to the toilet but Rene was not there. I wanted to go back to wreck more havoc on him.“Looking for me?” he asked, smiling sardonically.I was so scared to look back because I knew I had met my waterloo. I did not even scream, I just stood shaking “This is the end.” I muttered. Rene got hold of me and started ripping my clothes apart.“What are you doing?” I asked amidst sobs“What does it look like? Slut”He slapped me so hard that I could not cry again. It was no use struggling with him because I was no match for him. He stopped and stared at me menacingly.“What is it mon amour? Don’t you want me anymore?”“I never wanted you! You bastard.”He tore my Ankara gown; I was left with my bra and leggings. I started begging him to stop, he stopped. “I have an idea” he said. He removed his belt and started using it to whip my back. I screamed, the torture continued for a very long time. When Rene was satisfied, he bent down to carry me. Rene fell down on me and I groaned in pain. Someone lifted Rene and pushed him away, it was Mason.Mason was just punching Rene; I thought he was going to murder him. Rene coughed out blood and he spoke, “you came because of this slut, she is so cheap, and she walked into the lion’s den herself. She is a whore, she is not worth it.” Mason turned to look at me and his eyes were speaking to me. I could read it, Mason’s eyes were saying “Tell me Rene is lying; tell me he is just trying to stir up confusion.”When I looked away, Mason knew Rene was not lying. Mason left, few minutes later, the police arrived. Apparently, the bracelet that he gave me when I got back from Kaduna had a tracker, it was meant to protect me and not to spy on me but it came in handy. Mason called my parents, they came after a while. To cut the long story short, Mason broke up with me.Prof Nanya and I were taken to the hospital. Rene was locked up, awaiting trial. Solace and Dr Adigwe were on the run. Dr Adigwe was so angry; he knew that the end had come. He was so angry because Rene was so careless, “he could not handle that little girl and now I am ruined.” he said.Solace escaped to Benin Republic, she changed her identity. Dr Adigwe became a fugitive and Prof Nanya continued her search for Jean-Michel and their child. Mason did not want to hear from me again. I realized how much I loved Mason; I realized that life was meaningless. There was this emptiness in my soul. The fashion show was scheduled to hold in four day’s time.My parents restricted my movements because of Dr Adigwe, “he is still out there, he can still hurt you.” mom said. Mason kept avoiding me; I went to his house to ‘catch’ him. We had a chance to talk and I begged him and he told me that he had forgiven me, “but there cannot be us again.”“Ok whatever you say, mom’s fashion show is coming up this Saturday. I would like it if you came.”“I’m sorry I can’t. You have to leave now because I have things to do, I have to get ready for work.”My whole world was collapsing; I cried my eyes out when I got home. Tare tried to console me but her efforts were futile.

 Written by Kezi Angela Patrick