Daisy loved her daddy so much and her dad had an eye for
her; she was daddy’s little girl. Stacy on the other hand, being the older
sister, was mummy’s favourite. The parents never bothered hiding this
distinction. Which often made their other sibling Tasha feel like the ugly
duckling. Although Tasha was always quiet and by herself many a times, she was
informed about all the little secrets in the house. She knew everyone’s dirty
secret but no one suspected that she did know.
She knew her father was a sneaky despicable bastard despite
the subtleties he exuded that were oblivious to everyone but Tasha. Her mother
wasn’t the saint that they the rest all gullibly believed. Daisy was just a
teenager trying to fit in with her peers through lies and feigns; they weren’t
as rich as she would claim. Stacy had had two abortions in the past one year
but told no one at home. Since no one ever gave attention to Tasha’s
whereabouts, Stacy didn’t hear her pass by her open room door as she sobbingly
narrated her ordeal to her best friend; who later picked her up to go to the
clinic under the disguise of a party.
Daisy groggily forced her eyelids open. Her head felt heavy
and ached with immense pain. She lay on the cold cracked cement screed floor
with a little blood leeching from her flayed left leg just above the ankle. She
sat up slowly and held her spinning head between her palms. With squinted eyes,
she inspected the room as she tried to make out where she was and more so what
had happened. The small room had nothing but her. It reeked of death. Its walls
were of fair faced bricks, not plastered and had blood stains with decayed
flesh on it. There was a small window in the wall opposite the worn flush door.
A dirty curtain hung from the top of the window and was slightly pulled back to
let in a small ray of light and fresh air. She rose amidst pain and held onto
the window ceiling as a contrivance to escape through the window.
Enthusiastically, she fully drew the curtain only to be stopped by the burglar
proofing. About to scream for help, she noticed the high wall that faced the
window. She knew she was trapped.
Desperate and frightened, Daisy ran to door and attempted to
push it open but to no avail. After 10 minutes of trying, she turned and placed
her back to the door. Slowly, she slid down into a mound and buried her head
between the knees. There, she sobbed for what seemed like an hour before her memory
jarred.
David and the two big macho men sat outside the small room drinking
beer to pass time; which room was only used to incarcerate their victims. They had
seen so many young girls in that room who never came out alive. ‘’The 69’’ was not just an ordinary guest
house. It was owned by the supreme. Both the receptionist and gateman were
phonies; in that even though the victims screamed their lungs out, it was
guaranteed that no one would ever come to their rescue.
The procedures and orders
which never altered hailed from the supreme that none of them knew. All the
three men knew was that there were so many parties involved in the business;
including some influential people in the state. David did all the dirty work.
He was a valet to the big bellied man, Dobido. Due to his good looks and charm,
he was in charge of getting the girls and bringing them to ‘’The 69’’ where everything went down. As
a bonus, his allowance constituted having sex with the girls. Dobido, who
funded David, was second to the supreme. He had the final hand with the girls
depending on the orders he received; whether to kill them, sever parts or
organs from their bodies. Thereafter, he would deliver them as required. These
parts and organs would then be sold, which 60% of the money would be given to
the clients. It was mandatory for the clients to pay a small lump sum on request.
If the plan was compromised in anyway, the girls would be killed to erase any
evidence. The two macho men were his bodyguards.
‘’Hey!!!’’ Dobido shouted from the gate to get their
attention. They all turned. ‘’Is she awake?’’ he
asked.
‘’Yes. Like an hour ago’’ David shot back.
‘’Okay. The boss has arrived’’. The three men gave each
other a quizzical look.
‘’Did he say boss?’’ one of the macho guys whispered to
David.
‘’I heard that too’’ David replied confusedly. They all straightened
up and with their fingers brushed through their one inch thick black hair.
Then, hid all the beer bottles under the wooden chairs. Just when they were
done, two casually dressed men, about 40years of age came through the gate with
Dobido leading the way. David thought one of them looked familiar. Although his
memory failed him, he couldn’t help notice how tense and fidgety the man
looked. He kept looking around in shame.
‘’Gentlemen’’ Dobido said pleasantry to the two gentlemen.
‘’This is David, my valet. Without him, business would not be as successful’’
‘’Nice to meet you, Si….rs’’ David stammered and held out
his hand in greeting to the two gentlemen who returned the handshake one after
another.
‘’And these are my two bodyguards, John and Paul’’ Dobido
continued. ‘’David, Paul and John meet my boss Mr. Emara’’ he extended a hand
in direction to the second gentleman, who had an intense, brooding quality
about him. ‘’And Mr. Tinde’’ he said in direction to the rather odd gentleman.
David retrieved the key from his pocket and opened the door.
Daisy was curled up in the left corner of the room with her head buried between
the knees. She was barefooted and her dress was drenched with dirt. The room
proclaimed decay and death. Mr. Tide almost gagged when he saw her all
wretched.
‘’There she is Mr. Tinde’’ Dobido said. At the sound of the
name, Daisy quickly lifted up her head and was agape with astonishment.
‘’DADDY!’’ she exclaimed. He looked at her motionless as he
tried to fight back the tears. She got up and rushed to hug him with relief but
pushed her away.
‘’I think we should give these two a minute of privacy’’ Mr.
Emara told the other men. David, whose mind had now pieced the puzzle together,
stood in shock. He was disgusted by the actions of a father giving her daughter
away for worldly pleasures; money. Usually the clients who sought their
services, asked for other people’s daughters. Not family. And in such cases
where one sacrificed their daughter, they would get at least 80% of the money
from the sales. David’s orders had been to get a particular girl which he found
odd as they had never been specific before. Dobido, though was hidden in the
crowd, had showed David where Daisy was seated. Everything had been planned out
in advance.
‘’Daddy, what’s wrong’’ she queried. Mr. Tinde’s Adam’s
apple moved up and down as he swallowed hard with guilt.
‘’I’m sorry sweetie. It’s for the best. I’m sorry you had to
be…’’ he hesitated. ‘’...the gage.’’ He paused and placed her hand in his. ‘’We
need the money. I just came to say goodbye. I love you Daisy’’ he said softly
and then turned quickly to the door.
‘’Daddy please don’t leave me’’ she begged in tears. He
walked straight out of the room and to the car outside the gate neither turning
back nor saying a word to anyone. David immediately, shut the door in her face
and locked it.
“Must have been tough in there’’ Mr. Emara commented. ‘’Dobido,
I hope you have the tools ready?’’ he probed.
‘’Errm…..’’ Dobido looked at David.
‘’You know the drill. Deliver by midnight’’ Mr. Emara
instructed. ‘’You have about 6 hours. That is more than enough’’ he turned and
left.
Daisy crawled up in the corner and wept bitterly. She
couldn’t believe her ever loving father would do that to her. This day was
supposed to be her first date; Sweet memories that she would keep away in a
journal forever and obviously brag about to her friends. Instead, “The 69’’ was where dark days and darker
deeds would haunt her for the rest of her life.
‘’Daisy!’’ she heard someone whisper. She ceased crying and
tried to listen carefully.
‘’Daisy! Over here,
at the window’’ the voice came again. She got up and walked to the window
before her eyes widened in shock.
‘’Tasha!!!’’ she shouted.
‘’Shhhh….!!’’ Tasha warned.
‘’Please get me out of here. Daddy wants to kill me. I don’t
want to die little sis. Please get me out of…’’
‘’Okay! Slow down. I’m going to get you out of here’’ she
interrupted her.
‘’Hurry up please’’ she begged.
‘’I’ll be right back’’
Outside the room, Dobido was blaming David and his body guards
for not having the tools ready. He tagged them bumblers and useless. This, the
three man did not take lightly. The altercation went out of control as they all
complained to Dobido their now accumulated grievances. David claimed that he
did most of the work so he shouldn’t be responsible for the tools too. John and
Paul complained of the little pay Dobido chipped in for them and also wanted in
on the bonus David enjoyed; having sex with the girls.
‘’I’ve given you everything you pathetic twerps of servants’’
Dobido shouted. ‘’I can take away all your privileges’’ he threatened.
‘’Which privileges you bastard?’’ Paul shot back. ‘’ You’re
such a mean contemptible son of a bitch’’.
‘’And what are you going to do about it, huh? Dobido bragged
‘’oh…okay…watch this’’ John said.
The three men rounded up Dobido and started punching him
hard. Dobido struggled but they held him fast. Paul’s podgy hands moved like
lightning, delving up under Dobido’s coat to let loose his belt from the
trousers. Dobido howled as his trousers were pulled off him and badly ripped in
the process. He begged for mercy when he
realized his incapacity to overpower them. His coat was then wrenched off, his
shirt next and ties leaving him only in drawers and shoes. Dobido finally broke
free and ran towards the gate. The three raging men ran after him as they
wanted to kill him. All this while, Tasha had been watching with one eye from
the corner of the house.
Tasha knew what to do but had no key. She eye searched the
place till she saw a long flat piece of metal lying in the compound. Quickly,
she got it and stuck it between the door and the frame. With all the little
energy she had coursing through her 12 year old body; she pushed the hard piece
of metal. After several attempts, the door finally fell open. Quickly she grabbed
Daisy, who was ready for the sprint, by the hand and fled for their lives. They
hid in some scrubs several kilometers away from the guest house wherein Tasha
narrated to Daisy how she had found her. Having been worried sick when Daisy
hadn’t returned home, Tasha knew that something was wrong and that their daddy
had something to do with it. This she knew from a mysterious phone call he had
received that evening and when the line went dead, he looked flushed and
sweaty. She had then hid in the backseat of the car to see where he was going.
And that’s how she had got there. There was no gateman so she stood outside the
gate and peeped. She had seen their father entering a room and the door close
behind him. Quiet like always, she had managed to get to the back of the house
and looked through the window.
‘’So you saw everything?’’ Daisy probed
‘’Yes…and we need to warn mummy and Stacy’’ Tasha said
impatiently. And off they ran as fast as their thin identical short legs could
carry them.
David was the first to return to the now open empty room.
The others followed after a few minutes and found David standing outside wide
eyed and motionless.
‘’Where is she?’’ Paul asked the already devastated David
‘’We are dead. The boss is going to kill us’’ David said,
his head buried in his palms. ‘’She’s gone’’
‘’What do you mean she is gone?’’ John queried.
‘’She’s gone!’’ David replied, loudly this time.
John tapped Paul on the shoulder as a cue that they should
take off; which they did in a split of a second.
