5. Bought

CHINYERE'S HEART BEAT faster as the old man walked up to her. He grabbed hold of her arm and looked at Tobi. "I want her."

"Ah, that one," Tobi's father climbed into the truck with help from Tobi. "She's our newest. She's a golden egg, so we're picking the price."

"But I'm your most loyal customer," the old man said, "at least let me choose the price."

"Sorry," Tobi's father said, "but that is impossible. Eight million Naira."

"Eight million?!" the old man yelled. "All that money? The last one I bought wasn't this expensive!"

The last one? Chinyere pulled her arm out of the old man's grip. Chinyere could feel the ropes around her wrist dig into her skin. 

The old man didn't seem to mind. He rather focused all his attention on Tobi and his father. 

"This one is even thirty five percent off, oh," Tobi said without looking the man in the eye. "Take it or leave it."

The old man was not pleased. Chinyere could tell from the frown he had on his face. 

He stood for a while, deep in thought before answering, "I'll take her. But just know that I am not pleased!"

The old man stomped and climbed out of the truck. Tobi tried to help him get off the truck but he refused his help. 

Chinyere watched as the old man jumped down and stumbled. He would have fallen down if it wasn't for the other customer who held him up. 

At normal circumstances, Chinyere would have laughed but this wasn't the time for laughing. 

She had just been bought, by an old man, for eight million Naira. She thought she was worth more than that, maybe three hundred million Naira. 

"Adam," Tobi said, "take her out."

Chinyere's eyes widened and she tried to move away from the muscular man who had just stood up but there was no place to move to. 

Adam carried Chinyere over his shoulder, as though she was a sack of rice. 

Chinyere tried her best to kick her tied legs and screamed, "Help! Help!"

Warm tears ran down her cheeks when the man jumped out of the truck without letting go of her. 

Her head and body ached and her throat was parched. She gave up screaming and took to hitting Adam on the back but he tightened his grip. 

"If you don't behave, I'll kill you, bury and no one will ever find your body," Adam said. 

Chinyere stopped what she was doing and studied her surroundings.

She didn't know where they were at all. They were being sold behind an abandoned house, but she just didn't know where. 

Her thoughts came to a stop when Adam threw her into the backseat of a jeep. 

There was a young man sitting in the driver's seat and the old man who had bought her was riding shotgun.

There was a man at the right hand side of Chinyere and Adam entered the jeep.

Chinyere felt like a slice of cheese in between two slices of bread as the men squeezed her between them.

No words were spoken as the car started. 

Chinyere couldn't see where they were going because the windows were up and the men squeezed her so tight that she could not see through the windshield. 

She wanted to cry for help but she couldn't. Even if she did, no one would hear her. 

Chinyere didn't know how long they drove but by the time the sun went down, she knew that they had been driving for several hours.

The young man who was driving the car beeped the horn and instantly, Chinyere knew that they had reached their destination. 

The car stopped outside a house with gates the same colour as the Nigerian flag; green, white, green. 

The electric gate opened and the driver drove the car into the compound.

When the car came to a halt, everyone, except Chinyere, got out. 

Adam helped Chinyere out of the car and untied the ropes around her hands and feet. 

"Thank you, Adam," the old man said and pulled out his wallet from his suit pocket. He brought out a large sum of money and placed it in Adam's right hand, "That's three hundred thousand for you. Your boss' money will be given to you by my driver."

The old man turned to the driver and said, "Go to Solomon and tell him to bring eight million Naira, packed neatly in a suitcase."

The driver ran into the mansion. 

Chinyere took the moment to look around. Outside the gate, cars were passing by and a gateman was standing right beside the gate. 

The house was large and painted white and yellow but Chinyere had seen several houses like it. Large houses were all over Nigeria. Her father, too, had a large house.

"I'm sorry," the old man put his arm around Chinyere's shoulder, "if it wasn't for the traffic, we'd have been here sooner. Esther! Esther!"

A woman in maid's outfit came running out of the house. "Yes, Sir?" she asked with a bow. 

"Take Chinyere inside and let her rest," the old man said and Esther nodded. 

She led Chinyere into the house and Chinyere didn't object. She had no choice. She couldn't run away. Adam was still there and so was the gateman, they would catch her before she even got past the gate. 

Chinyere followed Esther up a trail of stairs and into a room. 

The room was green and very neat. A bed in the corner, a closet just beside the bed, a door leading to another room, probably a toilet.

There was a tray of food lying on the bed. 

"Here is your bedroom," Esther said, "the bathroom is over there. You will find clothes in the closet and towels in the bathroom, as well as a toothbrush, soap and toothpaste. Freshen up, eat and when you're done just leave your tray outside the door and then you can go to sleep."

Chinyere nodded and Esther walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. 

Chinyere watched her leave and once she was gone, she cried her eyes out. 

Why didn't she just reject the meeting with Mysteryboy4life? 

She cried and she lifted up the plate covering her food. It was rice. Jollof rice. 

Her mother loved Jollof rice. Were her parents looking for her? What about Amanda, Rachel and Tunde?

Chinyere ate the food in silence. She had trouble swallowing the food because she had lost all appetite.

After eating, she downed her glass of water placed the tray outside her door. 

She turned off the lights and lay on the bed and continued to cry.

She curled herself into foetus position and cried even more. 

Her thoughts went back to her friends and the text she had sent them. 

Her phone! 

Chinyere sat up and checked her pockets but nothing. Her phone was no longer with her. 

She lay back down and cried. She didn't know how she did it but she managed to cry herself to bed. 

     CHINYERE WOKE UP due to someone knocking on the bedroom door. 

She groggily got up and opened the door and several women barged into the room.

"Did you just wake up?" one of the women asked. She was rummaging through Chinyere's clothes in the closet, "Why haven't you taken a shower yet?"

Chinyere didn't know where the confidence came from but she managed to ask, "Can I go, please? I won't tell anyone about your boss' business. My parents must be looking for me. I'm only here by mistake."

"I'm sorry but that is impossible," another woman said. She was holding a makeup kit, "With the amount of money Boss paid for you, it's impossible. Now, be quick. You have to get ready for the event."

"W-what event?" Chinyere asked with fresh tears brimming in her eyes. 

"Your wedding ceremony, of course," the first woman said with a smile.