Chapter 6: The Other One

It was the fourth day since he had been down there. He didn't know where he was or what was going on. He received food and water once a day but he never saw who brought it. His 'cell' was cleaned by morning and he never saw who did that too. He wasn't being maltreated or mishandled, just tied up and connected to a tube. The tube supplied him with oxygen directly to his lungs because the room was completely devoid of air. Oxygen was allowed in only when he was ready to eat. Once he was done, the oxygen would be sucked out of the room until he passed out. By the time he woke up the tube would be back in his nostrils.

Once a day he was made to pass out by means of the tube. By the time he comes to, he'd be in the washroom. A sign was there directing him to take his bath and use the 'loo'. There were cameras everywhere keeping a close eye on him.

Being as smart as he was he started counting the seconds by using his heart-rate as his timer. It was also the only activity that was keeping him focused. He knew that by the time he woke up from sleep he had 1,250 heartbeats before he passed out. He had 350 heartbeats to use the wash up before he passed out again. In that period his food and drink would be provided.

He had also used his sleeping times as a way of counting the days since he found himself in that peculiar situation. On this fourth day something was off, very off. He counted 2,200 heartbeats before his meal came in. This change in routine started to mess with his focus and his instincts started firing like crazy.

He started to work out possible escape scenarios but none of them seemed feasible since he didn't even know how he got there in the first place. There was nothing he could grab and since the cameras were always on, 4 in each room viewing all 4 angles of the whichever room he was in, he couldn't sneak anything into his outfit.

Also for some funny reason, more oxygen was being pumped through the tube as if his captor was trying to keep him awake. it was working, no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't call on the sandman to come sprinkle some fairy dust on his eyelids. He then started counting his heartbeat just to keep him focused but that wasn't working. His mind wouldn't let him.

He tried counting again but the oxygen wasn't helping. Focusing with all his will power he managed to get to 600 irregular heartbeats before then next strange thing happened. The oxygen began to lessen. At first it was relieving, until he realized that whoever was controlling it was about putting him to sleep, again.

As he was passing out, he heard a noise, like a door opening, at a corner of the room you'd least expect a door to be. A man walked in and in the dying moments of his passing out he heard;

"Time to put you back Mr. Charles Takyi. Or should I call you Tek?" That was it, he was out cold.

Chapter 5: I know him

James had his head in his hands, struggling to convince his imaginary watchers that he was ok and could wait for Kwasi to come out of the operation room. He James wasn't hurt that bad, the airbag just gave him a 'slightly' heavy knock to the head that almost rendered him unconscious. Kwasi on the other hand wasn't so lucky. A big piece of the windscreen got into his right arm as he had used it to shield his face.

Everything happened so fast. Just when they had crossed the traffic light at Spinal junction opposite the Accra mall he got a 'driver's itch' immediately he put on his seatbelt and Kwasi being his best friend immediately knew something was up. He never doubted James' instincts when it came to the road and cars.

Just at the bottom of the rise in the road James saw why the itch had started. Kwasi saw it too and said in a low tone "James?" and he replied "Yeah". That was a 30 minute conversation compressed into 3 seconds. There was a truck in front of them which looked like it couldn't stop in time and was trying to dodge something. That something was a man in the middle of the road. Kwasi didn't know how but he knew James was going to save the man. Even James didn't know how he was going to do it. Everything just happened so quickly and on its own. The next thing both of them knew was that they were at the hospital and Kwasi was getting stitched up.

A nurse walked by not giving him any attention, which he was glad for. He was in no mood for any scrutiny save news that Kwasi was ok. A few minutes out walked the nurse, followed by Kwasi with a broad grin on his face. The grin that said, I have got another one. That was the look he always had whenever he came back from the club with a 'story' to tell. Right on queue the nurse turned around and flashed Kwasi a smile. As she was turning back around she bumped into a man who was also a bit distracted. She excused herself and attempted to walk away but the man stopped her and started a conversation with her.

The boys immediately exchanged glances and began to laugh silently. Just as James was good with cars, Kwasi was good with the ladies. He had bedded two out of three of the girls he had come across and always had the third hooked just in case. James admired him for that and since he didn't have that flair he just stuck with his cars. This nurse too had become a victim.

"Chale, are you ok?" James asked him.

"Oh yeeeeah, I'm cool. With a girl like that as my nurse, all the pain from the stitches was worth it" Kwasi replied with a smirk on his face. "Look at that booty, whoa!!! she's one hot tamale I can't wait to hit."

James shook his head in amazement and was about saying something when he noticed that the guy the nurse had bumped into coming towards them. He tapped Kwasi who immediately went into 'hurt mode'.

The man walked directly at them without a break in his stride. As soon as he got there he asked

"So who's the hero?"

James and Kwasi exchanged glances again but this time it was a confused one. The guy stood there as if waiting a to deliver a punch line. It took a few seconds for it to register that the men in front of him were as confused as to who 'the hero' was.

"Ok, who was the driver of the truck that saved Mr. Takyi?" He tried again.

Still they were standing there with a blank look as if they had been zombied by lack of information. He tried a third time.

"The man that was in the middle of the road. The one that was almost hit by a truck, well, hit by a car afterwards actually. Which one of you was driving the truck that rammed into the other one?"

"Ooh, you mean the idiot who was standing in the middle of the road." Kwasi finally got it.

He pointed at James. He was just standing there smiling like he had heard a not so funny joke and was trying to be courteous by giving a smile. The man immediately zoned in on him and began to study him. He then asked " What's your name sir?"

"Who's asking?" replied James.

"Oh sorry. My name is Daniel Baffoe Barimah. I am the news presenter on GTV's Breaking News on the Go." The man started smiling and puffing out his chest like he had just declared that he was the ruler of the universe."

"Hmmm, I don't think I've ever seen you on TV" replied James, which was half true considering the fact that he rarely watched TV let alone GTV for that matter.

That very moment, James heard a voice that he did recognize. Not because he knew the person personally but because he had heard it over and over again.

"Where is he? How is he? Someone talk else trouble will become my middle name. I want answers NOW!" That was the voice of the running mate of the NDP party; William Kyekyeku. They say Takyi is the face that will win the next elections but William was the brains behind it all. Though he didn't have charisma like his mate, he was definitely one coy person you should rather have on your side than against you.

James knew all of this because he had known him since his high school days in Mfantsipim School. Kyekyeku hated the limelight. He could have been school prefect but rather chose to run mass. He could have been football captain but rather chose to help the school coach with the training. What James didn't know was that he was 'the' William Kyekyeku that the news had been talking about for the past year.

James stood there astounded, but Daniel, being the news person that he was flew straight towards the newcomer as if the guys he was talking to initially were a curse he had to run away from.  In that very moment, the nurse who had attended to Kwasi earlier came rushing out of nowhere to qualm the raging beast. In her attempt, she almost saw the back-hand of one of the security detail accompanying Mr. Kyekyeku.

They then walked right past both Daniel and James without even a hint of attention to their presence. The only thing any of them could hear was "It wasn't supposed to happen this way. It wasn't,  it wasn't."

What wasn't supposed to happen? What was he talking about? James was surprised to see such a countenance on a man who for the 4 years he had known him never ever exhibited any sign of worry or fear, just a cool calculative head and perceptive eyes. James glanced around and realized that the news presenter was also confused at the rambling of William Kyekyeku. What the hell is going on?