Indignant shouts and a trembling door were what woke Ifechi and me from sleep. Boots were kicking down the door. More thumping footsteps filled the entire settlement as though there was a training parade going on.

Ifechi grabbed me and led me to a door under the floor which I'd been suspicious of. Same Floor which carried the weight of my bed.

        " What's happening" My eyes flashed at her in trepidation.

Cries of children and gunshots filled the compound. I wanted to run towards the door but she pulled me away. "Not that way. Come."

In minutes, we'd disappeared beneath the ground in something that looked like a tunnel after the shed moved my bed. Above us, she covered the opening with a rock that fitted that entrance so it looked as though there was nothing there.

I followed her into the darkness that housed the tunnel. From her pocket, she fished out a flashlight. Soon our path was Illuminated. We ran through the roughly built tunnel, scratching off loose sand and mud. Minutes later, we merged into a right turn away from the straight path.

            "Where are we going?" I asked as Ifechi navigated us through the rigorous path. She didn't respond, so I followed like a sheep.

At the end of the tunnel, Mama and others were waiting for us. There were no children with them. Some of the teenagers were also absent.

I didn't want to ask questions that could get me killed. But it was obvious that 'Mama's business had suffered a huge blow. She was a little thankful that I was still with Ifechi.
Thirty minutes inside the ridiculously narrow tunnel, we exited at the end, climbing out of it one after the other.

The number of her muscle men had also reduced. I didn't see Frank anywhere. If that was a rescue mission, then I had just missed a chance to be free.

We walked in darkness for another couple of hours before we came face to face with another settlement. Some men welcomed Mama with their knees on the floor.
In my head, I knew right there that I was far away from any rescue. This woman had more camps than I could imagine.

Later, we were ushered into an even better settlement. Ifechi and I shared a room while Mama went to have an emergency meeting with the men at this camp.

Another batch of forty men and women arrived on the second day of our being there. They were dumped in a large hall at the center of the camp. With the inscription of 'New arrivals.' There were wooden beds about a hundred in that hall.

This wasn't a team interested in prostitution but massive kidnapping. Anyone was fair and good. Families were even among those kidnapped.

A pregnant woman was whimpering in pain, clutching her big tummy. My mind went hot. "Are these people not mad? Who kidnaps a pregnant woman who is almost about to give birth."

          "They fetch more money. " Ifechi snuck into my thoughts, answering my questions.

I turned to look at her. She was standing right behind me, watching what was feeding my thoughts.

These days, we'd become more friends than enemies. And I'd come to realize that the more friends I made, the more trust I garnered.

No matter how much Ifechi snuck up to me or appeared kind, I knew better, and escaping their grip was the topmost thing on my mind.  But for my temporal friend, she had nowhere else to go.

Her story was that Mama and her gang kidnapped her when she was just five. And she'd lived with her since. She had fated and built her life on Mama and her business. Even though she managed the kitchen and the restaurant, she knew the depth of the business.

Asked if she regretted staying with Mama, Her response was always a big no. Maybe, she would have been dead now if Mama hadn't taken her, her excuses piled up each time.
Her parents had ten of them and found it difficult to feed them. Her kidnap, she termed a blessing. Because, according to her, Mama saved her life.

According to the story Mama told her, Mama never had a child of her own and had continued to kidnap children from every part of Imo state and the neighboring states.
She'd been in the business for twenty years.

When she allegedly lost her bank managerial job and her husband died. She turned to the streets, picking up unkempt children, and hid them in her home.

At first, it was just to give her succor for her inability to have children. But it then graduated into drugs, arms deals, and prostitution. Perverse men had met up with her and given her great deal, she walked into the abhorrent business with full eyes wide open.

In this business, she'd lost many, buried some, and killed some. Some escaped and she'd been raided over and over, but none of those things deterred her.

From camp to camp, she'd moved and created more. She was like a hydra snake with many heads. No one could get rid of her.
As more recruits and victims came along, Dozie and another guy from the new camp worked the phone lines, calling the victim's relatives to pay ransom for their loved ones.

The next morning, the Pregnant woman was nowhere to be found. My heart dropped into my stomach.

         "Where is she?" I busted into the kitchen after serving everyone breakfast at the food center.

Ifechi glared at me and looked above my shoulders. Kitchen maids were rounding off for the morning and at the same time preparing for lunch. My eyes blinked in agreement, but I just couldn't shake off the foreboding fear in my heart.

         "Where is she?" I squished closer to Ifechi.

Her eyes lifted from the huge pot she was washing. "Dead."

My strength failed me, I didn't know when I crumpled to the floor. A stern gaze came from Ifechi, silently warning me not to get us all in trouble.

Dorcas, a very tall lady raced towards me and helped me up. She could have passed for an Iroko tree if not for her beating heart and moving legs.

She was so long that I didn't know which part of her body to hold onto. Finally, her long arms held mine like a short stick of broom in the palms of snakey hands.

          "Are you....?" I lifted my right hand to halt her.

          "Very okay, just a little leg cramp."

Her brows furrowed as she considered me for a moment. "If you say so." With that, she turned and walked away.

          "Busy body!" Ifechi hissed. "And you," She pointed at me, "you need to get a grip on your mouth. Everyone here is a mole, we are all watching each other. Don't place a target on our backs."

I was on my feet now, still shaking from the shock. "Was she murdered? You know..... Erm.......killed?" My whispering voice was barely audible.

She elbowed me and changed position to place the clean pots in the cabinet. "Linda, stop. Not here!"

I was grateful that she decided to use my real name instead of Ogwu. And that kinda comforted me.

My foot turned to walk away but I remembered something else. "The baby?" I mouthed at Ifechi who was watching my body retreat from the kitchen.

A wild smile spread across her face with a subtle nod. I knew then that there was good news.

As I walked away from the kitchen area towards the laundry to see where I could be of help, Dorcas accosted me, syncing her steps with mine.

        "Your hair looks nice." She quipped.

I stole a glance at her inquisitive face. Twitched mouth and lingering eyes were all the symptoms of gossip.

          "Thanks," I said, knowing fully well that my hair was the worst mess any girl would want on her person. Not after Mama dragged me through the mud and almost used the thing to strangle me, the hair was the list of my worries. But I answered politely to give her wings to gossip.

          "I saw your reaction in the kitchen. You looked like you were about to die, is everything okay?" She asked quickly.

        "All is well," I answered quickly, giving no room for suspicion.

She balanced the basket of dirty kitchen laundry on her head. Steadying it with one hand, she turned to watch me suspiciously. "But you didn't look it?"

She wasn't giving up. The girl was on a mission but I wouldn't be the reason why she would say 'mission accomplished.'

          "Like I said. I am fine." I wanted to snap but decided against it, so I gave her my fakest smile, leaving my eyes smiling as well.

She relaxed a bit but waited for an answer. The air around us was getting tense so I offered to take her laundry to the laundry section since it didn't make sense we were going there for the same reason.

            "No, Ifechi instructed that I do this myself." She said.

            "Okay," I nodded. "By all means, carry your burden alone."