To see your parent's kidnapped

IRIS

~•~

How did one lose a life partner and a job in one day, if it wasn't the universe that had decided to turn against them?

I did not know, but I was certain I was swimming in my very own pool of bad luck.

I packed my things from the office; files, papers, notes, pens, staplers, stapling pins, even my cute notice board, and boarded a taxi straight to my parents house.

I needed to see them. I needed my mother's consolation more than anything. My father was sure to be disappointed, as usual, but it did not matter. As long as I could sink into my mother's arms, and cry my eyes out, I knew I'd be okay.

They did not know about Philip and I yet. I knew I would be forced to tell them to stop sending invites. Also, I would not need to file for a honeymoon leave at work, because I had been fired.

Touchè.

The door opened after the first ring, and I could not have been more glad to find my mother stationed at the door, her bright brown eyes glistening with happiness as she smiled at me.

"Oh! My!" She cried out.

Her arms opened wide to welcome me into them, and I dropped the box in my hands on the floor. I did not care if anything in it would break. They did not matter to me.

"My darling child. What happened to you, sweety?" She asked. I could hear the concern in her voice. My mother closed the door, still holding me in her arms.

She led me into the living room, and made me settle into my favorite couch.

I could not fight my tears back. I buried my face in her chest, my shoulders shook violently as I cried.

"My baby," She started to speak. My heart felt warm when she wrapped her arms around me.

"Don't cry now, you'll be okay."

"But I won't, mum. I've lost everything. Philip, my job. Fuck! He broke up with me after I caught him cheating, can you believe that?" I raised my head to look up at her.

Pity flickered in her gaze as she cupped my cheeks.

"Now, now, my darling. You do not have to think about all these, it's just…"

"He cheated? That was not what he told us when he showed up here last night." My father's voice reverberated through the walls. I turned sharply to look at him, sniffing in my tears.

He stared down at me. His eyes were devoid of pity, love, or even anger. They were as empty as they always were.

As a child, I had found myself wondering how someone as sweet and loving as my mother, could end up with someone as cold and unbothered as my father.

"Now, now, Matthew. You should not say that. Iris is hurting, and…" my mother started to speak.

Anger flashed in my gaze as I listened to them argue over my head.

Philip was here?! After what he had done, he had the nerve to show up at my parents house?!

Heavens!

I raked my fingers down my hair. If I laid my hands on him, I was going to squeeze the life out of him!

"Philip was here?" I finally said aloud.

My mother and father stopped their argument, and turned to me.

"Yes, sweety. We talked, and…"

"After what he did, he had the nerve to show up here?!"

"What exactly did he do, Iris? Don't take your anger out on the poor man. It's not his fault you were not able to keep him." My father mocked me, as he walked into the living room. He settled into a couch at the distal end of the small cubic room, the couch closest to their boxed television set.

He reached for the remote control on the table and hissed, dangling his toothpick in his mouth.

"Why would I blame him? You could not keep a simple job as a saleswoman, how would you be able to keep a man?" He laughed at the ending of his sentence, and shook his head.

"Matthew!" My mother cried out, eyes widened in horror as she frowned at him. She squeezed my right thigh gently.

"Why would you say something like that? She's your daughter for heaven's sake!"

"That doesn't mean she ain't gonna hear the truth from my lips. You spoiled her, Tiffany. You're the reason she can't seem to get anything right."

"Me?" My mother barked back.

They were doing it again, arguing about me like I wasn't there. One would have thought that after twenty-three years, I would get used to it.

I didn't. It annoyed me the same way every time.

I rose from the sofa. They stopped and fixed their eyes on me.

"Honey…" my mother called out, but I was not going to listen.

If I stayed one more second in their presence, I was definitely going to lose my mind.

"I'll just go up and get some sleep, mum." My reply was as weak as my body and mind. I dragged myself into my room, the room I had grown in as a child.

The familiar smell of shampoo kissed my nostrils once I opened the door. It was just the same way it was when I left home. My mother was yet to change a thing, besides the sheets.

I jumped on the mattress and closed my eyes. As I lay down on my stomach, I pressed my face against my pillow.

Soon, they started to argue again. I groaned and picked up my pillow. I buried my head underneath it and covered my ears with the stuffy material.

I wished - for both their sakes - that they could go one day, just one day, without arguing.

How had they even managed to fall in love? Were they always at each other's throats?

Philip and I never argued. In all our seven years of dating, we had never had a misunderstanding. I often bragged to Janet and Maria of how perfect we were.

That was the reason I was so shocked to find him balls deep in the pussy of another woman, on the bed he had promised to take my virginity after we got married.

It sucked. For real.

"Help!"

I jerked up from the bed and immediately I heard my mother's scream.

The sound of glass crashing on the floor followed her scream, next was my father's voice.

"Stay away from us, you moron! Iris! Iris!"

My heartbeat quickened in my chest.

What the hell was going on?

I jumped from my bed and sprang up to my feet immediately.

Something was wrong.

"Iris! Help!"

I ran to my room door and pushed it open. My feet quickened as I rushed to the living room.

I froze on the spot.

Three armed men, all in black masks, stood in my living room. Two of them held each of my parents, with their necks at gunpoint, while the last one held an envelope in his hands.

I looked at my mother. Tears ran down her eyes as she stared at me, her brown orbs were laced with fear.

For the first time, when I turned to my father, I saw a hint of emotion in his eyes. The man could feel after all.

"Your parents would be safe as long as you do what we say." The third man spoke. He placed the envelope on the center table, before looking up at me.

I couldn't speak, couldn't move. There were guns pointed to my parents' heads. I was scared shitless.

"Who…who are you?" I coughed out.

The man did not seem keen on answering questions.

"Be at that address, at the stipulated time. Come alone, and don't be stupid. He'll be expecting you."

He? Who the hell was…?

"Ahh! Iris!" My mother screamed. The masked man placed a hand on her mouth to mask the sound. Her eyes widened as more tears rushed down her cheeks.

I watched helplessly as they scooped both my parents out of the house. The last man closed the door behind him, and I jumped at the sound.

My gaze dropped to the envelope on the table, while my heart pounded viciously against the muscular walls of my chest.

"He is waiting for you," the man had said.

Who was he? And what did he want with me?