CHANGING OUR MINDS

I stared at Mr. Potter's face. It stared back at me without blinking, the way still pictures stare back at one. The newscaster's voice came on then and it said Mr. Templar Potter was last seen leaving the airport with two young men whose identity the police are still trying to ascertain. The police are requesting the general public to give it any information that may lead to finding Mr. Potter. Then the newscaster's voice paused, and Mr. Potter's face went off the screen.

Eric pointed the remote at the TV and the newscaster's face disappeared. 

'Man!' he said, sitting upright on the settee. 'Now we know for sure the police are after us.'

'Erico,' Maria said. 'Let's dump him somewhere this night and forget about everything. If the police find us, we are going to prison.'

I tried to speak, but my mouth had gone dry. My head reeled and my palms had sweat on them. Everything was different now; like the difference between looking at a lion behind a cage and suddenly finding oneself inside the cage. For the first time I wished I had stayed back in Jos. 

I looked at Eric. His eyes watched the TV's dark screen. 

'Eric,' I said in a low voice. 'We have to—'

My phone rang at that moment I looked at the name for a couple of seconds before I pressed the green button.

'Tolu,' I said. 'What's up?'

'Did you see the news?' he asked. His voice was tense. 'Tell Eric to count me out of the deal. I don't want any part of it. None of you should call me again, do you understand? I don't know anything about it and I don't know you guys. I am travelling to the village first thing tomorrow morning.'

He ended the call. Eric and Maria stared at me with anxious eyes.

'It's Tolu,' I said.

'Yes?' Eric asked.

'He saw the news. He doesn't want anything to do with Mr. Potter or any of us. He is leaving for the village tomorrow.'

'Hei!' Maria exclaimed. 'Who will blame him? The news is all over town and anyone seeing us with Mr. Potter will know we are the kidnappers.' She turned to Eric. 'Let's drop him somewhere tonight and save our necks. If they find him early enough, they might not bother coming after us.

'Maria is right,' I said. 'The earlier we lose him, the better for us.'

Eric stared at us while his hand tapped at his kneecap. 

'I am going back to Jos tomorrow,' I said. 'I am going.'

Eric's face remained bland, but his hand tapped faster.

'I will leave too,' Maria said. 'I will—'

'Go ahead,' Eric shouted, arising from the settee. 'Go on! Go to the temples of the Inca Indians for all I care.' He paced to the end of the room and walked back. 'A little challenge shows up and all of you want to scurry home to your mommies. Well, go ahead.' He paced the little space in the room again. 'Go this night!'

He paced some more. 'The police don't know who or where we are; why are you afraid? We knew from the beginning that the police will eventually come into the picture—so why are you afraid?' He stopped pacing. 'A little challenge came our way, and we are ready to give up our dreams.'

'This is no little challenge, Eric,' I said. 'This could—'

'All we have to do is to keep our cool,' he said, as if talking to a ten-year-old. 'The police don't know where we are, do they? As long as they don't know who and where we are, we are as free as the wind. We can still pull this through, get our money and leave the shores of this country.'

Eric looked at me. 'The police want us to panic and do something stupid and then it will be easier to catch up with us.' He turned to Maria. 'If we keep cool, we can be next door to the commissioner of police and not worry because he won't suspect us.' He looked at me again. 'We started this, let's finish it. This is our destiny; if we run away now, we will keep running till the end of our miserable lives.'

He looked between us and a long silence followed. 

'Paul, what will you do when you get back to Jos?' Eric asked.

I moved my feet on the floor.

He wheeled around and faced Maria. 'You can go back to your uncle and feel like a second-class citizen all your life if that's what you want. And when he has the urge again, he will molest you at will and the law will do nothing.' He paused. 'Go ahead and leave—if that's how you want your life to end.'

Maria looked at the floor.

Eric sat on the settee. 'If we hold Mr. Potter a week longer, we will grab the ransom and escape forever. One week; that's all the time we need.'

'You can't keep him here for a week,' I protested. 'Your toilet is outside; when he goes to ease himself, someone could see him, and everybody knows the police is looking for a white man. The police will be over us like vultures over carrions.'

Eric's face had the smile of a man who had gotten away with murder. 'We are not keeping him here,' he said, 'not after tonight.'

'Where do you want to keep him?' Maria asked. 'Don't think about going back to that factory because the police will be waiting for you there.'

Eric's smile grew wider. 'We are not going back to the factory; we will take him to Tolu's house.'

'Tolu's house?' Maria asked. 'Are you out of your mind?'

Eric gave no reply, but from the look on his face his mind had been made up and nothing will stop him from carrying out what he said.