Held by Faith

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I remember a time back when my dad was still very agile and active in his business; he was always traveling from one place to another to run his business.
One day he told us that he was going from Port Harcourt to Lagos for one of his businesses. Even if he had the money to book at least the lowest ticket for a flight my dad would never but instead always choose to travel by bus.

One of my moms always used to tell him and try to discourage him from taking the bus for such long journeys, and to make things worse, he was what I call a typical night traveler.
My stepmom would always tell him, “It is someone alive that will spend the money he has," but sometimes he would reply to her that he was saving up the money for all his children.

So that day, it was evening already, and my mom and stepmom had been pressing him all day to start his journey early to avoid night movements.
It was already after 5 in the evening when my dad finally agreed to start his journey.
My sister and my two step-brothers saw him off.
My stepmother, who was always so worried about my dad, called him at about every 12-minute interval to ask him how he was. It was a normal thing, and sometimes he would even be the one to call, and she would call if he forgot or maybe slept off.

The last time my stepmom called him was around 8 when the sky was already dark. I and some of my siblings usually stayed with her in the sitting room to listen when she called my father.
It was almost 30 minutes past, and my dad hadn't called back, so my stepmom decided to call him instead.
She called him numerous times but the call wasn't going through.
She became so worried that she called my mom to tell her her worries.

“I have called him for a month time now, and he isn't reachable," my stepmom said with worry in her eyes that were wide awake.

My mom, who was already dozing off, slumped onto one of the sofas and answered, “I am sure it is just network and nothing else," she was more concerned about her sweet sleep that was just disturbed for nothing.

“Okay, ooo, I hope so, ooo," my stepmom didn't stop to express her worries.

About an hour after her last attempt, she decided to try again, but this time, it was switched off.

“What is wrong now?! His phone is now switched off," my stepmom woke everybody up with her high and worried voice.

“Maybe his phone battery is dead?" My sister said rubbing her eyes that were shining red from sleep.

My mom then went over to my stepmom, took the phone, and placed it down; she said as she yawned, “You are bothering yourself for nothing; when he finds a way to switch on his phone, I am sure he will call. Just sleep. If not, you will just be wasting your strength."

My mom said to my stepmom as she dropped the phone on the side table closest to her.
We all fell back asleep, and this time, my stepmom joined us.
We were all deep asleep when we were all jolted awake by the ring from the phone.
My stepmom was the first to get wide awake and answer the call.

“Jesus!" My stepmom suddenly shouted in fright and even began to shake. We all jolted fully awake after that.

My stepmom instinctively put the phone on the loudspeaker and placed it on the glass center table.
It was my dad, but he had fear in his voice and was breathing uncontrollably, he was running!

“What is it?!" My mom's worry immediately peaked, surpassing that of my stepmom.

My dad, with unsteady breathing, explained to us that they were stopped by kidnappers, and when the kidnappers had a slight distraction amongst themselves, all the passengers ran and scattered in all directions.
He had offed and hif his phone at the time of the capture but found the chance to on it and call when he took off into the bush. Suddenly, the call cut, and when we tried calling back, it was switched off again.

My stepmom began crying and shouting mournfully while my mom started praying; she suddenly and strangely looked calm when she started praying.

She kept on repeating the words “My husband is safe,"

When she was done praying she went back into her room and continued sleeping.
Shortly before she entered her room, she told my stepmom with confidence.
“Just pray and go and sleep, everything will be all right,"

“How are you sure?" My stepmom replied.

My mom stopped and gave a rather weak but genuine smile. “Faith can move mountains," then she finally went to her room.

Throughout the whole ordeal, I felt extreme fear, but when I heard my mom, I felt a strange peace of mind and was later able to sleep. The next day, my dad called, and although he had lost one of his wallets with some important things,s, he was safe and untouched. We were all filled with joy and calm when we found out he was safe.