MY HATCH POCKET JOURNAL by BILLY COY (affordable ebook reader .txt) 📕

nowhere in the house. Tom was at the Dining table playing porker with his workmates and friends and Anna was with her two friends and sister-in-law in the kitchen putting together some eats and drinks for the guests.

“Boys with gambling…,” said Anna’s sister-in-law, Flavia, in her late twenties and sassy looking.

“If I wasn’t strong enough to open up another bank account to which my husband has no access to,” said Connie, Anna’s best friend, “We would by now be sleeping on the streets because of gambling.”


“You guys are quite lucky I should say…” said Anna’s other friend, Kate, “For my husband, his addiction is not gambling but strip clubs.

They all laughed. Kate continued, “And I bet it’s where he is right now, that’s why he couldn’t make it to the party.”

“I guess I am still the lucky one of all, Tom still keeps it all at home,” said
Anna.

“Maybe he hasn’t just found an excuse yet,” said Flavia. They all laughed on.

Meanwhile, Rachel was seated all alone outside the house on the porch stairs. She looked happy though quiet. She had a relatively big Teddy- bear doll in her hands rested on her laps.

As she looked out in the road, an old chap with a hat on his head passed by and waved at her while smiling. She smiled and waved back too. But just as the old man had walked a few strides ahead, he turned into a big rat, three feet tall. Rachel looked ecstatic. She got up at once and even forgot about the teddy-bear in her hands. It fell away onto the ground. She ran forth to have a clear look at the rat but it had disappeared in thin air before she took another good look at it. She was so excited. She immediately ran back into the house.

In the house people had gathered around and Rachel’s brother was cutting his cake on the tune of a “Happy birthday song” by everybody. Anna and Tom stood next to their son as he cut his cake. But before he was done, his sister came in and screamed to everybody’s surprise. “Daddy, I saw a human-rat!” Everybody was quiet, looking at her, and then they all bust out and laughed.

“I am not kidding, I saw him,” Rachel explained but she was just laughed at.


“Everybody, go on with the cake,” said Tom, “I will take care of my daughter’s needs.”

Everybody laughed on and they went back to the cake ceremony. Tom walked to his daughter. Anna on the other hand stayed with their son as he finished cutting the cake.

Meanwhile Rachel held her father by his hand and walked him outside the house.

“Maybe he’s back now,” said Rachel, “I will show you daddy, and everybody won’t laugh at me again.”

“They are not certainly laughing at you,” said Tom, “it’s what you said that is so rare in real life.”

When they reached outside, there was no human-rat that Tom could see. He stood back as his daughter walked forward and pointed where she had seen the human-rat.

“I swear I saw him right there daddy, I am not lying,” said Rachel.

Her father walked forward towards her and carried her up into his hands; by that not so serious look on his face: his eyes wide open and mouth comically twisted a bit, it was certain that he didn’t believe what she said.

“Maybe he’ll come back another time,” said Tom, “But certainly not this night.”

He carried his daughter back into the house but she was not amused. She looked disappointed: her eyes weary and face dull. They too joined the party and the human-rat story was forgotten.

Rachel’s road to her disappointment and demise was far from over. It was actually the beginning. The next day after school she was supposed


to be picked up by her mother but she (her mother) was to show up a little late and that is when a strange mid-forties year old man of medium height and size, well dressed and not easy to suspect used that advantage and stepped in to lure Rachel into coming with him.

“Mummy said I pick you up and take you home,” said the man, “she’s held up with some office work.”

“And what do I call you?” asked Rachel.

The man chuckle and said, “You’re a smart girl, aren’t you?” He then took her hand and they walked headed toward his car. He continued, “You can call me Uncle Jeffrey.” They came across a one Mrs. Jackson. “Goodbye Mrs. Jackson,” Rachel waved at her. She waved back. “Goodbye Rachel.”

“Is she your favorite teacher?” asked the man.

“She’s not a teacher, she’s the school’s tea girl,” said Rachel, “And I like her a lot.”

The man opened the front passenger door for Rachel. “That’s good of you,” said the man. Rachel jumped into the car. The man shut the door and got into the car too. But as he was driving away, came Bob, all clad in black as usual and on a black monster motorbike too: a sports motorbike with two exhaust pipes and rich tires.

Rachel waved at him smilingly. He instead followed the black SUV. The man driving the SUV noticed he was being followed; he could see Bob trailing him through his rear mirror. And since he had earlier on noticed Rachel wave at him, back at the school, he got suspicious. Rachel was quiet.

“That guy you waved at back at your school,” said the man, “You know him?”


“Which man are you talking about Uncle Jeffrey,” asked Rachel. She had already forgotten.

The man received a call on his mobile phone. “Never mind,” he said. He took the call. “Hello, yes, yes sir, she’s right here with me.”

“Is that my father?” asked Rachel, jollily.

The man put back his mobile phone in his jacket pocket.

“Yeah, it was him,” said the man, and he looked back in the rear mirror, and Bob was still on him. He panicked. “Hell no!” he said, and drove off faster.

“What is wrong Uncle Jeffrey?” asked Rachel, candidly. “Just put on your seatbelt damn it,” said the man, rudely.
With hesitation and her face gloomy, Rachel pulled down the seatbelt
and put it on. Bob was determined to get to the SUV. And the SUV drive was equally determined to frustrate him, and so they went on a chase- getaway race.

Through the streets it got crazy. Bob’s motorbike riding skills were phenomenon and the SUV guy was neither an amateur at driving.

At one point, the SUV guy crossed passed the crossroad and Bob was left behind. To his shock, a large trailer was crossing passed his way and he was about to crash into it, but before he got to it he jumped high off his bike and off he went over the trailer and his bike through, under the trailer.

Passed the trailer his bike was at the right place and he landed back on it and he was still after the SUV. The onlookers were shocked and mesmerized, and so was the guy in the SUV, watching Bob through his


rear mirror jumping and getting passed the trailer. “What a fuck!” he screamed when he saw Bob back on his bike and at his back.

“Can I know what is going on here?” yelled Rachel.

“Shut up,” said the man, “You little bastard. He was visibly frustrated: his face was profusely sweating and his hands on the steering wheel had begun shaking. Bob’s pursuit of the SUV continued, and neither was the SUV guy ready to give up on the getaway.

After another crossroad, the SUV guy received armed backup from three corners of the street. These were three SUVs that had armed men who immediately started shooting at Bob. Bob was now hunted too. The SUV guy was invigorated. He banged on the steering wheel with both his hands and he was all smiles. “Now we got you, you bastard!” he screamed.

By this time Rachel was so quiet and looking so frightened. Her whole body was shivering, her mouth halfway open and shaking too. She was crying. Her kidnapper looking at her, he didn’t even feel a single pity for the little girl. He just smiled and shook her head with his hand. “Be strong little girl, you’re about to meet your mama.” He laughed.

Bob was now trying to escape from his pursuers and at the same time rescue Rachel. His pursuers were shooting at him continuously and he was also shooting back at them with his pistol. Each side missed in their shots, but they were all close to their aim.

It was commotion and confusion everywhere: cars pumped into each other, some folks were knocked down and shot dead and a lot of property was being destroyed by smashing cars and split fires from destroyed vehicles. And a lot of people ran in diverse direction to save their lives from the bullets that seemed to ravage everything in their way, except those they were aimed at.


The police was also soon in action, although they were not certain of who they were after, because Bob’s nemesis shot and he too shot back, and so the police were after all who shot. And they too exchanged fire with the crooks in the SUVs that were after Bob.

“I want to see my mum!” Rachel screamed rowdily. She even put loose the seatbelt.
“I am fade up of your childish behavior,” said the man, “You little thing.” He slapped her so hard in the face and she instantly lost consciousness.
She fell sideways and her head banged and rested on the door.

“I guess that will keep you silent for some time,” said the man. He drove on fast on the freeway.

Meanwhile, while approaching a bridge, Bob’s motorbike was shot at, at the gas tank and it instantly caught fire. He quickly stood up on the bike.

“What the hell is that moron up to now?” said the drive of the SUV from which Bob’s bike was shot.

“What do you expect of a moron?” said the guy who had shot Bob’s bike.

When close to the bridge and Bob’s bike was about to blow up, he jumped in front of it, bounced on its front tire, and this sent the bike flying backwards in the air towards the windscreen of the SUV that had shot at him; “Ah…” screamed the guys in the SUV on seeing the ‘in flames bike’ coming towards them. For Bob, after bouncing on the bike’s tire, he was sent high up in the air to the bridge’s rails, where he held firmly. The SUV blew up in flames and two police cars that crashed into it burned up too. Many other cars collided in the process and farther more police cars were destroyed.


Up the bridge, Bob pulled himself up and quickly, he then jumped from car to another, running across the bridge, trying to get to the SUV that had Rachel.

When he got to the other side of the