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Life of Russian Roulette
This is the first in a series of vignettes of life in Trinidad, starting with an account by a kidnapped man.
"Three men posing as clients were waiting for me in the reception area at my business. They pulled out their guns and said they came for me. I screamed, then went quiet when they punched me in the stomach.
I was in shock. I was praying my daughter wouldn’t walk in; that they wouldn’t kill my staff. They wrapped me up in plastic material, lifted me up and shoved me in the back of a waiting car.
One guy held a gun at my head, then temple ears, eyes, heart, stomach, shouting obscenities non-stop. The other guy taped me up. Blindfolded, I lost my orientation.
They were driving fast. An hour later, they bundled me into a room. They handcuffed me, tied me up with an electrical cord and put me on a low chair.
They wanted three million dollars. They asked for my family’s telephone numbers.
Negotiations began. I told them the truth. I was heavily-mortgaged. My family was trying to raise the money. Police had an idea where we were, but not the exact location.
I am glad they didn’t raid us, because if anyone connected to the kidnapping is killed, that is trouble. I didn’t want anything to eat or drink for 24 hours.
After 36 hours, I told them I was getting dehydrated; my kidneys would shut down. They brought me water and crackers.
They monitored the news. They didn’t want to kill me; just wanted the money. I told them I would give them $50,000 if they let me go, with no police involvement. They refused. Wanted more.
The hardest thing was being blindfolded, handcuffed and strapped on a nailed-down metal chair for over a week. I couldn’t urinate. I had terrible back pain.
A man with a gun stayed in the room with me. Non-stop, he threatened to kill me.
I got fed up and told him to go ahead. He shoved the gun in my ear and said, 'I am going to leggo this trigger on you.’
I said, ‘Let go, nah man.’
I caught myself. I sympathised with them; said the rich/poor divide was unfair; maybe they were doing the right thing. I was careful not to condemn them.
When I told the gunman he was blessed, and advised him to save and invest the money when they got it, instead of squandering it, he brought a plastic bowl for me to urinate.
He would massage my back. I tried to move around to prevent deep vein thrombosis.
The more you fight, the worse it is. If you bawl and they put duct tape over your mouth you will hyperventilate and choke to death.
They knew what they were doing. Didn’t tie me up too tight. I was lucky. If people die—they die in first half-hour.
Police raids are a bad idea. The victim has to come out alive. Until then, the police hands are tied.
When they got $100,000 they dropped me off. The police picked me up.
Afterwards I sent a message to the kidnappers. I am offering no evidence.
My family was traumatised by waiting, not knowing. Anxiety for one another’s safety is now part of our lives.
I am carrying on like nothing happened. If they want you they can get you. They know my whereabouts. They knew my hours.
On that day, I came into work early. If I had come at my regular hour they would have taken me without anyone knowing. If they don’t get you inside they get you outside.
You can put up burglarproof, video cameras. Nobody is giving evidence. They could come back for me. A different set of people. There is nothing we can do. These days people in business can get shot for cross talk with the customer.
They come back for you. This guy who was renting a car got ten shots.We are living a life of Russian roulette. Who is next?
We have green cards, but gave them up.
Leave for what? To be physically safe but stare at four walls and go to the mall every day? To drive hundreds of miles to see your brother? To dig up a flower garden? My life, family, friends, are here.
We live with a culture of bad parenting, 5,000 illiterate youngsters entering the underworld and drug trade annually.
We need a thousand Servols countrywide. When last I heard my kidnappers, with government jobs, holiday, pay, got a promotion.”
The world is what it is. It’s the title of the new VS Naipaul biography and captures the fatalism with which we live daily.
By Ira Mathur 2008-06-22
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2008-06-23 22:04 GMT Site Admin Rated *****Five Star*****
Human nature being what it is, it's very hard not to relate and connect with the individual and his very traumatic experience outlined in his story...the truthfulness of his fear and anxiety...!
...but life is all about making choices, and he focuses on bad parenting as the root cause of his experience, and I say that the people continue to make poor choices, and that bad government is the root cause of all the ills and problems being faced by the people of our once beautiful country...!
...the worse choice was to return the current government in power, for history has repeatedly shown that crime and corruption has followed this regime all through its years of governance, this time being the worse, and its definitely worsening with each passing day...!
...as I read this story, I went back to read another of its kind as told by Anand back in January 2007 of a woman and her true story of her time spent in the hands of her abductors, and strangely enough there are so many similarities, that the people are being conditioned to accept, as is the case here, that this is a life that they must get used to and its is becoming the "new norm" in life in "good ole" Trinidad and Tobago...!
...well, I must ask which prison do you prefer, one that you stare at four walls but you are physically safe, and visit the malls every day and yes, to even drive or visit family members many many thousand of miles away, or to live in constant fear and baricaded by "wrought iron fences" in solitary confinement, jails if you will, and panic every time the phone rings or a car pulls in alongside your driveway, for fear of being kidnapped or killed? Is this a life to choose to live and raise a family?
...well if you don't have peace of mind, what do you have? if you don't have security and comfort, what do you have? if you have all the money in the world, but you can't enjoy it, what do you have? and lastly, don't place all blame on bad parenting, because there are a lot of good parents out there too, place the blame exactly where it belongs...!
...look your member of parliament in the eye and ask them what are they doing for you and for the people of Trinidad and Tobago, ask them what have they done recently...why are they collecting a big fat salary, and to do what, all at your expense...?
..at least a safe environment to raise a family and a flower garden to dig up is a "step up" from Manning and his vision 2020, after all, what is this vision 2020 anyway, if its only in Manning's mind? What's in there for the people, "nothing" as is so evident...but life is all about choices, and we have again made the worst one in re-electing Manning to office, and that my friends says it all..in a nut shell...!
good luck...Trini.t.o.o.
Nah..no flecking mercy fuh him.
"We have green cards, but gave them up.
Leave for what? To be physically safe but stare at four walls and go to the mall every day? To drive hundreds of miles to see your brother? To dig up a flower garden? My life, family, friends, are here."
Just my point....deese blasted people cyah see further dan dey nose. He ass nearly dead hear wha' he worrying 'bout...travellin' hundreds of miles tuh see he brodda. Look nah man...dem types so born tuh stop bullet.
Give up green cards. Look ah speechless. Dee person's stupidity beggars belief. Frien' an' famaly...how much a dem yuh seein' breds when yuh ass 6 foot under? Doh answer dat.
Aye...allyuh look outside...yeah...yeah..outside dat window or hole in dee wall or whatever yuh have ova dey. Peep through an' look real hard. Yuh see any dinosaurs trottin' about out dey? No? Guess why? Dey woz too blasted stupid and couldn't adapt quickly enough tuh changin' circumstances.
When last I heard my kidnappers, with government jobs, holiday, pay, got a promotion.”
That doh sound like is duncey police do the kidnapping??