I heard his phone ring just as I was about to doze off. I had been working all through the night. I checked the time on my phone. It was 2:15 AM. I raised my brow. Who could be calling my brother at this odd hour?
I lay there for some seconds as the phone finished ringing. Then the room fell silent apart from the humming of the ceiling fan. My brother, Emmanuel, had come to visit my place from school. For over two weeks he had been staying at my place. I know him too well to be someone who doesn't stay late at night. But ever since he came something felt weird about him. His phone was always buzzing nonstop, but he made sure to never answer those calls in my presence. He either stepped out of the house or stepped into the bathroom.
At first, I thought that he was having issues with his girlfriend. But over time I realized it was more than relationship issues.
His phone rang again, I called out to him from the room as he had stepped into the bathroom earlier to take his bath. But he didn't reply. I reached for his phone, picking it up before it could stop. At that point, I couldn't tell what had gotten into me, but I was too curious to understand what was going on.
“Hello?” I said, my voice thick with sleep.
There was a cold silence from the caller. Like he was trying to be careful. Then a voice came from the other end. From its sound, you could tell that the voice had been cooked by many clouds of smoke from a cigarette.
“Baba, I need my money. You've not sent me what you owe me today?” the voice growled.
I pulled the phone off my ear and looked at the caller ID. The number wasn't saved. I took a deep breath. That voice didn't sound friendly, it sounded like he was threatening my brother. At that point, I got scared that Emmanuel had gotten into something shady.
I didn't say a word; rather, I just listened as the voice kept talking, threatening my brother about how he would hurt him if he didn't pay up his debt. I tried to rack my head and see if I could recognize any of Emmanuel's friends with such a voice but the voice was very unfamiliar.
From what the caller was saying, I realized that Emmanuel had borrowed money and, although he had paid back the loan. There was a lot of interest not repaid, and how Emmanuel “better not forget what’s owed.”
I hung up the phone and acted like nothing was wrong. I checked Emmanuel was still in the bathroom. I thought about the call and the caller. Then it gnawed at me why Emmanuel had been so demanding of money lately, claiming it was for school projects, lab fees, and such. But this call felt different.
I quickly checked his messages. I needed to understand what was going on. My curiosity was spiking. I couldn’t stand the thought of Emmanuel being trapped in something bigger than him. And I wasn't going to let it go just like that.
In his messages, I found stuff that made my stomach churn.
He had borrowed money to invest in a Ponzi scheme introduced to him by the same guy threatening him. The Ponzi had crashed and Emmanuel couldn't pay back. The guy began adding interest to the money owed. Emmanuel made sure to pay him off what he borrowed but the guy didn't stop calling, asking for his interests and threatening Emmanuel with how he was a cultist and would harm Emmanuel if he didn't pay up. Emma had pleaded, but he couldn't do much when the guy refused, and the threat became much worse. He had tried paying off the interests but the guy kept on adding more interests.
It felt like Emmanuel wasn't just paying for what he owed. He was paying for his safety too.
I felt anger bubbling inside me. I was angry that my little brother had been living in fear for months. And that he kept me in the dark through all this. He was being blackmailed.
Without thinking, I copied the number and called it from my phone. My heart pounded as the line connected. I kept my voice calm, cold, and thick.
“You’ve been calling one Mr Emmanuel, threatening him, telling him he owes money even though he had paid off his debts to you. This is a gentle warning to you if you don’t stop, I will report you to the police. And even if you think you don't fear the police because of your lifestyle. I belong to something bigger than yours. I know where you live, I know who you work with. I'll find you and I'll deal with you. Trust me, you don't want to try me. So, you better back off if you don’t want things to escalate.” I said. I couldn't tell what gave me such morale.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone Then the voice chuckled darkly and asked.
“Who is this?” the voice asked.
“I’m someone who doesn’t take kindly to people like you. Stay away from him, or I’ll make sure you regret it. I'm watching you.”
I ended the call immediately before he could reply. Although I was scared I had caused more trouble for Emmanuel. I just needed to do something. I went back to sleep and made sure I acted like nothing was wrong.
Then, for the next few days, I noticed Emmanuel didn't answer any late-night calls again. He gradually started being himself again. Laughing at my jokes and all that he loves.
I never talked about what I did or what I knew. I didn't want him to know that I had been snooping around, looking for something I didn’t want to find. I was just happy my brother wasn't being blackmailed again. I knew I had done the right thing.
I didn’t need his thanks. I just needed him to be safe.
And that was enough for me.
