The Games
Player - GoGo
I was born in
the early Sixties, and my mother was a real trendsetter in our small town she
wore Mary Quant, miniskirts, go-go boots, hot pants, and I also wanted to dress
like her, so she let me. That love of those times is still with me, and I
passed it to my daughter, and she passed it to her daughters so every Saturday,
we get together and have a real groovy time.
This particular Saturday was the first we had together for a
while I had to deal with some medical issues, so I was really looking forward
to it. After breakfast, I put on one of my favourite dresses it was made of a
silver patterned material with sleeves that expanded from the elbow to the
cuffs, and came to just above my knees. I then put on my silver go-go boots,
and put a curly brown wig over my head. Finally, I put on some jewellery and a
pair of large sunglasses, and ‘I was ready for the day.
So when the
doorbell rang, I went back down and opened the front door to see Janey my
daughter standing there. I can’t believe she is over 30 now, as we hugged each
other. She was dressed for the occasion a sheer grey paisley patterned mini
dress with a deep V shaped neckline, a matching scarf holding back her long
brown hair, and her own white knee length go-go boots.
She looked at
me and said “you look good Mum.”
“I feel good,”
I replied as my granddaughters ran in. Milly and Tilly are nine years old, and
like most twins they were identically dressed a long green scarf was tied to
hold back their own brown hair, and they were wearing a sleeveless knee length
slip dress with alternating pink, lime green and blue stripes, and of course
their white boots.
And then there
was six-year-old Edie, who was wearing her own slip dress hers was a
psychedelic fractal pattern, with a matching band holding her hair back so it
looked like she had a beehive hairdo, the skirt covering the top of her boots.
I hugged all
three of them and told them to go into the front room, where I had the Monkees
box set ready for them to start watching, and promised I would bring some
drinks and snacks through in a few minutes, while Janey and I headed to the
kitchen. She sat at the table as I put the kettle on, and put some coffee into
two mugs, and we talked about what had happened to me as I fixed some glasses
of squash and some snacks for the girls. Pouring the hot water into the mugs, I
stirred then and handed one to Janey, and said I’d be back in a minute once I
had taken these to all three of them.
And that was
when the Saturday took a very different turn for all of us. Because when I came
back, there was someone standing behind Janey. She was a young woman, and was
wearing a denim blouse over a brown roll neck sweater, and jeans tucked into a
pair of white knee length boots but it was the stocking pulled down over her
head that got my attention.
Well, that and
the fact she then pointed a gun at me. Oh and that Janey now had her hands
behind her back, and a very frightened look in her eyes. So I did the only
thing I could think of doing.
“Who are you,
and what do you want?”
“Good
questions,” the masked woman said with a smile. “Well, for you and your
daughter, I am here to rob you. For your granddaughters, this is a special game
you have arranged for me to come and pay with all of you.
“A A game?” I
was astonished at what she said, but she just kept smiling and said “oh yes
like those old television programs, you are going to be held hostage and unable
to raise the alarm while I relieve you of your valuables.”
“I will not let
you hurt them “
“Mum,” Janey
said quietly, “she’s already tied my wrists together behind my back. I don’t
think we have a choice “
“And if they
believe it is a game, they are less likely to be afraid and panic which I
assure you, is a very good thing. So, what are you going to do?”
I looked at
Janey, who slowly nodded before I said “All right what are you going to do
first?”
The masked
woman smiled as she picked out of some sort of bag a longer length of rope, and
then wrapped it round Janey’s arms and body, forcing them against her sides as
she formed two bands. Janey twisted round, and then said “Well, it could be
worse.”
The woman then
took some more rope and walked behind me, and I felt it rubbing on my wrists as
Janey said “I guess we are going to have coffee later, Mum.”
“I’ll make a
fresh one after this game,” I said as I felt my wrists being forced together,
and then the tug as she tied the rope off. As she walked back behind Janey, I
saw her pick up a rucksack and put the gun in. “Always remember I have that,”
she said quietly, “and now we go and get the girls to play. You can tell them
what is happening.”
I nodded as she
helped Janey to stand up, and then we walked into the front room. Edie was
sitting between Tilly and Milly, all three of them watching as Davy started to
untie the girl of the week from the rail tracks.
“Hey Granny
Mummy?”
“Girls,” I said
as I took a deep breath, “I’ve arranged a special surprise game for us all to
play. This lady is pretending to be a kidnapper, and we are all going to be the
damsels in distress on the show.”
“Really?”
“Really,” the
masked woman said. “Mummy is going to show you what I have done to her, and
then I am going to make sure she stays in a seat you can watch what I’m doing,
and see I am not hurting her, all right?”
The girls nodded
as Janey walked over and turned round so they could see her hands and the other
ropes, before she sat down and I sat with the girls.
“Has she tied
your hands behind your back as well,” Tilly asked as she looked at me.
“She has it
doesn’t hurt at all, so don’t be afraid when it is your turn,” I said with a
smile as the intruder knelt down and crossed their
mother’s ankles, and then started to bind them together with white rope. The
girls watched as the rope went around and between her ankles, and then a second
length secured her legs together below her knees and on top of her boots.
“There now,”
she said as she stood up, “I think Mummy is going to stay there and now it is
your turn girls. Please stand up and line up in front of your grandmother, and
put your hands behind your back.”
“What’s going
to happen when she is finished,” Edie asked as the girls stood up, the masked
woman standing behind Tilly as my granddaughter smiled while her wrists were
tied together behind her back.
“I think you
and Mummy will stay here and watch some more of the Monkees,” I said with a
smile, “while I walk round the house with her. Then I’ll come back and join
you, and we do what she tells us we have to do, all
right?”
All three of
them nodded as the masked woman went along, and I watched her secure their
wrists together behind their backs, and then wrap ropes round their arms and
body so they looked like Janey. She hadn’t done that to me yet but she then
told me to stand up as the girls sat down, and she secured their ankles and
legs in the same way as their mother.
As they twisted
their ankles, giggling at the noise of the leather rubbing, I watched as she
took more rope and just how much rope was in that bag and walk behind me,
before I felt the pressing of my arms against my sides as she put it to the
same use as she had with the others.
It was snug,
and it was not uncomfortable, as she said “we’re going to take a little walk do
enjoy some more of the show. Can I trust you all to keep nice and quiet?”
“no.”
I was surprised
to hear Edie say this as the woman nodded, and took from her bag a white scarf.
Rolling it into a band, she said to Edie “open your mouth” and then pulled the
band between her lips, taking the band round her head and securing the ends at
the base of her neck. She then looked at the twins, who looked at each other
and then opened their own mouths.
“I guess I will
be quiet as well,” Janey said as the woman gagged my older granddaughters, and
then did the same to their mother, before she said “let’s go for a little walk”
and left all four of them watching the television.
“Thank you for
not hurting them,” I said as we walked up the stairs. Walking into the bedroom,
she said “tell me where to look I prefer to make sure things stay neat, as they
would with a game “
There was a
certain logic to that, so I nodded as I told her where she could steal from me
When we walked back
into the main room, I groaned inwardly at the song that was playing
“I want to be
free “
“Not for some
time,” the woman said, and I nodded a little difficult to talk when I had a
rolled up white scarf pulled between my lips as well and secured at the base of
my neck.
I sat in the
other armchair and watched as she knelt down and bound
my ankles and legs in the same way as the other girls my jewellery was now in
the bag with me pearls and other jewels.
As she stood
up, Janey said “Chffhehlhthrrr?” I nodded, seeing how grey the scarf was at the
corners of her mouth, and then heard the girls giggle at another silly move by
Peter.
“One more thing
I have some things to do, and I really need you all to be quiet,” the woman
said as she took from the bag strips of brown sticking plaster, removing the
backing paper and pressing them down over our mouths before we looked at each
other.
“Now, watch
some more for an hour,” she said, “and then see who can get free first. I’ll be
waiting for the winner.”
I knew that was
not true, but we watched her walk out, and then all watched as the next program
began. It was going to be a long morning
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