The Games Players
– From Both Sides
Honestly, it
was a normal afternoon – I always have Queenie with me on a Friday when her
parents are at work, and we almost always do the same thing. We go shopping in the morning – and the
coloured bags with our purchases were still in the front room – then we have
lunch out, and we come back to my house.
I have meetings most afternoon – I write copy for brochures, and my
current clients are US based – while Queenie goes and plays in her bedroom at
my house. She’s ten, so I can trust her
to amuse herself for the time I have to take these calls.
That day I was
wearing a long-sleeved grey blouse which was tucked into the waistband of my
grey pants, a dark blue leather belt round my waist. I also had on blue leather moccasins, and I
had a pair of pearl earrings on, my greying hair up in a new style as I talked to
my clients.
It was towards
the end of the last call that things took a very different turn. I heard the door to my home office open, but
as I turned round it wasn’t Queenie – it was two strangers who stood
there. The man was wearing a black
jumper and pants, the woman a brown jumper and leggings tucked into knee length
brown suede boots – and both of them were wearing leather gloves, as well as
having stockings pulled down over their heads.
It took me by
surprise, as the masked man out a finger to his covered lips and indicated I
should end the call. I could also see the
gun in his hand, so I nodded slowly and said I felt we had covered everything in
the call, and I’d call them back tomorrow if there were any further
questions. As I ended the call, he
nodded to the woman who left the room for a moment, and said “thank you.”
“Who… Who are
you?”
“Well, we are referred
to in the press as the Games Players. I
trust you have heard of us?”
Oh I had heard
of them – and I knew two things were true.
First, I was being robbed. Second
– Queenie was going to end up just like me.
“Yes, I’ve
heard of you – you force the parents to tell the families this is all a game
arranged by someone, and bind and gag them before you rob the house.”
“True,” he said
with a smile as the masked woman came back, “and today, we need to you to do
that for your granddaughter r- Queenie, right?”
“How do you
know that?”
“We do our
research,” the masked woman said, “so here’s what we need you to do. You need to tell Queenie this is a special
game organized by her parents and you’re going to play it until they come to
collect her. You understand what it is
we are asking you to do?”
“Yes, I do –
lie to my granddaughter so that she does not panic.”
“Well, a little
white lie,” the man said as he closed the door, the woman taking from a bag she
was holding a length of rope and handing it to her partner. “So shall we start to play the game now? Kindly stand up, and put your hands behind
your back.”
Well, I really
felt as if I had no choice - I had to, if you will forgive this, play along to
keep Queenie safe, so I stood up and allowed the masked man to pull my hands
behind my back, and bind my wrists together.
He then took a longer length of rope, and wrapped it round my body,
framing my chest with two bands as my arms were forced against my sides. I t felt tight, but it didn’t really hurt, so
I was able to keep myself calm as he tied the ropes off.
“So,” the woman
said as she opened the door, “let’s go and get Queenie to play as well.”
I nodded,.
Hoping she would not be scared or panic as we walked along the corridor. We could all hear her singing along to
something as the man opened the door, and we all walked in.
“Granny – who are the people with you?”
She was wide eyed, but I controlled my
own fears as I said “Queenie – it seems your mother and father have booked
these two actors to pretend to be robbers, and play a game of robbers with us.”
“A game of robbers? You mean they are pretending to be robbers?”
“That’s right,” I said in a calm, even voice,
“as you can see they’ve already found me and made sure I can’t move my arms –
and they’re going to do the same to you as well.”
“They’re going to tie me up with ropes
as well?”
“And keep us quiet as well,” I said, “I
know it sounds scary but…”
“It won’t be scary if you are with me
Granny,” Queenie said with a smile, “we can keep each other safe, can’t
we? Does that mean we’ll be tied
together back-to-back as well?”
“If that is what you want,” the masked
woman said as she put the bag down, and took some ropes out, “so if you’re
ready,. Let me make you just like your granny, and then we’ll take you down to
the main room.”
“Okay – thank you Granny, this will be
fun.” I was amazed she was so calm as
the masked woman took her hands behind her back, and tied her wrists together,
then sued the other length of rope to force her arms against her sides in the
same way as mine were.
Queenie wriggled round and said “It’s
like you hugging me,” as the man looked at both of us.
“Right – we need to make sure you stay
where you cannot stop us, so let’s all go down to the front room.”
I walked out first, Queenie following me
as we carefully walked down the staircase and into our front room. I then sat on the floor, Queenie watching as
the masked man took more rope and tied my ankles tightly together, then my legs
below my knees, each band made tighter as he took the rope between my legs.
“Now, would you like to see how we are
going to keep you quiet?”
Queenie nodded as the man tore a strip of
white tape away from a roll, and then pressed it down over my mouth and
jaw. It seemed to adhere to every
contour of my face, and it certainly stopped me from talking as I said
“htsannthshbhdqhnhe.”
“Is it my turn now?”
“It is – sit with your back against your
grandmother,” the woman said as the man whispered into my ear “well done- now
keep pretending this is just a game and you’ll both be all right, okay?”
I nodded to show I understood as I felt
Queenie’s head against my back, and then heard her talking to the woman.
“It’s tight, but nice.”
“I know – but it has to be tight so that
you are safe.
“There – how does that feel?”
“Like they’re not going to move apart.”
“Good – lips together now.”
I felt her hands with mien and gave them
a gentle squeeze as I heard the rip of the tape, and then “Whtthhphnsnh?”
“Well, we’re going to pretend to take
your grandmother’s nice things,” the man said as he winked at me, “and then
we’ll check you.”
“Whllbhfhn,” I said as I felt Queenie
brush her hand against mine, and they left us alone.
“Grhnnhe?”
“Yhsdhr?”
“Thshhsrhlfhn.”
I nodded as a short while later they
came back – and then tied a longer length of rope round both of us so that we
were held together at our waists. They
then both left, as I tried to twist round and get free. I could feel Queenie’s head rubbing against
my back as she twisted round as well, before she said “Whchntghtfhrrchnwh?”
“Hshntfhnksh,” I mumbled,
“shwhtdhdwhdhh?”
“Wht?”
And wait we had to do, until Queenie’s
parents They were shocked to see us,
but once we were freed, Queenie hugged me and said “fhnksghrrnnh, mhmm, dhd.”
She had forgotten to take the tape off her mouth…
When Granny came into the room with the two nice actors, I wondered what was
going on – I could see Granny had her hands behind her back, and there were
bands of rope round her body, but she didn’t seem to be scared. So I said “Granny – who are the people with
you?”
She took a moment
and then said in a calm voice “Queenie – it seems your mother and father have
booked these two actors to pretend to be robbers, and play a game of robbers
with us.” That took me by surprise – but
it also sounded like an exciting thing to do together.
“A game of
robbers? You mean they are pretending to
be robbers?”
“That’s
right,” she said as the two strangers smiled – they had something over their
heads that made their face seemed blurry, but their smiles were nice. “As you can see they’ve already found me and
made sure I can’t move my arms – and they’re going to do the same to you as
well.”
I realised
they had tied Granny up – and she didn’t seem to be afraid. In fact, it sounded like we were going to act
out one of my Nancy Drew books I have at home, so I said “They’re going to tie
me up with ropes as well?”
“And keep us
quiet as well - I know it sounds scary but…”
I wasn’t
scared at the idea of being tied up – especially if Granny was here with
me! “It won’t be scary if you are with
me Granny,” I said with a smile, “we can keep each other safe, can’t we? Does that mean we’ll be tied together back-to-back
as well?”
“If that is
what you want,” the masked woman said as she put a bag down she was carrying,
and she took some more white ropes out of it.
“So if you’re ready,. Let me make you just like your granny, and then
we’ll take you down to the main room.”
“Okay –
thank you Granny, this will be fun.” I put
my hands behind my back as she walked behind me, and I felt the rope on my
wrists. It was soft, but it felt strong
– and she didn’t hurt me at all as I felt the rope round and between my
arms. She then wrapped a longer length
of rope round my arms and body and pulled it so that my arms were tight against
my sides. She did that a few times, as I
saw the two bands on my top, white on dusty pink – and it was a very strange
and nice feeling.
When she had
finished, I wriggled round and said “It’s like you hugging me.” Granny smiled and nodded as the masked man
looked at both of us. as the man looked at both of us.
“Right – we need
to make sure you stay where you cannot stop us, so let’s all go down to the
front room.”
Granny walked
out of my room first and I followed her, taking care to make sure I didn’t’
trip on the steps before we went into the front room. The man then helped Granny to sit on the
floor as I watched as he took some more ropes, and tied one length round her
ankles so that they were held firmly together.
I saw how he did it – wrapped round, then the ends taken between her
legs as she watched before they were tied off at the back of her legs.
He did the
same thing to her legs below her knees, before he said “Now, would you like to
see how we are going to keep you quiet?”
I nodded as he took a roll of white tape out of the bag, peeled a length
away and then tore it off – before he pressed it down over Granny’s mouth with
his gloved hands. She looked at me, the
shape of her lips under the tape as she mumbled “htsannthshbhdqhnhe.”
I think she
was worried I was going to be scared – but I was being Nancy Drew held captive
with her mother, and it was the most exciting thing I had done all year. So I looked at the masked woman, and said “Is
it my turn now?”
“It is – sit
with your back against your grandmother,” the woman said as I walked round and
sat down, my head against Granny’s back as the woman knelt at my feet, and tied
my ankles together in the same way as Granny.
When she had finished, I twisted my legs round and said “It’s tight, but
nice.”
“I know” she
said as she smiled at me, “but it has to be tight so that you are safe.” She then put another length of rope under my
legs and tied them together below my knees, tying the ends off before she said “There
– how does that feel?”
“Like
they’re not going to move apart.” I was
trying to do – a little - but it just felt so nice to be like this.
“Good – lips
together now.”
I could feel
Granny’s hand on mien as the woman tore a strip of the white tape from the
roll, and I put my lips together as she pressed it down over my mouth. It certainly stuck to my skin, and when I
tried to say something it came out as “Whtthhphnsnh?”
“Well, we’re
going to pretend to take your grandmother’s nice things,” the man said “and
then we’ll check you.”
“Whllbhfhn,”
I heard Granny say as I brushed my hand against hers – and I knew I would
be. I was with Granny, we were both the
same – here was nothing to be afraid of as I heard them both walk out.
After a few
minutes, I said “Grhnnhe?”
“Yhsdhr?”
“Thshhsrhlfhn.”
I heard her chuckle
as she squeezed my hand, and then I heard the two masked people come back. The woman smiled as she checked my ropes -
and then the man tied a long rope round both of us round our waists so that we
were really held together.
It was a
wonderful thing to spend the afternoon doing – tied up with my granny while
someone pretended to rob us!
I heard them
both leave, before Granny started to try and twist round. I did the same, my head rubbing on her back,
and tried to find the knots - but it was no good. I could not reach them, and I could not reach
those for the rope round Granny’s wrists either. It looked like we were stuck like this until
Mum and Dad came.
So I said “Whchntghtfhrrchnwh?”
“Hshntfhnksh,”
Granny mumbled, “shwhtdhdwhdhh?”
“Wht?”
That was all
we could do – wait until we heard Mum and Dad come in. They both looked at us, and then Dad ran over
and started to untie the ropes round us.
As soon as I was free, I jumped up and hugged Granny, saying “fhnksghrrnnh,
mhmm, dhd.” I was so excited to see
them, and wanted so much to say thank you, that I had forgotten to take the
tape off my mouth before I said anything…
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