MADAM INDIE

CHAPTER ONE



"am not sure this guys will come ?"
Gaga said letting out some pepper soup escape his mouth and right into the table , not that it mattered , we could hardly hear ourselves within madam indie's bar.

The so called light and pride of the Ajaghe , a Slum which swallowed all humans,animals and in fact anything , for it discriminated not,The bar stood at the entrance of the two storey building ,white washed and did give an impression it would collapse any minute but that old fool had stood even before my country witnessed their independence ,something of a history relic I would say in my head but the building had proven against all odds , this building premises housed
madam indie's bar .

it was a banged up job you would say , with just a few zincs which from time to time landed on any of the unfortunate customer who was sitting beneath it ; it was said madam indie herself had some sort of control over the zincs which fell on debt owing or customers who made trouble in the bar even I believed this, perhaps you would write it off but Madam indie's bar had something for every one and girls who were always willing to serve more than a bottle of beer if you had just enough ; for most of them did live in that old fool and in a way solved a big problem of where to get the business done.

But the air for me , gaga and flex tonight was different , we were not just debtors waiting for a free beer and a plate of hot pepper soup , today we paid for our drinks and pepper soup; the beginning of trouble for all who knew what that meant.


FIGHT CLUB DIARIES BEGINS.





to be continued.

.

"guy chill and enjoy yourself self "

flex said with a cool drunken smile on his face , the 6foo, lanky , fair and handsome guy with an ever constant desire to enjoy life however and wherever he was was David Olaikan aka flex

Having been rusticated from the university for knocking his lecturer and putting two other administrative staffs into a state of coma , you would think that led him straight to these slums but no flex came from an average yet stable family , the type you would see and dream to have , the type that reminded us of all we never had and all we hoped to have soon, a banker for a father who worked his ass off daily and a nurse for a mom whose work came first , he and his three brothers were so to say okay except flex was a chronic womanizer , after making the gateman quit his job due to the affair between flex and Hus daughters and his wife and then moving on wards to the underaged house help who upon discovery disclosed of a number of abortions she had been through thanks to flex , flex soon found his way deep in the kirikiri prison upon his release he had left his old life and soon willingly let this slum swallow him and his past life.

The comedian, the love peddler who needn't nothing except a good smile and a few words to put any girl in between his thighs and a set of skills that earned him a black belt In takwaedo and judo , he was as deadlier as he was romantic but most of he was a good friend who was loyal to the core.

"I don't think so , this guys nor go show" Gaga replied again with a grin ,again letting his incomplete set of teeth do a dirty job at trying to hold back his saliva.

The Yoruba brute we call him barely 5foot , the short bulky fellow with a coarse voice which could ruffle a mountain at its highest peak sat opposite flex.

Yusuf Ahmed aka Gaga was the typical example of what a local bouncer could be described as , ahead that anyone would termed a FIFA football , eyes that rarely ever disclosed any sort of expression , a nose any one would feel was a result of a terrible deformity and two thick lips that expressed his dark skin color in a horrendous manner ; years of smoking and intake of all sort of booze and a neck that could not differentiate between his shoulders and head yet Gaga was the smartest of all that I had seen whilst he rarely ever relied on his mental capabilities his head housed a metal skull and two iron fist some believed was responsible for the most brutal head butts and jaw breaking punches.

Gaga was the ever hungry fellow who ate whenever and wherever he had it , food and good booze was gaga's remedy for anything and everything.

"JJC dem don come oh" flex said hastily as we all looked at the four guys who walked in , chatting off in the distant with their eyes hovering for where to sit.

'just in time ' I said in my head as I tightened my fist with great tension.



to be continued
.

let me sit here and read

Hussein and dogo we knew the other two seemed fairly like recruits or business partners , probably from the streets , they didn't seem much of a threat with their shabby dirty tucked in aba made singlet inside their shorts you would think they were street performers just wanting to take a break at the bar.

Well none mattered anyways , we stood and immediately made our way towards Hussein and dogo who were now getting acquainted with their seats and had made their orders.

Flex walked calmly behind me , a beer in hand and a smoke in the other , nodding His head from time to time to the tunes madam indie's music set blasted ; yeah the old music player that could easily deafen you and your ears if you so much sat close to it , we heard her son had bought the damn thing somewhere in the city and had had found how increasingly unbearable it was to enjoy music without waking up the streets so he had the damn thing sent over to his mom .

"watin be this one?" Dogo said , bulky as a bread stuffed with bromate and saccharin , the poisonous sharp mouthed calabar thug for hire ,Dogo had all the kind of wrongs going for him ,burglar, scammer , thief, drug peddler , love-vendor ,thug name it , in the streets he was no different from us but damn that fool headed beast he would trade his own mother for a plate of food without bathing an eye ; the low of the lowest , the dark skinned foul mouthed with no patience for small talks could make gaga feel like a walk-way model if we did compare them in terms of looks except for Dogo's braids that hung nicely on his head.

I could see the nerves raised already as we came face to face .

'try nonsens and you go eat bottle' I could read him muttering silently ,that was not a threat , it was a welcome invitation .

"relax DG , watin dem wan do ?" Hussein said with a grin starched high up in his left cheek.
Hussein at appearance seemed the better of us all , tall, nice always on this perfume scent no one knew where he got it from, to me that damn scent was as pungent as the food my ex cooked always , his looks gave you that impression of a young hard working gentle man well the thing is he was , barely a year and a half ago Hussein Dambowal came to the slums along side his uncle , a care taker of one of the houses owned by a wealthy son of a b***ch.

Hussein got along very well , quickly following his passion for sales and houses , as a housing agent he made good deals on the daily and a. name for himself , well the proceeds were visible and when the slums smells money oh yeah they do try to get it.

Hussein had competition and that was just the right temptation for him to shed his do good impression to shreds soon after, he went from selling properties and making deals on behalf of others to forgery and scam , Hussein was one unrelenting bastard in the slum the so called smooth criminal Michael Jackson sang about, a smile of a saint and the hands of the devil himself.


to be continued...

.

"your father!"

someone screamed out loud ,somewhere in the bar which stole our attention for a moment.
tensions flared to boiling points for two drunks who where preparing to square off against each other; from the look of things the drinks and smokes were doing more against them than they could do against themselves.

"bring it here!" flex said grabbing one of the soon to be served bottles of beer off the tray as the girl returned with the orders of Hussein and the guys.

"guy, dem don scatter your head?!" Dogo said rising up to his feet immediately as did the two others , fist clenched and stares fixed ; it was more like a movie scene the one where both protagonist and antagonist square off for a brief minute , thinking of one tactics or the other to make a win.

"Relax Dogo ,it was just a bottle , its nothing we can order another and another and another tonight if you want " Hussein's voice broke the tension as flex downed the bottle and placed it carefully on the table, I passed a Stare to Gaga .
'bastard!' I believed we both thought of Hussein who paid off the girl as she dropped the remaining drinks and plates on the table .

"Boss , see this guys we know ourselves , no be play dem con play here !" Dogo replied focusing even more his eyes on me .

"is that so !?" Hussein asked and again with that damn smile on his cheeks , he paused as if to observe us for a time and then he focused his eyes on me.

"is it true , are you here to cause trouble on a beautiful night like this or what?!" Hussein said .

The reply was a bang , Gaga was a shot fuse as well ad Dogo , no one had expected the brute but he ensured the bottle landed finely on one of the guys who accompanied Dogo and Hussein.
All went to blazes from that point , Dogo flipped the table quickly causing a bit of a distance between us and them whilst a few who hadn't drunk their soul off took reasonable steps to escape the chaos that was about to unfold.

Hussein had made his move as soon as Gaga delivered the head splitting beer bottle on his preferred target ; abandoning his seat and making His way to the building; everyone knew that the storey building was a complete hide out for fights ,with spaces and rooms you could easily get lost in.

I made my way for Hussein as did Dogo follow behind me steadily , he had the set up already planned no that I was worried at the moment, my hindsight caught the two others getting acquainted with Gaga and flex ,rushing to the wide door post I turned just enough to see a beautiful jaw splitting kick delivered to the sternum of one of the boy's who flew a distance right into a vacant table, I did tell you flex was as deadlier as he was romantic.

Dogo for a second did stare in awe of flex before adrenaline kicked in again as he headed right for me , Hussein was not fighter , that bastard could hardly live up to his taunts but Dogo was a brute , the set up would have me dealing with dogo and Hussein same time and I hated the thought of it , let Hussein get to a hiding spot and wait for it to cool down or me to come look to him or Wait and deal with Dogo or go find Hussein and risk getting into a handicap match.

I Turner my back towards Dogo who was already within punching distance of me luckily I was prepared and side stepped the brute to give more distance between us.

the slums had all the types of brutes , thugs and vagabonds you could think of , sometimes it gets too much and they get to go face to face with one another, today was my day .

'round one!' echoed in my head as I raised my fists up, calculating my breathe ,eyes locked on with the Dogo who seemed very eager to have a go at me now, I could see his smile anchored with danger and excitement .

'easy meat !' I guessed he would say but my name only served better what a Trojan horse did back then , a lie only a fool would believe.


to be Continued...

Dogo launched at me , first introducing his left fist to me , I side stepped the punk again as his right fist came at me almost immediately , it was a local boxing move he may have picked up , left and then right , patterns I could prepare for I docked the second successfully bringing myself down to his chest line and delivering my right hook to his chest , the power wasn't in it; something I soon regretted shortly , a step back Dogo took and then an impossible right fist jammed right into my chin sending me sprawling to the ground.

'Damn it!' I said as I shook it off immediately getting to my feet , I could not afford to slip up , Dogo would make a biology practical out of me if I did.

I gave some space for a minute , my chin was numb with pain , my tongue did the best it could , checking the teeth to ensure none was out of its place , thankfully they held their grounds .

That punk managed a smile at my expense , flexing his shoulders and building more power behind his fists while I prepared for him.

"how you see am , he sweet?" he said with a grin , he knew his fist delivered the package very well so yes he earned his boasting rights over me at the moment.

the brute made his next move , moved to the right and then to left in quick succession before throwing his leg at me ,I hadn't expected that but I had been lucky , a wooden chair had taken the hit and thus gave Me a chance to reply with mine , the path was undisturbed as my leg landed beneath his chest , his guts took the heat , toes on fire and a gut about to split in half from the pains ,he limped back and hadn't seen me rush at me .

my hands wrapped around his waist with my head at the side of his stomach we came crashing on a table of two men who scampered for safety raining curses on us and God knows what, the table was past its limits , it didn't wait a second longer as we landed on it before it introduced us to the ground. alongside other contents on it.

Dogo went for a headbutt and I replied with a fist to his left eye socket but the problem with sitting on top of your opponent is , he is more like a cornered beast , hands, head , legs would claw at you to give up that freedom you have taken, this time I hadn't anticipated his kneel which dug deep into my back , I hadn't no time to react as his left fist buried another punch into my left chin , he had the edge never mind I was on top but I delivered a head butt right to his face and my right elbow into his chest.

before I leaped off him , My back was on fire , talk about eating one of my ex delicacies flavored with killer pepper for spice, I leaped off off him as he tried to get up , his hand came upon a beer bottle , the favorite weapon for murder and hostile brutality in a bar fight , it was either he was loosing or he had had just enough ,whatever the motive was , Dogo charged at me , unexpectedly welcoming a plastic chair to his face and part of his chest , it did slow him down but it was eventually my right fist which found a comfortable dwelling beneath his chin that stopped the crazy brute as he landed on a table and then into the ground.


"my eyes oh , my eyes oh ,pepper soup!"

I heard someone from behind scream , I turned just in time to see madam indie , a plate in hand and one of Hussein's associate in a crazy feet of discomfort and pain ,hands clenched to his face , his partner was nowhere to be seen as was Gaga, only flex sat in a chair wiping something off his fist.

I heaved a sigh as madam indie walked closer to me , her stare was like that of the grim reaper who had been jilted from taking a soul.

to be continued

.

talk about a giant in height and Body mass, madam indie would make a good case for such , probably over 6'8foot , the Igbo woman who ran this banged up job of a bar stood before me .

We hadn't know much about her before she came to the slum except the fact she had been to Indian at some point ; yeah I know the name madam indie sounded phoney ,.

But she had made a name for herself in the slum , a third wife of some rich Alhaji , she had purchased the two storey building and managed some girls whose activities ran from prostitution to any vices with criminal intents , a trip to the prison after stabbing her husband's brother who threatened to collect her husbands properties when the old man eventually died , she had opened the indie bar for all and sundry , her patience for the debt owing fellas like us from time to time was something of a magnetic pull ; a reason her bar overshadowed every other in the slum.

She walked up to me , and starred at Dogo for a long while before settling down on me.

"that bastard is hiding in Lucy's room, go in ,to your left , third room, go and get him"

She said , a tip from madam indie herself could never go wrong, why she did that I wondered , she never interfered in anyone's business except when it came.to her money and some other personal matters , she wasn't joking was she ? I wondered as I shook my head and made way for the building.

Lucy was one of the girls who served at the bar though madam indie took her for a daughter ; something she never had , such a cute thing she was , I had tried to get between her thighs at a time and of course for a good price , thankfully Flex was there to caution me; take it from me if flex warns you about a certain girl , ran the hell away from her .

It turns out madam indie has this thing of settling scores with guys who tried to play their cards with Lucy , damn that woman , at some time one guy had given up his left eye for laying her hands on the pretty thing .

I walked steadily into the hall , and located the room easily , my steps went silent as I approached the door, kick the door or Let the idiot know he had nowhere else to run to.

"Guy come out fast fast, I get message for you! " I screamed out angrily yet with no reply.

" if you know come out now, I go break the door down for your head! " I said again this time with a furious bang on the door.

"okay, okay, wait abeg no break the door, I go come out abed we need to fight ,let's talk please " he replied , his voice spoke more of fear than his willingness to comply.

He opened the door slowly but he needed only to give me a chance at his face before I sent my fist flying through the space between the door and the door post.

He staggered back as I walked inside the room, again connecting my fist with his left chin and then putting him to the ground authority a vicious kick to the chest, I got on top of him and delivered several punches to his face, breaking his nose in the process ,I felt a crack and some movement along his skull before I stopped.

he tried saying something but failed to produce the words, eyes shut from heavy punches, cheeks swelled and puffed up with my fists and a mouth which could need a surgeon to reconstruct the arrangement of all that were inside , I could say my job was done.

" skeletik say MA tell you say the next time way you go cut deal way he give you for e back e say na your legs e go break then"

my job was done, I had delivered the message me and other two were paid for, it turns out the bastardized had bitten the hands that fed him, not that I cared but 6k for a rough handling anyone In this paths was a lottery pay out.

I walked out and meant Gaga and flex waiting , madam indie sat comfortably on an empty chair waiting for my return, I had decided to go see her.

"don't bother trying to convince me you will pay for the damages ,you guys never do, he will pay for it this time, he as the money and if he doesn't , I will make sure he understands the consequences but you three ,I don't want to see you here for a month, get out! " She said without looking at me.

Call that harsh but trust me, that's madam indie at her Godly state, we walked out quietly into the night.

CHAPTER ONE COMPLETE.

OREDHE BUS PARK


CHAPTER TWO


The cold morning was trying it's best to make a case for us to go back home and take the day off but when you need to survive and you understand your survival depends on food, money, Cloth , a woman t lie next to I believe dancing naked in the snow could best portray the reality.

The bus park was in its usual glow, over crowded for no reason I could ever come up with, smelly, gritty as hell , dirty and noisy, everyone plied their trade, the sellers walked to and from debating between having a good gossip with another or making an actual sales, the pick pockets waiting patiently for their next big score, the commuters dressed In all sort of fashion making their choices over their destination and the bus to do the trip and me making sure my Oga's boss was in their decision.


"Last chance here , one to go, one to go, one to go? "

I screamed at the top of my voice , bare chested on my ever loyal jean shorts I had purchased over a year and a half.

"last chance here, one chance here, ajegbe ! " Gragra screamed too, the fair lanky black skinned guy, a local tout and thug for hire had recently joined me asap conductor for another driver at the park, bringing the number of bus conductors to six at the park ; not that I was worried, everyone had his own right here.

" one chance here, one chance here! " I blasted again as did he when a fat woman possibly a trader approached us .
We stood there with eyes glaring down on the woman who was taking her time to make up her mind on whose bus to enter.

Gragra had decided to play a fast one, taking the hands of the woman and leading her to his bus, a clear breach to the laid down agreements we conductors at the park had.

"dem no dey do like that here! " I said angrily making my way towards him, he hastened his move almost pushing the woman into his bus, but she had held her ground and stood to amuse herself with our conversation that ensued shortly.

"waiting you do talk there guy? " gragra said angrily as he stared at me with great resentment , I know the baatard hated me and had been looking for an opportunity to knock my teeth inside but I hadn't given him any opportunity since not that I didn't want, I just never saw what the hell he was angry about but today , I could smell blood.

" I say dem no day force person enter bus here " I argued again coming face to face with him, the bastard had been yearning for a lesson since he appeared in the park, I watched a few on lookers stop to watch the free TV show we were now presenting.

" who you be way go dey tell me that nonsense " he blasted angrily , eyes red and a strong stare , I felt he came ready that day for this fortunately my fist are always prepared for a fight.


to he continued..

I could see the excitement beneath his anger , give these suckers some opportunity and they will take the whole ball off your court, I smiled viciously for some minutes as more people gathered us; not like they did have anything else to do, for street fights was something of an everyday routine and that it self always thrilled the on lookers.

"who I be?! , hmm? " I said I took some steps back as he turned to Ensure the fat lady Complied with his request and bang, my left hand upon an unexpected swerved from me landed viciously on his face from behind, he hadn't no time to react merely turning as quickly as lightning to see me before my right hand curled perfectly ,right into his chin, you should have seen the little thing squirming once he fell head first to the metal body work of his bus and then to the ground whilst I took some steps back, he is going to be mad at me for the free ones he had to eat and I was only ready to serve a cold gritty main dish, Bon appetite!

"Na me you... na me..! " the yapping monster finally got up looking totally dazed and confused ,I bet my punch did a number on his brain , as he looked really confused whilst he tried to feel his chin, as if that will help him numb the pain.

He made move for me as quickly as he could, but I had given enough distance between me and he to prepare for anything, he lowered himself Beyond my fist and dug into my chest, both hands wrapped tightly around my waist, if he succeeds in pulling me to the ground that would be bad for me, power 100%, Agility 100% but defense I was rock bottom on that aspect , my defensive stats aren't my Great so I reckoned I had to make a stand, without a second thought, I went for his waist , at 6foot and 3inches with a lot more body mass, my power feats was a thing to reckon with.

I lifted him off the ground for Minute before he squeezed tightly again, refusing to let go once his feet touch the ground ,I let my hands wrapped into a massive badly wrapped Christmas package and delivered the payload into his back, just so you know ,his move was worth less than a penny, a futile attempt even a LovePeddler wouldn't use on a customer refusing to pay for the job done.

"Jesus Christ! " a woman screamed as the sound of my payload made contact, Gragra echoed her horrid expression with a somewhat teary expression.

"na me you do like this... na me you do.. " he screamed letting go of me as I took my steps back.

He starred furiously around for something, he had lost and decided to do what every loser does in a fist fight.
He jumped into the crowd still echoing his words now I could stand there and claim victory over the idiot or I could go after him, from someone who has taken more stab wounds than a Mexican gangster I knew I could be preventing another cut, plus a trip to Doctor KK would mean him bleeding me dry of all my earnings.

I ran after him quickly , a bottle, a carelessly laid log of wood, a metal bar, a conspicuously big stone could pay his bill but I was fast enough to make the hit, I heard heard him by his shorts and his head and threw him right into the nearby flooded gutter, of course the kind of gutter we did see as a free exit for all the refuse and human waste any could of.

"haha haha! " echoed the crowd as he tried the butterfly stroke in a bit to keep his head afloat in the sea of refuse , well we could say he was going to have more nightmares of what he may have swallowed when he was deep submerged in that thing than my fists pummeling the hell out of him.

I walked away to find my driver had already driven off the scene.
'crap! ' I thought I may have been the Victor here but I was certainly going home hungry and in need of a good pay.


to be continued..

I chewed hungrily the little piece of bread I had starched in my pocket alongside a sachet of water I was able to manage inside one of the old vehicle wrecks lying around the bus stop whilst the sun dominated the air space giving everyone a reason or two to find a close by shelter and hid from the heat.

Not that the bread did me any sort of good for I was hungry but again there was more than enough people in these areas who went daily to bed without nothing to offer their guts, I had finished the sachet of water to dilute the stuff when my eyes fell upon Gragra alongside two other younger boys.
' this is not good! ' I thought , I jumped down from the vehicle and positioned myself at an advantageous spot.
' if he came to have a second go at me, well he is going to have it! ' I concluded in my head with a grim smile.
Gragra was leaping badly, so I could say it was one against two and a half, yes that was how confident I was at the moment besides I had nothing to lose, the two had nothing in them except the eyes of chronic cigarette smokers .

Gragra caught sight of me as did the two others, without a word or so they charged at me, I saw one picking up a log of wood as he came towards my bearings.
The first showed his inexperience in mortal combat, leaping towards me with no second thoughts, in hopes of a grab I delivered a successful leg kick to his jaw ,sending him sprawling to the ground with eyes settling on the second who was just behind his buddy, I changed position and caught sight of gragra taking something out of his shorts as people began to gather around us again .
"I go injure you die! " the other blasted throwing the log of wood at me, it was close range ,my agility couldn't have saved me here but reflex did, using my hands as a shield to protect my face ,the log slammed into my guard.

I dropped them down just enough to curl a left hook into his chest, again the other was up and had launched himself almost immediately at me, my right hand caught him off air and redirected him to the ground Letting me give space to weigh both of them.

"see am, see am for your back! " someone screamed from the crowd ,I turned just enough to take a knife in my left shoulder , the resulting effect was me delivering a hard fist to grargra 's mouth, he collapsed to the ground spiting three adult tooth along side a blood, I hadn't no time to enjoy the view as one of the boys grabbed me from behind and went for the little dagger, without hesitation I bent downwards so that he sommersaulted on top the unconscious gragra putting the dagger in his palm in the process.

The other had stood to make his move at me, one quick look at the scene was already bad, a man knows when he is fighting a losing battle but this guys ,no they enjoy every bit of the fight, he came swinging but only welcomed a sucket punch and a headbutt from me, he was done.

"police oh, police dey come! " someone shouted, I had had just enough for the day, I made my move, sliding into the wreck and pulling myself through the back window, I leaped away with a bloody mess for a shoulder and more hunger lingering in my stomach, I had tried avoiding that quack of a doctor all that week , he must have thought something bad had really happened this time for me not to be at his repair shop or clinic like he calls it, well I hadn't no money, I may have to get my bloody shoulder treated for some favor yet again.

to be continued.

They. said he used to run a big nice hospital with all the fancy gadgets and stuff until he ran into trouble, you see people discovered his little set up was another front for some shady organ Hawking and baby selling factory talk about a shitty way to make cool money.
Once he managed to escape jail term, selling everything he had in process of pleasing those he needed to and putting the blame on his workers, he went off the grid.

licence withdrawn , no money to make a good living, Doctor Kennedy aka Doctor kkk was more at home here where no one gives a damn about how many times you bleeped with the devil but he went straight here, with the constant bloody fights that happened daily, the brothels that never stopped running and girls who wouldn't mind getting pregnant during their professional business ,I would say Doctor kkk needed no reason to turn Doctor Frankenstein.

Plus he worked for the bigger bosses, you know the ones who from time to time, ended up with bullet wounds and decided not to go to real hospitals to avoid the men in black, he did his work and most of all, he never said a word about his patients, talk about a personal dairy, he was always good to me though perhaps I reminded him of something but damn it on his worst days Doctor kkk would suck the finance out of you.

I wobbled with much pain now right into his neighborhood, a couple of face me I face you houses which I swear would be happy to get demolished if ever the government remembered such slum existed in the state.

knock!... knock!!

I tapped in quick succession, my adrenaline had wear off and the pain was making it's formal introduction right around my back, Mehn the pain is throbbing but then again this was something I have experienced for most of my life.
"come in!" his coarse voice said as if he had been waiting for me but what if he did? I shook the thought off and walked in, apparently the door hadn't been locked.

Doctor kkk 's room was his office and his operation theatre, you would expect the smell of flesh and blood and all that stuff to suffocate the air out of the room but the doctor always made sure it wasn't so, taking his time to ensure no traces of his previous work rented the air, clean and neat.

"you know I was thinking you wouldn't come see me, it's been a week and a half since we last conducted business! " He said to me offering me the surgical chair;a chair with extendable hands and head that look like a stretcher, it had straps when he needed it and could elongate itself if the doctor pleases, he knew how to operate the old thing but don't feel too comfortable in it, I doubt anyone ever did when you had other things up in your mind like the opened flesh or bloody, swollen body parts that needed attention.

I smiled slowly and went for it, once I had my shirt off and he took a good look at it, he smiled at me and walked away.
For me that was the good news .

knock!... knock!!.... knock!!!

The taps rattled me and the doctor up, who walked back and stared at me and then at the door.

"JJC, doctor na flex, I need to see jjc quickly! "

"come in! ..." the doctor said before turning to me.
"...when he is done, I will patch you up nice and well, it's nothing to worry about but do hurry up the conversation I have other things to do" he said as he walked out as soon as he and flex exchanged greetings.

I know news travelled far than any virus I could think of right here in the slum, so it was no news for flex to want to inquire all the juicy details from his tag team partner and friend.

"Did you stab him?! " flex said as he walked up to me, normally he would hung this obvious look of satisfaction when I fed him the details of any fight but this wasn't one of those.


"No na, the kid fell on the knife he tried to... "

"he is dead, they found him in a trash pit with the dagger lodged deep in his neck and some more stab wounds were found in his body " flex said as he took his seat deeply disturbed by something.

I don't do murders but this is the slum and that was no news here ,clearly someone had did him in but why was flex worried so much.

"he is Skull's cousin brother , the boy na skull boy jjc, skull is demanding for your head as we speak! "


forget the pain I was feeling, forget the Hunger that was screaming at my guts, forget everything, the name skull sent me into a panic immediately.


completed.

SKULL


CHAPTER THREE



we use to say if the devil had a master, that would be Nosa Igbinovah aka Skull, the criminally minded psycho who ran the slum's darker side, the boss of all the bosses , the guy who politicians still had to come down from their high temples to come beg, the guy who made the police feel like kids with toys.

Skull was the master mind of everything illegal, his story no one knew except he was the heir of a criminal empire left to him by his father, one of the greatest bank robbers in the country, skull carved his own name in blood and bones easily.

the power hierarchy of power within the slums was somewhat of an iron throne matter, those who were hungry for power and would do anything to have it and skull who had that power, surprisingly that bastard made sure no one thought of playing a fast one on him, not even his girlfriend at one time, who tried to stick a knife into him, the story was horrid when we heard, they said Skull had reaped her heart out of her chest with his bare hands and ate the thing.

talk about a scene from a horror movie except skull had a fetish for human flesh, the name skull came from as a result for keeping the skulls of his enemies in his private collection and sometimes dinning on their flesh.

the little guys like who never had any business with his various gangs or businesses knew how well our generation would thank us if we stayed the hell out of his business, take it this way if the devil was on your right and skull was on your left it would do you a hell lot of good if you ran into the hands of the devil and damn it if he ever wanted you that fallen angel wouldn't save you.

I shook my head not believing what I had just heard before Doctor walked in, his eyes beared the same horror as flex.

"where did you get that stab wound from, I just heard the big boss skull wants your head, the news is everywhere! "

The doctor said with such worry in his voice, I hadn't see the doctor this genuinely worried except he needed to let a gang member know his partner wasn't going to make the trip through his needles.

"I swear I no do that guy anything, he fell on gragra another conductor who has been asking for trouble and stabbed himself on the hand, e nor even pain am like that self " I said making my case as if that mattered anymore.

"then someone else did this and has put the blame on you " the doctor said.

"You can't stay here bro, they know the doctor , everyone knows the doctor's place, I will take you to somewhere, one of my chicks house, we will find a way around this but we have to go now "

flex said as he stood up and starred at me.

"he is right by now they know you had an injured shoulder, they also know my repair shop, wait here ..." the doctor said as he walked out for a few minutes and returned with a nylon.

"there are painkillers, it will help you numb the pain for now and capsules to help cover the face, I have a syringe filled out, it should help prevent any infection, you have to do that yourself, can you? "

the doctor said as I nodded my head.

"if they come what will you say? " I asked him.

"oh don't worry, they couldn't possibly do anything to me plus you're like family, Dont worry about me worry about not losing your head quickly " the doctor replied whether he was lying or trying his best to make me feel better about myself, he failed miserably, we all know what skulls boys do when you got in their way but I was thankful all those little time I did do the doctor some favors, ran his errands helped out in securiing his payloads from time to time, this was my big cash out.

me and flex took our leave immediately, I took one look at the doctor for the first time he realized how human he looked, weary, old and lonely, he held this smile on his face that made me feel sad, doctor kkk would not make it through the day, he and I knew it now.

.

flex and I made our way downtown deep inside the slums, where the air was pungent and fumes of toxic gutter waste dominated the atmosphere, the brothel street we call it, but it was a good place for a hide out actually the best place for a hideout, exits so many, your room could be a passage to anywhere.

flex had taken the liberty of getting me a hood, the less eyes that see you the better, the darkness was already setting in when we reached our destination.

I heard flex argue for a moment and then soft moaning whilst I waited outside, fifteen minutes later, flex and a fairly skinned girl whose appearance would have been stark naked except for a bra and a pant which could the necessary areas, she beamed a dull smile at me before walking inside.

"Bro, she is all good, me and manhood did the talking very well, you can stay here with her, she will be leaving for a job by tomorrow and will only be back say a week from now, stay in doors always and use the hood whenever you feel the need to inhale something else than the room's air, I will get to Gaga ,we too have to hide our head for now, if news travels which they do even we are not safe for now, she has some supplies and a can gas, we will figure out something, but you have to stay away from eye sight for now okay? " flex said.

I nodded quietly, beggars have no choice for a dead man just buying time I had no option, I wasn't going to go out like this, I would prefer to get bullet in my head or a fist to my throat in a fight which I was up for, this was as savage as been prosecuted by a kid who enjoys violence.
'off with his head's !!'

he would say even before I had the chance to plead my case, so I bid flex farewell and found my way inside .

She didn't say much to me and seem to stare from time to time, the kind that said I need sex , a bloody shoulder and a wanted man by one of the most dangerous man in the slums, mehn I would deny I have a dick if I have to just to get some rest and think about my life.

She got up and walked out once the message was clear to her , I heaved a sigh and managed to get my skin on top of the bed which she and flex had discussed my stay over on, I wondered what could have happened and how unfortunate the whole day had already turned out to be, I wondered about flex and Gaga and the doctor and how their lives were already affected by what was happening already.

'f**k me! ' I muttered slowly as I turned around in the bed, soft moaning from the room behind mine got me off my Memory Lane for a bit and I wondered if I had done the right thing by letting my good Samaritan walk away without a thank you.

anyways she would be back and damn it did she need that middle man down there, she would get a good beating from him who knows, it might be my last night to shag a woman.
I closed my eyes slowly and surprisingly the sleep came hungrily but not without the nightmares.

.

have you ever been alone for so long you think you might just go crazy, well two days without anyone in sight for me was my break point, my Samaritan hadn't returned that day and two days after I had figured out she had described me as boring and uninteresting perhaps it's why she never bothered to return, I wasn't worried about her In her professional life, been missing for days and months is a normal thing, I say that much because my mom was one of them,yeah a real professional she was, she raised me and three others alone, sold one of my younger brother to some woman whose face I still see in my dream, not necessarily a nightmarish figure but for some reason I just happen to always see her here and now in my dreams, my twin sisters got adopted by a friend of hers who paid in cash, yeah that was how f**ked up my family was.

I know you must be asking for my own biography by now trust me, it's as gritty as every street dog who has had more nights sleeping in open places than under a roof.

My mom hated me right from the onset, she said how much I looked and behaved like her lover : my dad she never called him husband even when I did find a marriage certificate at some point,some guy by the name Roger Ikimi .

I had his eyes, his mouth, his voice, his attitude and hence deserved her hate, her disgust, her insults, her anger and all that, five times she tried to sell me out cheap, at one point she gave me up for a loan, yeah a real b**tch she was, I worked my my heart in the floors of a brothel for three years, scrubbing all the God knows what and doing all that crap at an age seven, I smoked my first weed at twelve, and shagged a woman's daughter who took some interest in me at that same age, she was way older than me if you must know, my life was a ruin and damn it I still was a kid oblivious of all that was come, still the dreamer who wanted a big house, speak well, eat nice and have everything he wanted, so you know I never got past primary three .

My mom had tried to get rid of me more times than I could count but somehow I was the poison she knew she had no antidote to but then barely fifteen ,I woke up to the stabbing effect of the kitchen knife in my chest, yes what a lovely mother she was, I was rescued and weeks later they said she had ran away, never to be seen again.

And there I was, a scar as big as the map of Africa on my chest and a life I needed to keep living, I worked my ass day and night on these streets to get to where I was, now twenty seven I realized I was nothing more than a survival and damn it I wasn't going to go out like this, wanted for death by a criminal mastermind.

I got my hood up and wore it slowly, I needed some air, the whole room seemed more like a prison now I think of it, I have never been in one of those for real, yeah I had my run-ins with the men in black from time to time but in streets men like us are saints at least do I think they see us, call us the lesser evil, I have seen what prison does to those here, honestly not all end up in the prison, some end up in some bush, feet bound and legs bound and a bullet in between the skull.

So between a sudden death and a trip to the station, call me crazy but I would gladly kick that bucket good.

to be continued.

.

As I zipped my hood up so came the soft tap on the door , I froze for some seconds before my eyes fell straight on the metal bar close to my feet , as if I had known a day ago as my paranoia grew due to the silence and all I had realized how porous the security of my protection shelter was .

The door which comprises of old log of wood , textile ,plastic, iron bar was more of an art Mosaic which seemed like the work of someone highly on drugs but I had seen worse.

I grabbed quickly and zeroed in on the plastic patched surface that acted as some wall between me and the other room.

"JJC its flex ,I have good News!" never in my life had I taken the word good news as actually good forgive me but this parts ,free is as costly as Not free and good news is usually bad news packaged properly.

I heaved a sigh as I made for the door, from the holes that gave the outside bearings some insight into the room, I could make out flex face and one other man ,the face seemed familiar I swear I could have said I have seen that face somewhere, I didn't panic much , flex could have been led here to draw me out or even sent out to do the dirty job but somehow in my head I was done hiding and prepared for anything.

I squeezed open the door as flex and the man walked ,tall ,lean with eyes that spoke more of experience , his veins made easy appearances through the visible parts of his body under the black starched short sleeves on blue jeans.

"it was gragra , he was responsible for the murder , skull's boys dropped his headless body at the park yesterday.
'yeeeeessssss!' I screamed in my head as I smiled with great relief, now I thought about it , it had to be gragra , how and why weren't my concern any more, it was over.

" but...."

those three words have ruined lives , those three words told you that you need not celebrate much about your certain victory, those three words have brought more complications than god knows what and todsy flex introduced me to the word BUT.

"but what!?" I asked almost angry at nothing.

"skull still wants to see you , the message is he wants to see you, he dropped a number to which you can get to him" the man said this time.

"who be this first of all ,flex?" I asked .

"this is inspector Damian Damilola " flex said.

Flex is kinda crazy , but bringing a police man here was evidently the work of his village people who had a bounty for me, I panicked a bit,something both of them realized.

"relax sir , I am.not here to arrest you or anything in fact we have a business if you agree to us would earn you nothing less than 15million in one day" the man said.

was I going crazy or what, a man in black is offering money and talking of a business deal, is that even real or was this in my head.

" let's sit and discuss " flex said with a smile on his face.


to be continued

"guy you smoke something?!" I managed to say as the explanation came pouring out from both flex and the inspector.

It turned out skull had become highly wanted after his boys robbed two commercial banks and killed over thirty three people in both encounter in just one day , among the victims was the soon to be groom of the state governor's daughter and over nine police men .

skull had been contacted by the police force to turn over his boys who did the job but instead skull had sent the men in body bags too to the nearest station, clearly making it personal for the state governor and the police men but it turns out skull is no easy person to get , his residence is deep inside the Bushes intact I hadn't seen him or heard anyone who has seen it , we usually spiculated the guy was a ghost operator only know by his closest associates.

"look their is a good chance , he wants to recruit you , its been long since skull has asked for any one to come see him ,we believe this is some recruitment scheme , am sure people know about you who work for him , you happen to be one of the streets best fighter , our boys talk a lot about you and flex and gaga..."

"..where is gaga!?" I asked I hadn't asked about that brute for along time now.

"Gaga went home , his mother has a woman for him he has gone home to do the wedding rites" flex said almost laughing his head off.

"listen , we want you to go along , we just need to know where he is , we have brought in from the capital a 35 heavily well armed and prepared death squad and of outer the military have joined us too , they say they have a score to settle with skull , the operation is highly confidential as we know there are a lot of police men under skull's pay check here , so far none has suspected a thing, the operation it self has no name none are its members identity given out , trust me he won't see us coming, we want him out of the way, he is becoming a problem for everyone, your streets ,your slums have been hindered by skull for long , you may not care about this but , skull for years have frustrated the attempts of the government to develop this places because the slum is where his powers are ,you can change that and of course the bounty on his head goes to you , if we miss this rare opportunity to track him through you we don't know if we will ever get close to him again" the man said trying his best to convince me at what I thought was as good as suicide.

"I nor go make am back if I go " I said , call me coward but money is beautiful and all that but what is it if I lose my head to skull .

"please think about this, you will be doing a lot of people Good and with that money..."

I cut him quickly.
"oga you nor dey get , skull go kill me fast fast for there ,e nor work go find another person"

I said ,it wasn't something you talk about, I wasn't going to risk it .
"do you know Doctor KKK was found with decapitated in his room, his legs and hands were missing, they chopped them off, " the man said .

I stood there for a second, the thought was s scarring as hell ,somehow I felt pity for the Doctor, flex eyes showed the pain.

"wait , I go do am !!" I said .

my whole life I had watched death ,sometimes I begged for it , sometimes i t begged for me , but who gives a sh*t , if they get skull I get rich and get out of the dump , if I die then I die


the end.

SCORES TO SETTLE


CHAPTER FOUR





I think if I was ever in a dream where j was working for the police as a snitch or some set set up that would be a class A night mare, the one you have to go for evening service and seek counseling but I stood at the designated junction a tracker in my shoes and a mic embedded in it,who knew police needed and used technology as much as they used their Bartons and guns.


I had no idea if I was breathing for real, the akara and pap I had that morning whilst Gaga and flex and a few security personnel discussed the rules of engagement barely made an improvement in my guts, the plan was actually simple, get them to take me while the police followed from a safe distance, the plan would be to go on a full scale invasion once Skull was confirmed within the location.

my safety was up to me, well for a bounty of that amount I was already doubting I was ever going to get that because the police well is the police, they are only good at taking money, seizing money, capturing money, hiding money, stealing money and any other sh*t that would never make them give out money, but I was up into the anus already and pulling out would leave my load inside that hole meaning one way or another I get screwed badly but still that money was alot for me and for someone whose biggest pay out was twenty thousand Naira even two hundred thousand is more dough than anything surely the greedy bastard wouldn't mind sharing.

And talking about sharing I forgot my life was at the cost of all this, perhaps this should be another guy wrenching episode of this one show I had watched A THOUSAND WAYS TO DIE yeah that's right, death by a psychopathic death dealer.


A black sedan arrived at the junction just as I was beginning to sweat profusely either from the thoughts of my untimely execution or from the thoughts of my untimely decapitation, again all road led to my death.

I watched two heavily built guys, the kind I would have a hard time picking a fight with, all in black except for the driver who seem to be on a blue shirt walk out towards me.

"JJC?! " one asked as they approached me quickly .

'you still have time to make a run for it, you don't have much property, you can abandon it and go start all over again in a different state, you can survive.... ' my mind began the playlist of survival suggestions .

"na me! " I said, I bet those guys could hear my breathing peak considerably once I said that.

"let's go, the boss wants to see you personally " the other said surprisingly in good tenses.

it didn't even need to be a command, their eyes carried more authority than a voodoo doctor trying to sell out a charm's potency.

I walked with them up to the car and sat at the back with both of them and then one of them stretched his hand over my body, working my body right under the shirt as if looking for something whilst the other ran through my jean searching for something, in a very good situation I had control over, I would have knocked the bearings out of their skull, talk about two grown men romancing me like this was an harassment that I would never let go off but these guys however were looking for a invitation to do me in and so I kept quiet, who would suspect a cheap aba made canvas to have both a tracker and a microphone chip.

They stopped and then the driver stretched his hand towards them, a black sac in hand, I panicked at the sight apparently that was not a good thing, the pistol butt came hard at the back of my head, sudden and deadly, there was no escaping or preparing for that, I mean superpowers are not a thing yet, my eyes happily shut the shop down and retreated for a smooth vacation , bye bye to my consciousness I guess.



to be continued

I woke up to a disco jockey banging hit playing in my head with so much pain and also outside ,yes there was literally good music toying with my ear drums as well.

I opened my eyes quickly as my senses resumed duty, the hit ,the black sac and all didn't play a good movie in my head, I realized I was seating stack naked well except for my boxers in an enclosed room with just a tiny window far away from my reach and hopes, but I wasn't alone, there were others, girls, men, women, boys, kids it was, dirty, dark and conspicuous large , we numbered over thirty five if I gave a head count, well from the looks of it I could wipe the thought of a recruitment off my head and welcome human trafficking, human organ trafficking, human sacrifice, hard human labour, or even human meat buffet whatever the scenario was it had to do with humans because we were alot there.

I felt my head and the swollen dried up blood spot only greeted my hand happily.

'the tracker!... the mic!!! ' the thought knocked me off balance immediately. 'had they found out, where is it?' I wondered I swear if I had a BP before this situation would snatch my heart immediately and leave me for dead,now I thought about it, no way had they not found it although I was unable to detect the stuff my self but I doubt they didn't ,why else would I be here.

For minutes, I said nothing not like anyone even cared, in here we were more like animals in a zoo, stack naked with boxers for the boys and pants for the women, yes the boobs hung freely and none cared, tired , worn out , severely beaten and bastardized, raped, I could think of all the wrong that were been perpetuated to these people and I was now an available item in this human shopping mall.

I watched until the iron door opened and two drunks , a cutlass in one hand and the other bearing an ak47 walked past us chatting and laughing before finally dragging a fair well built girl out, she didn't resist any again the door shut behind us.

talk about the worst time for my mind to tell me 'I told you so' it did, my brain weighed up all the super human ways I could have gotten and walked away from this mess, well akon use to sing about PUTTING THE BLAME ON HIM same could be said for me, I CAN PUT THE BLAME ON ME now.

hungry, thirsty and nervous I sat there as I inhaled human waste, urine and whatever else had a foul smell to offer, I had seen and smelt worse really.

I sat there again before the door opened and Abguy wielding a sub machine gun walked up to me now, I stood up without been told, they were here for me.
'you brought this upon yourself, you damned son of a sex worker' my mind screamed at me.

"follow me " he said as he turned to walk out.

'one fight the gun off his hand and go out in a blaze like John Rambo or two play coward and hold on to dear life ' again my mind offered me some options, I could take the guy out but I never liked John Rambo talk about a guy who prefers bow and arrow to take down well trained armed men and a damn missle launcher fighter plane so f**k plan one, I would play coward and see what else was in store for me.

to be continued.

For once I bet I could say 'Bleep you silly mind! ' yeah turns out once we walked out we were in a large compound, talk about the size of a mini football field, there were structures littered around, the many of them u completed but could serve as good hiding points in case of a shoot out, I trust he was a smart one.

"oya take your clothes! " the clothes hit me suddenly as I looked around, the short obsessed ape with a pump action rifle stood in front of me and the other guy who brought us out, my eyes quickly searched for the shoes but then I was only disappointed when I couldn't find it and even more worried abit.

'if they know, I bet they would dropped your corpse at some junction or leave it to rot in the forest or use you for some rituals or.... ' I shook my head asy thoughts seemed to offer it's view on my worries.

"my.. my shoes" I said without looking eye to eye.

He said nothing and only walked away ,we only began to move again when I had wore my clothes then I began to follow my captor along little bushy paths within the large enclosed compound, it wasn't so hard for me to make out skulls residential buildingin this maze if I could say.

Big, well painted, well constructed, looking like some futuristic low budget storey building, it had it all a mile stretch from the building was crowded with tents ,vehicles and I bet I spotted two armored vehicles ,hell this guy was some criminal general commander of his private army, we walked past many who seem not to take notice of us but rather glued my attention to either a small TV or a game of dice, armed to the teeths ,weeds, booze, shell casings, used condoms, packs of all sort of foods littered the ground as we finally got into the building.

there my captor exchanged hands with another bulky fella , though on black and all that I couldn't notice his firearm in plain sight, perhaps he docked one secretly just in case I made some special plans for some miraculous get away.

He walked me across a large parlor fitted exquisitely and lavishly decorated, the furniture, gadgets, everything seemed like something you would regret buying once you know it cost you more than enough to secure a plot of land .

I rubbed my eyes as they fell on a woman, fair skinned and oh forget my taste in women but she was damn beautiful, in my head she was a river spirit or something even a mermaid but she was beautiful, her eyes bear no expression as we walked past her.

'was she a prisoner here... no I am not sure she looks too clean and beautiful to be...what is she doing here?! ' I asked myself without much thought into it we stopped at a huge door, he pointed me to go right in and for a second I had decided to think about it only to have some tough mean hands push me and my thoughts into the room.


to be continued.

Great story, needs an update pronto!

Once inside my guy, I came face to face with Three men, heavily armed except for the one who seemed quite younger I bet he was younger than I was though his eyes covered with shades spoke volumes of his authority ,my guess was as good as yours 'skull'i figured out as he pointed me to the seat just right in front of me.

talk about an interview for hired goon or thug , this was such a definition, I still tried doubting my thoughts, the two hefty men who sat by him seemed more like puppets, they lacked something I could feel he had, his shades covered his eyes and a camouflaged bandana covered most of his mouth and neck , all three wore army regalia ,no kidding I could call this army of darkness except that's already a movie which by the way was crazy as hell.

"na e be this? "

The voice reminded of Don Solo, a one time Soldier man who was a chronic drunk and a damn good story teller, his frivolous and ridiculous stories at bars we met usually sent us rolling in laughter for no one who had not sunk his ship deep beneath the oceans of booze and Co took them serious but not withstanding the man had this loud coarse hard voice that seemed to make a better impression of his military capabilities than his stories, that voice could install fear and uninstall it whenever it pleases.

I needn't reply, this interview demanded I answered when they wanted me to to be honest I still couldn't get over the idea I would be leaving the compound in a body bag then again I could end up in a big earthen pot also .

one of the two nodded whilst I kept calm and calculated my breathing from time to time.

"hey guy, you know who I be?! " he said again, bleep thinking too much , I swear the only thing I was worried about was how many titles that would follow the name.

"Sir chief ,don general , boss master, commander... "

"you dry craze abhi life Don tire you? " one cut me shut immediately before producing a large roll of hemp to smoke from his breast pocket.

"sorry boss, na Boss skull sir! " I said biting my lips hard as I waited for my next question, I could catch some sort of acknowledgement from skull.

"hmm so you know and you still let the devil use you to get my cousin killed shey, shey den do you reach ground sorte you cor think am say na my cousin go ...."

he paused for a minute, remember that voice been capable of installing fear and all that shit yeah if not for the street credibility I had, boys would melt in their boxers like wax, but damn it again, this was it for me, I toughened up as I waited for his reaction, I wouldn't be here before him If I was marked for tomorrow's obituary.

"anyways the boy foolish gan reach ground anyways that idiot conductor and my cousin friend and their family go pay the total bill, shey na so e suppose be?! " he said.

was that a question I wondered for a few seconds before I decided to give a low response, which in my mind was the safest , if I was supposed to answer it he would acknowledged the fact he heard something from my direction if he wasn't expecting a response well he still wouldn't know what I said all the Same.

"yes boss! " one of them said with a wicked smile on his face.
"anyways as for you guy, my boys tell me you have small cheif you be for my streets, them say u be big man thug and you get crew self but that one na normal thing shall eh but every now and then I try to bring in one or two people into my fold you understand shey?"

I nodded my head relaxing my self a bit more, shame on me for thinking my life was to be served alongside some sauce of some kind by noon, I was going to live I think.

"So JJC, Watin you think, you like what you see right, you can be among the top guys here, have girls you want, have her sisters too if you want and their mothers also ,you can have money enough to throw and spend as you want, my boys get paid weekly here, enough food, drinks, drugs and all just name it "

Skull said well he wasn't really asking I mean I say no and I end up in a trash pit, I say let me think about it i still end up in a trash pit, I say anything that's not yes and it's bye bye to life at least the devil did a great job at tempting Jesus, skull wasn't tempting , this was a ransom for my life.

to be continued.

"no problem boss " I managed to say not as if he was asking, I could see the smirk on his boys face when I said that.
"hahaha I like your style, I no say you na clean guy shall but eh e get watin go be first, you see I Don hear plenty for your matter base on how you take dey send people go hospital if den play rough, my boys dem dey quick gist you and your guys matter so e go go well say today way you don be my boy na you go show some of my kpako boys how e dey be"

skull said again much to the satisfaction of his goons.

Great, my pounding head ache at the back of my neck, a criminal mastermind whose breath could erase my very existence if he wanted and now I have to fight someone or some persons to become a member of his gang unwillingly which in any case I could also end up dead in fact I stand corrected , crime pays but the retirement package comes with death, misery, pains, high blood pressure, trauma, bodily damage, okay I know you get the idea though.

A hand came from the back jolting me out of my paranoia , i stood and took a good stare at the him , the face stunned me.

'Dogo!' I almost voiced out, his eyes seemed to welcome my immediate facial expression .

Talk about karma, I hadn't no idea the ass sucker was working for skull, damn it I should have known, perhaps this explained how easy Dogo got all the money he spent lavishly from time to time and his constant ghosting from the streets, anyway I braced myself for whatever would happen next.

We walked out of the building and proceeded to the large field surrounded by tents and of course a good number of assault rifle wielding audience.

talk about a Fight Club , I rubbed the back of my neck slowly trying to numb the pain again before I caught eyes with the goons who where with skull they found some log of wood to sit on eagerly anticipating a fight from me and someone ; maybe dogo himself.

'krakakow!!... krakakaka!! '

bullets rattled the air as soon as I walked into the spacious field.

'JJc!!...JJc!!! '

a few chanted which made me feel very uncomfortable for some reason and almost there I felt the impact of a boot behind my back deeping it's surface inside my bone from behind launching me across the field.

one name came to mind, as I swept the ground, dogo!

"hahah" Dogo gave a wicked laugh taunting me as I regained my balance, cheap shots fired at me couldn't scare me at this point.

I flexed my arm muscles before brandishing them, one curled into a fist high up my cheek and the other at a reasonable distance in front of me, guard check, fist check, eye sight check, opponent check.

Same old dogo rushed at me, at least if he had learnt anything from our previous encounter he would know that was a bad move for him.

My reserved fist came down hard swerving from the left and landing perfectly on his cheek but that didn't stop him from throwing me and him to the ground, well at least he did remember this move, his hands came perching on my neck, this was not a move I recognized in fighting except he was trying to do me in.

I went for his hands which tightened it's grip with each gasp for air, to no avail my struggles went but I remembered a move from flex audacious stories where his life was almost snuffed out in the prison.
'go for his fingers ' my brain yelled at me, I made for his little finger as my sight began to fade into oblivion , those I managed to hold and twisted they were with so much force I could hear the damn thing snap.

he released his grip in despair and stood up, my ear drums were recalculating the sound so I could hardly hear what he was saying as he flapped his extras around their sockets in pains.

I had no time to breath, no chance would I give the damn bastard again, I flew at him producing one of what I believed would compete with flex rated high kicks .

Dogo went to the ground face first, clumsily falling on his extras again, talk about pain in a brand new way, I heard something snap for the second time.

he rolled around on the ground spiting sands and dust before standing up again, I took a breather now realizing the goons were cheering loud for me now.
I flexed my hands again preparing for dogo's next move which came quickly again, the fool keeps rushing me, talk about a brute with no brain to pull his brakes when he needs it to.
I side stepped the brainless brute giving him a wrapped torpedo with both of my fist right below his neck and then limped away just enough to see him crash into the ground.
'hulk smash! ' my mind cheered at me as dogo seem to be in no hurry to move a muscle for now, he laid on the ground quietly breathing desperately .

One of the big guys walked in;one of whom skull had conducted his interview with me, he starred at me with red eyes.
'you're going to die here ' I bet he said in his head before he walked up to check on dogo, He checked in on dogo before he stood up and then came the scene from the horror movie.

The guy repeatedly released his boot with such intensity I bet the ground beneath my feet quaked too, down the boots poured on dogo 's head, like an error program on a windows system .

I was taken aback by the anger invested in the boots, to think a human would do that for no cause apparently than losing a fight, imagine what this guys would do if I came back and explained how I failed a mission well I wouldn't finish it.

his boots produced brain matters and changed from dust and thick leather skin to dust, thick leather skin, blood, brain matter and more blood, dogo head was bashed in, I watched as dogo's body involuntarily moved and shook as blood gushed out into his environment.

The guy gave way for the blood to spill before he turned his attention to me, there was a good distance so I could calculate what would happen next and then he produced a gun and pointed it at me.

'GBO!...GBO!!... KRAKAKAKKA! " I flinched as I went to the ground, my end came quite painless.


to be continued.

Gr8 job you are doing.The story line is unique.

and by painless I meant literally painless, I searched my body for my spilled bodily fluids, eyes still closed tightly, if that was helping me absorb the pain I had no idea.

'idiot! ' my mind blasted me again.

'
"Gboah!!" the tremors send me scampering for, so I wasn't shot I figured, as I regained my eye sight I found the big lifeless goon on top of dogo with an arm scattered like a road kill.

There was visible chaos as men ran to and fro, shots rattled the air endlessly as empty shells went to the ground, damn it. y brainwashed trying to calculate the nearest and safest route to freedom when I felt the earth shook.

'Krakom!'

the missle bombarded a nearby incompleted shelter miles away but damn it, I felt my heart abandoned me and for the first time, I didn't want to die, oh yes the street toughness turned out to be for situations I could handle, rocket propelled grenades from God knows where was out of my league and from the further scampering from some boys who had abandoned their guns and made way for various safe zone I knew they too understood the obvious.

I ran right into skull's mansion as did many others.
'are you stupid or what? ' my mind cautioned me as I ran deep into the structure, well if war movie scenes ever thought us anything it is that, hideouts are like missile magnet, call them the Romeo and Juliet of war films but I wasn't stupid, for some reason I needed to find something or someone.

'help!! '

I stopped as some boys dragged a few suit cases stashed with cash I guess, it was basically a free estate for all, In time of great chaos the poor have a fair chance of becoming rich it all depends on how valuable your life is, I made way for the direction and found my self in front of skull's second goon and sprawling on the floor in front of him was the girl, yes the beautiful one I couldn't guess what was her function in the whole set up, she laid in a pool of her blood.

He made for me quickly but hadn't looked where he was stepping on, liquid and tiles according to human knowledge spells unfortunate injury or demise , he came sprawling and tumbling as his right boot came in contact with the blood whilst he tried the balancing act I delivered another flying kick and boom, he flew like a sparrow well actually no the idiot was as hefty as a gorilla he did stumble back and landed on the bed.

'weather for two ' my silly mind said as I jumped on the bed with no intention of Bob risking the guy, my hands descended multiple times on his face as fast as I could and bang he gave me a four star rated head butt, the kind that scans your skull for your brain and then let's you know they were in danger.

I left him for a moment and tried to make sense of the head butt and then I felt the sharp object right into my sides Letting me scream out like some sex worker who was getting more than she was paid for.

the stab came deep and for a moment I paused and slided off him to the bed side, he got up rolled out of the bed and continued searching for something in the bed's drawer .

'oh come on stop whining and give that guy his knife back ' my mind said.

I was bleeding out real good, somehow I felt the knife hit jackpot on me this time , he paid no attention to me, in his mind I was done for and boom another missile sent shock wave to the building this time walls cracked and I could hear somefew persons scream, the building wasn't going to hold on much longer but that was not the real deal my assailant lost his balance for a second time letting him hit his butts on the bed and to think he thought I was that easy to put that, I mean I have been stabbed in the back, shoulder, legs, hands, neck and many a time in my stomach infact there was a time where my stomach housed more cuts than I could count, knives, bottles, machete, portable axe even sharpened wood had done the job yet my path with death was one hell of a contract deal worth alot of time for me.

He hadn't seen me perhaps he hadn't thought much of it but like a jolt from a lightning, I dropped hard the knife once I drew it out from my body right into his neck bone breaking the handle with brute force and lodging the blade deep in, his neck fell to one side as blood gushed out ,I could see him try to get the blade as he stood only to lose his balance and went numb once his body hit the floor.
'there , are you happy now? ' I asked myself yes I could now add murder to my answered questions on WHO WANTS TO BE A STREET THUG , I found a cover sheet and torn it quickly and wrapped my waist as tight as I could not that it did stop the bleeding but it was safe to say I could encourage myself that I did something.

'the wardrobe... the red box! ' someone muttered I made turn and found the girl saying one hand stretched towards a fallen wardrobe on the other side.

I tried going for her but her face immediately went pale once she had said that.

'water don pass garri! ' my mind said as I rushed for the wardrobe and turned it over ,what I was looking and why I was looking for it were questions my mind was demanding strong answers for.

I found a red box hidden among the clothes I turned over, it was tightly locked and it seem to contain stuffs that sounded like plastics, I think the third missile drop was no longer a reminder, I took the damn thing ,scaled the fence and found myself scampering for the bushes but then my eyes caught of a young guy who had my shoes on.

the idiot had my shoes with the tracker inside, what an idiot he was been tracked but wait does this mean these were the police?

I ran deeper into the bushes and made for a farmland I came across, clawing the ground as deep as I could I buried the damn thing as fast as I could, what the hell I was doing I had no idea but damn you should see me going Barry Allen on the whole thing.

once done I went for some shrubs and hid carefully to take my First survey of the situation.

'Round them up! ' someone shouted from a far, well no bad guy uses that word I don't think I have ever been relieved to see armed men in uniform walk past The farm hunting for others .

'na JJC oh make una no shot me oh na JJC " I screamed out I wasn't going to be shot by mistake or by one other story police men usually come up with, I laid on the bush as they thronged my direction.

I relaxed a bit as I held my stomach again.

'mission over! ' my mind said somehow I believed it, the police took me up and identified me again and then two others stood with me as others continued their search.

it was really over.

in case you are a typical Nigerian wondering how rich and wealthy I became, how skull got blasted into oblivion by a missile and what that red box contained well it turned out the bounty on police was shared among well you guessed it right the police.

I had my life and to be honest I was grateful for it, skull's full arm was found miles away from the bombarded building, expect he had black voodoo to help him survive that he was marked dead .

a week later, me, flex and Gaga had retreated to the farm and recovered the box and boy oh boy did I retrieve a major pay day.

seventy five ATM cards with a little diary that contained the passwords and the amount each contained and mehn I swear the total amount would make the bounty embarrassed to be called money.

Maybe finally this was my pay out from the life I had known all my life, yeah but no, me and the boys may have all the money, but the street is life it self, it gave me a home, friends who were more brothers to me than I could remember and lessons that preserved that life.

Would I still get in a street fight sure, would I still drink on credit definitely, would I still live like a broke son of a gun ,no definitely not .


THE END.

watch out for MISSION BLACK CAT


GENRE

ACTION
SCI-FI
THRILLER
SUPER HERO
ADVENTURE


SYNOPSIS :


A THREE DAY MISSION TRANSPORTING ONE OF NIGERIA'S GREATEST ARMED ROBBER AND KIDNAP KINGPIN BETWEEN TWO STATES TURNS OUT TO BE THE WORST DAY TO START A JOB FOR NEWLY PROMOTED AGENT AJAIYE JOHNSON .

WHILST A GIFTED MARTIAL ARTIST WITH AN ALMOST DENORMAL GENE FOR PRECONCEPTIVE MOVEMENTS AND BODY LANGUAGE, THE NEWLY TRAINED IS ABOUT TO BE PUT TO THE GREATEST TEST OF HIS LIFE.


excepts :

"When did the army start mounting road blocks in the middle of nowhere? "

"idiot, those are not the army , those are men in army uniforms!? "