Thanks for the update.....more pls.

She did not know where she was been taken to or who this man said they were that police could not get to them.
She was been moved further apart from the love of her life. Was this the end of it? Who was behind this saga? Who was the fink that took pleasure in implanting pains in people's lives?

He said her real parents were killed. When, where, how? That was their business! So they were alive all these while and never bothered to look for her. It was better that way. She never wanted to be associated with such criminals.
But she wanted to at least see them, see the people who gave birth to her. Maybe it was curiosity or the pain of not knowing your parents even when they were alive.

Now the police would start investigating, three cops shot dead. And their identity would be questioned. There was no way out. If they could escape these gangsters, they still had the law to reckon with. What a world!
Where was Damon? Was he alright? God, if I get killed, give him the fortitude to carry on, let him be save. She burst into tears.
The driver brought the car to a halt. He hissed then opened the car door.

" What is going on?" Bug asked.

" I got a flat tyre. Can fix that within a jiffy."

The native behind the truck was singing in Fulfude while he smoked. It was now dark and cold. She still had a fever but her mind was more sick than the body. She heard someone gave a short loud cry and stopped.
Bug removed his gun at once, his deadly eyes shifting dangerously.

" Hey, what's going on?" He asked but no one answered.

The guy who was singing was now mute. Bug turned back but saw no one. There was a dead silence. What was going on? Bug removed his phone, trying to make a call. He was a smart bastard. Calling for backup before stepping out. She did not know how she got so gutsy when she used her fingers to scratch his eyes and then pushed him.

" Christ!" He yelled as he lost balance. So he knew Christ! She did not know if it was of use, but it was better he shot her than take her to be abused.

She alighted with alacrity and broke into a run. But the bull had recovered and put up a chase. She had not gone far when he grabbed her, raised his hand and hit her cheeks. She screamed and fell down.

" I swear, I don't care about reprisal, I will kill you." He barked angrily." Let him do his worse" He raised his gun.
Boop!

She heard a smacking sound and he dropped on the floor. The person who had hit him was pugnacious. He held a stick and hit him hard on his head.

" Uurrrghh!!" Bug yelled in a voice that sounded bogey.

Everything about him was scary. The person kept hitting him until Bug stopped moving. Bug was dead.
This guy could use a stick. This guy? It was Salim. Damn! Salim!

" Can you stand up?" He asked quickly, " we have to leave quick. They will come here?"

She forced herself up, still panting. God! She was sick.

"Thank you. "

She heard the car start and she became scared.

" It is Damon. He was the one who took care of the driver while I took the Fulani guy. The bastard is a wanted cattle rustler."

Damon?

They ran to the car. Damon was behind the wheel. Even though she knew they had to leave there as soon as possible, she could not help holding him and crying.

" Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes showing fear, hurt, love and care. She nodded. He planted a kiss on her forehead and set the car in motion, made a quick reverse and pulled out.


They drove for about twenty minutes before he stopped the car.

" We cannot go back ." He said." These guys have a strong network and we don't want to meet the cops. I am wanted in America."

They abandoned the car and Salim who knew everywhere around led them through the hummocks.
She was exhausted, sick and agitated. She could not keep on. It was not time to talk. She had so many things to tell Damon. She also wanted to know what happened to him. He looked tattered. His clothes were blackened, rough and dirty. He looked sick and was only moving with a great effort.
When she could not move any longer, Damon carried her on his back. She knew he was tired and she protested but he wouldn't listen. They got to a point they felt was far enough. Salim was a jungle master. He cut bamboo sticks with his machete and made a hut using the sticks and thick grass.
He made sure it was protected from snakes. The speed at which he made it was amazing. They got in and it felt warm. He went out while Damon checked the gun he carried from the driver .

" I was worried." Alicia said, hugging him, touching his face. " I could not reach you on phone."

She told him what happened and he did not seem to be as surprised as she expected.

" I knew he was coming to you." He said, running his hands through her hair." I was in Doctor Billy's house when he came in. He killed Billy and his girl then set the house on fire. I almost died if not for Salim. The guy is brave. I passed out in the inferno and I don't know how he got me out. I asked him to keep watch but Billy beat him to it. He did not see him come back so he came in and saw Bug killing Billy and his girl. He hid, let them go before he came for me. I could have been roasted . I owe this guy."

Alicia could not hold it any longer. She held him tighter and cried. She could not imagine he almost died. Deep down she knew it was her problems. How would Salim feel if he knew her father killed his parents? He made them orphans at such a young age. Now Damon was going through all these because of her. He deserved someone better....

" It's not your fault and don't even start it." His deep voice brought her back to life."

" It's my...."

He shut her up with a passionate kiss. It sent fire into her, burning up her pains, warming her body, and she felt the sweetness of his lips and tongue as they explored her mouth. This guy knew how to thrill her, treat her and subdue her fears.

" I love you." He whispered.

" I love you more." She said softly.

" When we came to the hotel and saw him holding you, Salim said they were taking you away. He saw the Hilux and guessed which way they would take. I think it has to do with what Fahad told us about seeing a fleet of cars going into the hummocks the other night. They are connected to Bug's gang. There is something big going on around here. So we ran over the hill and set hooks to burst the tyres. Salim is our hero. But we have to leave immediately."

" Leave to where? Nowhere seems to be safe."

" We will cross over to Cameroon, then fly to Mexico, then sneak into the United States"

She raised her eyebrows.

" States? You are wanted."

" We can't keep running for life. The answers to our problems lie in the States. We gotta face it headlong. I found things, we must go back."
Salim came back with roasted meat. He caught a rabbit. Alicia was hungry and could not understand where she got her appetite these days. As they began to munch, someone called Damon.
It was Fahad..

" Set fire quick so I can locate you" He said. " The police are searching for you and it won't take long to get you."

Sokodobo, you're a fantastic writer

Criis:
Sokodobo, you're a fantastic writer

Thank you

Finally caught up. Three stories and they are all fantastic.

Mr.SokoDobo ..I have read three of your works so far here and they are all so interesting. I must confess that you are one hell of a good writer....kudos man...

ELEVEN

Immediately they drove into Florida, the cab came to a halt. The cabby, a middle aged man with balding head turned and smiled.

" Welcome back to America." He said and removed a gun. " I am detective Joe . We have been expecting you."

Damon did not expect this. He wanted a chance to prove something, to exonerate himself and live a normal life but with this development, it seemed he was still in a big deadly hole.

" It's not what you think." Alicia said defensively. " He is innocent."

" Then let him prove it." He said with a grin, " You are going away for a very long time, boy. You have done this country a great harm."

Damon began to think of a way of escape. They were on a lonely highway, few cars passed-by and if he was swift, he could........but his thought was cut short as a police car pulled up and two agents alighted.
One of the cops was baulky, short with a rotund face. He rested his big hand on his holster. The other sent Damon’s liver shivering. He felt sweat on his palms. The officer looked at Damon from afar and wove at him. A wave that says,' you are dead, boy': Agent Harrison.
He walked like a lion that had his prey caged: the confidence, the swagger, the slow but steady steps all summed up to send fear burning Damon’s heart. This guy despised him, wanted him nailed, and would bend laws just to nail his head. Here was he, trapped in a cab, waiting for him.

" I need to call my father." Alicia said quickly. She was shivering because she understood the predicaments.

" Your dad warned me, and not after what happened.”

" We could settle that later. You must be saved right now."

Agent Harrison peeped through the window and gave Damon a dangerous grin.

" I missed you, boy." He said. "I dreamt about you, kept hoping you come back home to daddy, and thank God, you are back, safe and sound."

" Don't you have big and dangerous criminals to handle?" Alicia said in a fit of pique. " Why do you enjoy bullying?"

Harrison still kept his grin wide.

" A criminal who hacked into one of the most secretive federal files, killed an innocent lady, wiped away an entire family in cold blood, snatched a girl on her engagement night and took her away, went and committed murder in Africa, killed an innocent doctor and his girl, burnt his house and stole his documents, spying for Russia and china, and travels out of the country and back without a visa is very, I mean very dangerous and I may be on my way to promotion. This is a grand case, a case that will make headlines, I will be interviewed, respected for getting you and saving America. You are too naive to understand young lady. Sex with him has blocked your thinking faculty, you are hypnotized and have become obsequious. Stay out of this. Your mother is at the verge of becoming the first female president of the United states of America. You have a family name to save, a reputation to guide and be a role model to youths. You are not considered an accomplice because of your family name.......for now. I hope you will grow up and be the first daughter you are supposed to be."

Did Damon just hear him right?

" You son-of-a-bitch ! " Damon vituperated, feeling his hackles rise, feeling goad beyond endurerance. This was crazy! This was nepotism! This was dogmatism!

" You are looking for cheap popularity! "

" Get him out!" He snarled. The short agent opened the door, pulled him out in a frenzy. Alicia tried to push him.

" Let him take me." Damon cautioned. He did not want her to get hurt. " They will hurt you."

" I don't care. We are together in this. It was all my plan. I am the main culprit.!" She was hysterical, shouting at the top of her voice.

" You know nothing about it. You are innocent!" Damon said as he was pulled out. Joe came out of the car, still pointing his gun .

The short agent removed a handcuff and turned Damon around violently. He was handcuffed like a dangerous criminal they claimed he was.

" Love is crazy, right?" Harrison said with a smirk." You are innocent, Miss Grant."

" I am Mrs Damon! Call me by my name. Mrs Damon, you addled eggs!"

" Only if your parents were dead." He said. "You would have regretted ever been uncouth."

" I don't give a hoot! We have the right to speak to our lawyer."

" You are welcome. This is CIA. I am only doing my job."

" You don't have a job! You have a gang."

Harrison smiled, trying hard to suppress his anger.

" God bless America." He said." Kimmon, lets move."

Damon was pushed inside the car. Alicia rushed in and sat with him, cursing and crying. She held him tightly and just her touch at that moment gave him comfort. He felt loved and cared for.
She was medicine, healing, shield, and his comforter. A wife that was ready to sacrifice anything for him, stand by him through thick and thin. Only if life was a fairy tale, they would have been in wonderland, living happily for ever.
But life was a reality, a cauldron on vicissitudes and commotions, a ball of acrimony and greed, a sphere of avaricious and vindictive souls, a globe of dubiety and gaudy luxuries. They were in it, and had to live it, and must leave it.

They kept driving until they got to the outskirt of the town. Where the hell were they taking them to? The car finally pulled up in a lonely vast yard with a small white building. Damon was dragged out of the car and pushed condescendingly .

" Where the hell is this?" Alicia demanded?

" It's a love zone. Can't you see that no one will interfere here? We must get the truth out of him today. This is how it works sometimes."

" You are breaking the rules. American law does not support this." She argued.

" You used to be very gentle and classy. What has this street boy done to you?"

"What have you done to me?"

They all turned as they heard the sound of a car coming with a high velocity. Damon was filled with mixed feeling as he saw the Limousine coming. The chauffeur whipped the long car, raising dust before coming to a halt to allow Mr Grant and his wife alight. Mixed feelings?
Yes, mixed feelings. He did not know what to expect. There was another car, a Range Rover behind them. The glasses were tinted and nobody opened the door or alighted. Maybe there were bodyguards in there.
Mr Grant wore a worried expression.

" Jeez!" Harrison grimaced." Some gate-crashing though." He said in a low tone.

" Mr Grant." Harrison said with respect.

Mr Grant looked at Damon, his eyes piercing into him. He ignored Harrison.

" How have I wronged you, young man? Why decide to make my life a hell?" Mr Grant said softly.

" Are you working for a political opponent?” He went on .“Are you a paid gadfly? I offered you one million dollars as a gift and was willing to pay ten if only you could leave us alone. I saved you, but you decide to ruin me. Do you know what it means to take my daughter away on her engagement night, with important guests around? You turned me into a fiasco, a joke. That was a first class gaffe. You married her without my consent, our consent, took her away from us. Why? Why?"

" No, dad. It was all my fault." She said crying.

" Don't cry my baby." Mrs Grant said, moved and hugged her." We forgive you. We missed you." They were both crying.

" Yes, I missed her too." Said the father. He also hugged her.

" We are going home." Mr Grant said.

Alicia looked sharply at him.

" I can't leave without him!"

" I know. There are protocols. I will get him out. He has to be taken to the station ." Mr Grant said and then turned at Harrison." And hope you know that this is not the right place to bring him. Get his hands free"

" Yes, sir." Harrison said and Damon was freed from the handcuffs.

" He must not be touched. I will be there in an hour."

" Yes, sir."

With much hesitation, Alicia came hugged him, crying then said, " It will be alright."

Damon nodded. As they turned to leave, he said,"Good bye, My love."
She turned swiftly.

" What do you mean?"

Damon smiled.

" As you leave, they are going to kill me."

She shook her head.

"No! they can't do that. Dad is here."

Damon smirked.

" Yes, dad told them to kill me."

She gave him a look of disbelieve.

“Stop it, Damon. My dad can never hurt a fly."

Damon shook his head and pointed at Mr Grant and said

" That is your mother. Your real mother, Maria Hudson" He then pointed at her mother and said, " and that is your real father, Richard Cliff or Ted.”

She gave him that you-are-crazy-but- I -understand look.

She chuckled.

" I understand what you are going through. We will get over this and the doctor will talk to us."

" I am not insane, trust me." Damon said.

" I know my parents. I love you but I love them too. I can't let you say these. It doesn't make sense. How can my father be my mother and my
mother be my father? It doesn't add up."

" When they got the Ardos killed, they left for Nigeria and .....Dr. Hart, was a first class surgeon, did it. I saw the file....."

" Did what?"

" Transgender." Damon dropped the nickel. " Your father was turned into a woman, given hormones to develop breast, made sure he grew no beared or body hair, worked on his voice and plastic surgery. Your mother was made to become a man, made to grow beard, made her voice deeper, and her breast was taken off. They took a new identity and Richard and Maria were dead for good. They came back and adopted you and claimed to be Grants. They killed the real Grants and took over their identity. Your brother is your biological brother. Dr Billy handled his birth. They did not operate their sexual organs. So your so-called father got pregnant and they left for Nigeria. Remember you said he was in Africa for one year. It was Nigeria he went to not the country he told you. It was a maternity leave. Remember when Salim said Billy turned a man's sickness into a baby? He was right. It was your father or mother who came to put to bed. The year coincides with your brother's birth year. They also came back to adopt him. Billy and his father were killed because they knew too much. I am also going to get killed because I know."

Damon could see shock on her face. She wanted to disbelieve but it seemed somethings were adding up. It was like unveiling her eyes.
Harrison and his men may have been doing dirty jobs for them but it seemed they did not know about this. Damon saw shock on their faces.
Ted, who posed as Mrs Grant removed a gun and shot Harrison while Maria, who posed as Mr Grant shot and killed the other two. Damon never saw anyone handle gun the way they did. Alicia screamed. Damon saw Harrison staggering, held his chest, gave him an empty glance and then dropped on the ground near his men.
Ted looked at Damon.

" You found what no one ever found. Too bad for you."

OMG!

Alicia tried to assure herself that this was for real. She hoped it was a nightmare, or hallucination, and someone would tell her it did not happen.
Just a few minutes ago, she had been scared that Damon was sick, he needed to see a psychiatrist, the trauma had blurred his senses. How could he tell me that the wonderful, kind and simple couple that adopted her were her real parents? The mafias! How could he tell her that her father was her mother and her mother was her father? But to her dismay, he wasn’t a barmy. He was rather smart, and solved a mystery that no law man had solved.

While he was talking, she watched everyone and the expression on her parents' faces weakened her. They did not look astonished or ready to deny. Then some things started adding up. Her father had always taken the role of a mother. The first time she menstruated, she got scared and cried, ran to her mother. It was her father who calmed her down and told her all about it. It was him always giving her sex education, telling her how to dress, commenting on her makeup. It had always been there, she just couldn’t see it. How could she? Who could have thought of that?

At first, it was her, her parents and adopted twelve year old brother. Then she came to find out that she was also adopted and her real parents were Richard and Maria Cliff. They were said to have died in Vegas. Then they were said not to be dead. Then Bug said they were killed years later. She wanted to know them, not because she wanted to be with them but out of curiosity. She was glad the Grants were not like them. She had never seen any sign of violence in them. They never liked anything that brought trouble. She was even angry at a point that they were too soft.

Unknown to her and the rest of the world, they were the dangerous couple, the notorious Richard and Maria Cliff. So, Jeff was her biological brother. That was the only good thing about it. She had always felt that bond with him and the resemblance was there. Poor boy. He believed he was an orphan. Unknown to him, he was living right under the nose of his parents. This saga was full of twists. She did not know what to believe anymore.

She had to scream as dad and mum, no, Richard and Maria, or Ted and Amanda shot and killed three federal agents with such expertise and heartlessness. She never liked the agents, they were going to kill Damon so they got what they deserved but it was shocking.
Richard smiled at Damon.

“ I never underestimated you, boy.” He said. “ We never underestimate anyone and that is one of our greatest secret to success. But even though we were proactive, I never thought you will get this far. You make it look like we are bad guys.”
He widened his grin, and his feminine mannerism was gone.

“ It’s like saying the wild animals that kill preys are bad. No. It is necessity that drives them and compel them to kill. It is all about survival. Yes, we are the Ciffs and I am her father. She thought we abandoned her, no. We escaped and made sure we came back for her. We are caring but we could not come back as Cliffs. So we took the big step. We had to kill Cliffs and become Grants and live a free life. So, I became Mrs Grant and my wife, Mr Grant.” They both chuckled.

“ I had to start learning how to be a woman and she a man. We had no option. I am not a Caitlyn Jenner kind of trans, it was not my wish to have these balls, “he pointed at his firm bosom. Alicia now knew why they were so firm. Fake!

“ But it stopped your cheating habit.” Maria said amid smiles

“ Oh, yes. I mean…I cannot have any girl because the only girls that will go for me are lesbians. And when a lesbian who feels she is going to have a nice time with a sweet chick like me finds me with a ramrod stick, she will go hoo-hoo and that means…..exposure. So, I stuck to my wife. In day time…”

“ I was the husband,” Maria chipped in.

“ At night….”

“ I am the wife.’

They both laughed. It was amusing them.

“We needed another child. You don’t know how this thing works. Family money is meant to last for generations. Can’t you see the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers ? They train the children who train their children who train their children. But we did not see the potentials in Alicia. She was kind of naive, prim, mild, soft and that was bad for business. We needed another child so she got pregnant and had to move to Africa. Jeff is going to be trained. We wanted Alicia to marry Steve. Steve is a well-trained boy, he knows family values, a potential heir, a competent future boss but you came in and thwarted it. We knew you were not together when you went to our country home. Forget all Maria said about you cheating on Steve. We also knew when you fell in love but we saw it coming. You may wonder how we know many things. In this game, you must have an ear to the ground. We rule the world. We have eyes everywhere, we have hands in every section of the society: the law, the government, the religious body, entertainment, educational institutions….we are every where. We got the big eye that sees all, we got the sun that shines on all, we got the rain that pour from the sky…..we are untouchables and this does not come with no underworld. We have over seventy billion dollars in our empire and that must be kept moving. A pedigree has been established. And the fools in America are excited they are going to have the first female president.”

Maria giggled.

“ I love the drama.” She said.

“ We must always make a fool of them. That is what it means to be at the top…..”

“ The bodies, honey.” Maria cut in.

“Oops!” Richard said and flicked a finger.

A door opened and someone alighted from the Range Rover. The man had his nose covered with a plaster and a stitch on his forehead. It was was Bug. How? Alicia thought he died.

Yes. He had been working for them all these while. She remembered him saying he was going to kill her and feared no reprisal. So he meant reprisal from The Grants. He worked for them.What a world!

“ I know you have met Bug,” he said, “ and probably think he is dead. That’s Bug for you. He had died many times.”

“ Like when he was caught up in the Colombian bomb attack. We all thought he was gone, but he appeared after two days in the debris.” Said Maria.

“ Remember when Farrilo shot him twice at close range?” Asked Richard.

“ The beast bounced back just after three months.”

“ That is bug. So,” he turned at Bug, “ go get the mess cleaned.”

Bug nodded, then gesticulated and two weird looking men alighted and started moving the bodies into the Range Rover.

“ We have kept our tracks clean.” Richard went on. “We always clean up our mess. After the surgery, Maria wanted Dr Hart dead. She never trusted him. I refused. Hoping he will be of use. She did not like the idea. So, on her birthday….”

“ Oh, that was romantic.” Maria chipped in.

“ I took her to the hummocks, we had fun, and I covered her eyes and ….”

“ You told me to come with you.”

“ And when I asked you to open your eyes…”

“ Lo! Dr Hart’s beheaded body was lying on the grass. I can never forget that lovely scene. At first, I was infuriated you did it without me..”

“ Then I said….”

“ It’s your birthday surprise gift, honey,” they chorused and laughed.

“ Oh, I love you Ted.”

“ I love you too, Amanda.”

Alicia never heard them call themselves that. Damn!
Maria moved closer and kissed him lightly.

“ But Billy never knew we killed his father. I even helped him in his career,” Richard went on ,“I employed him as a family doctor. He made quite some amount. You can’t work for the Grants and don’t make money. But I needed him in Nigeria and wanted no link to his whereabout. So, he died in America and resurrected in Nigeria. But, when you guys found him out……he had to go and there are evidence in their study. Those guys were bums! Why keep record of such things? Pride, blackmail, what? Right now, there is no evidence left except……you.”

“ No!" Alicia said at once. “ You don’t have to kill him. He will never talk, I promise. Just let us be.”

“ You belong here my love.” Said Maria. “ He belongs there. He has no family wealth to protect, he has no name to maintain. He was just a diversion, something you will live to remember and say , I was only a kid then, I thought it was love, but now I know better.”

“ Never! If you think I will live without him, then have another think. If you are bent on killing him, then let me go first. I am also a witness.”

The couple laughed.

“ We can take care of you. “ Maria said .

Bug and his men had put the bodies in the car, cleaned the bood and sprayed a chemical on the ground where the bodies had laid. These were professional killers.

“ You killed your father, too?” Damon said.

Oh, Damon, shut up. The more they know you know, the more you are prone to getting killed. Alicia thought.

That seemed to surprise the Hudsons.

“ Professor Pliers was your father and he took you to Amanda’s father. You doublecrossed him.”

“ You are quite an impressive young man. I think next you will tell me the day I disvirgined Amanda”

“ In the hummocks, you idiot." Maria said and they laughed. “ I was only ten” She playfully hit him.” You did not even let me hit my teens.”

“ Sweet old days.” He said.

God! It was like Alicia was meeting them for the first time. How could they be so cagey not even her knew the real them.

“ You just have to die, my friend.” He told Damon.

“ Do you think I am foolish enough not to have my plans?” Damon said confidently. “ I knew you guys were after us. I knew Bug worked for you. I was there when you called him, and he told you he had killed Billy and his girlfriend. So, I got me a plan. Right now, my friends are close by. They saw the agents pick us. If they don’t see me in the next twenty minutes, they will talk.”

Richard paused, looked at Damon for some seconds and he felt his dangerous glare sending a cold feeling inside him.

“I think you are lying……but it is a good one.I will let you go. But you will never see Alicia again. What you called marriage is gone. You had her and it’s over. I advise you not to talk. It won’t do you any good. It won’t work out, trust me. I am contesting and right now the cock of the walk. I will spare you….for now.”

“ Are you sure about this, honey?” Maria asked skeptically.

“ Yes, I am and you know it. If you are not sure about it…..your birthday is just around the corner.”

They laughed.

Richard turned at Damon.

“ What happened between me and my father is a family business. it is none of your business.”

He said, held Alicia’s hand and dragged her after him.

“ Leave me alone! I don’t want to go with you.” She protested, trying to free her hands. He was strong. He removed a gun and pointed it at Damon.

“ I swear if you get me on edge, I will kill him right now.”

She believed him and allowed them take her inside the long car. She cried bitterly. The worst thing for her was been seperated from Damon. She sat on a seat, while the dangerous couple sat opposite her, having no scintilla of remorse. She could feel the darkness of their souls, the coldness of their hearts, the fire in their eyes and the bitterness of been close to them.
Fate! No matter what she felt, she was the child of such beasts.

As the car began to leave the vicinity, she looked through the window and saw Damon standing, helplessly looking at her. There seemed to be no life in him, he was like a beautiful sculpture with no life, like an abandoned soldier in the middle of enemies. He said no word, but she felt his pains, he looked as if he was in disbelieve, like watching his heart been plugged away and there was no damn thing he could do. He was a figure of pity, loneliness and hopelessness. Oh God! She needed to be with him, wanted to hold him, press him against her chest and tell him not to worry, kiss him and bring him back to life, make him smile again. Oh no! When she recalled they said she would not see him again, knowing that was coming from the great Cliffs, the all powerful Cliffs, she went ballistics and made a frenzied effort to get out of the car.

“ Let me out! Let me out!” She was screaming, trying to fight her way out, using her hands, legs, whatever she felt could be used. She was trying to reach the door, shouting but it was all futile. She saw in dismay as Damon’s image kept getting farther as they moved away. He was as still as a pole, too weak to react. Then she saw him sag on his knees, too weak to stand, still looking at them. She was still trying to move out. She knew it was useless but trying made her felt better. Then he sprang up, something must have gingered him, pricked his mind and he began to run after them. The speed was almost too much for a human. She wondered if Usein Bolt could get near him then, not even a cheater perhaps or it was just an imagination of hers.

He was running with all his strength, even though he knew he could not catch up with us. He was trying a futile attempt like her. It was not them, but their hearts which had a bond no science could explain, a chemistry yet to be defined, an attraction beyond comprehension. It was their souls, symbiotic, entwined, complementary, depended-on-each-other-souls. Souls finely merged and now one, no separation technique could separate . Nothing!

Bang! Bang!!

She heard a gunshot and everything became dead silent. She stopped moving at once. Saw the world spinning at an incredible speed. Her brain in hiatus, eyes blank, nerves frayed, heart stopped and then she saw Damon halt at once, held his stomach, his face glistened with sweat, then he sagged on his knees, still looking at her direction, an expression of shock and pain on his handsome face.

What!

He was bleeding. Someone shot him. It must have been from the Range driving beside them. Then he dropped on the ground, made a last wiggle then went still. Alicia could not make a move. She just watched his motionless body, lying helplessly on the ground while they went farther away. She could not cry, could not talk, could not move but just gaped. Then whiteness flashed , then she plunged into darkness. Everything was now blank. She passed out.

TWELVE

The market square was chock-a-block with gaggles of natives, tourists, buyers and sellers. The notoriously fickle weather was now felicitous as thick cloud made the scorching sun rays mild and warm. Halima sat on a trunk, obliged, faut de mieux, to watch the dreaded shadi.
She just could not understand the benefit of the game. She recalled Baffa telling her about some Fulani tribes that when a man was about to get married, he would be severely whipped. If he cries, then he would be denied marriage but if he doesn't, then he meets the requisite factor for having a wife.

Baffa was seriously ill and the herbalist kept mixing medicines which proved impotent. She believed in herbal medicines but felt diagnosing the patient was imperative. Baffa needed a proper check and her gut-wrenching uncles never cared. What kind of people where they? She just wanted to leave this place. She never used to think of leaving until she met Fahad.

She was not worried about Salim anymore. He was only still hanging around for her sake. He got a lot of money from Fahad and his white friends. He secretly went to the city and bought a big house with plenty shops. He said when renovation was complete, he would rent it out and have a steady income even when he got back to school. He used almost all the money he had to buy the house: twenty three million naira
Now he felt bad because Baffa needed medication. But Fahad was there. He was not the type of guy that you scratched your head trying to tell your problems. He was always watching, trying to know what was going on around you, reminding you of the things you needed, creating needs even when there was none, he was just that sweet guy, that dream husband, that guy you never got tired of, the type that was elusive. He brought the suggestion of taking him to Abuja.

Abuja!

She had never been out of Taraba. She was kind of agoraphobic, and the intensity of stares and attention she got made her sick.
Her uncles had the effrontery to ask her not to see Fahad even when Baffa approved it. Salim was even threatened for saving Fahad from Hande. They said they would stop feeding him, stop buying Sallah-clothes for him. He told them to go jump into the sea for all he cared and if anyone dared try to touch him, he was going to give him a dose of his accumulated madness. Feeding? Salim was a big boy and all thanks to Fahad.

" Wasap bek." Hande's voice brought her out of her thoughts. It was a market day and Hande never seized to use the opportunity to try and impress the caboodle with his dressing. Today, he wore a singlet, displaying his tattoos which was drawn with black ink. He had the picture of a badly drawn gun on his biceps, then a smoky wrap of weed on his neck. Fulanis had a lot of hair and in the past, most young men used to plait their hair. He had a comb stuck to his plenty hair. He had a plaster on his forehead which was part of fashion. She didn't blame him, Nelly was there.

His skinny tattered jeans sagged, showing his red boxers, then wore big black boots looking like what was inherited from a Nigerian civil war soldier. Looking like a cast for comedy, he held an android phone, playing Craig David's songs. He was chewing bubble gum. She hated to see guys chew like that but he said it gave him a funky look. Why should a man be chewing gum like a dame?
Puke!

"Crem Debis !" A girl hawking fura da nono hailed him. As usual, he raised his fingers in the air, wiggled slightly then said, " eyo, bek. You looking senatorial district."

What?

Halima came to realise that he had the habit of listening to news or watch movies and cram any word he felt was big, then use it at the slightest opportunity. The meaning of the word? Your business, not his.

" Kai Hande, kada katurance ni ( hey ,Hande, dont speak advanced English to me)"

He laughed hysterically. He loved such reactions.

" I sorry bek. I poget this is no Lagos. Kai, shit, wara men!" He smiled, " No eben those who learn am English from housegirl work," he was trying to insult Halima, " they can't fit spoke the thug nigga bitches English, arado."

" Byai-byai (bye-bye), Crem Debis." The girl said.

" Xenophobia, xenophobia! " He said proudly . " I promise you ass-cream and shawara (shawarma)"

Damn!

" Eben them don know the meaning of xenophobia. Eben me I go to South-aprica to get am that English. "

He now turned at Halima.

" I want you to inbestigate ( check out ) this pictorial (pictures)."

He gave some pictures to her. She reluctantly collected them and looked. The first one was the picture of a girl, wearing a big shirt which reached her knees, unbuttoned to show her singlet and big chains with a skull. She wore oversized face cap, baggy pants and flip-flops. She held out her finger with the peace sign and her legs wide apart.

"Hehehe ! That is Patara Biacch." He said proudly.

" She is lib in Jos! She come for summer, hehehe, you know summer? No. Only holiday. We meet am and fall in lob. Look the second pictorial."

The second picture showed them holding each other, with Hande holding a bottle of coke like P-diddy holding a thirty thousand dollar champagne.

" Hehehe, she is west side bek. You is lucky to have me amma you is pak up." He smirked. " Patara is no bilage baby like you. She is rheumatism (romantic). I go to her house," he said, gesticulating like he was rapping, swaggering and puffing, " I put rosemary (rose flowers)in my back and tell am to close her eyes, she is close it and I tell open, she is open and she is see it. She is collected it and waooo! She is snuff it and breath hardly and say this is delicious."

Did he just say delicious?

" Then she come and kiss me. Hmmm, she is taste like mangoron binta suga, but you is no kiss, eberything is muslim, muslim, muslim. Haba! Are you a Sahabiya (companion of the Prophet)? This is twenty-first centimetre (Century) but you is liking (lagging) behind. Patara get a butuful lamtom (beautiful laptop), she is brassing (browsing) but you is billage. You don't know lamtom, you don't pesbook ( Facebook). Do you know selfish (selfie)? Arado me is trying to strangulate marriage with you so me can show you things of city, not rearing of cow in the jungle, and holding stick. Patara is Fulani amma she is no rearing and she is no hacking (hawking) fura da nono. She is city Fulani, arado. So me is no lob you again. Patara is a west side slot."

Oh my God! This guy, try to know what words mean. Slot? Just because you hear it in movies?

" I'm sorry Hande....."

He quickly turned dramatically, how he saw it in a movie, like he was angry and she would go after him, begging, he put his hands in his pocket, and go like you hurt me and all that. She only wanted to say, “I'm sorry you feel bad but I never loved you.”

" Don't apologetic me. Shit! Warra shit, men. " He said, kicking the air. This was market but he never gave a hoot. " I'm no coming back. I'm sorry, bek, but you is late. Another lady is taken my heart. I tell you but you is no hear. "

" Hande..."

He raised his hand.

" Don't measure (mention) my name." He said melodramatically, then turned at her, making his face hard. " in the pass (past) I tell you, you is my one and no one that one like you is one."

How could she forget that poem? Hande thought he was the best poet in Taraba.

" I say you say climb tree like a monkey
I follow you like alkaki
I lob you like zaki
If you are honey land
Me is timberland
Every time I sleep I have nightmare of you
I lob you I lob you I lob you I lob you
I will carry you go America and New York
Took you to Dubai, india and Asia"

He smiled, '' but now this poetic is for Patara."

" Crem Debis !" One guy hailed him, after his normal reply and you look delicious stuff, the guy said ," won't you participate in shadi?"

" Shadi? In this twenty first centimetre ?" he shook his head. " If you like tell eberybody that Crem Debis is no manhood, I don gib a pak! Just like that somebody is bulala me and break my skin? For what? Me am Fulani amma am butter. You know butter? Ajebutter! "

"Sai Crem Debis!"

" Yo yo yo yo. West side biacch!"

He turned at Halima, then said, " I am going to Gaude. Patara is waiting. Kiss, kiss, and rheumatism today, arado. You tell me you is muslim. Me is no muslim? Ebery Friday I go to mosque and pray. So paking what? Pak. Gib me my pictorials."

He snatched the pictures, saluted then bounced away in triumph. She was sure he felt fulfilled, feeling he got a revenge, broke her heart, and got the last laugh.

She smiled. She was going to miss his comedy....Crem Debis.

Crem Debis ooo.. even reading ur English gave me a nasty headache...chaii

He had barely gone when Kawu Jalo came, holding a sack . He was one of her uncles and the most notorious. He had been pestering her life, swearing that she must marry Hande . He glared at her, then spat on the ground.

" Come here!" He ordered.

Not here please. This is a market.

" I saw you with Hande. That is good. You have come to your senses." He smiled, showing the gap in his mouth where his two front teeth used to be. She heard he lost them in a fight. " His father is a chief, they have a big ranch, can't you see they a good family?"

By your definition and myopic point of view, yes. She thought

" Yes." She said, trying to avoid any argument that will turn vituperative.

"Good." He said. " They are angry but I was there five times to beg on your behalf." He said proudly. " They have forgiven us but Hande is said be angry. I'm glad you guys worked things out." He showed his teeth again.

" You young kids sure do know how to work things out. The father gave me a cow yesterday. A pregnant one. Can't you see that you have a great future there? All of these are for your good. The boy deceiving you, Fahad, is a thief."
Was this guy talking to a two-year old?

" A thief?" She asked.

" Yes. They don't even have a single cow. What do you stand to gain with him?"

It was at that moment the roaring sound of a chopper caught every body's attention. The big bird landed on a field near the market square. Every one was fascinated because cars could not even come up to the village but here was an helicopter. Fahad alighted, flanked by two armed military men fully dressed in camouflage, holding AK-47. Halima could sense adoration from onlookers. The market was brought to a standstill.

" Who is this?" Kawu Jalo asked

" That's my fiancé." She said. Under normal circumstances, he would have taken it as an act of disrespect and shamelessness to use the phrase my fiancé but he seemed to be absorbed in thoughts. Fahad walked to them, his guards fiercely looking round, giving a warning expression.

" Asalamu alaikum." He said in his sweet voice with a smile that got her melting.

" Ameen wa alaikum salam." Kawu Jalo replied before she could say a word. A wide grin fixed on his face.

" You are welcome ." Jalo offered his hand and they shook hands.

" I am her father ." He said. " Her father and I have the same parents. When he died, I took her under my custody."

" That is nice of you, sir."

Kawu Jalo laughed.

" Thank you. Why don't you come home. You must be tired and need a fresh fura da nono."

" Thank you, sir, but we need to pick Baffa to hospital and it would be hard for him to go in a car. The time, stress and all that. So we have come to pick him."

" Thank you very much. This is the result of my prayers. Baffa is my father. He married my mother, my mother is the same with Ardo. So when he married my mother, they gave birth to me.”

What was wrong with this uncle of mine? Halima pondered.

" And I have been praying for him. I have been dead worried for him. Allah brought you. You said you are transporting him in this jet?"

Jet?

Fahad nodded.

" I think I need to go with you. I hate to be away from him when he is sick. He will be definitely asking after me."

What? When did Kawu Jalo start caring for Baffa? He turned at Halima.

" Halimatu Sadiya." He called.

" Na'am."

" I must not see you with another man. This boy is a good Muslim. He will teach you Qur'an, hadith and fiqh. That is all I want. I'm not after worldly things."

" I know kawu."

" I am your baba not kawu. In our tradition, it is a mother's brother that is an uncle but a father's brother is a father."

So he knew that.

" Toh baba."

The villagers had gathered round the chopper, making different comments. Some even said it could travel to moon. And Halima was now the talk of the village. A girl with a guy in chopper. The military men would have to go back in a car due to limited space.
As they got into the chopper, the villagers hailed, clapped and wove. That was what happens when a chopper lands in a village where cars don't land. Kawu Jalo kept waving at his friends, like Baba Buhari during his campaign. He wanted everybody to see him. He asked someone to keep snapping him. He was happy. Very happy. As Fahad started the engine, the villagers clapped.
Halima was beginning to get smugly irritated.

She sat beside Fahad while Kawu Jalo was behind. Fahad helped with the seatbelts. Gradually, the big bird left the ground, increasing altitude and she felt uncomfortable, holding the edge of the seat. As they moved up, the crowd became smaller but she caught sight of Hande hiding behind a hill. Their eyes met, he quickly took off his eyes and feigned not to see them.

They were now up in the sky, everything looked small from that point. Whoa! She could see the vast stretch of the hummocks, the beauty of the land and nature. She had prepared her luggage which was at Baffa's house. But deep down, she was scared. They were going to Abuja for Baffa's treatment and definitely going to meet Fahad’s parents. What if they were going to reject her? What if Fahad was going to be taken away from her? She closed her eyes.

" Are you scared" Fahad asked, thinking it was height phobia.

She looked at him and then nodded.

" Yes. I have never been more scared in my life."

It was three months since it happened. It was a month since she became a breathing corpse. Damon was taken away from Alicia.
Her only regret is why only him? Why leave her in this abyss of despair? Well, it was only a matter of time. She was done with this world. What else? What was life without Damon? She was left with a world memories of him. The first time they met, how he shivered, and tried to get her attention.

Why did she not accept him then? That could have added to the time they spent together. Why didn't she know him since she was ten ,or eight, or one? Why did it have to be so short? She felt as if they only spent one day together, or less, maybe seconds. The best time of her life was with him, the best thing in her life was with him, the best of everything was Damon. He was the only person she trusted, the only one she was sure could die for her, and would love her no matter what happened.
He suffered all of those things because of her.

She imagined how he must have felt the day he went to buy cappuccino for her only to come back and find her gone. If his friends were there, they would have laughed at him. She knew how boys did that. Then he kept searching for her for months, saw and chased her only to be harassed by the cops. How dare she? But she was happy she had lunch with him. Stupid, you still hurt him that day. You refused to give him your number. Why were you not perfect? She remembered the first time they made love, the wedding night, the night she gave him her most precious possession: her body and soul. She smiled amid tears. It was a day she became a full woman, plunged into the land of honey from her little castle of innocence. All the times they spent in Nigeria, the remarkable honeymoon. Together they laughed and cried. Just a short time with him and her life was encapsulated in them.

He made her discover who she was, discovered the most hidden secrets and paid dearly for it.
Now she sat in her bedecked pool, all the flowers now looked dull, ugly, and repulsive. Damon left the world and the word illumination disappeared from her dictionary. He left and took all the sweetness with him, now Ice-cream was bitter, cupcake was sour, water was glutinous, foam was rock, and and joy was null and void. That was the life she was living. She knew a guard was by the door, when he spent six hours, another took over . What was that for? What did she need to go out for? He was gone and nothing else mattered. Were they scared she was going to expose them? Did she have any evidence? This couple were not ordinary. Who would believe her? Would that bring Damon back? All she wanted was to go where he was. She did not have his address but she was sure their souls would reconnect.

" Hello, Alicia."

She was so deep in her psyche she did not hear him come in. She raised her face, knowing she looked like hell and did not give a damn. Why should she look beautiful? Damon was not there to see it, to tell her all those beautiful lines of his, words that she would never hear again. Who could say them like Damon? His was not just words, but words with magical touch. Not just words, but words with passion. Not just words, but words with sincerity.

" Hello, Steve." She said in a little just above whisper. She had not seen him since the engagement night and rarely thought of him. That was what Damon did to her, he got into her heart and occupied all of it, taking it all for himself.

" I'm sorry about Damon." He said.

What was he trying to do? Act nice after all that happened?

" Thank you." She said.

" I have been seeking permission from your parents to come and see you. They felt you were not ready then,"

" Will I ever be ready for anything?"

" I know how you feel and I understand." He said in a cool manner. " I just want to say if you need someone to talk to, anything Alicia, I will be
there for you. I have always been there and I will never stop."

"Why are you still been nice to me? "

" Because I have no option. I can't never bring myself to despise you. We have been together for like forever."

Forever is a big word, dude. It was Damon that qualified for such a word.

" Thank you. You are such a nice person."

" I'm elated. I was thinking of getting you a keyboard. You loved playing , right?"

"Thank you but I don't need one now."

" But you have to move on, Alicia. You can't be like this forever."

" I'm sorry for what I did to you. I swear I never planned it"

" I know. It's okay"

" I loved him. I don't think I can move on." She shook her head. " I saw him get shot."

"Who? What is going on?"

"Em...I think they were robbers or something." She lied. " It does not matter who or what they were. They killed him." She broke into tears. He took time trying to console her. He was very patient. She just couldn't understand why.

" Kim and Samantha, hope they are good." She asked after she calmed down.

" Yeah. But we don't see like it used to be. After ...the incident, I kinda withdrew myself. I mean, you know how it is."

" Oh, I am such a horrible person. I must have caused you a lot."

" Don't go there. It was not your fault."

" So, did you move on? Any girl in your life?"

He chuckled.

" I tried but...I just couldn't do it."

"Why? You think all girls will do what I did to you?"

" No. But which girl will I love like I loved you? I waited for you all my life. I just could not get you out of my mind."

What?

" But I was married. I wasn't coming back."

" I know, I wanted to take time to heal if I would ever heal."

" Heal." She said. " I don't know if I can ever heal. I don't know if it's okay to tell you this but I can never forget Damon. I don't think I can heal."

" Time will tell. We all heal over a period of time, especially when we meet someone as caring or more caring than the former."

" Yeah. Thank you for your kind words. You are such a big hearted bloke."

" I want to have a bigger heart by taking care of you and it. How old is it?"

She smiled, ran her hands over her baby bump.

" It's four months old. That's the only thing keeping me alive." She said. " I can’t wait to have Damon's child."

He smiled.

" He will never lack fatherly love."

Talking about the baby in her was the best thing that happened to her since the incidence. Having Damon's blood in her, a soul that they both contributed twenty-three chromosomes each for.

She smiled.

" Thank you for coming."

David pushed his foot on the brake pedal of his pick-up and switched off the engine. He alighted the car, and Dex, their seven year old Dalmatian dog came jumping on him.

" Come on, Big Dex, hope you are good. " He played with it for a fraction of minute, then went into the big cabin. He built it himself twelve years ago and a day never passed without him appreciating the beauty of his handwork. It was a six bedroom personage, built in style and to comfort. The sequestered nature of the building which was situated in a serene environment gave him the quiet he needed after thirty five years of service. He and Sarah loved this place.

He carried the pack of groceries and walked in, saw Sarah, his wife of forty years sitting comfortably on an arm chair outside. Sometime he found it hard to believe she was sixty-three. She still looked beautiful and energetic.

" You look wonderful." He said. " Still the girl I met in a cobler's shop in 1977."

She chuckled.

" You are still the dashing young man who helped me pick up my shoes that fell down. But you never told me the centre of the part of your hair will go." He chuckled.

He gave her a peck.

" I missed you."

"I missed you too." She said .

" So?"

" Better than we anticipated." She said.

" Let me go see myself."

He went inside and met him sitting at the dinning, enjoying his meal.

" Hey, ready for a boxing match?" David said.

" Don't want to kill an old man." Damon, the boy he picked up almost dead months ago said. " I rather fight Anthony Joshua."

THIRTEEN

Damon sat on a chair while the Police chief gave him a look that made him felt like a schmuck deep in senescence. He knew that look. The type Alicia gave him when he told her about her real parents. There was pity and disbelieve in it.
It was not a doddle getting him here to talk to him. He had looked for Detective Jack Linderhum, the guy who tried to re-open the case and went to question Mr Grant or Maria before the case was closed again finally. It took one month trying to reach him and not getting arrested. When he finally met him, which was a dicey step, he told him what he knew about Richard and his wife. He told him they had Alicia in captivity if she was alive.

God! The last seven months had been hell. He recuperated fully after four months and at once hit the town looking for Alicia. He had no resources, no friends to help, no link, nothing. All he had was determination and zeal. He could not reach their mansion; neither could he reach her friends. So, he had to think of the law, the same law that wanted him. But for Alicia, he would take any risk.

Jack seemed to believe him but he noticed a lackadaisical approach. Then he confessed to Damon that he was forced to shut the case. He never suspected the Grants, never anticipated their involvement but he just felt something was wrong and he had nothing to lay his hands on. He loved challenges, loved unsolved mysteries and confessed envying Damon for doing what was his dream. But he had no capacity to re-open the case. There was something clandestine going on. Mr Grant was an international figure, a billionaire, a top politician and nailing such men who in the past had built an empire with many top men as his protégés, flunkies inclined to avoiding the most exiguous peccadillo which was prone to getting them ostracised or given a cagey coup de grace by the almighty Grant. He was among the global oligarchs in clandestine faustian pact, stirring world upheavals, yet top the list when it came to charity works and ostensible gregariousness. Pulling such men down was not about just having a badge. It was about miracle and divine intervention.

So he got in touch with Kennedy. Kennedy was an incorruptible officer, diligent and dedicated. Jack put in a lot of effort to arrange this meeting. Kennedy had the power to give a go ahead but his reaction now made it look like a debacle. Why was he giving Damon such a look?

" Do you know what you are talking about?" Kennedy said. " You are talking about Mr Grant."

" I do, sir"

" Are you into drugs?"


Damon frowned.

" No, sir"

"So, how did it start? Are you aware of your issues?"

" I don't understand."

" When I first heard about your accusations, I made a check on you." He said. " I'm sorry but you have got issues. We may confine you to a mental asylum if you keep talking about this or anything related to this. This is a serious allegation but considering your health status, we understand that it is not deliberate. But if you keep talking about this, we will have to put you way. "

" What health issues? What business do I have with mental sanatorium?"

Kennedy looked at Jack.

" Get the doctor."

" Yes, sir."

Damon could not figure out what was going on. Ten minutes later, Jack came in with a serious looking doctor who they introduced as a psychiatrist, They called him Doctor Sam.

" You know him, don't you?" Kennedy asked, waving his fat hands at Sam.

Damon shook his head.

" Never met him before."

Sam gave a smirk, shook his head and said, " it's crisis. It happens to him like that."

" What the fuc*k are you guys talking about? I never met you and if there is any crisis going on, then it is in your head." He pointed at Sam.

"It's alright, Damon. I have been treating you since you were twelve. I did most of it on my own, without any fee before the government began to pay me. Remember your mother had issues with the social workers and they almost took you away from her? Your father was a brutal soldier who only did military, women and beer. No one was there to take responsibility...."

"That is a cockamamie! My mum was always there! She had to work all day to take care of us."

" The records are there."

" I know the social workers tried to take us away."

"Thank God you admit that." Sam said . " You had serious mental defects. You always tried to hurt yourself."

Damon was shocked when Dr Sam began to show videos which was stored in his i-pad. It showed Damon doing stunts which of course were very dangerous moves not every sane child would attempt. He also had videos of him kicking and raking at his bike for stopping. Damn!

" We have enough reports by your neighbours who claimed you used to imagine you had a wife and would knock at your door for hours. And here are the records of your treatments for ten years."

He had a pile of authentic looking documents that substantiated his claims.

" Your former teachers also helped in given reports about you. They are still alive. There are records of payments by government to our sanatorium for your treatment. I thought you were fully recovered until this popped up. I brought you some medications."

Damon did not protest but stopped listening to him. He now got it. Richard! He was dealing with the mafia. He had Damon fixed. No one was going to take him serious. No one would start any investigation. He was just a barmy, a crazy guy who imagined things. There was no point of arguing, he was not going to win. This was now in his profile, sent to all agencies. Richard said it, and it was not a bluff. They ruled the world.

" Thank you Doctor Whatever but I don't need your medication. This is buried. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

" It's okay but I advise you take the drugs." Sam said.

" You know this is all a set-up so drop the acts. Now, may I leave?"

Ten minutes later, Jack was driving Damon back. They drove in silence.

" Do you know why you were not arrested?"

" No."

" You were accused of murder, conspiracy and hacking, right?"

" And you acted as if you never knew."

" The CIA agent handling it has absconded. A dirty agent called Harrison. He stole vital documents, withdrew over twenty million dollars which was sent to him from an undisclosed person, for an undisclosed reason and absconded. Your case seemed to be a set up. It was discredited."

Yes! Because he was now a toothless bull. The frame-up was dropped.

" Are you sure he escaped?"

"There are records at the airport. He and his cronies were on board. "

Richard! Damon saw them got killed. He cleaned the mess. Never leaving tracks. He did not bluff when he said they ruled the world.
Damon shrunk each time he watched Richard’s campaigns, the smiles, the sound speeches, the love he received from the crowds, the ladies crying that they were going to have the first female president. He saw the real him, yet he could not talk. Now that he was a certified barmy, it became worse.

" I am glad to hear that." Damon said. " I think I would alight here."

Jack swung the police car out of the way and pulled up. He sighed.

" Kennedy was doing his job. I don't blame him." He said.

" Why do you say this?"

" Because it's not everything you told us. You may not have killed, or stolen but there are some elements of truth. I get it. You don't want to incriminate yourself. " He looked straight into Damon’s eyes. " You are not crazy and the Sam documents were fake. I know this but can't do shit about it. I also believe you. This is a game played by world players. I hate it when we are taken for fools. I will keep in contact. I think I want to work with you. I know what is at stake. My job is one, my freedom is another. But it hurts to see America going into the hands of a devil like Grant. This is our little secret. Even if it means the last thing I will do, so be it. They got me down the last time I tried, he used nepotism to make me a fiasco, but this time, with what you have got, I will make it my greatest priority to get him."

Damon extended his hand and they shook.

" For America." Jack said.

" For Alicia. For America." Damon said.

Jack laughed.

" I love your sincerity."

Damon went into a restaurant and had lunch. He was just eating to stay strong, to have the energy to find his wife but nothing had taste. He wondered what she was doing, where she was and how she felt. Did she even know he was alive? Did they know he was alive?
With his new gained experience, it was safer to assume Richard knew he was alive. The Doctor Sam charade confirmed that. They had eyes, ears, hands everywhere .

" See who is here." A female voice said and Damon felt a bang in his head. " It's been a while since you jilted me."

Damon raised his head to see Kim standing over him. He did not know how to react. A part him said it was a big leap closer to Alicia. Another said the leap was closer to Richard and that meant keeping Alicia away from him.

" Kim. "He said. " How are you?"

" Broken." She sat opposite him." Oh my God! Look at what she turned you into. I mean you look troubled. But.....wait a minute. You were said to be dead."

"Who said so?"

"Steve. Shot by robbers."

"Yeah I got shot but I survived."

" Oh."

" So you forgot that, right?"

" Who would not want to forget? You love a guy and he ends marrying your best friend, and you are left brooding. Yes, I was glad you were dead. Was that not better than her having you?"

" I'm sorry if you feel that way. Still the blunt blond" He said . " But it was her from the scratch."

"Why didn't you guys say so? Why did she give me the impression that she was trying to make it work between us? "

" Because she tried to avoid me. She wanted you to have me so she could move on with Steve. It was not deliberate."

" You still defend her even when.......she has forgotten you."

" Where is she?"

She shrugged.

" I don't know. I can never forgive her so we don't hang out no more. She is not good for anyone. Being close to her is tantamount to getting hurt. She hurt all those close to her. I ,Steve, you , and ..."

" She never hurt me. She loved me. She loves me."

She smirked.

" That is how deceitful she could be. You made that goof like Steve and he is still making the same goof again."

"How ?"

" The last time I checked....." she looked at him with a smile, " they are back together and she is heavily pregnant for him. She is going to be his baby mama. Isn't that crazy? Steve sent this picture to me."

Damon could not find words to describe what he felt next as she showed him the picture of Alicia, vividly pregnant with Steve passing a cup of juice to her. A picture that showed a caring husband taking care of his pregnant wife. How could she have forgotten him so soon? Why couldn't she wait longer?

So that was it? He closed his eyes as an excruciating pain swam through his head. Why didn't he die?

Thanks for the update, you always keep me busy .

Fahad held the picture.

I saw before my eyes my world crumble
I hear in my head the rumble
And I'm so flustered all I do is fumble
From a lion to an ant in the jungle
Can't walk straight and I stumble
My love is gone and the memory is like a fable
No current in my cable
Can't reach my best friend so we could sit at the table
See if I will be able
To think and be stable
Where is my Halima who made me nimble?
From a constant to a variable
It was condescending and unjustifiable
Making her feel rejected and insulted was unforgivable
Why make her so expendable?
Why is it so difficult to be retrievable
My Halima is profoundly irritable
Saying her mind is made up and irrevocable
Please come back and make life for me once more suitable
And durable
And adorable


He looked at her picture again for the umpteenth time and felt warm tears streaming down his cheeks. It's been eight months but it feels like yesterday. They had arrived Abuja, he had lodged them in a five-star hotel. Jalo had a room, Baffa and Halima shared because she had to be close to him.

He was diagnosed: diabetes and hypertension. They were not so astonished. He got a very expensive treatment and placed on high quality drugs and after two weeks in Abuja, Baffa felt much better..
He took Halima out during their stay in Abuja. It was her first time in the city and things looked strange. But she was quick-witted, smart and could easily adapt. There were some occasions where some of her acts were kind of embarrassing but he did not care. He took time to teach her. He wanted to build her. He did not believe she had to be ready-made. When you find a girl you love, and you feel she does not meet your standard, don't let her go, develop her, upgrade her to meet that standard you want. So he taught her how to eat at eateries .God! Getting Halima to eat in public was a job.

They visited Shoprite and Mr Biggs which he did on purpose.

" I guess this is Hande's Mr Beans and that was Choprice."

They had laughed. Oh God! As he looked at her magnolia soft lips, he fought the urge to grab her and explore that mouth, go into each cell, and feel each organelle. How would this body feel when she was in his arms? What would it feel like to grab this waist, cub his hands on her back and whisper into her ears, I love you ?

He wanted it, wanted her, and was getting impatient, eager and enthusiastic. How could he get this? He had to marry her, pronto!
They had fun, got her clothes from his sisters. The time was too short to give tailor clothes to sew. Most of her clothes were Fulani traditional attires. When she wore his sister’s clothes, she looked so transformed and attractive. She could adapt quickly and that made him happy. No one could believe she was a cattle rearer. He also had been taking her through private tuition. She could now add, subtract numbers using Hundred, Tens and Units.

She knew multiplication table up to seven. She could define noun, pronouns and verbs even give examples. She knew thirty-six states and Capital.
He was in love. He wished she was his already, going home after such wonderful outings, living together not for a day, weekend, but forever. So, he got home that night to talk to his mother first when the devil whispered to her to tell him about Sameera. Sameera was an epitome of beauty. She was a final year student in London. She was Alhaji Mukhtar Gwarzo's daughter. Her father was the former Governor of Kano State and now a senator. She was a man's dream girl but Fahad was not just any man any longer. He was a man made for Halima, his Fulani princess. If Halima was standing among a million girls and his eyes were closed, he would go straight to her because his soul saw hers. She would be the only sharp image while others will be blurry. She would be fragnant while other will stench. English users say beauty is an abstract noun: has no material existence, cannot be seen, or touched.

He used to believe that before he met Halima. She was not just beautiful, she was beauty. She was that chip that made him function, that spice that made him sweet, that girl that made him loyal and chaste. Islam permitted a man to marry more than one wife, but it was not made compulsory. If he married more than one, he would go to hell because with Halima, he knew no justice. He will give her a week and the other a minute. So, when his mother talked about Sameera, he felt angry but tactically told her he was in love.

She took time talking about the strong family tie between them, the love of having their daughter with them, the love Sameera had for him. Sameera had been his friend and they never dated. He was not in love with her. He could not be used as a tool for enhancing their friendship. They could organize a dinner, a clambake, a joint business or prayer session but not somebody's life. If they were in love, fine. So, he told her about Halima. She seemed to be happy. She wanted to meet her and Halima was invited to the house. When mother discovered her background, she took Halima inside her room and said only-God-knows-what to her.

Halima came out crying, walking out of the house without listening to anyone. Fahad ran after her, but she kept walking, even though she could not find her way back to the hotel. She refused to talk to him until he reminded her that she did not know her way back. She reluctantly let him drive her back. That was the last time she spoke to him.

When she told him to walk out of her life, forget they ever met, forget the workers he employed for her grandfather, and never step into their compound again, she said these amid tears, not giving him an idea of what his mother told her. Whatever it was, it destroyed thier relationship.
Fahad tried all he could to calm her down. She said it was not about him, it did not matter if she still loved him or not, but it was just impossible to be with him. Even when he went to Mambilla, her grandfather politely told him to forget about her and forbade him to see her. He apologised and thanked him for all Fahad had done for them but begged him to keep his money away from them. When Fahad became persistent, the emir was forced to forbid him from going there. Halima never left the village, so it was like seeing her for the last time.

He left for the States a month later to discover that Damon could not be reached on phone because he was nowhere to be found. He could not reach Alicia. Nothing was known about their whereabout. Life became a hell for him. He returned to Nigeria and lived a secluded life. He never went out, except when he went to mosque. He hardly spoke to anyone, always locked up in his room. He lost Halima, could not find his best friend and his wife.

It was at that point he heard a knock at his door. He reluctantly got up and opened the door. It was his mother.

" Well, since you are too obstinate to talk to any one, I hereby inform you that every arrangement for your wedding has been made and tomorrow insha Allah, the knot will be tied in Central mosque, Wuse."

Omo see gobe!!! Weldone SokoDobo.

Damon sat in the living room watching it on TV. It was a program organized by the Grants. A socio-political event and they were all there. Richard (Mrs Grant) and Maria (Mr Grant) were trying to show a perfect and normal family. Then he saw Alicia for the first time in months.
She wore a simple dress which gave room for her protruding tummy. He always dreamt of her carrying his child, having him in her but that was all a dream. Steve was standing right by her side, beaming with smiles. Damon nearly fainted when at a point, Richard pointed at Steve and said, " he is smugly agitated, because he now knows what it feels to have an expectant woman. But he is a very caring almost-father."
And they laughed. Damon felt his hands clench as he saw her smile. So, it was true. Love did not exist. It may have existed on one part but not the both. He loved her, but she never loved him. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to stop tears.



Immediately Damon opened his eyes in the frosty morning, he found himself wrapped up under a thick woolen blanket. It felt like fur, and so comfortable he closed his eyes again and enjoyed the warmth.
Then he opened his eyes again at once. Where the hell was he? He was on a king-sized bed which looked expensive, made like a royal bed. He saw a wide cubicle which made him thought he was in a clothes store but clothes stores did not have bedrooms. How could one person own such clothes, shoes and bags?

" That's my current-wear room. " Kim said as she stood before the mirror, watching and guessing what he was thinking. " I got my main wardrobe in there." She pointed at a door.

" How the hell did I get here ?" He asked sitting up abruptly, and the blanket was flipped off his body.

" Christ!" He exclaimed and quickly covered his body. " What the hell is going on? Who got me naked?"

She smiled, standing in a state of dishabille, clad only in lingerie and doing only God-knows-what before the mirror.

" You should at least thank me before the barrages of questions."

" Thank you for what?"

" You got yourself drunk, like dead drunk and you messed up, staggering and falling and luckily for you, I found you and brought you here which happens to be my crib. You were so messed up you puked on your clothes. I have never done this for no man. I got you into my Jacuzzi, Pulled up your insalubrious clothes and washed every part of your body. You were not completely gone, you gabbled at least and was sensible enough to call me Alicia. You even tried to dance in your unclothedness. My God! Are these what Alicia has been enjoying? You are so hot....."

" Enough!" He wove his hand. " I need my clothes."

" I can get you something else but who's gonna wash such a mess?" She said and grimaced ," and is that all I get for extricating you? Why are acting like a jerk, Damon? If you are been taciturn because of Alicia, it's all over between you. "

" She thinks I'm dead." He said hopelessly, knowing that was not an excuse to start sleeping with Steve barely a month after his assumed death.

Pain in his heart!
He could imagine Alicia wrapped up in his arm, kissing him and .......no, no, no, no, he could not forgive her for this. This thought was more painful than the gunshot,and the heat in Billy's inferno. But what got into his head that made him get himself so drunk? Has anyone ever thought that intoxicating never ameliorate a problem? You drink and forget your problems, you go sober and find the problems still waiting, so what? Now he got himself in such a mess this girl had seen him in his unclothedness .

" Did you just say she thinks you are dead?"

" She thinks I'm dead."

She smirked.

" If I'm in love with you and you die, will I start sleeping with my ex barely a month after? If there was anything called ghost and your ghost sees me, would you have believed if I say I loved you? I hope you know I'm trying to give you a chance to know what real love is. You jilted me, but I forgave you. I spent long nights brooding, when I imagine you and that slot in bed. It hurt me when I remember how you guys kissed. My ex did not hurt me that much but I never forgave him. You, you married my best friend but I forgave you. Can't you make love to me to at least pacify me, like make me sweat, lose control, scratch your back, get yourself inside my body and soul. Take it all, everything, anyhow you want it, anytime you need it, any place, you don't have to talk, you don't have to ask, just give me that look and I'm at your beck and call. I will give you the code, the secret pass word of my body, only you would have it, only you will own it. I just want to be yours. But if you think Alicia will come back after giving birth to Steve's Child....."

Steve's child!

That word took his senses away he stopped hearing the rest of her tempting words! Tempting? Yes, tempting. He heard Fahad say it was not allowed , in his religion to be in exclusion with an opposite sex, even when you are not in love, and been alone with this girl clad only in sexy lingerie, with her bosom winking at him, he concurred with him. With the sexy words she expressed, making him imagine things, he may have rushed her and given her a dose of a his ferocity, make her scream for help but the phrase 'Steve's child' took all that feelings away.
How could Alicia be this wicked? How could she carry another man's child now? How? Why?

He lay back on the bed, not caring that his body was exposed. He was deep into a dolorous thought, that pain in his head, heart, legs, mouth, everything was back and more excruciating. He closed his eyes, saw darkness, so vast it had no end ; he saw ice, so big there yet there was no warmth; he saw ocean, so deep he kept drowning and never stopped; he saw mountains, so heavy on his head could not move; everything he saw was unpleasant, and against him. He was lonely even in the midst of a zillion people, he was hungry even in the land of food, and was thirsty while he sat on cartons of bottled water. He saw things but nothing was his. He was just an empty shell, a dead cell, a man left with nothing but pains.

But why? What happened to the love we had? Where did I go wrong? What did I fail to do?

" What the hell is wrong with you?"

He heard Kim yell faintly. She must have been talking to him, he was lost, he was gone, he was sitting like a zombie, a paradox that was empty yet full. She sat close to him, held his hand, gave him an affectionate look, he needed it, he wanted to feel loved, wanted to feel needed and she was doing that but what was holding him back? Why was he such a fool? He knew it was over between him and Alicia. He could not have her back after becoming Steve's baby mama. He could never look into her eyes and tell her he loved her again, he could never have her in his arms, he could never forget even if he forgave. So why not take Kim, maybe one day he could learn to appreciate her, and obliterate his paranoia ."I need to show you something." She whispered, running her hand slowly on his chest, recalling how she took advantage of him last night in his drunkenness as she washed him, using two fingers to make circles on his nipple. She dialled a number and put it on loud speaker. While he waited, she ran her fingers over him. He just lay helplessly, not sure if to stop her or not.
What was wrong with him? Why was he feeling like he was cheating on Alicia? Why did he cringe at the touch of another woman. Why was he stupidly loyal? He was a fool , Alicia's fool.

The line connected and she said, " Licia."

" Kim?"

He heard her voice, that voice, the one that stirred his libido, invigorated his adrenaline, which now caused him pains and regret.

" How are you, naughty."

" I'm fine....Kim I have been around for over eight months."

"I know baby but after what happened, I just did not want to see you again."

" I know I hurt a lot of people but I'm sorry. I never did it on purpose."

" I forgive you. I hope Steve does too."

" Steve? Steve is always there for me..."

That pain again!

" I just couldn't understand why he was not so mad at me. When I was in my deepest pain, he always came to comfort me, he never wants anything to hurt me and my child."

" Child?"

" Yes, I'm eight months pregnant."

" Whao!"

" Didn't you see me on TV?"

" No....You and Steve are expecting a child already?"

" Why not come see me."

" I will Licia, so, what is it I hear about Damon been dead."

" So I thought but...Dad said he is alive. I know he is alive."

" Then what happened? Why can't you get back to him? Do you want to give birth to Steve's child before you go back or are you ashamed of
letting him know you are carrying Steve's child?"

" Come see me, and we talk. We are going to Alexander Hamilton's Park. I need to go, Steve is around."

Damon’s hands clenched. He almost talked, yelled but he restrained. It was not easy but he did.

" Okay, but....are you done with him?"

" You mean you still want him?"

" I - I do if you don't want him."

" Damn! You and Steve are one of a kind. He still wants me after everything and you still want him too. Well, the decision is his. If he wants you, fine."

" I will be there and say hi to your Steve."

Alicia chucked.

" I am happy to hear from you." She said and Damon heard Steve say ,“ My love,” before the call ended

Ehya... Damon take heart

FOURTEEN

It was a few minutes after 8:00pm. The evening looked serene as Fahad sat on a pew, a few yards from his car and held a bottle of Kunun aya (tiger-nut juice). He had no appetite but he was famished so when he saw the kunu in the refrigerator, he knew he had to go for it.
He had over two hundred missed calls in his call log. It was not easy refusing to pick his parent's and he knew that was wrong but he just could not bring himself to pick any call. He did not know what to tell them. That afternoon, he was in the mosque. After prayers, after many congratulatory salutations in advance, selfies and photographs, he smugly absconded before the marital rite. It was funny though. He had heard of brides running away for unwanted marriages but today, it was a bridegroom absconding.
Then his phone chimed again, he ignored it, it kept ringing before he looked at the caller ID. What? Who? Why?
He picked at once with shaky hands.

" Halima."

" Congratulations Mr Bridegroom"

It was not funny though.

" Who told you ?"

" How could a wedding attended by the president and the top men in the world be a secret?"

" I did not know about that. I have not been listening to news or social media for a while. "

" I'm sorry to hear this."

" Halima, why did you abandon me? Why did you not consider what we had?"

" I am a very traditional girl and believe in parents' opinions. Your parents did not want me. She said some things that made me felt like leaving the world. But please let us not go back. It's over and buried. Congratulations!"

" Did you call to hurt me?"

" Why? I am only felicitating with you and I owe you one more call."

" I love you, Halima."

" Subahanallaah! Please don't say that."

"Why?"

" I am now a married woman."

" Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un!" He exclaimed.

"Why? You should be happy for me."

He felt tears in his eyes. He was sobbing. He could not be man enough.

" Hello, hello, Fahad are you there?"

" Y-y-yes. I have to go."

" Go? Where are you, with your wife? "

" No. I'm going back to the States. I am not going to be with her. I lost you, I lost love, I lost everything When I'm gone, I will be gone forever. That is what happens when one is forced into marriage or taking away from your love. Whatever happens always find a place in your heart to forgive me, my family and please pray for me. I don't think I have a future left, pray for me, pray I survive this, please, please. If you are happy, fine, I just want you to be happy. I can never pretend not to be jealous but what if you love him and you are happy? "

" Yes, Fahad, I love him and I'm happy. I want you to be happy too."

"You love yours but I don't love mine. You have the right to be happy, you have every reason to be happy. I don't have a scintilla of reason to be happy. Just pray for me, please. I need to go. I can't keep on with this call."

She chuckled.

" Come home, maigida. I have just been brought for you. I am now yours. I am your wife and you are my husband. Please come home. I can't wait to see you and that first kiss you always told me about. Wara shit niga."

It took him almost a minute to assimilate. No words to describe his feelings.

" We have been strangulation in marriage?" He said and she chuckled, " I am senatorial district into home waraa shit niga."

He ended the call, threw the bottle of the kunu away then broke into a run .

Oops! I left my car.

He turned and went for the car. He thought running would be faster.

He had the world. He was at the top of it. No words for description. He pressed his foot on the gas pedal.

There was air of opulence, aristocracy and power in the open yard of Alexander Hamilton’s park.
The Republican candidate, Mrs Grant and the Democrat candidate, Mr Ian Garfield were the two most influential candidates but Mrs Grant seemed to be the people’s choice. Coming here with Kim was daring but Damon had little or nothing to fear. He had to see her. See what her reaction would be. He was only allowed in because he was with Kim. It was another charity program organised by the Grants.

Kim got him a well cut suit which made him blend in with the opulent guests. She made sure she held on to him, giving that he’s mine sign. Damon did not protest. If he did, she may kick him out. They were ushered to a seat, with many important dignitaries around. There was a lot to drink.

“ I love you.” Kim whispered into his ears.

Damon smiled. He could not say that back but he had to do something.

He held her hand and squeezed it a bit. She giggled. He mumbled something that sounded like I love you.
The guests were all seated. Security seemed so tight. There were nuns, probably representing orphanages. He saw a lot of children too and the press. He could see hope and joy on their faces. Then the Grants came in. Richard wore a simple dress, which according to him showed modesty. Who would have guessed this was a man? Then Maria was beside him, with her swaggering beards and well sawn suit. Jeff was ahead of them, looking smart and handsome. He was no doubt Alicia’s brother. Alicia and Steve were behind. He was so close to her and Damon felt like going to strangle him. But on a second thought, he could not blame him. When you caught your girl with another guy, and he is not forcing her to be with him, then blame just the girl. So, the blame was hers. She did not look like one who was forced. Her face beamed, and no scintilla of regret on her pretty face. He felt his hands clenching. Kim ran her fingers over his hand slowly.

“ Take it easy.” She said. “ You are tensed. If you wish, we could have a quickie in the restroom. That will relax your nerves.”

He was getting used to her bluntness.

“ I am good. We have a longer night ahead.” He said with a roguish smile.

“ I can’t wait to have you……. on that innocent bed”

The Program started. Richard made a speech. So hypocritical. He was cheered, and the deil was eloquent. He knew how to hold the crowd spellbound. He donated twenty million dollars to an orphanage, built two hundred housing units for the homeless, and promised to rehabilitate four hundred drug addicts. There was an after party. Some hip hop stars, stand-up comedians were privileged to perform.

Damon was standing with Kim, holding a glass of champagne when he saw Richard and his wife walking around, exchanging pleasantries, smiling and shaking hands, looking like the harmless couple they claimed to be.
And they got to where Damon and Kim stood. Richard looked at Damon whom felt some of courage drifting away. Behind those eyes he saw darkness, and felt uncomfortable.

“ Kim.” Richard said and hugged her. “ Your mother is over there, hope you know.”

She nodded and hugged Maria.

“ Hello. Young man.” He offered his hand. As Damon shook it, he felt the strength in it. “ Damon, right”

Damon nodded.

“ I don’t get it. Kim , is he…” Richard began.

“ He is my boyfriend.” Kim said bluntly. “ And whatever happened in the past was a mix-up”

“ I don’t know what happened in the past.” Maria said. “ All I know is that I saved him from the police because he was Alicia’s friend……before she was abducted by a psychopath.”

Kim seemed to be befuddled. Her lips shook, but Damon held her hand and smiled.

“ I’m sorry your daughter was abducted. But the masses did not know about it, right, Sir?” Damon said.

“ We did not make it public. The investigation went on and thank God, she was found and the kidnapper is still at large. We paid no ransom.”

Richard said.

Damon did not want it to go farther before he was picked up for kidnap. He could not trust Alicia to deny that.

“ I’m sorry about it, Mr and Mrs Grant. What a charitable work you are doing.”

“Thank you, Damon.” Said Richard. “ But the storm is over. Alicia is going to be a mother soon and we get our first grandchild. I hope you would be as lucky as Steve with Kim.”

“ Thank you, Sir.” Damon faked a smile. “ I hope so too.”

Kim chuckled.

“ I love to have babies but I don’t want to lose my shape.” She touched her small waist.

“ What if your mother had felt the same way?” Said Maria sarcastically, “ you could not have had the shape you don’t want to lose.”

“ I don’t think Steve will let Alicia lose shape. I am so proud of him.” Richard said.

If these people were trying to raise Damon’s hackles, make him feel jealous, then they were making a success of it.

“ We have some guests to attend to.” Said Maria. “ I hope you don’t mind. Enjoy yourselves.”

Richard touched Damon’s shoulders , held his wife and they left. Well, he was the only one among the guests perhaps who knew who the husband was and who the wife was.

“ What was that?” Kim wondered. “ Didn’t they know you married her?”

“ No. We got married in court and left for Africa. They could not have known.” He lied.

She shrugged. “ Whatever.” She said. “ I own you now.”

He faked a smile.

“ Just like she owns Steve now.” She added and he felt a pricking pain in his heart. Why did she just say that? Why was everyone trying to get him crazy?

“ See who we’ve got here.” Steve said from behind.

God! He was standing with Alicia like a husband. That is my wife dude. I do not remember divorcing her. At least you could have waited for a separation. But when he looked into Alicia’s eyes, he forgot about Steve. It was her fault. She wanted him. She was happy with him. What happened to her?

Kim hugged her.

“ Hey, be careful, Kim” Steve said. “ You don’t hug her like you used to. I got Steve Junior in there.”

Alicia chuckled. Oh my God! Damon’s hands went into his pocket and clenched.

“ Hey, Damon. Nice to see you again.” Steve said with a smile and offered his hand.

Don’t be childish, Damon cautioned himself, don’t let him push you.

“ It’s ….nice to see you too.” Damon lied.

Alicia behaved as if she had never seen him.

She gave him a formal nod.

“ Hello Damon.” She said. “ It’s been a while.”

“ Hello,” was all Damon could say.

That pain was back.

“ I thought you wouldn’t recognise her.” Steve said, “looking bigger, huh?”

“ Just because I’m pregnant does not change me.”

“Congratulations” Damon said, not knowing when he said it.

“Thank you.” Steve replied. “ I can see you guys are having fun. I try to have fun but this lady here would not let me.” He touched her shoulder.

Aaaarrggggg!!!

“ I never knew what it meant to have an expectant woman until now.” Steve said and giggled. “ You will get there someday Damon, and Kim would be more pesky than Pacific Alicia.”

“ Oh, shut up,” Said Kim. “ You are not the only caring guy in the house.” She gave Damon a peck.

“ Damon is a perfect guy and he knows how to take care of me, don’t you, Damon?”

“ Sure, Kim.” Damon said dryly.

He wanted to tell Steve to shut up and remind him that they were still legally married but with the Grants around, you could never tell. Now he was getting bullied.

“ Can I have your phone, please?” Alicia said to Steve.

“ Why, sure.”

He gave the phone to her.

“ I need to speak to Damon……alone.” She said .

“ You don’t have to do this, honey.” Steve said. “ We can’t make a scene here. You were not meant to see it.”

“ I have to end this right now.” She said and Damon could see anger in her blue eyes.

“ I need to speak with you, Damon, right now.”

“ I hope it’s all good.” Kim said.

“ After this, it will be all good…for us.” She replied still looking at Damon angrily.

She led him through the crowed until they arrived the parking lot where fleets of posh cars parked.
He could sense her pains as she walked. She must have been feeling heavy. She opened the gallery, put on a video and handed the phone to him.

Damon was shocked.

“ Someone is trying to blackmail Kim and he got this video.” She said. “ And you are the bait. It was sent to her brother who sent it to Steve.”

It was a footage of him and Kim in her Jacuzzi, then on her bed and the pictures did not look good. Not good. He meant not good at all.

Damon was speechless. He did not know what to say. But this video was not the cause of her relationship with Steve. This was just an excuse. This video was shot a day before now and that morning but she was eight months pregnant for him.

“ It’s not what you think.” Damon said. What the hell was wrong with him? He owed her no explanation. She gave him a look of astonishment, tears accumulating in her eyes. He was angry with her, yet he did not want to see her get hurt. He was done with her but wanted her to keep smiling for old time sake.

“ Why are you having that look on your face? Why are you trying to deny?” She shook her head.” This video is real, it shows you in a debauchery state. I don’t know how it happened, or why, but I do know one thing: I trust you. There must be some kind of explanation. It does not matter what I see, it is what I feel and I know that you, Damon can never cheat on me.”

Trust!
Trust!!
Trust!!!

That was the word. He felt chastened, remorseful, ashamed and full of regret. How could he claim to love her so much with no trust? Here she was, holding a video that vividly showed him in a grubby act with Kim, yet for trust she disbelieved it. No relationship could survive without trust. You can never watch over a woman all the time, you can never stop her from cheating on you if she wanted to. A relationship not built on trust is groggy, like a building with no foundation.

Just that word unveiled his eyes. He was blind. The fever she had in Nigeria, the nausea, the hate of jasmine fragnance she used to love, the waking up at night and demanding for carrots, the appetite for almost everything she saw, the act of asking for something and when it was brought she changed her mind saying she hated the odour. He was too inexperienced to know it. She was pregnant. The child is mine.

“ Oh my God!” She exclaimed, giving him a surprised look.

“ Don’t tell me you believed the crap about I and Steve dating. So, you believed he owned the pregnancy. How could you Damon? How could you even think I could love another man apart from you? How could I let somebody else have what belongs to you? Even if you were dead, I would never let Steve have me. I know what I went through when I thought you died. I know what I felt when I was told you were alive. But I had to tag along. I was living for our baby. I did not want to die without carrying your child. Steve has been kind to me but I don’t trust him, I don’t trust Kim, the only person I trust is you. You are all I have and cherish….and this poor baby of yours inside of me. I’m doing this just for us.”

“ I’m sorry, Alicia.”

“ Don’t come close to me. I know they are watching us. I act like we are breaking up. I want to hug you, I want to kiss you, I wish you are with me, to rub my aching waist, to massage me, to get me milk from the refrigerator, to tell me not to be scared. I don’t want my child to be deprived of fatherly love. But, I am scared. They want to force Steve on me. I am a prisoner in my house. I can’t go out on my own, my phone is been tapped, they watch everything I do and I don’t want you to get involved any longer. Not after all we went through. They will kill you…..”

Then all of a sudden, she changed.

“ I hate you, Damon! You bloody cheat!!”

She grabbed him by his shirt. Steve moved in and held her hands.

“ I told you not to make a scene. The press are here.”

She pretended to let Damon go reluctantly. Damon now got the message. She had seen Steve coming. She walked away angrily leaving Damon and Steve there.

“ I think this ends it,” Steve said, “ you bring nothing but pain to her and that child is now mine. I don’t want anything to hurt her or my child”

“ How can you claim it when you know it belongs to me.”

“ It’s not about my love for the child, Damon.” He said. “ It’s about the show of power. You came and took her away from me. Now, I will have her back along with what is yours and you can do no shit about it. Now you have been fixed. “

“ You and Kim set this up.” Damon said. “ The picture of you giving her milk, you sent it to upset me. How did Kim find me? You guys were stalking me, you set me up.”

“ It’s not a set-up. It’s a game. May the best man win. Now that she is no more in love with you, I stand the chance of having her. And a piece of advice, better keep on with Kim. She played her part to get you. I don’t know why these girls are so stupid to fall for a low classed dog like you. Better stick to her, it’s not every day you get the chance to scre* a billionaire and beautiful blond like Kim. Alicia is out of your reach for ever.”

He smiled at Damon, nodded then walked away majestically. Damon was wrong about Alicia. Now, he had to do all he could to save her. As he walked back into the crowd, he saw two interns running with a stretcher. What was going on? It was Alicia! She seemed to be in pains. They lay her on it and moved quickly but meticulously to a van. She was in labour. Oh my God!
He tried to run after them but a strong arm stopped him. He turned to see Bug. He had a hand in his pocket and Damon knew it was a gun.

“ Come with me.” He said sinisterly.

As Bug forced Damon to follow him, he thought of his wife been taking to the labour room. He prayed, hoped he would have the pleasure of seeing his child and wife again. Tears accumulated in his eyes.

Awww... So touching. It will get better . Damon stay strong

Fahad tried to stay calm but his mind was rhapsodic as they drove in a convoy; six Range Rovers, including two security SUVs . He was being accompanied to his new home: a place where he planned to obliterate his retrospective state of abyss despond with bliss revanchsm.
When he arrived home last night, he was met with a surprised package as his friends, family and well-wishers gave his a grand welcome. When they failed to get him on phone, Halima was asked to call him. His sister, Zarah, gave him a hug and dragged him aside for gossip during the house celebration.

His mother had regretted her actions and went after Halima. Halima said she had forgiven them but she was no more interested in getting married to Fahad. Halima had self-pride, and proved it. She confessed to still loving him but she could not get married to him.
It took the intervention of the emir, the State Governor, and prominent Fulani leaders to get her to capitulate. The governor begged her grandfather to let him represent her father and he was to be her waliy and Halima was moved to his house two weeks before the wedding.
His daughters fell in love with her. They took her like a sister and helped with marriage arrangements. Zarah said her lepe ( the boxes of clothes given to bride by bridegroom)were bought from five countries. The jewelleries were from India and Switzerland. Then Aunty Sa'a was sent to Italy for bags, shoes, and designer western wears.

His mother was in Dubai for clothes, veils, underwear, more jewelleries, and then went to Hajiya Maimuna, one of the biggest importers of expensive ankaras, shadda(brocade), leshi (lace), and many other traditional wears in Kano.
Cosmetics, perfumes, and toiletries were from France. Zarah was excited. He was told that the Lepe was transported in five brand new pickup trucks: a 2017 Nissan Titan XD Platinum Reserve, a GCM Sierra 2500 Denali, a Chevrolet Silverado, RAM 3500 Limited Crew Cab then one of the most expensive which was Ford F-450 Platinum. Each truck was fully loaded and the trucks were part of lepe.

The ceremony was grand, with various traditional rites like kunshi, sa lalle, budan kai, and so on. The marital knot which was the most important event was carried out at the central mosque in Taraba. The talk about Wuse was a charade.
His father never loved too much celebration. He said it was prone to bidi'a but who could stop women? There was traditional dance, and a lots of fun. All these happened while he was brooding.

His mother and father had called him, apologized and reproached him for his stubbornness. He was ready to take all the blame in the world, since Halima was his now.

The Taraba state governor was her waliy while Alhaji Bala Muhammadu, a former vice president was his wakil. Halima, her friends and elderly women where brought to her new home that night in Abuja. He did not see her even when she called him to come over. The call was just to get him home so he could be notified and celebrate with friends and families. He wished Damon was around to witness the traditions.
Now, he was being taken to his new home in Maitama District. The house was a mansion built in a plot of land which was two furlong (1320 feet ) by two chains (132 feet). This was two acres of land. The main building was a seven bedroom duplex. What the heck did they need such a big house for? They were just two for crying out loud. But his father always said they started as two and today, he had a full house .Yes, his biological children were just six but counting relatives, workers, they numbered over twenty-nine in the house.

But Fahad loved the space. There was a basket-ball court, an Olympic sized swimming pool, an outdoor gym, a mini football pitch, a garden, and a parking space with over eight posh cars. Well, He was the first child and the first to get married. Besides, when you had billions of dollars, you always found a way to spend them

But they were not going to be just two in the house. There were two personal servants for her, a cook, six security men, two gardeners, and two house helps.
It was fun as his friends and her friends, mostly new found friends from the governor's house, and a few of her old friends had a small party, chat, and as usual some toasting. Fahad nearly laughed as Sparro, his childhood friend, whose real name was Adnan got up to advise them, quoting Qur'an and hadith. Sparro! Baddo! But he could not end it without giving a chip of himself.

" Halima, " Sparro said, " there are angels watching you. If my guy, needs you, don't hesitate fa. Those angels can curse! They will be like Allah ya tsine miki( May Allah curse you). Don't let them do that please and you Fahad..... come on, you should bow when elders are talking," they laughed, "do not use that to blackmail her. Ma guy, dey give am space. No be say you go dey over do am."

Everybody left before 10:00 PM. Fahad had gone out to get some fast food. He got the normal toasted chicken from the roadside then his favourite yoghurt, Bellan Yoghurt.

He drove back home.

FIFTEEN

Halima was seated on a sofa, the remote control in her hand, her legs folded on the sofa, like an actress set to act as the princess of the universe. Her hands and feet were designed beautifully and he felt like licking them.
She was watching a Korean drama. Girls with Korean dramas!

" Welcome back sweetheart." She said softly

" Thank you, my princess"

She got up and he felt a dose of aphrodisiac. She was in skin-tight pants, blue coloured. On top was just another skinny white singlet. He gawked.
She walked slowly and collected the polyethylene bag from his hand with traditional respect. As she turned to take it to the dining room, and he saw the movement of her back, the roundness, the wideness of her hips, the vibrations, the subconscious twerking, he subconsciously exclaimed, " Ya Salam!"

She turned abruptly, looking scared after the sudden exclamation.

" What is wrong darling?"

" Em..I thought I lost my- my shoe keys."

Her beautiful large eyes widened.

" Shoe keys?"

" Did I say shoe keys?" He chuckled. " I meant car keys. But Alhamdulillah, it’s here."

" You got me scared. "

She dropped the bag and came back. She rushed into his arms and they embraced......for the first time.
No word.
No caress.
Just hug. But a lot was spoken through the heart. He could feel her sweet breath, the fragrance ,her warmth, the succulent body, the electric impulse, the love he felt made him close his eyes.

It was a hug that spoke about the pains of the past eight months, the pains of been apart, the fear of losing each other, the pains of those times they suffered in the hummocks, the rain that beat them, the joy of having each other, the joy of fulfilment, and the love they shared.
They stood like that for about ten minutes, then she touched his earlobe with her soft lips, tickled him then whispered, " Alhamdulillah."
He now moved his hands slowly, mildly down her back, round her butt then settled on her waist.

" Subahanallah, Walhamdulillah." He whispered, his lips travelling through her neck, over her cheeks then brushed her lips, and he thought of sending his tongue in, but hesitated and changed his mind. It was too early, it had to be chronological, so he moved forward, then touched her earlobe, then whispered, " you are a divine gift, you give me a quantum lift, we are humans and prone to rift, but let our undying love make peace so swift. I am now yours, you are now mine.

We are now merged and have become a single line, you are eight and I am nine, all your good I will announce and that's fine, but your goof will be a secret and I will admonish you after we dine. I am not perfect, but I will try to let the best in me reflect, and the worse deflect, any bad in me you detect, admonish me with caution and respect.

You have come not to leave but confined to my world yet not a prison, I will play with your body and it's not a treason, all what we went through love is the reason, insha Allah you are mine from now till the end of the season.
I promise never to leave you, I promise to love you, through thick and thin I will be there with you,
I have lifted my feet for you, just make sure you do what God wants from you, I belong to you, I love you."
She did not move. He felt her hand holding him tighter, and her weight on him increased as she lay her head on his chest while her palm chest dabbed.

" I love you too, we are now one in form of two, it's your life I just walked into, I will never leave because I don't want to. Please remember, I have no parents again, you are all I have and all I gain, even if they were alive, Allah has put you at the peak so I must maintain, I'm a woman so please your patience you should retain, I will always be like your baby so play with me and let love rain, your pleasure I will obtain, and your anger I disdain, my heart is open to you and plain.
Do not expect me to always be right but please forgive me when I goof. No matter how intelligent, religious, or nice a woman is, you must be patient with her or else you would throw her out through the roof. I will give you all my attention and not on the hoof.
I pray you will be my husband in the world and aljaannah."

" Ameen."

He raised her head and smiled at her.

" You are in safe hands. You are in able hands. Wara shit niga."

And she laughed. How much would Swissbeat buy the sound of her laughter and make the best sound in the world? No, it was priceless, he could not afford it, and it was for his amusement only.
He held her face between his soft palms, and saw unadulterated beauty. He could stand looking at her for the whole day. he looked at the lips.

The first kiss? No. Not now.

" Now that Allah has made our wish come true, now that He has made you mine and me yours, it is imperative we show our gratitude. We should perform at least two raka'ats.”

They went into one of the restrooms. He loved big restrooms and this was one. Everything was white and sparkling. They performed ablution and she wore her long veil. She lay the praying mats diligently, and he led the prayer.
They prayed to Allah for blessings, fortitude to be perseverant, resilient, tenacious, benevolent, pious, dogged, and also prayed for seraphic and lovely offsprings. They prayed for means for upkeep, prayed for the dead, her parents, useful knowledge, their country, and the world at large. They prayed to die with the Kaleema.

After prayers, she went in to pull off her veil then came back. This time, in lingerie. It was all white, and the pants was thigh-length. He gaped at her. This lady was driving him insane.
He was sure the governor's daughters must have coached her, and the old women who give the sermons. He wondered what they told them. He's your lawful husband, he will come to you, he will touch you, he will lie you down, he will, he will, he will, don't do this , don't do that, don't, don't, don't, you should, you should, and on and on and on.

Whatever it was, she had learnt. She knew they were into a legal connubial tie and all shame and what-so-ever has to go. This was good. For every touch, they will be blessed. Halal.

She went and brought the bag . They would not use the dining table. He was sitting on the three-sitter sofa which faced the TV. She carefully placed it on the floor, got a tray and removed the meat before she slowly began to cut it into smaller pieces. He joined her, holding a part while she cut.
She placed the meat on a stool, and then poured yoghurt in a glass. He felt on top of the world. This was not some waitress, or house help, or sister, but his wife.

After she was done, she came and sat across his thighs, pressing her soft body against his. She drew the stool closer, carried a piece of meat, then tore a part and put it in his mouth leaving half outside. She then moved her head closer and tore off the part outside and began chewing slowly.

Whoa! Whoever couched her did a good job.
It tasted so nice.
It felt so nice.
She would put the glass to his mouth to sip yoghurt within intervals while he did the same.

" Do chickens pee?" He asked, " I have never thought of it."

" Hmmm....they do but only when they happy."

" Whoa ! That's cool but what makes it happy? Is....." He paused, then playfully hit her.

"The sweetness got over you." She said laughing at me.

" Hey, don't ever let Zarah hear this, she always looks for things to strike me with."

" Then I got your weak point. So, now I am in control. Don't do what I want, I get to Zarah."

" I will do what you want."

They laughed.

" I have learnt a lot about life." She said using her hands to dab his chest, " I remember Sakina, a friend of mine. She was privileged to go to school and got married to a banker. She stopped hanging with me before she got married. She met me one day while I reared cattle and said, I would rot in the village and end up hawking fura da nono. She said her husband has two cars and they were going to live in the city.
She said I was not educated and no educated man would marry me. I believed her and cried my life out. But I prayed to God to take control of my life. Then you came. I can never forget what you went through to get my attention.

She was there when the Governor and other dignitaries came to talk to me. She was told that you took me off in an helicopter. I never dreamt of meeting the governor but today, he is a father to me. She was among the ladies who accompanied me here. She saw the lepe. Sweetheart, sixty sets of boxes, five cars, and a perfect husband who loves me for who I am."

" That is the irony of life. I hope she takes that home. Plus I am the one who is lucky to have you. And I swear, you will do nothing but school. I will buy houses for you, build shopping malls for you, so you can earn money without using your time. I want you to concentrate on education. You will have informal secondary education then go tertiary. Meanwhile, we will be shuffling between Nigeria and USA , but I want to take you round the world. I don't have a private jet but dad has. Dubai, London, Rio de Janeiro , Caribbean island , France, name it and we must go for Umrah for gratitude. I love you."

" I love you."

He was now looking into those white eyes as they beamed. She smiled and he saw light and felt life.
She got up and carried the tray out. He asked the house helps to stay in their quarters, and did not want anyone around.

That figure of hers!
He kept looking, then stood up, as if in a trance, as if hypnotised, he followed her into the large kitchen. She was standing before the sink. What? She wanted to wash the plates. He knew she had that habit. She hated to leave dirty plates. He went and held her from behind, she sighed, chuckled and pushed his hands away.

He turned her and wound his hands round her, pulled her to his body, then she paused. He could feel her body vibrating. Was she nervous? Those lips, he had dreamt of them, fantasised about them. Patience was a virtue. The time had come.

He kissed her. The first kiss. At first, she was stiff, not moving her tongue, then he explored her mouth, it was better than he had imagined, sweeter than anticipated. It was good. He thought they were floating, defying gravitational law.

Then she relaxed. He had passed the current, she held him tighter, squeezing him, and let out a short moan. He held her back, handling her, caressing her.

He carried her, she held him by his neck and he climbed the staircase with a doddle. Straight to the bedroom and he placed her carefully on the bed. He spent another five ten minutes fulfilling his promise: body exploration. She was his wife, it was halal, she was his, he was hers.

He slowly began to UnCloth her while she went for his buttons.

wow

" I hate it when a jerk try to queer my pitch ." Bug said in a low dangerous note as he smugly touched Damon’s side with the muzzle of his gun.

" And when a jerk put the kibosh on my hustles, I strike and when I do, it's macabre."

Damon said nothing, hoping Alicia had a safe delivery. He was jittery, and Bug was his least concern while Alicia and his baby topped the priority list.

"How was your report to the police?" He continued," did I not tell you we are untouchables? Why didn't you just vanish since you survived Han's bullets? How can you be so foolish to come here? Why do you make it so easy to me to kill you? I love interesting preys, playing cat and mouse...."

Damon was ready for that cat-and-mouse-play.

He sent an elbow onto Bug’s jaw, followed up with a jab then broke into a run. They were outside the park. Damon ran into the woods. Bug fired a shot and shouted, " He must not escape this time!"
Damon jumped down a steep hill and rolled down, as a shot narrowly missed his back head.

Phew!

That was close.
He quickly got on his feet and broke into a run, panting, gasping, but the thought of his wife in the labour room kept him driving on. He wanted to survive, wanted to save her, and to be with his family.

Bang!
A bullet zipped passed him. He hid behind a tree amid thick grasses. He could see a young, lanky man dressed in anorak . He held a pistol. His thin vicious eyes travelling round the woods, pugnaciously alert. Damon was as still as a pole, making his breath as inaudible as possible.
The man was just a nicety from Damon, his thin hand grabbing his gun, while his long finger rested on the trigger. Damon could tell all he wanted to do was put a bullet through him and drink beer later. The killer paused, turned around then smiled.

" I know you are close-by," he said in a nasal voice,"and you are mine. Bug gave you to me as a gift. Do you know I haven't killed anyone in two months? Isn't that tormenting? Don't you think I would lose respect? Please give me the pleasure. Add up to my profile. What's that term for it? Curriculum vital ( Curriculum Vitae), right? I skipped junior high and don't have no shitty idea about those things. My alma alunta (alma mater) is the streets so I gotta be good at what I do."

He took a step, turned back then Damon struck. It was a dicey, gutsy step which was his faute de mieux. Damon ran with an incredible speed and launched himself into the air, moving with shoulder first then blundered his strong shoulder into him. Damon saw a startled expression on his thin face before they crashed on the grassland.
Damon did not waste time. He hammered his fist on the thug’s eye, then a quick blow on his neck.
Pwak!
He heard a bone crack.
Very good.

" Fu*k!" He yelled in pain. Damon slammed his fist on his nose and blood emerged at once. Damon closed his strong arms round his neck for an asphyxiation. He made a futile attempt to hit Damon, but Damon was snuffing life out of him and was determined not to let him go. Then the thought of Bug fell on his mind. Where the hell was he?
The fear of Bug coming from behind got him nervous. He hesitated before he gave the neck a powerful twist .
A loud cracking sound.
A sharp single moan.
Stillness.
Silence.
He was gone.
Damon killed him! He have never done this! He killed him!
So what? He heard another voice in his head.
He wanted to kill you. He was a professional killer. Get the hell out of here.

Damon picked his gun and sprang up before he quickly dropped on the ground again. That was the fastest move he ever made. The bullet just missed him by an inch. Bug was standing some hundred of yards away .
Damon shot back immediately he landed. Bug had not expected it. He docked. Damon sprang up while he sent another shot, fire sputtered, smoke diffused, and he ran deeper into the woods. Bug came after him, but meticulously because he knew Damon had a gun.
Damon stopped behind a tree, looked back but quickly swayed his head as Bug sent another bullet after him. Bug was a professional. He was better with the rod but Damon was more desperate. He shot back at Bug who was also behind a tree.

Silence.
Nobody made a move. Damon did not know how many bullets he still had. He had no idea how to kill this monster, but that was what he wanted to do. To kill him and get done with him. He kept watching, listening , staying very alert.
Then he felt something in his breast pocket. It was flat. He brought it out. It was a small i-phone. Who owned this? Then it nudged his brain.
Alicia! She had put it there when she feigned to fight him and jerked him.
Bug was still there. Damon kept watching. He was not coming yet. Bug was like hundred feet away . There was a message. That was the alert sound he heard when he was having a rough session with thin-face.
He could not wait. Holding the gun with one hand, watching Bug with the corner of his eyes, drawing his ears to the ground, he opened the message:

I made it a few minutes ago. Only the nurses are here so I quickly send this. Keep this phone as our only means of communication.
Then pictures.

God!
Two lovely boys. So innocent, so beautiful, so infectious. Damon was in love with them already. He was a father!

They are like you, Damon. The eyes, the lips, they got yours but they got the colour of my hair. You can't take it all, darling. I am fulfilled. I have your children. I wish you were here. I need you to see them, hold them and embrace me. I was strong....... for you. It's hell doing this. Respect to all mothers # Giggling#

Boop!
A straight punch landed on his jaw and he blundered unto the tree trunk, hit his head and dropped like a bag cement.

" How can you be so foolish to be chatting in the middle of a fire fracas?" Bug said and a real expression of surprise splashed on his deadly face.

" Is this how love sucks?"

Foolish indeed. How could he? But it was done. He was carried away, seeing the pictures of his lovely, bouncing babies got him off his mind. All he could see was him, their mother and them. Just them in the world. No! Bug was there.
Bug pointed the gun at Damon, moved and picked the gun Damon was holding then put it in his pocket.
Bug gave out a deadly smile.

" This is going to be fun. Just me and you, dog."

Bug put his gun in his pocket. What was he doing?

" It will be a lost to shoot you at once. I must confess, you are not to be underrated. You are an amateur, but always fluked and stumble on big things. You escaped me a number of times, miraculously survived death, and discovered elusive facts so you don't deserve a single shot death.”

He clenched his fist.

" Then I will survive again." Damon said, trying to instigate and dare him.

" It's not a game of luck, as*hole." Bug said. " There is no such thing as luck."

Bug allowed Damon get on his feet. Bug’s confidence, stocky size and deadly face were intimidating. Damon was first to send a punch but Bug got to him first. His strong fist slammed on Damon’s belly.

Did he just cut my intestines ?
“Auughhh!” Damon let out a short intense cry.

Bug closed up on him, sent his fist on Damon’s jaw who hit his head on the tree trunk again. It was painful. Damon tried to kick him, but Bug moved slightly and missing the kick made him lose balance. Bug grabbed him before he fell down, raised him up and flung him away.

What! Bug! I just got me a set of twins.

Damon was in the air for a fraction of minute before he was slammed on the ground. He felt pain in every cell of his body. He lay still, just breathing, trying to assure himself that his head was still connected to his body, and his bones were not broken.
Bug walked up to him slowly, a smirk on his face, with his face glistening with sweat. He looked happy and that meant he was coming to give a quietus. There was nothing that gave him pleasure more than killing.

" You killed my man." He said, " Was that your first?"

Damon said nothing.

" My first was at the age of fourteen. I had a crush on a girl. I did not talk to her because I was not social. I rarely spoke in class and had no friend. I loved her. But this idiot kept getting closer to her, they had ice-cream together, walked to the bus together. So, I got fed up and tried to talk to her. I was doing so and he came out of nowhere and held her hand and took her away. She forgot me completely . So, I went after him, got to know his house and I got him. It was a knife, straight to the stomach and a twist, making sure he does not survive, and I watched him wriggle until he died. I became scared, I ran away, buried the knife, went to wash my body. I could not eat, and when they mentioned his name in school, I cringed. But after a while, the guilt left and I began to fantisize. I got a second one. A girl, she was alone, older than me, and pretty. She had a quarrel with her boyfriend. I saw them argue and he left her alone. She was sitting alone by the river. I said hello and she ignored me. It was just me and her. It was seductive. That was my first rape and kill. Then the guilt left, and the fun came. I wish you will have the chance to live longer, you could have taken more. Killing is like playing God. Deciding when to let him live or die. Is that not cool? But unfortunately, you are dying now...."

He came closer. Damon sent a kick to him, but it did not move him. He slammed a fist on Damon’s jaw. Bug was more experienced and stronger. He then closed his hands round Damon’s neck and pressed.
Damon felt his eyes bulge out, breathing seizing, energy drifting out of him. He hit Bug feebly, hoping he would let go but Bug he was adamant, dogged and determined. He had this calmed expression on his face as he snuffed life out of Damon.
Damon was becoming weaker, his sight blurring, and lacking oxygen as Bug blocked it's passage.

" Your nomadic idiot nearly broke my nose and kill me." Damon heard him say. " He owes me."

Damon was now very lassitude, could not struggle any more. The strength was out of him, his image became more blurry. Just a few more seconds and he will be gone .

Boop!

Someone landed a fist on Bug’s cheek. The arm was brawny and Damon saw the tattoo. Bug fell off and was forced to let go. Damon gasped for breath, opened his mouth, trying to catch all the air he could get.
The man who came to save him was of moderate height, heavily built with tattoo on his arms and back. He wore black singlet over brown khakis. His Timberland boot was brown and dusty. His chalk white hair was cut low, wearing a clean shaven face with aggressive jaw.
Bug stood up at once, glared then moved forward. The man flung a straight punch which smacked Bug on the nose.

" Jeez!" Bug cried and tried to get his gun. The man was as fast as light. He got to Bug before he could get out his gun. He used the side of his stretched palm and hit Bug on the throat, raised him up then squeezed his neck. This was a real professional killer, like he had a PhD in Killing. The man held Bug’s neck and gave it a single twist. Bug fell down, gasping, trying to get up but failed.
Bug began to wriggle, starring at the man, then he bent his head towards Damon, and he became weaker. He kept staring at Damon until he stopped moving.
Bug was dead. And this time, dead for good.

The man who saved Damon came and stood over him, removed a bottle of gin and disgorged it down his throat. He shook his head, gave Damon that wicked smile of his and extended his strong arm.

" Come on, kid. Ya mama gah me outta ma shell sa'ing ya gaah ya’self in some shit" He said in his thick voice.
" Me was loo'ing all over for ya. We gotta go."

For the first time in many years, Damon saw his father

SIXTEEN

" They are so cute." Maria ( Mr grant) said with a gleam in her eyes. " I can't stop loving these creatures."

" We are grannies, isn't that awesome? " Said Richard.

They had been staying out longer with Alicia since the birth of the kids. They were so excited, and showed profound love for the infants. This scared her. They would not let these children go for anything and she did not want her innocent kids around them, plunging them into their bloody wealth.
The mad couple had spent over ten million dollars since the birth of the child, one week ago. They got the best of everything for them and so many dignitaries had been coming to congratulate them.

Steve came into the room, a smile on his face. How annoying. What kind of fool was he? He knew the children were not his, he knew she did not love him and would never. They were not even dating, how could he be so pesky?
He was no fool. He had a plan. It was not just out of love for the kids. He wanted to have her by all means. His pride had been hurt, he had hoped to have her, waited for life only to have Damon pull her out of the state of virgo intacta. He wanted to at least have sex with her, take her away from Damon, deprive him of the children and satisfy his ego. She was in deep hole. Imprisoned in her home, deprived of her life, her world, her love.

" Now that she is light," Richard said, " I think we think of fixing your wedding date." He looked at Alicia. " The divorce papers will soon be ready. Damon has filed for divorce."

Alicia saw Steve smile and she hated him like she had never hated anyone. Damon would never divorce her, but she knew they were going to manipulate the process.

Alicia forced a smile.

" That would be great." She said. " I can't wait to marry Steve."

Steve sat beside her and tried to give her a peck. She stopped him.

" I missed you." He said.

“ Thank you.”






Mrs Veronica Simon was a tall pretty woman, graceful and gentle. She was a complete opposite of Simon. Damon wondered how they got together. He was rough, tough and mean.
She said she had a feeling something was not well, she could not reach Damon on phone, and she began searching for him. She went to the police and nothing positive came out of it.
Then she looked for his father. Finding him was not a doodle and convincing him to come look for his son was another task. He had many contacts and friends. Not too good friends though. So the search continued until they traced him to Kim's place. Simon knew the underworld and lived a life there. It was then he trailed them to Hamilton's park but was not allowed to enter. He waited and that became Damon’s saving grace.

" Why do I feel bad about this?" Veronica said as she watched her son wear his shoes. " Why can't you tell me exactly what is going on?"

"I can't mum. It's better you don't know."

" Are the Grant's dangerous?"

Damon shook his head.

" No. The only problem they got is they don't want me near their daughter and they want my kids."

" Why can't you resort to the law?"

" You won't get it. Dad gets it more."

" That is because he always got it on the wrong side of the law. This is dangerous."

" Life in its entirety is dangerous. This is our last resort."

She wanted to talk when Simon came in and Damon was glad he did.

" Wah the f*ck are you do'in ? I got me my buddies wai'in and you still hooked up here." Simon said. He had a peculiar way of speaking which was difficult to comprehend. Damon wondered if it had to do with his days in Harlem peddling drugs with African Americans, or his stay in Texas, that got him talking like that.

Damon kissed his mother bye then went after his father. Simon wore dark sunshades, a bottle of rum in his hand. There was a black Long old modelled Buick waiting. In this car were three of his friends. God! They were all ex-soldiers. They looked so mean and ruthless.
Simon took the passenger's seat, while Damon sat behind with two of the brutal looking men.

" You got a fine kid Stone." One of them said. Stone. That was his code name since military days.

" Yah. I got my self a fine kid coz I do his mama fine, you do your bae bad, you get em bad kid." He said and they laughed.

God!

The car engine started and they moved.

" You don't talk shit with your son around Stone." Said the one they called Jim.

" Wah? My son is no lil boy. Now we go'in to try to save his babies mama." He sipped alcohol, " he din get babies without spanking, banging, drilling and you know wah? I'm real proud of ya my boy. Them buddies know me is good shooter. I shot ya mama once and you was come. And she stuck. But I never shot and reap two fuc*ing babies. You gah two fuc*ing babies in one Murderf*cking baby shitting." They burst out laughing.

" But, boy, never stick to one bitch." Simon went on,

" yah need lot of experience and one bitch aint gonna give ya that. And she says no, get the fuc* outta her way and go ."

" Hey," Said the chubby one with small rattlesnake eyes called Desmond." But you forced that lady in Afghanistan."

" Yah. Me was standing with ma AK47 and this slim lady pop up. I been off a month and I'm starving. I show her ma gun and I'm ban'in her, she's crying, and I'm done, and she's crying, coz she's married. The next day she pops up again. What da fuc*! I pull her down the stream and I'm ban'in her, I'm spanking her, and she's crying coz she's married. Straight seven days she's making the same goof of crossing ma way. And I see her, I do no'in. And she say's you bloody soldier can't you see me?"

The friends were now laughing hysterically, while they filled the air passive smoke. These men were weird though.

" And I say I see ya. You got a hubby and me sick of yah crying." Simon continued, inhaled smoke, and gulped alcohol, " and she's like why the hell do you think I keep coming? I like rough and my tears is tears of joy. What da fuc*!"

" But you left Harlem because you had a rift with Tonia." Said Desmond.

" Hell no. I left coz the only white rapper represen'in us was Vanilla Ice. Ya remember him, the ice ice baby guy? Yah! White boy can jump. Who da fuc* ask you that. So I left the black neighbourhood and it took a long long time before Eminem showed up."

The man behind the wheel, Eddy grinned. " I never used to listen to raps. It was gangster and I was too prim then."

" Crap!" Simon spat. " Most of 'em aint gangsters. Some of them are studio gangsters. In '85 Dr Dre, Easy E and Ice cube was bring'in gangster rap and all shit. In '83, Dre was like a science nerd hooked up in the lab trying to figure out where exactly the electron lies and drop Schrodinger equation. When Biggy Smalls rap saying he used to peddle drugz, and lived in a one room apartment and had no food on the table, him mama come out say hell no! I never lived in one room and Christopher always had food to eat. It's an act. West side, East side shit. It's like WWE, them bring The Kamala, the Ugandan Giant all dressed up in African attire when the dude is American and don't know shit about Africa. Sergeant Slaughter carry Asian Flag and he is American. It's a game, boy."

" I like Rock and Roll. Rock stars are my game." Eddy said.

" I hate 'em rock stars." Said Simon. " Iet 'em man be a man and 'em woman be a woman. Them come on stage all dressed up Natasha Gabriel. Why the fuc* should a man be wearing lipstick, eye shadow and all 'em woman stuff? Them not even androgynous, them like a woman. I hate that shit. That is ma take and don’t give a hoot about it. I love em music, but I hate em costumes"

" That's why you took that corporal in Iraq." Said Desmond.

" Which corporal?"

" The one in your platoon."

" Oh yah. That dude was meant to be a soldier but when we was blackening our faces, he was making up."

They were laughing.

"When 'em bullet miss him, he's like awwwn, I feel like crying."

More laughter.

" And I keep pray'in, Lord, let 'em enemies shoot this murderf**ker and yah know wah? Them real soldiers keep falling and that murderf**ker never die. So, on that day we was in a fierce fire fracas and I got myself alone with him and I put ma gun on his head and Pap! I spill his goddam brain."

They kept laughing, smoking and drinking.

" And I keep crying, crying like a baby so Colonel ask me, why you keep crying for him? And I say, he was my best friend. And Lieutenant is like, Wah! I never see you hang out. And I'm like , real friendship lies in da heart."

For the first time, Damon giggled. Simon would always be himself. He had not changed.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in the middle of a lonely country side, with lots of trees and grasses. As they alighted and the boot of the car was opened, Damon realised the danger of what they were about to do. He felt like chickening out, remembered his mother’s fears but looking at these brutal looking ex soldiers, he knew there was no going back.
They began to assemble the bogey looking guns while they smoked and joked. There were AK47 and pistols. Simon threw two pistols, a mask and a pack of bullets at Damon.

" Get set boy." He said. " We have a little party and you are the celebrant."

Damon collected the guns, put it in his pocket, and then wore a mask. Simon began to give a final briefing as they set for the dangerous task.

They covered their faces with masks , wore hand gloves then walked through a Narrow path . They arrived the back of The Grant mansion which was situated in a ten-acre plot of land. They had no neighbours. Billionaires rarely had one.

“ Them fences is well secured.” Simon whispered.

“ There are surveillance cameras. I alert Chris, our inside man. When there is distortion, we gonna cross over and we gah only one Bleep**g minute to do that. Anyone who fails to cross within one minute is out. Eddy, you give us a runaway back-up so you stay behind.”
Jim was tall and big, heavily built with a clean shaven head. Desmond was short and chubby.

“ I ma let ‘em know we was ready.” Simon said and looked at Damon. “ You must do this, son.”

Damon nodded.

He dialled a number. That was a signal. Simon was enigmatic when it came to underworld business. He had gotten one of the security men on his side.
He got a beep.

“ Kimmon!” He said and that military in him was back. They broke into a run and like a flash, they all crossed the fence. They did it under ten seconds. They kept running until they were over hundred yards from the fence. They crossed the cameras guiding the fence. Damon was a stunt man so that was no big deal.

Simon glanced at the map.

“ I think I got this in ma head.” He said.” She is in the main crib. We gotta find our way in there.” He removed a bottle of whisky, gulped and then passed it on to Jim, who gulped then passed it to Desmond who passed it to Damon after he drank.

“ We must do all it takes to get there. We ain’t stopping.” He glanced round. “ Even if we have to kill every murderfu**ker in here.”

Damon felt a bang in his head.
They were still amid tall trees with well cut green grasses beneath. They had a golf course close to a big garden.
Then someone came with a trolley. Damon was scared at first then realised he was Simon’s inside man. How and when did he organize this? This man never seized to amaze him.
The inside man was called Chris. He was a tough looking man who worked as a security man in the mansion. He was also an ex-marine.
The trolley was used to convey things within the mansion but now, the men were packed in like canned-fish to avoid CCTV cameras. The security was tight and this could not be done without an inside help.

They were driven towards the main building, then they alighted while Chris left with the Trolley. Damon began to have a niggle doubt.

“ We here and yah can’t forget yah role, Son. You aint no nipper.” He said and dabbed Damon’s shoulders. “ I love yah boy.” Simon never said that before.

They moved to the front door. A security man saw them.

“ Hey!” The security man said, saw the mask and got alert but Jim was behind him already. He held him from the back and did something which Damon could not see clearly. The man passed out and he was dragged and dumped in a big drum.
Desmond went for the front door. He held a small machine and pressed some buttons. The door was electrically secured but he opened it with ease. When the hell did they plan all of these?
As Simon went in, Damon saw five men, heavily armed, running. He recognised two to be part of those who carried Agent Harrison”s body that day he was shot.

Ratatatatatt!
Jim was ready. He did not waste time before using his AK47. Damon saw sputtering fire, the bogey sound as bullets ricocheted and got the men fallen. It was done. There was no going back. If they were arrested, there was no issue of frame up any more. They were putting the laws into their hands.
When Damon obliged to this operation, he was desperate to save his family, to see them and be with them. But he never knew Simon had his thuggish ex-soldiers with him, or it was going to be this sanguinary. The level of organization scared him. But was it not his foolishness and myopic perspective?
Did he expect them to come into the Grant Mansion like someone coming into his one-room apartment? This was not just a presidential aspirant who was entitled to security operatives, he was a mafia who had his personal thugs and he was also a billionaire who had his house secured. As Damon saw Jim kill the men, they all went in. Damon saw Simon was running upstairs. He heard an alarm The security were been informed. Was this not the greatest mistake Damon ever made? But what other choice did he have? The law would not help him. He was a certified barmy, according to them.

He could not let them force Steve on Alicia, or take away his children. This was the only way out and anything was better than losing his family even if it meant losing his life. But he did not bargain for the killing which seemed to be inevitable now.
He saw Simon pointing a gun at Richard and Maria. They were all dressed in their pyjamas but Richard was in a male pyjamas while Maria was in a gown.
Damon knew Simon was wondering why Mr Grant was in a gown and his wife in a male pyjamas. Damon did not tell them about that. This was night and Mrs Grant was now the husband while Mr Grant was the wife.

Simon did not utter a word. He knew he had a peculiar way of speaking and that was not good for him.
Simon tied the Grants, so hard and gesticulated to Damon to come keep them stay put. Damon went and pointed his gun at them, while Simon and Jim ran upstairs. Desmond was peeping through the window.

“ What do you want?” Richard asked him. They were bonded together and made to sit on the floor.

Damon said nothing.

“ You are making a great mistake, whoever you think you are.” Richard added.

Damon heard a blasting sound upstairs.

Damon knew who he was and what he was capable of doing but he was not going to be intimidated. He was doing this for his family and Simon was doing this for him. Maybe he now realised how important his family was.
But as when Damon saw Simon and Jim come down with bundles of dollars, and trunks of jewelleries, he cringed. The blast sound he heard! They must have broken a safe.

Oh my God!
They ran back upstairs and brought more. This was not good. They had about sixty million dollars, from a rough estimate and jewelleries worth over one hundred million dollars.

“ We got the Grants in here.” Damon heard Desmond say into a loudspeaker. These guy planned a heist and used him as an excuse. “ Any intruder or over zealous guard would get them killed. Stay back, stand down.”

Damon saw Simon and Jim come down with more loots, so he sprang up, pointed at the Grants and ran upstairs, ignoring Simon’s gesticulation. He began to rummage through the rooms. The house was too big. He could spend hours without going through all the rooms upstairs.
Then someone opened a door. It was Alicia. She may have seen him and how wouldn’t she recognise him even in a mask? He ran towards her as she ran towards him too.

They embraced.
She cried.
She felt warm.

“ I’m sorry we have to do this.” He said quickly. “ But I never planned it this way.”

“ Thank God it’s you.” She said . “ I was scared when I heard the gunshots. I saw them take my parents away and then they began to pack valuables.”

“ It was not part of the plan.”

“ What matters most is leaving here. I told you what they plan to do, give me to Steve and steal my children. Aren’t they horrible?”

“ We are leaving here. Where are my kids?”

“ Come on.” She held his hand and they went into a big room.

Damon saw them for the first time. My God! What an epitome of identical twins! It was like a duplicated picture. They were so cute, sleeping innocently, unaware of the upheavals of the world.

“ I can’t differentiate them.” He confessed.

She chuckled.

“ It’s not easy for me as well and it seems I am the only one who tries most in differentiating them. For now, due to your absence, I call this one Damon, Damon Jnr and that one Simon, Simon jnr. So, meet Damon and Simon. But you can change the names if you wish.”

“ It’s beautiful. It’s perfect but Simon is my father’s name. Is he worth it?”

“ Whatever bad they do, we can’t take the biological aspect out of it. They brought us to the world, they did not murder us. Let’s give them credit for that even when we don’t want to be with them. It is their habits we despise not them.”

“ Yeah.” He said. A few minutes ago, he had contemplated putting a hole in her parents head and end this. But how would he feel living with her when he knew he killed her parents? No matter how bad they were, that biological tie was there. He never hated Simon too. But his ways got him sick.

“ Wah yah still doi’in here?” Simon peeped and barked. “ We gotta scam like right now.”

He looked at Alicia.

“ I’m proud of yah kid. I got eyes, but you got vision. I got plans but yah got mission.” He laughed and gulped rum. “ Get yah wife and my grandpals so we can kick it. Can’t wait to share beer with ‘em and tell ‘em war time stories. I love ma grandpals, yah know.’

He went out.
Alicia looked dumbfounded.

“ Damon and Simon got weird grandparents.” Damon said.

“ Except your mum.”

He concurred.

He carried one of the infants, didn’t know which, while she carried the other. She went to a box and removed a small bag and a pack of baby items. They could not carry anything else. What mattered was leaving here.
They ran downstairs. He was shocked to see the amount of loot Simon and his cronies had piled up. They had gathered almost two hundred million dollars worth of cash and items.
They stashed the money in bags. Why did the Grants have to keep such amount of money in a private safe? Well, you never know with criminals. They always made sure they had enough cash close in case of a sudden runaway.

Simon could be a weirdo, but he was very smart. He blindfolded the Grants so they did not see Damon and his family come down. Simon then scribbled something on a paper: We have your daughter and grandchildren. We would demand for ransom.

They went to the door, while Simon held Richard, whom he thought was the wife, hostage. Eddy opened the door, and Richard was used as a shield. There were a good number of gunmen outside the building waiting.
The gun men could do nothing with their boss held hostage. They got into a Rolls Royce, while Jim and Simon loaded their loot inside another car and got inside with Simon under the wheel. Desmond was behind the wheel of the Rolls Royce, while Simon and Damon’s family were behind the wheel. Richard was at the front and Damon had a gun pointed at him.

Damon had put a gun to Alicia’s head, knowing they were been watched and probably been caught on camera. It was like they were kidnapping her.
The two cars sped out. As they drove out, he heard cars coming after them. Desmond was driving at high speed.

As they got near the old Buick was, Damon understood what his father had meant when he said eddy should stay as an escape back-up plan.
Eddy was on a tree with a rare bomb dispenser. He fired and the cars chasing behind got bombed. These men meant business.
Satisfied there was no more threat, Eddy came down and Damon saw an helicopter dropping. What was going on? They alighted the car, and Simon came and flung Richard on the ground. He raised his gun but Damon quickly stopped him.

“ You can’t do this!” Damon barked, changing his voice.

He looked at his son, then smirked.

“Wah’ever.” He shrugged .

The helicopter was part of the plan. Damn! These man had planned for this heist. They transferred the loot into the big helicopter, and they packed themselves in. Damon kept telling them to be careful with the infants.
Damon did not know who was piloting the helicopter. As they were about to lift and eddy was climbing in, someone fired a shot and they heard Eddy shout. The bullet had hit him. Jim pulled him up, and the helicopter left the ground at once.
Eddy was bleeding profusely as the trained Jim gave him a first aid treatment. Damon doubted if he was going to survive it. He heard another gunshot but they were off already.

A few minutes later, they dropped in the middle of a rocky area. Simon told Damon and his wife to alight. Damon could not understand what was going on. Simon went and removed something from the engine of the helicopter.

“ I ain’t doing this coz me don’t trust yah.” He told his comrades. “ I just wanna be sure I trust yah.”

What did he just say? He did not want them to fly away while he was talking to his son.
He led them to the back of a rock, they climbed a little hill then he looked at Damon.

“ I know you are mad that I cut some chunk off Mr Grant.” He said. “ I am doing ma thin’ and ya mama pop from nowhere. She cry, she cry, she aint seen her boy. I told her to shut the fuc*-up. Your boy is my boy and me was do the shooting and he was come.” He removed a small bottle from his pocket and gulped gin.

“ I leave ma hustle and I spend six months looking for yah. I go deep under-G to seek for yah ass. But you was no found. Now me is get yah and some thug wanna kill ma boy. Fuc*! So I squeeze him chicken neck, and me is told you got ya bitch kidnapped in Mr Grant’s crib.” He gulped gin again.

“ I was like wah da fuc*! You mean ma boy got Mr Grant’s girl baby shitting for him? I’m proud of yah boy. So I think of we coming to get yah bitch and ma grandpals. But I aint gonna do that without my beasts. We gotta family and we kinda broke. We never hit big. So this shit was like a chance to pay ma bills. I gotta pay ‘em. Me borrow some bills to get me a butterfly hire to fly us. I got get me an inside jerk to get it done. Now we got yah bitch and ma grandpals outta there. I ain’t asking yah or yah mama to pay me some bills. And if we don do this, they gonna know you was come to ge yah bitch. But getting cash outta ‘em got ‘em thinking we was robbers and we ain’t done with ‘em. We gonna get some ransom.” He grinned.

“ I don know yah but me like yah.” He said to Alicia.

“ Keep ma granddpals safe coz I wanna pop beer with ‘em ant tell ‘em war-time stories.”

Alicia understood the type of person he was so she nodded with a smile.

“ I told him to catch other bitches but I change ma mind. If you see him with ‘em ho, shoot her fuckin legs. No, if you got a handler, you can shoot her goddamn pus**…..”

“Dad!” Damon interrupted.

“ Don’t be shy. An ‘ol man gotta to sermon. Ok, you babies too prim. Now. I ma get yah some cut…”

“ No, thanks. We gonna be okay but….why bring us to the middle of nowhere?” Damon asked.

“ You gotta lie low. Mr Grant ain’t no piece of cake. Them murderfuc**ng FBI, CIA, KGB, police gonna sweep in on yah and we. I ain’t gonna get this cake and don’t eat ‘em. You are gonna be here. My boss had it, buh him die and it is a secret so I use it. When I hit, I come to cool here. Never let this out. I bring yah coz you my boy and she yah bitch….”

“ Dad, she is my wife and not a bitch.” Damon protested.

“ It’s okay Damon.” Alicia said.

“ Never meant disrespect. All they is bitches buh yah got good bitches and bad bitches. She is a good bi…..”

“ I get it.” Damon interrupted.

“Hehehe. I want yah to stay here till da heat cool.”

“ Where? This is a rocky area with no single house.”

“ Shut da fuc*-up!” He hit Damon’s head lightly.

He moved to the rock, used a small remote and a door opened. What! He led them unto a short ambulatory passage before they got into a large living room. It was a hidden house carved in a rock. There was a large living-room, four bedrooms, a kitchen, three toilets, a study and a store. There were a lot of aerators producing oxygen mechanically while some were powered by solar power. The house was powered by solar power with full electronic appliances.

There was a natural spring which produced water and pumped it into a reservoir. There was constant water and electric power supply. Then a small natural swimming pool at the court-yard which got Damon mesmerized.

“ Cool, huh?” Simon said proudly “ The man was a General. Got lot of cash in Iraq and he was spend it real good, yah know. That is a garage. Them got a truck in there. Yah can go into the city and gah groceries and come back buh never jump around much. Yah got TV and internet to go round da world so stay put.”

Damon nodded. “Thank you.”

“ And tell yah mama I’m gone. Tell her I love ‘em but I know me no good for ‘em.” He said. “ She is a good bitch but I get in too much trouble. I ma go outta America. Never got cash like this in ma whole Bleep*ng life. So, See yah and when yah through, keep ma goddamn remote safe.”

Damon nodded. He smiled at Alicia, touched the infants then saluted in a military way. He dropped an AK47 and a big pack of ammunition then said.” Never let ‘em catch yah.”

Damon watched him walked quickly, with great strength that he possessed until he disappeared. Damon walked out and saw the helicopter flying away. Who knew if this was the last time he would ever see him? His weird father.

He locked the door then turned to see his wife standing. He forgot the troubles of the world. That was what she did, made him felt life was a fairy tale. He was with her and their lovely children. Damn reprisal.

She ran into his arms while he held her tight.

Hardcore stuff