I got your mentions guys, thanks for looking out and sorry for the wait... I'll try and edit some updates to post now cos I'm going to be offline for a while but would try to meet up with the Sunday routines at the very least. Jah bless

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KANAKU

Family First


I had a warm feeling I suspected was happiness as I watched Barakat explore the china and other items I had brought home. She gave a happy squeal with each item she pulled from the sack. When she was done, I took her and Ruky for a drive to a popular Amala joint down the junction. I even let Sukirat tag along. Barakat had concluded the car was mine and I didn't bother to correct her. She was pregnant with my child and I was going to give her whatever made her happy and fake the things I couldn't give.

After the meal, we drove around for an hour and I bought her a big bowl of cold stone ice cream for the first time ever. She seemed to fall in love with me all over again, and by the time we got home, her hormones decided it was horrny hour and she drove her sister away and set Ruki's favorite cartoon collection on the DVD. Once we were alone in the room she attacked me, kissing me passionately and ripping my singlet into two parts.

Barakat was beautiful, everything about her was natural, from the short tribal marks on both cheeks which to me only added more character to her beauty, to her dark shapely eyebrows which never needed a pencil brush. She was also naturally busty and I easily got turned on by just handling her breasts. I had never ever failed to get an erection with her before, not once in our 5 years together. Even when she had been heavily pregnant with Ruki, the sight of her naked body still got me instantly hard, even though the arousal was sometimes inspired by the urgent need to Bleep her to sleep so I could have a little peace.

Barakat was so happy and excited that she didn't notice at first. "Oh Kanayo, I wish I could move like how I really wanted, I would have given you that style you like so much" She planted sloppy kisses all over my face, and grabbed my member which remained flaccid and had even shrunk smaller if possible.

"ah...ah...what's happening?" her eyes flew open and she looked down in disbelief

I didn't know. I was trying my best, sending commands to the little soldier to stand at attention, but it had a mind of its own to remain at ease.

Of course, Barakat started sobbing immediately, "you don't want me again? I knew it....Suki said there's someone else....oh K, how could you...."

"You need to stop listening to that your sister, I keep telling you she wants your relationship to be as bad as her own...I went to hustle yesterday and you saw the results for yourself which one you dey talk again?"

"so wetting con be the problem? am I....am I...uuuggllyyyyy?"

"of course not.....see, the truth is I'm not in the mood, yesterday was too stressful...I think I need a little rest, you know my eyes are single for only you Barakat..."

The truth was I wanted badly to be in the mood but I just couldn't. There was a kind of weight that hung over me like a dark cloud. It was easier to dismiss it and focus on my family's happy smiles and giving Barakat and Ruki a nice time, but in the privacy of the bedroom, My heart just seemed unable to pump enough blood to my manhood without the thought of the bloodied corpse assaulting my mind and cooling off any heat I managed to generate.

Barakat wore her gown and stormed out of the room, I went after her, trying to make her understand but the minute she called her sister and asked her to come over again, I knew I wouldn't spend the night, not when they were going to be talking about my little incident. I already knew the kind of rubbish reasons Suki would provide, the evil witch would be like 'so you chased me away from your house earlier because of ordinary rubber prick?'

Shit, I wasn't vain about my member but like any man, I couldn't stand any diss to the little fellow. My apartment was small and voices carried and I wasn't sure I had it in me to look the other way if Suki made fun of my predicament.

So instead, I went to shower, wishing I could wash my brain with iron sponge till the bloody image of the body was wiped out completely.

Suki was in the parlor playing with Ruki by the time I was done. She had a mischievous smile she only tried a little to hide and it irritated the hell out of me.

"Where's Barakat?" I asked

"She went to buy some cucumbers..." There was a twinkle in her eyes that challenged me to ask what for, and I fought back my anger by turning to my daughter and throwing Ruki high in the air, and catching her till she giggled in delight.

"Daddy has to go to work okay?" I tickled Ruki a little, unashamedly absorbing the pure innocent energy children unspoiled by the cruel world often radiated. My mood was a lot better and I spared Suki a glance at the door, "tell Barakat I'm off to hustle. I'll get her more ice cream tomorrow"

I left the house by 5:30pm and as I drove to Fuoyo's apartment, I couldn't help thinking of my new friends and the tricky situation we had found ourselves in. I wondered how they were faring, Fuoyo hadn't called me yet and I kept thinking of what he had said last night, about going after the bag. It was a crazy and dangerous thought but I couldn't help thinking of the possibility....it would be the main score. It was a mission impossible no doubt, but if we could pull it off, it would have to be the score of scores...one of the biggest heists in history.

Jackson had given me so many missed calls, I guessed the ignored calls were the main source of Barakat's insecurities. I sent him a text before I drove off, updating him that Fuoyo had run away to the North and I needed some more money to track him to Nassarawa State. It felt natural to mention Nassarawa after all Mr. D had almost convinced us to travel there just last night. Jackson replied me immediately, with a couple of 'shit men!' and Bleep shit!' before promising to send me extra 50k the following morning to cover my travel expenses.

Money always brightened my mood and I sent him another message assuring him Fuoyo was a dead man. I knew the mugu would like that.

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JECINCTA

A Nightmare births a Dream

The next morning, I didn't wake up with a hazy memory, wondering where in the hell I was. Even as I blinked slowly at the dull dark green walls which was a sharp contrast to my aquarium themed light blue wallpapered room walls, I was immediately reminded of the Nightmare I had lived the night before, the sequence of events moved in reverse...from retreating to bed to drinking tea in the parlour, to the car ride, to the hotel, to the dead body with a million cuts... (not just any dead body, Mr. D's body)....to hiding in a cramped toilet with Fuoyo and Kanaku...trying not to cry while Mr. D cried out in pain.

Jesus! I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to get rid of the image. I consciously tried to find reprieve in denial. Maybe Mr. D had survived...but even as I forced the thought I knew he was dead. The nightmare had been all too real.

The blood had been too fresh, too much to have come from one person, too red, too thick.........

I swung my legs to the side of the bed, suddenly feeling numb. Mr. D was really dead. And there was really nothing I could do about it.

I knew the name of his killer, he hadn't committed the act, but the man called Kenekelis had set things in motion.
Surely he had to pay? The killers wouldn't just go scot-free...The police would trace it somehow.

But what if they didn't?

Mr D didn't deserve such an end, I had to do something....maybe find a way to tell the police a certain Mr. Kenekelis was responsible, surely when they dug around they'll find out more about him and make the arrest?
The question now was how I was going to go about leaving a tip for the police. The Nigerian police weren't really known for their diligence, witnesses were usually their main suspects and any tip would have to be anonymous. I almost climbed back into bed to cry. I was scared but I didn't feel so alone anymore. If I had been alone with Mr. D there was every chance I'll be dead as well. But by some strange coincidence or fate, Fuoyo and Kanaku had been there. And when it mattered most, Kanaku had been there to keep me quiet else I would have surely been discovered. And after that Fuoyo had been there to keep me moving when I had frozen up.

Who exactly were they, they seemed to hate me at first but yet they had watched my back. Maybe with their help, we could figure out a way to tip the police.

The apartment was a little empty and didn't offer much worth snooping around for, Fuoyo was in the parlor, fast asleep on the couch, one leg was hanging high over the backrest, while the second was stretched out in the opposite direction, dangling on the floor. His right arm was across his face while the left dangled on his side, resting on the floor. He slept like my kid cousin used to sleep after a day of rough play and I smiled a little, imagining how he would kick and hit anybody he shared a bed with.

Kanaku was nowhere to be found and I noticed neither was the car.

The flat was on the ground floor and so the only view to enjoy was that of the fence and clothesline. I realized I was really restless as I walked through the small apartment, there was nothing to eat asides plenty of cereal, and a crate of egg in the fridge. I wasn't even hungry but I was restless. I turned to my phone but not even twitter could keep my mind engaged. There wasn't any news on the internet yet about the murder and I quickly lost interest. I felt like taking a long walk to clear my head, but I couldn't. I was too scared to leave the apartment. I didn't even know what the killers looked like and they were on the lookout for me.

Finally, after about an hour, I decided Fuoyo had slept long enough and I woke him. It wasn't easy, he could sleep! I nudged and even smacked him a bit before his eyes finally fluttered open.

"Good morning" I greeted him '

"What's the time....?"
I traced his eye to the wall clock, 9:04am

"It's still too early, I slept off like 6 o'clock" He shut his eyes and turned on his side, intending to get more comfortable.

"Why did you sleep by 6?" I wasn't ready to let up yet.

"I had to see off Kanaku to make sure he brings my car back...."

"Ehen where is Kanaku?" I asked

He opened his eyes finally giving up on more sleep. "He had to go check on his family, he has a pregnant wi- girlfriend and a daughter..." He yawned and sat up, "how are you?"

"kinda numb"

"yeah yesterday was really something else..."

We fell into a brooding silence. I didn't need a seer to know he was thinking of last night like me.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked

And really his expression confirmed my suspicions, he was willing to stand by whatever I decided. I really wouldn't be facing this nightmare alone.

I sighed, "Mr. D was good to me, he had his faults sure but he was never mean...he changed my life in a short time, even though he tried to outsmart his former boss or whoever, he didn't deserve to die like that..." I shut my eyes briefly, as crisscrossed stab wounds coated with blood against fair damaged skin flashed beneath my eyelids. "No one does" I opened my eyes to find him staring at me expectantly. "His killers must be punished, we.....I have to do something"

"Go after the bag? The same thing I've been thinking...we'll need answers but I believe we could make good research from the groundwork Mr. D-"

"woah woah woah....!" I had to cut him short. "what bag? Please o! I mean more like we find a way to inform the police about his killers, one of them answered to Jango if I recall then we have the Kenekelis name too"

"Oh.....so that's it?"

"what do you mean that's it?" I wondered why we went from talking to arguing and talking again every single time

"I mean do you think the police will be inspired to catch these killers? This Kenekelis guy obviously has connections, even his boss is definitely powerful, you think the police would arrest and charge them for murder because you say so?"

I didn't know what to say. When he put it like that it made me wonder... "We can't be sure until we try"

"We don't leave things like this to chance, these people probably belong to the ten percent above the law in this country..."

"you don't know that"

"I believe that....just take a good look at last night, the arrogance of the whole kill....those men are killers used to walking free because they kill for powerful people"

"and how do you know?" I asked him pointedly, but to be honest he had me half-convinced already.

"I'm a confirm Surulere bred boy, my intuition is on point"

"So what do you want us to do, if these men are so powerful we can't harm them"

"But what if we find the bag?" He had a kind of dreamy look in his eye which eerily reminded me of Mr. D.

"You're not being rational, how on Earth do you want to go after something that might not exist"

"He died believing it existed, his killers even seem pretty sure he gave you a diary and a map...I've watched enough pirate treasure hunt movies to know that once a map is in the picture, then more often than not, x does mark the spot."

"Well if you didn't get the memo, this is real life, not a movie! You're not captain Jacksparrow, just a selfish yahoo boy! you have no right to use his death to manipulate me into a treasure hunt" I accused him bitterly

He actually looked hurt after my outburst and I felt a little bad for that but I was too pissed to apologize.

"Okay, if we're going to expose his killers then we need to find out who he worked for and the identity of the person who set him up" he said quietly

"Kenikelis?" I asked

"yes, any idea about how we'll go about getting these answers?" he asked

I shook my head

"Let's start with Mr. D, how'd you people meet?"

"Through a friend"

"you may need to call her"

I felt myself stammer a little, "Errrrm...we're not exactly....on speaking terms"

"Why not?"

I shrugged, suddenly unsure of what he'll think of me if he knew the reason I had cut my closest friend off. "normal girly beef..." I said

He nodded even though he looked like he didn't have a clue what 'normal girly beef' looked like. "well if you really want to find out who this Kenekelis is then we need to turn every stone, that means you have to be the bigger person and mend this bridge." He looked at me with an intense gaze that slowly pulled me in like a magnet "can you do that?" he asked

"of course I can, I'm not proud" I snapped, baffled at my reaction, what was wrong with me? I was certainly not attracted to him, nope...my emotions were just messed up with everything that had happened. Yes, that was it. I deliberately looked away. There.

He seemed unaware of his peculiar quality or the effect his smoldering gaze had on me. "so you'll call her?"

"yes of course, I'll call her right now" I retorted

"Hey, relax now, we're on the same team" he sighed in exasperation

After calling Fifi 10 times, she ignored the first 3 and busied the remaining 7. I gave up and smiled at Fuoyo, "well it looks like she's not ready to mend the bridge yet"

" hmmm.....look you want to go out...? let's go to i.c.m, see a movie or something"

"what of identifying Kenekelis?"

He shrugged, "we can't kill ourselves, maybe when Kanaku returns the car he may have an idea. But for now, let me have my bath then we'll get a uber to the mall and just forget our worries for the next few hours, how does that sound?"

I wondered if he was restless like me or if he wanted to leave his house cause of the debt Kanaku had mentioned last night, I didn't know which, what I knew was that going out sounded like a good idea.

"We'll have to stop by my place first, I need some clothes" I informed him when he was ready

"That may be too dangerous" he objected

"It's daylight, I live at 1004, do you know where that is? Nothing can happen there"

"you don't know that..."

"I'm not going out dressed like a tomboy" I insisted

"forgive me if I value safety over appearance," he retorted and just like that, we were arguing once more. I was the one to seek truce this time around and I grudgingly agreed to let him take me shopping.

"Kanaku took all my cash, just let me trade some bitcoins and we'll be on our way" He explained

I watched him fiddle with his phone for like 20 minutes before he gave a satisfied smile. "okay I've traded approximately 300 dollars, we'll stop by mister price and get you some cooler clothes okay?"

I was still sulking over the L, "sooner or later I'll have to go back home, I can't pause my life like this indefinitely"

He held out his hand, "as long as you don't go back today"

"You can be very annoying you know?" I mumbled

"if I didn't annoy someone as uptight as you then I'd be very worried," he replied with a grin, clasping my hand in his. I couldn't help feeling a little bothered at how normal the gesture had seemed. I just met him yesterday for God's sake. Mr. D's body wasn't even in the earth yet.

I slowly disengaged my hand, "300 dollars" I scoffed, "that's the price of one of my wigs.." I told him.

It was very satisfying to watch the cocky smile turn upside down.

Chapter 10


FUOYO


Aftermath

By 1:22am, we arrived at my apartment. I put on my inverter and switched on the lights, I found one of my biggest shirts and folded it with the towel Jessy had asked for. She thanked me and retreated to the restroom. I heard the shower running soon after she locked the door.

"She shouldn't bathe with cold water, she's still shivering from the cold" I observed to Kanaku

He frowned at me, "can you stop behaving like a freaking midwife for a second? you and I both know what you're after, you dog! but at least give her time to get over what happened tonight, haba!"

"what do you....how can you even...for your information...I'm not...." I sighed, "Bleep you I don't owe you any explanation"

"exactly and I don't care, just reduce your eye service before it goes from sweet and caring to annoying"

"I swear your thinking is just totally..."

"shh...shh...shh...I'm about to call my woman please shut up"

I kept quiet telling myself he was just a pig. I didn't have any agenda with Jessy, she was shaken up bad and I was just trying to make her feel better.

"Hello, Barakat baby.....oh! mtcheeew! Sukirat....where's she?.....no no let her sleep. I'll be home first thing tomorrow morning....of course, it was business... you better stop feeding her with your rubbish theories, I'm nothing like your husband....mtcheeew, o ba furo' e.....do you hear me? I said your daddy's left yansh, foolish bitch, please don't wake your sister.... reduce your voice...before you wake my daughter too!"


"Jeeez I don't even want to ask the backstory behind that" I stared at him in wonder when he was done with the call, I looked at his bare ring finger, "your woman is married? see how you're insulting her?"

"Mister I too know! FYI that's my girlfriend's sister. She's a jealous witch and because of you I now owe her for looking after my family while you had me running after shadows!" His voice rose a little, making me uncomfortable. "you had the mind to have me drive around the whole Island for noth-"

I got to my feet, "let me make some hot tea, would you like a cup?"

He scowled at me and I hurried from his presence. The call had put him in such a nasty mood, he looked like he wanted to throw me around the room a little until he felt better.

I ran into Jessy in the corridor. She had changed shirts and removed her wet weave. Now she toweled her natural hair and dark nappy curls fell around her face and almost reached her shoulder. Earlier at the hotel, she had looked sexy but now wearing my XXL shirt and boxers she wasn't sexy. Sexy was too shallow a word to describe how her clear brown eyes glistened from all the expended tears and looked up at me with a kind of unforced naivete that had been missing earlier, Her lashes were naturally curly and full and added a sensual edge to her eyes, especially when she looked up slowly at me and I felt my throat go dry. Her cheekbones were sharp enough to make one wonder how breathtaking her smile would be, but not too prominent that it eclipsed the hint of dimples that appeared when she spoke.

God really took his time on her, wow.

"I can't sleep, do you have any alcoholic drink?" she asked me

"no....my only bottle finished last night" For a split second I wished I hadn't drunk it last night, but if I hadn't maybe things would have played out a lot differently, who knew? "I was about to make hot tea, would you like a cup?"

She pouted her bottom lip, her lips were a rich shade of strawberry and it was hard to believe she wasn't wearing any lipstick, "lipton?" she didn't look too thrilled

"no, no....milo" even though tea bags had been my initial plan, I adjusted smoothly.

She gave a little smile before turning and I watched her walk away before shaking my head. Kanaku was right, I had to make a conscious effort to keep my head level, I was fast losing focus.


::::
We stayed up all night, drinking hot chocolate tea and talking about the murder. We all had questions and tried our best to answer them or in the case of the treasure, tried our best to speculate with the little we had learned from Mr D.

I wanted to know about Mr. D but she seemed unwilling to talk about him or their relationship although the nature was pretty clear. Kanaku wanted to know about Mr D's firm and who his boss was or the Kenekelis name we'd heard so many times. She didn't know much about either. "So why do they think you'll know something about the treasure?" I asked her

she shrugged, "I don't know, maybe cause he called me last night and mentioned the treasure, I think that could be why"

"And what did he say?" Kanaku asked

"That it was real and he knew where to find it..." her voice trembled, "he sounded so excited...he said he'll be in Lagos by morning to see me briefly because he had to be in Abuja by 4..."

Kanaku prodded her when she fell silent, "and what happened?"

"I don't know what happened but he never showed, until he called me late in the evening with a strange number and told me to come to the hotel with my passport..."

"So what changed?" Kanaku asked deep in thought

I had a theory, "I don't think anything changed...remember he told us he had a helicopter on stand by to take us directly to Nassarawa...not Abuja and he specifically mentioned a 48 hour headstart....so I think he deliberately reported a wrong location"

They looked at me and I could see they could see my point

I continued, "So he makes the call telling Jess about his findings and hinting Abuja was the next place to look for the treasure. Maybe he knew his phone was not secure....which could be the reason when he called to tell you he was at the hotel he used a different number..."

"wow... I think you're right," Kanaku nodded slowly in agreement

"I don't think Mr. D would do such, he was always telling me how dangerous his job was, he won't use me as bait," Jessy said

"you have to admit it's more likely" Kanaku insisted

"Nooooo...." She said fiercely

I could sense conflict brewing and quickly tried to smooth over the ruffled feathers, "okay maybe he didn't, maybe sometime during the day he realized something else and had to make alternate plans....it doesn't really matter. What matters is that he was killed for making personal plans to find the treasure...but by who? The people he works for, okay but who are they? Jess are you sure you don't know who Kenikelis is? Maybe you've been introduced before? try and remember.." I urged her

She shut her eyes and seemed to think hard, but she opened her eyes only to narrow them at me. "What exactly were you guys looking for tonight? Why did you claim to be the trackers? What do you really want, who are you?"

She stared hard at me with a new wave of suspicion and I found it hard to go straight to the point. "errrrrm....you see, actually.....what happened was that...."

Kanaku came to my rescue, "our friend here is a yahoo boy, he ran away with someone's money and the person paid me to track him down. He told me the money was with someone in the hotel and I suspected he was lying," Kanaku glared at me once more, "But I still can't believe someone will be so stupid to mess with me like that.." He trailed off, chewing his jaw and making a fist without taking his eyes off my face

I glared at him, fucking snitch! Then glanced at Jess, "I was at my wit's end, thinking of my next move when the receptionist called the mister Dowins name...but you interrupted and I started panicking but when she made the call and he confirmed us, it was more like a dream at that point and I just went with the flow"

"So you're a yahoo boy?" She asked with what was clearly a condescending tone

"yes, and you're a runs girl!" I fired back.

"Whatever you want to call it, but we were in a relationship, he wanted to marry me you heard it yourself," she fired back, "don't you dare compare it...I watch the news, I see the rubbish you guys do to young girls, you're no different from money ritualists"

Kanaku was smiling, enjoying the show.

I hate that she managed to put me on the defensive. "I don't do that, I'll never cross that line so don't judge me if you don't know me....maybe the guys you're used to are ritualists...as for me I make my money by thinking sharp and acting smart, with my head and tools" I tapped my forehead.

"What do you mean by guys I'm used to?" she challenged

"I don't know, I should be asking you.."

We engaged in a heated verbal exchange for the next ten minutes until Kanaku got tired and had to step in and play peacemaker.

I couldn't understand how she could make me feel like cuddling her one moment and strangling her the next.

The fight put a stop to our vigil and she stiffly told Kanaku good night and retired to the room by 4:01 am.

Kanaku stretched out on my sofa so I had to spread a sheet on the floor, I struggled to get comfortable, wondering if Jessy was enjoying my water bed and King sized frame. I hoped she wouldn't have any nightmares about the body and asked myself why I cared if she slept fine or not.

"Don't worry by 6 I'll be on my way and you can rest on the couch" Kanaku assured me sleepily

"Thank you sir," I said sarcastically

"remind me to give you my phone number, I'll bring your car back before nightfall"

"can you leave some cash with me? I don't have any money" I asked

He gave a throaty whistle in reply and began to snore

Twelvedemon12:
Souloho19 You are great this piece and others will take you places

Pls which part of benue are you from

I know cause most of my main characters have roots in Benue but I'm actually from Abia

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KANAKU

Friends of circumstance

I had dozens of missed calls from Barakat and Jackson. When the calls got too much, I put my phone on silent, till I got sick of the unending vibrations then I switched off my phone and focused solely on driving. Jackson could go hang himself, I wasn't interested in our business again, look where it had gotten me? Even though I didn't get to make the big score I dreamt of, I had over 100k naira from Fuoyo not to talk of the furniture I had relieved him off. That, in particular would make Barakat very happy. I had also taken a total of 400 euros in 5o's from Mr. D. It was such a terrible way to die and I was sorry for him but there was no use feeling guilty over taking the money. He couldn't spend it anymore, he was dead. It was terrible but true. I was still alive with a very pregnant woman back home, I needed the money more than the detectives or morgue attendant who would have discovered it. But as I drove through the airport road down to Egbeda and finally linked through Ikeja, I thought of the 2 hours we'd spent with him in the room and his infectious passion when he spoke about the treasure. I thought about the little I had learned, I had been a little skeptical at first, I still was but the violent crime made me have a rethink about everything.

How could grown men kill each other over tales and unconfirmed myths? Still, I remembered the gleam Mr. D had in his eyes when he spoke of the satchel of Ezi whatever, and also the emotion in the killers' voice when they had made plans to find the girlfriend next. Fiction or not, myth or not, the fact was that these people believed in it. That meant this probably wasn't the first nor last time they had killed for the so-called treasure.
Which further meant there could be a treasure after all.

I observed the girl through the rearview mirror, she was fast asleep and she didn't look like the angry fox who had snapped at us earlier in the lobby or in the elevator, instead, she looked really vulnerable and fragile, I felt a strange urge to protect her like the little sister I never had and immediately shook the foreign thought out of my head. Fuoyo was there for her and he was doing a good job comforting her, although I suspected he was just hörny for her.

I watched him through the review too, he wasn't sleeping, he just kept staring out the window with a distant look in his eyes and I guessed he was revisiting the room and reliving the gory details.

"Hey, so have you decided what to do next?" I asked just to bring him out of his head for a while.

He met my eyes, "I have no idea, I've decided I'm going to let her decide"

"decide how?"

"She seemed really attached to the man they killed, so I figure if she wants to get revenge for him I'm going to stick around and help her"

"well you have my best wishes, but you'll have to count me out, I don't believe in going after professional killers."

"no, not that kind of revenge, I mean.....the treasure... what if we beat this person or people..whoever they are and secure the bag for ourselves?" he held my eyes through the rearview. "It's strange cause we only knew the man for like an hour but I have a feeling that's what he would have wanted"

"well you're a really nice guy, how did you end up doing yahoo?" I asked

He sighed tiredly, "I guess life happened"

I waited for him to buttress but instead he asked, "how about you, what next?"

"Look i'd love to help you guys find this so-called treasure but I have a young family to take care of"

"And what of Jackson?"

"if he disturbs me I'll just keep extorting him till he gets the message. If he wants you that bad then he'll have to get you himself"

That drew a chuckle from Fuoyo and I smiled, there was no use lying to myself, somehow all three of us had been bonded by the horrific murder and we had become friends without even knowing.

Elfaris:
Kai, Souloho19 you're such a good writer tbh. I admire your work. The suspense here is exciting and I'm here wishing I'm as good as you are. lol. I'm also a thriller writer, hoping to get my latest work traditionally published soon. Are you on any other social where I can follow you?

you're too kind boss...lol thanks, I'm on wattpad also and semiactive on twitter. bohemianpengame and boyfestac respectively. Cheers

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JECINCTA

When It all comes crashing down


By the time we got into the car, we were all soaking wet. The Fuoyo guy was being really nice to me and a part of my brain noticed his effort even though I couldn't acknowledge it.
He got into the back seat with me, rubbing his palms together and placing his warm hands on my cheeks. My teeth kept clattering together and I couldn't stop shuddering. The cold wasn't really from the rain, but the gruesome image of Mr. D. someone I had known and come to care for, slaughtered like an animal and left to die painfully and bleed to death. They had cut him up till all his blood drained from his body, Oh my God! I shuddered again.

"It's alright, it's alright, you're safe now, you're safe with us" Fuoyo assured me.

Kanaku scoffed from the driver's seat, "which us? that reminds me, can you get her address from her, let's drop her off.."

"what! we can't do that, they're searching for her too, you heard them back there" Fuoyo interjected

"So what, what's the next step now. You put us in this mess hope you're aware, I should break your toothpick legs for messing with me"

Theirs was seemingly a new partnership but they were obviously already used to exchanging words. I tuned their voices to the background as I thought of Mr. D who was no more. I had a lot of questions and no one to ask. Like: why was he killed? He didn't deserve to die like that, he wasn't a bad person...not the Mr. D I knew. Maybe he wasn't exactly a saint and he had obviously been involved in shady and illegal deals but he had been a decent person, one with empathy. And yet he'd met a painful end, such a horrible death. Who was this kenekelis that he had trusted enough to seek his help but had ended up sending hired killers to him? I tried to remember everything he had ever told me about his work or his boss but I really didn't know much and no matter how hard I concentrated, there was no epiphany. I was only certain Kenekelis wasn't his boss, maybe just a fellow colleague.

"Can you take me home?" I asked tiredly after a while. My throat was sore and my voice was barely audible.

"what's that?" Fuoyo asked

"I want to go home," I said louder

"hmmm....I would grant your request lady but Mr. Superman here says it's too dangerous, and to be honest, he's right, the smart move is for us to bunk down somewhere for the night"

"I don't think I can handle another hotel tonight" Fuoyo echoed my thoughts

"I know, and besides who has money to waste? I meant we should head to your house, the road is free and it shouldn't take that long"

"Okay that's better" Fuoyo agreed

I tried to insist they take me home but I really couldn't argue, I felt weak, and I was filled with a grief so deep it left me feeling empty like I had cried out a huge part of my soul and all I had left was a void which got me feeling drained. I rested my head on Fuoyo's shoulder, cold and tired and also glad that I had someone to lean on at this dark hour.

I dozed off, thinking of Mr. D and how I would never get to see him again or debate on the pros and cons of our relationship. He was gone, just like that he had ceased to exist in one night and when your whole world revolved around somebody if anything happened to the person, it was easy for your whole world to come crashing down.

CHAPTER 9


Cold Blooded

FUOYO

Kanaku and I exchanged a worried glance, it was funny how things had changed since I woke up to his horrid scare just this morning and now we were somehow on the same team. In this room with this strangely intelligent older man and his beautiful but angry girlfriend, listening to him talk on and on about ancient treasures stolen by colonial masters and this so-called neck bag made from precious stones that had supernatural powers. It was a hell of a tale no doubt and I was intrigued even though I suspected it was nothing but crazy fables, it had to be crazy right?



After he dropped the receiver, I looked around the room as he demanded we tell him who we were. So if the real archeologists and historians or whatever he called them were coming here, for this....legend.....all these....papers and drawings....could that mean all of these was real? Or were these people just misguided and plain crazy? Kanaku was also silent, after all his activity forming earlier, now that it mattered the most he couldn't even say anything. The bastard. I knew it was up to me to take a gamble. Mr. D was looking at us with equal measures of worry and suspicion and anger.



"come on sir you know how Kenekelis is, he doesn't like to put his eggs in one basket, I'm sure he found a less expensive option and decided to send them to you to choose. He didn't even tell us much about the job" I offered lamely



He squinted his eyes at me and I couldn't believe he was actually considering it. Whoever this kenekelis was, I was grateful he was a predictable or unpredictable character. Kanaku found his voice finally, "exactly boss, after how many years in this game there's no way you can be so bad at judging characters. You must trust us deep in your guts, we know it and we know you know it too"



I didn't know I was holding my breath till he nodded slowly and I smiled



"Oh baby don't tell me you believe this rubbish. They only overhead your name when the receptionist was talking to me downstairs and they've been playing along ever since, I don't know their main intentions but it's obviously fake, come on babe look at them..." Jess pointed at me, "this one doesn't look like somebody that can even track gala in traffic, the other one is clearly a lout, he threatened to beat me when we were in the elevator just because I said the receptionist should-"



Sheeeesh! This girl could talk! She sounded like a spoilt child reporting the hired help to a rich uncle. Thankfully she was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door and Mr. D put his hands on his head and groaned. "arrrrrgh"



He looked like he hadn't slept in 5 days and we had only made things worse by thoroughly screwing with his brain.



He glanced at me and I relaxed my eye muscles, trying to look as plain eyed and honest as possible, "I don't understand what's going on, but it's either you guys are imposters or Kenekelis made a mistake..." he stared into space and stroked his jaw. "or.....K...." he looked up suddenly, ".....has betrayed me to the boss....."



The knock sounded again. The knob turned impatiently. Thankfully the door was bolted shut"shit, okay you guys go...go into the toilet and wait there, don't come out until I decide what the Bleep is going on here"



The girlfriend he'd called Jess sent me a deadly look before placing her hands on her waist. "I'll stay with you boo"



"no no, go with them....if K is really working against me and they're here to get the locations, then it's important they think no one else knows these details, I know too much and that makes me invaluable to them but anyone else is just a loose end. Go..." He urged in a frustrated whisper



"But what if these guys are the real enemies huh?" Stubborn Jess asked still looking at me with contempt. I wondered if it was because of my cough earlier which had interrupted her sugar daddy's proposal.



The knock sounded again, impatiently this time and the frame vibrated from the violent hits. Mr. D practically pushed us into the last room. "I don't know who they really are but I trust these men. They may not be honest but my gut tells me they're not the enemy, and I follow my guts. Now you 3 stay quietly and don't come out till I discharge them and decide it's safe to call you okay?"



"Okay sure thing sir" I agreed immediately and Kanaku flipped the lock the moment he shut the door.



"I have a bad feeling about this?" Jess murmured



"shhh your highness, I'll like to hear what's been said out there okay?" I had the side of my head pressed hard against the door and my ear picked up low voices from the next room, I recognized Mr. D's voice and 2 strange voices.



"So kenekelis sent you huh? What exactly did he tell you" Mr. D's high pitch made it easier to recognize his voice and make out his words



"that you.......big job.......wanted us..... handle discreetly"



Mr D: "hmmmm....did he tell you what we're looking for and where we're looking"



"yes.....homework.....about the bag....diary.?" This particular voice was so low only a few words per sentence was audible



"We also know you made up the Sokoto clue to throw the boss off track while you went to the first location in Nassarawa, to get the price... isn't that right Brian?" The second voice was much louder, there was something cool in his voice that made the hairs behind my neck stand



Mr. D: "I don't know what you're talking about...wait how do you know my first name?"



I looked at Kanaku and Jess, both had their arms folded and looked eagerly at me. I didn't know how much they had heard but obviously enough, judging by Jess's horrified look



"I think he's in trouble" I whispered returning my ear to the wooden surface once more.



"You guys are not trackers, Kenekelis didn't send you, what are you here for? I don't have the diary-" Mr. D accused



"Don't worry yourself about who sent us. If you give us the diary and the map locations we're to make your death quick and painless"



"I swear I don't have the diary, I had it with me only for some hours and I could only memorize the important details, every other thing I know about the treasure is from all I've studied and learned for the last ten years...the last sighting of the bag was in Nassarawa in the year 1918 there's a popular picture of the Alhaji with the bag around his neck. I sat with the boss earlier today, he has a detailed report and knows everything I know"



"Obviously not everything.." the words were broken off at each syllable and there was a shuffling kind of noise, like the furniture was being tossed around, "you're supposed to be in Abuja right now, preparing for the glorious find in Nassarawa, yet here you are, making plans for your own separate excavation"



There was a cracking sound and Mr. D gave a short shout that was cut off abruptly before a loud thud sounded. I struggled to look through the peephole but they weren't in my range. I could only see the couch Mr. D has shoved aside earlier



"Oh my God what's happ-" Jessy cried out



Kanaku grabbed her immediately and covered her mouth with his palm, silencing her before she could raise her voice properly. "shhh stay quiet, your boyfriend has things under control..." The words were no sooner out of his mouth when Mr. D, began groaning in pain. There was the unmistakable sound of adhesive ripping and his voice was soon muffled and barely carried through the door, his mouth had been taped shut but I could hear the pain in every sound.



"Fuoyo what's happening?" Kanaku demanded in a furious whisper.



I pressed my ear closer to the door if possible till I could hear every single shuffle from the next room and every weak moan from Mr. D that followed an incisive swishing sound that made me think of a sharp dagger going through a bag of rice, ripping open yards of sack threads.



"you know the code, the boss is very practical, backstabbers get stabbed in the back,.... ha...ha..haha" the man with the low voice seemed to be the one doing the stabbing. There was a kind of joy in his voice which amplified his every word this time around. He sounded like he loved his job.



These men were no trackers, they were killers.



"what's going on?" Kanaku demanded again, I noticed Jess was seriously biting his hand but he maintained his tight grip.



"They're stabbing him...I think in the back" I whispered back



"mmmmh mmmmmh mhmmmhh" Jess's complaint only came out in a moan and Kanaku and I shushed her with desperate whispers; "Shhhhh, you're going to get us killed"



The attackers were still speaking and I struggled to catch most of the words.

"diary....map.....house....somewhere..........Kenekelis.....tomorrow.....Nassarawa.....secure......bag......search..........in case....somewhere...."

"Shit" I whispered the bad news to my fellow prisoners. "I'm not sure but I think they plan to search the whole suite"



"Then we have to fight" Kanaku whispered back. "Do they have guns?" He had loosened his grip on Jess. She had grown completely still and teardrops now rolled down her cheeks freely.



I have never felt the kind of paralyzing fear that gripped me as I listened to Mr. D's voice fade away like a sad song ending. Did someone just get murdered in the next room with 3 strangers locked in the toilet the only witnesses to the evil act? And would the killers shoot the door down and find us soon?Shit just got too real. This wasn't just some fairy tale or some mythical treasure anymore, people were ready and willing to kill for it.Luckily for us, the landline began to ring again. The receptionist was calling again, for whatever reason but it made the killers nervous and there was a short argument when the phone stopped ringing. Unknown killer A with the low voice who I now suspected was a cold-blooded murdering psychopath wanted to go ahead and search for the missing diary and map but unknown killer B with the hard voice was worried the receptionist was on her way up or maybe Mr. D had guests.



I held my breath, hoping they would go away and my prayer was answered.



"Okay, pack every paper you can see, we'll send everything to Kenekelis"



"what about his girlfriend?"



"we'll wait and see if there's still no sign of the map or diary then we pick her up and hand her over to K"



(wicked laugh) "Oh the sick pervert will surely find out everything she knows"



"hey don't talk like that"



They must have been standing right outside the door because their voices were really loud. The 3 of us heard them clearly. I turned to look at the "girlfriend" in question. Her eyes were puffy from the crying and she looked so afraid and vulnerable that I almost made a promise no one was going to hurt her, I almost foolishly said it out loud, if not that one of them tried to open the toilet door and jiggled the handle.

"Why's this door locked?"



"Come on Jaga let's get out of here quick"



The handle turned once more then Jaga finally gave up and they spent about two more minutes moving things about the room and shuffling the many research documents Mr. D had clipped about. Finally, their footsteps receded and we heard them close the main door and the penthouse was silent for the next 5 minutes while we tried to return our pulse to normal. We were all shaken up in varying stages, Jess looked totally petrified, even the tough Kanaku shut his eyes and placed his bleeding hand on his chest trying to calm his pulse, as for me, I wasn't even ready to open the door yet.



It was still Kanaku who opened the door and slipped out for a quick search of the suite. "We have to get the hell out of here," he called out.



"It's okay Jess, take my hand..." I offered my hand and she wrapped her fingers around mine gratefully and together we left the toilet and I wondered what we'll find.



The room was now a bloody mess, there was not even a single sheet of paper lying about. But there was plenty of bloodstains on the walls and a huge puddle of red paste had trickled to the center of the room, giving the map on the floor a bloody and haunting look. Without fully knowing what I was doing, I brought out my phone and took a quick clear picture of the now bloodied drawing. This was the only evidence of the legend Mr. D had only begun to tell and I had a feeling I'll wake up on my couch with a headache and would need to check my gallery to confirm this had been real and not a drunken dream.



"Don't look in the corner" Kanaku instructed once we stepped into the room, but like inquisitive children, our eyes were immediately drawn to the corner he warned us not to look. It was a gruesome sight even from the short distance and I almost threw up in my mouth, I actually bit my tongue hard till I thought I would pass out from the pain but I kept my eyes and mouth shut tight, trying without luck to wash away the graphic image of Mr. D's massacred body from my mind. It was stuck; His naked mutilated copse with deep cuts crisscrossed in every inch of his body till there was no skin left unviolated.



Jess continued to stare, frozen in the same spot and unable to tear her eyes away despite the obvious trauma it was causing her. "Jess come on they could come back anytime." I gave her a tug but her body had gone stiff. "Jess..?"



"She's gone into shock, get her to the elevator quickly" Kanaku ordered. He picked up a pair of pant trousers that had been discarded in the corner and began to dig into the pockets.



I put Jess's arm over my shoulder and managed to half carry her to the door. "Are you serious? You'll rob the dead?" I couldn't believe him



"Please spare me, he won't be needing money wherever he's going. Plus money brought us here in case you have forgotten, so take her downstairs and I'll join you once I'm done here"



I shook my head but didn't say anything else. The whole suite smelled of death and I just wanted to get out.



Thankfully Jess regained some level of consciousness in the elevator. I held her throughout the 10-floor ride and she sobbed into my chest and I tried to comfort her, unsure of what to say so I kept quiet and when we got to the ground floor, she kept crying while I kept hitting the button, keeping the elevator stationary. Until Kanaku exited the next elevator and called out. "Hey lover boy, it's still raining heavily let's heard to the car fast"



He flashed a leather designer purse, "I believe this belongs to her, she left it upstairs"



I could tell from the way his eyes narrowed that he had also fingered the purse.



The huge glass clock in the hotel lobby showed the time was 10 minutes past 11. The receptionist lady was focused on a music video on the LCD screen but she smiled at us and for some reason, she seemed pleased to see Jessy crying.



"Bros una make ashewo cry?" she asked playfully



I wanted to tell her to go screw herself but I decided to save my breath. However, I noticed Jess managed to stop crying after that, other than the occasional sniffles and she even managed to stand upright without leaning on me while we waited for Kanaku to bring my car close to the entrance. Even in the mindless state of grief, her ego wouldn't allow her to roll over for a hater. I admired her for that.



"This rain is going to soak you, here hold on" I unbuttoned my Moncler cotton shirt and draped it over her shoulder. She looked at me for long and muttered, "thank you"

UNCL3:
While we wait for the next episode to drop, please people bless your ears and hearts with this beautiful song I did.
No regrets on your data.

Link in signature, thank you.

nice sound, dope chorus...your rap delivery needs little chiseling but overall it has replay value

::::::::::::

KANAKU

The Satchel of Eziza

I didn't know what was happening. I was lost, intrigued, confused and amused at the same time. I idly wondered if Fuoyo had put me on a wild goose chase of hours of pointless driving because it was pretty obvious he didn't know the elderly man, they were definitely not friends, and I could tell he was as surprised as I was to hear the incredible tale. I couldn't believe he had the balls to play me like that, a whole Kanaku. However I couldn't think of that now, I couldn't even get angry. Who got angry after hearing of a hidden treasure and millions of dollars in the same statement. Aaargh!!! there was stinking money in this world and I was interested in my slice.

I looked round the room at the documents strewn about and some blurry sketches I couldn't define while our crazy but wealthy host promised his girlfriend marriage and swore to explain everything later. Whoever this man was, he was the kind of person I wouldn't mind calling my boss or referring as "sir." If I'd seen him in the streets, I'll have both hands raised by now and stamp my legs while hailing him "senior man!"

I couldn't even bother to think of how much it could be in naira especially with the way the naira had recently been falling like a new born calf. What was this treasure that was worth such amount even on the black market? Did he expect us to track it? and if he did, did that mean he had some kind of map or a clue to the present location of this so called treasure? And if he did, where was it? I glanced round the suite and sighed, If only I had a clearer picture of what was really going on.

Fuoyo was on the same wavelength with me and he impressed me by saying, "Mr Kenekelis wasn't really clear on all the details or requirements of this particular job, It'll help us work better if we knew everything there was to know about this....treasure"

Senior man blinked in confusion and I began to curse Fuoyo in my mind, thinking he had managed to blow everything apart but then the Mr D fellow nodded, "oh well that makes sense, I know K doesn't talk much and would have avoided all trackers that has worked on this case before..." he glanced at his watch. "I hope this rain stops soon," he muttered absentmindedly before looking at Fuoyo then me. "so what exactly do you know about the Satchel of Eziza?"

We stared back at him blankly and he looked incredulous. "Nothing? Are you kidding me? Okay but you know of Olokun the bronze deity believed to have been carved in the late 1700's?"

Fuoyo and I glanced at each other. it was our first time hearing such

"I don't understand, what kind of historians and archeoloists are you-" He sounded a little suspicious now

"of course we're well familiar with the god called Olokun," Fuoyo retorted and I found myself liking the kid a little. Maybe I had underrated him, he was a sharp tack.

"Okay, well if you're aware of the legend, you'll know that back that in those days, the Oba's palace was home to all the priceless art work in the Kingdom. I'm talking of bronze and gold sculptures and cultural heritage of the Benin people, passed down Centuries ago, from generation to generation... However in a separate wing in the palace, in it's own separate room stood the biggest stature, all 4 feet of sculptured gold. This was the popular deity; Olokun's statue. Now what most people don't know is that early into the 18th century, a powerful high priest on behalf of the King ordered the the royal carvers to make modifications to the statue. A kind of sling hand made with all the precious gems in the entire kingdom was carved, it resembled a purse but was hung around the neck of the stature, for it had a pendant...you see, which was shaped like a locked padlock but it really represented a bag that was always open, this bag took about 10 years to make and it's alleged that the Chief spent 7 days submerged in the Olokun river with the bag which fit around a grown man's neck like a necklace. This mysterious object was called the infamous satchel of Eziza and was a direct hand purse of the gods, used as a medium to receive cowries from the indigenes whenever they had a request to make to Olokun. The request ranged from the barren given birth to the dead being brought to life..to a fruitful harvest..."

"Hmmm...." I murmured disbelievingly. This was beginning to sound like tales by moonlight. Maybe collecting the money now wouldn't be a bad idea after all. This man was obviously crazy and at least half bread was still better than chin chin

He was still caught up in his impressive story; "now if the cowry was still in the satchel the next morning then that meant Olokun had found the person unworthy and had refused the request and sacrifice but if the satchel was empty the next morning, then whatever it was that the person wanted or desired would come to pass. No matter what it was." He looked at me and I glared back, my frown was returning gradually with every ridiculous word.

"I know it sounds crazy, I used to think it was trash too until I came across some old first hand detailed reports from a colonial British military commander who ended up with the artifact after the attack on the palace in which british forces carted valuable Benin artifcts to Europe. There's no record of the satchel among the loots because during the ensuing fracas, the satchel of Eziza was separated from the statue and it didn't end up on a ship to Britain like the other treasures, instead the commander became obsessed with it and decided to keep it to himself-he became intrigued in the supposed power and believe it was the cause of his good fortune especially when he got promoted to General, he became filthy rich and at a point was in control of a huge region of the South until it was stolen in a raid and he got transferred back to-"

I couldn't pay attention to his story, all I could think of was how I was going to chip in the 23k once more or if I could intimidate the said amount from him. He didn't look to be in total control of his wits and I could sense he was much into his treasure gibberish to recognize any threat I might use. Unless I put my hands on him, and strangely I didn't really want it to come to that. If I was going to beat anybody it would be Fuoyo the cause of everything.

"Now according to his journal, his quarters was robbed during an assassination attempt on his life by rebels fighting the colonial master and he immediately-"

The phone rang again and Mr D sighed irritably, "what does this fucking receptionist girl want again, always calling...!"

He grabbed the receiver but the complain died on his lips as he listened with a frown. "I don't understand, they said they're from Kene who?........Are you sure that's what they said?"

I looked at Fuoyo, I knew he was thinking what I was thinking. The girl from the elevator was also thinking the same thing, she had a triumphant smile, as if to say; the jig is up. The real trackers were at the hotel and had just asked to be shown up.

Mr D put down the receiver and observed Fuoyo and I with red eyes. "Trackers from Kenekelis are in the elevator coming up right now, so who the hell are you?"

Hydriss:
Souloho19 I wish you had said the item was worth far morr than $1m, the reason been that Mr Doings spends money like it's nothing and such amount of money shouldn't be giving him and his boss sleepless nights. I was thinking like $100m to like $1b for starters, you get the point boss?

I get your point bossman, thanks for this input.

Happy new month guys

::::::::::::
JECINCTA


The 11th Hour

By the time I got to the hotel by 6:30pm, cumulonimbus clouds were making quick work of the remaining daylight and a cool breeze carried the damp scent of incoming rain.
The doorman greeted me affectionately as he opened the door for me. I hadn't been to the hotel in almost a year cause Mr. D preferred to drop by my apartment instead and as a result our weekly penthouse rendezvous had been put on indefinite hold. The clerk was a strange face, probably a new staff and obviously didn't know me. Usually I was handed a key card immediately and told Mr D was waiting for me in the private suite but the sassy lady chewing gum and staring rudely at me obviously didn't get the memo.

"Pent house 1C. Mr. Doing's is expecting me"

"Hold on" she instructed and I struggled to stay still

She brought out the intercom and dialed a room number.

She kept me waiting for minutes before she finally put the phone down and announced, "he's not answering"

I was baffled, "So? look he called me okay? he's expecting me...this is not my first day here," I turned and made to walk down the hall but the bitch began to cause a scene. "hello, excuse me you can't go up without confirmation. I'll send security after you, hey excuse me sister?"

I whirled around, "I'm not your sister okay and what do you expect me to do? you said he's not answering"

"Ehn that means you'll have a seat, I'll go up and confirm myself, new hotel policy okay?" She flushed her eyes at me, in the rude way that was usually accompanied with a venomous hiss. But she smiled thinly, and I saw how much she detested me cause she probably had a crush on Mr. D

I was used to such attitude from waitresses, stewardesses, female clerks both at hotels and banks. They all wanted to be the girl with the rich man. I could be extremely sassy when I needed to be and usually handed them double of their attitude. Right now I had a scathing rebuke on my tongue that would make even her ancestors roll in their graves but instead I did as she asked. I was a little worried about Mr. D, what if he already checked out of the hotel when I took too long to show up? I sat down in one of the waiting chairs in the lobby and leafed through a vogue magazine while she took her time, strolling lazily to the elevator. I rolled my eyes at her retreating back and focused on the bold designs the beautiful women brought to life on the pages. A couple minutes later, a loud thunder rumbled, interrupting the rather quiet night and I glanced up from the magazine.

Outside was as dark as midnight already, Grey clowds constantly lit up with flashes of lightening as if announcing that the imminent downpour would be very heavy.

Two men hurried into the hotel lobby and I noticed their clothes were a little wet which meant it was already drizzling. There was something odd about the partnership and I found myself wondering what business they had together.

The guy in front looked as angry as the Devil and had such a hard face, I suspected his features no longer softened when he smiled. He was dressed in one of those popular annoying shirts with the inscription, 'my money grows like grass' and a grey joggers that hinted to have once been navy blue in colour. The second man was a lot more easy to look at, he was as tall as his partner and thankfully a whole less muscular, in fact he was more on the lanky side. He had better dress sense and although I could only see his side profile cause unlike his friend, he stared straight ahead I thought he was rather cute. For every confident step the first guy took, there was an unsure and hesitant shuffle visible with his every step. They got to the check-in counter which was still unmanned and they looked around. The muscular one had an air of impatience about him and pushed the button repeatedly, renting the air with the shrill sound of the mechanical bell.

"This guy better be here with the money, after all the stress I've been through I expect nothing less, if not...." There was an unmistakable threat in his voice and I suddenly wondered if he was referring to Mr. D

The second guy gazed wistfully out the window, the rain was coming hard and fast already and he looked like he wanted to run out the door and dance in the rain for a second, then he looked round the lobby and when he saw me he looked a bit surprised at first but he kept staring straight in my eyes and I was trying to decide if I found it annoying or endearing when the elevator doors opened and the clerk bitch reappeared with the announcement; "Mr Doings says you can come up......" she glanced at the two new comers. "Hello how can I help you?" She smiled flirtatiously, suddenly inspired to be a more hospitable receptionist.

I stood up, determined to ignore her antics and ignore the two strangers who looked like bad news but I heard the lanky guy say. "We're here to see Mr errrm....Dowings" He couldn't even pronounce it properly.

"Mr Doings?" She asked

"yes that's him,"

"we have serious business," the big one added

I stopped walking and stared at them, unsure about their intentions but it was obviously nothing good.

To my chagrin the clerk pointed at me, "penthouse 1c. That's where she's going"

I was absolutely livid. "So that's it, you're not going to confirm if he's expecting them? what happened to your so called policy?! I think you should better call him now unless you want to get fired, he's not expecting anyone but me," I stabbed my thumb at the duo when I said 'them" and they glared back. They seemed unsure on how to respond to my outburst and their eyes swept all over my body, making me wish I had put on something a little less revealing. I was wearing a real-madrid jersey shirt, a jean bumshot over fishnet leggings that disappeared into shin high leather boots. I probably looked like what I was; a high class runs girl.

The receptionist took my advice or maybe she took the threat because she dialed the room and this time spoke into the receiver. "Sir two men are here to see you too, they said it's a business call"

"okay sir, right away"

She dropped the receiver and smiled sweetly at them. "He said you should come up quick," then she glanced at me, "have fun babes"

I flipped my weave in her direction, the ultimate go ''Bleep yourself' move and walked briskly to the elevator, hitting the call button furiously. What the hell was going on? what kind of riffraffs did Mr. D do business with?

We ended up in the same elevator and the guy in the money grass t-shirt gave me a fierce look through the mirror before warning me, "look this young girl, next time you better look face because if you try that rubbish with me again you will get the beating of your life"

"Kanaku please chill out, let me do the talking up there..." the second guy smiled apologetically at me, "I'm Fuoyo, this is my friend Kanaku."

They didn't look like friends or brothers or even partners.

"What kind of business do you have with Mr D?" I asked suspiciously

"Serious money business" Mr Kanaku snapped.

I decided I was going to complain to Mr D about their attitude. If they really worked for him then they were in trouble, especially the lout who threatened to beat me.

Immediately the doors slid open, I matched ahead of them to penthouse 1c and pushed the bell button since I hadn't been given a key.
They were practically breathing down my neck by the time Mr. D opened the door.

The first thing I noticed was how tired he looked, he usually spotted a well trimmed mustache and groomed beard touched with enough grey to give him the older but refined handsome look he always carried so well. But now it was obvious a blade hadn't touched his face since the day before he traveled, when he had shaved at my place. "Oh Jess what took you so long? come in come in..." He pulled me in and hugged me tightly.

Before I could complain about our unexpected guests, he was pushing me away and his eyes were already searching behind me. "You two must be the trackers. I wasn't so sure Kenekelis would be able to contact you on such short notice...come in, come in..."

I walked into the suite slowly, taking each shocking detail in stride; from his unkempt appearance to the firm handshakes he exchanged with the strangers, then the messy state the room was in. There were documents pinned to the walls and scattered on the floor, with scribblings and underlined words almost on every sheet. There were also different kinds of maps strewn about; 2 world maps, a map of Africa and about half a dozen maps of Nigeria. They all had different markings and drawings from the marker sticking out of his breast pocket. It had generated a big stain on his shirt. But that wasn't all, he had pushed the chairs and center table to the end of the room and on the gleaming white tiles was a map of Nigeria he had sketched with the permanent marker. I studied the dotted lines he had drawn in a kind of arc, it started from the south then curved in the middle belt and ended somewhere above where I guessed would be Adamawa. He asterisked specific points on the S-shaped line with dates that ranged from 1897-1914

"Mr. D, what is going on?" I couldn't keep the panic out of my voice. Mr D had lost his mind for sure.

He locked the door and smiled at me, the smile wasn't as reassuring as I would have liked. "I'll explain everything in a minute my love."

The so called trackers also looked lost, they stared round at the apartment in bewilderment, no doubt also thinking Mr. D had gone cuckoo

Mr D looked searchingly at their faces, there was no mistaking the urgency in his voice, it was very infectious, my pulse began to race.
"Kenekelis says you guys are the best at what you do but from my calculation we'll have just a 48 hour lead at most, so we need to to move fast. I have made arrangements for a private helicopter ride direct to Nassarawa tonight so I'll try and explain as quick and concise as I can"

"Where's the money" The fierce looking man asked, straight to the point

"Well that's why we're here is it not, now let's get down to business..."

But Kanaku insisted,"the 23 thousand dollars. That's what we're here for"

Mr D. scratched his week old stubble, he seemed a little confused. "23k dolls...? oh! I suppose your service fee? payment first eh...That's no problem I'll write you a check..."

I suddenly had a feeling there had been a terrible mix up. I didn't think these were the guys Mr D had been expecting. I checked my phone. It was already way past 8pm. Maybe the real trackers will show up soon

"Mr D." I called out in a warning tone,
But he had a crazy gleam in his eyes and he hurried to the drawing in the center of the room. "I came across the diary in Edo, and with it I've been able to pick up the trail of the bag right from the Benin attack of 1897 where it first got stolen.." He touched his marker on the first asterix in the south.
"The commander of the attack squad became obsessed with it of course and held on to it until early 19th century, when it was stolen by rebels in Asaba..."

"Mister man where is our money first?" The thug demanded harshly, cutting him short.

Mr D looked up in irritation, "What's wrong with you, we're talking of a treasure worth over a million dollars in today's black market, maybe 10 if auctioned and you're going on about a couple of thousand, are you guys down for this work or not, I believe this is not the first time you've worked for my firm and I've risked too much to watch you piss on it for chicken change"

Both the trackers' mouths fell open, my own mouth was also wide open in shock at what I just heard, I studied the scattered room again, the room still looked messy but now the mess looked rich

"Are you in or out? if you're in, focus but if not i'll write you a check and Kenekelis can get me serious trackers ready to work" Mr D scolded them angrily and he sounded so stressed that I became more concerned about his state of mind

I watched the two men exchange a glance then nod in unison. "we're in"

"we're in sir"

Bloody thieves!

"Good." Mr. D glanced at me, "I'm sorry Jess, I know this is really unexpected," I could see a boyish smile transform his face. "It's a life changing adventure Jess and I want you with me when I find it...and after that too. Marry me Jess, travel the world with me, I've been in touch with your parents and I've gotten their blessing. I'll give you the biggest diamond to show the world you are mine." He was focusing on only me now, his eyes staring into mine with so much concentration I knew at that second nothing and no one else in the room mattered.

Oh my....

"eheem-eheem" The lanky guy who had introduced himself as Fuoyo gave a not to discreet cough which was so obviously fake.

Mr D shook his head trying to regain concentration, "I'll take time and explain everything to you on our way to the airfield..I promise"

It felt like a parade was going on in my chest and I could only nod my head in reply. Mr D just mentioned marriage and said he had gotten my parents permission...when? how?....I couldn't speak even if I tried. I wanted to hear everything he had to say, what did all the markings on the floor mean? Why the hurried meeting with these two strangers? I couldn't be sure yet but it looked like he was breaking away from his firm and going after what he had once told me was the source of obsession for his crazy but dangerous boss. I suddenly had a terrible feeling about the night.

YoungBruzzy:
Oga Souloho19, Biko Bia Neba
Are you there??

Pls we need more update

wow!! It almost skipped my mind let me run some quick edits would drop an update asap

Mynet11:
Thanks for the update but seems like it's too short... Waiting for more

Bro because you're my boss and I hold you in the highest regard, I'll drop another right now :




Chapter 8

:::::::::::
FUOYO

Just Go with it

"The money..."

"Yes the money are you retarded..."

"the money...." I stammered, I couldn't believe Jackson and Offwhite had hired a killer. This guy was a killer, there was nothing anybody was going to tell me.

"errm the money is ready," He wasn't smiling so I had to think as fast as I could but my head was aching so bad and felt so heavy I couldn't string a coherent thought together.

"Good, you're going to take me to it."

I held my head wondering why it felt like prime Mike Tyson had caught me in a 10 second caged fight.

"Where is the money?" He demanded again, approaching where I sat and rolling his shoulder blades like he was getting ready to swing a wide punch.

I scrambled to my feet immediately, hating myself for cowering like a kitten faced with a blood thirsty pitbull.
"The money is safe, very safe It's available, somewhere safe"

He paused his approach, observing me thoughtfully and I attempted to pull myself together.

"Where?"

"I'm suppose to collect it today from a friend, Jackson and I had a 2 week deal, this is still the last day. Once I have the complete money, I'll bring the cash before night fall." If I had to talk to save my life then God help me, I was going to talk.

The thug looked at me, trying to decide if he should believe me or not. "Good then we'll go together. If you play any funny games you're going to seriously regret it."

It didn't sound like a threat, he said it in an offhanded manner like he was stating a well known fact. "Now for the last time, where exactly is the money?" He took another step that said if he had to ask again, his fists would do the talking.

"It's with my friend Shaq.." I was gasping at straws here, saying anything that would give me a break from this onslaught.

"I didn't ask who it's with, I said where?!" He grabbed me by my shirt collar pushing me so I stumbled over the armchair and landed on my back with a loud thud and then he knelt over me, pressing his knee into my chest till I cried out

"it's on the island on the island, in Ikoyi...." God helped me, I almost rattled out Shaq's address but I managed to stop myself at the last minute. "My friend is lodged in a hotel, I'm supposed to meet him there tonight"

"What's the name of the hotel?" He barked

During my first 4 months living with Shaq, he had taken me along to a fancy hotel for a friend's party. Half a dozen adjoining suites had been booked and set up specifically for the party and it had lasted all through Friday and Saturday. The whole weekend had been a blurry haze of alcohol, drugs and sex with strippers and for someone like me who had been green around the ears, it had been such an unbelievable experience that I never forgot the name of the hotel, the venue responsible for one of the craziest nights of my life! It popped into my head now and I rattled out the name.
"Bohemian Grove at Ikoyi"

"Well we better get moving," He released my collar and stood up. He stared down at me for a second as if considering offering a hand to help me up. Then he crossed over me, knudging my sides with his ankles. "Get your car keys, I have some of your things I'm taking with me"

I glanced at the two full sacks under the dinning table, I could see my wall clock sticking out of one. I was also getting robbed by this Brute, great!

My initial shock aside, I was gradually regaining my composure and I felt this cocky bastard had underestimated me a little. True, because of the illegal nature of our business he knew I couldn't go to the police or draw any attention to us so all he saw was a frightened and hopeless young man at his mercy. I didn't know how to do it but I knew I had to find a way to lose him. My survival instincts had already kicked in and I began considering my next move and thinking how I was going to beat him without instigating a physical face-off. If it came to a fight I would likely get pummeled unconscious. The surest way to lose him would be if I got the chance to drive off and leave him by the road. I'll have to be quick and watchful for the right opportunity.

I had a quick shower breathing through my mouth cause the mad man must have used my toilet earlier and left a terrible stink behind.

He then made me carry the two sacks of my furniture to my car booth, telling me most of the items would look better in his home, anyway.

What a bastard!

I found myself hating him so much but I went along with all he asked, feeling hopeful that I would get a chance to abandon him, especially when it seemed he was having some stomach discomfort.

By 1pm I was out of delay tactics and we were finally ready to move, we got to the car and he shattered my only hope when he asked for the car keys. "I'm driving" he declared

"Aah..." I failed to keep the panic out of my voice, "we may run into police or road safety, I have my license and papers complete, it would be better if-"

"ogbeni go open gate, them never born the police or road safety wey go stop Kanaku"

"Kanaku...is that your name?"

He grabbed the keys from my hands in reply and pointed at the gate.

I was so frustrated and after joining him in the car I tried again. "But you don't know the place.."

"let's get to Ikoyi first. If you try anything funny I'll bash your skull" he hissed

Bastard! I screamed in my mind

"First we'll stop at the atm and check how much is in your account, I heard you have 4000 dollars down?"

I got angrier when he flashed me my atm card from his breast pocket.

I had 70 thousand naira left in my account. The $4000 was now $3700 and thankfully was in cryptocurrency, stored safely in the digital world which this clown obviously knew nothing about. Still I had to admit there was something a bit interesting about him. He looked like a good for nothing uneducated thug, heck he was definitely a good for nothing thug but there was a kind of calculating intelligence about him. He was physically strong and apparently mentally sound too, The way he had gotten past my burglary and into my house easily with just a car jack had surprised and impressed me. He also didn't speak anything like the regular tout. He had good command of the English language and he only switched to pidgin when he got angry and threatened to burst my head open.

"I don't have that money again, the complete $16000 is with my friend in the hotel, he just collected the dollars cash from his mallam this morning"

"16 or 23k?" He frowned

"16, I removed my 30 percent"

He scoffed. "I'm told you owe atleast 20k don't joke with me boy or you'll regret it"

I would have laughed if I wasn't trying so hard to think of a way out the mess. I didn't even have half of that amount anywhere. And the truth was even if I had the money I was no longer inspired to release one cent to the bastards. Not anymore. They feel they could send this...…..Kanaku fellow after my head just like that? A sharp Lagos boy like me?

By the time we drove off I was determined to outsmart them all.

There was heavy traffic as common with a normal weekday in Lagos. Kanaku knew all the roads within the Lagos mainland, he ignored most of my directions, taking a quicker route to the nearest Zenith Bank where we emptied every last cent in my account. However once we approached the 3rd mainland bride it became clear that he wasn't as familiar with the Island and we spent hours on the road as I conveniently forgot the directions to the Hotel.

His stomach often growled and I expected him to stop the car and run off into the bush or the nearest fast food to use their toilet but apart from the terrible scowl on his face and a couple more terrible gas which reminded me of a bus ride once upon a time, Kanaku remained in control of his bowels. Only grinding his teeth as we sat in the complete stand still traffic of Lagos rush hour.

"We're almost there, remain small" was my automatic reply to his surprisingly few threats.

YoungBruzzy:
Thanks for the update OP

my pleasure bro

::::::::::::
KANAKU

The easy way or the Hard way


I left my pregnant girlfriend and 3 year old daughter by 8pm on Wednesday Night and headed to Fuoyo's address in Ikeja. By the time I left the house, I was already in a bad mood because Barakat had thrown a tantrum when she found out I was going out. It wasn't pretty, she accused me of having an affair and went from violent sobs to hitting me on my forearms while I tried to deflected her assault as gently as I could, assuring her I was going to look for money for the family. Thankfully her elder sister was coming to look after her the next day till whenever I got back which I decided wouldn't be till nightfall. Her sister Sukirat hated my guts and I hated hers too. In my opinion, she put half the crazy ideas in Barakat's head and interfered in our lives too much.
As I walked towards the main road, I still felt a little guilty remembering Barakat ask me, "who'll help me up in the night when I want to pee?"

"This bastard Fuoyo better not mess with me..." I growled to myself as I hitched a ride from one of the bus drivers I was familiar with, heading towards the closest Ikeja bus-stop.

My initial plan was to scope the house through the night and make my move early in the morning but when I traced the address, I realized his flat was too easy to break in. He lived in a Townhouse that had been divided into 6 flats. His flat was downstairs on the left. The staircase entrance was on the right side of the building, beside the other ground flat which meant his corner was totally secluded and people coming up or down the stairs couldn't see his entrance. To further tempt me, his entrance was only partially lit up by the light that passed through the sides of the curtains from one of the windows. The icing of the cake was the loud music coming from the living room. Perfect.

The only challenge was the burglary bars and the double locks on his gate. I couldn't attempt to burst open the padlocks, they looked to sturdy and even the music wouldn't disguise the noise I would surely make. The good news was, he had a net door so the burglary was the only serious obstacle.
His lexus was parked just beside his flat, deeper into the shadows, so I dug into my small side bag for my 8inch fiber wire with the curved hook tip. I had been breaking into cars through the boots since I was 12. Then I was much smaller and somehow had the talent for picking the locks of car boots. The trick was then to push the back chair flat and crawl into the car from the boot. The radio, gear box and battery were my usual targets in those days but now I was tripple the size I had been and wouldn't even dare get into the booth of a car.

I fiddled with the key hole for some minutes until I heard the click and pop. I got what I needed from the booth; his toolbox. I got his jack and set it horizontally between the weakest iron bars directly after the gate. It was very hard work but I worked it tirelessly for about 25 minutes until I had managed to expand the space between the bars a couple of inches more, not much but wide enough to allow my head and shoulders through. Once my upper half body was in, I twisted and turned and grunted till I finally broke in.
I got into his house a little past 1am and tried my best to wake him but to no avail. I nudged him roughly, shook him hard by the shoulders and even gave him some heavy slaps and a terrible knock but he just continued snoring and murmuring incoherently, his eyes half open, half shut. The fool was asleep

I raided his house, removing the plastic he had spread over his furniture and taking whatever I deemed was worth something. By the time I was done with my raid I had filled up 2 Ghana must go sacks with items I planned to cart to my own home. From glass figurines I planned to place on the Tv stand in my living room, to wall clocks I imagined would go perfectly above the room door and even fancy plates and cutlery to bring color to my rather drab kitchen.

I found his wallet and was pleased to see two hundred dollar notes and about 10,000 naira. I cleaned it out and also took his atm card. I admired the wallet's fine leather and on second thought decided to keep his wallet. When I was done with his pockets, I raided his fridge and helped myself to a very creamy bowl of cold cereal.

I slept off for a couple of hours and was up by 8am. Sleeping beauty was still snoring on the couch.

By the time he woke up and saw me, I already had the upper hand. To him I had appeared out of nowhere like an avenging angel and my face was in an unending scowl mostly because my stomach had been troubling me since I woke up. All that milk last night had clearly been a bad idea. Still it seemed to work out perfectly because I could see raw fear in his eyes. Oh he was scared all right. This was going to be easier than I thought.

"How.....how did you...who are you?" He stammered

"I'm here for the money Fuoyo, where is it? we could do this the easy way or the hard way, I believe I don't have to talk much"

::::::::::::::
JECINCTA

The Unexpected Call

I didn't hear from Mr D on Saturday, neither did he call me on Sunday. By Monday night I was a little concerned. 3 days without hearing from him was a new record. I found myself thinking about him during the day, about how his mission in Edo state was going and if he had any luck with whatever it was he was looking for. I also wondered how he would take it if I broke up with him. Would he just let me go? After everything he had done for me? Although I knew I wasn't ready to end things with him, not when I was already learning to drive and dreaming of the BMW convertible he was going to buy for me. Mr D provided me a life of luxury and in return, I was more or less his property, constantly walking on eggshells to assure him I had eyes for no one else, because the only thing that really mattered was keeping the money source happy. But now that I knew I would never be broke again, it was fun to imagine what it would be like to be free from his toxic jealousy and the overbearing control he wielded over me. To go out and not have to answer a barrage of accusatory questions and not have to promise him assurances of my fidelity. To be able to travel home once in a while without asking him for permission. Last Christmas after promising my parents I'll spend the holidays with them, he had refused to let me go, saying he wanted me in Lagos with him. Although I had developed feelings for him but it wasn't love, when someone spoiled you thoroughly you were bound to feel some affection. To be honest I wasn't sure I could even fall in love again, but it would have been nice to know I had the option open to me, but not when my life centered round him. I didn't even have any real friends, most of the people I knew were the high class snobbish elite Mr. D had introduced me to during our yatch rides and private beach parties. It was ironic, I had found a way to seduce and control Mr D to provide my needs and make my every whims a reality but the truth was he was the one who had control over my life.

He had told me specifically not to call him but by Tuesday morning I tried his line again. It was still out of reach. I could do nothing but worry and speculate until I got a call from him by 9pm. I was relieved to hear from him and a little surprised to learn I genuinely cared for him.
"Mr. D what happened? I was so worried when I didn't-" I struggled to keep the relief in my voice to a minimum
But he interrupted me. "Jess oh my, you wouldn't believe what has happened!"

There was so much excitement in his voice I became intrigued immediately. "What happened love?"

"I'll be coming home tomorrow not weekend anymore...."

I remembered what he had said before he traveled. If he was coming back before weekend, did that mean he had found whatever.....

He was still speaking, "It exists Jess! Can you believe it? I found it, all this while I thought it was a lie!" He stopped to draw his breath, I had never heard him sound this excited before. "I'm just meant to spend a couple of hours in Lagos before I fly out again to Sokoto but I'll find time to stop by"

"What's real baby? What did you find? what's in Sokoto? Slow down nah!" I could barely keep up.

"Don't worry I'll make sure I stop by your place first, I'll try to explain better but baby, you're about to become a fucking queen, a real queen. My queen..... you wouldn't believe, it still feels like a dream..." His voice faded away kind of wistfully before he ended the call. I didn't know what to make of the call except that he sounded a little crazy but I was intrigued.

He called me as early as 10;11am the next day to inform me he was already at the Murtala Mohammed Airport. "These past 4 days have been really stressful, I have to check in briefly at work but I should be with you by 2. I have till 4 before heading back to the airport so you have to really make it worth it"

I knew just what he wanted. "A massage..?"

"Perfect, see you soon" I heard the smile in his voice

I was a little excited, I knew I was going to receive a crazy transfer alert from him, I had a feeling the biggest amount yet. He was in one of his best moods; and whenever work went well that meant more money.

I did my facials, and while I waited for the face mask to dry off, I painted my nails then picked around my wardrobe while my toe nails dried off.
I took some pictures and watched an episode of love and hip hop Atlanta while I waited for Mr. D to show up. By 3pm there was no sign of him. His number was back to unreachable status and I kept waiting to hear my doorbell ring 3 short times in the unique way he always rang it but by 4 I gave up and washed off the light make up and changed out of the lingerie into a more comfortable shirt and shorts over fishnet stockings.

By 5:30 a strange number called me. I was wary to pick up at first, Abobo had called me with a strange number just few weeks back, immediately I heard his voice I cut the call and added the number to the blocked list. Now, I let it ring until it became apparent the caller was quite persistent before I reluctantly picked on the 4th consecutive call. To my surprise I heard the high pitched voice that could only belong to Mr. D. I expected he was calling from some airport in the North but instead he surprised me; "Jess, listen to me, I want you to get a taxi and come down to the Bohemian Grove hotel, I'll be in the Pent house as usual. Be quick and discreet oh! don't talk to anybody and make sure you bring your passport along. Hurry up and be here before 7"

"What, what's going on? I don't understa-"

I heard the soft click that signified the call had been disconnected.

Just what on Earth was going on? And what did he mean by 'bring your passport?' Mr. D was extremely spontaneous by nature and normally I'll be squealling with excitement at the recent development and rushing to go meet him, but for the strain I heard in his voice. He had sounded excited no doubt but also a little....concerned....no not that, he had sounded a little scared.

I spent 30 minutes engaged in a mental tug of war until at last I released a sigh and went to my room. I didn't emerge in different clothes or even freshen up my make up, I only grabbed my Fendi purse from the dresser. Part of me wanted to break up with him before I got involved in whatever it was he seemed to be running from. The second carefree and Adventure seeking side was prepared to travel with him to wherever.

I knew I had to see him first and whatever he told me would determine if I head back home or stay with him. So I didn't freshen up and make a fuss about my appearance in case I came back home in an hour. However I put my virgin passport in my purse.

The uber arrived under 5 minutes and I locked my apartment and headed for the elevator, fighting the uneasy feeling that my life was about to change.

Chapter 7


FUOYO

Caught Sleeping


I tried my best to make Jackson and Offwhite understand that my picker had really gone awol and I never received their money. I offered them the little I could gather under short notice (a little over $4000) and asked them to give me two weeks to gather the remaining. Offwhite wanted them to take the money but Jackson had other plans and refused. In two weeks time, I was going to provide every cent of the 70% cut and if I didn't, they were going to Bleep me up and make me regret double crossing them.

"For the last time bro, I didn't doublecross you I swear!" I cried out but as usual my pleas of innocence fell on deaf ears. And I wasn't really innocent. I had taken a stupid risk cause of greed and now I was knee deep in debt.

The only option I had was to keep on hustling to get the money. I tried to inspire myself and I stayed up all night. It was easy to motivate myself when I had 13 days left to pay the debt, but then before I could blink, I realized 9 days had gone by already and I had till Thursday to at least pay a substantial amount or else....or else what?

I knew Jackson and Offwhite were not the type of guys to let this kind of matter die, they were going to make a move and it would probably be something drastic. I suspected they were going to show up at my house in the middle of the night with a couple of their friends and beat me to within an inch of my life. Probably leave a permanent scar to remind me of what happens when I mess with them. Or maybe they'll try to get me killed? I didn't think they had the mind to kill but when money was involved people became unpredictable.

On Wednesday I finally decided to leave my house very early Thursday morning and go some place far to lay low for a while. I didn't know where exactly I'll go. I couldn't go home or go to Shaq's. I'll probably just lay low in a coded hotel somewhere on the island. Thanks to Jackson for adamantly refusing the four thousand I offered them last week. That was literally all the available cash I had on me.

By now I'd sent over a thousand messages to Lori, pleading and threatening for the money, I even tried reverse psychology, I tried anything I could think of but I still didn't get a single reply from her. I was bleeped

I spent the whole Wednesday putting my apartment in order. I expected they'll come looking for me that weekend when I didn't pay up and I needed them to think I had traveled at the last minute. I bought rolls of plastic from a Supermart and draped it over all my furniture. My Tv, tables, couches, kitchen racks, I even draped it over my wardrobe. That might give them the impression I wasn't coming back anytime soon. It was just unfortunate I'd paid my rent barely 3 months ago, it felt like a waste now that I didn't even know when or if I'll be back.

By night I had packed a single backpack with a few clothes and my laptop in my booth. By 6am tomorrow, I planned to hit the road.
I retrieved my laptop from the car but I was so distracted that I couldn't chat properly. I gave my new online love interest some flimsy excuse of coming down with the flu and logged off. I decided to call it an early night and retired to my room by 10pm however, I was too worried to sleep. I spent an hour tossing and turning until I decided to have a strong drink. I needed to drink my troubles away, alcohol should do the trick.

I had a half bottle of absolut vodka in my kitchen cupboard, I usually added a shot to my cup of coffee every morning but I needed something much stronger this time around and poured it raw into my tea mug. I took a long gulp and felt it burn my throat all the way to my belly. The mug was much bigger than your regular teacup and I refilled it before returning the almost empty bottle to the cupboard. I put on the stereo and connected my bluetooth, increasing the volume till Kendrick's Lamar voice filled my apartment.

I wasn't much of a drinker and I was tipsy in a couple of minutes, slouched on my couch and mouthing of the few rap words I was familiar with. "...bitch be humble, sit down....be humble sit down...."

I took another long drink, thankful for liquor. I couldn't even remember what had been troubling me so much. I decided to go hard and soon staggered to the kitchen to retrieve the remaining vodka from the cupboard.

I was almost merry for 30 minutes, rapping and singing until my eyes got heavy and I passed out.

When my alarm rang 6 hours later I didn't move, I was wasted on my couch, too deep in my alcohol induced sleep to hear the mechanical cock crowing from my phone and urging me to wake up.

I finally woke up by 10:30 with a splitting headache. For some minutes I had trouble remembering where I was as my sitting room gradually came into focus and I realized I was sprawled on my couch. I blinked about a dozen times and ran my tongue over my teeth, my mouth tasted like an abomination and my head felt like someone had hit me with a crowbar. I had such a terrible headache. Why on earth did I drink so much last night?

Then I remembered! Today was the D day. I was supposed to take flight before dawn and judging from the bright light spilling through the window I was far behind schedule.

"Shit!"

I struggled to sit up, I needed to use my mouth wash, take some panadol and get the hell out. I noticed something from the corner of my eye and turned my head. The movement sent a sharp pain to my brain and I cried out in surprise as the object fully came into focus. Leaning on my doorjamb and smiling at me was a fierce looking man I had never seen before in my entire life. He was tall, about an inch taller than me and he was in a tight fitting polo shirt which clung to his hard rock muscles like a second skin. He had thick arms folded over a barrel of a chest and his shoulders were broad and wavy with hard muscles. He had the physique of a body builder but you instinctively knew he had probably never lifted weights in his life.

But it was his eyes that feared me the most. He had the coldest eyes I had ever seen in my life, he kept them narrowed on me, staring right into my eyes and no doubt seeing the fear in my soul.

When he spoke, his voice sent a chill down my spine and at that moment I really thought I was a dead man.
"Hello Fuoyo, I thought you'll never wake" He smiled a wicked smile and I swallowed, unable to find my voice.

I didn't even wonder who he was, I had a pretty good idea already. The only thing that I could think of was how on Earth this scary looking beast had broken into my house and I hadn't heard a thing. Damn the alcohol.

Thanks for your comments guys, I always look forward to them. Jah bless

::::::::::::::
Kanaku

Finally

Barakat was 4 months pregnant and her hormones were seriously playing ping pong with her emotions. She had the weirdest cravings, always requesting weird food combo's on a daily. Ice-cream was the only constant craving she had. She wanted the ridiculously expensive coldstone mostly but had to make do with fanice.

Like I had done when she was pregnant with Ruki, I did my best to satisfy her cravings. I was always ready to make love to her no matter how tired or cranky I was, I also constantly assured her that her cheeks didn't look fat, or that her feet didn't resemble a clown's shoe, and that she was going to have a safe delivery. Other times the hormones went into full gear and she began to cry, asking why I didn't love her and why I refused to marry her.

It was even more stressful than the first pregnancy but I wasn't the one going to push another human being out of my body so the way I saw it, I had no right to complain. I also cut down on potential spending by getting some good plywood from a contact from the street and making a baby cot. Thank God Ruki's old shawl, sheets and covers were still in a box along with most of her baby clothes. I almost found myself wishing it was another girl so I won't have to buy more clothes. It was that bad. Out in the street I was always cranky. I had been in a bad mood for years now and it only seemed to be getting worse.

The streets had failed me, with all my street smarts and reputation yet here I was hoping I didn't birth a son because I was broke.

::
Then one day, out of the blue I received a phone call.

"Hello who be this?" I snapped

"hello chairman. Na me Jackson"

"Jack who?"

"Boss I no know if you remember, we been meet like two years back, you helped me get weed and then you gave me your number that I should call if I needed your help"

I couldn't remember doing any of the things he said but I was a greyhound when opportunity was in the air, and I could smell possibilities. "okay, so what can I do for you?"

"Bros, E get one guy wey suppose help me pick my money but he die the whole funds. This is the second week now and he has been telling me story. Offering me just 4 thousand instead of 20k"

"Four thousand naira, sheesh he didn't even drop 10 atleast"

"no boss, chiarman sir....not naira dollars"

My ears immediately perked up like a satellite dish. "Did you just say dollars?"

"yes boss"

"He's with your 20k dollars?"

"yes"

Maths wasn't my strong suit but I knew that was some serious money. Definitely a couple million.

Oh Lordy Lord!

Was the big score finally here?

I cleared my throat. "Errrm, where are you, maybe we should meet face to face and you give me the complete details, the money must fall out"

"alright chairman, much respect. I dey Ikoyi now but I'll be in Mushin first thing tomorrow"

"Okay I go dey expect your call"

I gave a shout after I dropped the call. "Arrrghh!! Eleda ma suun, wake up, time to make this money"

I felt re-energized, angry and determined. I didn't care whoever the said guy sitting on the money was, I was an unstoppable force heading for dollar signs, anybody in my path would either get out of the way or get wrecked.


::::
The next day, I gave him directions to the motor park and we set a rendezvous time for 2pm. I was there from noon. Excited and waiting eagerly. Iya dada even noticed I wasn't frowning and commented on it. I paid her no mind, my eyes darting in the direction of any new face that entered the park.

About 10 minutes before 2 o'clock I saw two guys, probably early to mid 20's. They looked like the kind of guys I called ice cream boys. As the thought crossed my mind I had a brief flashback of meeting the shorter guy some time back. I couldn't recall exactly but from my modus operandi I was sure I had extorted him and then given him my number. He had kept the number diligently until he needed my help. I smirked, that's the kind of impression I leave on Jjc's.

They joined me where I sat at my usual spot, but I signaled and led them to an empty bus that had been stationary for years and had no tires. We settled into the danfo and the shorter guy said. "bros i hope you fit remember my face, it don tey sha"

"I can remember no worry. So tell me everything"

"ok boss, I don dey work on my client for a very long time now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to bill him. This is my friend Offwhite. Because he has lots of contacts I hit him up and told him about the deal. He then introduced me to this particular guy. The guy had a good reputation and everyone we asked told us he's a honest dealer"

"wait, na yahoo ba?" I asked just to be sure.

Jackson hesitated but replied in the affirmative.

"wow, una dey see money o" I observed. Maybe I was in the wrong line of hustle after all.

"yes chief, but most of these bastards go pick money run. Some go travel, some go just disappear from the face of the earth sef," the other guy called Off-something chipped in.

"This guy that ripped you off, did he travel?"

"no sir he's still in this Lagos that's the annoying thing. It's been 9 days since the money was sent but we haven't seen one naira yet. He asked for 2 weeks grace and the 2 weeks is almost up"

"I thought you said he offered you 4k or something like that?"

"yes but we didn't collect it."

"what is his reason for not giving you the complete money?" I asked

"He said the woman who picked the money cut contact with him and ran with the money"

"Is there no way to confirm it?"

"Not at all, na whitie the woman be" Offwhite replied

"oh...I understand now. Which means he might be lying?"

"he is lying chief. That money entered his hand I'm sure of it. He's just greedy cause his cut is 30 percent, and the money is not even 20k, it's 23k that was sent"

"Hmmm" I stroked my beard thinking of dollar signs. "what's his name?"

"Fuoyo"

"Do you have his address?"

"yes. I just got it yesterday that's why I called you. He has till this Thursday to bring the full money"

"Okay splendid. For me to recover all your money I must be prepared for any situation. You understand? I have a lot of questions about him"

"we'll answer all boss, I want him taught a serious lesson," Jackson sounded so bitter I guessed his mouth tasted sour

"Alaye calm down, the money is the priority. I will teach him a lesson he'll never forget, that one is for sure but the money first okay? Now, on the off chance that he really doesn't have the money, does he have any valuable property I can seize.?"

"well he has a car, Offwhite...how much you think say that him Lexus go be?"

His friend scratched his nose. "Like 3.5 or 4 million"

"Okay that's a start" I robbed my hands together, "what else?"


::
After the meeting I had learned a lot about the Fuoyo fellow. I had gotten his Ikeja house address and I was determined to pay him a visit as soon as possible, and if intimidation didn't work with him, my fists will. But for now my two newest friends gave me an advance of 50,000 naira cash for inspiration and to cover any expenses I will incure. I assured them I would either bring the money, his car, or bring him to them. I might even bring all 3 depending on my mood and how he responded.

"Dawg didn't I tell you this my chiarman is capable? Shey you no believe my connect?" I heard Jackson brag to his friend as they got down from the bus and took their leave.

I was 50k richer already. Just like that. I haven't even held such a bulk sum in quite a while and it felt good to feel my pockets heavy. I gave my 2 closest friends in the park 3k each; Isa the Malian and Suleimon my right hand man. They were my loyal partners in the petty crime life when it came to digging holes or taxing unsuspecting individuals. And even though I was a little tight fisted with money, I valued their loyalty.

"Ah egbon Kanaku! Twale! shey any general market? Make I follow you?" Suleimon had the funniest street slangs in his vocabulary. A jagged scar ran down his cheek, just below his eye to the edge of his lip, giving him a rugged appearance. For a second I thought of keeping him in the loop and taking him along but decided not to.

I could handle this Fuoyo fellow on my own.

::::::::::::
JECINCTA


Inception

Sometime around the second week of August Mr. Doings told me he'll be travelling for a week.

"It's work related. I have to be in Edo state before Saturday. I'll be gone for a week tops. It might be sooner than that depending on how successful my find is"

"Edo state? what did you find?" I was more than a little curious this time around.

"Nothing yet and I'm almost certain it's nothing important, just another dead end, but I have to take a look anyway," he replied a little cautiously. "I'll miss you though, what will you do this weekend?"

I was not ready to change the topic yet. "Oh I don't know, maybe I'll go see a movie, or stay indoors and video-call with you. What you're traveling for is related to whatever it is your boss wants so bad isn't it? that's why you have to go yourself"

His eyes grew wide with shock. "What-how did you know that?"

"you told me before"

"Me? when was this? What else did I tell you about work?" He was genuinely surprised

"well it's about two years now, before I moved in here. You didn't tell me much, just that your boss was crazy and was obsessed with something that didn't exist"

He rubbed his face tiredly. "Oh my....when did I even- look Jessy," his eyes were very serious. "I love you and I don't want to stop seeing you, but you need to understand, my job is very sensitive and it's off limits, you need to stop thinking about it, talking about it or referencing it, please I'm actually begging you this time Jess....it's for your sake"

"wow...okay baby, I was only curious that's all. Trust me I don't even think about stuff like that"

"okay good"

But alarm bells were already going off in my head. Just what exactly did Mr D do for a living. I knew he was stinking rich, he might even be a billionaire with the way he spent money with reckless abandon. What if he was into something really evil? Oh my God, maybe he was trafficking humans, maybe children, what if he was a ritualist? what if he was a kidnapper or a murderer. And what exactly was he going after, what was it that didn't exist yet could make him travel hundreds of miles to search for?

A lot of 'what ifs' kept attacking my mind with different scenarios and I found myself thinking too much. Mr. Doings has always had an air of mystery about him, it was charming at first but now it was a little worrying and creepy.

"When I'm gone I want you to register at the driving school close to the children's park. They're really good teachers. When I get back we'll go car shopping. Whatever brand you want okay?"

I squealed once more and all my troubles temporarily forgotten. "Oh baby you spoil me too much. Let me give you something tonight that will keep you warm all week." I smiled and sat on his lap, clasping both hands behind his neck.

::
Mr D left Lagos on Friday morning. He called me later that night when he was settled to inform me we might not speak all day cause he was going to be very busy.

Looking for what? I almost asked, but I didn't. Instead I said, "I started the driving school today"

"Oh that's great. Have you made up your mind on a brand yet?"

"not yet boo"

"Okay I have to turn in early, talk to you later." A pause then, "tell me you're mine"

I guess he needed the assurance tonight, being so far away and all. "I'm yours baby" I purred

"I love you, goodnight" he sounded pleased.

"weirdo" I muttered when he had disconnected.

I knew sooner than later I'll need some clarity about Mr. D especially about his job. I didn't know if I could continue whatever it was we had going on without knowing for sure he wasn't into something sinister. I always thought when our affair ended Mr. D would be the one to call it off cause I couldn't imagine myself walking away from the frequent credit alerts and unexpected gifts and spontaneous trips he was always spoiling me with. But I guess I was more mature now, and I was far from broke. I owned a multi-million naira property, I had everything in my name, down to the C of O. And soon enough I'll have my own car.

I didn't know if I was strong enough to walk away from the good life yet but the the inception of the idea had taken place already.

Chapter 6

FUOYO

Wahala be like Bicycle

We Nigerians have a funny saying, "wahala be like bicycle, E no hard to start" You see a bicycle and all it needs is a push and a pedal and you're on your way, until you find out the breaks are out and you're coming down a slopy road on top speed and you start asking yourself, 'who sent me message..'

"Who sent me message?"
"Oh God why did I jump and accept this deal?"

I should have listened to Shaq. He's been in this game for long and he warned me not to use Lori as a pickup. Lori wasn't a fool, she had been hurt and scorned and God help me, hell really hath no fury like a woman scorned.

It was 11pm wednesday night and about 6pm in the evening in Long Island where Lori lived.

Jackson kept to his word and about 5 hours ago he'd sent me pictures of the proof of payment. A payment of the sum of $23300 to a Lori Mau. a/c: xxxxxxx864 - routing number: xxxxxxxx0910

I shouted in excitement once I had confirmed it, then quickly called Lori. "Hello babe the money is in. He has sent it, 23k....I just forwarded some screenshots to you."

"Okay Josh that's good. I'll be going on my lunch break soon, I'll stop by the bank then"

"okay baby, then from there you head to the crypto outlet like we agreed and send it right? you have my wallet ID"

"sure Josh"

She no longer even called me "love." Since our reconciliation she'd been stuck on Josh while I used enough endearment for the both of us. After the call, I didn't suspect anything was amiss. I even called Offwhite to assure him and Jackson I was fast on the case.

After about 30 minutes I sent her the first message. "Baby are you on lunch break yet?"

No reply. I didn't fret, maybe she was driving, or maybe she was in the bank already.

1 hour later and still no reply. I called her line and it went straight to voicemail. I cut the call and redialed. It went to voice mail again and I left a hurried message. "Hi Lori what's going on? Have you been able to pull out the money? (nervous laugh) the head pilot is practically breathing down my neck right now. Okay call me, bye"

I calmed down a little after the audio message but yet another hour later I was biting my nails nervously.
Hi
Lori
You there?
Can you just answer me
Please
Hey love, my coworkers are expecting their money today please call me
It's been 3 hours Lori, what's going on?
Lori, you there?
come on babe please reply
you're going to get me killed!


With each passing second and each message I became more anxious and desperate. I called again and again, it kept going to voicemail without ringing until around the 20th dial, the pre recorded voice instructed me to cross check the number I was dialing cause it didn't exist. That was when I realized there was no brakes on the bicycle and I was heading fast for a cliff.

Big wahala.

It was by 9pm Offwhite and Jackson started calling me. They called me till 11pm while I sent about a 100 more frantic text messages to Lori. I knew she was reading the messages. Somehow she couldn't receive my calls anymore but I had a hunch she was reading every line of text as it entered her phone. I pleaded with her, telling her my life was in grave danger if I didn't get the money to the intended recipient. I tried every trick in the book, but it was just as Shaq had warned me. She never typed a single reply.

Shit!

By 12pm I had no choice but to call them back.

They sounded pissed. So pissed that Offwhite forgot about his punchline habit and Jackson actually spoke pidgin instead of his usual African American lingua.

"Guy na wa for you o, why didn't you pick na?" he demanded

"Bro if I don't pick your call, you're meant to chill for a while knowing there must be a reason. You don't just be calling me, giving me 50 missed calls in 1 hour, haba. Do you think I want to run or what? Me that called to update you how many hours ago. Why you dey do like that now"

"Bro you should have picked even if it's once" Offwhite chipped in

"No vex, I dey follow my woman talk since. Omo we just dey fight since and una come dey distract me with your calls."

There was silence then Jackson asked, "wettin dey make you fight? She no pick the money?"

"no she don pick am, everything is confirmed. The problem now is that the nearest crypto shop is far from her location and she has to work, na doctor she be and by the time her shift ends, it'll be closed and everywhere will be dark. I told her to forget her work and do it today but she kept saying tomorrow, you know how these people dey do. I would have been able to convince her but you guys kept interrupting us with your calls"

"Oh......."

"we didn't know dawg....I been out here popping champagne waiting for your call and i didn't get it, tomorrow is still good dawg, early morning movement right?"

"of course" when it came to telling a lie, I was a natural.

They gave audible sighs of relief and Offpoint said a line about tomorrow carrying belle but I didn't see the punch. We laughed nervously and said goodnight. Tomorrow we'll share the money.

I stared into space wondering how on Earth I could get out of the fix I had greedily put myself. "Shit!"

There was only one person I could call and I called him. He picked up on the second ring.
"Fuoyo! you remember me today, no be so o. You leave me for past ba? I be yesterday news paper. Ah Fuoyo you don dey cash out steady you forget your guy Shaq. This life no balance."

I forced myself to laugh, it came out flat. "You wey be biggest Shark in the sea. How I wan take forget you. You think say I no dey see your status, you wey be Odogwu"

We always go through this charade whenever we see each other or talk on the phone. Trying to see who will out do or 'out-whine' the other. I wasn't in the mood tonight so I gave up first.

"Bro how the grind?"

"man I keep pushing on, how your own hustle?"

I swallowed, "bro I need your help, I'm in a bad fix like this"

"what happened?"

I felt encouraged by the concern I heard in his voice.

"I had a deal recently for a pickup. It was pretty straight forward. Lori agreed to do the job. But since she received the money her phone stopped connecting and she's not replying my messages."

There was a long silence then Shaq cleared his throat. "Bro I thought I warned you about using her for any pickup. The job don burst since. I warned you." He sighed over the line and I heard him scratching his beard, which meant he was thinking.

I held my breath hopefully waiting for him to offer a solution, cause unless Lori came through by some miracle, he was my best bet.

"How much them send, and who be the person. I sabi am?"

"Na one offwhite guy contact me.."

"Oh I sabi the dude, them be two ba?....wait na that job you accept? 20 something thousand? Haba Fuoyo, what kind of reckless greed is that one. Plus those guys are not even the kind of people we should be doing business with. Them no be real Gees now!"

"I know bro, but can you raise me any amount, I just want to try and pay like half of the money at least."

"Hmmm, bro I'll tell you the truth, I don't have that kind of money to throw around right now....but I just closed a deal with one of my boys. My cut is 2k, I wanted to use it to buy a gaming laptop before but I can give you."

"2k? as in two thousand?"

"yes now....dollars o not naira"

"I know Shaq but please try raise me 5 I don't even have more than a thousand dollars like this"

"Bro I don't have money. My mom's 60th birthday is in few weeks, you wouldn't believe how much I've spent for surprise party. I still need sef"

"Ah God!"

"Do they know your house?"

"No"

"at least that's a silver lining, them for don track you by now"

"But if they dig hard they'll find it, plenty people have been to my place before. Remember the house warming party?"

"hmmm...bro I told you, I warned you specifically about this, you Bleep up big time"

"I know man, no need to say it. Right now what do I do?"

"well you're a man, you'll face it and deal with it, you chose this path yourself man, I'll send the 2k to you in the morning. You should pray, maybe God'll touch her heart by morning and she'll send it."

If possible I felt a lot worse after the call. Even with Shaq's 2k, i didn't have up to a quarter of the amount and I had no idea what to do. Was I scared? I wouldn't lie, I was a little scared. People got killed for a lot less. I wasn't scared of Jackson and Offwhite per se, being taller than them was a bit reassuring. But having such a huge debt hanging on my neck was like a bulls eye target on my back. I had to do something fast or else everyone would automatically take me as a ripper, and rippers got reaped. I could spin some delay stories and buy a couple more days but I didn't have one single idea what to do.

Wahala.

::::::::::
KANAKU

Another Baby Changes Things


That's right. Another baby. Can you imagine? Ruki was not even up to 3 years and Barakat was pregnant again. Already 2 months gone. I wonder how a news can plunge you into depression and at the same time uplift your spirit and put you in a good mood. I had been conflicted since I found out about the pregnancy, how on Earth was I going to raise 2 children? That meant double expenses....oh God! But then I'd catch myself thinking; what if it was a boy? Ruki would have a younger brother. He'll have my serious eyes and Barakat's soft features. Of course he'll have my strong jaw. No son of mine would have a glass jaw. I'll teach him to box, teach him the way of the streets so he'll be street smart. But he'll be far better than me, he'll go to the university, maybe become a doctor or engineer and no one would ever mess with him at work or at home cause of the valuable street orientations i'll instill in him.

The baby also put me in a tight dilemma. When it was just Ruki and Barakat we had barely gotten by, but I was still able to provide and Barakat was a genius when it came to home management, every money I provided went a long way, no matter how small. But now with another baby on the way I could foresee the endless cycle of bills, bills and more bills. There's no way we'll be able to stay above water, not on the little money I made in the streets.

Something positive had to happen and change my situation before the complete 9 months or I had to make something happen. One of my elder brothers was a vice principal in some fancy secondary school. He had told me times without number he had a gate security spot open for me in the school. I'd laughed him off every time, telling him I was good.

It left a dirty taste in my mouth just thinking about it now but it was either I got a job or went into serious crime. I'd always leaned more towards crime but things were different now, I had a family and I couldn't afford to lose them. God forbid I get killed or locked up in prison. Barakat was beautiful, she would remarry and my children would grow up calling another man 'daddy!'

Another baby changes things, Ruki had tamed me and now even this unborn baby had managed to make me imagine a life with an actual job.
It wasn't a bad picture to be honest, I could see contentment in the life. I'll get married to Barakat and knuckle down at my job, maybe give the school the next 20 years of my life, securing the premises. The pay was fair, a little over the recent minimum wage, Ruki was also a good hairstylist, I could open a hair saloon for her and together we'll be able to raise our kids and maybe we'll even have a happy home.

A couple of months ago I was seriously considering planning one more score but here I was considering making serious changes to my life. The streets had raised me but now I was 30, maybe it was time to settle down?

I shook my head. Naaah.....something big will come up before then. The job was just a contingency plan. After all I was the infamous Kanaku, something must come up.

::::::::::
JECINCTA


Lavida Loca

I have an incredible view from my balcony and I like to sit with my plants and sip my beverage every morning while I think about how my life had changed in such a short time. I now owned a flat in one of the elite residential housing areas in Lagos. I was the only child of my parents and although they didn't have much, they had worked twice as hard to make sure I didn't lack the basic needs. It's funny how less than 2 years ago when I first came to Lagos to be with Fifi, they had struggled to send me a monthly allawance of 10k, before I finally got the job in the mall. Now I was the one to put them on a monthly allowance of 100k each. My mom had renovated her shop, stocking the small shop with enough goods to rival a supermarket. I had the satisfaction of knowing my parents were proud of me...did they know what I did for a living? I didn't bother myself with such thoughts and they probably didn't believe getting promoted to mall manager would yield such financial benefits which was my official line the first few times they'd asked until they stopped. Why question what was working so well anyway?

I shielded my eyes from the sun rays, looking at the second view I enjoyed from my balcony. The adjacent apartment two floors down belonged to my crush. He was some serious eye candy. over 6ft tall, broad shoulders and narrow hips. The only con I could see was that he was light skinned, I liked my men chocolate color... but then again his hard rock abs and biceps made up for it. We'd met in the elevator once and he'd introduced himself as Tony and asked for my number. I didn't give him, even though I'd been seriously crushing on him for weeks at the time. The thing was I had just moved in and I was extremely wary of Mr. D's jealousy. He did things for me I couldn't imagine and spent unbelievable amounts of money on me. But if he had one major character flaw it was his jealousy. I had come to be wary of his scathing jealousy. He was also very paranoid, whenever we went out, it thrilled him to see other men lusting over me but it also put him on the offensive and made him very paranoid. He'd made it pretty clear to me he didn't want anyone touching me but himself and the last thing I wanted was to receive a call from a guy in his presence. That'd be disastrous. Remember the first rule Fifi had taught me; 'Always keep the money source happy'

But that didn't mean I couldn't look, and I ogled Tony as he worked out on his treadmill, glistening with sweat and enjoying the audience as usual. Mr Doings was at least in his late fifties and I didn't expect him to be a bedroom stud. Still, I had read somewhere on the internet that red wine improved the blood flow which in turn improved a man's libido. I knew he didn't drink much during the week because of his mysterious but stressful job but he always had a glass of red wine in his hand every time I saw him but his sexual prowess was nothing to write home about. He was what Fifi used to call an early-comer. sometimes I missed Abobo my ex or mornings like this I lusted after my hot neighbour. I'd run into him a couple of times, we did some serious flirting but I never gave him my number . A part of me wanted to risk it, it's not like I was married to Mr D or anything, we were more or less having an affair but it didn't make sense, it was like having an affair on another affair and I didn't want to screw things up. Life was good, I was living lavida loca all thanks to Mr. D and if it meant I had to deal with sexual frustration I was prepared to carry my cross, I recently bought a battery powered bullet to make the lonelier nights bearable and it helped a lot. I had also come to care for Mr D a lot and understand his many moods. He was full of eccentricities and very spontaneous but some days he seemed depressed. He wouldn't divulge much information to me when I asked him but I knew it was work related. Since the very first night I seduced him and he talked a little about work, he never spoke about his job again. I had the feeling he always made a conscious effort to leave everything concerning his work behind whenever he came to my place for the weekend.

Anytime I asked him if he had made any progress with his plans to leave his boss. He always mumbled something like he was working on it and changed the subject immediately. Once I asked if his crazy boss was a notable figure I might know and he actually gave me a thorough warning to never ever ever again ask about his boss or even think about him. After that incident I never asked about work again. I wasn't totally comfortable with the fact that he knew almost everything about me and I didn't know much about him personally except that he had an Egyptian wife in Australia and 2 teenagers, his first name was Brian which I just didn't believe, and that he had a strange but super profitable job of 'collecting interesting things'....not to forget the boss he believes has gone looney.

Curiosity aside, it wasn't really my business. I had more engaging things like managing my social media accounts. These days IG handles were as important as phone numbers and I took great pride in my profile. My pictures were colourful and sexy and most importantly they screamed class! I had over 30k IG and twitter followers combined and I was live at least once a week, keeping them updated with every yatch ride, every dinner party, every late night clubbing and the occassional twerk video.

I hadn't seen Fifi since I moved out of the house. She kept saying she'll come visit me one day but she never came over. She called me once, urgently in need of 120k to complete the house rent and I sent her 200, that was my own slap in her face and I knew it stung harder than the 3 slaps she had once given me. Don't get me wrong, I still loved Fifi like a sister, but I decided it was better to love her from afar.

Mr. D and I still spent every weekend together and most times we stayed in my place and ordered Chinese food, then had lazy sex which lasted for a couple of minutes before he fell asleep while I went back to twitter and E entertainment.

Sometimes I wondered how long our arrangement would last. He had changed my life no doubt and I expected one day we would have to move on. I wasn't ready for that day yet. I was 21 years plus and living my best life, lavida loca.

honourable356:
Souloho19..

A multi-talented and competitive personality in the literature world...
A mind Blessed with calculative and unimaginable creativity..
Your majestically reemergence after a long while is a joy to behold.

Indeed i have no doubt that you are about to take your growing audiences on a blistering ride that would make their time worth while and well spent.

He smile fondly...

Welcome back and Happy new year!

Honourable!! I'm glad you're here and smiling sheepishly at your comment as usual. welcome sir

Twelvedemon12:
Souloho19

You are talented I swear
I lost my account but because of your story's I decided to open a new one ✌✌

nice
thanks bruv

WAACUT:
Happy Sunday to you the boss

wish you same my G

Dedicated to Igyeseh

Happy birthday boss.


Chapter 5

FUOYO

The G Cycle

It was during the last quarter of the 2nd year that I noticed a change in Lori, there was something in her voice when we talked on the phone. And also in the wording of her replies when we exchanged texts. I could feel something was different about her, she had become distant, closed off and more reserved with her feelings. A couple of weeks later, I asked her for a couple thousand dollars for a family emergency and for the first time ever, she refused.

I knew every detail about her life and knew she could pay the money without breaking a sweat. In fact I had become used to collecting money from her whenever I asked that I was shocked at her refusal. I reported the development to Shaq and he smiled knowingly. "E don burst"

"What do you mean it don burst?"

"Ah ah, bro for almost 3 years this woman dey pay you steady, it must end now. Nobody be mumu for life. She even tried for you, at least you see better money from her."

"Nawa o, so no more payment from her?"

"you can keep trying but i'm sure she's never paying you huge amount again. Maybe gift cards now and then but nothing heavy again."

"shit....well at least I can be using her to pick up and collect my percentage jeje"

"nope nope, don't try and use her as a picker. That's the worst thing you can do right now" Shaq warned

"why, she has delivered before hasn't she?"

"Bro I say the scam don burst, don't take the risk. You know how much she don send you? If you use her now and she run with the money wettin you wan do? Boys dey vex these days, if you lose person money nothing like sorry o"

I sighed. He had a point. In the 3 years I'd been with Shaq, I've heard many tales of how some ruthless boys track and kill pickers who ran away with their money. So I knew he was right, these boys had zero joy. Even if a bus hit your client on the way to the bank, nobody cared. You either delivered their money or you didn't. If you couldn't, it meant you were a ripper and a thief.

"So what now?"

Shaq smiled at me. "Congrats, your training is complete. We've shared huge sums of money together and I've taught you all I know, now you go be your own boss, hustle more and maybe take a youngin off the street too and show him the way. Every man gats hustle"

So almost 3 years after I moved in with Shaq with nothing but a box of clothes and less than 5000 naira, I left his house with a clean Lexus saloon car, overflowing boxes of clothes and shoes, and a recently liquidated fixed deposit account with a very comfortable safety net. Not too bad.
Luckily I had paid my brothers tuition fees for the whole academic session so I decided to rent a house with the extra cash while I started catfishing once more. I got a place at Ikeja, furnished it to my taste and moved in. I made sure I had every thing at my disposal, internet, gadgets, comfort.

Remember it took me almost a year before I met Lori, well this time everything seemed twice as hard as before. And maybe I just wasn't as relentless as before. Afterall I had become used to a certain standard of life and I couldn't let it drop, before I had just been plain hungry to make it. Plus I wasn't a stay home and play video games kind of guy like Shaq, I was made to flex.

I knew sooner or later I was bound to catch another big fish. My cost of living had skyrocketed to accomodate my standard and I watched a little worriedly as the safety net gradually stopped looking safe. I had a couple of assets in my name; my car, a couple of heavy gold chains, a couple of iphones and ipads lots of original nike footwears, but I had no serious investment, no business. The money came in fast and evaporated faster.

Lori and I still exchanged texts every now and then but she never sent me 1 dollar again and I began to seriously consider deleting her contact but I guess I too had become attached to her in my way.

Then one day I was home, typing furiously at my laptop cause I was not getting a positive reaction from the woman I was chatting with when I received a call from a guy called Offwhite I had recently become acquainted with. He told me he had a friend who was expecting close to 20k dollars the coming week and he wanted to know if I had any sure picker available. He was calling me because Shaq had refused the deal and I was the next best person after Shaq. He kept emphasizing that he needed a honest picker.

The truth was that I didn't have any control over Lori anymore, we hadn't even exchanged pleasantries in a week.
But when I thought of the percentage I would receive if she delivered, I found myself nodding to the deal. "Say no more, I go whatsapp you the account details. You know my cut ba? 30% btc payment"

"Okay bro, I go show with the guy by weekend make we seal the deal, na him dey expect the bar."

::::
Very early Saturday morning I received a call from Offwhite. "Bro what's your address?"

"Guy!" I rolled over and grabbed my watch. okay it was 9:35am, I had managed the minimum 4 hours sleep, it'll have to do. I rolled out of bed. "make we meet for Cradles bar, drink some good scotch"

It was obvious I was on speaker phone on their end. I could hear a second voice murmuring incoherently to Offwhite. "Bro we dey about to seal better deal, we suppose know your house normal now"

I had a split second to make a decision. I wanted to insist on the bar meet, but then again I had spent over 3 hours last night talking on the phone with Lori and it had almost felt like old times, and when I mentioned I'll need her help to pick up a work payment for me like she had done twice in the past, she agreed. Still I had a nagging in my gut and a cloud of doubt over my head. And that pushed me to stay cautious. "Bro abeg I don't invade my personal space with this kind of business. If you can't accept my terms then I don't think I want to even do any business with you."

I heard more murmuring and then Offwhite said, "okay bro, I feel you from that angle. Make we meet for cradles by noon? okay."

I met them for drinks at the bar a little after 12 and we chose a private booth in the back. As I sipped my scotch and ate my peanuts, I sized the other guy up. He was about my age, a little smallish in build. I felt a little at ease he wasn't a physical threat.

"Fuoyo bad guy!" Offwhite hailed me once more, we shook hands and he turned to his friend. "This is my guy, Jackson. Jackson this na the baddest guy I dey gist you about since. He's hotter than october he con dey deliver like midwife join" Offwhite was some sort of rapper, caught between the music life and the yahoo life. He was always dropping generic punchlines in his every statement.

I shook hands with Jackson. "Nice to meet you bro, hope you understand my point about my crib. After we complete the deal, we fit even throw party there I no go mind, but I no dey mix am up."

The guy nodded. I noticed he didn't really maintain eye contact. "It's no problem dawg, I fucking feel you dawg, I feel you, real talk"

I smiled at his accent. He had this gangster bragado which I thought he was forcing. "let's get down to business. When the money dey drop?"

"yeah yeah yeah, first thing man, it's 23k dollars exactly by wire transfer. He'll make the payment on wednesday, your picker has to be on standby, wire reflects within minutes, you get the dough and we split some bread. If you deliver as swiftly as my main dawg white says you can I'll up your percent by 5. Word dawg I don't cap"

Offwhite added, "On God, Fuoyo this my guy na talk and do, as he says it that's exactly what will happen, the money must drop. Jackson no dey cap even when he wear snapback"

The both of them laughed and I joined in, not sure what was so funny.

"oh man you kill me...we're getting that Wizzy feature bro, you gon blow for real, once we cashout we'll make some moves dawg" Jackson promised his pal before plying himself with more vodka.

I took a sip of mine and weighed my words carefully. "Okay, okay, make sense. I'll start working her so on Wednesday the money will fallout. You have the details but hold on till I give you the final go ahead. This would be latest on Monday or early Tuesday and that's when i'm 100% sure I'll be able to deliver your money"

Offwhite gave a happy hoot. "Jack I no tell you? Fuoyo sure die, even if him tear clothe him no dey rip"

This brought another wave of laughter and I rolled my eyes unimpressed. Even though I had since retired from music, I could still drop better lines than that.

We spent about 2 hours in the booth, chiseling out details about the deal and then made some small talk about football and music.
I found the duo a little shallow and when we finally said our goodbyes, I was relieved. I went back home, determined to continue working on Lori. I had 2 more women I was chatting with but I had met the first recently and she was yet to commit to the relationship financially while the other was too old to run such an errand.

I focused more on Lori, sending her flowers, random texts and calling her constantly. Her response was positive and gave me hope. I reminded her of the favour again and she replied whenever I was ready.

On Monday, I gave her the format I ccooked up. We had rescued someone apparently very important a couple of weeks ago. He had been sailing his boat when the weather took a drastic turn and he was caught in the storm, miles away from shore. He managed to radio in for help and my search and rescue team had saved his life. He was sending a bonus to my 4 man helicopter team and radio operator. About 23 thousand for us to share. But being so swamped up in the sky and at sea I needed her to pick up the money with her account and send it to me through crypto. I generously offered her to buy a bottle of champaigne and treat herself to a spa day and nice dinner with a thousand dollars. And she eagerly agreed.

And so it was set. I called Offwhite almost immediately and gave him the go ahead. "But she'll be sending 22k instead. 1k is for her trouble, you know how it is"

This time Jackson replied. "Dawg its all good. Although that means no extra 5 percent. Fine one man, fine one....you sharp as a tack ain't ya? I'm gonna tell tell my slave to go ahead and make the payment"

"wow so na slave and master you dey work?" I was impressed. "maybe I go try that lane too, these women don drain all my emotion finish."
we all laughed long and hard. Expecting money puts you in a good mood.

"I'm gonna hit you the proof of payment once received. More business to come after this dawg"

"Cheers to that bro"

::::::::
Kanaku


Same ol' Same Old

There's nothing much happening in my life this period. Just the same old cycle which you probably have a clear picture of by now. In the streets it's the same old frustrations, same gimmicks, taxing, intimidation, cunning, hole digging, you name it. At home I mope around a lot. Keep Barakat satisfied, in every sense of the word, play with Ruki, soliloquize, lament about past mistakes. Few times I imagine masterminding one more score, the biggest score that'll have me set for life to fulfill my fantasies.

Each day blends into another and time does what it does best...it flies by. And each morning I wake up, I find my resolve to stay away from crime weaken. Poverty has a way of weakening morals. My promise to my parents was to stay away from a life of crime, but the only true crime is getting caught.