BLOODLINE Episode 12 by Ironkurtain

BLOODLINE Episode 12 by Ironkurtain

Eric glanced at his wristwatch again and it was almost 3:35pm of the warm tuesday afternoon. Lisa was five minutes late for their meeting in the fast-food restaurant that she wanted to see him. It was quite difficult locating the place even with THE G.P.S software in his smartphone. After several inquires from passerby and shop owners in the street Lisa said the place was located, he managed to find the place. It wasn’t one of those popular chain fast-food restaurants but it was a very good place to have a chat and the settings, quite relaxing.

He was very hungry. But he wanted Lisa to arrive before taking his order. While waiting for her, he casually glanced around the joint and listened to the soft lounge music being played. The restaurant was sparsely filled with costumers and most were young aged couples or high school aged kids, having a snack or two with their friends. Perhaps it was that day of the week in which few customers are seen or maybe it was too early for people to start filling up the place.

Five minutes later, the automated entrance glass door slide open and Lisa walked in and carefully looked around the restaurant, holding a pink purse close to her chest. As she stood there, some of the male customers focused their attention on her like a pack of wolves staring at a fattened sheep infront of them. She wore a black short sleeve, tight fitted one-piece dress that showed all her lovely curves with black high heel. Her hair wasn’t tied as usual. She let her golden-brown curls to drape around her back and shoulders, making her look like an angel walking into the place the moment she stepped in. When she made a brief 360 turn, Eric caught a glimpse of her behind and hoped the traffic outside wasn’t in chaos because he could swear that some driver must have lost control while staring at her from behind.

Eric then waved at her when he saw the waitress trying to get the attention of a male customer staring at Lisa. She saw him and came towards him with a faint smile.

“Hi……”, she began and sat opposite him.

“Hi……you really look good today”, Eric said to her.

“Have you eaten anything?”, Lisa motioned at the waitress.

“Starving like crazy……you are late. If i had waited for another five minutes, you will probably see me being carried away in the meat-wagon*”. Eric joked.

Lisa laughed and glanced at him as she received the menu from the waitress. They told the waitress what they wanted and she took the orders and left.

“So how is your first day of serving your sentence?”, Lisa asked.

“Today was sweet…….dad let me drive his benz with him inside”, Eric said. “He even took the day off so as to see my driving skills”.

“Wow…..really?”, Lisa asked surprisingly. “I thought you will be crucified for being suspended. But you get to have some fun”.

“Yeah…….kind of odd huh?”, Eric smiled. “How about you?……how was school today”, he asked.

“Ugh!……….”, Lisa shook her head. “I walked into the classroom and it was like a freaking press conference. Everybody was asking me how you destroyed Greg. There are even rumours that you might have met a witch doctor to weaken Greg”.

Eric laughed.

“Even your friend Chris was using the situation to boost his image”, she added. “He was walking around and telling other guys that you were his best friend…..and it worked because most of the guys that looked down on him seemed too scared to talk to him”.

Both of them laughed and then remained silent. Waiting for who to be the first to say something. The waitress arrived with their food. A vegetable salad and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice for Lisa. Eric being a meat guy got a double cheese burger and french fries with a can of soda. Then they ate in silence.

After a while, Lisa cleaned her mouth and looked at Eric.

“Alex……am sorry for the way i reacted last time”, she started. “I was just too shocked when i saw what you did to Greg”.

“I understand……..”, Eric said as he chewed his food. “You first time of witnessing that level of human insanity”, he joked.

“Alex am serious……you….you went too far. What if you had killed him or left him with a permanent disability?”, Lisa asked with a worried look on her face.

Eric picked up a clean tissue on the table and wiped his mouth.

“Too far you say……well……to me i did what i felt was the right thing and i don’t see how i went too far”, he answered. “I believe they got what they deserved, even if they end up being paralyzed or taking an eternal nap, six feet deep”.

“But Alex……that’s unfair”, Lisa murmured.

“Unfair?……”, Eric chuckled. “That day they didn’t come there to have ice creams and talk about favourite hobbies, they were there to hurt us……do you even know what they would have done, especially to you if they had succeeded?……..each and every one of those boys would have forced themselves on you, one by one until they get tired of doing so. But guess what, before they do that, they will have to beat me till am half dead first. So i will be lying unconscious or be conscious and watch helplessly as they assault you. I dont want any of that happening to me”.

Lisa remained silent, thinking to herself.

“Lisa…..i know you are a very smart girl and also a very nice person”, Eric continued. “But you seem extremely naive about the way things are……the way things operate in this country and the world as a whole. One thing you really have to learn is to never get too soft with some certain type of people”.

“Then Lisa gently slide her hand towards his on the table and held it. She locked her fingers with his and looked into his eyes with a smile.

“Fire cracker……..”, she began softly.

“Sorry i didn’t hear that”, Eric joked

“Fire cracker!……..”, she said abit loud and a few customers in the restaurant looked in their direction.

“Okay i heard you loud and clear”.

Lisa looked around the fast-food place and then at Eric.

“Do you want to go somewhere else………somewhere better?”, she asked, stroking his hand.

“Like where?”, Eric asked, slightly raising his eyebrow.

“Well……..somewhere……”, Lisa didn’t finish the sentence and smile playfully.

“Well since you didn’t finish what you want to say……”, Eric said and got up. “……i think i will check out that place because it must be a fun place”.

Lisa got up and locked hands with him as she picked up her purse.

Nina stubbed out the cigarette in the half filled ashtray on the side table beside the sofa and exhaled the cigarette smoke from her lungs through her thin lips. She rested her back on the sofa back cushion and crossed her legs as she looked at the man standing infront of her with his hands in the pockets of the black plain trouser her wore. His navy blue short sleeve t-shirt was well ironed and a bit too big for his small frame. He looked young and wore eyeglasses with contact lens. A computer geek.

“So how many times did he call his mother?”, Nina asked the man.

“Ten times……..”, he replied. “With a minute interval between each call”.

“Did he call any other number after that?”.

“No mam…….just text messages to that girl’s number……..they are having an appointment today…. this afternoon”.

Nina smirked and nodded.

“Okay…….let me know if anything else comes up…..you can go now”, Nina dismissed the man.

She got up after the man had left and paced around the living-room as she thought to herself with an expression that showed alot of concern.

Eric was getting out of her control and making Alex’s situation the same, Nina thought as she kept pacing around. And only five days had gone since he decided to do the job; just a fraction of the number of days he was required to do it. Nina sighed and wondered how out of control the situation might be in the next five days……..fifteen days……even on the final day. She had really underestimated that boy. Underestimated everything about him and it was time for her to take things to another level. It has to be done to avoid any careless mistakes he might make that could reveal to the Philips family what had been going on. Which could possibly lead to an investigation by the authorities and possibly end up getting the Sosai’s attention. She definitely don’t want that to happen because it only meant one thing, her going back to that “hell hole” she came out from and the elimination of all the people involved; knowingly and unknowingly.

Nina sighed again and paced towards what looked like a mini-bar with a crescent shaped bar-countertop and stools in the living-room. It had a liquor cabinet filled with glasses and numerous bottles of assorted liquors. She went behind the counter and poured herself a shot of brandy. She swallowed it and poured another shot and left the bottle on the counter. Then she picked up the cellphone that was there and slowly scrolled through the numbers in the contacts list. She tapped one of the numbers and it showed her the contact info. It was Esther’s number. Her new number.

Nina thought about her as she stared at the number and felt bad for what she was making the woman go through. She had killed, maimed and destroyed with zero remorse with an ever growing list that is longer than a party guest-list. But they are bad people with blood in their hands, though a few were unfortunate individuals. Still, whenever Nina thought of Esther, a simple woman who against all odds managed to raise the boy who took from her the man that she loved, to be good and did it singlehandedly, she sometimes felt ashamed of what she was doing. She wondered how Esther managed to do that despite working a demanding job. Nina also wondered why she chose to go through all those trouble for the child that was responsible for destroying the good life of a happily married woman she was supposed to live.

Somehow she envied Esther because Esther was what she had always wanted to be; a normal, forgiving woman who would wake up every morning to take care of a family. Not the “damaged beyond repair” human being she was. And not to always be smiling and giving handshakes when exchanging pleasantries with people while having the thoughts and plans on how to kill them if needed. There are some nights she had curled up in bed and wept silently after spending the day thinking about her life over a bottle of hard liquor.

“Aunt Helen….”

Nina turned and saw the boy standing in the lobby and smiled at him. She didn’t here him come out from his room.

“Did you sleep well?”, she asked.

“Yeah……but i heard you talking to someone”, the boy answered as he came towards her.

“Oh…..it’s just a co-worker….i hope we didn’t disturb your sleep?”.

“No not at all, i was already awake……going through some books”.

Then boy looked at Nina’s face.

“Aunty……are u….crying?”, he asked curiously.

“Me?……..”, Nina touched her face and noticed the tears rolling down from her right eye. “….no…..i wasn’t….maybe it’s the drink”, she lied and raised the glass.

“Okay…….”, the boy murmured doubtfully and sat on one of the stools. “So aunty…..can i asked you a question?”,

“Oh go ahead”.

“Can you tell me about my parents?”

Nina paused and looked at the glass in her hand. After about half a minute, she looked at boy.

“Well……your parents were very good people”, Nina began. “They loved each other alot and am sure they would have done the same to you if they were here”.

“What about my mother?…… you said she was your sister, so i guess she was beautiful……just like you”.

“You think so?……..that am beautiful?”, Nina asked with a laughter.

“Yes of course”, the boy replied.

“Anyway you mother was a very good and probably the kindest in our family……sometimes people misunderstood her. Still, alot people liked her”, Nina said with a distant gaze in her eyes.

“So aunt Helen……why are you not married?”, the boy asked again.

“Well…….”, Nina began with her head tilted abit to the side as she looked up. “I almost did……but it didn’t workout. Since then i decided to live my life as a single woman”.

“Are you happy being single?”.

“Well……sometimes i think about the things i am missing, being a single woman……..but reasons for me being single outweighs them……alot”.

“Like what reasons”.

“First of all am a bad cook……”, Nina said and both of them laughed. “The man i loved was the only man i could ever love………”, distant gaze in her eyes again. “…..i have tried so many times with others but it never worked”.

“Okay…..”

Then Nina stared at the boy as he picked up her phone and checked the contents. She was very happy with the progress she had made with him in the short period of time they had been to together. The first time they met, he could barely answer any question or even keep a steady look at her. Now the amount of confidence he showed in his movements and communications made her quite happy. But there’s more to be done. Alot more. And when she is done with him, he will be a force to be reckoned with. He will probably take over the family.

“Esther?…….Eric?…..”, the boy said as he scrolled through the contact list in Nina’s cellphone. Then he looked at Nina. “……who is Eric?”.

**********************************************

“Dude you are lucky……”, the ice cream truck guy said to Eric and handed him his change. “How did you hook up with that girl?”, he asked and glanced at Lisa.

“Who told you i hooked up with her?”, Eric murmured and slipped the currency into his wallet.

“She is not your girlfriend?”.

“She is my classmate and friend”, Eric said and left.

Lisa was checking out some shoes in a shop nearby with the shop owner following her around and telling her the prices. And also trying to start a conversation with her.

“Do they have the strawberry ice cream?”, she asked Eric when he came inside the shop.

“Here you go……strawberry for you…….they don’t have coffee so i bought yogurt.

Then Lisa thanked the shop owner who looked disappointed when he saw Lisa locking her hand with the boy who just came inside his shop and only managed to nod as they left.

“What’s with that man’s attitude?”, Eric asked as they strolled.

“I dont know, he was giving me the creeps after asking my name several times”, Lisa replied and licked her ice cream.

“Hm……are guys always like this whenever you are around”,

“What do you mean?”.

“I mean…….guys just seem to lose control of themselves……it’s like you have this strange effect on boys”.

“Really?……so do i have that same effect on you?”, Lisa asked sweetly.

“If you do, i would have understood and wont be asking the questions”, Eric replied with a smile.

“So why don’t i have it on you?”, Lisa asked, nudging Eric on his side.

“Maybe it’s not working”, Eric said with a smile. “Or maybe you need to try harder…….or perhaps am a twisted fellow”.

“I kind of like the last one……a twisted fellow”, Lisa laughed. “Hello, am Lisa and this twisted fellow beside my is a good friend of mine”, she joked and laughed again.

“Well……that sounds kind of reasonable to me”, Eric said and took a bite from his ice cream.

Lisa licked her strawberry lollipop and looked at it.

“What is with boys staring at girls licking a lollipop ice cream”, she asked and looked at Eric.

“I don’t know about that”, he answered.

“Come on……take a look at it”,

Eric glanced at it and said, “i dont see anything so special about it. Just an ice cream that will melt if you keep asking questions about what boys think about it”.

“Some rap musicians say it alot in their songs”.

“Maybe they are using their music to promote the sales……who knows”.

“Alex….are you always like this?, trying to avoid the real issue because it is kind of a naughty talk”, Lisa asked with a wink. “Stop pretending because you must have heard it being discussed among boys”.

“Of course…..but not all of us think like that though”.

“So…….you are one of the boys who don’t think like that?”.

“We can talk about it if you want but things might……you know……escalate”

“How will it escalate?”

“How?…….oh i forgot you are still new to this…..am sorry”

“Me new to this?…….just because i got my first plowing last weekend doesn’t mean i don’t know all that stuff”, Lisa pinched Eric on his shoulders.

“Then why are you asking me?……..are you trying to get my mind in the gutters or what?”, Eric laughed.

“I want to know how the discussion will escalate”.

“Okay…….it will start by me dragging you into an empty alley and give you another lollipop…….and this one doesn’t melt at all………then proceed to plow you like it is the end of humanity”.

“Give me a lollipop that never melts and plow me like it is the end of humanity?…….your mind is not only in the gutters but also….. rented a space there”, Lisa said trying to control her laughter.

“Okay now that you have succeeded in making me do so, can we talk about something else?”, Eric asked.

“Sure……for now”.

Then both of them discussed as they strolled towards the taxi park, holding hands.

“So……when are we going to see each other again?”, Lisa asked Eric as he opened the door of the taxi. She has the expression in her face that says she is going to be missing him.

“Soon……or you can drop by my place if you start getting impatient but you have to call to let me know first”, Eric replied.

“Okay……”, Lisa murmured. She glanced at the taxi and looked down. She really don’t want to leave.

“Hey……”, Eric began as he put a hand under her chin and raised her face up. “……..we will meet again……okay?,……..now you have to go back home before your dad start getting worried”.

“Him?,……..he can wait forever…… i dont care”.

“Still….. you have to go home to prepare for school …..to study. Do you want to write the certificate exam for third time?”

Lisa shook her head in silence.

“Then you have to go home……we can talk on the phone when you arrive at your place”. Eric said quietly to her.

Then Lisa put her arm around Eric’s neck and gave him a long kiss on his cheek and whispered, “Am gonna miss you fire cracker”.

“Me too…….”, Eric whispered to her as he gently break away from her tight hug after seeing the impatience in the taxi driver’s face”.

Lisa slid into the back of the car and blow a kiss at Eric as he shut the door. The driver hit the pedal and the car rolled into the traffic. As the car left, Eric could see Lisa staring at him from the window of the back seat and waving. He waved back at her. Then he sighed after the taxi vanished in the traffic and waved at the next taxi approaching him.

The taxi grinded to a halt infront of Eric and the driver peered at him from the passenger side window and exclaimed, “Hey…..my boy!”.

Eric looked at him carefully and remembered. He was the taxi driver who picked him up at the bus station on his first day in Easthill city. The man looked cheerful as he was the first day they met.

“Sir!……..nice to meet you again”, Eric began as he opened the back door of the taxi. “Do you also ply this route?”, he asked as he slammed the door shut.

“I go anywhere the money is at”, the driver said with a smile. “So where are you going to?”, he asked, guiding the car into the traffic.

“Hill-crest estate sir”.

“Hill-crest?………”, the driver glanced at Eric through the rearview mirror. “Are you staying with a rich family member?”, he asked.

“Yeah…….my parents”.

The man glanced at Eric again. He seemed puzzled.

“Last time you said you lived in Metro-city”, he began. “Now you are telling me that you live in Hill-crest estate of Easthill……so which one is not true?”, he asked Eric.

“Last time we met, you said that the city was full of surprises”.

“Yes…..i remember that”.

“Well……this is one of them sir”.

The driver smiled.

“So why are not being picked up by some private car being driven by a chauffeur since you are one of those rich kids?”, he asked as he made some turns.

“I prefer moving around with a taxi”, Eric said

“Let me guess…….you dont want the girls coming to you for the wrong reasons”, the man smiled.

“Yeah…..more like that sir”.

“Smart boy”.

After about a minute or two of silence between them, the taxi driver glanced at Eric through the mirror and asked, “My boy, do you know if your family is employing?”.

“Why?,…….do you need a job?”, Eric responded with another question.

“Um………well…..the taxi company intends to trim the workforce…….some taxi drivers will be fired”, the driver replied. “So am just trying to secure another job incase my name appear in the list of those to be cut out”.

“I don’t know……but i will ask”. Eric said without looking at the man. His mind seemed to be somewhere else.

“Please do my boy…….”, the driver said eagerly. “….Alot of responsibility hanging around my neck, so i can’t afford to stay unemployed”.

Eric didn’t hear the last words. He mind was on what happened to him yesterday night and was quite worried. The doctors had reassured him that he would live a normal life as long as he interacted regularly with people, exercised alot and avoided any mental stress inducing situation. Of course he had being under some stress caused by Nina and the people surrounding him. And he hadn’t worked out for almost a week; the longest time for him not to have done any kind of exercise so far. But he never thought or felt that it would affect him in anyway nor make those warning signs to flare up. The warning signs of his Mental Psychosis.

That night he had called his mother’s cellphone to let her know what was going on but her phone line was disconnected. After calling the number about ten times, it dawned to him that for the time being, he alone would have to prevent himself from becoming what he and his mother had feared he might end up being……..he becoming a psycho killer. Even though he was mentally wired like one, he had control of himself and it made him to be able to think straight and have reasons for any actions made. That’s why he disliked being confused.

Eric sighed and looked at the taxi driver who had been talking all the time. Then he remembered something and dipped his hand inside his back pocket. He pulled out a piece of neatly folded piece of paper. Eric unfolded the paper and glanced at the scribblings in it. He thought for a while and looked at the taxi driver.

“Sir……i need your help”, he said to the driver

“You need my help?…….how can i help?”, the man asked.

“I want you to take me to this place”, Eric said and handed the man the piece of paper.

The driver took a few glances at the paper.

“Why do you wanna go to this kind of place?”, he asked Eric.

“There is someone there that i want to meet”.

“Who is this person that you want to meet in this kind place?”.

Eric stared at the man for a few seconds and said, “There is this guy i want to straighten up abit………put him in order………some violence could be involved”.

The driver paused for a few seconds with glances at Eric and then asked “What did he do to you?”.

“When we get there, you will know……so are you taking me there or not?”, Eric asked.

“Well this place is not the kind of place for people like you”, the driver said, gesturing the hand that held the piece of paper.

“Are you taking me there or not?”, Eric asked again.

The driver then made left turn and took another direction.

************************************************

The three men were sitting and playing a card game on the unmade bed that has a very dirty white bed spread and a mattress that screams of bedbug infestation. There are some crumpled currency notes inbetween them and they talked out loud and took sips from the bottles of brew on the floor beside them as they gambled. More empty bottles littered the room that was dreadfully untidy and very stuffy due to the weed smoke the men were puffing. The Wall had alot of cracks, the few furnitures very shabby and below a make shift cloth hanger was a pile of dirty cloths that seemed to harbour creatures. The room is best described with two words. Total Sh!thole.

The men continue playing their game, oblivious to the chaos of their dwelling. One of them looked well fed and had a pot-belly that was covered with a black sleeveless shirt. The other two were skinny and one wore a grey t-shirt with some grease stain on it, while the other had no shirt on. None of them wore a trouser or shorts. Only boxers. They looked like they were in their early thirties

“Hey……stop!…….my turn” pot-belly guy bawled at shirtless skinny guy and grabbed his hand as he was about to play his card.

“He is so much in a hurry to play……can’t you see he is losing money fast”, grey t-shirt guy chuckled.

“Ha……not faster than Mr orangutan here”, shirtless man scoffed and pointed at pot-belly. “But he doesn’t care because he will be going to get some dough from his woman.

“Are you even sure?……..”, grey t-shirt said and blew a cloud of weed smoke in the air. “Last time he didn’t get any…….she said her madam didn’t pay her. This son of a b!tch almost knocked her down with a slap”.

They roared with laughter.

“Hey…….”, grey t-shirt guy put his arm on pot-belly shoulder. “……since she is no longer your woman, why don’t you let us……you know…….enjoy some of that plus sized flesh the next time we pay her a visit. Am sure it’s been a long time someone touched her. So it’s gonna be sweet”.

“Well if you want her, you can have her as long as my palm is well greased”, pot-belly said indifferently as he sipped his beer and played his turn in the game.

“Have you started pimping her out?……anyway you still owe me some money……so i think we can trade……five rounds with her and the debt is cancelled”,

“Five rounds?…..dude, do you want to kill his woman?”, shirtless guy laughed

“Three rounds……i don’t want her to pass out before it is my own turn”, pot-belly guy said.

“Four rounds……three for me and one for this id!ot, am tired of catching him masturbating in the bathroom”, grey t-shirt guy jerked his head at shirtless guy.

“Okay it’s a deal……but she has to be at home because for the past three days she hasn’t come back. I think she is staying at her madam’s place”.

Then there was a knock on the door.

The three men glanced at themselves and stared at the door curiously. Then pot-belly guy motioned at grey t-shirt guy to go check it out. He dropped his cards on the bed and got up lazily and went towards the door. He unlocked the door and it made a low creaking sound as he opened and saw a boy standing infront of him.

“Yes can i help you?”, grey t-shirt guy asked indifferently .

“Hi…..am looking for…….”, the boy began and looked at the piece of paper in his hand. “……for James….Mr James”, he looked at grey t-shirt guy.

“And….who are you?”,

“I have a message to deliver to him”.

“What’s the message?, why don’t you give it to me and i will deliver it to him”.

“Sir, i have to deliver the message myself”.

Then grey t-shirt guy sighed and looked over his shoulder.

“Hey jay, there is a boy here who wants to deliver a message to you…..he said he wants to do it himself”, he said to pot belly guy.

“Okay let him in”, pot belly guy said.

Grey t-shirt moved away from the door and the boy entered the room. He wrinkled his nose and frown in disgust as the smell of the place hit his nose. Then he looked around the messy place and shook his head as grey t-shirt closed the door and stood beside him

“So…..who is Mr James?”, the boy asked.

“Me……so what is the message?”, pot belly guy asked.

“Actually it is a message from me…..”, the boy began as he looked at the messy pile of dirty cloths, hoping that no creature jumps out from it and attack everybody in the room. “…….and it is about Mrs Nancy”, he continued.

The men glanced at each other surprisingly and stared at the boy.

“What do you mean?”, one of them then asked.

“You see……Mrs Nancy is our family cook and a very nice woman”, the boy began, trying to be as polite as he can. “She cooks a very delicious food for the family but we love her more because of her very warm heart and how she cares alot for us, especially me”,

The boy paused and rubbed his hair with the palm of his hand gently as he sighed.

“Then i noticed that her food tasted abit different the day after she collected her wage and she looked quite upset. So i decided to find out what happened and she told me about this man who won’t stop bothering her. And i also found out that the man had the nasty habit of appearing on the day she was being paid to forcefully reap from where he didn’t sow.”

Then the boy stared at pot belly guy.

“Sir ….am not the ‘knock your hustle’ kind of guy but when that hustle start affecting me in anyway, especially the taste of food in my mouth, then we gonna have a serious problem”.

The three guys stared at the boy dumbfounded.

“So am here to just warn you and your friends to stay away from Mrs Nancy. That nice woman deserves better. And you will have to give me your word that you will never ever go near her again”, the boy concluded and glanced at them.

Pot belly guy got up and stared at the boy. He then scoffed and looked at grey t-shirt guy standing near the boy.

“Kujo…..throw that rat bastard out of this room”, he ordered grey t-shirt guy.

As grey t-shirt made a move to push the boy out, the boy redirected the hand and in the process left the guy’s arm outstretched. Then the boy a threw a vicious uppercut at his elbow and the blow dislocated the elbow joint instantly. The guy screamed in agony. The boy threw a right hook that spun the guy around and made him hit the wall, face first. Then the boy grabbed the guy from behind, pressed his face against the wall and hammered a punch into his side. He hammered another more vicious blow and his fist dug deep into the guy’s side and did some damages. Then he let go and grey t-shirt guy crumbled on the floor like a rag-doll.

Shirtless guy immediately dived at the table beside the make shift cloth hanger and searched frantically among the numerous x rated magazines and bottles of lotions and shaving cream, knocking down some in the process. He picked up a box cutter and rushed at the boy wildly.

Pot belly guy watched with terror as the boy neutralized shirtless guy and went savage on him. He screamed, “Oh Jesus!”, when he heard the sickening crunch as shirtless guy’s collar bone and wrist snapped. And he slowly backed away after the boy had left his second friend lying on the floor motionless.

“Stay away from me…..”, pot belly guy began and pointed his shaky hands at the boy. “What do you want from me?!”, the guy cried.

The boy looked at the box cutter the shirtless guy had dropped and picked it up. He examined it’s blade and looked at the pot belly guy. Then his eyes shift to the guy’s belly. He stared at it and extended the blade of box cutter slowly.

“Please……”, the guy began and feel on his knees. “I will never go near Nancy…..please….i swear on my mother’s grave i will never go near her”, he begged as the boy approached slowly.

“Trouble makers……”, the boy said quietly and shook his head. “Always the ones begging in the end……am sorry but it is too late for you now”, he said and raised the box cutter over his head.

“Please…….oh Jesus!…….Save me please…..save me”.

Suddenly the door opened and a man walked in. He looked at the boy holding the box cutter and then to pot belly guy kneeling on the floor with a wet boxers and a puddle inbetween his legs. Then he glanced at the two guy lying on the floor in amazement.

“My boy…….what have you being doing?”, he asked the boy.

************************************************

– Ain’t nothin changed woadie (nope) –
– I’ve been trying chill (chillin out) –
– I got my changed up –
– Now i ain’t gotta kill –
– But f@ck sending n!ggas –
– They f@ck around and squeal (might rat) –
– I’m coming by myself –
– Right in where you live (ya crib) –
– I’m running right down, why you with your kids –
– You gotta go n!gga –
– And that’s just what it is (damn!) –

The hardcore rap song by a rap artist called ‘Hardo’ was pounding out of the taxi with a loud volume as the car zoomed along the express road. The driver worked the steering wheel and stole glances through the rear-view mirror at Eric who was nodding his head to the beats and lyrics of rap music while staring out of the window. The man shook his head with a smile and glanced at the road sign they approached.

“Haven’t we gone far enough?”, he asked.

But Eric was too busy enjoying the loud music to hear what he just asked. And the driver don’t want to turn down the volume because Eric had paid him well with specific instructions, to never touch the volume of the music till they reach their destination. The man wondered if he enjoys listening to music that loud or doing it with the intention to torture the pot belly guy in the trunk of the car because there are two loud speakers in the car trunk. Whichever it is, he don’t care. But he was sure that they had gone quite far enough. Enough to let the pot belly fellow go. As Eric had planned. To drive the man several kilometers away and leave him on the highway to walk back home wearing only a sleeveless shirt and a boxer. Definitely he won’t get a hitchhike because the motorist will think he is a lunatic.

– I’m really into sh,t –
– And you just run ya mouth (just talking!) –
– Trapped in them checks –
– I ain’t like that (these hills) –
– Went and grabbed my strap (2 minutes) –
– Came right back –
– Hit a n!gga up –
– Had n slain that –
– I was young as f@ck –
– Pushing brains back (like 13) –
– I’m a natural killa –
– I don’t need a pill (nope) –
– Go ahead, act gorilla –
– My banana filled –

The music keep pounding hard and other motorists could hear the lyrics even with the windows of the taxi rolled up.

“Haven’t we gone far enough?!”, the driver asked a bit louder this time.

Eric shifted his eyes from the the scenery that was flashing by to the driver. Then he glanced over his shoulder to the rear window and gave the man a thumbs up.

The driver decelerated the car and brought it to a standstill near the thick bush alongside the highway. He put his hand on the audio volume knob and looked at Eric who gave him the go-ahead to turn it down. The man reduced the loud music to an almost inaudible sound and turned it off. Then he disconnected the USB cable that was connected to Erics smart phone from the USB port on the car dashboard.

“So what now?……..”, he asked as he handed Eric his phone. “…….are you going to beat him till he start eating grass?”.

Eric said nothing and quietly got out of the taxi. The driver hit the open button for the trunk and got out too. Eric casually glanced at the cars zooming by as he stood near the trunk and checked his cellphone for messages while the taxi driver lit himself a cigarette and offered one to him. Eric declined.

“It’s like you really care alot for that woman……”, the driver said and blew a cloud of smoke into the wind caused by the zooming cars. “You literally dealt with those guys…….by the way how did you even take them out singlehandedly?, are you in the force……..military marines?…….special force?”, he asked and stared at Eric.

“Why do you ask?”, Eric murmured as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

“You took out two grown men like they were nothing……one even wielded a box cutter. That is not what a normal every day high school boy does”, the man said. “I have a military backgroud and i know how hard it is to neutralize two guys at a time…….but i watched you waltz into that house and do it like it was just eating a piece of a tasty cake”.

“I don’t think you wanna know sir”.

Then Eric lifted the trunk lid of the car as the driver stubbed out the cigarette and stared at pot belly guy curled up inside it with his hands tied behind his back with a tape. The guy who was sweating heavily stared back, anticipating what’s going to happen to him next. Eric grabbed him roughly and yanked him out of the car trunk.

“Did you enjoy the ride?”, he asked the guy.

“Wh….what?”.

“I said did you enjoy your ride?!”.

“Ermm……what?”.

“Look at those things in there……”, the taxi driver said to Eric and pointed at two big speakers in the trunk of the car. “How do you expect him to hear what you are saying after leaving him in the trunk and playing the music at very high volume. Do you know how ungodly loud it will be in there?……..this whole week the dude would have to scream so as to even hear himself”.

Eric smirked. He picked up the tire iron that was also in the trunk of the car and lead the pot belly guy into the bush with the driver following behind. After a few steps, away from being sighted by the motorists passing by, Eric halted the guy and faced him. Then he brought out the box cutter from his right pocket and extended the blade.

“So what it is gonna be?”, Eric began and showed pot belly guy what he held in both hands.

The guy remained silent and stared at Eric and the taxi driver with fear in his eyes.

“Is it going to be your throat being slit……”, Eric asked and raised the right hand bearing the box cutter. “…..or beating you till your soul fly with the birds?”, he asked again and raised the left hand bearing the tire iron. “….or even both?”.

“Please forgive me…….i…..i will never do again…i swear”, pot belly guy began with a shaky voice. “…….i swear i will never ever go near Nancy again”.

“What about all the money you took from her?”, Eric asked, moving the box cutter closer to his throat.

“I will pay her……i swear….i will pay her all that money……sir please spare my life”.

Then the guy broke down sobbing. Eric stared at him for a while and looked at the driver who shrugged and smirked. Then he used the box cutter to cut the man’s hands loose.

“Today is your lucky day……Nancy will be cooking my favourite”, he said to the guy as he removed the tape around his wrist and wiped the tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to eat the food and be thinking of how i killed her ex husband”.

Then Eric turned to the driver and said, “Let’s go sir”, and both of them headed towards the car.

After a few steps, they stopped and looked at pot belly guy following them behind.

“Where are you going?”, Eric asked him.

“Mm……my….house…..”, he stammered.

“So why are you following us?”.

“I thought you guys are…..going backing to the…..”.

“You thought we are what?”, the taxi driver asked. “You want to take my taxi?,…..do you have money to pay for the fare?”,

“No sir”.

“Why?”.

“Sir……i don’t have any money”.

“Okay do you have money in your house?”

“Sir……i don’t have any money at all”.

“You don’t even have any money……after taking that poor woman’s wage?”.

Then the driver grabbed the tire iron from Eric and bawled, “You better take a hike before i f@cking turn your fat head into a f@cked up mess!!”, and the man took off into the bush as the driver approached menacingly.

“Foolish man!”, the driver spat and then followed Eric who was smiling to his taxi.

“Turn his fat head into a f@cked up mess?……..sir you are really mean”.

“Ha!……says the person who broke bones and dislocated joints”.

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BLOODLINE Episode 12
#OpraDre