DOPE Episode 11 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
**Is it really over?**
Hugo was surprised to see that the war already began when they arrived at the scene. Bret and his soldiers were already defending the safe against Stone and his men that fought hard to take over the warehouse.
Lots of dead bodies were already littered on the ground; few injured soldiers and more deaths of Stone’s men, but they were too many to retreat but kept firing from afar since Bret’s men didn’t give them the chance to come closer enough to have a close range shot.
As the fight was going on, Stone was searchingly looking for Hugo to gun him down but never knew that he was behind them with his truckload of ammunitions.
To attract their attention and as an announcement of his arrival, Hugo fired a Rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and killed about fifteen men on the spot. Stone and his men were all taking unaware by that.
Hugo and Andre took refuge behind the bulletproof car and started shooting at the cartel members who got their attention divided since they were almost surrounded.
Bret was happy when he saw Hugo and Andre shooting down their enemies.
Only one naval soldier died but most of Stone’s men were gunned down because they were surrounded by tactical team, not just numerous men with ammunitions because as for numerical strength, Stone had more men by Bret’s men had more skills. It was a blood bath. The entire civilians at the beachside fled the premises to avoid being hit by the bullets.
All of a sudden, more men from Stone’s camp joined the fight, which made them outnumber Bret and his men more and more.
Hugo gave Andre the antidote to the gaseous poison. He also found his way to Larissa amid the tight security, where she was tied to the tree and gave her an antidote too. He found his way into the warehouse and delivered the ‘wiper’ to Bret.
“Distribute this to all your men to chew and swallow. This is an antidote from my mom.
Once they take it, I’ll release a toxin to wipe out the entire men in a wink of an eye. Anyone who fails to chew the antidote is considered dead,”
Bret winced because he didn’t trust Hugo, thinking that he wanted to kill them all and have the entire money.
“I don’t deal with things like this. It could be poisonous to my men,” Bret interposed cleverly.
Hugo took one and chewed, “if it’s poisonous, it will start with me,” he said chewing fast and looking into Bret’s eyes to convince him.
That gesture made Bret have more confidence in the efficacy of the antidote. He then distributed it to the entire men. He first chewed before they all followed.
According to the instruction, the toxic gaseous substance that looks like a teargas was rolled to different locations.
At first, nothing happened but in sixty seconds, the entire Stone’s men started being weak and unable to use their guns which made it easier for most of them to be killed, except for Stone and few ones that were far off and didn’t inhale the substance.
Stone saw that he was being overpowered, so he took refuge and ran towards the tree where Larissa was tied but Hugo angrily followed him to the hideout while Andre shielded him from few Cartel members that left.
Getting closer to Stone they exchanged gun battles until they were all out of bullets, which led to physical combat.
Hugo first untied Larissa and asked her to run to Andre for safety.
Stone and Hugo fought each other. It was a bloody fight which lasted long between them. By then Stone’s men have all been killed.
“It’s time for you to accept defeat and give up the fight,” Hugo advised as they exchanged punches.
“You’re just as pathetic as your father,” Stone cursed and clouted his jaw which really caused much pain.
Angrily, Hugo leaped into the air and rained down blows on him which made him fall on his back, panting heavily.
“The cartel is over,” Hugo said and left him on the ground and started walking away.
As he was leaving, Stone slipped a dagger from his cowboy’s boot and stabbed him on the back which made him fall on his face as blood gushed out. When he tried to give Hugo the second stab to kill him, Bret shot him in the neck and he fell down but still held tenaciously to the knife even though he couldn’t use it again because he was already dying. It was then that it dawned on him that he was overpowered.
Lying on his back, he breathed heavily and fought to keep his last breath because he was already losing much blood from his neck where the bullet pierced through.
Out of anger, Hugo staggered and collected the knife to finish him up.
“It’s okay for the moment. He’s already dying,” Bret said.
Hugo stood tall over the dying man, with his gun and said: “what next is left of you, Mr. Stone?”
“I…will…pee on your gr…rave,” Stone managed to voice with a coarse voice as he kept fighting to be alive while death was seriously calling.
“Greed brought you to this,” Hugo said and shook his head in pity for the dying man, “By now, you’d have remained my personal assistant just as you were when my dad was alive but look at where you’ve ended up,”
“Let’s get out of here,” Bret said and dragged him out from the dying man.
Andre felt that waiting for Stone to die was a waste of time, so he took a pistol and shot him fourteen times in the heart until the gun ran out of bullets, He watched him die to ensure that he remained dead, and spewed on his dead body before leaving.
Hugo hired a crane that helped him put the heavy safe in a truck, but before then, he gave Bret and his men fifty million dollars and took the rest.
“I want to thank you for fulfilling your end of the bargain,” Bret said and shook hands with him.
“Meanwhile, it was in one of my marine operations that I found the hidden safe but I didn’t have to steal it because it’s not in my nature, that’s why I waited for you to show up.
Again, nothing kept you from releasing the gas to get my men killed too but as a good man, you spared us and still delivered on your promises. As for the dead soldier, I’ll extend his share of the money to his family. His wife just delivered a boy and he was eager to go and meet them before this happened. But that’s the life of a soldier, so I’ll find a way to console his family and ensure the child grows into a fulfilled child,”
Hugo wept as he heard that; thinking through how the family would feel on hearing the sad news. He was so proud of Bret at this point, so he pulled him into a Hug.
“Without you,” Hugo said tearfully, “I wouldn’t have been lucky to reclaim my fortune and legacy. I want to sincerely thank you for making me happy once again,”
“All thanks are mine,” Bret said and embraced him, “You’re a good man but you need more training in the use of crunching tiger, and as for hidden dragon style, you’re perfect there. Keep it up,”
Hugo smiled and shook hands with him and then waved to Bret’s men in appreciation’ leading to a round of applause from them for giving them a chunk of money as their share in the business deal.
“One more thing,” Hugo said as he hopped into the truck with Larissa and Andre to drive off, “I want the US D.E.A to locate the cocoa and marijuana plantation in Copacabana, Brazil and rid it of all its essence with the total destruction of the sites.
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Check your phone. I already sent the location to you. Just help me with that because I’m not going back to Brazil anymore. If I go to US D.E.A to report, I’ll simply be implicating myself. So, I suggest you do it for me. This is my last wish, sir,”
With a smile and happiness, Bret nodded in agreement. “Consider it done and fulfilled,” He promised, “I have few D.E.A friends, so relax, it’s my call to make”
“Thanks once again,” Hugo said and chopped knuckle with him.
Hugo Fuentes zoomed off into the streets back to his folks.
Larissa was still very angry at him which made her silent the entire times without uttering a word until they got home. She was in a bad mood and crying silently as they navigated along the road.
****
Getting home, their arrival was greeted with an already prepared celebration by Jose and Amanda Fuentes in the company of their fifteen years old daughter-Gabrielle, who was eager to meet her brother for the first time
Three of them came out to welcome the great warriors that came home triumphantly.
“This is a felicitous moment of my life,” Amanda said and led Gabrielle to her big brother, “This is your lovely brother and the one I’ve always talked to you about. He’s alive and happy for uniting with us as a family,”
“Big brother,” Gabrielle, the tall girl called, “I’m almost of the same height with you. I love you so much and can’t wait to go swimming with you,” she added as the embrace lasted.
“Maybe my kid sister will teach me how to swim,” Hugo humoured and embraced her, “I’m the happiest guy ever. I really feel so complete,”
“I love you, brother,” Gabrielle said and held tenaciously to the warm embrace.
“I love you more, my baby sister. How old are you now?”
“I’m fifteen,” she innocently answered.
“You’re now a big girl,” he hilariously said, “at your age; I took over the management of my dad’s business. It’s an important age to me, so guard it jealously,”
“Wow, that’s cool,” she wowed looking so surprised.
“But ensure that you don’t drop out from college like I did. As a matter of fact, I’ll be going back to college with my sweetheart, Larissa,”
Larissa wasn’t just happy but she still needed more of Hugo’s attention.
“I’m not going back to college with you,” Larissa interjected. “Please, can I go back to Brazil because my parents must be worried already?”
“Larissa, can we talk privately?” Hugo solicited, “Please,”
Hesitantly, she walked out of the room while others kept looking and observing.
Amanda pulled Hugo to a corner and whispered: “Make sure you make her happy before coming back here. If you still have any part of your dad’s harsh personality, kill it now. This is an order from your mom,”
“Thanks, mom,” he assuredly said and smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind. You’re always the best,”
Hugo took Larissa to the balcony but couldn’t say anything because he was bereft of words and how to start apologising.
After waiting for a couple of minutes to hear him out, she became worked up. “Can I go back to Brazil now?” Larissa asked, “I can see you’re a proud guy. It can’t work between us,”
“It’s not pride but guilt that has hulked on my mind because I know I have many apologies to tender,” Hugo said gloomily.
“I’m not here to listen to excuses because if I was killed by that brutal man, you would have moved on with your life and happy too. You already said that you don’t care about my life. I heard everything over the telephone,”
Still numb to words and as he drowned in speechlessness, Hugo took a deep breath as he searched for the right words to make her believe his explanations.
“I was careless with that stunts but I knew that Stone wouldn’t kill you,” he assuredly said, “I didn’t disappoint you but I saved you because if I ever showed any emotional attachment to you, you’d have been dead by now. I’ve known Stone for many years. He kills when emotions are involved. I knew he was more interested in the money, so he needs to try harder. I made him feel that you were expendable but that’s far from the truth because I couldn’t rest because of that decision.
I was so happy when I discovered that he didn’t hurt you. I’m sorry that I handled it the way I did. It was really perilous but smart, even though my heart was fraught with fear. If I’d played to his gallery, you wouldn’t be here talking with me but somewhere dumped as carcass. Believe this because I know him so well. That was how I lost my dad and my computer programmer. I am not ready to lose you too, hence the risk I took with the belief that it would work,”
After considering and reconsidering her decisions, she took a deep breath and smiled faintly with a nod of concurrence.
“I think I reason with your methods on this and we were all lucky that it worked. But, one more reservation about your sincerity; on your birthday, why did you leave me the way you did?” she added, making Hugo be in a bit tight corner to reply but a smart guy will always be smart, either hook or crook or by being totally honest.
“I must come clean about my behaviour that very day,” Hugo sincerely said, “my dad always advised that I should stop seeing you because women kill the future. According to him, they can make a man lose focus in life. His methods were really bad and unorthodox, that’s why I can authoritatively say that he was a misogynist. He wanted to force me to follow his methods. It almost worked for me that birthday night but I later regretted it. I’m sorry,”
“That’s really extreme,” she said and shrugged, “but he was your dad still, and you were following orders. I would have done the same,”
“In order to put my mind fully into the drug business, he took my phone from me, which was why we lost communication in high school. It took him time to convince me that he did it for my own good. I’m glad that he didn’t take the best part of me still,”
“Can you just apologise and stop this rigmarole,” she urged as she began to feel a bit happy, “that’s all I want to hear. I think you’re not romantic and I want you to be,”
“But you can teach me,” Hugo said and smiled while holding his hands in a rough way but Larissa made him understand that he should be soft with her, “With time, I’ll learn how to be romantic,” he added with humility, “I want you to groom me into a very romantic guy,”
“Okay, I’ll try my best,” she promised and caressed hands romantically, “I’m happy that you accepted your shortcomings, and showed the preparedness to learn,”
“Even if I’m not sure of anything, I’m sure of this affection in me. If it’s love I can’t say, but I have tender feelings for you,” Hugo confessed.
A tingle of surprise shot through her. “Wow, I love this sincerity. I love you more, baby,” she said and pulled him closer and implanted a kiss on his lips.
They happily went back into the room and joined the merriment that was already going on.
Seeing the smiles on their faces, Jose invited them over to the dining table to join in the banquet.
“Mom, dad, kid sister,” Hugo called and stood up, still having his hand on Larissa’s shoulder, “I wish to formally inform you that I’ve made up my mind to marry Larissa and make her the mother of my kids. I’ll make sure that I’ll complete my academic pursuit in college. She’s a motivator and an encouragement to me”
Larissa shuddered to hear such news that swept her off her feet, “Oh jeez, is that supposed to mean that you’re proposing marriage to me?” she asked rolling her eyes in great shock.
“I already did, and I won’t take back my words, my love,” Hugo said and pulled her up to his height and kissed her before everyone.
With unexplainable happiness, Jose stood up and filled everyone’s glass with the grape wine, “Today, my family is complete and I’m so happy for this reunion. I wish to make a toast to long life and lasting marriage for my son and my daughter-in-law to be. It’s really a memorable day worth preserving and treasured in our mind’s eyes,”
They made a toast and had fun as a family.
****
Hugo and Larissa had a secret wedding to avoid attracting a crowd or drug dealers. They made up their minds to go back to college together after their honeymoon. He bought a house in Florida, not far from his parent’s because he couldn’t stay far from them anymore since he’d missed their presence for some years as he grew up.
Mortos Cartel seized to exist because the US D.E.A raided the plantations and put an end to the drug business.
Hugo ended up achieving the peaceful life he craved for, making his life complete as he attained that self-actualization he sought.
****
After some weeks as they enjoy their honeymoon in the hotel they lodged, Hugo was assured that everything about the Cartel was over and the next was how to enjoy the money he’d made and the legacy left for him by his late Dad. To get married to Larissa and going back to school was among his priorities.
As he relaxed in Cool City Hotel in Florida, taking a serene dreamless slumber, his calmness of his sleep was cut short by a call that came around 3 am which made him get up abruptly. He didn’t want to take the call because he really wanted to rest and forget about the past and the drug business. Wearily, he got up, slipped his legs into the furred slippers and shambled to the restroom to pee but the call kept coming over and over again, which got him perturbed and concerned.
Picking up his phone, he peered through the incoming call but couldn’t recognise the strange number. In order not to allow the buzz from his phone to nudge Larissa to wake up, he tiptoed out from the bedroom into the sitting room and sat on the couch, still considering whether to take the call or ignore it. After a while, he made up his mind and took the call but didn’t say anything but listened raptly.
The caller didn’t talk too but kept breathing heavily as if he was pulsating with either fear or anger. Hugo kept listening to the background but there was no reaction from either him or the caller. When he tried to hang up, he heard a deep male voice saying: “The war just began. Make a call to Bret McGowen and know if he still shut down the plantation,”
That call got him jittery because he didn’t want anything that would bring him back to the vendetta that accompanies the struggle over Mortos Rio Cartel.
“Who’re you?” Hugo asked in a calm but troubled voice.
“I’m your worst nightmare and the person that will crush you in a wink,” He replied and hung up.
Hugo Fuentes got so tensed and sank deep into the couch trying to figure out what to do next. As he kept thinking through the threats from the unknown caller and the call he was asked to make to Bret, Larissa came into the sitting room wearing her pink lingerie and looking sexy.
Immediately she came in, she discovered that Hugo looked so worried, which prodded her concerns at the moment.
“Hey, baby,” she called and came closer to him as she stood by his side, and then pulled him closer, “What’s eating you up? I thought we’re finally happy. Did I offend you?”
Hugo didn’t know which of her questions he was going to answer first because the call he just received blotted out his sense of reasoning, replaced with confusion and fidget.
He heaved a sigh and feigned a smile. “I’m cool, just thinking about the entire past ordeal and how to leave it behind and move on,” he lied.
“Oh, that?” she said and sat beside him, “if that’s the reason, why are you feeling as if you want to go back to the past life that we agreed to jettison?”
“Leaving the past isn’t easy, but I’m trying to do that,” he said and shook his head in dismay.
Larissa implanted a kiss on his cheek and slowly tried to find his lips with hers but he was really far and absent-minded; therefore couldn’t return the kiss.
“What’s getting you disturbed?” she rephrased, feeling more concerned this time, “is there something you’re hiding from me?”
“No…not really,” he faltered and stood up, “let’s go back to bed, please”
He dragged her up and took her to the bedroom. They lay on the bed, with each of them occupied with different thoughts and confusion.
Larissa tried the second time to start something romantic with him but Hugo wasn’t just ready emotionally because his mind was centred on how to make a call to Bret and really know what the anonymous caller wanted him to know from him. He couldn’t just make the call because Larissa would definitely know what was going on. At the moment, the question that occupied his mind was how long he would keep hiding it away from her if she’d still be in the know someday, especially when she was about to get married to him.
He tried his best to convince her that he was okay but not in the mood to make love yet. Larissa accepted his conviction with a pinch of salt and snuggled in his bosom and slept off while Hugo’s happy mood was ticked away into oblivion by the wall clock as he kept his eyes affixed to it.
When he was convinced that Larissa was in a deep slumber, he quietly laid her head on the pillow and cornered her with three pillows to make it seem as if he was still with her in bed.
He left quietly to the sitting room, tried to make the call to Bret but he could wake the innocent girl the second time, so he opened the door and stepped into the hallways and locked the door behind him. He dialled Bret’s line but no one took the call. He kept redialling but all to no avail. As he was about to go back into his hotel room, Bret returned the missed calls.
He took the call immediately and said: “Bret! Are you okay?” His question was greeted with a loud cry in Bret’s voice but no response from him. “Hey, Bret who was the caller that asked me to call you?”
Hugo kept pressing harder for him to talk but Bret couldn’t utter a word. As he kept asking many questions, the caller hung up.
It was obvious to him that he just got himself back into the deep shit he was trying to avoid. It wasn’t just easy for him because he was already happy that he’d left the drug business behind but it wasn’t over yet. He leaned his back on the wall and quietly squatted until he was seated on the hallways. His thoughts that very moment were as deep as the ocean. His brain was shattered into shreds with thoughts but he still couldn’t figure out what was going on.
One of the Hotel attendants got to the hallways as he was trying to pass but seeing Hugo made him stop.
The attendant looked surprised seeing the way Hugo was, sitting on the bare floor.
“Sir, what can we do for you?” he asked courteously and came closer to him looking concerned.
“There is nothing you can do,” Hugo answered absently, “what’s your name?” he asked him looking up to see his face clearly but the light rays from the hallway bulbs turned the attendant into a shadow.
“I’m Marco Antonio,” he answered and dropped the tray he had with him on the floor and sat beside Hugo. “You seem worried, Sir,”
“Yes, I’m worried,” Hugo answered hurriedly because he needed someone to talk to, though Larissa was the least on his list. “Have you been in a situation where you find it hard to think because the past life you dropped for good suddenly became your shadow and haunting you like a ghost?”
“Yes, I’ve been in such situation,” he answered honestly, “especially when you’ve dropped a drug business and willing to move on and a call comes in, making you find it hard to concentrate,”
That statement got Hugo overstrung because he already knew that the man sitting next to him could be a spy working for the anonymous caller.
Hugo suddenly got up and searched himself but his pistol wasn’t with him, so he drew back gradually, knowing full well that his location had been compromised.
“Who are you and who’re you working for?” Hugo barked like a rabid dog but the stranger kept smiling.
Remembering that Larissa was still in the hotel room, Hugo suddenly bolted into the room and discovered that Larissa wasn’t there anymore. He rushed back to the hallways to grab the stranger but couldn’t even see him anymore. With great fear and confusion, he rushed back to the hotel room the second time because he couldn’t imagine how he lost Larissa. There was only one exit door, which was through the hallways where he sat with the stranger a couple of minutes earlier.
This made it hard for him trying to figure out how Larissa was smuggled out by his enemies without a trace. He checked the windows and discovered that everything was intact. He cried bitterly as he ran around searching for his woman, even under the bed but she was there no more because she had been carted away in a way he couldn’t fathom or comprehend. It then dawned on him that whoever did that was a professional. It was a mystery he couldn’t unravel.
THE END
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WATCH OUT FOR SEASON TWO. Guess what, you’d be surprised and love it more.
Can’t wait