DOPE Episode 3 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor
**The Ambush**
Ramon and Stone, with Hugo and some other bodyguards, flew to the new plantation which was about ten minutes in the thick forest before they landed at the location where they land was secured.
Stone already got the entire placed cleared, to be made ready for the task ahead. Even though he put so much effort into making sure that the new site for cocoa and marijuana was ready, he still felt that he was securing the plantation for himself because he already had some evil plans cooking, which he was meant to unleash anytime he was ready to carry out his plans.
Hugo, being a very smart and astute teenager started having the feelings that Stone may not be as real as his father made him believe but he couldn’t just have any evidence against him, though his premonition was that his father’s personal assistant was up to something that isn’t in favour of the cartel.
As they were inspecting the entire area, Hugo wasn’t feeling comfortable but he kept trudging the distance as the land was being apportioned for the proposed purpose.
When one of the bodyguards took Stone to show him an eroded part of the land that could pose a threat, Hugo took his dad to a corner to relay some information and observation to him.
“Dad, I don’t trust Stone Antonio, and you shouldn’t trust him too,” he whispered into his dad’s ear, “I try as much as I could to know what’s wrong with his personality but it seemed an arduous task to achieve that,”
“Ha-ha,” Ramon laughed out loud, “You must be making some mistakes because Stone is the reason why this company still prospers. He performs most of the business negotiations and he knows so much about the business. Son, don’t allow sentiments to cloud your sense of judgment. Meanwhile, Stone naturally has some family issues which could be affecting his way of life, but being bad is the least. Please, snap out of it”
“If you say so,” Hugo said and smiled. “But just be careful, dad,”
“Of course, I will,” Ramon assuredly said and invited the team of experts to carry out the survey of the land and take an accurate measurement and study of the soil samples and other things that were necessary for the business to kick-start and flourish as envisaged.
The project was reviewed and certified as viable and lucrative, which made the final agreement to be signed between the cartel and the original owners of the land. Ramon included Hugo as one of the signatories, making his son to be fully accommodated into the affairs of the cartel.
Stone breathed threats but he still had to incubate his plans waiting for the right time to strike and take over the company.
After concluding the business issues with the new plantation, they all went back to the main plantation to conclude with the business of the day and forge ahead.
Stone took charge of Ramon’s role at the moment because Ramon was busy having a nice time with his son.
Hugo couldn’t just believe how things were working so fast even though he wasn’t ready to take up the responsibility as the heir but his dad already pushed him forward, making him unable to reject the offer, even though he hadn’t fully accepted it but was willing to help his dad flourish in the business; after all, even if he nurses no feeling of taking over after him, his dad is still his dad and he must protect his interest too.
Ramon took his son into his private office and entertained him with sumptuous meal and juice.
“So tell me. What’s really most pressing needs in the list of your priorities?” Ramon asked his son in order to ascertain his level of thoughts and how to help him grow in it.
After smiling and thinking through the question, Hugo smiled. He isn’t always too fast in replying his dad because he knows that his dad is an intelligent man and could ask questions just to test his level of intellectual prowess and prudence, so he tries to be smart about everything he does.
“Well, I want to complete my education first, then I’ll think of a professional course like being a doctor,” he answered, “but since you’re forcing me into your line of business, I am bereft of words right now but let the game begin first,”
“I don’t want you to feel bad because I denied you access to the girl but I want you to focus, especially now that you know the nature of the business which requires more time with your business than with a woman. Women could be distracting but if you can keep them aside and face your business, you’ll go far in life and become successful too. Since your mom died, how many women have you seen around me? It’s because I mean business and that has been helping me reach that level of self esteem and actualisation I’m craving for,”
“But dad, I love that girl,” he chipped in his feeling.
“Or you think you do?” Ramon asked, “Don’t be so sure but learn how to be focused in anything you do so that your success is sure. When you succeed in the business, you can have as many women as you want, but you still need to be careful so that your enemies wouldn’t use them to have an easy access to you. Women make men weak even at their when they are strong,” He looked into Hugo’s eyes and said, “As for the location of the hidden money, I’ll tell you; especially now that I’m assured that you’re ready and willing to be my heir,”
Ramon was on the brink of disclosing the hidden location of the money when a call from Stone made him pause. He took the call without hesitation because any call from Stone is considered a serious business.
“What’s happening, Mr. Stone,” Ramon asked listening attentively.
“There is a problem!” He yelled as he panted, making Ramon’s mood to change abruptly, “We’d soon be under attack. An intel reaching us through our informants is that the US D.E.A are just five minutes away and they’re heavily armed,” he snarled and hung the call even before Ramon could ask further question.
Immediately Stone hung the call, sounds of drones and different kinds of aircraft were heard hovering in the air and shooting sporadically at the plantation.
The entire place was in disarray which made Ramon afraid of losing a son.
“Hugo,” he shouted with rage and preparedness, “Go to the inner bunker where I’ll show you now. Lock yourself there and remain there. No bomb can penetrate there and nothing can happen to you there. Let me go and fight off these invaders to buy some time for you. Be strong and ensure that you don’t give up on me when I’m gone,”
Hugo started crying and shivering convulsively as his father charged him with an impromptu responsibility of taking over the drug business even when he was still alive. He was even more frightened with the deafening sounds of missiles and heavy ammunitions he heard in the plantation.
“I’ll fight alongside with you, dad,” he sobbingly said trying to conjure a strong confidence and resilience but Ramon dragged him along forcefully without yielding to his suggestion. He took him to the bunker to hide.
“Don’t come out from here no matter what happens!” he sternly warned, “Love you, Son. You’re all I’ve got and I wouldn’t risk your life for any reason,” Having said that, he showed Hugo how to use the buttons to ensure the door is securely locked and no one is allowed in. “No matter what happens, don’t unlock this door except I’m lucky and you see me coming back for you. But if I’m captured and coming back with people, don’t open at all even when I’m there. Use the CCTV to know who is at the door before using the button to open the door,” He took his gun and dashed into the open field and joined the fight.
Hugo stayed in the bunker which was impervious to sounds, making everywhere so calm except the quakes of the ground, showing that bombs were used too. He was very frightened as he underwent such excruciating pains and anguish that engulfed him completely.
He couldn’t imagine that he could lose his dad, so he stubbornly opened the bunker against his dad’s advice using the code that his dad gave him and took a pistol and stood by the window to join the father if he could.
As he watched, he saw how strong his dad was as he fought with valour, even though he already had a wound on his right arm. Looking towards to the extreme north, he saw Stone who was just hiding away instead of fighting like others. He wished that his dad could do the same but Ramon wasn’t a man that could be cowed no matter the circumstance.
For about an hour, Ramon and his men kept fighting off the US drug enforcement agency officials but they seemed so many that Ramon and his men were beginning to be overpowered.
As Ramon fought, he saw Hugo standing by the window which got him frightened because he knew that Hugo was so stubborn that he could join the fight and he wasn’t ready to lose his only son.
One of the D.E.A agents tried to come for Hugo which made Ramon come out openly to fight him. He succeeded shooting the agent down but when he was about to rush back to his place of a shield, he was shot in the heart three times, making him fall before Hugo.
At this juncture, Hugo couldn’t just take it anymore but rushed into the battle field and dragged his dad back into the room and watched him pant heavily as he fought to stay alive.
“Dad, you don’t have to die, I’m here with you. Please don’t leave me,” he cried aloud as he still looked searchingly to protect his dad from further bullets flying around.
Ramon fought so hard to talk but his last strength couldn’t carry him, except tears that kept raining down his cheek as he peered into the eyes of his beloved son.
Stone was happy when he saw that Ramon was badly wounded. Instead of helping out to revive him, he took off and escaped into the woods where no one could find him.
Seeing that he couldn’t just make it, Ramon, forced himself to say one last word before he dies in his son’s arms.
As he tried to talk, Hugo pulled him closer to know if he could hear what he was trying to tell him.
After much effort, Ramon wearily murmured: “Jose Veneno Rosa,” and died instantly.
He was already in the pool of blood getting Hugo’s body to be bedraggled with his blood. Being squeamish, Hugo closed his eyes and cried out in pain.
Hugo yelled out in anger and took up his arms to enter the open field but he discovered that the plantation was already raided and most of the guards were already dead, so he ran back and dragged the lifeless body of his dad with so much effort back into the bunker and locked up the door.
The entire plantation and administrative buildings were destroyed completely except Hugo who was safe in the dugout.
In the bunker, he discovered more doors and made use of the door until he found a hallway that led to a tunnel. With his entire strength he carried his dad on his arms and continued trudging through the paths until he got outside the plantation. He carried his dad on his shoulder and plodded out from the bunker. As he trudged, he discovered that the exit door opened into a cave with numerous bats in thousands but he tried not to commove them so that they won’t scatter and gain possession of the sky which could be a tip for the US D.E.A agents to know that someone escaped and come after him.
If not for his physical strengths, he couldn’t have succeeded walking and carrying the lifeless body of his dad on his shoulder.
The cave led him to the wood which was already far from the plantation which gave him ample time to find his way out before the US officials would discover and break open the bunker because they would still do, just a matter of time.
As he footslogged in the woods carrying his dad, he became so weak and felt like blacking out, so he took him to a safe location and dug the ground with anything he could find.
In pains and gloom, he buried his dad’s corpse in a shallow grave and covered him with sands and stones. There, he cried and cried and wallowed in melancholy as he mourned his dad. His mournful moment was disrupted when he heard the sound of a chopper approaching. He left in pain and tramped further into the woods.
He continued running to keep himself alive because there was nothing more important than that at the moment. Also, his dad’s dead wish was to see his son remain alive and take up the mantle of leadership as the heir to the drug business, so Hugo had to keep himself alive.
Hugo spent five days of steady walk through the bushes before getting to the particular location where his dad’s car was packed. He was just lucky to bump out from the same location from where they boarded the chopper. To him, it was a miracle because he didn’t know where he was heading to.
He entered in the car and searched through his pocket and found the car keys. It was then that it dawned on him that his father had his reason for teaching him how to drive, even without reaching the driving age.
His entire body was bedraggled with the blood if his dad which stained the exotic car but the fight to keep himself alive was more important at the moment.
He ignited the engine but he was so weak to drive because of the strengths he’d consumed carrying the lifeless body of his dad. He suddenly slept off without knowing it.
After many hours of deep sleep in the car, he heard a knock on the door and was startled. Getting back to consciousness, he remembered that the car engine was still steaming as the chilly air conditioner took him further into a dreamless slumber.
Wearily, he forced the sleep out of his eyes and checked to see who could be there with him, especially when he was still on the run. He thought the D.E.A agents must have found him out but surprised to see Gustavo Paulo-the chief computer programmer.
“Mr. Gustavo, how did you locate me?” he blurted with confusion.
“I’ll explain when I get home,” Gustavo said and wanted to enter his car and go home with Hugo to the white mansion but Hugo refused.
“I insist you tell me now before we leave,” Hugo howled, “I’m now the boss, therefore I demand some obedience from you, Gustavo, so this isn’t an appeal but an order,” having said that, Hugo made up his mind to take over the plantation; not because he wanted to but because of what he saw Stone doing when the fight was going on.
“Sorry, what are you talking about?” Paulo asked and winced to see clearly and understand him, “where is Ramon Fuentes?”
“I’ve buried him in the middle of the forest,” Hugo said and started crying, “He shouldn’t have died. If not that he came to save me, he may still be alive,”
“OMG he hollered but braced himself as a strong man so that the teen wouldn’t be so frightened and discouraged. “It’s okay, let’s go home first,”
Gustavo said and patted his back, “You should be a man. I’m glad he finally disclosed the nature of his business to you. It wasn’t just easy for him. Well, there is a tracker that I injected inside you; with your dad’s instruction, that’s why I could locate you. Meanwhile, you don’t need to drive. The police will penalise you for that. I’ll send somebody to bring the car along. Let’s go with mine because your body is covered with blood,”
“No, I won’t leave my dad’s favourite car here,” Hugo stubbornly grunted.
“Okay, let’s leave mine behind and go home with yours,” he said and forced him down from the driver’s seat, “Hop in let’s hit the streets because our enemies could still be closer,”
Gustavo took the car to the car wash and got the car cleaned, then bought cloths that Hugo changed into so that they wouldn’t be suspected by the police on their way back home.
After everything, Hugo kept thinking about Stone’s action instead of fighting off the intruders like his dad did. He kept gritting his teeth in anger as he blamed himself for being the reason for the death of his dad even though he wasn’t. But as a teen yet to be abreast of how deadly Stone was, he believed that for Stone to give his dad a tip ahead when they were being ambushed, he may not be as bad as he thought. He was just confused especially when his dad made him realise that Stone was his best man and the second in command who knows a lot about the company.
He also knew that without Stone, taking over the leadership of the cartel may not be an easy task because he knew nothing except when he gets proper handover, and that would be done by someone who has mastered the business, and it was no other person than Stone Antonio.
Hugo and Gustavo went home safely where the poor boy continued mourning his dad having been assured that he was alone and had no family anymore.
Amid his troubled mind, he kept reciting the last words of his dad in his mind so that he wouldn’t forget it. He didn’t even know how or when to use the words or what to do with it but he knew that someday, the need may arise, so he needed to treasure the words and guard it jealously as he waited for opportune time.
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To be continued…
