Once upon a time 34

PART 34

" ONCE UPON A TIME "

©️Opeyemi Akintunde.

 

"Wetin dey play? I say wetin dey play?" ( What is happening?) Kamal asked softly trying so hard to hide the extreme trepidation he was feeling.

Soji the Capone looked straight into Kamal's eyes and said, 

"My brother, I'm sorry. You know how the game be nah, the fastest is usually the smartest. Your boy beat you to it. He wants to be the next Capone and you know how it is , if you are able to bring down a very big bird whether from the brotherhood or a rival cult, the person automatically gets the spot of the Capone."

Kamal swore he was in a dream. He shut his eyes tightly hoping to wake up from the fearful dream and find himself on his bed, but as he opened his eyes with great expectation, he found himself exactly where he had been seconds earlier...

" Your boy, your trusted boy here wants to be the Capone so he gave you up." Soji said with emphasis 

"You're joking!" Kamal said in disbelief and then continued, "You can't kill me, I no fit die nah....Ahhh....make  una tell me say this thing be play. No, tell me say una dey joke. Abi today na April fool?" he asked. ( You guys are joking right!)

Finally, the words that broke Kamal into a million unretrieveable pieces poured out of the mouth of his betrayer...

"Brother!" Rogers said, "This ain't a play, you know how it plays. You taught me to get power at all cost. With your help, I started getting power and now I'm so Power-Hungry and being the Capone will be the highest point for me in the school.  I'm sorry brother that I had to do this to you, even Judas betrayed Jesus.  I'm very sorry.....Na how e dey play be that ooo." 

Kamal bent his head and hot tears trickled down his face, not because he thought he was going to die. It was the tears of hurt, it was the tears from the piercing pain of betrayal.  In seconds, he remembered all the meals , laughters, the heart to heart moments they had shared together. 

" Brother, what devil pushed you to do this, because the devil didn't tell you, you can't kill a Lion like me...Ha!" Kamal roared out in pain...

" You should know better, You know I'm fortified," Kamal said again madly but then It struck him.

The herbalist!

No! The herbalist touching him three times with the charm... Him feeling weak last night. The charm had neutralized his Fortification. 

Kamal became thunderstruck at the realization that Rogers had taken him to where his Fortification had been neutralized...

"Oh my f***ing goodness! Rogers! Rogers!! You stabbed me in the back? You Carry me go place where dem wash me down?" Kamal said to Rogers, it was all too difficult for him to take in. He suddenly faced Soji, 

"Soji abeg (Please)....abeg Soji.... abeg....abeg. Remember how e be before, remember as we dey before this guy come in," Kamal pleaded breathlessly... He knew how brutal his brotherhood was...He was already seeing his blood spilled soon...

"Soji,  I beg, no do wetin you wan do," Kamal pleaded again desperately. ( Please don't do what you want to do)

"Brother I'm sorry, you know how e dey play. No brother, no friend, no foe. Friendship is always for a season. I'm sorry," Soji answered.

"Magnet!" Soji called out to one of the flyers and said, "Terminate am! But no do am here ooo, no spoil our spot with blood, carry am go faraway where we no go see his break light again, where we no go even see him dead body."  Soji said

" You get me ba, Magnet?" Soji asked for reaffirmation sake.

"Abeg no do this thing. Abeg make una no do this thing nah.... Abeg! Na only me my mama get wey she dey look to,( I am the only son of my mother)  I get four sisters.... abeg... abeg. You know why I join this cult na. You know! You know why I join this brotherhood. Soji na you bring me inside this thing, you tell me say after school I go join big boys group. You say na how we go dey get contract. You say all the top boys wey dey this country na cult them come out from. So if I go anywhere I go dey see big deals dey collect, na why I join this brotherhood be that. Guy please don't do this to me... please don't. What do you want my mother to do? Guy you know I don't have a father. Guy, pleaaaaassseee!" Kamal pleaded and begged for his life, all the while shouting and screaming till his voice faded off in the distance.

Soji looked at Rogers, "Nice one Brother, but I dey fear you ooo, but make you too dey watch your back o. ( I fear you as well, but watch your back as well) But you don show say you get mind and you fit for the position of the Capone but in the meantime, before you reach Capone, you go be a flyer for now. You go be our hitman for the next six months and after you have been able to spill a lot of blood then I will coronate you as the next Capone. Welcome brother!"

*******

Rogers remembered how he had felt like a king that night. The quest to be invincible had overridden his conscience that he was no longer thinking right. He remembered not caring about what would happen afterwards but he knew that definitely Kamal would be killed and his heart would be given to him to eat in few days time.

 

*******

Kamal couldn't get that picture off his mind. He remembered feeling the piercing pain in his heart as he looked at Rogers that night. He never had a brother, so when he became close with Rogers, he saw him as a brother.

Like the saying that,  it's always good to be good, he remembered how his good had played out for him that night...

The event of that unforgettable night played back again in Kamal's mind....

******

YEARS EARLIER.

"Magnet, Magnet! Magnet! I no say me and you, we no be friends like that but we be brothers. Abeg, no chop my eye. No put my blood for ground, abeg. See ehn, I go disappear. I go go one village where nobody go ever hear about me again. Abeg no kill me, I go become farmer, I go become anything but please don't kill me," Kamal pleaded. ( Magnet, please don't kill me..I promise to disappear)

Magnet who was driving didn't pay any attention to Kamal. 

Kamal had been handcuffed and Polo was sitting behind him in the car with his gun to his head. He knew he couldn't make any silly move or else Polo would shoot his head that instant.

"Abeg....Polo...abeg.... Magnet....abeg. Na beg I dey beg una, let me just escape. Let me just escape abeg. You no go see my break light ever. You no go see am."

For the next five minutes, silence ruled in the car, but suddenly, Polo spoke from behind,

 "Magnet, park the car."

Magnet looked back and responded, "Wetin? For why?"

"Magnet, between you and I, we no say we no suppose make Kamal fall like this. We can't do this to Kamal. Kamal was the one who paid my school fees in 200 level, you don forget?" Polo said reminding Magnet

Magnet sighed heavily,

 "Yeah, I know but Kamal, you too why you go fall for that kain boy? From the first day I see that Rogers guy, I no like am. But you know we gats to obey, if I don't kill you, I will get killed," Magnet said.

"I promise you guys, Spare my life and I will disappear.... please....." Kamal kept begging.

"Ahhh, ahhh....Kamal, na you  make me chop well for school in my 100 level. I remember all the good things wey you don do for me.....ahhh.... this one is hard oooo. I just dey remember all the good things wey you don do for me....ahhh" Magnet said obviously struggling with himself.

Then Polo spoke from behind, 

"Make we release this bird, make this bird fly go. Make e fly...allow am make e fly."

"But Kamal, if we let you fly, I must never ever.....ever ever ever  see your break light. You know the meaning of that? I never ever ever want to see you in my life. No be say you go kan disappear for 20 years or 40 years and then resurface as one Governor for one place o, no. I want to know that you are dead," Polo said.

He continued, "Just like you said, go to one village and become a farmer. Disappear into thin air or if possible if you fit commot Go Chad! Go Togo, Go Cotonou. Just go anywhere. My point is that just disappear, I don't want to ever see you or hear about you. Even your children, change their surname because you know if dem ever get to hear that  you still dey alive, na us dem go track o. And if they try to track me, I will finish your generation," Polo threatened.

And with that Magnet stepped on the brakes.

 "Oya, guy, get down!" he ordered.

Kamal remembered stepping out of the vehicle still afraid for his life, he knew from experience that they could shoot him from behind  but to his shock they told him, "Peace brother!" before driving off.

And that was the end of Kamal.

Kamal remembered sitting on the floor there not knowing what to do. Not knowing where to turn to.

 

*******

PRESENT DAY

Kamal bent down in tears once again in his thatched house and wept sorely.

" Rogers you will pay for creating this beast"

To be continued...

NOTE: This piece was written with the intention of touching lives, feel free to share but please be mindful of the writer by not erasing her credits and that of the HolySpirit who Inspires her.  For more on this series, follow the author on Facebook @Opeyemi Akintunde Tv and Instagram @opeyemiakintunde. God bless you

DEEP THOTS NOVELS 

INSPIRED BY THE LIVING WORD 

Written by Opeyemi Akintunde 

+234 8151103646

Fb@Opeyemi Akintunde TV

Ig@opeyemiakintunde