Update 10

***

Peter Black was in jail, and Maria was recovering and keeping a low profile – but there were five people who were ready to fight their battles for them. These five people had no familial affiliation with the two aforementioned people, but they took it upon themselves to defend and fight for them. They were ready to do whatever was necessary to ensure that the person who hurt them didn’t go free, and that he would not be able to hurt them any further. And while they would be defending the couple, they would also – by extension – be defending the third party – Officer John Balewa.

Murphy and Uche came up with most of the plan; they chose the right moment the Bonifacio mansion would be infiltrated and how Murphy could easily gain access without being detected by the other guards. The job seemed a lot easier because Uche was now involved. If there was anyone in the world who knew the chink in Roberto Bonifacio’s armour, it was Uche. And it was great luck for Doctor Rukewe, Nurse Muyiwa, Yinka and Murphy to have someone like Uche in their corner. On the other hand, the only way Uche agreed to help out was because the nurse begged him to assist them. It had reached a point between them where Uche could not say no to Muyiwa any longer; and from the way the two shared glances and occasionally held hand, even the other three knew that the two liked each other. It was just remarkable that two people would find love in this kind of situation.

The Black Followers that started with an initial number of three people grew to become five, and the number would continue to grow.
And so on the eve of the day Officer John Balewa was to be promoted, a car parked a few yards away from the mansion. It was a cold night because a heavy rain had just stopped. The streets were mostly deserted due to the cold; everyone was in their houses. It was a Sunday night, a cold Sunday night. The car remained there for several minutes. And so when it was around eleven, the door of the car was opened and Murphy stepped out of it. He was totally clad in black attire, just like Uche had told him to. Roberto’s right hand had informed him that the black clothes would help him in blending well with the night, and that would give him a better chance of gaining entry into the compound without being detected.

He carefully made his way towards the front gate of the mansion, waited a brief moment to listen to the sounds of the other thugs within the compound. While he waited, he looked at the surface of the watch strapped on his wrist. If not for the full moon above, he would not be able to see the time. But when he checked, the time was 11:28. At exactly 11:30, Murphy began to hear the sounds of receding footsteps. Things were going according to plan. Uche had promised that he was going to help distract the attentions of the guards, and that was exactly what was happening. When he was sure that the guards were no longer around the front yard, he gently pushed the gate in – it was unlocked, as expected. He didn’t know how Uche did it, but the man had ensured that the gate was unlocked.

As Murphy stepped into the compound, he wondered if he might be stepping into a trap. What if everything was a form of deception by Uche? What if Uche was too loyal to Roberto Bonifacio? It was not easy for someone who had been loyal for over twenty years to suddenly change his allegiance. Murphy realised that he might just be stepping into the den of a waiting lion; but he was not scared; he had stopped getting scared of people since a long time ago. If he died now, he was going to die without having any regret; he was going to die for what he believed in. Maria was someone worth dying for. Perhaps if he died, he would have the opportunity to meet her in the afterlife. He just wanted to make sure that he took Roberto Bonifacio along with him when he finally died.

As he stepped into the compound, he noticed one guard seated at a corner. The thug was inconspicuously huddled in a lonely spot and his rifle was leaning against the wall beside him. But fortunately for Murphy, the thug was fast asleep with his mouth hanging open. Besides this particular sleeping guard, the compound was practically deserted. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the men returned to the front yard. Uche had given him just a brief moment to gain access into the mansion. As he was making his way towards the building, he heard the approaching footsteps of one of the guards. Murphy quickly concealed himself among the flowers planted in the compound. He waited there until the guard turned a corner before he came out of his hiding and quickly walked to the front door. He turned the knob and pushed the door in. Like the gate, the door was also unlocked – Uche had made sure of that too. As he stepped into the building Murphy half expected to see Roberto Bonifacio seated in a chair and waiting for him, with his armed guards by his side. But there was no one waiting for him. He drew out the gun Yinka had given him and located the stairs. Uche had offered him a pistol but Murphy had refused it, instead he wanted to make use of the one Yinka had given him. He had never killed anyone in his life before, and he never thought that one day he would have to do it. But he knew he was going to kill the bastard Roberto Bonifacio and not feel the slighted guilt for doing it. Killing a man like Bonifacio would be a great favour to the world. He was going to do what no other man was willing to do. Even Uche had refused to be the one to kill his boss; in a way, he was still loyal to Roberto. He could help in making sure Roberto died, but he was not going to directly participate in killing him. If Uche had agreed to do it, all these drama of sneaking into the house late in the night would not have been necessary – but in a way, Murphy himself wanted to stare into Roberto Bonifacio’s face when he pulled the trigger. It would be a great pleasure to be the one to finally end the terror called Bonifacio.

The house was even a lot quieter than the compound, and it was totally deserted; Murphy had expected to encounter at least two guards in the living room, but Uche had done a good job in clearing the paths for him. He climbed the stairs and located the door leading to Roberto Bonifacio’s bedroom. He sighed deeply and turned the knob. He stepped into the room and saw the villain sleeping soundly on the bed that was illuminated by the bedside lamp. A brief smile crossed Murphy’s lips as he moved closer to the sleeping figure. He reached across and gently pulled the blanket off the sleeping man. The action woke up Roberto who stared into his eyes in shock. Murphy immediately pressed the gun over the man’s head before he made any sound.

This was exactly how he had pictured doing it. He wanted to stare in the face of the monster before killing him. He wanted Roberto to know that he was not as untouchable as he thought he was. He wanted to show the man that he had messed with the wrong people. Most importantly, he wanted to let Roberto know that the citizens of the country were not as weak-minded as he thought.
“Who are you? What do you want?” Roberto asked him.
Murphy gave a wicked smile. He has the upper hand over the dreaded Roberto Bonifacio; and it was even sweeter because the foreigner knew nothing about him. Even if he did, it would not make any difference; the man was going to die soon anyway. But before he killed him, he wanted Roberto to know that he had been played for a fool. A trap had been set for him and he had foolishly taken the bait.

And so while the gun was still pressed against Roberto’s forehead, Murphy explained everything to Roberto. How the man had been played by the doctor and how he made the greatest mistake of his life when he shot Maria and caused her death. He took his time in telling Roberto everything. He enjoyed the horror that crossed the man’s face as he explained how the plans were orchestrated, most particularly the fear that came to Roberto’s face when he knew that he was going to die. Nothing gave him more pleasure than Murphy finding out that Roberto Bonifacio was as scared of dying as any other person. He had thought that the man would prove to be a lot braver than this. And yet in even in the coldness of the night, Roberto Bonifacio was sweating. Although he was not begging for his life, his eyes were pleading. Murphy expected him to scream and alert the guards but he didn’t. He probably hoped that his life would be spared. But that was never going to happen. He could not let Roberto live. He knew the man; Bonifacio would use everything in his resources to take his revenge. The madman would kill everyone remotely associated with Peter or Maria, then he would dedicated everything he had into locating Murphy and killing him slowly. There was only one solution; only one mercy existed in this case – the killing of Roberto Bonifacio.

Murphy pressed the gun more firmly against Roberto Bonifacio’s forehead and said, “This is for Peter Black – and Maria.”

Then he pulled the trigger.

The report of the gun was louder than he thought. He knew without a doubt that the other guards would hear the gunshot. He had to get out of there as fast as possible. There were pieces of Roberto’s brain splattered across the wall, the headrest of the bed and the bedsheet. Some were even sprinkled on the bedside table; there was blood everywhere. As he was about to step out of the room, he noticed a framed picture on a mantelpiece at the east of the room. He quickly moved closer to the picture. He picked up the frame and took it close to the light of the lamp. He gasped in shock at what he saw. He looked back at Roberto Bonifacio in desperation and regretted his action. The man was dead – he has just killed the only man who could answer the question he desperately sought an answer for.

Murphy quickly took out the picture from the frame and pocketed it before he stepped out of the room. The rest depended on Uche who would take the picture of Roberto’s corpse and send it to the rest of TBF. Then Yinka would take the picture and hand it to Officer John Balewa at his inauguration ceremony.

Murphy met Uche at the staircase and he was led through the back gate that led to where the car was parked. His partners were already waiting for him.

As soon as he reached the car, Nurse Muyiwa stepped out and asked, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Murphy nodded.

She remained silent for a while before speaking. “May his soul rest in peace. May God forgive him his sins. I sincerely wish we didn’t have to do this.”

“But we had no choice,” replied Murphy, “He had to go or the child’s life would not be safe.” He stared into Muyiwa’s eyes and said, “Your life would not be safe. He tried to kill you before; he would try to kill you again.”

Nurse Muyiwa thought about this, nodded and said, “Let’s get out of here. The doctor is waiting.”

As they entered the car, Murphy’s mind was focused on the picture he had taken from Roberto’s room. His mind was in turmoil. He swore to find out the truth about the picture.
What Murphy Khalid didn’t know, however, was that it would take him more than ten years to discover the truth.

Seun:
Congratulations, my humble brother. You achieved your dream.

BOOK FIVE

RETRIBUTION

(2005 – 2015)

Chapter One

I

Peter Black stared at the doctor with eyes wide open. A lot of things had surprised him in his thirty-five years of existence; in fact, so many shocking things had happened to him that it was hard for anything to really surprise him anymore. For what would have rocked another person with astonishment would simply have elicited a chuckle from the legendary Peter Black. Life had taught him to always prepare himself for the most surprising of things. Perhaps that was what had kept him from being sucker-punched by the reality of life. Things hardly surprised Peter Black because he had prepared himself for the worst – but he had not prepared himself for this one, which, of course, rather than being the worst, might actually be the best.

In all of Peter Black’s life since he was old enough to discern things, situation had always gone from good to bad for him. Somehow, his happiness was always cut short by some extraordinary means. He had always lost the people he loved most in the world – it started from his father, mother, Priest Duba, Old Cargo, and a host of other people who had died. Even though Basket, his childhood best friend, was still very much alive, Peter knew he had lost him too. However, the worst blow that could ever have struck him was losing Maria. The kind of love he had for Maria, even though they had only been together for just two years, was more than that he had for any other person in his life. He and Maria shared a special kind of love – a kind of love he wasn’t sure any other couple had ever shared before. It was a love beyond the mere physical; it was a love that went deep down to the core of affection’s crust. It was hard for two people to find each other and love each other as deeply as much as he and Maria; but they had found each other and their love had been incredible. Losing Maria would have threatened Peter Black’s sanity, but the thought of having their product out there kept him going. Her death would have completely shattered him had he not have a new mission of getting back his son from Basket. Finally getting back his son was the highlight of his achievement. His son was the closest connection he had with Maria. In a way, Peter had thought nature had finally found a way to compensate him for his huge losses by giving him his son. He had never imagined that someone would tell him that Maria was alive. Hell, he had attended her funeral. Surely, he must be hearing things.

He continued to stare at the doctor dumbfounded. Rationality was spinning out of control; everything he believed in was slowly taking a different form before him. It was as if the earth was suddenly becoming flat. He stood rooted in the spot, not moving a limb – the shock of the news rendered him paralysed for a couple of minutes, until slowly the ridiculousness of what he had heard slowly dawned on him. Then his expression of shock transformed into that of great ire. He stared at the doctor with a vile expression. How dare he? How could he taunt him with this news? Who the hell was the doctor to come here out of the blue to dig out what he had been trying so hard to keep buried? What reason could the doctor have to tear open an old wound?

“Are you the new enemy I must fight, Doctor Rukewe?” Peter finally said, his words came out slowly, and the timbre of his voice was of grave bleakness.

The doctor frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Did anyone send you here to torment me? Who sent you? Was it Basket? How could you be so cruel? Why would you agree to kick a man that was already down?”

“I honestly do not understand what you are talking about,” the doctor replied nervously, “I thought you deserved to know the truth. I’m sorry it took me so long to inform you. I thought you had the right to know that your wife is still alive.”

Again, those words! Your wife is alive! Those were probably the only words in the world that would jeer Peter Black. That statement was like a desecration to the memory of his wife. It was like he was being tormented by those words. Basket must have thought that those were the words that would get to him. As far as Peter was concerned, Maria was a saint whose memory should not be made mockery of in this way.

The doctor studied Peter’s expression and realised that the young man didn’t believe him. He realised that Peter thought he was mocking him.

“Oh, you think I’m lying? I swear to you with everything I hold dear, Mr Peter Black, your wife did not die! She is alive!”

Peter took a step forward. He cocked his head to one side and stared into the doctor’s eyes, trying to detect a sign of falsehood, but the elderly man’s expression seemed genuine.

“Maria is dead, doctor,” Peter said sadly; he did not want to raise his hopes yet. “You told me yourself in the hospital that day. Have you forgotten what you said? ‘I’m sorry, young men, she’s gone’. Those were your words, doctor. That’s what you told Basket and I that day. How could you now say that she’s alive?”

“There’s a lot of things you did not know,” the doctor replied, “Can we speak inside?”

Peter thought about this request. Was this something he wanted his son to know about now? No. What if what the doctor was saying was a lie? He would not want to raise his son’s hope when he was not entirely sure about what he was hearing himself. His son was going through an unfamiliar change already; Junior grew up knowing Rhoda as his mother, and he was still trying to process the fact that his real mother was dead. Hell, the boy was still finding it hard to accept Peter as his father. It would not be right to inform him now that the mother he had just been told died when he was born was actually alive. Even though the boy was smart, such was too much information for a child like him.

And so Peter Black shook his head and said, “Not yet.” He folded his arms across his chest and asked, “Are you saying that you lied to me ten years ago?”

The doctor looked guilty. “Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I lied to keep her safe from Officer John Balewa. I knew that if the officer found out that she lived he would make sure she ended back in prison, and I didn’t want that. As much as it hurt me to lie to you, that was the only thing I could do to keep OJB off her trail at the time. For the past ten years, I tried everything I could to get the information across to you but I could not. Besides Maria, only I and my most trusted nurse knew that she was alive, and I made her swear to secrecy. No other person knew. I decided that you will hear the news about Maria from only me alone. But for some strange reason, I could not get in touch with you enough to share the news with you. You were kept in a maximum security prison. The only person who was allowed to visit you was Officer John Balewa himself. I couldn’t risk passing the message across for fear of the secret coming out, especially to the ears of OJB. I lost the chance to tell you at Maria’s funeral. I came here as soon as I heard the news about your release from the radio.”

“Oh my goodness!” Peter whispered with passion, “My Maria is really alive?”

Doctor Rukewe nodded. “Yes, she’s alive.”

Tears rolled down Peter’s face. Once again, he was finding it hard to believe. This was a dream come true for him. The only place he had always been seeing Maria was in his dreams. He never imagined that he would have a chance to see her again, to talk to her, to touch her. The love of his life, his Maria, his soulmate, the queen of his heart – was alive.

“Oh, my Maria,” more tears rushed to his eyes.

“I’m sorry I kept the truth from you for so long. I tried my best to reach you.”

He wiped the tears with the back of his hands. “So where is she now? Please tell me where she is. I will go to her right now. Tell me where my Maria is.”

The doctor’s expression became gloomier. “I’m afraid I don’t know.”

“What!”

“I don’t know where she is.”

Again, Peter stared at the doctor in awe; this time the surprise was mixed with a heavy dose of sheer disappointment. He felt like he had just been hit on the chest with a sledge hammer. He was at the precipice of losing his mind. How could he have received such good news and have the hope grabbed from her a moment later?

“Are you messing with me, doctor?”

“I have no intention of causing you such grieve; but I’m afraid I don’t know her whereabouts. After treating her back to health, I lodged her in a hotel because she could not remain in the hospital for long. She was supposed to stay in the hotel for a month while I process her travelling documents. The plan was to get her out of the country, to London precisely. That was the agreement we both had. She was supposed to leave for London and return to this country after ten or twenty years when no one would recognise her anymore. But just two weeks after staying in the hotel, she informed me that she was no longer interested in leaving the country. She told me she was going to lay low somewhere else. I tried to persuade her and let her know how dangerous it would be for her to remain in this country, but her mind was made up. She said this was her father’s land, and she was not going to run out of it because of Officer John Balewa – she claimed that she was not a coward. Another reason was that she did not want to be so far away from you. It seemed like she believed you were going to break out of jail and both of you would be together again.”

“Where did she tell you she was going?”

The doctor shrugged his shoulders. “She wouldn’t tell me. She said the less I knew the better it would be for me. In her way, she was trying to protect me. She refused to tell me where she was going. I begged her to tell me but she didn’t. Since she left, I have not heard anything about her. She did not even bother to call me.”

“So what you are telling me now is that no one knows where my Maria is?”

Rukewe nodded. “No one does. I believe that you are the only person who can find her.”

Abosede512:
This is much LarrySun, always on point, thanks for the update, I enjoyed reading your work
Bug kudos to you my brother and have a pleasant week