Chapter Eleven

They were at their hideout; the basement of a popular club in the city of Lagos, owned by Chief Alade Wellington, bought in the name of his late wife, and presently managed by Drago. It was a small room which the frequent visitors of the club didn't know existed. It was always locked, and the inscription, 'Staff Only", was placed on it, to ensure that even if anyone mistakenly wandered into the private area in which it was located, the person would still not gain access to it. The room was simply cemented and painted in deep blue and black colours, and there were no paintings or artworks on the wall. However, there was a couch, two small side stools, and a bar, with a long bench. Apart from those, the basement was practically empty, and even if anyone was to gain access to it in the future, they would have not the slightest idea on what truly went on in that room. Tade sat on the couch, looking really bored, wondering why his presence was actually needed, when he actually never really partook in any of the evil deeds they perpetuated. Whether he was with them or not, what needed to be done was going to be done, but his father still thought that he needed to be well groomed in the business. Creating generational wealth wasn't easy, and if people thought that his father had made all his money from selling CDs before starting Welling Fam Heights as he claimed, they were totally wrong. There was an old man with grey beards and a wrinkle-filled face, who had been forced to kneel, with his hands and feet tied tightly with chains, that made his ankles and wrists bleed. He looked really weak, and smelled of sweat, with his eyes red from the tears that had gotten tired of falling. There were three thugs in the hideout; one of which was Drago, who was standing in front of the man, with a pipe in his hand, puffing out smoke, which made the man who seemed to be approaching the age of seventy, choke uncontrollably. The remaining two thugs, who were nicknamed Bridge and Hammer respectively, brandished their guns, and while Bridge was positioned at the door, Hammer stood at the back of the couch, which Tade was sitting on. 'Where the hell is your stupid son?" Drago yelled at the man for the umpteenth time that evening. The man coughed out loud, and shook his head as a response, tired of saying he had no idea where his son was over and over again. Drago kicked him in the stomach, and he fell to the floor, on his side. 'I'm tired of all your nonsense. How can a father not know where his son is? Are you sure you didn't bring in the wrong person?" Drago fired at Bridge. 'Check the photograph, boss. We brought in the right man," He responded. 'Are you trying to say I have a bad memory?" Drago yelled. 'Keep your frustration to yourself, and stop transferring your anger to other people who don't even have a hand in your predicament," Tade chipped in, clicking his teeth. Drago eyed him menacingly. 'If not..." 'If not that I was Chief's son, you'd have gotten rid of me a long time ago," He said, helping him complete his everyday statement, which he was tired of hearing. To his surprise, Drago looked impressed. 'You're getting to know me better, shows just how much you look up to me," He said. Tade scoffed. 'You wish." 'The most annoying part of this issue is that this man is old, and his kidney is not in the least useful to anyone, so, what are we to do since we can't find his son?" Drago asked. 'Are you asking me?" Tade asked, with a deep frown. 'Of course. Aren't you going to be my boss someday?" He retorted. He shrugged. 'Who knows? There's a high chance that you'll die before my father, so we can't really be so sure," He said. Drago clenched his fists, looking like he wanted to punch Tade in the face, and slit his throat with the pocket knife he always carried about. 'I'm hungry," The old man suddenly said in a coarse voice, still lying on his side. 'Release him," Tade ordered. 'And lose our money? You want your father to skin us alive?" He asked. Tade then motioned for him to come over to his side, where they began to converse in hushed tones. 'One look at that man will tell you that he's greatly famished and fatigued. If he dies, there'll be no way for you to trace where his son is. How then are you going to recover Chief's money? You'll only cause trouble for yourself," Tade whispered. 'But if we release him, wouldn't it be the same thing?" He asked, also in a whisper. Tade's face gave way to a smirk. 'Of course not. He's an old man, and definitely knows where his son and family is. He knows we're not good people, and a parent will never disclose their child's whereabouts when he knows that it'll only cause their child harm." 'You have a point, but..." 'Did you read the background information Ali had brought concerning his son?" 'No," Drago replied. 'Well, he had good grades all through his school days to impress his father who was just a roadside carpenter, but struggled to send him, his only child, to the best schools in the country. When he graduated and got a good job, he stopped his father from working, got him a car, and paid for his rent in a comfortable apartment, before he even did anything for himself. Do you know why he borrowed money?" Tade asked. Drago shook his head, declaring a negative response. 'Well, the company he was working with crashed, and left him penniless. He was involved in menial jobs, then had to borrow money to treat his father when he was terribly sick and needed surgery, to the extent that he signed away the right to his own kidney. Now, my question is: Do you think such a loving and caring son won't inform his father of his whereabouts? Also, do you think a father who has such a good child would expose him to evil? He's an old man, and has nothing to lose even if he dies, but he'll never be the reason his only child died," Tade concluded. Drago let out a deep sigh, and nodded his head, agreeing with him. 'As always, you're right. But, what do you suggest we do?" He asked. 'Here's what you'll do: Let the man go, and have two of our boys tail him. He'll surely contact his son, and that's when we'll strike," Tade said. 'You're truly Chief's son," Drago acknowledged, and turned around to give orders for the man's release. Tade didn't know whether that statement was a compliment or not. He didn't like the things his father did, but he knew deep down that he could do worse if he wanted to. He just didn't want to do them, but still, he was already in too deep to just leave. Tade checked his wristwatch, and remembering he had told Bukunmi to wait for him, asked Drago if he could take his leave already. 'I believe my work here is done, I beg to take my leave," He said, rising to his feet. 'Why? You use work as an excuse all the time. You have no work today, so, what's the problem?" He asked, giving him a suspicious look. Tade rolled his eyes. 'So, apart from work, don't I have a life?" He fired at him. Drago gave a wide grin, exposing his brown set of teeth, covered in gold teeth grills. 'Don't you have a sex life?, you mean," He said. 'Do not!" Tade expressed in a firm voice, giving him a vicious look, with his index finger pointing at him. Drago cackled and tightly gripped Tade's finger, and brought it down. 'Stop disrespecting me, will you?" He ordered, loud and clear, on the verge of anger. Tade snickered, then began clapping his hands sarcastically. 'You've grown wings, isn't it?" 'What are you going to do about it? Cry to Papa?" He taunted, and his fellow thugs laughed boisterously, apparently enjoying what was going on. 'Should I?" Tade asked in a rhetorical manner, and placed his thumb and forefinger on his chin, pretending to be in thoughts. 'Your father will believe only me anyway, you know," He said. He scoffed. 'Blood is thicker than water, you seem to forget. Anyway, I don't have time to play games with you. Unlike you, I have a company to run," He said, and began to walk out. 'Tade!" Drago called. Tade pretended not to have heard him, and continued walking out. 'Thanks for today, your father would be proud," He said. He didn't respond, and just walked away, wanting more than ever now to just see Bukunmi, who reminded him of her father, and was the only one who had told him he wasn't a bad man like his father was, and he needed that assurance, because he was becoming more like him than he wanted. She had sat in one of the customers' chairs for over an hour, and constantly, she looked up to see if anyone was approaching; Tade, to be precise. If he had known he was going to spend a long time there, why had he told her to wait for him? But then again, he may have not planned to keep her waiting. He was probably stuck in Traffic, or worst still; perhaps, something bad had happened to him. She shook off that negative thought immediately. If anything bad were to happen to him, it was going to affect her. Without him, she could have no job. Who was she going to be a personal assistant for? There was a very high possibility of the management laying her off as they were already overstaffed. 'Stop overthinking things, nothing's wrong with him. He's just stuck in a traffic," She spoke to herself calmly, in a bid to relax. She flexed her knuckles, and tried her best to remain cool and collected. She would've given him a call, but had not come along with her phone. Come to think of it, what if he had forgotten all about her? She sighed, weighing that possibility. She then looked at the wall clock which showed it was 6:25pm already. Within herself, she then made a resolve to leave on her own if it got to 7:00pm, and he still wasn't back. She had some money on her, her last one thousand naira which she didn't know how it was going to last her all through the next week in the first place, and now, the situation was worse as she was going to be stranded after spending it on her transport fare back home. Once she had gotten home, she was going to give Tade a call. He had given her his personal line, and she sincerely hoped he was all right. If it turned out that nothing had been wrong with him and he had just kept her waiting and worried for no reason, she was going to strangle him with her bare hands, and gladly go to prison for it. It was already ten minutes to 7pm, and she knew deep down that he wasn't going to turn up. Many people had come and gone, and the staff of the boutique kept asking if she was leaving soon, politely asking her to leave as they were obviously tired of seeing her around. How was her presence even affecting them? After spending thousands of naira in their boutique, they should have prostrated before her, expressing their gratitude and should have even gone as far as offering her food and a can of chilled soft drink, instead of throwing fake smiles in her direction, and using sly ways to make her leave...but then again, it was a big boutique, and she was sure they got customers who bought a lot more than she had on a daily basis, so if those set of people didn't bother them with their presence, just who was she to do that? Practically speaking, she knew she had no right to linger around there for so long, but she didn't have a choice, did she? The person she had come along with had specifically asked her to wait for him, and as someone who understood the English language very well, she had done just as he had said, so, what wrong had she committed? Letting out a deep sigh, she picked up her shopping bags that she had placed neatly on the marbled floor to lean on the chair she was sitting on, and was about to stand up, zeroing any thoughts of Tade showing up again, when she heard the sounds of someone's footsteps rushing towards her. She looked up impulsively, and let out a gasp of surprise, as her eyes met with Tade's own. It looked like he had been running as he panted heavily on getting to where she was still seated, with her hands still holding the shopping bags loosely. 'I'm sorry, I was stuck in a traffic. Have you been waiting for a long time?" He asked, still breathing heavily. She nodded. 'I'm truly sorry about that, I didn't intend for you to wait this long," He apologised. She shot him a small smile, and gave a nod. 'It's fine. It's not your fault, I totally understand," She said, in a calm voice. 'Why didn't you even give me a call? I tried calling you, but you weren't answering. I thought you had gotten upset and left," He said, collecting the bags from her, motioning for her to get up. She had released the bags to him, and stood up, then they proceeded to leave. 'I didn't come along with my phone. If I had, I'd have given you a call to let you know I was leaving instead of just going away like that, especially since I am even with your credit card. Besides, I was worried about you, and I couldn't just go without knowing you were fine," She said. He blushed, as soon as she had completed her last sentence, and she pinched her arm for saying she had been worried about him, feeling regretful that she had spiced up his ego. Clearing her throat with the intention to get payback, she suddenly asked immediately they stepped outside. 'You said you thought I had gotten upset and left," She noted. 'Mmh." 'If you had thought so, why then did you bother coming back?" She asked. He shrugged. 'Because...what if you hadn't?" He replied. 'True. That means you were worried about me, isn't it?" She asked, determined to get the answer she so desperately wanted to hear. He stopped walking, and turned around abruptly, almost sending her off balance, since she was walking closely behind him. 'No, I wasn't worried about you," He said, looking her in the eyes. 'Then...then...why...why did you...come back?.." She stuttered, trembling at the intimidating gaze of his eyes. 'Why are you hammering on this topic? What matters is that I'm here now, simple!" He said. Bukunmi pouted, giving him the puppy eyes stare. He clenched his fists, highly infuriated, and unable to ignore her, stamped his feet on the ground. 'You're quite persistent, aren't you?" He asked, eyeing her angrily. She threw a sly smile in his direction. 'I guess I am," She responded. 'Well, if you insist, I came for my credit card. Happy now?" He asked, manoeuvring all four of the shopping bags into his left hand, and extending his right hand in demand. Disappointed, she made a gesture inquiring what it was that he was demanding for, too ashamed to speak. 'You have the brains of a Chihuahua. Hand over to me my credit card, dummy," He said, irritation evident in his voice. 'Oh!" She said, and looking really upset, brought out the card from her pocket, and gave it to him, looking down at the ground. He collected it from her, and casting one look at her, knew he couldn't just end the issue there, and make her feel stupid. 'I was actually worried about you," He said. She looked up, her face lit up in bundles of joy and excitement. 'I knew it!" She exclaimed. 'Well, if you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it, and not only that..." 'You'll also fire me," She completed, grinning from ear to ear. 'Good thing you're aware of that," He said, with a grim face, and walked to his car. She smiled as she saw him walk really fast, probably feeling as embarrassed as she had felt when she had admitted to being worried about him. He hadn't forgotten about her, he had remembered, and had come back for her, all because he was worried, and cared for her, despite the fact that she had gossiped about him, and has been quite a bitch to him that day, and even with the knowledge that she had possibly gone home already. From the looks of things, maybe she had misjudged him. He didn't seem like an annoying piece of shit anymore, she had probably just been blinded by anger. 'You're not coming?" She heard him yell as he got into his car, while she had been lost in thoughts. Tade Wellington... Who was he really? She thought, as she ran to his car before he left her behind, stranded. She had no idea on how to describe him yet, but someone who had saved her life once again, by not letting her spend her last dime that day could not be a bad person... but we never know, do we? 'We never know," The voice in her head responded. Someday, we'll find out who he truly is, she assured the voice.