Jude and Ken discussed at length that night before Jude left for his house. After he was gone Ken saw that Charles had reached out to him severally through his mobile phone but he missed all his calls. He quickly dialed the number of Charles and immediately saw a text he sent to him.
"We are going to meet soon" said the text and Ken smiled for he knew why Charles was calling.
When Jude returned home that night he stood over the door and kept staring at Shanty as she slept on the bed. He could see how peaceful she was and he felt it would be a taboo for he or someone else to disturb such sleeping beauty. She was a prostitute but then she has repented of her prostitution and into something worse; drug traffiking. He sat on the edge of the bed and kept glaring at her.
Same night Charles had retired to his place and when he entered and just like every other time when he had to enter his sitting room from work he looked at the portrait hanging on the wall and he reached it and took it down. He stared at it for a while and shook his head, the persons in the portrait were him and his father while he was still alive. He did not know why he so much cherished the picture knowing fully well of what his father made him pass through in his house. He stared at the picture steadily and for a while he kept wondering why he would cherish a man like that, a man that introduced him to a life of crime. He dropped the portrait and then heaved a sigh of relief. Before he entered the room he decided to sit on one of his expensive seats for a while and as he sank in it he thought back.
******
"If you are going to follow me to where I go everyday then you have to stop listening to your mother and to your younger brother; you are young and smart, do not waste your smartness" John had said to Charles, Charles a ten year old lad who returned from room and discovered there was no food for him in the house. He stared at his father who had said this to him and asked, "You are planning to travel to another village Papa?" the old man nodded and continued with the stick of sugarcane in his hand, munching it hungrily. "Will you take me with you then?" The father looked at him and threw some of the crumbs of the sugercane at him and shouted, "Are you this dumb? Yes is the answer. Wait, you would want to go there with me? Hunger will kill you if you are to follow me and so here is a solution to this; stay back and continue to suckle at your mother's tits" He said and Charles stood there glaring at his father hatefully. The old man noticed his gaze and asked, "What?"
"You hate mother don't you?" he asked the old man.
"Yes, I hate her" the old man admitted.
"I hate her too" said Charles and this drew the attention of his father as he stared at him, wondering why he would say that. "Well that makes the two of us. You have to come with me then"
This was how Charles went with his father and lived for two years in a remote village, far from home where both of them lived a life of crime until the father died. On one of their activities the father stared at him and said, "Even now you are becoming too good and I'm scared. Are you sure you are not going to be a problem to this society?"
"Father, you were a problem to this society before I will ever become one" said Charles but the father did not find that funny as he slapped the back of his head but gently.
As Charles sat down inside his room recalling these things he shook his head and slept off a moment later.
Veronica could not speak with Anita for quite some times and when next they spoke to each other Anita reminded her that the boss was still waiting for her response. She looked up from where she was seated and said, "You are unfeeling and you know it right?"
"How?" Anita spread hands in confusion.
"Stop faking innocence for you know of what I speak of; you should know that right now I need all the time I can get to be able to make the right decision yet you keep subjecting me to a life of more confusion" When she said this Anita smiled and continued to eat. Veronica stared at her for a while before she asked, "What else do you want for yourself?" Anita wasn't sure if she understood what she meant as she asked, "What do you mean by that anyways?"
"I meant who is the one that beats in your chest or you do not have love for anyone?" Veronica asked and Anita smiled and it seemed she was not going to answer that question for she already started eating. At this point Veronica said, "You know why I'm confused and untrusting of the organization and all those in it?" Anita shook her head, waiting to hear why. "It's because it is clear that truth is far from the family. Everyone is acting strange all of a sudden. If I'm needed to be a family in the organization, don't I deserve to know what is going on and with everyone?" Veronica was frustrated and Anita could see that.
"Veronica" she called but Veronica had continued unperturbed, "I mean how sure am I that you are not here representing your boss and that what I say here won't leave this room, tell me, how sure am I that you won't relay to him everything we are discussing here...Oh how sure am I that there is no camera here seeing and recording everything that we are discussing, how am I sure that you are my friend, the Anita I met when I came to this city, Oh it should be obvious to me that the reason we became friends in the first place is because you had this in mind; to introduce me to a man that is very dangerous" Veronica sounded so frustrated and at that moment Anita held her hand and said, "My dear do not blame anyone for this misinformation. We are who we are but alas we have our individual lives as well and it is normal for us to try to hold the interest of our family very firm. We must not allow anyone to be the reason why we are having issues amongst ourselves. You are my best friend and I love you and would fight for you if need be. You should stop suspecting that everything about me is a lie. I made you to see and become part of what I'm part of because I really care about you" When she said this Veronica stared at him for a while and even though she felt might be telling the truth she didn't want to prove she had accepted her resolve instead she stood up from the table and went to her room. Anita sighed heavily after she left for she knew it would time a long time for Veronica to trust her again.
******
"She doesn't talk anymore to me and even when she does she does with difficulty because apparently she believes I am the one that ruined her life. I really believe that it is a matter of time before everything will become so easy between us again yet I think you need to step in and address things the they should be. If she goes on like this there is possibility she will try to go against us" Anita was saying this to Charles. Charles was staring at her as she was saying this and when she was done he sighed and said, "You should be more concerned with the way things are now in the company. You are the one who is getting disturbed for nothing sake. I have told us to let me handle things that concern Veronica but you keep thinking there is a way you can make her to do what she doesn't want to do without my help. I am for her and she is for me. Let me handle things the way they are supposed to be" Charles advised and Anita saluted him before she left the office. Immediately she left the office Ken knocked and entered. He sat before Charles and thanked him for his new position.
"It's nothing Ken" he paused, "You deserve it" Charles added before he said, "Come on Ken, let's go and eat" They stepped out and just then Jude was coming in to the company and he was going to meet with Charles but when he saw that Charles and Ken were stepping out he stopped by the door with two of his men standing side by side with him and watched the two enter the car belonging to Charles and zoom off. When they were gone Jude asked one of his men, although he wasn't expecting an answer, "Where are they heading to without Charles's bodyguards?" There was no response.
Charles and Ken arrived a restaurant and sat down. The waitress approached them and they ordered. When the waitress left Charles saw from the table a lady holding a little boy's arm and heading to a table. She was going to occupy the seat there so to order food. He recognised her to be someone he had met in the past. He stood up and Ken watched him as he walked up to the lady and asked if he could sit but the lady looked up and recognising who he was got shocked. "May I seat?" Charles repeated himself Incase she didn't hear the first time. The woman did not say a word. Charles then sat and asked, "Is that your son?" she nodded. "That's great, you married?" she nodded. "That's also great. It's good to see you again after few years of absence. I hope you are doing well in your husband's house?"
"Yes, I am by God's grace" she answered while avoiding his gaze. Just then the husband to the woman approached and stood there before them glaring at Charles and wondering who he was and why he already was seated with his wife. "Man who are you please?" the man asked Charles. Charles looked up at him and looked at the woman.
"This your husband?" Charles asked but before the woman could answer the man had angrily said, "Ofcouse and yes as you can see" Charles stared at the man again and saw he was fat, realising it for the first time. He stood up and spoke to the man; "You should be comfortable when you see men like me talking to wives like yours. She was once a prostitute. If you knew better you should not be angry with men who still think she is single and would want to have her again on their beds" Charles said and this angered the man. The man stared at his wife accusingly and then returned his look on Charles. Charles walked out of them and headed back to his table where he rejoined Ken.
"What was that Sir?" asked Ken.
"It's a minor thing" said Charles. Just then Ken looked up and saw that the man was approaching and he had two other men with him. He could also see that his wife was trying to stop him but he was not paying attention to her. Ken signaled Charles and Charles looked back and saw that the man was approaching with two other men while his wife followed hastily, dragging their son along and warningly asking her husband not to start a fight.