Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

Just Go with it

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FUOYO]

"The money..."

"Yes the money are you retarded..."

"the money...." I stammered, I couldn't believe Jackson and Offwhite had hired a killer. This guy was a killer, there was nothing anybody was going to tell me.

"errm the money is ready," He wasn't smiling so I had to think as fast as I could but my head was aching so bad and felt so heavy I couldn't string a coherent thought together.

"Good, you're going to take me to it."

I held my head wondering why it felt like prime Mike Tyson had caught me in a 10 second caged fight.

"Where is the money?" He demanded again, approaching where I sat and rolling his shoulder blades like he was getting ready to swing a wide punch.

I scrambled to my feet immediately, hating myself for cowering like a kitten faced with a blood thirsty pitbull.
"The money is safe, very safe It's available, somewhere safe"

He paused his approach, observing me thoughtfully and I attempted to pull myself together.

"Where?"

"I'm suppose to collect it today from a friend, Jackson and I had a 2 week deal, this is still the last day. Once I have the complete money, I'll bring the cash before night fall." If I had to talk to save my life then God help me, I was going to talk.

The thug looked at me, trying to decide if he should believe me or not. "Good then we'll go together. If you play any funny games you're going to seriously regret it."

It didn't sound like a threat, he said it in an offhanded manner like he was stating a well known fact. "Now for the last time, where exactly is the money?" He took another step that said if he had to ask again, his fists would do the talking.

"It's with my friend Shaq.." I was gasping at straws here, saying anything that would give me a break from this onslaught.

"I didn't ask who it's with, I said where?!" He grabbed me by my shirt collar pushing me so I stumbled over the armchair and landed on my back with a loud thud and then he knelt over me, pressing his knee into my chest till I cried out

"it's on the island on the island, in Ikoyi...." God helped me, I almost rattled out Shaq's address but I managed to stop myself at the last minute. "My friend is lodged in a hotel, I'm supposed to meet him there tonight"

"What's the name of the hotel?" He barked

During my first 4 months living with Shaq, he had taken me along to a fancy hotel for a friend's party. Half a dozen adjoining suites had been booked and set up specifically for the party and it had lasted all through Friday and Saturday. The whole weekend had been a blurry haze of alcohol, drugs and sex with strippers and for someone like me who had been green around the ears, it had been such an unbelievable experience that I never forgot the name of the hotel, the venue responsible for one of the craziest nights of my life! It popped into my head now and I rattled out the name.
"Bohemian Grove at Ikoyi"

"Well we better get moving," He released my collar and stood up. He stared down at me for a second as if considering offering a hand to help me up. Then he crossed over me, knudging my sides with his ankles. "Get your car keys, I have some of your things I'm taking with me"

I glanced at the two full sacks under the dinning table, I could see my wall clock sticking out of one. I was also getting robbed by this Brute, great!

My initial shock aside, I was gradually regaining my composure and I felt this cocky bastard had underestimated me a little. True, because of the illegal nature of our business he knew I couldn't go to the police or draw any attention to us so all he saw was a frightened and hopeless young man at his mercy. I didn't know how to do it but I knew I had to find a way to lose him. My survival instincts had already kicked in and I began considering my next move and thinking how I was going to beat him without instigating a physical face-off.  If it came to a fight I would likely get pummeled unconscious. The surest way to lose him would be if I got the chance to drive off and leave him by the road. I'll have to be quick and watchful for the right opportunity.

I had a quick shower breathing through my mouth cause the mad man must have used my toilet earlier and left a terrible stink behind.

He then made me carry the two sacks of my furniture to my car booth, telling me most of the items would look better in his home, anyway.

What a bastard!

I found myself hating him so much but I went along with all he asked, feeling hopeful that I would get a chance to abandon him, especially when it seemed he was having some stomach discomfort.

By 1pm I was out of delay tactics and we were finally ready to move, we got to the car and he shattered my only hope when he asked for the car keys. "I'm driving" he declared

"Aah..." I failed to keep the panic out of my voice, "we may run into police or road safety, I have my license and papers complete, it would be better if-"

"ogbeni go open gate, them never born the police or road safety wey go stop Kanaku"

"Kanaku...is that your name?"

He grabbed the keys from my hands in reply and pointed at the gate.

I was so frustrated and after joining him in the car I tried again. "But you don't know the place.."

"let's get to Ikoyi first. If you try anything funny I'll bash your skull" he hissed

Bastard! I screamed in my mind

"First we'll stop at the atm and check how much is in your account, I heard you have 4000 dollars down?"

I got angrier when he flashed me my atm card from his breast pocket.

I had 70 thousand naira left in my account. The $4000 was now $3700 and thankfully was in cryptocurrency, stored safely in the digital world which this clown obviously knew nothing about. Still I had to admit there was something a bit interesting about him. He looked like a good for nothing uneducated thug, heck he was definitely a good for nothing thug but there was a kind of calculating intelligence about him. He was physically strong and apparently mentally sound too, The way he had gotten past my burglary and into my house easily with just a car jack had surprised and impressed me. He also didn't speak anything like the regular tout. He had good command of the English language and he only switched to pidgin when he got angry and threatened to burst my head open.

"I don't have that money again, the complete $16000 is with my friend in the hotel, he just collected the dollars cash from his mallam this morning"

"16 or 23k?" He frowned

"16, I removed my 30 percent"

He scoffed. "I'm told you owe atleast 20k don't joke with me boy or you'll regret it" 

I would have laughed if I wasn't trying so hard to think of a way out the mess. I didn't even have half of that amount anywhere. And the truth was even if I had the money I was no longer inspired to release one cent to the bastards. Not anymore. They feel they could send this...…..Kanaku fellow after my head just like that? A sharp Lagos boy like me?

By the time we drove off I was determined to outsmart them all.

There was heavy traffic as common with a normal weekday in Lagos. Kanaku knew all the roads within the Lagos mainland, he ignored most of my directions, taking a quicker route to the nearest Zenith Bank where we emptied every last cent in my account. However once we approached the 3rd mainland bride it became clear that he wasn't as familiar with the Island and we spent hours on the road as I conveniently forgot the directions to the Hotel.

His stomach often growled and I expected him to stop the car and run off into the bush or the nearest fast food to use their toilet but apart from the terrible scowl on his face and a couple more terrible gas which reminded me of a bus ride once upon a time, Kanaku remained in control of his bowels. Only grinding his teeth as we sat in the complete stand still traffic of Lagos rush hour.

"We're almost there, remain small" was my automatic reply to his surprisingly few threats.