Securing The Bag (The Lagos Hustle)

Friends of circumstance

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KANAKU

I had dozens of missed calls from Barakat and Jackson. When the calls got too much, I put my phone on silent, till I got sick of the unending vibrations then I switched off my phone and focused solely on driving. Jackson could go hang himself, I wasn't interested in our business again, look where it had gotten me? Even though I didn't get to make the big score I dreamt of,  I had over 100k naira from Fuoyo not to talk of the furniture I had relieved him off. That, in particular would make Barakat very happy. I had also taken a total of 400 euros in 5o's from Mr. D. It was such a terrible way to die and I was sorry for him but there was no use feeling guilty over taking the money. He couldn't spend it anymore, he was dead. It was terrible but true. I was still alive with a very pregnant woman back home, I needed the money more than the detectives or morgue attendant who would have discovered it. But as I drove through the airport road down to Egbeda and finally linked through Ikeja, I thought of the 2 hours we'd spent with him in the room and his infectious passion when he spoke about the treasure. I thought about the little I had learned, I had been a little skeptical at first, I still was but the violent crime made me have a rethink about everything.

How could grown men kill each other over tales and unconfirmed myths? Still, I remembered the gleam Mr. D had in his eyes when he spoke of the satchel of Ezi whatever, and also the emotion in the killers' voice when they had made plans to find the girlfriend next. Fiction or not, myth or not, the fact was that these people believed in it. That meant this probably wasn't the first nor last time they had killed for the so-called treasure.
Which further meant there could be a treasure after all.

I observed the girl through the rearview mirror, she was fast asleep and she didn't look like the angry fox who had snapped at us earlier in the lobby or in the elevator, instead, she looked really vulnerable and fragile, I felt a strange urge to protect her like the little sister I never had and immediately shook the foreign thought out of my head. Fuoyo was there for her and he was doing a good job comforting her, although I suspected he was just hörny for her.

I watched him through the review too, he wasn't sleeping, he just kept staring out the window with a distant look in his eyes and I guessed he was revisiting the room and reliving the gory details.

"Hey, so have you decided what to do next?" I asked just to bring him out of his head for a while.

He met my eyes, "I have no idea, I've decided I'm going to let her decide"

"decide how?"

"She seemed really attached to the man they killed, so I figure if she wants to get revenge for him I'm going to stick around and help her"

"well you have my best wishes, but you'll have to count me out, I don't believe in going after professional killers."

"no, not that kind of revenge, I mean.....the treasure... what if we beat this person or people..whoever they are and secure the bag for ourselves?" he held my eyes through the rearview. "It's strange cause we only knew the man for like an hour but I have a feeling that's what he would have wanted"

"well you're a really nice guy, how did you end up doing yahoo?" I asked

He sighed tiredly, "I guess life happened"

I waited for him to buttress but instead he asked, "how about you, what next?"

"Look i'd love to help you guys find this so-called treasure but I have a young family to take care of"

"And what of Jackson?"

"if he disturbs me I'll just keep extorting him till he gets the message. If he wants you that bad then he'll have to get you himself"

That drew a chuckle from Fuoyo and I smiled, there was no use lying to myself, somehow all three of us had been bonded by the horrific murder and we had become friends without even knowing.