She was a nucleus of light

Digital Document

"This must be Havin," Ali muttered in the middle of the night while examining the recording Narin had given him. In the courtyard of Abdil's house, which Cemal had set on fire, weapon crates were being loaded onto donkeys, and one of the brown packages on the table was being inspected by Otçu. After finishing his inspection, Otçu turned to Abdil, who was talking to Havin, and gave a thumbs-up. Abdil extended his hand to shake Havin's, but Havin ignored him.

"Damn, they traded heroin for weapons!" Ali murmured. This document alone was enough to destroy Abdil. He continued watching. After a brief pause, new footage appeared. The camera first showed acres of cannabis fields. It was shot from a high vantage point. Then, a blue pickup truck, leaving a trail of dust behind it, appeared on the narrow dirt road between the two fields, approached, and stopped in front of a ramshackle hut about ten meters from the road. Abdil Agha and Otçu got out of the truck and waited. The camera began to show the field on the slope of a small hill and the narrow path winding up beside it. Soon, a team armed with guns descended from above, taking positions on both sides of the path, checking the surroundings. A man wearing a ski mask approached Abdil and Otçu. Ali felt like he was choking. "The guy with the ski mask is definitely the bastard who killed Narin's brother," he muttered.

Abdil and the man in the ski mask shook hands. Their conversation was faint but audible: "Everything is ready, but you've raised the cut too much, man. At this rate, I'll quit this business," Abdil was complaining. "Everything female fetches a good price, Abdil, even female cannabis... I know you understand females well. Don't whine! I heard you sold the last shipment at a hundred percent markup. So, if you raise the price by a hundred percent, we'll raise it too, but look, we're not as ruthless as you, we only increased it by twenty-five percent. That's fair, right?"

"If it were only you."

"I get it, you're talking about the organization... Those scumbags behind the rocks over there, the idiot's binoculars are reflecting light, and he doesn't even know it. A few idiots are in the field, trampling your cannabis. Abdil, why do you let them in? By the way, how much do you pay them?"

"Less than I pay you."

"Good for you. I'm not one of them! You're smart, protecting your investment on both sides and making a profit."

Ali, upon closer inspection, realized that Otçu was recording everything with a hidden camera in his watch. Narin had said that this scumbag worked for both the organization and him, reporting Abdil's relations with the state to the organization. But where was the camera filming Otçu from? Judging by the angle, it must have been filmed from the field, from within the cannabis field. If so, the organization had evidence that could force Abdil, the deputy, to do whatever they wanted. Ali also had evidence that could unmask both Abdil and the man with the ski mask.

For Ali, night was when things that couldn't be understood or seen in the daylight and chaos became visible and understandable, just like stars appearing at night. He would think clearly, find the right approaches and solutions to problems. He needed to be as ruthless and heartless as possible against these scumbags, devise the most merciless plan, and avenge Narin skillfully without harming himself. Lights were constantly flashing in his head. Just when he thought he had found the perfect plan, a little more thought would reveal a flaw or a missing piece, causing him to discard it. He tried to be calmer and not rush. A cup of coffee might help him think, so he went to the kitchen.

Narin would devise a perfect and as cruel, painful, and destructive plan as possible to punish those who wronged her, but this was declaring war on the powerful, so he needed to ensure they could come out of this war unscathed. In every plan he came up with, there was always the risk of failure. The fear of losing, or rather the fear of not being able to fulfill his promise to Narin and avenge her, had coiled around his heart like a giant black snake. The devil frequently whispered in his ear, "Give up, the ones you're up against are too powerful and ruthless, you can't handle them, they'll destroy you." But no, giving up didn't suit him.

He had read somewhere that criminal law has a principle: "There is no perfect crime or punishment." This principle could also be interpreted as "There is no perfect plan or program." The best thing to do was to stop thinking and go to bed, make a plan with a rested body and mind...