Chapter 4

⚜ Beautiful Belize with a thud ⚜

I was woken up the next morning by a knock on the door. I wonder who could it be this early. With my robe on I walked close to the door and yelled, "who is it?"

"Morning miss Chloe, it's me Yadhy"

"Morning Yadhy, please come in", I said while opening the door.

"Sorry to wake you up but I got a call from your Chancellor yesterday. He wanted to know if you got here"

"That's kind of her. I am superb"

"Well, I am glad. You need to get ready for today's tour. Where will you like to begin with?" She asked.

"You pick. Give me few minutes and I will be down with you" I muttered. i

    Since the weather was hot, I put on some shorts and a crop top and carried a sling bag with me. Down at the reception, I met Yadhy who insisted I have breakfast as it would be a long day.

"Lady I don't know what to order except burgers and fries. Please highlight me on the foods."

"Hahahaha," came in her laughter then continued speaking. "Order some johnnycakes with milk. I will tell you more about our foods" Yadhy said.

After breakfast, we left for the secret beach. Ironically it's away from the main rows of hotels and bars. The beach was quieter and had some trampolines and something called 'kayak'.

Yadhy suddenly suggested. "You should play volleyball with the ladies over there"

I shook my head. "Maybe some other time"

We spent most of the day exploring different places. On the streets of San Pedro Yadhy bought me some snacks that were very delicious indeed.

"Sweet aah? They are called tamales", She paused then continued, "Let's head for some more adventures"

 In the evening when we got back to the hotel I noticed it was fully packed. I went straight to the restaurant and ordered chin mole and some tacos. Thanks to Lady, I had learned a few dishes which I never regretted by the way. Indeed Belize was beautiful.

While I was enjoying my meal, some guy walked to my table and said "Hello beautiful, all by yourself?" His voice was strident.

"Hi not really, why do you ask?"

He sat next to me. "I am Thomas"

I nodded. "Nice to meet you, Thomas"

I am always felt nervous around strangers so I stayed quiet throughout the time while Thomas talked.

"Does my mouth stink?", Thomas chided and I wondered why he would ask such a question.

I shook my head. "No"

He stood up and pushed his glass aside causing it to fall and break.

"JUST NO???!! ? Then why don't you join the conversation? It's like am talking to myself" Thomas scoffed and I saw few people turn to face us.

I think he had anger issues.

I tried explaining but he interrupted in a lowly voice. "Never mind miss. It's all my fault I thought maybe sitting with someone would help me rid of the sadness I feel but I am cool. Lovely evening." He said and walked away.

Somehow I couldn't stop thinking about what has just happened. I thought everyone around was super nice but I was wrong, not everyone just a few. I was about to leave when I received a call from Almira.

"Sister Sister, how's vacay?"

"So far so good. How's home?"

"Seriously? just good? Don't tell me you are locking yourself indoor to read? hahaha. Everyone is fine over here just missing you."

"I miss you too. Something awkward just happened a few minutes ago"

I told her everything about the weird scenario I had with Thomas.

"I think he's short-tempered. If he wanted someone to talk to he could be nicer", She said.

"I don't know Ally. He looked raged."

"Listen, be careful please. stay away from strangers. Some men don't take no for an answer"

"But I didn't say no. You know how I get around strangers?"

"I know dear. Please be safe. I have to go now, got myself a date will tell you all about it later. Lots of love bye."

It felt good talking to Ally but also sad at the same time. I missed her. I walked back to my room, making myself comfortable on the bed. I could not sleep with the noise around and I went to the balcony to get some air. Then I noticed people cheering at what seemed to be a live band performance at the beach. Both young and old were dancing and looked happy while I was alone and bored in my room. Without thinking I ran outside to join the crowd. The marimba, punta rock and mariachi tunes lightened my mood. At around 1:50 am I decided to call it a night and walked towards the hotel. It was quite a distance front the hotel's beach to my room but I was not scared since I was told before the hotel was safe.

I noticed some young couple making out openly. Some youth were very drunk and had sat on the ground smoking. I approached the alley leading to the rooms and heard someone screaming for help. The screams came from behind the palm trees. At first, I wasn't sure and as I drew closer to check, my doubt's were cleared.

"Help! Help! PLEASE!!"

I crept closer, carefully not to raise any alarm as I hid behind the tree. 

"SHUT UP BITCH OR I WILL KILL HIM RIGHT Now!"

"Please I beg you. Let us go and I will pay you the money. I promise you."

"You hear that Dante? Your bitch is begging for your life. I won't ask again, WHERE THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU HIDE MY Money?"

"I....-...let her go first then I will tell you everything." My hands became clammy and I felt petrified.

"Carlos? What do you think I should do with these two?"

Carlos loosened his collar as he spoke. "Boss, I think you should take the bitch. She can make a handful of dollars. Do as you please with Dante"

 Carlos threw punches on the weak  Dante's face and then spat at him. The boss pulled the lady by her hair and kissed her. She tried pulling away and ended up with a slap on her cheek instead. My heart thumped with fear as my hands reached to my pocket to grab my phone and remembered I had left it on the bed, back in my room. Then I saw the boss pointing a gun at Dante's face. "Any last words?" He bantered.

"Please boss, forgive me, please!"

The woman began screaming and trying to flee herself from the clutches of Carlos but she was pushed to the ground and kicked three times on the stomach. I felt scared for them and also for my life and I was sad since I couldn't do anything at the moment. Even if I attempted to run and call for help, they would be gone by the time I was back. 

The boss spoke harshly. "Dante, Dante. I warned you not to mess with my business, and now, too bad you won't be here to see me fuck your bitch!"

I was more than scared. My stomach twisted. 

"P..-..lea..." He didn't even finish the words when he dropped dead.

I froze for a few seconds, then snapped back to reality and felt nauseous. I had never seen someone get shot before except in the movies.

Was what had just happened real? - I couldn't comprehend.

What do I do? Run? Yes probably run. - I thought and before I could take a step forward, I puked. My whole body was shaking and I was sweating too.

I watched them put the unconscious woman in a car and the dead body in the boot. I absconded from there reaching the alley then darted. "Phew!" I sighed. 

Just a few minutes to the block something hit my head and I fell, clenching the back of my head as I groaned in pain while my vision became blurry. A man lifted me, another picked up a stick which I assumed he had used to hit me. I was shoved close to the curb then pulled into a black van. I tried as much as I could to stay conscious but the pain was too much and slowly I slipped into darkness.