They say home is where the heart resides, where the roots dig deep and the soul finds comfort. If that's the case, then Harmony City is my home, my heart, my roots, my soul. My bloodline has lived and died in this city's belly, a city as ironic as its name, steeped in crime and chaos, a God-forsaken cesspool of human struggle that has been anything but harmonious for generations.Growing up here wasn't easy, the second of four siblings, I witnessed my mother, a pillar of strength and sorrow, toil day and night as a domestic worker for the city's aristocracy. She worked with the strength of an elephant and was compensated like a mosquito. We were poor, and in those days, you were either living amidst the glitz and glamour of the rich, or you were barely surviving, choked by the dust and grime of poverty. The middle class? A mythical concept, a cruel joke in this city.Harmony City was a chessboard, and we were the pawns. The government had designed the game to keep the rich in a perpetu
They say you show your true color when you're angry. I was furious when I saw Mike in that hospital bed, so angry I wished those 666 boys dead a thousand times.I sat there with tears, running down my cheeks. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and looked back. It was Kazeem dressed in a black tee shirt, black jeans, and a red leather jacket. "Hey, kid, " he said with a smile."I'm okay but Mike isn't, " I responded sternly."Yeah, let me talk to his mama for a minute" he walked up to the woman who was talking with the doctor."Hello, Doctor Frank, " he greeted the doctor like they knew each other."Oh, Mr. Badur, they're with you?""Yes, they are. I'll be paying for the treatments.""I understand, sir, " the doctor answered with fear written all over his face.Kazeem turned to Mike's mom and hugged her. "He's going to be fine, Mama. Stop crying." He then dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out some money that he gave to her."Thank you Mr. Badur, " she wiped her face with the back
"People say you should always be punctual but I disagree. You should know when to be punctual and when not to be, " Kazeem said as he ruffled Kunle's hair with his hand."Stop treating me like I'm a kid, Kaz, " Kunle reacted."Oh but you're my kid brother, aren't you? You need to move your ass or you'll miss the bus..." He spread his arms, turned to Shola and Shade, and they all chorused:"Again!""I'm not going say anything to that and don't you have to get to school too?" He blurted at Shola and Shade."Well, our school is just around the corner, it's not as far as yours is, " Shade replied.Shola kept mouthing the lyrics of a rap song and paid no attention to the conversation. A car zooming halted at the front of the house and they heard the door open. Kazeem picked up his Glock G19 and went to the window. They all moved away from the windows like Kazeem had taught them to do, whenever they hear a random vehicle park in front of the house
"Why do you have Chuks following me around like a puppy and why does he have a samurai sword?" Kunle blurted."The business with the Seavile guys just got a bit serious and everyone is on edge right now. The seavile gang is under The Fakunle family and they're known to mess with people's families, fucking animals!" Kazeem replied.The gangs had a set of codes they follow and one of the most important out of these rules is that you don't touch families during disputes. The gang leaders enforced these rules among their members but some gangs, especially the Fakunle family that led the Seavile street gang didn't care about the rules."So you gave a samurai sword to our mute brother to protect me with?" Kunle protested."Well he has a gun too, he's really good with that sword and he volunteered to be your bodyguard.""I don't need a bodyguard, Kaz!""Oh but you do, you really need to grow up," Kazeem said, walking away from him to the door. He opened
"Five guys got shot downtown, in front of Vibez last night," Mike whispered as he cleaned his shoes."Vibes? The night club?" Kunle asked."How many Vibez do you know, fool?" Mike replied, trying to lower his voice so that his mother wouldn't hear them in the other room."That's Seavile boys territory. I guess Kaz finally got the word to deal with them after all," Kunle mumbled. He gave Mike a stare."Bro you know I'm not gonna be yapping Kaz's business to anybody," Mike quickly reassured him."I know I can trust you, Mike but you know you got a big mouth," he smirked mischievously."Boy, shut your mouth up!" Mike started laughing."What are you boys laughing about?"Mike's mom was already in the room before they noticed. They both stopped talking."Nothing," they both chorused.She stared at them for a moment, shook her head, and walked back to the other room to continued her discussions with her friend."Man,
Going after Tonny was the beginning of a good relationship between Chuks and me. Before then I thought he was always in the way. I mean how could I have understood a guy who couldn't speak, how could I have understood his mind, but after the party at Titi's house, I realized just how loyal and crazy Chuks was. I also realized that in this life, you need a crazy, loyal guy by your side.We went back home to prepare for the party after leaving Sonny's. It was already seven in the evening when we got home and it took another thirty minutes to get ready because Chuks was surprisingly so concerned about his looks.Kazeem came home when we were getting dressed just to get some stuff. He was absent-minded and distracted the whole time."Yo, I got your update on Sonny, he's going to stop being a problem now for his own sake I hope," Kazeem referred to Chuks who just nodded his head."I heard you helped out too, Kunle. That's good. It's about time you start contributi
The events of the party were all over the news but I was so surprised when they called it a terrorist attack on a crucial member of society. They covered up the facts, although we all knew what went down. It was a failed hit on the boss of the biggest gang in the city, but who dared say anything. Chuks would stare at the television for a while and burst into laughter then watch again and laugh some more, pointing at the headline. Kazeem came out of his room with a serious look on his face. He was talking to someone on the phone. The Sarumky family didn't waste any time before responding to the attack on their boss. It was an all-out war, with bodies falling in the streets. The Fakunle's got hit pretty badly. Some days before then, Kamara and Kamal Fakunle got taken out in a drive-by. These were nephews to the family boss and everybody was prepared for them to retaliate. When these big men go to war they bring out the big guns. Automatic weapons fl
She didn't tell me she had a brother, and he wasn't at the party," I thought.Rahma's was the biggest hotel in Taiwo's drive There had always been stories and rumors about the owner and meeting her was a revelation that most of them were true."Hey, Kid," Sanusi's voice broke my line of thought."I didn't thank you and your crazy brother for saving my life, so thanks, I owe you one. Welcome to the family," he patted me on the shoulder as we got into the car.There were three cars, Bammy, Sanusi, Chuks, Kaz and I were in the same car, and the rest of the men were in two other cars. Kazeem seemed lost in his own thoughts, he said nothing to nobody, not even me.The cars pulled up in front of Rahma's and everybody got out. The hotel was massive, one of the biggest even back then."Let's get you boys brought into the family properly! The old guys have all that voodoo, juju shit, but we got our own thing too," Bammy explained as we made our