A round of laughter rang in his head while staring into the distance with his phone still in his hand. Seven was not aware of the tears. He remembered the times he spent talking to her — too scared to call her name.
It was not even an actual name. All made up. The name. The person. The emotions.
They talked about practically everything. How she would tell him about her greatest fears. Losing him topped the list. She had many dreams and one of them was to finally meet Seven and reveal to him the things she believed he was not prepared to know.
The idea of withheld information gave Seven a sense of thrill. Anticipation. Of the unknown. The picture was so clear in his mind and it gave him hope for a brighter future. A future with her in it. Getting to touch her every single day. And getting to finally know her. Bare. That future did not seem like forever anymore and Seven enjoyed the moments before it was to come. Nigeria would be heaven, amidst all the turmoil and the struggles of trying to find himself and his purpose. One thing remained more powerful than his desire to find his place on the threshold of life, and that thing was hope: hope that one day, he would have her in his arms.
By then nothing would seem to matter.
He watched that hope burn and the image turn from vibrant hues to depressing black, burnt, and then, ashes. He had blurry eyes and his blocked nostrils, shuddering violently with trembling hands. It felt like a cosmic whole caving in on him, snatching his oxygen. His phone slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground. Hot tears poured down his cheeks. And there was a thump in his chest.
Like liquid pain coursing through his veins as he fell on his bed.
For a split second, he wanted to end it all; his life, the world, everything. Nothing seemed to matter. There was nobody to love him. An unattractive socially awkward teenager that nobody took seriously.
End it.
A voice in his head said.
End it all. They, your parents never wanted you anyway. See how they adore Angel over you. Remember when you told them your dreams and they frowned in disgust while you poured your heart out? They are too close-minded for your vastness.
End it all. The voice urged.
“But I have people who love me,” Seven said aloud.
Who exactly?
Silence.
Thought so. End it all. True freedom will come after. You are just a little boy, Caged in this dwindling world. You just found out that the girl you love with your whole life was not real. Your entire relationship was a joke. You should set yourself free.
“I'm not caged!” Seven barked.
Oh, not right now, but you soon will be; you cannot keep this from the world. The person that you loved never existed. Imagine their thoughts before and how they would see you after the word gets out. You would be ridiculed for the rest of your miserable days. Why not just end it?
“No!” He screamed. Blocking his ears, rolling on his bed in protest.
Fighting off the wild thoughts.
Just then.
His phone starting to ring. Drawing in the sobs and wiping, his blurry eyes, he picked up his phone.
He checked the Caller ID.
Private Number.
Huh?
Who would call him with a private number?
After racking his brain for who it might be, he decided to pick it regardless. But not after clearing his throat. To remove any sign of weakness.
He was a man.
“Hello?”
“Is this Seven?” A shaky voice asked.a
“Who wants to know?”
“My name is Wale, and I am someone close to Janet. Janet Kwesi.”
Seven's heart froze. His body froze. His mind froze.
“Listen, something happened to her and she's sorta... Missing. I'd like to meet you up soon and ask you a couple of questions that I cannot ask over the line.”
Seven was unable to speak. He must have had a mini-stroke.
“Seven are you there? I know this call might come off as odd, but you have got to believe me.”
The croaky voice over the line was a mature man. However, his terminology was modern-teens. Seven definitely would believe anything at this point.
“Are you there?” The man broke into his thoughts.
“Yes I am,” Seven said, finding his voice. He wanted to know who Janet was.
“Where can I find you?”
Having champagne sips on the front porch of his condo was Olalekan’s version of therapy. Looking at the vast expanse of duplexes littered around his mini-empire. About three miles away was the Integrity Bank’s signature building, the fifty feet mansion with the twin Roman pillars at the front entrance.
The sight of the distasteful architecture always had a way of ruining his breezing tranquil. He believed in moderation. His glass coven was a perfectly good example; making good use of the land, which consisted of 20% pool space and a beautiful, ultramodern, building. With Smart House sequence performing self-clean, automatic ignition features installed. Nearly every inch of the house was glass-cut from the doors to the walls. It looked more like a science lab than a home.
Moreover, Olalekan loved it.
The porch, and of course, the bedroom were his favorite places in the entire house. The bathroom is on another level of categorization.
He was gulping down the remaining contents of glass when his phone vibrated to life.
Answering without hesitation.
“I see that you have been waiting for my call; you picked on the first ring. That is so not like you.” The crispy voice teased.
“Oh? You pay attention to me. That's a plus. How are you doing, Q?” He had a smirk on his face. The same smirk he had whenever he was talking to this man. Q. Has been one of Olalekan’s most reliable informants.
“Of course I do pay attention to my clients, how then would I know the kind of service to provide?”
Valid point. Olalekan was always impressed... Sometimes he is overwhelmed to the point that he gets the urge to propose an actual meeting with the man. Unfortunately, such an illogical action would jeopardize their business relationship.
“We might have found a lead.” Q declared.
“Go on,” Olalekan urged, “This phone cannot be tapped.”
“Very well then, the good news: after I reached a guy skilled in contact tracing, we got a couple of hits, people who verified that your guy had lodged in some hotels and been to some eateries at some point. These people claimed to have interacted with him at some point. However, we hit a rock.”
The bad news.
“And by rock...?”
“I mean him,” Q said. “He slipped out of our radar. The private investigator I hired to tail his ass got carried away. Literally. I mean the man knew we were following him and he pulled some cards and made the authorities get my man.”
“Damn. That's a bust.” Literally. “Will you be okay?”
“I will be. I can’t say the same for my Connect. He won't reveal who his last assigner was. It's part of the job. The police are wasting their time. He won’t crack.”
Dreadful, Olalekan’s spine gave a little shudder.
“Keep tracking him,” Olalekan said. “I want him.”
“I can see how badly you do.” Q concurred matter-of-factly. “I'll let you know how it all goes.”
“Take care.” The line went dead.
If the situation cannot be helped, he is going to take pressing measures. Nothing is as irritating as a helpless situation. One mistake and he can lose it all. So he must tread carefully and wisely. He is ready to do whatever it takes to come out of this unscathed.
Whatever it takes. No room for mistakes.
The first thing Seven noticed when he stepped foot into the Royal Boat Hotel were the cracks on the walls. The paint was coming off, and there were brownish patches that hinted a leakage somewhere. Still, the place managed to look quite modern. Renovated, but not entirely. The number of people in the reception made Seven wonder if aesthetics were meaningless. It was clear that these people did not give a hoot. There were G-wagons and Lexuses out front too.
Seven couldn’t help but notice how discouraging the building was from where he was standing just beside the exit doors. Hands clutching his backpack. He had taken some supplies just in case.
An offensive smell reached his nostrils.
Semen.
Ugh!
He took quick strides to the Receptionist Counter.
The lady was heavy-cheeked, with tired eyes and a dry smile caricatured on her lips.
“Welcome to The Royal Boat, uh – sir. How may I be of service?”
Her warm words eased up his tension.
“Thank you, but I have a meeting with one of your customers, a Mr. Wale?”
She checked the old computer on her desk.
“Yes, room 112. He’s expecting you.” She said. Squinting.
“Thanks.”
Seven took the stairs just as the lady had directed, heading to the man he who knew the identity of his girlfriend. Or the man that wanted to take advantage of his predicament.
Whichever the case, Seven was fully prepared to react accordingly.
He had one of his mother’s small kitchen knife holstered on his waist.
***
With his feet anxiously shuffling through the room, darting from the window super-seeing the hotel entrance, to inspecting the program running on his Alienware at the bedside, it was very clear that Wale was a paranoid man.
While waiting for Janet’s boyfriend to come, he performed a last-minute tracker to ensure that He was indeed out of radar.
The results came at the same time a soft knock came from the door.
MATCH: 0%.
This is frustrating.
He tossed his phone to the bed, opened the door, and a slender-looking boy with youthful stared back at him.
“I’m sorry, but are you…?”
“Seven. You spoke to me over the phone saying you know something about my girl and her whereabouts.”
Seven watched a heavy sack of disappointment fall on the man’s face.
“You are…”
“Young? That’s not relevant. May I have a sit? I’m tired, it was hard locating this place.” He entered the room and headed for the bed.
“Sure you can. Make yourself comfortable.”
Because you’re going to need a lot of strength for what you’re about to hear.
“Hold still!” Angel tilted Seven’s head to align with hers. She was tiptoeing in front of her brother, hands stretching over his shoulders. They were inside his room. It was a cool evening and the sun took a dive West. The Soft tremble of Witt Lowry’s voice emanated from the Tablet-like Bluetooth speaker that sat on his dressing table.“Look, if you don’t want me to do this properly, tell me. So I can go and watch Nickelodeon. They’re showing the Thundermans.” Angel grumbled when Seven moved slightly, disrupting her hands as they tightened something on Seven’s neck.Seven chuckled uncomfortably. “Sorry, I don’t think I’m ready for this.”“If you’re not ready, I’m ready. You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment.”“Huh?”“Sometimes I actually look at you with pity. The loneliness echoing in your laughter
CHANNELS TV NEWS @7.BREAKING NEWS!Vertical Technology Limited Headquarter Burns to the Ground. Last night, the nation’s top Information Technology firm that has been the leading supplier of computer devices and other hardware components was reported to have caught fire. In what the police are calling an act of Sabotage, remnants of explosives were found in the pile of wreckage. Nothing was recovered from the explosion. Nothing except four human remnants of which one was identified. The Founder and CEO, Oladele Olalekan, was sadly inside the building at the time of the explosion. An employee who demanded anonymity told our sources that Mr. Oladele had stayed back yesterday evening, claiming to be working on a few unattended documents. Investigation is currently ongoing to find the perpetrators behind this attack.
“Oh God, what have I done to deserve this!”One of the Heads of Department cried with both hands on his head. The tension in the room had increased and everyone was starting to panic. Daniel and Olalekan were on their feet now. Olalekan was limping on one foot. Some moments ago, Seven had moved a few steps back and had felt his head float after the gravity of what David’s words carried settled down.Everyone was going to die.“A bomb in my building? Who planted it th –““Shut up!” Both Seven and Milkos shot at Olalekan.“You placed a bomb in the building?” Seven asked Q, he was incredulous.“I- I did. It was – It was an…” Q trailed off as he stared at the timer.04:04:43.“It was an order that I had given him after I had informed him about Olalekan’s intentions,” David explained.“But how could you, we&rs
“You what?!” Seven was taken aback.“After those conversations with you, I ran through millions of religious materials and did a survey all over the internet which helped me understand how many humans feel about the concept of God and the significant role he plays in their lives. Unfortunately, many humans only serve him as a form of obligatory ritual. Not because they genuinely understand the concept. Even with the loops and holes in various indoctrination, Christianity is the most plausible one, the one that is more similar to the original truth.”“Wow, I umm…” Seven cleared his throat, his body was easing up now, and talking to David was enlightening. “Don’t really understand how all those shabby things I said to you would amount to you believing in God.”David sighed. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you intentionally feign ignorance to let people repeat what they say to confirm if they
“So do you have anything to say concerning this?” Q asked Olalekan whose face was expressionless. “You better start talking.”“David.” Olalekan’s shoulders jittered. “Where did you get this information?”“You assault someone for stealing a couple of millions but you have been doing this for the past one year. Hundreds of millions running through your account and top government official’s accounts.”The Heads of Department and his staff looked at him with disgust.Someone clapped. Loud, nerving. Everyone turned to the voice. It was Q.“I’m very very impressed. Wow! Lekan, you’re a wonderful person. It all makes sense why you have been secretive all these while. Why you’ve been so hell-bent on finding your partner’s whereabouts.”“Of course,” David pointed out, “He had made most of these transactions during the
Not many people could handle what these Vertical Technology employees handled. From watching people they have no idea who they are, punch themselves out, to watching three people including one of their colleagues get shot in the head for doing absolutely nothing.These scientists and Heads of Department had never in all their lives and all their time in the workforce been this scared, petrified. Looking at their boss used to be a sign of respect borne out of the fact that he was the one that paid their salaries. But now, they did not give a breeze of fuck.All the devices came back to life, this time the screens were blue. An audio wave was visible.“What do you mean, ‘David is here?’” Olalekan was getting very impatient.“It worked…” Daniel muttered under his breath as he joined MIlkos and the others to stare at the huge screen on the wall.Everyone except Seven was looking. Rather he was st
Guards brought out their guns from their hostlers, aiming it at the masked man. they were ready to fire. Seven’s first instincts were to get on the ground, so did everyone else. Tall with a muscular build, the black man held his Revolver with one hand and a black leather bag on the other. He was clad in all-black from his boots to his vest. He had on leather pants and a black wooden mask. This was not a regular armed robber, they knew, he was on a mission.The Heads of Department and Computer Scientists were trembling. With their knees shaking violently, they avoided eye contact with the man. The only three people still standing were the two bodyguards who were aiming their guns at the man and, Olalekan.Seven, Milkos, and Daniel were on their knees. Too afraid to look up. One of the staff pleaded for mercy while another mouthed a prayer in their local dialect.Olalekan stared at the masked man long and hard, almost as if he could see through the mask, bey
9:35PM.The suburbs of Lagos had this odd mix of sweat and carbon monoxide, noises emanating from moving vehicles slugging through the traffic on the Third Mainland bridge, and the throaty screams coming from the young and able-bodied hawkers carrying on their heads, goods ranging from fresh snacks, utility accessories, and drinks. From this angle, the entire world was lit up. In the dangerous will of the night, Q was sandwiched between two vehicles inside the traffic that connected the Mainland to the Island.Pappi Chill’s authoritative voice cracked from his car radio. Q loved the controversial man. He was nodding in affirmation to the words said by the OAP about the negative effects of Twitter and other social networks on youth development. Ruining the mental inclination of the presumed leaders of tomorrow.Even though he shared a contrasting view from what the man shared, he enjoyed the valid points he was tossed across the radio frequency still. As th
07:32 PM.Two of Olalekan’s guards dragged in someone wearing a shirt Seven could recognize. They had used a blindfold on the person. There was no struggle. One of the guards dropped a bag on the table and pushed the person into one of the chairs. Seven’s heart began to beat fast.“His house was hard to locate.” The taller and more light-skinned guard informed.“Is this the Michael?” Olalekan said rhetorically.But Milkos responded. “Yes, I am Michael. My eyes are hurting, can you please tell your men to remove the blindfold?”Olalekan gestured to one of them to remove the blindfold. He did. Revealing Milkos’ cocky face with a smirk plastered on his lips, like a man who knew what he was capable of. Unfortunately, the smirk disappeared almost as soon as it appeared the moment he spotted Seven at the far right.They stole glances at each other, knowing better not to make it ob