10. TROUBLE

She was consistent with her yelling. Most times she instructed me to do something, it would always come with a yell. Never had she ever lost her voice and she rarely got sick, the only thing that Auntie fought with and lost the battle was her left eyesight.

When I knew Auntie, she had trouble with seeing well with her left eye and she did all her best to treat it but nothing worked. Three years ago, she went blind totally in the left eye but trained herself to get used to the right eye only without wallowing much in self-pity. When I asked her how she was able to move on so quickly, she only smiled.

“When life throws something bad at you. Catch it and use it well to teach life a lesson that you also have your own power” she finally told me one day after I disturbed the daylight out of her,

***

I finished helping with the arrangement and decided to go and withdraw the money I deposited at the bank few days ago since I needed to get some things for myself and the house.

“Hmmm! The smell of money is just heavenly. One of a kind, nothing beats it” I rubbed it on my nose and inhaled the smell coming from the fresh mint with my eyes closed

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car parked beside me with a loud screech and three men ran out of the car.

“How can you drive a car like this in daylight? Did you get your driver’s license through stealing because I am very sure no one would approve this poor driving skill” I shouted at the top of my lungs

Before I could realize what was going on, I was grabbed by the men and bundled into the car forcefully. Of course, the first thing that came out of my mouth was a scream but it was stifled.  My mouth had been covered by one of them. I tried to call the attention of people but strangely, no one stepped forward to help. They all ran away to my surprise.

The car sped through the city for close to thirty minutes until it came to a temporary stop in front of a huge white gate. The gate was opened at the sound of the horn and it sped inside the huge estate till it got to the front of the main mansion.

“What in the hell….?” I found myself whisper as I saw the enormous house.

It was big enough to house close to five hundred people. I had never seen such a house in my entire existence. Everywhere was filled with beautiful flowers and there was space in abundance!

“Get down!” a rough husky voice snapped me out of my awe and I slowly stepped out of the car.

There were several bodyguards putting on dark shades and in-ear earpieces stationed at different points. I looked around but couldn’t even see the gate, the compound was so big, wide and beautiful with several other buildings but none was as big as the one in front of us.

Seeing the environment and all, it was at that point my thinking faculty opened and my eyes widened in realization. I was in the mafias’ territory!

“Rocco?” I blurted out and the cocking of guns filled the air

My heart flew out of my mouth as every one of them aimed their guns at me. They were looking deadly serious as if they would pull the trigger anytime soon. I melted at that point, it was impossible to come out of the lion’s den alive was my conclusion before a familiar voice cut through the tension.

“Why are you treating his guest this way? Do you all have a death sentence?” a lady yelled sharply and in seconds, their guns were returned to their pockets and my paused breath resumed automatically

“Welcome to the Manor Estate. Rocco is waiting for you inside” she said to me and I remembered that she was the lady with him yesterday.

At the mention of his name, my heart skipped a bit. I had expected something like this but I didn’t know it would actually happen or be so soon. Aside all the fear, the statement that he was waiting for me inside made me feel less tensed because that meant he was okay.

“Thank Goodness” I whispered as I followed her guidance.

I was led into the sitting room that was filled with modern facilities but had ancient interior decors. There were several paintings and antiques, bodyguards at all corners and a glass aquarium at the left side.

“These people swim in money” I mumbled under my breath as I had my seat according to her orders.

I was still feeding my eyes when the said boss came in. His shoulder was bandaged and he was supported at the side by her. I gasped at the sight of his state and he scoffed.

“You made me this way, why are you surprised?”

Those words got me confused. If anything, I saved his life. He didn’t die because he must have taken measures. I sprang up to greet him but he told me to be seated, in quite a bossy way. My bum connected with the sofa immediately and I quietly sat there.

I tried thinking deep about why he brought me over if he escaped death but couldn’t pin anything. At some point, I even thought he would reward me for making him escape death but I quickly pushed the thought away because I shouldn’t be thinking of that in a lion’s den. I might leave the mansion as a dead body.

“You were able to see that I would die yesterday and as you can see, here is the proof that I met death indeed” he said and raised his wounded arm

I wanted to say something but nothing was coming out because I didn’t know the right thing to say so I just shut up and sat there like a doll. His face suddenly came close to mine and I froze. It took so much effort not to pee myself on the sofa.

“Since you can see things, how about you see another one for me?” he said and I couldn’t believe my ears

He called me there for that? Anger rushed through me at the sound of his word. My eyes flew up to match his gaze and I didn’t know where the confidence came from.

“If you called me here because of that, you have wasted your time” I spat out and his eyebrows flinched as his face curved into a frown.

The air smelled like trouble.