KARMA'S A BI**H!!!

"I'll give you whatever you want...just don't kill me.....I have a wife and ...a daughter"Jacob ranted in panic as he was  shoved to the ground.

The skin on his forehead broke and ripped open as it brushed against the roughness of an unpainted wall.

He let out a screech and was promptly kicked in the ribs.

He stifled a yell.

He could hear them all around him.

He could smell the sweat on their bodies.



"Get some more ropes"one male  voice said.

"I've already bound his wrists...he's not going anywhere"The second male voice said defensively.

"I said get some more ropes"The first voice said with a hint of violence.

Long pause.

Jacob had  kissed his wife, Ejiro on the lips before leaving the house  that morning

As always,his four year old daughter, Tome clung to him like he were going away forever.

He felt her constrictor-like grip on his thigh as she began sobbing.

The girl had grown so attached to him.

"You Over-pamper her...plain and simple"Ejiro would say.

But was it a crime for a father to love his only daughter?

So what if he let her stay home that day because she had a cold?She was his only child.Where was the sin in taking care of her?

Any way,it was a beautiful morning.

The birds were singing and the sun rays were just right.

His driver Chike, was ready. But Julius,the ever-so-absent-minded Orderly took about Fifteen minutes to show up.

Even then,he reeked of FuFu and looked like he'd been caught in the middle of washing his mouth with Palm Oil.

Jacob had reprimanded the officer.

How could anyone have that much oil in their breakfast?

As a Top Government official, it was mandatory for Jacob to have an Orderly.

It was a requirement Jacob endured.Especially since his current one had a penchant for late coming and Palm Oil consumption.

He had finally managed to lovingly extract his thigh from Tome's vice-like grip.

As always,she was crying.

He hated to see her cry.He'd promptly promised to buy her something on his way back from the office.

As he got into the car,he couldn't help but be grateful for his life.

Yes,he'd started off on an uncertain footing,but he'd somehow defied the odds..

As soon as the  Black Range Rover  pulled out of the gate,a vehicle screeched to a halt directly in front of it's  path.

"Jesus!!!"Jacob gasped as two men,jumped out of the car training Automatic rifles  at the them.

Chike and Julius instantly lost the capacity to move,speak or  even blink.

They were suddenly petrified statutes of themselves.

Jacob was too scared to think.

Suddenly,he was being dragged out of the car while the other man continued pointing his weapon at Julius.

He could hear Ejiro's screams as he was thrown into the car.

He felt the cloth painfully tightened around his eyes.Then he was  forced to floor that smelled like disiel.

About half an hour later,he was blindfolded and  seated on what felt like a very rough ground.

The sounds and smells told him they were close to a river.

The seat of his pants was ripped from when he'd been dragged out of the car.

His mind raced through dozens of possibilities.
Were they assassins?Ritualists or Just plain old Kidnappers .

If  they were the latter,there was hope.He thought.
He was a very wealthy man.Money was no Object.

He was roughly pulled from the floor and forced into what felt like a strong wooden chair.

The cloth over his eyes was torn away from his face.

At first the sunlight from the opened windows hurt his eyes.

Then as his vision grew accustomed to the glare,he could make out more details of his surroundings.

Apparently,he was in an uncompleted building.
The ceiling boards were broken in most places.The floor as he suspected,was untiled and jagged.

There were three unmasked faces staring down at him.

From their clothes and statures,he recognized the two men that threw him into the car.They were young men.Probably in their early or mid twenties.

The two men stared at him with malice in their eyes.

But it was the third face that chilled him.

It was a woman.

Clearly she was older than the two men.

The way she looked at him was unsettling.

The only term to aptly describe the expression in her eyes was, raw hate.

Long silence.

"Please,if it's money you want,I'm a very wealthy man.I can....."

His words were cut off by a savage blow to the side of his face.

The pain was excruciating.

He fell to the ground.... hard tasting dirt and blood as his face hit the floor.

" Relax....there'll be time for that later.....sit him up"Came the woman's voice.

The Puncher and the other man hoisted him up.

"....there'll be time for that later..."she had said.

Who were these people?

What did they want?

Now he was scared.

He wondered if he was going to see his family again.

His thoughts went to his daughter's face and the way she smelled.

He felt tears in his eyes but fought them back.He couldn't let them see him cry.

He could still taste the blood inside his mouth.

Long pause,as the woman stared at him.

Jacob decided not to make eye contact with The Puncher.

The last thing he desired was another punch.

He was still in pain from the last one.

"This must all be very strange to you."The woman said finally with a smile.

If not for his current circumstance,Jacob might have appreciated the woman's beauty.

Because  truly,she was quite a sight to behold.No man alive would look at her and describe her as anything less than a stunner.

He wondered if she were married.He wondered if she had kids.

Would a mother be involved in something like this?He wondered.

He thought of his family again and blinked away the tears.

" ...You're probably thinking to  yourself right now,'  This isn't  happening...it can't be real....I'm having a nightmare',right?I was saying the same things to myself Fifteen years ago"She said as she leaned into his face.

She smelled of sweat and cigarettes.

"Who are you people....what do you want?he heard his own voice say.

"Oh!"She said comically as she slapped her forehead.

".....where are my manners?....My name is  Juliet, he's Obuke  and your designated Puncher is Efe....They're my younger brothers. We are the Johnsons

Jacob's breathing was shallow and the room suddenly felt smaller.

"...you don't recognize us,do you?"
Jacob winced from the pain in his mouth but said nothing.

"Fifteen years ago...."Juliet began as Obuke  casually handed her a small pistol.

Jacob's pulse was racing.

"....we were sitting around the TV set in our small room with our elder brother Rume.I don't  remember what we were watching but I do recall that we were happy.....It was the last happy childhood  memory I ever have"

There was sadness in her eyes all of a sudden as she looked away.

Long pause.

"....anyway,at the age of Twenty-Two,my elder brother Rume,was quite handsome and smart too.He was studying medicine.Our mum was a single mum...whom at the time had gone for a Church Programme....you see,our mother was a very prayerful woman....(sigh)...I guess she didn't pray enough that night."


Jacob could see tears in Juliet's eyes.She suddenly seemed like she were in physical pain.

". ..well..."She went on as she wiped a tear away from her face.

"....there was a knock on the door....well actually a banging.Rume being the eldest,rubbed the side of my face and went to go check.As I watched him go,I didn't realize it was the last time he'd ever touch my face."

Long silence.

More tears were streaming down her face.
Jacob noticed that Obuke too had tears in his eyes.

What the f**k does all this have to do with me?He wondered.


"...seconds later,six masked men armed with axes,machetes and guns smashed the door down......They hacked my brother to pieces in front of us....I can hear his screams till this day....."

She turned to stare at Jacob as if to let her words sink in.

"....there was so much blood..so much blood.One of the men suddenly told them to stop...and they did.By then Rume's body was a bloody  mess of torn flesh and broken bones.....but he was still alive......'sh*t it's not him' one of them said as they stood over my brother's body."

Obuke put a hand on her shoulder.It seemed the memory hurt her physically.

"....we watched in horror as the men examined his face.....'too bad,...'one of them said as he stepped forward and put a bullet  in Rume's head.'...wrong place wrong time, I guess'The shooter said as he took off his mask.

'Jacob,what are you doing?'one of the men's voice said.

'Relax....'The one called Jacob said as he grinned at us

'They don't matter'He said as he fired another shot into Rume's face.


Jacob was crying.His face was a mask of sorrow,pain ......regret.

"Our mother had a stroke shortly afterwards,I was only Eleven at the time.But I never forgot the face that took my brother's life.Our lives have been hell since that night.But I never forgot that face.So imagine my surprise when I saw that same  face in the papers Six months ago....Top Government Official/Philanthropist...you've done quite well for yourself Jacob"


Juliet actually had a smile on her face.But her eyes still held raw hate.

"Please....."Jacob began in tears.

"I was a different man back then....I know that wont bring back your brother....I know nothing can bring back your brother....."The fear in his voice was through the roof.Images of the person he used to be....of the terror he used to be flashed through his mind.

He had done many terrible things as a cultist In school.

Fifteen years later,he'd turned his back on that life.He'd often lied to himself that It never happened.That his past had been just a dream...a nightmare he so desperately wanted to forget.

But in his mind's eye, he could still see the faces of the lives he had taken,he could still hear their screams.

They were the nightmares that soul stay with him for the rest of his life.

"Before you die,I have a few things to say to you..."Juliet continued as she pressed the nozzle of the pistol to his forehead.

He instantly saw an image of his daughter's smiling face as the Cold steel touched his skin.

".....my brother was innocent...and contrary to what you said Fifteen years ago,....We Matter"
"No wait,please just....."

The sound of the gun shot silenced Jacob forever.

His lifeless body fell backwards .

Long silence.

All three of them continued to stare at the body.

Juliet was breathing heavily.

Another long silence

"Throw this garbage in the river,ditch the car,and we will never speak of this again."Juliet said turning away.

He nodded and did as they were told.


LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID


Happy Birthday to Ivy the love of my life. My queen, the one who makes me happy. Live long and prosper darl. May this day and others, bring you your heart's desires, love you like no other.....