Chapter 24

After school, I drove to Jason’s house following Google Maps. I have never been to that side of San Diego before and the street looked so beautiful with the trees and their colorful leaves that littered the sides of the road. I finally stopped in front of a beautiful duplex which I assume by my map is Jason’s house. I pull up outside the gate and entered, the compound looks so great with a flower bed used to carve different words and shapes. Pride of Barbados was planted in rows at one side of the compound with their beautiful flowers and leaves dropping every second.

“Lost?” an unfamiliar voice said making me rapidly turn around.

“Jason,” I said looking at him with a big smile “Wow, see who I have here: STAR GIRL!” Jason exclaimed then pull me into a big hug “I came to see you, Jason,” I said after pulling away from him “let’s have a seat somewhere” Jason offered pointing to the seat under the Pride of Barbados “I need information about someone, and I will be very glad if you help me with it,” I said after taking my seat

“who is that” Jason asked “Kia,” I said puckering my brows.

“Where do you know Kia?” Jason asked surprisingly “he is someone I know, and I need to know about his whereabouts,” I said looking at his face “This is a very difficult matter, and this might get me into trouble but yet I can’t turn you down,” Jason said “Thank you, Jason,” I replied “Kia works for the big boys,” Jason said looking at his feet “who are the big boys?” I asked “Mafia lords,” Jason said leaving me gazing at nothing in particular “Drug lords?” I questioned surprisingly “I also work for them but trust me, it wasn’t my will Norah, I was forced to work with them because my dad was once a member when he was alive, I resisted and tried all my best, but they keep threatening to kill my mom, so I have to do it for her safety” Jason explained “What is your work for them”? I asked Jason whose eye has changed from white to red “I will have to replace my Dad when I turn 25 but for now all I do is to keep track of all their agents,” Jason said, and I can see few drops of water escaping through his eyes.

“I am sorry Jason, I know this isn’t the life you wish to live, can you help us in this and maybe get your freedom in return” I suggested as I hand over a white handkerchief from my purse to him.

“sure, I will” Jason agreed

“so how come I didn’t see you at the competition again after the first round” I asked changing the topic “I just lose it, Norah; I couldn’t get hold of myself as I forgot to take my anti-depressant” he explained “OMG! you take that drug?” I screamed “Yes Norah, I must take it every day, I have had a lot to handle at a very young age and it seems everything isn’t getting better,” Jason said as water started to heap up in his eye again I pulled him into a hug and pat his back.

“I will be your friend,” I told him and wipe his tears “I would like to catch up with you after this is over so please let me have your contact information,” I said smiling at him while he collected my phone to save his phone number and I did also.

“Thanks so much, Norah, it feels better talking to you,” Jason said as I started making my way out of the compound.

……………………………………………………………………

“Lunch?” Fed asked peeping at what I was busy writing on my table “what about others?” I asked trying not to lose concentration “Over there princess” Fed answered pointing to the door.

I looked up to see the rest standing by the door and looking in my direction. I look at Kiki who gestured to let us go so I close my writing pad and put it inside my backpack “that is my girl” Mathis teased from where he was standing making me blush.

We went to the cafeteria and took our seats; Bran ordered our usual food and we started jesting pending the time the food will be ready.

“Kia work for the Mafia and Jason said he is ready to help whenever we need him but in exchange for his freedom” I briefed my meeting with Jason “So, Kia is an agent to the Mafia lords but how come he is now related to the cultists,” Kiki asked curiously.

“I think the Mafia Lords also use cultists for their evil work and besides most of the cultists members have a parent among the Mafia lords” Fed explained while we all sighed in agreement “What is the next on our agenda” I asked “Since Kia work for the Mafia, he must be with them most of the time,” Bran said “Oh no, you aren’t expecting us to visit the Mafia lords like this” Mathis disagreed “He will be around whenever they have a meeting so our success on getting Kia is dependent on our ability to kidnap him” Fed suggested “and I will get information from Jason about it before we go” I added “that is a very brilliant idea,” Kiki said pulling my ears.

I put a call through to Jason who told me “they don’t announce their meetings but whenever I see them holding a meeting, I will place a call through to you”.

“We must be on alert as he can call me anytime,” I said “Do you think Ashley and Morris have grown up?” Kiki asked changing the topic “what I know is they now respect the school star girl,” Bran said while we giggled.

…………………………………………………………………

I woke up to the best of me this Saturday morning, so I decided to go to the grocery store to get somethings in the house.

I have been here for the past minutes picking different things which is possible I drop some of them once it is more than my budget.

“Star Girl” a girl wearing a playsuit called weaving at me.

I looked at the girl and she looked familiar, but I bet I couldn’t remember where I knew her “Photograph please?” she asked as she approach me, and I nodded

She brought out an iPhone from her pocket and took few selfies with me

“Thanks so much,” she said grinning as she walked away while I keep grinning and weaving to her before my phone comes up. I checked the caller, and it was from an unknown number, yet I picked it anyway.

“This is Jason, the meeting is on and I will send you the address now,” Jason said from the other side and immediately he dropped the call a message popped up.

I quickly sent the message to my friends for security purposes and I jumped into the car.

I drove straight to Bran’s place where I already met Kiki.

“what do we do now” Kiki asked while we all kept mute I kept my eye on nothing in particular, I keep looking at it and fantasize about different things that can never become a reality. Looking at the blue sky, the birds and their sounds took me out of the world to the space of my own that I forgot I am in the middle of a discussion before my phone comes up and it is a message from Jason.

Jason 4:05; things aren’t going right here; the Mafia lords are currently in search of Kia and they already ask Leon to get him for them. I am the one tracking him down here and I can say he is currently moving Northwest, so I hope you get to him before Leon and the mafia do.

“Guys, Kia is moving Northwest,” I said jumping on my feet

“That is few miles away and he is in motion, how do we guess where he might be heading to” Mathis asked “The Mafia lords are after him and they are also using Leon to search for him” I added making others grasp “OMG, we have to get to him first before others do” Kiki exclaimed.

“How do we know where he is heading to” Bran asked “You don’t ask what is happening in heaven from us as we all are here together guy” Fed replied

“No need for argument,” I said trying not to let any other issue arise “I guess I can tell,” Mathis said

“As a geography lover, I learned Chula Vista is Northwest to San Diego, so I can say he is going to Chula Vista” Mathis suggested We all decided to take Bran’s jeep and start going to the town while the rest of us in the car will start checking out his social media details and see if he had dropped something relating to the town or he has a relative there. The drive is 14 minutes by car and just 8 miles away according to the map.

“See this, guys,” Bran said calling our attention excluding Fed who’s driving.

Fed showed us an old picture of Kia with his Grandpa years ago where he captioned “chilling in Chula” with a love emoji.

“So, I guess his grandpa stays there,” Kiki said while we nodded “Where in Chula Vista” Fed questioned while we weren’t able to answer then he continues “then don’t be happy yet”

We all went back to the search and finally, we got to Chula without knowing where to go from there. We search through everything and the only thing we saw was the picture of the house where he snapped with his granny.

“Adirondack,” Kiki said while we all turned to her with weird and funny expressions on our faces “What happened to Adirondack” Bran asked “I saw it in his room, the day I was told to use his room” Kiki stammered.

We quickly type the name on the map, and we realized it is a street. We ignite the engine again and start moving towards the street.

It is already getting dark and we are still trying to locate his granny’s house. The place is bigger than we thought, and we have had a lot of work to do than expected.

“Here,” Mathis called out pointing to an old but beautiful Bungalow.

We entered the house, and we can feel there are people there already ranging from the cars parked in the compound and different voices. We got to the entrance and it was locked so we decided to enter through one of the windows. We jumped the window to find ourselves in a room that looked like that of a 10-year-old boy. I looked around the room and I can easily spot Kia’s picture hanged on the wall and his portrait above the medium-sized bed at the right corner of the room.

“Let’s move” Fed whispered at me while I followed tip-toeing close behind him.

We got to a big entrance that must be the sitting room, we tried to look for anything, but everything is so dark that we can’t even count our fingers. We stepped into the room anyway and immediately the light was turned on.

“Welcome,” a very thick voice said

We looked around and realize we are in a big mess. About seven men were sitting on the couch each wearing black and a walking stick in their hands, they all have no hair on their heads and the look on their faces is enough to scare a day old to death, Jason is standing at the right side, Leon is standing beside Kia with an iron rod in his hand and the scars on his face making him look as ugly as ever, while Kia is in the middle on his knees and his eye bloodshot.

“You all are going to die here with your friend” one of the seven men uttered

“You think you can stop us?” another man said pointing at us.

“On your knees!” one of the men echoed again and before we know it, we were already on our knees.

“Now kill them one after the other and let us end it all here,” another man said Leon brought out a pistol and pointed it at me.

“Please don’t kill me Leon” I pleaded while he smirked “It has always been Kyle’s intention to erase you and so I will do it for a friend” Leon replied looking at my eyeball while I can see myself in his.

“Williams hell NORAH!!” Leon called out while I heard the sound of a gun fired.

I was startled for some minutes and my eye was shut tightly waiting for the bullet to get to me, but it never did. I opened my eye to see Jason holding a gun and Leon down with blood rushing out of his body. I knew immediately that Jason just saved my life and at the same moment the light went off everything turned upside down.

The Mafia lords pull out their guns and everyone started to run helter-skelter in the big room. I can hear Bran shouting “keep your heads down” as bullets continue to penetrate the wall. The noise went on for a few more minutes with footsteps hither and thither before I perceived the sound of ignited cars moving out of the compound.

Everything has gone down but I can’t hear any sound from anybody, I quickly reach out for my phone and turn on the light.

“Bran! Kiki!! Fed!!! Mathis!!!!” I cried out sinking my head between my legs “Please tell me you guys are alive please” I cried before I hear sounds of people giggling The light was turned on again revealing my friends. I looked around and saw Jason’s body on the floor with a gunshot in his head, one of the Mafia men body was lying lifeless on the floor and Kia is also on the floor groaning in pain and trying to raise one of his hands.

“Guys,” I said calling everyone’s attention to him “Please take me to that room” Kia begged pointing towards the room where I saw his picture Fed and Mathis carried his body to the room while we followed and watch as they lay him on his well spread white bedsheet and we all sat beside him on the bed.

“I am sorry Bran, Norah,” Kia said trying to hold our hands while I gave mine to him “Norah, I didn’t mean to stage an accident for you that night, I was sent by the Mafia lords due to Kyle’s plead to them” Kia explained “I know it wasn’t your will Kia, so I forgive you” I replied feeling extreme pity for him “Tell me about my Mother’s death Kia, you fucking killed my mother!” Bran yelled striking the bed.

“Your mother was a Lawyer in her time who has every detail about the extreme drug trafficking activities and other evil deeds of the Mafia. She was planning to wipe them off with her power, but they got to know and have her killed through a staged accident on her way to her chamber that morning with all the documents of evidence she has against the Mafia in her car” Kia said and paused before he continued

“my first evil job was to kill your mother; I was just a boy of 7 years old then when they asked me to do everything that led to her death. After her death, I was celebrated, and I was formally initiated into working for the Mafia. Those are the documents I packed in her car then (pointing to the drawer beside his bed), it will help you revenge her death”

I looked at Bran using a hand to hold back his tears, Fed and Mathis have their heads down while Kiki has loads of tears piled up in her eye.

“how it all happened, where are your parents?” I asked “I was just two years old when my parents died and since then I have been living here alone with my Grandpa. When I was six years old the Mafia lord came to tell my Grandpa that I belong to them because my father betrayed them, and I have to work for them to pay for my father’s deed. The thought of giving me out to the Mafia weakened my grandpa which turned him hypertensive and later died of a heart attack while I was just nine years old. Since then, I have been living here alone. Most time I collect leftovers from the dustbins in the neighborhood to feed and later I started begging on the street to eat. I knew no one and no one is willing to help me because of my involvement with the Mafia. At age 10, the Mafia came for me and took me away to San Diego. There I live with one of them and go to school once in a while and that was where I met you guys. I had the best days of my life with you guys and you gave me the most joyous moments also. You all are the family I never had, and I am sorry for I was NEVER GOOD ENOUGH in return to you guys”

At this time everyone was already in tears and as much as I tried, I was never able to hold a single drop back “Hope you guys find peace among yourselves and I am very sorry,” Kia said as he took his last breath.

EPILOGUE

We mourned Kia for days and it is already two weeks after his death, it was a very sad occurrence to us all and especially to me. I promised Jason to be his friend and he died saving me in return. I wish it were all a dream and I would wake up someday from the sorrow and the painful memories.

Bran has handed over all the evidence against the Mafia to the government. We have been meeting in school for days and today we planned to meet for lunch in a restaurant.

We all are currently seated around a big table waiting for the food we ordered earlier. Everyone is trying to look as happy as they can and besides, we have to move on with our lives.

“Kiki” Mathis said diverting our attention to him Kiki looked at him and signaled to him “what”

“Please be my girlfriend,” Mathis said handing over a rose to Kiki

Kiki wondered for a while before she finally replied “yes, I will!” Kiki exclaimed as she went over to Mathis and gave him a very tight hug.

Everyone was happy for them and after a while, they brought the food, and everyone started to dig in. Our phones came up right at the same minutes and we all opened our phone to check for what the message can be and guess what, I saw a mail from Harvard congratulating me for my admission into the university “Harvard!” we all said in sync “don’t tell me we all got admitted into Harvard,” Fed said hitting his hand against the table “Yes, we made it” I exclaimed.

The moment turned into a very happy one and I can say I am the happiest. We hugged each other and we later decided to start going home as it is getting late.

“Forgive me Kiki,” said a very familiar voice of Bran which made everyone to stop in their tracks “Come back to me,” Brain said again leaving me in total shock.

I looked at everyone’s faces, and I can see the curiosity on them as they are all eager to hear from me. I looked at Bran again and he has that remorseful look, I started feeling happiness rushing down my spine as my face start to turn red.

“I miss you too Bran,” I said as I ran over to him and he lifted me off the ground into a very big hug.

“I love you”

Bran placed a kiss on my lips and others joined in the hug making it an extremely big hug.

THE END