Must Read: The Cartel (18+)

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: The Cartel (18+)

Prior to my second trip to Abuja to pick up my package as agreed, i decided i needed to rent a new apartment to serve as a safe house. I didn’t want to keep drugs in my apartment again. A security measure expected of sane persons. So in what was a daring decision, i rented a BQ apartment which was a self contained apartment in the Diamond area of Calabar. This was just close to the state police headquarters. This area also had the Eastern Naval base, the DSS HQ and the governor’s office. So it had always been a crime free zone.



Now while i wouldn’t exactly call myself a criminal, it was logical to think a criminal like me would want to use such an area as a hideout. I kept this a secret from Vivi herself. I guessed i was learning fast from her. Since she came over during the weekdays, i could easily spend the weekend in my other apartment in order not to raise too much suspicion about my activities.

Fortunately while I had introduced and identified myself as a student to my who needed the place to cool off during weekends, hence my absence during weekdays beginning from Monday mornings. I claimed i couldn’t afford the high accommodation cost around the school since i was fending for myself with my photocopying and little clothes business. This wasn’t strange as many students lived around the area also and paid transport to and from school daily.


And as my luck would have it, my landlady’s daughter was a junior colleague in her second year in my department. She had wanted to study Med and Surg, but having gone in through the Pre-degree program, she was admitted into my department. And just like what i planned to do, she only came home on weekends, while squatting with a friend around the school during weekdays.


Her being able to recognise me as a senior colleague and her knowledge of my photocopying stand in the campus, removed doubt from her mom’s mind that i was indeed a student. But the only problem here was she actually knew me as Fury, a campus pìmp and knew i was lying about not being able to afford an accommodation around school. Although she kept those other details to herself, the smile on her face when her mom called her to identify me and her eye contact as we interacted was all i needed to know she had other plans.

We became friends quickly with her using the “I’ve heard about you” excuse to strike up a conversation when i moved in the following weekend. We began fvcking that same weekend.

******

So finally, the first semester examinations came and went quickly without me realizing. Although i wrote all my papers, i never really put in time into reading or preparing for any of them. I could literally pay off all my lecturers and clear my scores, so failure wasn’t a concern. I had my assessment already sorted out.

The second semester was to begin immediately after the examinations but we had a week to Easter and many students decided to go home. I stayed back and countered my profits and realized that I made about 150% of the total capital I spent in purchasing from Abuja. I wasn’t exactly surprised my stocks got exhausted, but i was surprised to find out dealing to students (which I had been avoiding in the past) was actually very lucrative and had a quicker turn over. Again, I found out that the “rich kids” paid and demanded more.

But what i failed to understand was that the demise of Nameless and subsequent going low of the rest of the gang had contributed to the high demand for my products due to scarcity of theirs.

And with a teaming population of students who had over the past few months become addicted to pills, whoever had something for them was sure to make it big.

In retrospect I would have loved to remain a mid range dealer while still avoiding students, but two factors contributed to me becoming popular. The first was that it was literally impossible for me to hide myself completely. This was because once a few folks had certified me to be a dealer of some really good quality products, they started passing words around a lot about Fury. And boy, those boys in Abuja had supplied me some good stuff.

This was the power of word of mouth recommendation. I probably sold to a few close students who had friends that i don’t know about and so on. Before long every one was looking for me.

Secondly greed took a better part of my reasoning that i failed to realize the dangers my being (in)famous might pose for me. With the high demand, an astronomical price increase was the best thing i could think off.

Meanwhile Vivi as usual always took her examinations seriously, hence i didn’t expect any reproach from her until after the examinations. I still wonder how she was able to stay focus with her studies, creating a balance with social life and studies that i suddenly couldn’t handle. They was no doubt she would have heard about me being a major dealer to students now.

So i wasn’t surprised when Friday evening, exactly a week to Easter she came to my apartment to tell me she knew what I had been up to of late. She had called to tell me she was coming for the weekend so i should be home because she realized I was always not at home during the weekends. While i expected her to be angry with me, i never expected her actions.


When she knocked and identified herself, I opened the door for her but was greeted with shower of multiple slaps, kicks, punches and curses from her.

She wouldn’t stop hitting and charging at me in a way that made me assume she had found out about I and my landlady’s daughter in addition to the fact that i was still dealing drugs.
“You promised you were gonna stop”, “You ingrate” “Liar”, “Greedy bastard” “You’ll just die”, “You have no idea what’s going to happen to you fool”, “after al i did for you, just one promise you cant keep”, “I hate you”, “I’ll kill you myself”….


She wouldn’t stop punching me and it took me a moment to realize she smelt of an alcoholic drink. Besides the multiple slaps, kicks and punches which hadn’t stopped, I could feel a sharp pain in my left eye which i later saw using a mirror was blood shot with a tear on my eye lid.


Obviously from one of her nails. I finally got hold of both her hands and seized them, shouting at her to calm the fvck down because she was hurting me. Unfortunately for me, her right leg was in-between my legs and I didn’t she it coming until her knee hit my balls. I was just putting on a beach short so she hit her mark well.

The pain was so intense and just as i was falling to my knees in agony, i released my grip on her hands and slapped her across her face with all the energy i could muster at that points. Although I later wished i didn’t hit her back, i was certain she wouldn’t have stopped hitting me when i fell down. So while the force of my slap threw her off balance as she fell to my left, i collapsed in front of myself groaning in pains. It was a long time I had felt such pain.

She became quiet after she fell and sat up looking at me with a hand to her cheek like she was surprised i hit her.
“I’m sorry Vivi” I managed to say still in greater pains. I didn’t even know whether I was apologizing for slapping her or for breaking her the promise i made her.

I noticed movement by my door and looked up from the ground to see two of my female (and her former) floor mates looking at us. Her voice and probably the sound of my slap and her fall must have attracted them.

“Vivian what’s the matter?” asked one of the girls.

But she just stood up from the ground and without saying anything else to anyone left the room.
“You ok dude?” Asked the second girl as I struggled to get up from the ground and stand on my feet. While one was a medical student in her finals, the other was running her housemanship program at the UCTH. This was the first time they’ll hear Vivi raise her voice at me or witness us fight, so I understood their concern.
“Yea.. I’m fine” I replied with a tone that suggested I was in pains.
“Oops… She hit the wrong place” The doctor said smiling as she walked back to her apartment. My smile was all the confirmation needed by the student doctor that her senior colleague was right.
“You have a cut and your eye is blood stained.

You can come lemme check that for you” The girl added making a gesture towards her left eye as she left for her room.

*****

I left my apartment that evening for my hideout at Diamond Hill and spent the following week there.


I had no reason to come out of my hiding and my landlady’s daughter was on hand to get me whatever I needed.

I tried to call Vivi but she wouldn’t pick and didn’t reply my text messages. This went on until good Friday evening when there was a hit on the two guys who had gone into Peter’s apartment to wait for him that night in Calabar south.

Being Catholics, both of them had gone for the stations of the Cross procession at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Calabar. Unknown to them, they were being monitored all evening by two girls who relayed information back to the hit men.

Immediately after the procession, they both decided to leave church. They walked a short distance and took their car from were they had parked it earlier and drove off, heading towards Calabar south. Their assailants tailed them to around Mayne avenue where they were eventually overtaken.


According to eye witnesses, their car was crossed without warning while placing them in a tight position. The guy at the passenger seat probably must have sensed what was about to happen and immediately opened the door to run out, but was unfortunately held back by the seat belt.

Three AK47 rifle bearing guys quickly emerged from the other car and opened fire on them, spraying their car with bullets and killing them in the process.

******

It was around 8 when i was watching a movie on my laptop that Vivian called me.
“Finally, she wants to talk” I said smiling that she called after all. Though i wasn’t sure what she would say.
“Hello Vivi?” I answered calmly after picking the call
“Fury where are you?” I think the Cartel is after us. My boys have just been shot”

******