TEKENA GREEN'S HOUSE,
RIVERS STATE
Savior alighted from his car after he had parked it in the garage and walked towards the main building.
The staggering house before him belonged to none other than his malevolent boss, Mr. Tekena Green, the mastermind and leader of the Alpha Shadows.
This wasn't the first time Savior would be coming to this man's mansion-like abode, but still he could not shake off the uneasy feeling that he was walking into a lion's den from off him.
Maybe it was the bleak and harsh facade that oozed that vibe.
The one-storeyed building would have been a brutalist structure if not for the marble tiles that were used to cover a larger part of the walls and pillar.
Getting closer to the main entrance, Savior could hear sounds of loud, throaty laughter rising above the ear-splitting noise they called hip-hop music coming from the building.
When he got close to the door, he nodded his head in a grunt of greeting to the two burly bouncers that were stationed on both sides of the huge, Made-in-Israel bulletproof door.
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These ones were new guys and they'd almost stopped him, but the ID he showed them got him a respectful access into the main lobby. Savior couldn't help but wonder what the former ones had done to piss off the boss and have themselves replaced.
Almost all the gang members were present, slouched on couches.
Tekena, with his bloodshot eyes and bloated tummy, was seated leg-spread on a chaise-lounge.
There were bottles of all kinds of assorted and local wines, most of them emptied, on the glass center table.
Some girls who sometimes went on undercover missions with them, were there as well, barely covered by the threadbare, leaving-no-place-for-the-imagination clothes they called fashion.
These girls clung unashamedly at some of the guys. They sent sexy signals to Savior but he didn't even give them a second glance.
Smoke, pot, alcohol and weapons reigned unhindered here.
The place was poorly lit with the eye-turning disco lights, and was poorly ventilated too. The music was an off-tune rap song that caused Savior's head to pound.
Everything about this place ticked Savior off. He always hated it when the boss insisted they celebrate together as a team and share the loot of any successful operation in his house. As the second-in-command of the crime syndicate, Savior was officially entitled to not less than thirty percent of the loot. Fifty percent went to the boss, while the remaining scraps went to the other team members who went for that operation.
He preferred a professional, all-business setting to this chaos. But what could he do?
When one of them noticed his entrance, he alerted the others; they all hailed him with hoots and cheers.
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Tekena quieted them with a raise of his palm and raised his glass, a sly grin on his face.
"To our tech brainiac and my second in command, I give a toast!"
They all raised their glasses, clinked and the uproar continued.
"Come here, Tiger," Tekena said, putting down his leg and patting the space beside him on the chaise-lounge,
"Come sit with me."
Savior was disgusted by the man, but hey, when you're in the gang, you don't object to the boss' command or slight his favor.
Savior sat perched on the edge of the sofa. Tekena slung an arm about Savior's shoulder. Savior resisted the urge to shrug him off.
"You make me proud, my boy," Tekena said and Savior almost gagged at the stench of alcohol that wafted from his mouth.
"You've got a smart brain in that skull of yours and that's why I like you. It's too bad we lost two members of the team, but it's no pain, no gain in this work we do. At least you were wise enough to flee the scene before those police scoundrels caught anyone alive. Here, loosen up for once. You should celebrate your success,"
Tekena said as he filled a beer mug with scotch and gave it to Savior.
Saviour took it and dragged a sip. Tekena downed his whole glass.
"I see a lot of potential in you, Tiger," he said, his voice slightly slurred. "You remind me of myself when I was younger."
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Savior watched his boss. The man was getting drunk.
"Back in the days, I was a nobody. Everyone thought nothing good would come out of me. But look now, look around you boy, what do you see? Money and power more than anyone could wish for! I did this by my wits."
He tapped his temple.
"I was so miserable and poor then, that my first wife would always taunt me." He tsked and shook his head.
"Her constant nagging was something else. It got to a point when her nagging didn't reduce even after the many warnings and beatings I gave her, I shut her up permanently."
He gave a wicked laugh and coughed.
He leaned towards Savior, his dark eyes glinting as if he wanted to share a major secret accomplishment with Savior.
"I remember that day as clearly as today. I was in the house and then she just barged in from her work and started ranting about what a mess I had made in the kitchen. Was that woman really expecting me to wash the dishes when she's there? Me?" He pointed his finger at his chest as if the notion was unthinkable.
"When she started screaming insults at my face, saying I was jobless, lazy, drunk, I couldn't take it anymore.
Something snapped in me. I stormed into the kitchen in anger, to the sink. Maybe she thought her talking was finally hitting a spot in me and I wanted to clear up the mess. But no, how wrong she was." He chuckled evilly and rubbed his palms together.
"I brought out a dirty kitchen knife and with a brutality fueled by my rage, I ran it into her stomach several times."
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The man was proudly demonstrating the stab with his clenched fist. Savior just stared at the drunk man. This man must have definitely had demons that haunted him from his childhood.
"I still remember the haunting look of shock and pain in her eyes as she crumbled to the floor in a pool of blood. Guess what I did with that annoying hag? I butchered her up and put her pieces in our deep freezer to enjoy hell for three days." The man roared in another hacking laughter like a maniac.
Savior was appalled but he didn't let it show. He kept a straight face, while he tried to imagine why anyone would conveniently kill his spouse and even go on to brag about it. His boss was a soulless creature with the potential to turn on anyone. Savior made a mental note to find out his weakness before the man turned on him too. Also, he had to be very careful around this man.
Turning serious all of a sudden, Tekena said, "Alpha Shadows has just begun, my boy. I want us to cut through those weaklings to our gain until they come begging us. I'm trusting you have the same aim." He gripped Savior's shoulder and looked at him straight in the eye.
Grimacing, Savior managed a nod in response.
Tekena closed his eyes and dropped his head to the headrest of the chaise lounge, an effect of the drowsiness the alcohol in his bloodstream brought. The wheels in Savior's head kept turning.
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