Dirty

01 | Innocence

“HOW MANY ARE in the room?” A man cloaked in black attire from head to toe asked as he dumped the pistol that had been tucked in his torso on the brown desk placed at the center of the dimly lit room. The building itself was just a small construction made with blocks hidden in the notorious slums, next to a brothel and a smelly gutter. Currently the room reeked of something dead—probably a rat—mixed with the scent of sewage, both fighting for dominance in the air.

“Fifteen, boss.” Another replied, cocking his gun in preparation for what was to come next. “Red is in there keeping an eye on them. Just say the word.” The members of the crew had codenames according to colors.

The man nodded. The fifteen people in the other room were tied up and blindfolded waiting for him to give the signal for the real showdown to begin. “Bring them in.” The man removed his face mask to reveal his identity. A structured face that looked like it was formed from hardship, constant stoic expressions and beatings that it had received. Dark eyes which looked like a bleak abyss stares at the other three men in the room who answer to him.

He rose to his full height with his head almost reaching the ceiling. The short height of the building contributed to this. Those eyes scanned every crack and moss on the wall as if to put them to memory.  Under the dim light he was barely visible because his complexion easily blended with the darkness. It hid the numerous scars and the after effect of burns on them. 

He knocked on the only other door in the room. The signal for them to be brought out one after the other.

Red grabbed the first lady he saw by her hair extensions. She was gagged so the men only heard loud muffling noise of protest as she trashed her body around in one final attempt to put up a fight. In response she received a heavy slap from Red on her left cheek causing the lady to fall back and hit her head on the ground painfully due to his brutal strength. 

There really was no point in her trying to be stubborn. No one around can help her because they either didn't care or were too afraid of them to do anything about it. It was the norm.

“Call a number. You'll only be allowed to call a person once so be smart about who you're calling,” said White, the one who had his gun prepared and now pressed firmly on her forehead.

Black, the fourth member of the crew, held the phone for the call.  All the while the man stood watching the motions. He rarely intervened in the protocols after the people had been kidnapped unless it benefited him. At the end of the day money was the major aim for this.

Red removed her gag so she could speak.

“Z–zero,” she gulped, her body visibly shaking in fear. She regretted entering that particular bus to travel. On their way down a lonely road the bus and everyone in it was hijacked by armed men. But did she have a choice? She took leave from school to visit her sick mother who ended up at the hospital. Her mother was her only remaining parent after her father left. She had no money or anyone who she could call on for help but these men didn't know that.

Her tears soaked the blindfold as she begged. “Please let me go—”

White slapped her this time around. “Continue or I shoot!” Men like them had no heart for mercy.

“Nine… O–one,” and so she called the number of her Uncle who stayed in Abuja. She was able to recall it because she called him numerous times to ask for money. The man and everyone present watched the phone ring until it reached voicemail.

White was about to pull the trigger when He stopped him. The tension was palpable. The girl had to die if she had no one to bring ransom on her behalf.

“Please don't kill me,” the lady cried while silently praying to God to deliver her from this predicament.

Meanwhile the man, Akintoye Lucius stepped forward and grabbed her face in his large hand. He saw some benefits in her. Young, beautiful, fair with smooth skin and a desirable body. He brushed the tears on her face away.

Innocent. That was what she was.

Without wasting much time, with the men watching he quickly pulled down his jean trousers and defiled the lady of her innocence. Her screams fuelled the demon in him. Memories flashed in his mind, past events that had scarred and forged this path ahead for him. He allowed the pleasure to take away the pain until he was thoroughly done with her.

After exhaling one deep breath he quickly got up, wiped the sweat off his forehead then asked his fellow men to have their way as well. When they were done the lady was shot, her body dumped in the corner.

For a moment he turned his back to face the men and wondered. 'What would they think of him?’ ‘What had he become?’ 'A monster that he used to fear. A reflection of a person he loathed.’

Those thoughts were shoved back into the depth of his mind when Red brought out the next person. A pot-bellied man who fortunately was able to contact a man to bring ransom for him.

No matter what Akintoye had done and witnessed in this life it was as a result of his past. Every occurrence led to the now. To him taking away the innocence and lives of people. 

Many say a man without a heart. Yes, he has no heart because if he did, how would he be able to commit such unforgivable acts? That's why he thought he was too far down to start holding himself back from anything. Those dark memories hunted but shaped him.

The only thing he allowed to delude him was the fact that although he held a gun he had never pulled the trigger. Taking a life himself was something he couldn't do, although everyone assumed that he had.

Well Akintoye was soon going to go down that twisted road.

∞
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What do we think of this first chapter? It gives us a glimpse of how corrupt Akin is.

Akintoye means Valour is enough for an Honour in Yoruba.
Lucius means Light in Latin.