DO THUGS CRY?

CHAPTER 3: THE BIGGER PICTURE

"What happens when lovers from two different worlds meet, will society divide them and it becomes a tragedy or will love win and it becomes a comedy?"

Don't get it twisted, I and Kim ain't even lovers yet, neither have we met officially until today. I invited Kim for a date and it wasn't in Jones town, I had to take it somewhere far from home to prevent tragedy as the society would have predicted.

The closest town to Jones town is Lag city, it's just as big as Jones town with lots of similarities as well but most importantly few or no one knows who I am or what I do here and I planned to keep it that way.

Kim on the other hand worked in the area which means she's familiar with the vicinity.

At 6pm in the evening, I saw Kim from afar, she did keep to her promise by honoring me with a date, it's been long I did this and definitely not since I became a certified thug but guess it's high time I tried something new.

"Hi Kim, you did come."
I said.

"Good evening, Marcus
Why won't I ?
It's nice to go out especially for free food and drinks.
Who does not love free food?"

She replied with a smile.

"I'm happy you honored my invite at the least.
Even if you've just admitted that food is more important than me and my presence.

"Oh, sorry Marcus
Definitely not, that's not what I mean but seriously,I can't believe you had to go hungry while waiting for me"
She responded cheekily.

"No worries, I hope it's worth it"
I replied.

"Me too"
She replied with a smile.

"Waiter, come and serve us something nice already.
I'm starving, man."
I said.

"So, Kim how are you and how has your day been? I want to hear every bit of it."
I asked.

That was how the conversation began over a bottle of wine accompanied with a sumptuous meal. Kim was so free-spirited, she had so much to say about her self and her family which is mostly her dad. She mentioned how her dad sacrifices everything for her just to become successful and most importantly, she talked about how her dad talks a lot about the kind of guy she should marry.
The old man had been on her neck to bring a man home as soon as possible and with the way things are, I doubt if I am that man and the more I think about it the more I hurts.

This made me realize the picture of the outside world I've not seen, the bigger picture. Kim has successfully redesigned my imaginations.

As a thug, I've never been afraid of dying, I know death would come at a particular stage in my life but right now all I'm scared of is dying alone, I've got a huge army who would die for me any day but what happens when they are all gone , it's always going to be me alone in this lonely world.

The bigger picture keeps getting clearer. After the long chat, I tried my best to avoid talking about who I am but I couldn't hold it for long especially due to the persistent nature of Kim.

"So Marcus, you still haven't told me about yourself, what do you do for a living?"
She asked.

That's was the most difficult question I was ever asked, I could have come through and said I'm a thug, but that would definitely ruin the moment, so I improvised.

"I am a business man, I run a loan shark business. Also into Real estate, it's actually more of a family business"

I said.

I know I had no other choice but to lie about who I am but also to make it look real to her also. I had to make sure the lies are very close to the truth and that was just what I did.

"Hmmm, that's pretty cool. You must be a busy man. I hope it's not like the loan sharks who use thugs to threaten their defaulters. Oh I'm sorry for associating you with thugs."

She said.

I paused and laughed for some seconds before responding. I knew she got me there eventhough she didn't mean it but she got me anyways.

"Maybe, maybe not. Why would people refuse to pay back loans in the first place, we should all learn to keep to our words. Just like you Kim, you promised to show up for a date with me and you kept to time and date, everybody should be like you."

I said.

"Awww, thank you.
But why would I dare stand a man like you up? That would be gross misconduct"

She said with a smile.
I responded with a smile too.

"It's been nice doing this with you, we should do this again next time, you pick the location but definitely not Jones town, I just enjoy the fresh air out here."

I said.

"Hmmm, or do you have a wife or kid you are running away from there? Mr Marcus."
She asked jokingly

"Nooo, definitely not, ok we can do Jones town if you want but definitely not at daddy's shop, I am not ready to compete with your father."
I said jokingly.
She laughed out loud and responded

"Ok not my dad's shop, Mr Marcus or should I say Mr Coward?"
She said jokingly.

"Keep calling me Mr Marcus and I will just propose and make you Mrs Marcus already"
I said.

"Easy Tiger, easy.
It's late already, it's time to move"
She said.

And that was how I had the best day of my life with the most wonderful woman ever. All I can conclude after that night is the fact that I fell in love in the bigger picture. Falling in love isn't a bad thing after all.