The drive from the place they had been holding him captive to his front gate took almost two hours. The car was a minivan, driven by a MOP agent. Four other armed agents accompanied them. One rode in front with the driver, whilst three rode in the van with Chris, Ivy, Effe and Steve.

The interior had comfortable sofas, and it was replete with a led screen cable television, a refrigerator, and two sleeping compartments with closed doors. It was air-conditioned and rather pleasant.

They slipped a black sack over Chris’ head and handcuffed his hands behind him. They put chains around his feet. He had not resisted and had sat calmly as the car moved off. An hour later, when he heard other cars zooming along a busy street, he knew he was back in civilization.

Steve then removed the sack and deftly uncuffed Chris.

He sat quietly rubbing the numbness out of his hands as they sat around him looking at him warily, almost as if they expected him to burst into violence. They kept the chains around his feet locked and secured to a metal bar below his seat.

The guards kept their guns pointed in his direction, and Chris knew they had orders to shoot to maim. Chris’ expression was deadpan as he leaned back in his seat, crossed his massive arms across his chest, and closed his eyes.

Ivy sat beside him whilst Effe and Steve sat across.

Ivy Kokou eventually placed a big, rectangular metallic box on the seat between her and Chris.

“This folder contains dispositions, Eden law practices, a complete case dossier on my husband, and ruling summaries of the original case and subsequent appeal, Mr Bawa. Also, there are two books in there on the Kingdom of Eden crime laws and their Constitution. We would provide any other information you might want to elicit from us.”

Chris Bawa did not stir; to all intents and purposes, he was asleep. Steve scoffed and leaned back. Effe and her mother exchanged worried looks for a moment, but none of them spoke for a long time.

An hour after that, they pulled up in front of Chris Bawa’s impressive house. Again, Steve moved forward with a key and unlocked the chains around Chris’ feet.

The huge man stood up and wordlessly picked up the metal box, then moved towards the entrance.

“We leave in two days, Mr Bawa,” Ivy said quickly. “Via a private jet. All documentations are ready. The Kingdom of Eden embassy was ordered to issue us special passes, so we’ll need your passport when you’re coming for the necessary clearance.”

Chris jumped from the van and hesitated as his car pulled around the van and came to a stop. The driver’s door opened, and an agent stepped out of the car and moved rapidly towards the van. So, evidently, they had driven his car from the police headquarters when they captured him. As Chris walked towards his car, he heard quick steps behind him, and he turned slowly to see Effe following him. She held out an earpiece.

“It is Sisi,” Effe said calmly. “I called her. You can speak to her for a while.”

She saw the raw hatred on Chris’ face, and the smouldering wrath raging in his eyes. His jaws moved, and for a horrible moment, his free hand curled into a fist, and Effe was afraid he would hit out at her. He took a deep breath and turned towards his car again.

“Chris!” Effe said desperately. “She wants to hear your voice! She misses you! Please speak to her!”

He whirled furiously on her, and when he spoke his words were clipped and filled with disgust.

“I will not lie to my daughter, ever, do you hear me? If I speak to her, I’ll tell her exactly what is going on, and exactly the wicked evil bitch that you really are! Do you still want me to speak to her?”

Effe quickly pressed a knob on the earpiece to end the call. She looked at Chris bitterly.

“She was still on the line, and she could have heard you, do you know?”

“As well she should,” he said curtly. “She ought to know the snake she was playing with, don’t you think?”

“And what would that achieve, apart from making her scared and hurt?”

“She should be scared and hurt!” Chris exploded and took a step towards her. “You want her to be happy and free? You devils are holding her a prisoner, so don’t you dare pretend it is anything else!”

“Because you forced us to!” Effe shouted, suddenly hurt by his words.

“Nobody forces you to do anything, Effe Kedem. You’re just a bunch of evil souls, pure putrefaction of everything honourable. You have no guile in your system, Effe, or whoever the fuck you are!”

“Fuck you, Chris!” she shouted, stung by his words and raw hatred. “You would do the same for your family, for your father if that was the only thing to do! I know my father is innocent, and yet he has been sentenced to death! If I have to cultivate your hatred to help him, so be it! Look, I’m so sorry for what happened to your family – “

“Stop the fuckery!” he shouted back at her and pointed at his house. “The only joy I get from entering my house is knowing my daughter is in there, waiting to blast me with her brand of love! I work hard and get satisfaction from seeing justice dispensed to those who deserve it, and at the end of the day, I come home to love… the pure love of my daughter! But, this night, what do I come back to, huh? I go into that house not knowing where my daughter is, or what the hell is happening to her!”

“Sisi is fine, Chris, she’s fine!” Effe said as she fought for calm. “Do you want videos? She’s with friends, surrounded by people who will continue to show her love and care! All you have to do is go to Eden, help my father as best as you can, then come back to your daughter! That’s all!”

“That’s all to you, yes, because you’re cold and sees only in black and white. You’re just like your mother, a devil at heart!”

“Chris, please. We all do what we think is right. My ways might not appeal to you, but out of desperation, we all behave differently.”

“By packaging hatred and betrayal like love, huh?” he hissed at her furiously. “You came into our lives with your lies, presenting yourself as somebody you are not. You shredded the happiness we had, pretended to that little girl, watched her campaigning for you to become her new mother, but all along there was just bile and darkness in your heart.”

“I love Sisi!” Effe cried furiously. “I never pretended with her, Chris. What I feel for her is real. Look, I’m sorry I led you on, I really am, but – “

“Sorry? You vile evil thing! You’re not sorry for anything, so stop your lying! You came disguised as an angel, ripped my life apart, and that exposed the real evil you are. You know, you made me feel passion for the very first time in my life, a passion that was exhilarating and complete. But now I know there’s nothing like that, only whimsical foolishness. Love, for me, is dead forever. Well done, Effe Kedem, well done for an education well-taught. Give yourself a medal.”

He opened his car door.

“Chris, please, wait.”

“Go fuck yourself,” he threw over his shoulder.

Steve got out of the van and walked towards Effe, and he looked at Chris with sheer contempt.

“Shit, Bawa, stop the bloody bitching, would you?” he said with a disdainful chuckle. “We got you by the balls, and we are pulling the strings now, puppet. Get this done, get your daughter and go fuck yourself. I know your ego is hurt because you thought Effe loved you and all that shit. Well, she’s my woman, she played you, you lost. Get over it, man.”

Chris stopped.

His back was to them when he moved like a flash of lightning. He took a step back, slid sideways, and then he spun off his feet and turned in mid-air.

Caught off-guard by the blinding reflexes of the lawyer, Steve gasped and tried to fumble out his gun from his shoulder holster, but he was too late. Chris’ fist smashed into his face with such brute force that he was unconscious before he crashed down with sickening force on the pavement. Effe screamed when he saw Steve’s inert body with his face covered with blood.

She knelt beside him with a heart laden with horror, sure that Steve was dead, but when she felt his pulse, it was beating weakly. Three MOP agents had come out of the van and were holding guns pointed at Chris, and behind them was a stunned Ivy Kokou.

Effe held out a hand towards the agents when she saw the crazy look on Chris Bawa’s face, and she realized suddenly that by their actions, they had poked a ferocious lion in the eye.

“Put the guns away!” she ordered the agents desperately as she looked at Chris Bawa’s face of death. “It’s okay, Chris, it’s okay.”

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