”There is a parcel on its way from the ports. Get it for me. I’ll text you the details.”

”Yes, my Capo” the man with a scar on his throat said and made calls to his henchmen to notify them of it. He knew the consequences of failure and was going to do all he could to ensure success.  The huge financial benefits he was sure to reap from the operation were enough motivation for him to succeed.

Jack Palance smiled again at the thoughts of the high-class girl he was going to make love to at the end of the operations.

Everything was set in no time. He had received all the relevant details of the operations, the target, his time of arrival and the size of the package he was carrying.  They laid in wait at the area around the customs long room, saw the shipping agent take delivery of the parcel, followed him to his office and waited for the opportune time to strike. 

It was going to be easy; after all, they were three and he was alone.  Jack smiled again at how easy the attack was going to be. After all, they had succeeded in relieving him of his items before. His Capo seemed to have an axe to grind with that man.

They tailed him as he drove around the city with the box of expensive devices in the back seat of his car as they waited for the chance to pounce. Unknowingly to Jack and his men, they were also being spied on as they trailed the hapless agent by Yoofi and a trusted ally.

Jack and his men pounced when the agent stopped to take a leak on a less busy stretch of road. But Yoofi and his man were ready. They arrived in the nick of time and parked their car very close to Jack’s car which then became sandwiched between theirs and the agent’s car, thereby offering no way of escape. They jumped out and dished out such merciless beatings to the crooks despite the knives and guns they were holding.  They were soon rendered defenceless,  with Jack having a broken arm and his two men almost comatose.  It took the police almost thirty minutes to arrive but there was no way the men could escape: not with their serious degrees of injuries.

”Whew. I nearly went mad for a moment,” Yoofi said as he wiped the sweat from his brow as he went home to refresh himself for his visit to Rose and her sister to brief them of the latest development.

”Is that only what  I want to talk about?” he asked himself and smiled.

He had been thinking about Rose a lot and felt that that could be the real reason why he handed out such brutal beatings to the hoodlums who had been after her blood.

He was at their doorstep in less than an hour and the kind of welcome he received was reserved for royalties. It was so comforting that he found himself grinning from ear to ear. First, they had both jumped into his arms and given him such a hug that he almost went down with them.

He was served emo tuo and nkatsenkwan with assorted meats and fish even before he could catch his breath.

”I have good news,” Pam  announced triumphantly.

”I have good news too, but you first,” he said as he licked his fingers, fighting out the urge to scream that the meal of rice balls and groundnut soup was the most delicious ever.

”I have been offered a scholarship to study in an American university plus allowances for rent and food,” Pam said and smilingly hugged him to which he had no choice as his right hand was smeared with soup.

”Now it’s your turn. What’s your good news,” Rose, who had been quiet all along asked.

”Let me deal with this stubborn wele first before l reply. Abinkyi before pleasure, you know,” he said and winked at her, and he was rewarded with a captivating smile that got him slightly disoriented.

”When you smile at me like this, it makes me feel like slumping into your arms.”

”Eeeiiii, yooo m’atse” the siblings said in unison and they all laughed.

”Now the good news,” Pam said when he was done with his meal.

”Wait for me,” Rose shouted from the kitchen where she had gone to deposit the dirty bowls.

So he waited, looking into the middle distance until the girls were done washing the bowls.

They soon rejoined him and he needed no second prompting.

”Let me just say that I used a red herring to deceive your man and he fell into the trap,” he said, feeling slightly uneasy.

”You mean the Mafia boss?” Pam asked excitedly.

”I used a fake parcel to set him up and when they attempted to steal it, received the beatings of their lives.

”So the police have them?” Rose asked,  not believing her ears.

”Yes but they are confined to their hospital beds at the moment,” he said, trying to be upbeat about it as they were.

”Huraaay, that’s my Jackie Chan,” Pam said effusively and proceeded to demonstrate some outrageous karate moves of her own which was so hilarious that her audience roared with laughter. 

Rose tried to match her with her own karate moves but immediately backed away when Pam’s wild swinging arms proved to be dangerous and she was in danger of losing an eye.

Yoofi offered to take them out on the spur of the moment when he saw that the sun was going down.

”Please count me out. I have a quiz tomorrow morning,” Pam said and left for her room.

”Well, the lesser, the merrier,” he said, happy beyond measure.

”Let me change into something appropriate then,” Rose said and vanished into her room.

She was back in thirty minutes looking beautiful and angelic. He stared and his breath literally ceased.

She had put on a polka-dotted sleeveless flair kind of dress that stopped just above the knees. It hugged her body well and accentuated her athletic curves well. Her skin glowed under the orange dress she had on.

”I am ready if you are,” Rose said with a shy smile

”I am” he said, getting giddy-headed.

”Please bring her back on time and in one piece o,” Pam called from behind her door as they walked out smiling at each other.

 

***

The next day, Rose was alone and still in bed as Pam had left quite early for school. She stretched luxuriously and was extremely happy.  As a freelance journalist,  she had the luxury to come and go at her own convenience.

She smiled as her mind drifted to last night’s outing with Yoofi.  He had taken her to a secluded Bar on the beach. There was abrofo nkatse trees all over and it provided a comfy atmosphere in addition to the sea breeze. The soft music provided by hidden speakers added to the romantic atmosphere of the place.

They had secured a table near the wooden fence that offered an uninterrupted view of the moonlit illuminated sea. Waitresses in bikinis served them drinks and kebabs as they enjoyed the music and the general atmosphere of the place.

They looked everywhere but into each other’s eyes even though there were moments when they found themselves looking into each other’s eyes and had to self-consciously look away. The breeze turned chilly and Rose shivered.

”Are you cold?” he asked, concerned.

She nodded and when she saw what other couples were doing,  stood and sat on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

”Hmmm, this is nice,” she said and put her head back onto his neck, nuzzling him.

”I’ll always protect you,” he said in a slightly choked voice.

They stayed like that for quite a while until she felt a hardening on her backside and suggested they leave.

He drove sedately,  each with his or her own private thoughts.  He drove through the security checkpoint and parked in front of the house but none of them made a move to get out. Then, she turned and faced him.

”Yoofi, when you said that whenever I smile at you it made you feel like slumping into my arms, were you being serious or playful?” she asked, her nostrils flaring.

”I was being truthful, Rose. I love seeing you smile,” he said without breaking eye contact.

The kiss happened so fast that none of them saw it coming. They kissed, tasted each other’s lips, savoured it and his hand found its way to her bouncy breast. Rose moaned, the sound making Yoofi’s heartbeats quicken with so much pleasure that Rose had to get out of his arms with herculean strength.

She lay back in the seat, breathed in and out deeply and turned to look at him again her forehead blistering with perspiration.

”Goodnight Yoofi,” she said kissed him and rushed out of the car.

Now, as she lazed in bed, she hugged herself with thoughts of Yoofi Baiden on her mind.

 

Meanwhile,  at the other end of town, someone wasn’t so satisfied with life. He was fuming, enraged, ranting and spitting hellfire and damnation.

”Does this small boy think he can defeat me? This dadaba thinks he can match me boot for boot. He thinks it takes a spoiled brat to stop me, erh. He’ll smell pepper by the time I’m done with him,” the man known as the Capo said. He could hardly stand still.

”Boss, what do we do about our men? They could spill the beans, you know,” Fiko said uneasily.

”Shut up and let me think,” he screamed.

‘He knew at once what must be done about the rare situation he found himself. He was going to hit him where it hurt most.

”He wants war, he’ll get war,” the Capo said harshly and sent Fiko away.

 

Yoofi,  the subject of the Capo’s frustration had woken up early for him to visit the police.

After just a cup of tea, he went on his mission.  He kept his eyes preened for danger of any kind. He walked into the office of the police  CID and was met with bad news.

”This is not good at all,” he said quietly when he was told that all the three men had been found dead on their hospital beds, apparently poisoned.

They were poisoned even under police guard. He really wanted to ask those men some tough questions. To interrogate and cross-examine until they become senseless idiots. Now it was too late for that. Frustratingly,  he clenched and unclenched his fists.

The crime officer patted him on the back.

”Don’t worry. Something might come out of the background checks we’ll run on them. Could reveal whoever they were associated with.”

”Can I go to the hospital to look around?” he asked the policeman.

”Why not. Let’s go.”

They were there in no time and swiftly went to see the doctor on duty who took them to the ward. It had been marked as out of bounds due to it being a crime scene.

”Good morning officer, good morning Mr Yoofi Baiden” the pleasant-looking doctor greeted and introduced himself as Dr Jackson.

”You know me then,”’ Yoofi said surprised at his name being mentioned so well.

”Of course.  I went to medical school with Ursula and you were a constant visitor,” Dr Jackson said and led the way in.

The beds were still messy even though the bodies had been taken away. They examined everywhere but found nothing out of the ordinary.

”What kind of poison did they die from,” Yoofi asked the policeman who in turn glanced at the doctor.

”We aren’t sure yet but it has all the characteristics of a snake serum,” the doctor told them.

”Were they found on their beds or the floor?”

”All of them were on the ground with foamy mouths,” the doctor replied,  impressed with Yoofi’s intelligent questions.

”I see. How did they die? Did they struggle or just died,” he asked again.

Dr Jackson was quiet for a while.

”All the signs pointed to the fact that they struggled and it must have been a pretty painful death. That’s why they fell from the beds.”

Yoofi excused himself,  went to his car for a tiny but powerful ultra-violent flashlight and returned to search the floor with its beam, hoping to find anything that would give a clue as to who they are dealing with.

They watched patiently as he swept the floor with the torchlight.  He got close to one bed, tarried a bit and waved the policeman over and made him direct the beam to a particular spot while he took some shots with his phone’s camera. Done, he showed the just taken photos to the policeman who exclaimed in surprise at what the dying men had desperately written on the floor with their foamy salivas.

”What could be the meaning of this?” the CID man asked no one in particular as he looked again at the ‘CAPO’ ‘CAPONE’ and ‘KABO’ the men had written with their last breaths before they succumbed to death.

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