A Done Deal.

It was no secret that Shurrah and I were together. There was no point trying to hide anything in that place when the Alhaj's men were everywhere at all times. I really did not care anyway, I was in love for the first time and it was beautiful. Shurrah connected with me in ways I would later in my life miss so much. It was like she knew what I thought in my mind, and for someone with a noisy mind, it made me happy, happier than I had ever been since my mother passed away.

For two months we lived in the Alhaj's mansion. Eating, and relishing like kings, but like the saying goes "good things don't last long."

When Zaheer came to get me, it was exactly two months after the day we left Harmony City. He walked into the room smiling from ear to ear that early morning.

"You've been summoned, Mr. Badur. You and your brother," he said as he opened the large windows of the room.

"Summoned by whom, Zaheer?" I murmured. We never saw the Alhaj again after the first time we saw him, so I was surprised to hear that I was being summoned.

"By the Alhaj, of course... Get your ass up and meet me downstairs, Mr. Badur!" He walked out of the room.

I had been waiting to see the Alhaj since I last saw him, so I jumped out of the bed, got dressed, and was on my way downstairs to meet Zaheer in a matter of minutes. I had a lot of questions on my mind. How were Kaz and the twins? was chief amongst them. I was also starting to feel uncomfortable with my life in Zarratown. I had never had it so easy and I feared all the feasts and the clothes, the jewelry, and the booze, the parties and the beautiful woman would come at a price greater than their benefits, and I wasn't wrong.

A car was already waiting when I got downstairs and I was directed to get in by Zageer. When I opened the door, Alhaj was already waiting in the car.

"Get in, kid," he said in a tone so low, it made it seem as if he whispered.

The car started to move as soon as I got in, and the Alhaj began to speak in the same low tone he did before.

"I know you must be missing your family already, but it is not yet safe for you to return home. Your brother is trying to get you pardoned for killing your boss and even though you did it in self defense after the chicken of a man betrayed you to your enemy, the council isn't ready to hear your plea yet.

"My young friend, you see the thing about the council is that they are full of greedy old men who doesn't give a fuck about anybody but themselves."

"Forgive me sir, but isn't that the same thing you are? A greedy, selfish old man, I mean," I interrupted him.

He stared at me wild eyed and the fury in his eyes shook me to my spine, I felt as if I was being pierced by his gaze. Then after gawking at me for a moment, the fury slowly disappeared into a weird little smile that later expanded into a big grin. He soon started to laugh loudly.

"You should see the look on your face, kid. I got you shaking," he said and continued laughing.

I didn't feel myself shaking but I must really have been shaking because I was indeed very frightened.

"I like you, kid. Nobody has spoken to me in that manner since my wife died. You see, people fear me, and they do so for a good reason. I don't condone disrespect, lies or people who honor their deals with me," he continued.

"I understand, sir. I didn't mean any disrespect," I managed to murmur.

"Oh, I know, my young friend. You're smart, and you know better than to disrespect someone who can have you snuffed out like a mosquito," I know, he smiled.

He waited and stared into the empty space of the desert as the car moved on a tarred road sandwiched by desert to the right and the to the left.

"I hate all the bosses of the council. I have been trying to do business in Harmony city for decades, but those greedy bastards have been keeping me out. See, I'm a king around this parts but to them, I am just one backwater little town guy.

Your brother promised to get my business into Harmony city, but you had to go shoot your boss before he could do so... I only agreed to help you because he saved my life once and I owed him a life debt which I consider paid.

Now since the council is probably going to kill him when they realize they can't touch you here, I need you to start doing some little things for me."

"Things like what," I asked.

"Things like...killing my brother," he replied and just like his words were a kind of signal, the car suddenly stopped.

"What are you talking about!" I exclaimed.

"See, I can't kill my own brother, even if he's a thieving, scheming, backstabbing, liar. I don't want the curse that comes with that kind of thing, and my mother's spirit would be so disturbed wherever she is. But you are a killer and you don't have to bother about the curse, he's not your brother, he's mine, he opened the car door and got out. I waited for a while looking puzzled, then I reluctantly opened the door and got out too.

Some men were already waiting by pickup truck they must have been waiting for us for a while, they emerged from the truck immediately we got out and brought out a man with a hood over his head. They pushed him to the ground and removed the hood.

"Oh, he's the Alhaj's brother alright," I thought. I could see the striking resemblance, almost like they were identical twins. My mind wandering, for a moment, blocking out everything else. I kept thinking about what would make a man kill his own brother, or have his brother killed. The answer never really came to me until my later years. One thing I realized that day was that power and money can bring a man to commit the most evil act and still try to justify it. Or perhaps I was just a naive kid, because the more you go into this business of crime, the less choices you have over situations, the bad choices become the best choices you have and before you know it, there are no more good choices to be made. And it is when you are at that stage, killing your own flesh and blood becomes an option. A brother, a sister, a son...it doesn't really matter anymore. It is the very last stage, and even though I am not a religious man, it is the stage I pray never to get into.

"Do this for me, young Mr. Badur, and you and me will be in business. You will get paid a million dollars and like I promised your brother I will show you my business and together we will take Harmony City," his low toned voice broke my line of thought. He grabbed a pistol and threw it to me.

I stood there staring at the man as he begged for his life. He begged his brother hoping he would be spared but the Alhaj wouldn't even take a look at him. What kept going through my mind for years after that day was the resemblance.

The Alhaj wanted to say something but as he began to talk, I pointed the gun at his brother, I pulled the trigger, the gun fired, and the bullet whistled. A single shot to the head and it was a done deal. The brother was dead and I was in business with the Alhaj. I dropped the gun in front of him and walked slowly back into the car.