CHAPTER NINE

"Good work today guys" The coach walked around, shaking all the boys.

It had already been two weeks since Jimmy and his teammates had become the SGC champions. The following week after the final was spent celebrating and just having fun, something Jimmy did beter than anything. Even playing football.

Even though the excitement was still there, they knew they had to keep their fitness and continue all necessary workouts and drills to improve on their game as a team. The day's exercises were completed and everyone had started heading home after a very tough day. Everyome but Jimmy

"Your brother complained about me leaving you here last time. Now where is he?"

"I don't know. Maybe he will be here soon" Jimmy shrugged his shoulders as he removed his boots. Jimmy really didn't care whether the coach waited for Samuel to come or not. He was a very quick witted kid that believed he could take good care of himself.

"And you too? Where is your aunty?" The coach pointed at Emmanuel.

Emmanuel drew his breath and sighed, also shrugging his shoulders as he sat beside Jimmy. They both knew Samuel and Shola were probably together and if any of them came, both Jimmy and Emmanuel would be heading home. The coach on the other hand was just afraid of losing his job to another warning and had to wait.

"So na just three of us now" The coach complained

"We self dey here" A thick scary voice came from behind.

All three of them reacted to the voice with a sudden jolt.

"Shhh" The men revealed their guns, rounding up the trio.

They directed them to a warehouse close to the training camp. The guard at the gate had already been subdued by two other who were waiting for them.

"Oga please sir, we don't have anything jus…"

"Shut up!" One of the thugs slapped the coach

The warehouse was a very small one but was almost filled with carton boxes of different varieties of products. They motioned the coach and his pupils to a corner of the room and sat them there.

"Please what have we done!" The coach tried to protest

"Do you want me to shoot you!!!" The leader of the thugs pointed his gun at the coach

"No!!! No!! No! Please, I will shut up!!!" He shrivelled, holding his head in fear.

After ordering two of the guys to keep watch outside, the leader and two other men watched the captives.

"Boss show, I beg" Calling their leader aside

"What is it?"

"Who are we meant to kill here first? Because I know say no be that fool wey dey shake for ground" disgusted at the coach's behavior.

"That boy" He pointed at Jimmy

"Ehn?!! You sure?!!"

"Leave me!!" The boss pushed his comrade away.

I myself am confused. I don't think Mr. Seun knows Jimmy is just a boy. Either ways, let's follow instructions.

"Boss!!!" One of the men called out.

In quick response, the boss rushed to them. "What is it?!"

"This fool let the boy run!" Hitting the last man they left to watch their captives.

"Oga I tell you say I no sleep for night" Like that was a good enough excuse for letting him escape.

Could only be good for Jimmy who had quickly snuck somewhere in the warehouse to call for help.

I better call brother Sammy now!

"He can't have gone far, find him. And you watch the other two." The boss said. "If you sleep again you no go wake up" Warning him sternly.

***

"I thought you switched off your phone"

"So did I" Samuel scratched his head with a grin.

"Who is it" Shola asked

"Jimmy" Samuel replied. "Hey boyo… What??!!! Stay where you are, I am coming!!"

"What is it?!"

"Jimmy's in trouble!!!"

Samuel quickly switched from lover boy to hero. His brother was in trouble and he couldn't put anything before rescuing him, or anyone. He sprinted to the garage to get his bike as Shola struggled to keep up with his pace. She might have been a sprinter during her school days but was nothing compared to Samuel.

"Where exactly are you?!" Samuel asked, igniting the engine of his power bike and releasing a deafening roar from the bike.

"Samuel what is happening?!" The worried Shola finally caught up.

"Just tell me where you are?!" Not focusing on Shola at the moment

"We are in the warehouse near the field. I am hiding but they… Ahhhhhh Sammy!!!"

"Jimmy! Jimmy!!!!"

"Talk to me baby I am scared" Shola's eyes began to well with tears.

"Jimmy and Emmanuel are in danger. I have to go now!" He released the stand and pulled the throttle. With a burst of pace, he zoomed out of the garage at full acceleration.

Mother couldn't tell him not to speed this time. No one could

Shola paced in the garage. With her fingers dug deep into her hair, unsure of what to do. She had never found herself in a situation like this and never had she thought of it, she was clueless.

"Lemme tell Mrs. Akande" She said in soliloquy, drawing out her phone from her pocket.

No Samuel will handle it. I shouldn't scare her.

***

"I have found him!" A thug pulled Jimmy out, from the back.

"So you want to run away abi?" The boss squatted to meet Jimmy's height.

"Let me go! I will deal with you!" Jimmy's struggle was useless against the thug's grip.

The boss slapped Jimmy through the face, hitting him to the ground "Shut up! Too much action film is worrying you"

"Take him away!"

The other thug pulled him on the ground and tied him with his coach and friend. Where was Samuel? His brother really needed him now more than ever.

At full speed Samuel zoomed past several vehicles on the road. With a lot of hold up on the road, his bike was the perfect machine to get him to the warehouse.

Vrooom!!

Samuel parked his bike a distance to observe the scene. He quickly noticed two men standing at the gate, one of which constantly walked around, patrolling the compound. He had seen several characters sneek into buildings in video games and movies but sadly this was no movie. His brother's life was at stake.

After the patrol guy had entered the warehouse, Samuel quickly walked up to the one at the gate.

"Umm… Where can I find 'Adeniyi Jones' sir?"

In attempt to make things look natural, the guard decided to explain to him. "After this junction you…"

Before the guard could finish, Samuel blew him on the cheek with his elbow. In attempt to retaliate, the guard swung his hand at Samuel who was quick enough to react to the weak punch. Samuel held the guards hand and with a powerful throw over his shoulder, hit him into the ground and broke his neck. Good thing he learned judo back in England.

Samuel then pulled out the guard's gun but there was a problem.

"It's a fake!" Throwing the gun away.

As Samuel pulled the guard into the security post, he saw the warehouse security lying there tied. The security man kept humming, trying to communicate with Samuel but his mouth was also tied.

"Hmm mmm mmm!!" Trying so many guestures with his head, but none that Samuel could understand.

Samuel quickly removed the cloth tied around the security man's mouth.

"Behind you!!!" The man yelped.

Samuel turned on his toes to the up coming assault. A big hefty thug holding a huge wood came charging at him. With a swing he tried to hit Samuel but Samuel was quick enough to evade the strike. Immediately, the thug veered his swing, bringing it back at Samuel. Nimble enough, Samuel took a step forward, closing the gap between he and the thug, thus reducing the effect of the strike to just the thugs arm instead of the stick.

It was time to retaliate.

Samuel effortlessly wrapped his arm around the thug's hand and struck it with his elbow, breaking the thugs hand.

"Arrrrggghhh!!!!"

He wasn't done, he then pulled the thug, landing a heavy blow in between the thug's legs. To finish him off, Samuel struck a final blow to the thug's nose with the base of his palm, knocking him out.

"Quickly take his gun, we have to get the others" Samuel untied the security man.

"Only one of them holds a real gun. The rest are fake, but we must be careful" The guard felt the need to bring that to Samuel's notice

"Sir we have waited for long. What do we do?" The leader of the thugs complained on the phone.

"Just wait till you hear the sirens"

"What?! Did you call police on us?!

"Don't worry it's all part of my plan. You will get out safe"

"If he comes before the police arrive, then finish the job. If not, leave through the back entrance of the warehouse"

"The police will have the whole building surrounded, how do you know that will be safe?!" The leader of the thug asked

"I sent the police. One of them is working for me and that was the instruction he gave. Just do that, bye" Seun ended the call from his side.

The leader of the thugs turned around, looking at Jimmy who was also staring at him with rage.

What did Mr. Seun mean by if he comes?

Could this mean that mean that Seun predicted this outcome and played his cards according to his predictions. Jimmy wasn't the target after all, he was a bait to bring Samuel to the scene, and then murder him. All they had to do now was to wait and hope Seun's prediction turns out right. If Samuel came before the police arrived, he would be a dead man. If not, both he and Jimmy and all parties involved would be free.

But why put us through all this stress when we can just kill Samuel directly?

"Sir we have a problem!" One of the thugs came running into the warehouse.

"What is it?" The boss asked

"Okaka is dead and we just woke Eze up, but his hand is broken"

"What?!" What kind of person are we dealing with?

"Hahaha! You people are in trouble. Samuel is here" Jimmy mocked, feeling more confident about their escape now

"Shut up!" The leader yelled. "You and you, spread out and find that guy" pointing to his two remaining boys.

He came after all.

Jimmy noticed movement at the corner of his eye and tilted his head to see. It was Samuel!

Now he had to find a way to distract the boss to give Samuel a chance at rescuing them.

"Ooooo!!! I want to pee!!!"

"Pee on yourself na!!" The leader ignored his complaints

"I said poo not pee!"

He was positive he heard pee "Liar! You said pee!"

"Okay now continue arguing, when I poo poo here it's all of us that will suffer!!" A wide smirk overwhelemed him.

The leader threw him a scary gaze but it didn't seem scary enough to shake Jimmy.

"Oya come" he untied Jimmy and escorted him to the toilet.

Samuel and the security man took the opportunity to go and untie Emmanuel and the coach.

Without hesitation the cowardly coach took to his heels and bolted out of the warehouse.

"Me I no go die here today!!" Worried more about his life than his pupils'.

On hearing his voice, the other two thugs rushed out and saw Samuel still trying to loose Emmanuel's hands.

"Stop there!" One pounced on the security man while the other interrupted Samuel before he could finish releasing Emmanuel.

The four men wrestled each other, one party trying to get the better of the other.

"Be fast and poo, you this boy" The leader was beginning to get impatient.

"What was that?" He heard noise from the other end of the warehouse.

It sounds like… A fight!!

He pulled out his gun to go see what was happening and control the situation. Jimmy also took the chance to get out.

"Hey! Stop!!" The leader pointed his gun at Samuel and the security guard but the wrestling continued

"I will just kill you now, once and for all!!" His target, Samuel.

Before he could pull the trigger Jimmy pushed down a whole load of boxes on his head, falling him to the ground as his gun skid away.

Instinctively, Jimmy tried to go for the gun.

"No! Leave it!!" Samuel warned. He didn't want to have to remember the day his little brother handled a gun, talk less shoot it.

Still struggling with his man, Samuel asked his brother to leave immediately. "Release Emmanuel and take him with you. Go!!!!!"

Emmanuel and Jimmy ran out of the warehouse and Samuel finally succeeded in subduing his man. He quickly helped the security guard as they both handled the last thug immediately.

"Where is the gun" The security man threw looks from left to right in search of it.

"Over here!" The leader stood at the warehouse entrance, holding Jimmy and the gun in his hands

"No!!!" Samuel yelled

"I wanted to come and help you too" Jimmy tried to excuse his return

Even though Jimmy was a lot different from Samuel, they possessed a certain kindness and bravery in their hearts. Just like Samuel, Jimmy would never see anybody in need and refuse to help them. Especially not his brother, but this time it was going to cost him dearly.

"Okay then, go and help him" The leader let Jimmy run loose to Samuel.

Sameul saw the look on the thug's eyes and could almost guess what was coming next. He also tried to get to Jimmy quickly before his fear was realized, but he was too late. The thug had already cocked his gun and then…

Pow! Pow!!

Two straight bullets went flying through Jimmy's back.

"Ahh!!!!" His yelp was short but loud.

"Jimmy!!!!" Samuel knelt and caught him before he fell to the ground

"Now your turn!" He pulled the trigger again at Samuel. Straight went the bullet into his heart.

Wee oww wee oww

The sirens went as the police arrived at the scene.

"Shit! I have to leave!" The thug took to his heels, following Seun's instructions. The security man let him run in attempt to save Samuel and Jimmy first.

"S… Sam… Sammy… I... I... I can't breath" Jimmy struggled to pull his breath

"Bro… ther… Sammy" Tears slowly rolled down the cheeks of Jimmy

"I am here…" Samuel put his arm around Jimmy as he laid on Samuel's chest

"I… can… not see. Sss… Sammy"

Samuel wasn't doing any better than Jimmy. Blood gushed out of his chest as both his and Jimmy's blood mixed on the floor beneath them.

Struggling to breath Jimmy didn't give up even in pain "Sss… Sam… mmy I want to go home" he complained to his brother who could do nothing but spit blood.

"My ss… stomm… stomach hurts Sammy" His voice continued to shake as more and more tears filled his eye lids

Blood and tears gushed out of the brothers as they laid there, hoping for a rescuer to come.