Chapter 11

With the gun in his right hand, and still naked, Kuuku pushed one of the windows carefully open and brought up the gun, sweeping it across the balcony and trying to locate Chris Bawa's huge frame!

He dashed forward because the light from the bedroom was blinding him, making it impossible to see the balcony clearly. Now on the balcony, his finger began to tighten on the trigger as he scanned the space quickly to locate his target.

But Chris was not like any ordinary guy.

He was not standing by the railings. Instead, he was leaning against the wall just inside the balcony so that when Kuuku moved forward blindly, he heard Chris' cool voice behind him.

"You always do things in style, my friend."

Kuuku froze.

 The gun was held out in front of him, and Chris had spoken behind him.

He sighed deeply and lowered the gun, aware that Chris now had the drop on him.

"Look, Chris," he began slowly, giving the impression of a man who was deeply hurt and vulnerable as he dropped his shoulders. "There's an explanation for this…"

Suddenly, Kuuku spun around, bringing up the gun, but Chris was a step ahead of him again. Before Kuuku could spin all the way around, he moaned in deep agony when Chris smashed a fist into his ribs!

 He had not seen Chris move, and so was taken by surprise by the big man's swiftness and expertise, as always. Prison, evidently, had not dulled Chris Bawa's uncanny prowess as the shadow, a man that could move with the stealth, speed, and strength of a spirit.

The hard blow into Kuuku's ribs made the air ooze out of him, and he collapsed on the floor with a moan, barely feeling the numbing and paralyzing blow that Chris smashed on his hand with the gun, and the gun clattered harmlessly to the floor.

Kuuku gasped, aware that some of his ribs could be broken from the ferocious blow Chris Bawa had just delivered. He saw Chris looming over him, and then he looked up with terror when Chris reached down and grabbed one of his legs.

"Chris!" Kuuku groaned weakly as Chris began to drag him across the floor of the balcony. "Hold it, Chris! Please! What are you doing? What are you doing, Chris?"

Without his gun and the element of surprise, Kuuku knew he was no match for Prodigal, the best unarmed fighter the SPF had ever had, and his terror knew no bounds as Chris dragged him relentlessly.

"Chris!" Kuuku screamed with horror and tried to pull his leg out of the vice-like grip of Chris Bawa. "What are you doing, Chris? What are you going to do?"

"Throw you away," Chris said lazily.

And Kuuku first went numb with horror, then he began to struggle fiercely but with no effect whatsoever on Chris' iron grip.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he blabbered. "Don't do this, Chris! Please, Chris, I'm sorry for Elsie and drawing a gun on you! Chris, damn it, listen to me, man! We're friends, Chris, damn! Once best friends, remember, Prodigal? Chris, it is three floors to the hard garden below! Damn it, listen to me! You'll kill me, Chris! You're going to kill me, Chris!"

He was weak and helpless!

The crippling blow was still ravaging his body, and he could barely breathe!

His frantic voice made Elsie-Mina rush towards the balcony.

"Chris!" Kuuku screamed when Chris Bawa got to the balcony railings. "Stop it, Chris, please, please, pleeeease, man! We're childhood friends, Chris, remember that, please, please, please! Damn it, Chris!"

Chris Bawa's face was expressionless as he bent down and tried to hold Kuuku's head, but the man was struggling frantically and kept knocking his hand away. Chris smashed a fist into Kuuku's stomach with such ferocity that the man dry-retched first before vomit came spewing out of his mouth.

He slammed a foot into Kuuku's groin, straight at his balls, and this time there was an animal-like wail from the man's throat as he went limp for a moment as matured pain played a tango dance through his body.

Chris placed his hand on the side of Kuuku's head and smashed the man's head into the balcony metal sickeningly!

Kuuku moaned with pain and ceased struggling as he almost lost consciousness. Chris Bawa then held Kuuku by the neck, lifted him clear off the floor with one hand, and threw him across the balcony railings like a doll.

Kuuku's scream shattered the darkness as he fell through the air down three tall floors, his limbs flailing wildly for a moment, his hands clutching at empty air desperately, his scream a long wail that was cut off abruptly when he smashed into the ground below.

Chris turned around and walked towards the bedroom again, stopping briefly to pick up Kuuku's gun and deftly removing the cartridge from its chamber and dropping them into a flower pot on the balcony.

Elsie-Mina was wearing a belted gown now.

She had been rushing to the balcony, but Kuuku's screams of agony halted her, and she crossed her arms on her chest and waited, barely breathing, then when Chris came into the bedroom, she stared at him with tears still washing down her face.

"You killed him?" she whispered hoarsely.

Chris dragged the windows shut and looked at her without expression.

"Nope," Chris said softly. "He was trying to fly."

She put a hand across her mouth as her face screwed up in agony.

"Maybe you should… beat me too, Chrissy, if it will make you feel better."

"I didn't throw him away because you fucked him, Els," he said calmly as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "He came at me with a gun."

She shook her head dazedly as if he had hit her. 

"You wouldn't have… hit him otherwise?" she murmured.

"He didn't force you, Els," he replied gently. "You were free to make a choice, and you made one. Simple."

And that one hit her hard.

Her mouth opened in a soundless wail and she dropped her arms, her hands balling up into fists. She stared at him in agony, feeling the torture of his stare, and the unhidden finality on his face.

"Chrissy!" she moaned finally.

She took jerky steps towards him and stopped, and then she raised her arms towards him with the intent of wrapping them around his neck.

"Don't do that," he said calmly.

Her face, if it was capable of shattering any further, did just that.

"You're going to hurt me very badly, Chrissy, if you start hating me, and if you leave me," she moaned. "That was the last thing I ever wanted you to see. You were sentenced to life imprisonment, they did not allow me to see you, my days were very lonely, Chrissy, please."

"You did nothing wrong, Els," he said softly. "Stick with him."

"No! No, Chrissy, damn you, no! Don't decide for me!" she wailed and pushed him hard in the chest. "I don't love Kuuku! It is you I love! You, I will always love! I had no excuse, and I'm sorry, Chrissy! If I had known I would see you again, it wouldn't have happened with Kuuku! Believe me, Chrissy, my love, please! If you don't forgive me for this, you're going to hurt me badly!"

"Where's my son?" Chris asked. "Went to his room, and it looks like he's not been around for some time. Where's Junior, Els?"

"Is that all that matters to you right now?" she shouted in agony.

"What else?" he asked softly.

"Damn you, Chrissy!" she cried softly. "You're supposed to ask me what happened, why I did this with your friend! You have to know it all, when this damn shit started and why! I need to tell you so that you understand so that you can forgive me! I need to know if you're home for good, and what is going to happen to us! Oh, Chris, my love! Do not break my heart all over again!"

He did not move from the wall, but his handsome face was a shade colder as he glared at her.

"Where's my son, Els, damn it?"

"He moved out!" she screamed suddenly and pushed him in the chest again. "I came home from work three years ago, and he was gone! Junior took your imprisonment hard! He could not comprehend it, and he missed you! They would not allow us to see you in prison, and they said bad things about you, and Junior heard! He could not deal with it because you were his hero, and he loved you! So, he left!"

She noticed how tortured Chris Bawa's face was when he came off the wall and gripped her upper arms tightly, his face tortured now, his pain unbearable.

"Three years? You let a thirteen-year-old boy strike out on his own?"

"What was I supposed to do, Chrissy?" Elsie Mina wailed, wincing as his hands hurt her arms. "He was gone! I reported to the police! I called Kuuku, and he informed Sir Lance. Your parents and siblings heard! They all tried to trace him, but he was gone, Chris, and they could not locate him! He left because he could not take your incarceration! You were taken away and did not even say goodbye to him, and he had to rely on hearsay because your case was hushed up!"

Chris released her and put his hand on his forehead for several seconds as he fought for control. Elsie suddenly knelt and wrapped her arms around his left leg.

"I'm so sorry, Chrissy, please!" she cried. "Didn't want you to see anything like that! My affair with Kuuku started just about three months ago, but he had been hitting on me even when I was with you, and only stopped when I threatened him I would inform you. He's been the only one from the Force who's been close to me, comforting me, helping me look for Junior! But he does not mean anything to me! It was because of the loneliness! Please, please, forgive me!"

"Get off me," he said quietly.

She raised a tortured face to his.

"Chrissy, don't do this to me!" she whispered tremulously. "I know you never cheated on me because you gave me your promise! I know Princess Gwendoline wanted you and wanted to marry you, and that would have made you the king of Eden someday! But you rejected her and stayed with me! And I know being unfaithful to you will break that promise you made to me but… I can't live without you, Chrissy! I would never have done this if you were still with me! Forgive me! Say you forgive me!"

Chris reached down, held her upper arms, and dragged her up.

He looked into her eyes deeply.

"Choices are not wrongs, Els," he said quietly. "You just took care of yourself."

"Chrissy!" she murmured softly as hope entered her eyes. "Does it mean you've forgiven me? That you will stay with me?"

"We ain't married," he said calmly. "We have a son. I made a promise to you because we have a son. I was never going to leave you or be unfaithful to you. Also told you my promise to you would be broken if you do what you have just done."

"Chrissy!" she wailed in horror, shaking her head with dismay and horror. "No, no, no! Don't hurt me! You're going to kill me, Chrissy! Yes, you said it, but you were in prison! Life imprisonment!"

"Didn't matter," Chris Bawa said gently. "When I gave my promise, as long as you took a breath, nothing would have made me cheat on you, Els. You know that, don't you?"

She did.

As she looked at him, she knew that.

He was that special a man; a man whose word was an honour he kept and didn't break. If she had been in prison, as long as she lived, Chris would have remained faithful to her.

This simple realization made her know that it was over between them, and that was the one thing she could not take. Kuuku had just been a fill-gap replacement, someone who helped keep the loneliness away, and restored sanity to a world that had collapsed when her Chris was taken away, and her only son had fled from home.

To know that Chris was out, whether he had been released or he had escaped, and caught her in a very horrible position with Kuuku, was more than she could take. She could have borne his disgust and revulsion for a while if he stayed with her, knowing that eventually, his good heart would win out.

"Don't do this, please!" she whispered tragically, her voice breaking on a sob. "Even if I have to wait forever, please, love!"

"Choices, Els, choices," he said calmly. "We're done."

To know that she had lost him, finally, made a fierce pain lance through her heart, and she suddenly went into hysterics.

She grabbed at him fiercely, trying to wrap her arms around him and press her buxom body to his.

"No, Chrissy, no!" she cried fiercely. "You can't do this to me, no! I won't let you! Why didn't you marry me, Chris? Why? I gave you a son! What stopped you from giving me that joy of being your wife? I'm sorry, please, but you and I are meant to be together, forever, and that's what is going to happen! If you had married me, I wouldn't have cheated on you!"

Chris Bawa turned her around, and as her back slammed into him, he expertly pressed the pressure point at the base of her neck, and she went limp immediately.

He lifted and carried her to the bed and arranged her gently on it. He stood up and gazed down at her for a while, and then he bent and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Chris turned quickly and left the bedroom.

He descended to the second floor and went to Junior's room again. There was a pain in his heart as he stared at a framed photo of him and Junior on the table. They had taken that picture on the beach. They were both wearing beach shorts, and Chris had lifted the boy and they were laughing into each other's eyes.

Roland, Chris' elder brother, had taken that picture.

Chris picked the framed photograph and deftly drew out the picture, and then he left the room. He descended to the ground floor and went straight to his study.

Elsie-Mina had kept it well, and it was as he had left it five years previously.

It was huge, with a magnificent oak desk and comfortable armchairs in the sitting area. A mini-conference area was near the windows and had an oval glass-topped desk and six hard-backed comfortable chairs around it.

Chris Bawa barely paused as he moved to the back of the library and tapped quickly on the wall at four distinct places that formed a square, and then he tapped three times in the middle of that invisible square.

The sound sensors picked up the rhythm, and a moment later a small square patch of the wall receded inwards, and a little bright screen shot out of the wall.

Elsie-Mina and Junior did not know of this; it was known only to Chris.

He quickly entered a complex code on the screen, finishing off with a drawn pattern, and suddenly a door-sized patch of the wall slid aside to reveal a secret room beyond.

Chris stepped through, and the wall slid back into place, locking him in.

He quickly moved through the luxuriously-furnished secret apartment beyond, going first to the bathroom. He stripped naked and took a quick bath, and then he moved to the living room portion, activating screens around the walls as he moved.

Chris stopped in front of a mahogany wardrobe and opened it. He selected clothing swiftly, and soon he was dressed in all-black comprising jeans, combats boots, polo-necked T-shirt, gloves, and special night-mode glasses that he fixed in the open neck of the T-shirt.

Chris took a glance at the combat wristwatch, and then he stopped in front of a glass counter. Within the velvet interior was an assortment of firearms. He slid the drawer out and quickly picked two handguns, a knife that he strapped to his inner arm, and a few other instruments.

He carried all of them to a low table near the bed in the middle. Carefully, he placed his weapons on the table, and then he moved to the bed.

He was both mentally and physically drained from escaping from prison, plus the deadly poison had really taken a bite at him. It was time to rest because resting was also a weapon. A tired mind in a tired body made mistakes, and mistakes, however slight, sometimes led to violent deaths.

Still dressed, he stretched out on the bed and was asleep almost immediately.

He slept for exactly one hour and came awake with the strident beeping of the lighted screens on the wall. He got out of bed calmly, his instincts primed as he walked over to the screens.

There were a lot of red dots littered on them, some on the level and one dot above the rests.

These dots represented cars, and at least one helicopter.

He knew they were police and SPF assault vehicles, and of course, the helicopter could only mean authority. They had found out he had escaped, and the hunt was on. The dragnet had now been cast, and he was officially a fugitive.

They were coming for his blood.

Calmly, Chris returned to the table and began to strap on his guns.

"Hoc Bellum est," he said softly. "Semper fi."