2

Oscar! My name echoed down the hall. 'Report to the Arena.' I hurriedly went down there and I saw my fellow glaziers ushering me with an ovation. Cheers and whistles flew around the arena as they screamed, go Oscar. I couldn't believe it, I was finally being inducted and given the opportunity to cleanse the dirt in the outside world. It's a day I've always dreamed of, we glaziers were not allowed to commence our quest until we've proven to be well drilled. As I walked towards the Messiah, he offered his hand and helped me up the podium. He whispered into my ear with so much warmth and love, 'you've done well son. It's time for you to take the bull by the horn, wipe out every dirt in our way. It's time for the torch of revolution to be passed onto you'. I've never been this happy but I remained as composed as possible . Ten of us were to be inducted, a mixture of six boys and four girls.I can bet they all have a thousand and one thoughts flashing across their minds. Questions would sure roam across our minds, "when is my first takedown?, who needs to be wiped?"

We have been given opportunities for a speech, I was the final glazier to address my cohorts.

'Today is such a special day, I am ecstatic and I would love to thank the Messiah for being such a good father to us all. I hope to do him proud.'

A mark was made on our heads with an ash, the Messiah then said, 'it is done'.

The arcade was lit up and jazz music filled the ambiance. Dancing galore! A beautiful lady in a lovely culotte dress walked up to me. She looked magical and the words of her mouth sounded magical. 'Congratulations Oscar'.

I was feeling awkward not knowing her name, 'you are?'. Mirabelle she said, relieving the tension. She had also been inducted.

Congrats to you also, Mirabelle. As the conversation grew, I seemed to break out of my shell and I felt more comfortable.

Before we knew it, the moon crept into the sky and all of a sudden the jazz vibe was superseded by the folk music and the Messiah stepped up with Commander Wade by his right.

We were to take the sacred water.

'This symbolises the covenant between all ten of you and the family. No one shall betray, no one shall slip up. If not, the sacred water shall punish anyone found wanting'. We drank the sour content in good faith and we had to retire to our rooms.

Damn! It's dawn already, and my head hurts slightly. Sixty pull-ups coming right up. Midway into my daily routine, I heard a knock on the door. To my surprise, it's commander Wade. He left a parcel for me and told me to follow every instruction in toto. When I checked through the parcel, the target was minister Kumapayi and he would be addressing the general public at 12pm.

I hit the shower and got dressed in my casual denim shirt, black pants and Louis Vuitton Shoes. 'I should blend right in', I soliloquized.

Walking through the arcade, the Messiah told me a Mercedes was stationed outside, he gave me a peck and said, 'God be with you son'.

It was a 45 minute drive to Allen Avenue and the crowd at the venue was nothing less than a thousand. This should make my work easier, but the minister wasn't here yet. I spotted a terrace and that would be my spot, I had enough time to set up this bad boy, my M39 rifle. Alas, he was finally here in his G-wagon.

'That is going to be your coffin, you vile bastard. It's time to put vectors into good use.' Just before he placed his other foot on the ground, a bullet went through his thick skull. There was pandemonium all over but I was less concerned, I made my way down the terrace and drove off in my Mercedes stationed metres away from the scene.

I arrived at the Arcade with my head held high and the Messiah welcomed me into his open arms. 'You have done well my son, the death of minister Kumapayi is all over the country. Stay blessed'. Every news, radio station had it that Kumapayi was dead. Broadcasting stations sure have a juicy news to propagate.

'What an irony of life? Kumapayi which meant you shall not die in my dialect is dead'. I had not left the arms of the Messiah when Casper and Mirabelle arrived at the arcade, they had killed the minister's two daughters and wife.

Well, that's no news as it was a custom of the glaziers to take down the branches while uprooting a tree. He definitely got what he deserved. He transferred pensions of the aged to his back accounts in Europe, he was one of a hundred responsible for the political unrest in the country. He is a true definition of a Jekyll and Hyde, to the masses, he is an angel sent from the Good Lord but damn, if I had two bullets in a pistol and I had Hitler and Kumapayi in a room, I would put the bullets through Kumapayi. The Messiah had ordered for us to be served with delicacies, a father's reward to his children. In his subtle tone, 'make sure y'all get a good rest after your meal'.

As the days grew, there were no targets to annihilate. This gave room for Mirabelle and I to develop a cordial relationship, why not give her a chance? She is one of the sweetest, fiercest, ravishing, loving, most aggressive and smartest creatures in existence. If Hitler and Queen Elizabeth had a child, it definitely would have been Mira.

Mirascar, as I was fond of calling us sat under the moon as it luminesced. The moon gave us a rather cute smile and the wind was rather quiet. 'Mira, you have a cut on your hand. How did you get this?'

'Well, a guard at Kumapayi's house sliced me and it's no biggie. I'm good. I made him pay tho, I shattered his carpals before killing him.' 'You should be more careful next time.' I enquired about her past, the first time I would see ardent Mira cry.

'I didn't mean to hurt you, it's okay if you don't want to disclose it'.

'After my parents died in a plane crash, I had to live on my own, I had no help from anyone. To raise enough to fund my education, I obtained a loan which I couldn't pay back, I had mortgaged my father's only house. I got a Good Samaritan to help me with that because I wasn't of age to apply for a loan. I became a wanderer who would pass the night wherever the moon caught up with, a scavenger who would always attend owambes(functions) to get remnants of food. An abject night in an uncompleted structure changed my mentality, I became quite heartless. I fell prey to pedophiles, they were two in number, I managed to stay alive after the night guard rushed me to the nearest hospital. I am sure the Good Lord kept me for his purpose'.

'I was to be discharged from the hospital and I started a scuffle with the nurse. Well, you wouldn't blame me. I didn't want to leave the comfort of the bed at the hospital for a stone at an uncompleted building, at the hospital, there were no mosquitoes singing; time to suck your blood. To cut the long story short, at the hospital, comforts of life were provided. I created a scene at the hospital, which called the attention of the doctor accompanied by Commander Wade. Wade was a good friend to the doctor and he offered to adopt me, and here I am now.' She wiped off the tears on her cheek and boom, Moremi was back.

'Yo! That's quite pathetic but we have to make sure we don't flinch. We have to stay true to our cause.' I equally narrated my life experience.

'Oscar, what exactly happened to your parents, who abducted them and why?' 'These are questions I still don't have answers to.' It was definitely time to sleep as she yawned. We both exchanged night wishes and we hoped a bit of luck would strike our way. We were hungry for a mission.

I thoroughly observed the picture of my family I had left, for the first time in years, I felt helpless.