Ruffians

Ali was cleaning when Connie entered his house. He was alone whistling and shaking to the tone in his headphone. As he move his body to the rhythm he does it with the mop too scrubbing the floor. It was the first time Connie was seeing him so engaged in anything other than his phone or laptop. She tapped him on his bare back and he quickly turned . He took his headphone off and also stopped whistling. "Hi!" He said with an awkward smile on his face . Her eyes traveled to his shirtless sweaty chest down to the black shorts that was clogged to his waist. She smiled at him .

She hadn't been surprised when he told that they needed a safebreaker rather she was excited. She thought they were going to their school so she could change her results. If she doesn't make the scholarship she could at least make amends in school. " I am in ." She said grinning from ear to ear. She shaked her legs happily . It wasn't their first time neither second of getting through the school safe. Most of the time it was Ali's idea. She felt the rush of adrenaline gush in her body as she thought about it.

" Three million." He said .

" What's three Mil...' ".

"That's your take in this job." He said professionally like they were more like business partner .

She stared at him for long. " A robbery?"

" No , yeah umm.." Hassan stammered and turned to look away. She stood up from the long couch she had been sitting.

" No way!"

" It's not a robbery Conn'. You just go in to the house and take a device and come out. "

" A house , a device I am not a criminal Ali." She yelled at him.

" Calm down ." Ali lowered his voice . " You are not stealing but swapping. They won't even find out . I swear." Sweat had started building up all over his face and his breathing was becoming faster. Connie eyed his swelling chest. " I am going to be with you. It will go well I promise." He went to where she was standing and held her hands ." I need you ." He said in a gentle tone looking at her eyes pleadingly.

" No Ali! This is dangerous. Get someone else ."

" No one is trustworthy as you . Plus you need the money for your school." He paused letting his word have effect on her. " 3. 5"

The sound of the money was sweet . The job was risky . She never did anything so big before but she could as well try something exciting. Recently her life had been boring. And her studies.... She wanted to say yes but fear won't let her .

" Give me time to think about it." She said before walking away to Mays place. It hadn't been up to five hours and she was back to give him an answer. As Mays word rang in her head ' New life .' She started to see it . A beautiful apartment , a classic wardrobe gush her old clothes were already worn-out. She could continue her studies and as well enroll in a skill acquisition class too. Buy books , go on vacation most especially send fund to her favorites granny. She missed her a lot and get her pet back . Oh Ruth am coming for ya. " Yes . Yes I will do it."

He dropped the mop and hugged her . They were happy .

She joined Ali in the cleaning and when they finished , they both prepared dinner. They were eating when Hassan walked in with his friend Roberto. Once again Connie became uncomfortable seeing him . She hurried with her food and went inside Ali's room that was slowly becoming hers. But after few minutes of boredom she decided she needs to know what was happening outside the room . Connie went out to the living room where the boys were busy talking. Ali was showing them something in the screen of his computer . She step down to look too but slipped on the floor. Every one turned to her direction. She felt embarrassed as she stood up. " Are you ok." Roberto asked as he gave her a hand.

" Yes . Thank you. " She went to sit with Ali . They continued their discussion not minding that she was there .

In the screen was a picture of an object . They were studying the object. Ali was explaining to Hassan how it was designed and how to transport it . At the end of everything Connie found out Hassan was traveling to Africa. She didn't know where in Africa but hearing the way Ali talked about the place made it exciting. " When are you coming back ?" She asked him but he only gave her a stare. She decided she didn't want to talk to him. Roberto smiled at her as their faces meet. She didn't notice he had been watching her. She smiled back before looking at the new image in Ali screen. It was a tunnel. An excape tunnel. 'Hassan would be using that tunnel.' She thought. The tunnel would take him to where he would meet a group of people in Africa. When she looked deep it became a pipe . She shook her head . " A pipe?" She asked .

" It's a tunnel." Roberto corrected her .

" But ..."

" Can you keep quiet ." Hassan shut her . She glared at him before looking back at the screen. This time when she looked she saw a tunnel with people crawling inside. There were three male Africans and two Chinese. And Ali changed it to another image . She got tired and stood up. " Are you sure about this ?" Hassan asked . When the three pairs of eyes focused on her she became confused.

" Sure of what? " She asked .

" The job. You know you could still think about it ." She glanced from Ali to Hassan then Roberto. ' So they both know ' she felt embarrassed that they would be looking at her too as a criminal but soon she realised they were all the same . Bunch of ruffians. She laughed at her thoughts.