11 Violence.

Violence is a behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something, but poverty is the greatest violence that can be unleashed on a person or people. A hungry man is an angry man like the saying goes. Later in my life, I sat down to think if given better chances, maybe I would have made better choices. I mean I didn't dream of being a career criminal but at a point, I thought I decided there was nothing else out there for me. I and a lot of other kids like me. But the truth is somehow that choice had been made for us before we were born. We were born poor and struggling, just like our parents before us, and the same people who made us poor did everything in their power to keep us down. I, like others like me just had to do everything to break out of the chains, the chains that held us down was poverty, their very effective weapon of control. Of course, things could have gone differently. I could have gone to school, stay away from the gangs, and end up doing something else with my life. But for every one person that was lucky enough to get out, hundreds tried their best and still ended up in poverty, and then there are those like me, those who simply stopped trying and started concentrating on other ways of getting the things they wanted in life. Those who were ready to get through all the obstacles that those corrupt, powerful bastards put In place to keep them down, even if it meant kicking down the obstacles piece by piece. Did it come with sacrifices and losses? Hell yeah, it did. But then that is just part of the game, it is part of the price of being a boss.

The Fakunle guys came prepared, they sprayed the building with bullets and we couldn't do anything but to take cover behind some furniture. After a while, they sent in some men to check whether or not we were dead. We waited patiently for them to come in and then opened fire from behind where we hid. We managed to hit three of them, then it happened. They shot back and Chuks got hit. The bullet went through his right shoulder and he fell to the ground. Blood gushed from the wound as I removed my shirt and placed it on the wound. He cried out in pain, but wouldn't stop struggling. I didn't know what I was doing with the shirt but I had seen it a thousand times in movies before.

The Fakunle boys soon surrounded us. The feeling of defeat made my arms weak, coupled with the fear of death, it made me want to pray to God, even though I wasn't a believer.

One of the goons kicked me in the face and I landed flat beside Chuks. I must have lost consciousness after then because the next thing I remember was waking up as I was being pulled out of a truck at the Fakunle villa. The place was as big as Mr. Sarumky's mansion, that was when I knew I was in trouble. I've heard a lot about the man I was sure I was about to meet, and none of the things I heard were good.

"Take them down to the cells, one of the guys ordered."

Chuks was still conscious when they forced us both into a cell somewhere in the house, I initially couldn't even describe how we got there or what part of the house it was that we were kept. Chuks had my shirt still pressed against his wound, he was starting to look pale from the blood loss but the bleeding appeared to have reduced compared to before.

"How are you doing, Chuks?" I asked but he didn't answer. He was just looking around the cell as if he would suddenly find a way to escape.

We both sat down there for a while before Mr. Fakunle finally came to the dungeon, followed by two other men.

"They're just kids," he said to the man that ordered us to be taken to the cells earlier.

"They would still kill us all if given the chance, Dad. I would have just killed them on the spot if you hadn't ordered them captured alive," he replied.

"This must be Fani Fakunle, his son," I thought.

"You kids are not my real enemies, not really. The person I really want dead is Bammy Sarumky and his dog of a father. You boys are just misled fools," Mr. Fakule explained.

"It is funny how a kettle would call a pot black," I replied.

"You seem like a smart kid. Why aren't you in school or doing something better with your life? How did you end up here?"

"Oh, it's simple, Mr. Fakunle. The same reason why many other smart kids like me end up in bad situations every single day. You and others like you are stealing and killing our dreams, thugs like yourself and the politicians that protect you have looted and continue to loot the county dryer every day. You make it impossible for anyone who isn't ready to wine and dine with devils like you to be anything in life, you steal our futures and lie to us that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

Does that answer your question? Does it answer your question, you devil! I screamed, clutching the bars of the cell.

"Should I waste these dogs now, Dad? Just say the word, Fani said as he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at me."

"Just do it already, you piece of shit. You don't need Daddy to tell you what to do!"

"I like this kid, it's really a shame you're my enemy.

"Take them to the normal place and do it. I don't want it done here."

I looked back at Chuks and he was smiling. Mr. Fakunle left and two other guys joined Fani. They dragged us up a staircase and then we were hurled into a pickup truck.

"You are so dead now," one of them mumbled. Both of our hands were handcuffed together but even without the handcuffs, we wouldn't have been able to do anything. There were five of them and they were all armed. I looked around and that sense of defeat returned. Tears streamed down my cheeks as the truck drove out of town, but Chuks was just smiling as he did before. We were soon running out of tared road after at least half an hour's drive on the same road we were in the desert, they got off the dirt road then continued into the desert for some minutes then stopped.

"Get them down," Fani screamed.

They pulled us down from the truck and provided us with two shovels and told us to start digging. Chuks was too weak to even stand so, they uncuffed us. He fell to the ground on his knees and wouldn't stand up. I grabbed one of the shovels and started to dig. One of the men lit a cigarette and passed it to the others, he offered it to us too and Chuks collected it.

"I don't smoke," I said.

"Don't you think now is the time to try?" he laughed and they all started laughing.

I had been digging for at least fifteen minutes when I heard a gunshot from somewhere, one of the men fell down and what used to be his head looked like a squashed watermelon. I fell to the ground with my hands over my head.

"Sniper!" Fani screamed and the remaining four of them ran in different directions, trying to take cover behind the truck but there were two snipers. Fani's left leg got shot off, and the guy that passed cigarettes earlier also got a bullet in the head, he fell beside me and I quickly grabbed his pistol. I kicked Fani's gun away from his reach as he screamed in pain on the ground with his all the bones in his leg shattered. I then went after the last man standing where he was hiding behind the truck crying. I could see the surprise on his face as I appeared behind him, the gun fell from his hand and he made a final, futile move to grab the gun. I shot at him and the bullet caught him in the neck, I meant to aim for the head but my aim wasn't good then. He held on to his neck as blood escaped out of the wound then through his hands. I moved closer to him and shot again through his head, and he fell into the dirt.

I was surprised to see Amin and three of his guys coming towards me. I was expecting Kaz and his guys but how could they have gotten here that quickly.

"Are you boys okay," Amin asked.

"How did you guys know," I asked, ignoring his question.

"We were scoping the mansion when we saw them bring you guys out. We followed behind them and...you know the rest."

"Thanks, man. I owe you."

Fani continued to scream as he bled out in the dirt. I was about to say something to Amin when I heard a gunshot. Chuks shot Fani in the head with his own gun and threw it down beside him, then spat on his corpse.

"Should we bury them, boss," one of Amin's guys asked.

"No, Sam. Let the dessert have at them. Let Fakunle see the fate that awaits him," Amin replied as we turned, leaving the corpses there in the desert.

Violence is a weapon, a very effective one. One used by the powerful to keep the less powerful down. Where we live, they unleash violence to get what they want, they use violence to remain relevant and powerful, but the worst part is that they use poverty to keep the masses in check, "a hungry man is more controllable, more obedient," they would say. But even a goat would bite when cornered to a wall. A hungry man is an angry man as the saying goes, violence begets more violence, and poverty is the greatest violence, it kills destinies. Embattled by the violence that would physically kill us and the one that would destroy our destinies, we had to turn around and bite, just like a goat cornered to a wall. Our society and those who were in charge were the ones who made us.