ironkurtain:
I got you nellyme......how was your weekend?

It was awesome and kinda busy. Ma uncle dedicated his beautiful baby yesterday...it was fun all tru but a bit sad though...
Hw ws urs? Hw ur hubby? Enjoy ur week...

My apologies.......i wont update today because today is crazy hectic.....i hope you guys bear with me especially nellyme......my prayers for God's abundant blessings to your uncle's baby. I hope u enjoy your week too.

ironkurtain:
My apologies.......i wont update today because today is crazy hectic.....i hope you guys bear with me especially nellyme......my prayers for God's abundant blessings to your uncle's baby. I hope u enjoy your week too.

Tnx...waiting for u...dnt jst forget us...take care & dnt stress yaself much

Only the sound of cutlery and food munching could be heard as the family ate their dinner. Barry Philips, Agnes husband, ate and gave the others quick glances; focusing most of his attention on Eric.

Barry Philips is a middle aged man in his late forties, well built with strong shoulders. He has some grey hair with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache. He's a man of few words with the eyes of someone seemingly lost in thoughts. He's the owner and C.E.O of a family conglomerate company well known in Easthill city.

Earlier in the day, when he came back from his office, he had gone to Alex's room to see if what he heard about his runaway son being found was true. When he saw Eric whom he thought was Alex, he voiced his disappointments at him and left.

"How is your mother doing?", Barry asked Mary, his wife's 19 years old niece who was spending her vacation in the family's house. "I haven't seen her for almost a month.

"Uncle she is okay........and complaining that you hardly make out time to see her", Mary replied and sipped from her glass of water.

"Dont mind him", Agnes put in. "He is always busy busy busy. One day i will put him in chains so that he won't leave this house for a month.

"Oh really?......", Barry said to Agnes as he accept the glass of water she just poured for him. "Then i better hire bodyguards to protect me from a chain wielding woman", he contiued.

Everyone else except Eric laughed. The family talk at the dinner table continued with Eric still not listening to their conversations. He was thinking about what he had read from Alex's diary.

The events that had transpired from the time he woke up in that hospital to him stepping into the Philips mansion had been nothing but pieces of a meaningless puzzle until he read the book. And it gave Eric some clues on what was really going on.

Alex was an orphan adopted by the rich Philips family. And he was suffering from extreme depression. He was adopted as a baby after five years of Agnes and Barry being unable to have children of their own. But two years into the adoption, Agnes started having babies. And Alex problems started. Eric had gone through the dairy page by page and saw an unending tales of being mistreated, belittled and abused. The loving family that Alex had known as a child had become his worst nightmare and it all seem to have started after Daniel, his younger brother was born.

Even at school he wasn't spared. Being bullied everyday seem to have become a subject in his own curriculum. One student in particular, whom Alex called Greg, made it a hobby of making life a living hell for Alex in school.

Eric took a sip of water from his glass to wash down the food he had been chewing. He stared at Agnes, the main culprit for the hell Alex was going through and remembered the list in his diary. The list of horrible names she had called him and horrible things she had said. The one that Eric just can't get off his mind was the one Alex had written that he overheard the woman telling her friends. That he was just a "bastard orphan adopted just to keep the marriage from breaking up; the first line Eric saw when he opened the diary. And it clearly explained her unwaranted bad attitudes towards him when he first saw her in the hospital.

Alex, do you want to have my chicken?", Suzanne, who was sitting next to Eric asked with a cute voice and put a piece of chicken in his plate before he could say anything.

"Suzanne, eat your chicken!", Agnes commanded.

"Mom i want him to have it", she began but got cut short by her mother who barked out her command again.

Eric looked at the chicken as if examining it. Then he shove it into his mouth and chewed it noisily. "Thanks", he said to Suzanne with a smile. Everyone including Agnes stared at him. "Yours even tastes better", Eric continued and stared at Agnes while chewing. He was doing it to spite her.

"Why you dont want to eat it?", Victoria asked her younger sister. "That's you favourite part".

"Is there any problem with her giving me her favourite part of a chicken?", Eric cut in and looked at Victoria. "Maybe it's just her way of saying that she is happy to see her big brother".

"Her big brother", Daniel sneered.

"Do you have any problem with that?", Eric asked him.

"No, it's not a problem....", Daniel began indifferently. "It's just that for the past two weeks since you..well...disappeared, her classmates had being teasing her. Though i don't see how your coming back will make any difference".

"I can still make her classmate apologize to her",

"Well, he is teasing and also telling her that it was his elder brother that made you to runaway from home", Victoria said to Eric. "He said his brother gave you the order and you obeyed".

"Oh really?, then i will also deal with his big brother for saying that", Eric said to Suzanne. "I will make both of them apologize?".

Victoria and Daniel burst into a fit of laughter with Suzanne staring at Eric, like he said something crazy.

"His brother is Greg", Suzanne then said.

"Greg?, isn't he the boy that made him cry like a baby in school last year?", Agnes smirked.

"Made Alex cry?", Mary asked, looking at Eric. She was trying to paint a picture of him crying infront of other students in her head.

"Yeah.....that day was the most embarrassing day of.....", Victoria began to her cousin.

"Enough!!", Barry suddenly interrupted angrily. "I don't want to ever hear any of that again in this house!", he warned.

The Eric quietly got up and wiped his mouth and hands with the white napkin on the table. He pat suzanne on the back and said, "I will still make them apologize", and head straight to his room. He could hear sniggers behind him.


******************************************


"Today i have decided to end it all. I think my purpose of coming into this world is done. It's time to go even though nobody will ever miss me. My only regret is not being able to know who my mother is and never having the chace to meet her if she is still alive"

Eric had being starring at that last entry in the diary for minutes with a tornado of questions in his mind. But the one question that bothered him more than any other is, this Nina's scam he is being part of, is he really going to be playing it just for a month as Nina had said because he was staring at what seemed to be Alex's suicide note. Nina was probably not aware of this diary and he was sure of that. So is he going to play this bluff for a month or.......forever?.

A knock on the door interrupted Eric in his thoughts. He immediately hid the diary under one of the pillows.

"Yeah the door is open", Eric answered the knock.

The door opened and Suzanne stepped into the the room, gently closed it behind her. She was wearing a pink flowery pyjamas.

"Suzi.......aren't u suppose to be in bed by now?", Eric asked and glanced at the wall clock. It was almost 9:30 pm.

She shook her head and rubbed her elbow. Eric invited her to sit next to him on the bed.

"So......", Eric began and looked at her beautiful face with cute eyes covered with glasses. "Is there anything you want to talk about?, perhaps all that had happened when i wasn't around", he asked

"Nothing really happened. Just some men that came to our house, asking questions. Victoria said they were policemen", Suzanne answered.

"What about you?, where you worried?".

"I was crying".

"Crying?".

"For almost two days. I thought something happened to you or maybe you were......dead".

Those words made Eric to glance at the pillow where he hid the diary. Then he look at suzanne.

"Well you can see that am not dead", he said with a smile.

"Suzanne nodded and said, "But you have changed". Then she looked at Eric's body and arms. "You look kind of different", she noticed

"It's still me. Maybe i look different to you because you haven't seen me for over two weeks", Eric said thinking of how intelligent she sounded.

"Maybe", she said and looked away. "But i missed you alot", she murmured.

"Why does mom hate me so much?", Eric asked her intently, hoping she will spill some info that he might need.

"I don't know.....", Suzanne shrugged. "She said you are not one of us and can't be one of us. Daniel is practising karate because of you".

"Why?".

"So that he can beat you"

"Oh really?, well i don't think he can.....am sure of that".

"Suzanne looked at him and said, "The last time you had a fight with him, he beat you".

"You think so?", Eric asked, thinking how much of a wussy boy Alex was. "I let him beat me because he is younger than me", he continued, not even sure if what he said made any sense.

"What about Greg?, did you just let him beat you?",

"Eric smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Well......Greg talks too much. Most of the things he said are not true and people who talk too much aren't even that strong", Eric said. "It's the quiet people that are really strong and they hardly fight"

"Why don't they fight?", Suzanne asked.

"Because if they do, they might hurt people or even do worse".

"How do you know that?".

Eric thought for a shortwhile. "Let me tell you a story", Eric then began and sat closer to her. "There was a boy who lived with only his mother. His dad died before he was born. In school they called him the silent one because he hardly talks or speak to anyone. Some of his classmates and other students thought he was silent because he wasn't strong and scared. So they made jokes about him and said bad words to him. But he still remained silent and never complained to the teachers, not even to his mother. One day he was alone in the classroom, some students came in and locked the door. There were five of them and quite big. They wanted to beat him up".

Eric stopped and looked at suzanne who was staring at him with alot of interest.

"So what happened?", Suzanne asked eagerly.

Eric got up, went over to the reading desk and picked out a thick hard cover book He handed it to suzanne as he sat next to her. "He used that", he began and pointed at the book he just gave her. "He used it to send them all to the hospital".

"Suzanne looked at the book and said, "That's impossible. I think you are joking".

"Do you think am joking?", Eric asked.

"Suzanne stared at the book curiously, wondering how possible it was to use it as a weapon for a beat-down. Eric stared at her and wondered if he was suppose to tell her that story. The story of what got him suspended for two weeks when he was in high school.

"So what happened to the boy?", Suzanne then asked.

"Well, he got suspended from school and his mother made him to promise never to hit anyone again", Eric replied.

"Do you think he kept that promise?".

"I don't know about that. Maybe he did or maybe he didn't. But i'm sure he is always trying his best not to fight no matter how trouble comes".

Then Suzanne placed the book on the bed and got up. She yawned and stretched her . Her eyes looked tired.

"I think you have to go to bed", Eric said to her and got up to go put the book back in the shelf.

Suzanne then wrapped her arms around Eric and hugged him tight. After a few seconds she broke away from him saying, "Goodnight Alex", and headed towards the door.

"Wait can i ask you something", Eric asked.

Suzanne stopped and looked over her shoulder and asked what it was.

"Sometimes the medicine the doctor gave me make me forget things", Eric lied. "Do we know any woman by the name Nina?",

"No i have never heard of that name or know her", Suzanne shook her head.

"Okay then.....goodnight", Eric said and watched her leave the room.

Nice...still following
This Nina of a woman, wats her interest sef. She should have explained to him what's involved
I hope Alex didn't commit suicide ooo
Waiting for the puzzle to come together
But me think Alex and Eric are twins but separated at birth or something
Tnx for d update

CHAPTER SEVEN.


The four of them got down from the car and the youngest waved at the driver as the car rolled away. They immediately split up and joined the other students that were heading towards the school main building and classroom blocks.

Eric made his way towards the building with suzanne walking beside him. He had earlier asked her to help him locate the senior students classroom block; he was using the "doctor's medicine" excuse. That was his best option to avoid raising any suspicion among the other two even though they cared less about him. Besides it will be strange for a final year senior student to be walking around the school and asking other students how to locate his classroom.

"I hope you don't mind walking beside me", he asked suzanne when he noticed the constant stares and glances he is getting from some of the other students.

"No it's okay. The whole school heard about the news of your disappearance", she said. "They are all surprised to see you again.

"How much big of a news was it?".

"Quite big......it was broadcasted on t.v because dad thought someone might come forward with some information about your whereabout".

"Okay", Eric murmured and looked at Alex's school uniform he is wearing. "I can't believe i will go through this bullsh!t for a month or even more", he murmured inaudibly.

"Huh?", Suzanne looked at him

"Oh it's nothing".

"Okay".

Eric then looked around the school that has the sign that says "ROCK VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL", and knew that he was in the school for the rich and well to do families in Easthill from what he saw. The buildings around him looked handsome and pristine with a beautifully made and well trimmed hedges and lawn. The school atmosphere was very relaxing and conducive for learning. Most of the students arrived in expensive cars being driven by the family chauffeur and walked around with alot of effortless grace.

"There.....", suzanne pointed at the four storey building on their right. "That is the classroom block for the senior students. The final year students classrooms are on the fourth floor".

"Okay", Eric looked at the building and it's entrance door.

"That one is for the junior students", Suzanne pointed at another building at their left that look similar to the one at right. "I will see you during lunch break", Suzanne then chorused and went over to a group junior female students gesturing at her. They exchanged their pleasantries amongst themselves and Suzanne gave Eric one more glance before she followed them into the junior student's building.

Eric remained where Suzanne had left him and stared at the crowd of students in their white and brown uniform with brown jacket, trooping into both buildings. He stole quick glances at the senior students that walk past him; both the males and females. It felt kind of odd to him, especially being someone who had attended and graduated from an only boys school. The girls caught his attention more because most of them were very pretty. The next that walked by seemed to be more prettier than the other, like they were walking past him in an ascending order of beauty.

"Hey Alex!".

Eric turned his gaze to where he heard the voice and saw an over-excited nerdy looking boy approaching him. He seemed to have appeared from the crowd of students entering the senior classroom building. The boy looked quite small and his immaculate and well ironed uniform looks a little too big for him.

"Oh my God, how are you doing?", the boy continued as he approached with a nerdy smile and Eric saw his dental braces. He looked 16 or 17 years of age.

Eric said nothing as he stood towering over the boy with small frame body and stared at him. The nerd looking boy's smile slowly faded away as they kept staring at each other without saying a word.

"Alex, it is me.....chris, your best friend", the boy finally said when the stare became uncomfortably long.

"Oh yes..... am sorry", Eric began, trying to act like he had being thinking of his name. "I know but i was trying to remember your name. I am taking this medications so somehow i forget things, like people's names", Eric hoped he was puting up a good performance. "The doctors said it is the side effects".

"Oh really?, i'm sorry about that", Chris said pitifully. "Anyway come let's go in. I will show you all that we had been taught when you weren't around", he gestured at Eric and both of them headed towards the entrance of the building with other students.

As they walked in, some of the students looked at Eric and whispered among themselves. Some of the boys looked at him with ridicule while the girls giggled, Though some smiled and nodded at him. Eric kept a straight face as he followed chris who incessantly talked about all that have had happened since Alex vanished.


******************************************

After wiping off the dust on the desk and chair that belonged to Alex with a piece of cloth given to him by chris, Eric lifted the desk lid and placed the notebooks and textbooks he got from Alex's locker, inside the desk compartment. As usual, he had used his medication story to make chris help him locate the student lockers and which desk in the class that belonged to Alex. Chris was more than willing to help out and also told him how things worked in the school in case if his "medical condition" made him forget. Eric got all the info about the school and was also really glad that Alex was a science class student. He too was a science student in high school.

In the class some students saw him and said nothing while a few asked him how he was doing and the reason for him going missing. To which his answer was not being able to remember what happened or anything. Chris also let them know that he was taking some medications that has some side effects.

"Are you sure you can cope with school work while taking that medication?", Chris asked as he sat on his desk chair, holding a pen and a notebook.

"I think i can. And i also have you to help me out", Eric replied with a faint smile.

Chris smiled and felt important. He said, "Dont worry.......what are friends for".

"Wow!.......who do we have here?", a boy chorused as he walked into the classroom. He was tall and quite big with a cold look in his eyes. He was flanked by three other boys who weren't as big as he was. One of them was quite short and walked with the demeanor of a tough individual, which he thought he was.

"Boy.....how are you doing?", the big boy asked Eric, rubbing his head coarsely. "I heard you came back to school so i wanted to see for myself if it's true", the big boy continued, still rubbing Eric's head with a condescending look in his face.

Eric ignored the boy while resisting the urge to grab the hand and snap his wrist. Some of the students around them were now tense while some sniggered.

"Greg......you know he is not feeling well", Chris began with an agitated stammer. "He is under some medication....please".

The boy turned his attention to Chris and sneered at him.

"Hey rat-face, have you forgotten what you suppose to say whenever you see me?", he asked Chris.

"Good morning......", Chris murmured and said something else inaudibly.

"Good morning....what?", the boy bent towards chris with his head cocked.

"Good morning big brother".

"Good boy", the boy said with a smile and straighten up. Then he looked at Eric. "So Alex my boy, i kind of missed you. And i wanna see you later because we have alot to discuss. Make sure yout ass is in our usual spot", the boy said and left with his friends, going towards a beautiful girl seated at the front of the class and facing a the book in her hands.

Eric remained silent and stared at them. For the first time he wished that his good friend, Stanley, was there with him. This was the kind of situation his friend always wished for; for some fool to come act tough infront of him so that he can body slam that individual and knock spine out of place.

"Good morning big brother", he snorted and looked at Chris. "What does that even mean?, he asked.

"It means i don't want to have my skull caved in till i finish the school certificate examination and get the hell out of here", Chris answered.

"And graduate as someone who being known to be pissed on by everybody", Eric added.

"Oh well...... i don't allow things like that to bother me at all", Chris said.

"Really?, and you think it will only end here? How long do you think you will live like this before you will look back at your life and regret living like this?",

Chris was a little bit irritated. He said, "I'm sorry to say this, but i'm not the one who is rumoured to have ran away from home because Greg had threatened and told to never come to this school".

"And you believed it?", Eric asked, suddenly realizing that he was being more of Eric than Alex. Years of putting bullies in their position seems to make it difficult for him to play the one being bullied.

"I didn't say i believed it. Nut look at the size of that guy and look at me", Chris gestured at his small frame with his hands. "My chances against him always equals to zero, no matter how you calculate it".

Eric laughed at what Chris said while Chris gave him a "go ahead and laugh at me" look.

"Well you have to know that it is not the biggest guys that are the toughest and baddest people", Eric then said. "It is those small and quiet ones. The silent and sitting in a corner kind of guys. Those are the ones you really need to be scared of because they are the ones plotting people's death. They always seem quiet and harmless. But when they explode, they are the loudest".

Chris smiled at what Eric said despite the fact that he was surprised to hear the person that he had know for over five years, talk like that.

"Dude you kind of sound strange. What happened to you?", he asked. "Did you like spend two weeks somewhere, getting lessons on violence?".

"Maybe".

"Well violence is not always the answer. There are other ways of sorting things out with Greg and his crew".

"Like how?".

"Well.......talk to them,try to reason with them or try being their friend".

"Did it work out for you......i mean....for us?".

Chris pursed his lips and shrugged hopelessly.

"Anyway i agree with what you said", Eric said with a nod. "But you have to know that violence always sends the message across like nothing else. You could talk to them or even try being their friend and still end up being disregarded and disrespected", he continued. "But the one thing that will make them take you serious and understand how you feel, especially in a situation you just can't get away from...is violence", he stated.

Chris was abit scared at what Eric just said to him. But he still wanted to know how violence settles situation from that point of view.

"So.....how will violence do that", he asked.

"Okay......", Eric began as he shifted his weight in his seat ".......Let's just say you got really tired of their bullsh!ts and life in general. Then you kill the big one. You cut his head off and kick it down the hallway. It will instill fear in his friends because what you did is extreme and extraordinary. And the mere mention of your name will give them waking nightmares, why?, the action is new to them and unlike anything they have ever witness".

Chris stared at Eric with his mouth open. He was visibly shaken by those words and sitting next to the person whom he had always seen as his best friend, kind of made him feel unsafe.

"And in the end, no one will ever mess with you because they have seen or heard what you did and they would definitely don't want it to happen to them", Eric continued.

The girl whom Greg had being talking to suddenly got up from her desk and angrily walked out of the classroom. Eric stared at her as she left, muttering under her breath as she did so. Chris avoided doing so because he had glanced at Greg and saw that the big boy doesn't look happy at all.

"Relationship speed bumps huh?", Eric nudged Chris and jerked his head at the girl's direction.

"Dude.......seriously what is wrong with you?!", Chris suddenly asked in annoyance and cautiously glanced at Greg to see if he had noticed Eric's gesture.

"Wow......what is the matter?", Eric was surprised by the outburst.

"I mean......you are really acting strange or is it also one of the side effects of your medicine?", Chris asked quietly. "Not long ago you always avoided anything that has to do with Greg like a plague. Now you are talking about cutting his head off and other strange stuff", he continued in a low and nervous tone of voice, glancing around to be sure that none of the students sitting around them heard what he said. "And you are staring at his girl when you know that he had once literally manhandled one boy for doing so........oh i forgot, you weren't there because it was Greg who scared you away from this school. So what if he catches you looking a her? I'm very sure of, is his wrath will be shared between you and me. And that's definitely what i don't want", he continued.

Then Chris picked up a textbook and told Eric that he wants to go to the library with a rather uninviting voice.

******************************************

A beautiful piece, Kudos.

y u con stop for here at ironkurtain.

anyway, am happy I covered all d part of d story I missed, it made my day, well done
its really interesting, keep it up Sir.
I give u 3 gbosa
nellyme I see u o, aw av u bin

mzzkismet I've been cool ooo...jst dey enjoy d tori...hw u dey na...e don tey u show o

Hapi u r here nw

Wow wow wow! What an interesting piece of art. Now do I like this story? I love it completely. Please don't become like some others who abandon their stories when it gets interesting. Infact give me one update 4 it's sake lol. I already love Eric. U write well.

@Essyprity.......thanks for reading i hope to entertain you guy more. Pls i need your critics so as to learn more. I hope you are having a good week.

bro ur write up is quite intrestin,kip it up

Eric watched as Chris walk out of the classroom after Greg and his friends had left. He thought about what chris had said to him for a while and shrugged. Sometimes he just can't help with the way he talks. With that in mind, he brought out a text book. Glancing at the digital clock illuminating in his cell phone, he wondered why the teachers weren't teaching the class.

He rest his elbows on the desk after opening the book, monitoring the students and the activities going on in the classroom. It's friday and all them seems to be in a good mood because of tomorrow; just like during his high school years. And they are probably talking about how they will spend their weekend or the places they will go, alone or with their partner.

Then Eric asked a plumpy looking female student standing near him why there are no teachers giving their lectures. She gave him a funny look and told him that all the teachers were having a staff meeting. It's friday and the teachers always have meetings on fridays. He thanked her and continued monitoring the classroom.

"Hi Alex".

Eric look to his side and saw the girl that Greg had been talking to earlier. "Hi", he responded curiously with a slightly furrowed eyebrow as he stared at her.

She was strikingly beautiful. Her very light skin and curly golden brown hair that was neatly packed behind her head showed that she's biracial. European and African. And spoke with a British accent. Her uniform was a little bit loose fitted but it still showed a body that would make boys fantasize. Eric could see the reason Greg always goes "wild rhino" on any boy that looks at her for too long. She's one of those rare breed of beauty. Those created when God was in the very best mood.

The girl put out her hand and Eric unwillingly shook it. He wondering if at all she really knew the kind of conflagration that would possibly erupt if Greg happens to step inside the classroom with her standing beside him.

"Can i sit?", she asked and sat down on chris desk before Eric could give an answer. "So how are you doing?", she asked.

"Oh..well, i'm doing okay and still recovering", her hazel coloured eyes staring at him seem to make it difficult to find words. "I am taking this medication that make me forget things, including names". Eric was now getting really tired of using that line. "So you wouldn't mind if i ask what's your name?". He asked.

"Lisa", she answered. "You wouldn't know my name because we didn't get to know each other at all".

"Okay".

"I was in this school for like two weeks before you stop attending. Then i heard the rumours that you were missing".

"Yep...and also heard that it was your boyfriend that scared me away".

"Greg is not my boyfriend", Lisa corrected. "I don't know why everybody is saying that".

"Really?........well i was told not to even look at you because there is a growing list of boys getting pulverized for doing so", Eric said. "So if you are not his girlfriend like you said, why the.....the reign of terror?", he asked.

"Scare tactics i guess", Lisa replied, laughing at what Eric said. "Since he cannot be my boyfriend, he is preventing any other boy in this school from doing so". Lisa smiled. "As if i am in this school to look for boys".

Then Lisa leaned abit closer to Eric and looked at the book he was reading.

"Chemistry", she began and look at Eric. "My least least favourite subject".

"Really?.....why is that?", Eric asked.

"I'm having a hard time learning all the chemical equations and formula", Lisa shook her head. "The periodic tables of the elements and all that".

"Well you have to put alot of interest in it", Eric said. "And alot of time".

"I've been doing so but still perform bad at it".

"Maybe you need a better teacher then".

"Maybe....", Lisa looked at the book and then back to Eric. "Will you teach me?", she asked.

"Teach you?", Eric asked thoughtfully. He was now beginning to notice the uncomfortable stares from the the prying eyes of some students. Some with envy and some with a condescending sneer. "Ok then, i will teach you if you insist", he said to her, not caring what Greg would do if he happened to walk into the scene that was now playing out between him and Lisa. He only cared about not exposing the scam that he was required by a strange woman to play. As for Greg, he can always take of himself.

On hearing Eric's response, Lisa smiled and got a little more closer to him as he took out a pen and a notebook.

Thumbs up....... keep it coming

Sure. I'll do what I can. So far its been good but short. I love reading long stuffs,not crappy and full of unwanted details. Give me a long update. ToriEManson see better tori 4 here! Na me essydiamond.

CHAPTER EIGHT.


Nina stood In the balcony of the two storey villa with one hand holding a wine glass and the other resting on the Ceramic handrail. Wearing a sleeveless velvet night gown that draped around her knees, the bright morning sunshine made her Caramel colour skin and her Nefertiti face with strong jawline to glister.

She took a sip from the glass and keenly watched the sweaty workers cleaning up the villa in their overall khakis. They didn't seem to notice her except for one that got her attention. He is the swimming pool cleaner. Several times he had paused to look up and smile at her. The smile wasnt a casual one. It was kind of playful and he seemed to be expecting something because Nina had being staring at him. And she knows what it is.

Nina took another sip and shift her attention to other workers as she drummed the fingers of the other hand on the rail. Lucky creatures, she thought. When they are all done, some will go back to their families and loved ones while some will go socialize, have a few drinks with friends and later on go to their sweet hearts to get laid. Nina couldn't remember the last time she socialized without it being part of the job. The last time she got laid, that was some years ago, was only done to remind herself that she is a woman. In one particular case it got out of hand. In the middle of the act, she lost interest and had told the guy to stop. But he was already too deep into it to stop so he refused. Nina left the motel room just minutes before the medic had arrived to rush his mangled body to the hospital.

She finished the wine in the glass and turn to the pool man. He is now waving at her with the same playful smile. Nina smiled back at him and slide open glass door of the spacious living room. She entered and left the empty glass on the Center table beside a black suit case. Then she picked up the phone and dialled a number.

"Yeah......", she began after the line was picked. ".....please send the pool cleaner upstairs and make him comfortable in the living room". she left the phone on the table.

"Leave a clean towel on the sofa and leave", she ordered the house maid who was rearranging and cleaning the furnitures in the living-room.

The maid nodded with a "yes mam" and left. Nina head straight to the bathroom. She closed the door and stared at herself reflection in the bathroom mirror. Then she Took off the night gown gently to reveal a wonderful lean figure with strong abs. There is a thin scar below her belly button and many more on her back. She reached for her back and touched some of the scars.

Staring at her image in the mirror and feeling the scars, Nina thin lips curved into a smile. She remembered something; her first love. He was a subject the Family had marked for elimination and her first job. Her mission was to gain his trust and make him sign some paperworks before taking him out. But she failed in her mission. She failed because she had fallen in love and worst of all, he was married.

The mission was jeopardized and he got to live while she earned those scars and an exile to a backwater and conflict ridden country to work her way up back into acceptance to the family. The Sosai of the family, who was particularly enraged by her actions made sure it was a near impossible task for her. But she still succeeded and gained back her position. After a number of years.

Nina reached for the shower faucet and let a steady stream of cold water pour all over her body. She chin up and reached for the body wash.


**********************************************


After five minutes Nina emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a wet towel. She head straight to the living-room and saw the pool cleaner sitting on the sofa. Seeing her, the man immediately stood up.

"Good morning mam", he began with a playful smile as his eyes travelled all over her body and rested on her partly covered thighs.

"Good morning", Nina replied and smiled back at him as she rubbed her wet long hair. "How is your day", she asked.

"Oh it is.......wonderful", the man stammered and swallowed hard.

Rubbing her wet hair, Nina undo the wet towel and let it fall off her body to the floor. The man gasped as he stared at her n@dity with his mouth open. He seem to be breathing fast as an uncontrollable bulge formed in his trouser. His eyes were glued below her tummy.

"Hand me that towel", Nina said to him and pointed at the clean towel the maid left on the sofa as Nina had instructed her.

The man almost stumbled as he immediately took the towel handed it to her. She gently wrapped it around her body as the man stood infront her, expecting something.

"Bring that suit case on the center table", Nina said again and went over to the dining area of the living room.

The man sheepishly grab the suit case and followed her. Then he saw some of the scars on her back and the excitement in his face begin to fade. Nina sat down on one of the dining chair and collected the black case from him.

"So........", Nina began as she placed the suitcase on the dining table and punched in the key combinations to unlock it. "Are you married or have a girlfriend?", she asked and unlocked the suitcase.

"No mam", he answered.

"Really?........", Nina asked again and opened the suit to reveal It's contents. Lots of guns. ".......i don't like liars.....infact i hate them with a passion", she continued and took out a Glock 19 handgun and examined it.

"Errrm.......actually i.......there is this girl seeing me......sorry i mean........seeing her", the man stammered uncontrollably with beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Really?.......", Nina dislodge the magazine from the gun and the bullet in it's chamber. The sound of the bullet dropping on the floor made him to flinch. "........so do you love her?".

"Yes mam! "

Nina placed the Glock on the table and took out a sheathed knife tucked inbetween a stainless steel Desert eagle and .45 ACP Smith and Wesson pistol. She pulled it out from it's sheath and felt the shiny and wicked looking serrated edges of the blade with the tip of her finger. The Pool cleaner was trembling visibly.

"Do u really love her?", Nina asked again as she pointed the knife, twisting her arm left and right as she checked the blade.

"I love her so much... mam", this is definitely not the time to piss off his madam. One or two swings of that knife at him and he will see pieces of himself on the floor.

Nina dropped the knife on the table looked at the man. He is now half the man she saw when she stepped into the living-room.

"I want to ask you one more thing.......", she then said and crossed her legs; exposing most part of her thigh. "Have you ever killed someone?......." she asked him with smile. ".........i mean....actually use a weapon to end someone's life?", she gestured at the 'hardwares' on the table.

The man shook his head and tried hard not to look her in the eyes. He is now sweating profusely, wishing he should have mind his work and never tried his luck with this woman.

"There is this overwhelming feeling that comes with killing someone.....", Nina continued and placed her hand on the knife. ".....especially if the person is a sworn enemy or someone you despise. Me, i like using the knife because i like it being up and close.......", she grabbed the knife and pointed it at his direction. "........Though it might get messy but when you push the blade into that individual.......", she then made a stabbing motion at him. ".........and feel the life leave the body as you look the person in the eyes, it makes you feel supreme, feel invincible like a god or goddess in my own case".

Nina cellphone begin to ring. She glance at the direction where the ringing was coming from and got up. She got so close to the pool cleaner that her breasts pressed against his chest. It made him to quiver abit.

"So......", she began as she caressed his sweaty cheek with her middle and index fingers. "You can see am not the type of woman you would want to have any kind of relation with.......", she said sweetly and played with his lips. "Unless you want to live a short life".

Then Nina back away abit and pointed at the door

"Get your things and get out of the villa......if i see you here again, you will be in hell watching another man f*@king your beloved girlfriend after she is done mourning your death", she said in a cold and stern voice.

The man took off without waiting for her to finish the last words. Then Nina went over to the living-room and took the cell phone that had being ringing in her handbag.


*****************************************

nellyme, na exams for school o, thank God am tru. me too dey enjoy d story bt I no gbadun d short update..

"What is it now?", Nina asked with a stern voice as she answered the phone call.

"Sorry am i disturbing you?, i can later", it was Eric.

Nina sighed and asked the reason for him calling with a calmer voice.

It's about your client.....as usual", Eric replied.

"Yes what about him now?".

"I did alot of digging and found out alot of things about him. But i wouldn't want to go into that........anyway i called because of his situation in school",

"What kind of situation?", Nina asked as she sat on the sofa and crossed her leg.

"The dude is a complete wussy boy in school. He and his best friend called Chris", Eric replied. "Atleast i understand his friend's situation because he always keep reminding himself that his small stature is a challenge and therefore thinks he doesn't have the talent to put trouble makers in their rightful position", he continued.

"Whatever.........", Nina murmured. "So what does that have to do with what you have been instructed to do?". She asked.

"Well, there is this bully boy who seems to take great pleasure in torturing wussy boys in this school", Eric said. "Him and his friends. And the entire students seem to be scared of this guy. Worst of all the school authority seems to be giving him so much free pass because his uncle is the school proprietor".

"So?".

"Madam......am sure u know very well that am not the type of guy that run for the hills whenever there is trouble.......", Eric said coolly. ".......especially the one that involves bullies because that is the kind of trouble that just don't seem to go away".

"Yes i know you are not the type that run for the hills.....you reminded me of that with what you did to those three guys", Nina said. "But the instruction remains the same. And don't do anything that will raise questions", she continued.

"Oh well..... you better think of something else because i can't just sit back and watch that douchebag give me headache on top of the headaches am having now", Eric warned. "Am trying to follow your instructions and live like Alex 'p#ssy boy' Philips. But that bullying bullsh!t really gets on my nerves and if i take it too personal, then a 'Watergate Scandal' grade questions will be raised".


"Do i have to remind you that you are in no position to tell me what to do because you have no choice here", Nina retorted. "You have to do as you are instructed. And as from now on, no more phone calls from you, not anymore. I will be the one doing the calling from now on",

Then Nina ended the call before Eric could say anything and dropped the phone carelessly on the sofa. She rest her head on the sofa back cushion with a frown. She must have underestimated Eric too much, she thought. It's like she was wrong to think that him being raised by a soft woman like Esther would have made it easier for her to make him do her biddings. Anyway she just hopes that he doesn't end up doing something drastic till she is done with her mission.



**********************************************

Having a bad cold....i hope u guys bear with me......thats why my updates are very short. I wish you all a happy weekend. Pls take care of urselfs.

ironkurtain:
Having a bad cold....i hope u guys bear with me......thats why my updates are very short. I wish you all a happy weekend. Pls take care of urselfs.

Too bad. You know what to do, right? Get well soon.

mzzkismet wish ya success in ur exams

ironkurtain sir pls get better and do wat u gotta do to take care of d cold. Prayed for u.

nice one op...each update kips gtin beta.wen i strtd reading d bits aint adding up but now m beginning to understnd d story. d storyline is quiet unique too.
get well soon.
#m lovin Eric already.....nd op r u a sidney sheldon fanjst asking

gt wel soon, nd do take sum medicatn 4 ur cold.

Wow! What a nice story.guy keep it up.#following it to its logical conclusion...waiting for more updates...

JOSH002:
gt wel soon, nd do take sum medicatn 4 ur cold.

I hope the medication don't hve side effect like Eric's(Alex) own lollz.

ironkurtain have you tried Wikinut yet? Write about whatever you like and get paid royalties - http://www.wikinut.com/in/ujjgfg/

Sitting on a wooden bench in the garden behind the Philips' mansion, Eric was busy browsing the net with Alex's laptop under the shade of an outdoor canopy. Also with him in the garden were the Philips kids and their cousin, Mary. Victoria and Mary were chattering happily while Suzanne sat on the chair of the garden swing playing a Sony psp game that seemed boring to her. Daniel was busy practising his karate kicks and punches that made Eric to glance at him several times and shake his head.

For over half an hour, Eric had being going through Alex's social networking sites and emails to see if he could get some clues or any kind of communication he might have had with Nina or any other person who is not from his school. Eric had checked Alex's Facebook and saw that the last time he updated his statues was almost six months ago and the only message he had was a two weeks old message from Chris, wishing him to come back home. The twitter account was logged in only once, the same day the account was created which was about four months ago. Eric then decided to check his emails. There were three of them and Eric had gone through the first two emails; he checked the inboxes and trash and saw nothing but the usual mail ads and website notifications.

Eric sighed and rubbed his eyes. Glancing at Vicky and Mary whose laughters distracted him, he logged into Alex third email account. The inbox contained alot of mail......eighty-six to be exact.....and almost half of them is unread. All of the unread mails were received within a two weeks period and the most recent one just yesterday. The unread emails were from the same sender with a user i.d called 'Chunky-guy'.

Chunky-guy, Eric thought as he scrolled the page. The name gave him an image of an overfed kid from a rich family. He pursed his lips and started reading their contents.

"Who is this comedian?", Eric muttered to himself after reading some of the emails sent by Chunky-guy. They were really insulting, condescending and threatening. The kind of words been thrown back and forth when people are having an argument after an online discussion forum had degenerated into a show of ignorance and dumbing down of humanity. Some of the lines he read were really amusing even though to some degree quite depressing.

"Hm this guy is being hit from every angle......at home, in school, online.....", he muttered again and shook he head.

The phone in his grey sweat pant pocket notified him of a new text message. He took out the phone and shift his eyes from the laptop screen to the device.

"Please don't take your pills.......i dont want you to forget that tomorrow is my birthday". It was a text message from Lisa and it ended with smiling emoji.

"Don't worry i won't but i might forget the gender of the celebrant. So i hope you will forgive me if you get a present meant for a boy from me", Eric sent.

Then he received more smiling emojis and Lisa also told him that she is on her way to the mart to get all that are needed for tomorrow's occasion at her place. Eric wished her goodluck and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He sighed and thought about Lisa.

Six hours ago in school he had done his best; or at least tried to, in teaching her chemistry. But it seems as if she wasn't interested in the explanation he was giving nor the methods of solving chemical equations he had scribbled on the notebook. Half of the short time they were together, she was staring at him and trying to change the topic. Neither did Eric even cared to know if she was learning at all. His mind was on Greg's reaction if he happened to walk into the classroom and see them sitting together. The luxury that Greg never got from Lisa. Eric was glad that it never happened till he excused himself to go to the library and left. But not after Lisa had stored his number in her phone and made him to promise that he will attend her birthday party that will be held tomorrow in her family's house.

Eric sighed again and shift his attention to the contents of the email on the screen of the laptop resting on his laps. Staring at the words, he wondered what was the bone of contention between Alex and this Chunky-guy. From what he read so far, this is a back and forth situation that had been going on for sometime. Whatever it was, it had turn one person into an unrelenting internet troll and the other almost having a mental breakdown.

Eric thought for some minutes and decided to send a reply to chunky-guy. He typed a few lines and clicked the send button. Then he glanced at Daniel performing his karate moves again and shake his head. This time Daniel saw his gesture.

"What is your problem?", Daniel asked rudely.

"Oh nothing.......just....", Eric began. Almost thirteen years of hard karate training had made him to involuntarily show his distaste for anyone training with little dedication and poor form. Especially the boy infront of him who seems to be showing off rather than training.

"Just what?", Daniel cut in, glaring at Eric

"Just wondering what you are doing".

"Well.....you can see am training", Daniel said proudly. "And it is called karate in case you don't know", he continued arrogantly.

"You have being doing this for like over half an hour and i can barely see the energy and sweat", Eric said.

"If i don't sweat so what?", Daniel asked.

"Sweating means being serious, doing it with passion and much focus. Not fooling around", Eric replied.

"Oh so when you were sweating while Greg was kicking your ass, where you sweating because of too much focus and passion?", Daniel sneered and looked at Victoria who sniggered and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Yep..... if that is what happened that day".

"And you cried like a baby",

"If that is what you all saw that day then am not disputing it".

Daniel laughed and looked at Victoria and Mary. He made a gesture to them that Eric is crazy.

"Anyway........", Eric began and pretend not to have seen the gesture. "........all am implying is you have to get serious with your 'Equipping myself to kickass' hobby. Stop those lazy arms and leg stretching you are doing to impress these girls and then walk around me like a tough guy and talk like you gonna kick my ass from here to the moon. Boy, you are only lying to yourself and will one day make a fool of yourself.

Daniel stared at Eric without saying anything. The girls stared at both of them intently and wondered what's going to happen next.

"Anyway i don't have any problem with you walking up to me and talking trash", Eric continued. "Neither am i willing to engage you to any verbal exchange. But i will give you an advice as a big brother; or rather as most of you all say, an orphan. If you are training because you intend to beat someone or anybody then i advice you to get serious and train harder than the next guy in your dojo. Messing around like this and feeling tough at the end of the day is bad.....really bad. You may be getting free passes from me and from other people in this house. But there are bad people out there. I mean......very bad people that can be best described as a 'one man human abattoir'. One day you might get too stupid and encounter that kind of human being. And daddy and mommy won't like the end result.

Daniel was stunned by those words. The orphan who barely knows how trade words is schooling him big time. Mary stared at Eric and seem to be admiring the way he responded to Daniel's insults. Victoria saw it in her face and frowned. She is wishing that Daniel would do something like the way he did last time.

"What is this orphan boy talking about?", Daniel managed to say and looked at Victoria.

"Victoria shrugged, saying, "I don't even know", and looked at Mary who smirked at Daniel's weak come back.

"I don't want to deal with you because you are still taking your medicine", Daniel blurted out.

"Well that's not an excuse", Eric admired his audacity.

"Why don't you bring your ass here let me teach you lesson like i did last time",

"Eric ignored him and continue browsing the internet.

"Oh are you scared?, perhaps that's why your bloody mother dumped up and they brought you to this house".

Eric heard those words and stop what he was doing. He gently place the laptop on the bench and got up. Straightening his white T-shirt, he calmly walked towards Daniel and stood infront of him.

"Okay big boy, am willing to learn that lesson you intend to teach me", he said quietly to Daniel.

"You guys should stop that", Suzanne began but Daniel barked at her to shut her mouth. It's no secret to him that Suzanne likes Eric alot.

"I will beat you like.......", Daniel threatened.

"You talk too much", Eric interrupted. "Just go ahead and show me what you got".

Immediately Daniel threw a punch at Eric but he effortlessly blocked it and put him on arm-lock.

"Wide motion punches.......i can see the punch before you even throw it", Eric said to him and pushed him away.

Daniel angrily threw another punch which Eric blocked and put him in another arm-lock again. Everything done effortlessly.

"Your punch is too slow......i can as well go into the house, get a glass of juice and still have enough time to return and block this punch", Eric said and pushed Daniel away again. This time a bit harder and Daniel almost stumbled.

"Use you legs", Eric reminded him. "Or have you forgotten that you can also use you legs in karate?".

This infuriated Daniel and he threw a round house kick. But before it could hit the target, Eric had moved in and gave him a shove. Daniel lost his balance and crumbled to the ground.

"First get your balance before you execute a kick", Eric said to him.

Daniel got up wildly and threw another round house kick. Eric raised his leg and defended it with his shin that had being conditioned for years. Daniel's leg met the hyper-hard shin bone and he backed away with a limp. The expression on his face showed that of pain. Alot of it.

"First, you have to know where you are directing your kick because mistakes like that will end up snapping the bone in your leg", Eric noted. "I bet you have eaten noodles. So am sure you have heard the sound an uncooked noodle makes when you break it in two. That's what you will hear if you kick carelessly.

Not knowing what to do, Daniel stood and stared at Eric, sweating and breathing rapidly. He was done and defeated. And have lost the will to fight.

Then Eric walk up to him, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

"Now listen to me and listen good", Eric began sternly. "If i ever hear you mention my mother again, it's not going to be that sweet dance we just had.....am gonna beat you so bad that the doctors will have a hard time finding words to describe it.....do i make myself clear?".

The flame Daniel saw in Eric's eyes made him to nod involuntarily.

"Good.....now why don't you be a good boy and go put some ice on that leg", Eric gestured at his hurting leg. "Unless you want to be walking around with legs of different sizes tomorrow", he said and watch Daniel limp towards the house.

Eric sat down on the bench without looking at the girls. He could hear Mary asking Victora who he really is because he is not the Alex she had known. Victoria was too shock to even know what she was saying


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Wow...looking for what to read, and u jst gave me a dose...tnx for that . How is your health? Hope much better

nellyme i modified it because of typos......i think u will have to reload the page........

@ollyfad......no, am more of pacesetters and James Hadely Chase guy........@JOSH002...thanks i hope you are enjoying the weekend........@Eli360 ....hahahaha abeg oo not for me......Anyway i hope all you guys and other fellow nairalanders have a fun and safe weekend.

Tnx 4 d update, nd aw is ur health nw?