Lords of Underworld

Everything went blank

After a long wait, John Terry finally appeared. He was tall, lanky with hollow eyes, hooked nose and tobacco dark lips. Dressed in black coat and baseball cap, he walked briskly towards his cabin. Their informant told them that he never came back to his cabin until 8:00 pm . He lived alone, and no one knew of his family members.

Jeff and Melly got out of the car as he walked passed them. He did not look at them.

“ Mr Terry.” Jeff called as he moved after him while Melly followed.

He turned, gave him an astonishing and askance look.

“ I’m sorry, I don’t know you.” He said with a husky voice.

“ I am Jeff Simon, and this is Melly Grant.”

Jeff offered his hand for a shake.

“ I don’t know you.” He repeated. “What do you want?”

“ It’s about  Richard Cliff and Maria Hudson.”

John’s hollow eyes shifted.

“ I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“ We want to know …….”

“ Go to the police. It’s almost twenty years and they questioned me to hell. I am not a heist. I told them and they found nothing to link me with the crime. I don’t want to talk about it. If you are from the press, forget it because I hate you guys.”

“ We are not from the press and we don’t want no press in this.” Melly said. “ I- I am their child.”

This seemed to have shocked him. He gave her a sharp look, like he was seeing her for the first time.

“ You mean….Oh my god! I can see her eyes. You were adopted by the Grants. Come on, come with me.”

He led them to his cabin. The living room was poorly furnished with old furniture and TV but it was very neat and organised. Jeff looked round with interest as they sat on the sofa. Melly told him that she just discovered her real parents and wanted to know more about them. John asked how she found him. She said it was in a case file. She did not want to mention Tyler so he would not become scared.

“ I met Richard and Maria when they first arrived United State in 1991. They were illegal immigrants and I saw them the first day they arrived by the sea. I was a fisherman, and I still fish. He was only sixteen and she was fourteen. I mean, they were as young as my kids and wanted to know what they were doing there. He said his parents were killed by a local gang in Mexico. It’s bullshit when they say they were from Italy. They were Mexicans. She also lost her parents so they left and became lovers. They were sweet kids. This is where I got in trouble. I harboured them  and I knew they were illegal immigrants. I never saw crime in them. Six months later, living in hiding, they left and moved to San Francisco. I think they got mixed up with gangs and drugs there. Until one night, in 1998, they dropped in my house and told me they were in trouble. They said a gang from Mexico was after them. I never knew about the heist. I kept them, and they had a lot of money. I became suspicious, so I politely asked them to leave. I heard them talk about their baby, and she looked like she had put to bed but they never mentioned it to me.

I became more suspicious. They left and I never saw them again until  the cops came knocking at my door. It was a hell of a time for me. Those kids needed help. They were children of circumstances, left in a baneful world, to survive in the wild and got absorbed by the wind of crime. I got the details later and found out that they had a daughter.”

He said so many things and showed them pictures. Melly saw their picture when they first arrived by the sea, with some Mexicans, also saw them eating Mexican food like Chicken tostadas, cheese quesadillas, pinto bean salsa salad, etcetera.

“ Do you have a family?” Jeff asked him after he was through.

“ I lost my wife and kids in a car accident in 1976. I never got married after that. I am seventy- five. Just want to pass on quietly. I live alone. The closest to a family I had was her parents but unfortunately, the encounter made me became paranoid .”

Melly gave him five thousand Dollars which he refused to collect at first but later accepted after persuasion.

Jeff was already sitting alone by the beach before seven o’clock in the morning. After a mouth brush, he left the house without her knowledge and got himself a scintillating view of the beauty of nature. It was almost 11:00 pm when they came back last night. They had light snacks earlier  so they asked the servant to take back the dinner. She changed into white skinny shorts and crop top, while he was left with singlet and jeans. They sat side by side on the three sitter sofa. She seemed elated  that she got the mystery solved and did not want to dig further. She was completely satisfied . They talked about it for a while until midnight. Alone with this girl gave him ideas, but he had to be a man and that meant having power over  desires. She showed no interest in getting closer and he pretended not to care. They bid each other goodnight and Went to bed. He could barely sleep and when he did, he woke up at dawn. That was the time Fahad used to wake up for his prayers. He called it Fajr.

“ Good morning.”

He heard her beautiful voice from behind and  cursed himself for not hearing her come. He was startled but tried to hide it.

“ Good morning, princess. How was your royal night?”

“ Hunky-dory, and yours?”

“ Sweet.”

She came and sat by his side, too close for comfort. What a protean character.

“ Do you usually wake up so early? “

He nodded.

“ It depends.”

“ Depends on what? Your mood, the people you are missing?”

“ It could be mood, what I have to do, where I have to go, it could be anything. But now, I woke up to be here.”

“Alone…..I must be a nuisance.”

“ You can never be a nuisance, Princess.”

“ I need you to tell me about yourself. Come on, I barely know you.”

He was looking at the beautiful water.

“ What would you  like to know about my humdrum life?”

“ Everything.”

He took in a deep breath.

“ I am a native of Illinois, Chicago to be precised. My father was a soldier, my mum is a school  teacher, I have two siblings and I am the  eldest.”

“ You must be proud of your father. He served the nation.”

He smiled.

.“ But you never mention  them.” She observed.

“ It’s always been about you.”

“Oh, you are making me feel guilty.”

“ Well, I know why you said I must be proud of my father.” He said . “ My father was dismissed from the army. He was accused of many crimes. He came back and resorted to alcohol. He abused my mother, I witnessed a lot of domestic violence. I could not imagine why a man should go physical with his wife. Mum had  to leave. We left Chicago and moved to California . She had two jobs just to keep us breathing. I had two younger sisters. When mum was at night shift, I was left to take care of them. A neighbour reported her to social workers and she nearly lost us. It was not negligence.” He forced a smile. “ As I grew older, I got onto street stunts with bicycle and skates. We started performing for tips and it helped though. When I got to Miami, I got me the job at the fashion house. It keeps  me going. It was rough but thank God, I got through school. I got a scholarship, and hope to get a job when I’m finally through.”

She was silent for a while as he finished.

“ I am sorry.” She said in a little above whisper.

“ Life is full of vicissitudes.” He said, “we hope it makes us stronger and wiser.”

“ Yeah” She whispered.

Silence.

Then he felt  her head resting on his shoulder, her hand holding on to his arm like he was her only support. He could not move,  tried to stay still, like trying not to wake a sleeping child, feeling any shake may make her fall. He was not moving, but his mind was racing, and hoped he would not start shivering. At that moment, he felt like they were off the planet, alone in paradise, serene and seraphic, sweet and quiet, with that sweet sensation swirling in his head, in his heart, his stomache…..his life. He was tempted to hold her, take a step further but hesitated. It may be a brotherly thing, or just out of compassion and  did not want to ruin whatever it was because it felt like dolce vita. He  wanted to have her, make her belong to him. It wasn’t just physical, not just her body, but her mind and soul, her everything. This was love, the type he never knew existed, never believed could be possible, classified as a fairy tale.

“ Come on, let’s go inside.” She said.

She got  off him. They walked slowly inside, making him imagine what it would be like having her as a wife, living in a world of theirs, not scared of leaving each other. He had never thought of marriage with any girl before. It never crossed his mind. But this girl made him felt anything less that marriage was tormenting.

They had their bath separately, got dressed and had breakfast. He then asked her for her car keys and to come with him. Surprisingly, she did not argue.

They left the countryside and  drove straight to John Terry’s house. He was not surprised to find a native American woman watching some boys help her place new furniture. They inquired and was told she was the owner of the house and had lived there for seven years with her live-in boyfriend. When Jeff asked about John Terry, no one knew him but an old tall, lanky man was picked up by a SUV this morning.

“What is the idea?” Melly asked  as they sat in the car.

 “Was that why you showed no excitement yesterday?”

“ Some things did not add up. He said he lived there alone and he was a tall man. I saw shoes that were for a short man. I also saw things that made me suspicious. Then the pictures of your parents…it was like a timeline.

How could one who just got in illegally, knowing they could be nabbed pose for such pictures? I was watching him intensively, I just felt something was wrong.”

“ But the pictures are not Photoshopped.”

“No. I don’t know what it is, but those pictures and this hoax opens a new perspective. I don’t know what it is but now we know that John Terry is a fake. Someone had laid it for Tyler.” Then he felt a bang in his heart.

He quickly alighted and asked the informant about the SUV. Seeing how desperate Jeff was, the informant said he had nothing to say. Jeff gave him a hundred dollars and he said it was a black SUV with a driver and a man in black suit and hat. Oh no!

Jeff rushed back to the car and drove out. He told Melly what he learnt.

“ I don’t want to conclude but I feel Tyler was killed for this case.”

“ Oh my God!”

His phone rang and he picked it. It was Fahad.

“Hey,What’s up?” Jeff said.

“Hey, where are you at?”

“Still in Fort.”

“Someone got our house bugged.”

“What!!”

“What the hell is going on? What are you guys into? What’s the crab about lost uncle, architect and s**t?”

“ Calm down, buddy.”

“How can I calm down when this gangster looking dude comes in here to drop wires and picks them. I got the crib wired too and I saw the bogey men.”

“You mean they bugged the house?’

“ They hear whatever you have been doing with that girl.”

“ The guy you saw, what does he look like?”

“ He comes all dressed up in stripped suit, hat and eyes like fire. What the hell is cooking, dude?”

“ I will get back to you. Just calm down.”

Jeff ended the call. She heard.

“ I don’t know what is going on but what you took as simply digging into your parent’s  past is waking the sleeping lion. There are men of the underworld who are making sure the dead stay dead and they know about us.”

She closed her eyes, put her hands to her face and burst into tears. While he tried to console her, the picture of the thickset brutal looking gangster who killed Tyler displayed in his mind.  

******

Melly had told Jeff  it was a friend's birthday party. He did not want to attend but she was persuasive. He did not need to be told it was a party for the rich. There were over two hundred boys and girls, all expensively dressed. He saw Fahad standing with a girl.

Immediately they got in, Kim, dressed in white body clinging dress quickly walked to them, grabbed Jeff’s arm and thanked Melly for keeping to her promise. Promise? Was that the reason for bringing him here? Still pondering over that, he realised that the cheers was for Melly. She was a special awaited guest. A young man, looking twenty or twenty-one came to her. He was handsome, wearing his white hair in a posh style, with a majestic and flamboyant personality. He seemed to be the c**k of the walk.

Jeff looked at his shoes, wristwatch, jeans and felt intimidated. This guy was hot and he knew it. He came to Melly, gave Jeff a glance, shook his hand and said, " thank you for bringing my queen to me on this special day."

His cronies cheered. " I am Steve Barcovy."

" Jeff Simon. Happy birthday."

"Thank you. Just a moment. I know you are in able hands." He said and winked at Kim who was smiling. Jeff guessed what was on his face could be called a smile. Steve grabbed Melly by the waist possessively and walked her away as his cronies clapped.

" Just a few moments ago, I said something was missing in my life and I felt dead even when I am adding a year today. " Steve began, "I never knew you guys understood the quiddity because I did not say why. But as this queen comes in, you smart as*** got the wind and cheered. Now, I am a year older because the one who holds the key to my life just opened it."

They clapped, and three servants pushed in a gargantuan cake. Jeff had forgotten that Kim was holding him. He felt numb and lassitude. Could he ever forgive Melly for this? Why bring him to torment? Why not leave him in his ghetto and come play love with her billionaire handsome boy? What offence did he commit to deserve this? He tried to be good to her, lost his friendship with Fahad because of her. Why?

The cake was cut, lots to eat and drink, jokes shared, dance and a lot of fun activities. Jeff did not cross parts with Fahad as he seemed to be catching fun. At a point, Steve, Melly and three other couples joined Jeff and Kim. He was trying not to be rude so he played along with Kim without committing himself.

" Jeff Simon, right." Steve asked again, holding a glass of champagne. Jeff saw Melly gestured at Fahad who joined them with his girl.

" Which of the Simons? Simon Macrae, Simon McLeish or Simon Smith?"

Damn! Jeff exclaimed in his mind. To Steve, only three Simons existed and the three he just mentioned were billionaires.

" None. Its Simon Hamilton and don't bother to ask which because you have probably never heard of him."

"Huh," Steve sipped his champagne. They all had drinks in Their hands . They kept chatting until one of them said, "who remembers the Campty Camp song?"

Campty Camp! That was a summer camp organised for the rich kids below the age of ten. Jeff had never been there because he never qualified. Fahad, who had been living in USA on and off all his life had gone for the camp thrice. He fitted into this group and had things to contribute. They began to sing the song and others joined. Jeff could see them having real fun. Everyone sang, everyone…..except him. He did not know the song. He was probably taking care of his siblings while his mother was babysitting for money then. He felt out of place, humiliated, ostracised. No one was really paying attention to him. The song brought sweet childhood memories, those sweet old days they shared, Melly was singing joyfully, standing close to Steve, even Kim who seemed obsessed with him was facing a fat rich boy who was very vocal and audible.

Jeff gestured to Kim to excuse him, she did not seem to hear or see him. He quietly walked out of the hall, and went outside. He walked as fast as he could, leaving that environment was all he needed then. He did not blame himself. He did not bring himself here. It was a waylay, a final brush-off  called coup de grace. He began to run, hoping he would find a cab. He did not find any but couldn't wait. He kept walking down the boulevard until a car pulled up in front of him. Two policemen alighted.

" It’s him." One of them said, flashing Jeff’s face with a flashlight.

" Hey, what’s going on?" Jeff demanded

" You are Mr Jeff simon, sir?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are under arrest for trespassing and being  in possession of government property. You have the right to remain....." Jeff did not hear the rest of the words as the second cop hit him at the back of his head. What offence did he commit? Where did he trespass? He was hit again with a heavy object and he fell down and  everything went blank.