Fated Through Hell

It was a usual scene in the golden yellow lighted streets of Harcourt city. Tires screeched, voices screamed, and the freezing air blew above the horizons. Noises could be heard in those streets, from men fighting to women trading curses, children playing soccer in the muddy areas beside the roadways, and big trucks competing with little vehicles for travel space. A chaotic setting it was. At that time of the night, the existing chaos was a norm in that part of the world for those who partook in it. Only the innocent elites who rode quietly in their vehicles had a right to be disturbed by the noises. Anyway, neither the noises nor the chaos could trouble Jack Dean. He was in his own world. With his windscreens completely closed up, the interior of his vehicle rocked with ear - splitting music. That was the way he chose to have his chaos. Jack was the heir to the ownership of Crystal Space, a global tech company which dealt in space research and travel. His father, Professor Yul Dean, had founded and ran the company since Jack was a kid, but now that his old man was becoming weak with age, Jack had to take a bit of responsibility and step into his shoes. He believed it was for a matter of time. Father would soon come back to work, he just had to be patient. But one thing he could never be patient about was the slow pace of traffic. "Damn these hold ups!" He cursed loudly, even though he couldn't hear his own words amidst the loud music. Turning the wheels of his car steering and pressing hard his foot against its accelerator, he zoomed off to an alternate road in full speed. As his car sped away through the new roadway, he sensed a continuous beep from his phone. "Oh!! It's Phil" He realized, looking down on his phone screen and reaching his hand to tap in a response. "Hey bro!" He said, while tuning down the music volume. "Yo! Yo! Brah!" Was the screamed response. Club music played loud and hard in the background. "Where you at? These girls ain't gon leave to nowhere without ya." Jack made a slight sigh, "Man! But I told you I wasn't coming. Those people got me stuck up in there for hours over stuff I barely understand. I'm used up man". The reply was a loud long laughter that lasted for almost a minute, "Ain't you the Prof's son? Thought you said you were ready for this.." Phil laughed hard again, "Told ya you wasn't cut out for this". "Na you sabi," replied Jack, he wasn't ready to be picked on. "You can hang up now". "No qualms, my man" Phil assured as he made to end the call, "But trust me, dude, you don't know what you missing out here". And with that the call ended. Phil had always been like that, right from high school. His overly executed humour was an unobliterable part of his identity, and he had been friends with Jack, like he used to say, for long life. Jack's father always resented their friendship. He claimed that his boy lost his purpose at a very young age because of the 'third world friends' that he kept, and now he had grown up only to become an incapable figurehead in his father's company. "His sister will do better than him", he always said. "Well" Jack sighed as he reminisced through the past, "I never wanted to be a part of the tech world." He raised the volume of the music box once again and tried to lose himself in its melodies as he sped through the smoothly tarred road space. And as he began to feel the ecstasy of Burna Boy's Itz Plenty, he saw his phone light up and vibrate vigorously again. How could he forget? Phil had always been the desperate type who never let go after being told off once. He picked the phone up and stared angrily at its screen. Then his anger faded away as he swiped through the pictures Phil sent him. Beneath the pictures, it read, "Watchu say now Charlie? She gat Jah's favor!! Made of first class clay!!!.. U Coming?" "She is beautiful," he murmured, and then swiped again over the same set of pictures. Then he stopped to swipe, and began to stare continuously at a particular one. He then tried to zoom it to enlarge the view of her naked breasts. He imagined himself slowly sliding his tongue through the tip of those objects. "Oh lord!" He exclaimed in awe at the beauty before him, "I can not survive this!" And he did not. He had been distracted by the beauty of the woman in the pictures that he forgot he was in a high speeding SSC Ultimate Aero. By the time he raised his gaze to realize what was going on, he was face to face with a large wall and boom!! As his car went crashing over, Burna Boy's voice faded into a distant din, and the ringing continued in his eardrums as he went unconscious. ......................... When he woke up, he could barely move a bone, but he could feel his body moving speedily, and people running beside him. People in white. "It is an accident! Patient seems to be in his twenties, severe burns and possible lacerations. Weak pulse! Possible asphyxiation!" He closed his eyes again and passed out. ......................... When he opened his eyes again, he could detect flashes of light on his face and someone talking from behind the light. "Hey! New guy, get up from the streets before they come and make you." He whispered pitifully, "I can't move! I've been paralyzed!" The figure behind the light made a scoff, "Yes you can. And No! You're not paralyzed. Give me your hand", they said stretching forward their arm towards Jack. And he held it. What? He could move? Jack was shocked to his bones. The figure pulled him up to his feet. "I can stand!!" Jack exclaimed, "How's this even possible? I am alive!!" He declared, facing the person who had helped him up. It was a white man, and he replied, "No, look around fella. You are dead!"