A broken code of Promise

A War Declared

Jaxon’s POV

Truly, I wouldn’t deny the feeling I had after meeting Cassie. I felt wanted and loved. She behaved in a way I wasn’t expecting. I thought she was angry with me, and that made it hard for me to express myself. However, by that time, all my worries disappeared. My smile was back. I took a taxi to drive me home. I wanted to prepare for my appointment with her.

My clothes needed to be changed, so I told the driver to take me to the shops. The driver did as I wanted. I purchased black trousers and a white shirt. I wanted to look my best in front of Cassie. After shopping, I found the driver still waiting for me. I had paid him to go with me wherever I wanted, but I was surprised when he told me he had an emergency before I even entered the car. He gave me back my money, and without talking too much, he pressed the gears and left. He left me standing while I looked for another taxi. Within a few minutes, another taxi stopped for me. I told the driver to leave me downtown at my new apartment. I rented that apartment on the same day. I thought moving away from my mother’s house was the best way to stop myself from always remembering the memories of my mother.

There were three men inside the taxi, including the driver. I greeted them, and they cheered back at me. My mood was positive, and the driver elevated it by playing Westlife music. The songs of love were a game changer for my mood. I was dancing as I was drawn to the music.

While I was in a fantasy, dancing to the music of love, the driver took a turn that was not leading to my apartment. I told him my address, thinking maybe he forgot, but he said he knew. After that, I kept quiet, thinking he was driving the other passengers to their homes first. Out of nowhere, he started to step heavily on the gears. I couldn’t keep quiet, so I complained. He didn’t even care. I realized I was the only one complaining, and that made me wonder. We were already in the bush, closer to where my friends and I used to play in the mines during our training as S4S members. I looked at the man next to me. He was quiet, sitting upright, not even leaning on the seat. His eyes were focused on empty air. The other man, who sat next to the driver, was continuously chewing his gum and bursting it from his mouth. The atmosphere in the taxi seemed weird to me. I wondered why I hadn’t realized it before getting into the car.

When I was about to tell the driver to stop and let me leave, the driver suddenly stepped on the gears. I darted my eyes everywhere, thinking something was wrong. Before I could even ask, I saw two vans following behind us. They were speeding, instilling a sense of urgency in the atmosphere. It was in that moment that I felt threatened. I looked at the driver, and he said, “I am sorry, sir. They paid me to leave you here with these two men.”

The man next to me held my shoulder and commanded me to exit the taxi. I almost disagreed, but I realized I would be provoking a fight, so I cooperated. My day was supposed to end with sweet moments with Cassie, not with wounds from a fight. I held the bag of clothes and stepped out of the taxi. The man next to the driver also exited. After that, the driver drove away, leaving me with those two giants. I didn’t know what they wanted from me, but I knew my date with Cassie was going to be disturbed.

The two vans that were approaching behind us encircled us. They hummed, moving in a circular manner, creating a lot of dust. My eyes spotted Mathew in one of the vans. He was seated in the front seat. At that moment, everything made sense. Mathew had set me up. He wanted to finish me off for sure. I had thought his threat meant nothing, but I was wrong—I underestimated him. When the vans stopped, Mathew came out. He had men who looked ready for blood. He removed his long coat and hat and gave them to one of his men. I watched him as he came closer to me. He was a boss indeed. His men made sure that even if you wanted to pull the trigger to kill him, they would protect him with their lives.

“I want to know what you have decided,” he said, putting his hands behind his back and triumphing. “What choice did you make, Jaxon?!”

From his brown crocodile shoes up to his fearless eyes, I ran my eyes over him. Mathew was just a boy. I wasn’t afraid of him.

“My decision…” I sighed and giggled. “That shouldn’t be your concern, Mathew.”

He laughed and screamed, “I see you chose war. However, that’s so pathetic because you are surrounded!”

Mathew’s demands were not my favorite. If I were to leave town as he wanted, nothing could have stopped him from trying to kill me. None of his demands led to peace, so I had to stand my ground. I looked at him and his men around me. Yes, they looked physically fit—their big postures were frightening at first sight—but I doubted they had the technique to fight.

“Fight now or never!” I screamed.

Surely, I don’t even know how I screamed. It was an involuntary action. Mathew’s men didn’t wait for an order. They came straight at me, their fists ready to deform my face. One of them came from my left, and my right fist landed on his face. Another came in front of me, and I held his collar, throwing a punch at his nose and a second punch at his mouth. I then pushed him away, trying to create space to kick the other man behind me. Those men were beginners to me. They were exposing themselves and fighting with the same technique. They were not trained as we—the S4S—had trained ourselves.

While I was easily throwing painful punches, one of the men threw a heavy stone, and it hit my neck. I instantly fell down. For a few seconds, I felt paralyzed and remained lying on the ground. Mathew’s men grabbed that opportunity to crush me into the ground with their boots.

“Stop it!” Mathew screamed. He saw I was bleeding from my nose.

His men stopped. He came in front of me and touched my forehead with his shoes. I could tell he was thinking about what to do with me.

“This man was one of us. It shouldn’t be a painful death for him,” he said.

His men agreed with him, and he asked, “Have you changed your mind, Jaxon?”

Nothing came to my mind except spitting saliva onto his boots. My action angered him. He quickly removed the pistol from his belt and pointed it at me. His hand was shaking. He wanted to finish me, so I thought of something.

“You want to decide my fate?” I said, wiping the blood from my nose. “I knew from the beginning you were a coward, Mathew. That’s what you’ve proven to your men.”

He kept looking at me without saying a word, so I continued.

“Prove me wrong and fight like a man. If you are going to kill me with a pistol, it will be crystal clear that you are afraid of me,” I said, gasping for air. “If you’re a man, wait for it. I want to die knowing your boss—maybe I’ll feed you his intestines.”

His men looked at him and agreed with me. He put his pistol back in his belt.

“Forty-five minutes, Jaxon. Go and decide your fate,” he said, then turned and walked back to the vans.

All of his men followed him, and they drove away, leaving me still on the ground. My day, which was supposed to end with candles on a table, was spoiled. Mathew had called for a war. It was time to finish it. He acted faster than I had expected. For sure, I was no longer needed in Gwanda town. But this time, I chose to stand and fight rather than run away. They killed my mother, so I had to fight.

I slowly walked back to my apartment. Luckily for me, someone offered me a lift, so within a few minutes, I was home. I looked at my phone, thinking of telling Cassie that I was no longer coming to the date, but I stopped because it would have been difficult to explain the reasons. Mathew’s clock was ticking. He wanted me to decide my fate. I chose war. My fight was to destroy the S4S once and for all, even if it meant my death. I opened my old notebook, which I had found at my family house, and browsed through it. My eyes landed on Jane’s name, and I phoned her. It was already war—the war Mathew thought he would win within forty-five minutes.