A broken code of Promise

The Code of Promise

Jaxon’s POV

I couldn't handle myself after leaving Cassie’s house. She had told me the truth I wanted, but it was difficult to take it all at once. My head ached, and I felt the need for a friend nearby—but there was none. For ten years, my life in Tanzania had been a lie. I had lived without knowing I had a daughter and that my mother had died. Her death hurt me because I hadn’t even shown myself at her funeral. Everything was painful. I realized there was no one to lean on for support, so I went to Blackwater. There, I surrendered myself to alcohol. I sat on a stool close to the service counter.

As I let alcohol take me along with my problems, I saw Mathew enter the bar. He came straight to me and sat on a stool beside me. The barman poured him some gold blend spirit. He held the glass and poured it all into his mouth. I expected him to greet me, but he didn’t even look at me. He was wearing a long black coat that touched his knees. The barman refilled his glass before he refilled mine. I took my glass and sipped slowly, expecting him to speak first—he had to. He was my boy, and I needed explanations for everything that had happened while I lived as a ghost.

He removed the scarf around his neck, and his face freshened with a smile when he saw me looking at him.

“Why?” I politely asked.

He smiled even more and let out a gentle giggle.

“Why?” he returned the question to me. I remained quiet but impatient for the conversation to mature.

At that instant, my phone rang. Amanda was calling. I didn’t answer. Instead, I switched the phone off. I wanted to concentrate on the conversation with Mathew. He shifted himself and sat facing me.

“I thought you were dead, Jaxon. And I wonder why you are back,” he said, pouring alcohol into his mouth again. He clenched his jaws and shrugged his shoulders. It was clear he didn’t like my return to town. I put my hands on his shoulders before speaking, but he pushed them away.

“Why are you back, Jaxon?!” he screamed, his voice full of anger. His tone bored me. Mathew was my boy, and he knew it. I expected respect from him. He might have grown into a full man while I was away, but he was courageous because of me.

“Are you out of your mind? Linx died, Mathew, so I came to bury him. I didn’t know you guys had started the war I tried to avoid!” I roared, pushing his stool away.

People stared at us, thinking we were fighting. However, Mathew came back and sat next to me.

“If you want to behave like animals, please don’t do it inside the bar. We have expensive assets here. If you’re not careful, you might end up paying for them,” the barman warned us.

Mathew smiled as if nothing had happened, then, out of nowhere, he blurted,

“Who doesn’t want money or power?” he sighed, mocking me.

I ignored the question and went straight to what gave me a heavy headache and heartache. I asked about my mother, what happened to her, and who was involved. It was obvious someone had a hand. On hearing my question, Mathew chuckled. I seethed and clenched my fists while looking at his face.

“Why do you ask something you already know? You knew this was going to happen… Linx killed your mother. Try to balance the equation, Jaxon!” he warbled, tapping my shoulders.

I held my glass firmly, increasing my grip on it until it cracked. I sighed heavily and suddenly threw the glass away; it shattered. Mathew creamed his face with a smile. He wanted me to behave that way. The barman gave me a stern stare, and I knew I was supposed to pay for the glass.

“The S4S—a secret squad. Damn s**t!” I shouted, standing up. “Why, Mathew? When you all had everything, all of you?”

“Jaxon, I don’t know. It’s like you had blinkers back then. We tried to make you see that we wanted money, but you didn’t let us—only to come up with stupid rules. You were lost, and you ran away,” he said, nodding.

I remained quiet, trying to make sense of his words. He jumped down from his stool, poked his nose, moved back and forth, shrugged, rubbed his hands together, and finally sat back. He couldn’t sit still. I watched him, trying to understand his new adult behavior.

“Are you taking the drugs, Mathew?” I asked after witnessing his odd behavior.

“Why wouldn’t I, when I own them?” he responded, chuckling. The barman poured more spirit into his glass, and he finished it at once. Then he said,

“You’re the one who crafted the rules. You instilled that mind in us. You created the S4S, bro, and we were ready to play—but you chose to be a coward of your game.”

His words sank straight into my head, and I remembered the Code of Promise we made.

“You were all not supposed to make an operation with the drugs. I went away because I didn’t want our loved ones to die. You’ve created tombs of our loved ones, Mathew!” I thundered, grabbing his collar.

“No, you are mistaken, Jaxon. Only your mother died… maybe Linx too. Listen to this: there is no good time to need money. We wanted the money when you were still around, but you were stopping us. Linx wasn’t going to be able to kill you alone, so we planned to kill you the night before your wedding with my sister. I didn’t want you to get married to her. By running away, you did well. But now, with your return… picture it out,” he said.

“Why didn’t you want me to marry your sister?” I asked.

“I shook hands with Linx so that he would become powerful. He was going to get Cassie’s shares, and after killing you, we were going to give yours to our new boss,” he revealed. My heart grew heavy.

“Cassie is your sister. You can’t toy with her, Mathew. You were supposed to protect her from the S4S. You broke the code,” I tried to make him realize his mistake.

He giggled and ironed the collar of his coat with his hands. I knew he was preparing to leave.

“In war, it’s good to put the shield over yourself, and that’s what you should be doing, Jaxon. If you come near my sister, I will kill your daughter. If you stay in town, I will kill you and your daughter. Drago is now the head of the S4S. He is our boss,” he said, threatening, and exited the bar. He left me shocked.

The Secret 4 Squad

The S4S was a secret squad we created when we were eighteen. It had me, John, Seth, and Linx. We wanted to join the military, but the Scouters weren’t concerned about recruits in our region. We started to read books and watch combat movies until we mastered many skills. Moreover, it was easy to get information because I had a friend, Jane, who was recruited. She gave me tips about their training, so we were doing the same training ourselves.

Our training wasn’t as hard as theirs, but what mattered was the skill. We even modified ours. After two years, we saw no reason to continue self-training because we weren’t going to get employed by the Scouters even if we wanted to. I realized we were no different from street fighters. We wanted to do daring things: jumping from heights, mountain climbing, jumping off cliffs, diving in rivers, and more. We even played in the deserted mines underground. That’s when things changed.

One day, when we went down to the mines, we found people with drugs. It was cocaine, and we didn’t know it was stolen. There were about six men, all armed. When they saw us, they started shooting. We ran, trying to escape, but it was impossible. They ran after us, shooting to kill because they thought we were spies. We felt like it was our last day to breathe.

Seth split from us and was caught by a grenade. That was the end for him. When the grenade exploded, I saw a mass of rocks fall on the people chasing us, and they all died. We became more terrified—it was the scariest thing we had ever experienced. We stopped running to catch our breaths. When we looked at each other, John had fallen. It was dusty inside, so we couldn’t see what happened. Linx and I grabbed him and ran back, hoping to find medical kits among the belongings of our attackers. That’s when we realized John had been shot in the stomach. Bullets were in him, and he was losing blood.

“These are drugs, right?” John asked, looking at the stacked bags.

“They are drugs, bro. Heavy money,” Linx responded.

John awaited my response, so I nodded. He smiled despite the blood leaking from his stomach. He knew he was going to die.

“Jaxon, please give my shares to Cassie. I am begging. I want to make her happy. I love your girlfriend,” John said, breathing his last.

I stared at him, my eyes wide. He held my hand, and I felt his body temperature dropping.

“A promise from a brother should be kept. Cassie will get your shares. She will know when the time is right,” I promised.

He smiled, letting out a faint dying giggle, and said, “I wanted to know your thoughts.”

We looked at him, and his smile widened.

“Jaxon, I trust you. Seth died, and I am dying. If you touch these drugs, your lives will be destroyed. You are too young, boys. Never touch these drugs or tell anyone about this, even after my death and Seth’s. Keep it to yourselves. These drugs are our blood. Respect them. As for you, Linx…”

John didn’t finish. Within a second, he was cold. We shook his body, calling his name loudly. He was dead. I became afraid and confused.

“Jaxon, Jaxon!”

It was Linx calling me, as if from a distance. I gave him my attention.

“Let’s bury him, bro. You heard what John said. He wants this to be a secret,” Linx said, already holding a shovel.

We dug a pit and buried John. We couldn’t identify Seth’s body because the grenade had destroyed it. One thing was certain: we were young and dumb. It was a promise to our dead friends not to touch the drugs. That’s when the secret was born. The disappearance of Seth and John caused chaos in town, but the police never retrieved their bodies. Linx and I were the last two standing of the Secret 4 Squad.

As time went on, Linx started playing around the mines, and I knew he wanted his hands on the drugs. I asked him about it. He denied it. It was then we decided to give Mathew Seth’s shares, and Cassie took John’s share, even though she didn’t know anything about the secret squad. We only explained it to Mathew.

We aimed to make concrete rules to prevent anyone from being tempted to touch the drugs. But Mathew didn’t want that; he wanted to take his shares and get money. I disagreed, and Linx went against me too. I then crafted a code and enforced it. They weren’t going to go against me because I was stronger and had better skills. It was a code of promise: anyone who wanted to touch the drugs had to have blood from their own family. I saw myself as king and commander of the squad, and my friends were ready to kill me for that.

Mathew caused numerous problems in my relationship with his sister. He opposed my wedding. Linx also opposed it, but he was my only friend left, so I didn’t care to leave the letter with him. Mathew and Linx were ready to spill blood. I thought it was better to run away. I thought I was protecting everyone, but I killed my mother.

At Blackwater, I was still sitting in the bar after Mathew left me. I took my phone and called Amanda. I told her I was going to have a long stay in Zimbabwe. Then I stood and tried to walk to my mother’s grave, but it was cold outside, and I was drunk. So, I looked for a space to sleep in the bar. Before sleeping, I sent a message to Cassie.