Blood Domination System

15. The Most Feared Word

The taxi screeched to a halt in front of the campus of the school and Lekan heaved. It was a relief that he could actually get fresh air to breathe, fresh air which was not the same air that his Uncle Desmond would be breathing.

He felt a strange rush of emotions well up in his body just then, as the Uber driver looked back to him and then informed him about their ride destination being reached. For a moment or two, he did not answer, neither did he move. He just stared up ahead, looking at the Uber driver who wore a blue baseball cap, white vest and black jeans.

There was an aroma of scented mints in the car and the air conditioning was doing a good job in delivering the extra chill in the air to it/. Lekan took in an inhalation of air, allowing the mint scented air to  settle against his lungs. It was refreshing in a way, he wanted to stay but then again, he could not stay. He had come down here because he had something which he wanted to do. And also because of the fact that being in the car reminded him of his own father's car. For most of the times when his father would come to pick him up at school, the air conditioning was scented with mints.

It was a feeling he had grown accustomed to. But right here, in the back of the black SUV Uber which had brought him all the way to this location, there was a surge of mixed feelings for him. It reminded him of his parents and the last fight which they had had. the one which had claimed their lives and sealed his fate to the hands of Uncle Desmond. the same Uncle Desmond who was making life rather unbearable for him.

"Yo! Are you good?" The Uber driver said now, finally losing his patience as he waved his hand in front of Lekan. "I said, we have reached our location. You would have to pay but it seems like you are really lost in thoughts." The driver added, his voice a touch softer now.

"Nah! I am fine!" Lekan said, absentmindedly, staring out through the windshield of the car in his front.

"Yes! I can see that. Payment, please." the Uber driver said once more although there was a certain a hint in his voice that depicted he did not agree with what Lekan had said to him.

Lekan nodded, dipping his hand into his back pocket. Once he did that, he sighed to himself, although he is unconscious of this , at this time now. Dipping his hand into the wallet, he brought out some crisp naira notes and then counted them, putting the wallet in between his legs as he did that.

Once he was through with that and had garnered just the right  amount of the transportation fare, he stretched it to the driver who nodded at him.

"What?" Lekan asked, frowning slightly.

"You know." The driver said now, shrugging. "Most people your age, when they board Ubers, the first thing they do is to take their phones out and text their friends, use w******p, snap or i*******m. but I've been watching you. You just sit there, lost in space, almost as if you are missing out on something or like you don't connect to this reality at all. And I do not think that that is normal. You need to think things really easy, yo." The driver said and then heaved, taking the money from Lekan's hand.

Once he had collected the money, he kept silent and then quickly counted the bucks. After which he shuffled it into the pigeon hole in front of him. All the while he did that, Lekan had gathered himself together, choosing not to reply to the Uber driver.

he opened the door, the one which was just to the right hand side of the left wheel drive Uber in readiness to go out, but then just as he moved to the door and was about to step out, he stopped, looking back at the driver.

"What?" the driver asked, raising his eyebrows at him.

"Thank you! i would keep all you said into mind. I appreciate your concern!" Lekan replied.

The driver waived his right hand at him, casually nodding his head. "Ah, nah... You, just be good. Life don't get any easier, you know."

"I know!" Lekan said, heaving and then stepping out of the door. But before he shut the door, he maintained eye contact with the driver for a second and nodded to him, after which he promptly closed the door and then turned around.

His destination was just in view here. Or... Maybe not...

"Hey!" A hoarse voice sounded off from far down the road.

The Uber just wheeled away, leaving him enough visuals to the road which was now behind him. He looked to the source of the voice now, curious to know who the person was that just screamed a Hey out of the blues.

Things like this were common in Lagos. People would just get up and then spontaneously shout out a name or something in an attempt to call to something rather than wait to get to what they were after. And more often than not, the ones who made the screams and the calls were the ones who did not care if or whether people considered it as being a nuisance to them. they just went on with what they wanted and were fine like that.

But still, it piqued Lekan. He had been in a boarding school for a while and now that he had come out, this was the first time that he would be out, at least, since he had come back from the hospital. So, for him, it was fascinating to watch the man wearing simply a shirt of blue checked lines and then a black trousers jogging.

Despite the fact that the man had his arms in shirt arms, his biceps were still ripped and revealed to the outside. It made Lekan gulp, wishing he had something like that.

At least, up until he realized that the man was rushing up to him. Or rather, he appeared to be in the way of the man.

Instinctively, he stepped forward with the intent of giving the man the room he needed to race on to whatever he wanted to do. but then, that was just not what the man intended for.

"Argh!" Lekan yelped, his back curving in as his rams were flung to the side of him.

In the briefness of a second, his body weight turned about in the air, going airborne and before he could say 'Jack', he was already crashing to the floor.

"Ahhhh!' Lekan growled out, angered at the fact that the man who he had given the space to, had the guts and the nerves to hit him. He did not know the reason, accidental or not, but he was charged up, livid at the very act which had happened. He was just about to stand up, scrambling to his feet to give the man a piece of his own mind or fist, whichever applied when he had the word....

"Thief!" The man behind him shouted, making Lekan's eyes widen out in shock, freezing up on his arms and his legs.

In the city of Lagos, the most unfriendly word was the word 'thief'. Actually, it was the same in most of the states in the country. Because of the hardship that people had faced, no one wanted to ever hear the word thief. In fact, everyone hated the words.

To hear a person being labeled as a thief, especially in public light, meant that nobody would care what would happen next. For the ones who called the names, it was up to them to deal with the thief just how they wanted to and no one would care too much.

Why? It was because the one who was being beaten up was a thief. SO even without any investigation to whether or not it was true, the person liable to a thorough beating before anything could be said. And if the matters had progresssed, negatively, then the person was liable to be lynched, right there and then.

So hearing himself being called a thief, right there, by the road, Lekan had a clear idea of what it meant. He would have to get out of here as soon as possible as it was obvious he was being mistaken as a thief. But then, there was a fix to that.

If he did run away, then it would be proven to the eyes of the onlookers and his accusers that he really was a thief. And then the matters would go down the drain. it would mean that he would have to be lynched. And that too, on time before the police would have the time to intervene and save the thief from jungle justice.

"Ahhhhh!" The man shouted and then in a flash, his left hand descended down in fist.

"aGH!" Lekan groaned out as his body hit the ground again.

Seeing this, the man did not waste time now. He simply huffed and then brought his foot down on the head of Lekan, smashing his jaw into the hard concrete ground.

Blood splattered about just then as teeth from the inner dentition rolled out to the ground.