Chapter 53

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr?
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Mary barged into James's living room unannounced and shouted his name. "James! James!" She shouted.
James rushed out from his bedroom into the living room with only his boxers on. "What the heck is going on? Why would you shout my name like that?" He questioned.
"Because our plans are ruined." Mary cried out and sat down on the brown leather couch in the living room.
"I heard some noise. What is going on?" Kemisola questioned as she walked into the living room.
"Our plans to get the feathers are down the drain. It finished for us." Mary told them.
"How do you mean? Did something bad also happened to you?" Kemisola questioned.
"Nothing is wrong with me. Lara has been kidnapped and I can't get to Kendra. She is refusing to pick my calls."
"Hold on a second, let me try and call her through my phone." James offered.
"Okay but first put on proper clothes," Mary told him.
James nodded and went back into his room.
Kemisola sat beside Mary on the couch and took her hand.
"This wasn't supposed to happen. Why would they come after Lara? What are we going to do? What if Lara tells them about us?" Kemisola panicked as she thought about how the feathers would punish them once they find out about their plans.
"Calm your nerves down. Lara will never snitch on us. None of this was supposed to happen." Mary lamented.
James returned into the living room now wearing a white tee and a pair of black jeans trousers. He placed his phone on his ear and waited for a positive response. When he didn't get any, he looked at Mary and shook his head. "She didn't pick my calls either."
"What do we do now?" Kemisola questioned.
"I don't know!" Mary shouted and placed her hands on her head. "What if something bad had happened to her? What if they took her too?" She stood up and paced around the living room. "Why is this happening to us?"?
"Calm down. Let me call her again and if she doesn't pick up, we are heading straight to her house." James said and dialed Kendra's number again but it went straight to voicemail.
"We need to go to her house now! Should I inform Lisa?" Kemisola questioned her brother.
"No, she will be really worried. Once we get to her house, we will know what to do." James said.
The three all walked out of the house and entered Kendra's car that was in James's possession.
"I hope she is fine," Mary said hopefully.
"She will be," Kemisola assured her.
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Yomi didn't know what he was doing in front of Hamilton shopping mall. The largest shopping mall in mecianda. He was just standing in their parking lots beside his car and staring at the name on the board.
"Hamilton shopping mall," he read the name out and cursed silently. "Bastard"
Yomi continues staring at the building that once belongs to Jeremy. The place used to be Jeremy's old firm until it caught fire and when Jeremy was announced dead, Daniel Hamilton took over the property and build the biggest shopping mall within a few months.
The building might have changed in physical appearance but it held a lot of memories for yomi and he would always see it as the place where it all started. He missed his friends so much and standing in front of the shopping made him remember their time together.
Yomi's phone rang in his breast pocket and he pulled it out to see who was calling him. When he saw the caller's name, he groaned out in frustration.
"Yes Jeremy, why are you calling me?" Yomi questioned.
"Where the hell are you?" Jeremy demanded.
"What do you want?" Yomi questioned back.
"I just asked you a question yomi!" Jeremy shouted. "Get yourself here now!" He shouted again.
"Yes, boss," Yomi replied and end the call not bothering to hear what Jeremy has to say next. He entered his car and drove out of the parking lots.
On his way back to the mansion where he and Jeremy stayed, All yomi could think of was how it was all going to end for the feathers. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't see the person in front of his car. He did all he could to stop the car and when he stepped on the brake of the car, he jerked forward and fortunately for him, the car missed the woman but yomi could see the woman laying on the ground.
"Damn!" Yomi exclaimed and quickly came out of the car.
He walked to where the woman laid on the ground and touched her to see if she was still breathing. The woman's hair was covering her face so yomi couldn't see her face but yomi could see her left thigh bleeding out profusely. Yomi knew a bullet wound when he sees one and he could tell that the woman had just been shot.
The people on the street pretended as if yomi and the woman were not there. They all minded their business as if it doesn't concern them. It was as if the world changed overnight.
Where did compassion and helping one's neighbors go?
Yomi wanted to ignore the woman on the ground because he thought that she might belong to a secret group or probably she might be a thief who was been chased by a police officer and got shot. Yomi wanted to leave but the woman grabbed hold of his clothe and whispered some incoherent words.
Yomi felt guilty and quickly picked the woman up. As he walked with the woman in his arms towards his car, an old woman came to meet him and she said. "Be careful. We have been seeing a lot of girls ending up this way, no one dares to speak out because the government is ignoring it." The old woman finished her words and went on her way.
Yomi thought of what the woman said and wondered what she meant with her words. Not wasting another time, he placed the bleeding woman on the back seat of his car. The woman groaned out in pain but she didn't open her eyes. Yomi looked at the woman and brushed the hair off her face. He gasped when he saw the familiar face.
"Kendra?" He shouted in disbelief. "Kendra!" He shouted again.
Yomi didn't believe that he was going to meet Kendra again like this after a year. He couldn't believe that he didn't know the woman laying on the ground all this while was Kendra. How couldn't he have recognized Kendra? Was it because of her hair or it was because he hasn't seen her in a long time?
Yomi rushed into the driver's seat and drove away. He didn't know where to take her because he was afraid someone might be after her. Whatever happened to her was a bad one. Yomi makes sure he looks at her every two seconds to make sure she was still breathing.
When yomi got to the mansion, he carried Kendra into the mansion and didn't greet Jeremy and Paul that were waiting for him in the living room instead he walked past them and took Kendra into his bedroom.
Yomi laid Kendra on his bed making sure he didn't hurt her leg. He looked for a piece of clothing around the room and tied it around her leg to stop the blood flow. When he finished, he searched his wardrobe for a medical skit. He found a box and laid it on the bed. Just then, Jeremy and Paul barged into the room.
"Who is she?" Jeremy demanded.
Yomi didn't give him a reply and went on to remove the bullet from Kendra's thigh.
"Yomi, don't pretend you didn't hear. Who is she?" Jeremy questioned again.
The loud shrills of Kendra as the bullet was removed was enough answer for Jeremy.
Jeremy and Paul both stared at each other and then looked at the unconscious woman.
"Yomi, if she is someone we know then it is not a problem but you have....."
Yomi shouted at Paul and shut him up. "Enough already! Stop acting like I am doing something bad here and you, " he pointed to Jeremy. "This is Kendra for fuck sake. I saw her bleeding out on the streets. I ran into her."
"How? She is Kendra James? But Kendra has....." Jeremy didn't finished as yomi help him complete his word.
"Has red hair. Somehow she now has black hair and I almost ignored her today. I don't know how she ended bleeding out on the street but I am going to make sure those who did this to her pay with their blood." Yomi promised.
"Why did you bring her here? Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" Jeremy asked.
"You don't want her here?" Yomi questioned and when Jeremy tries to reply, Yomi raised his hand to stop him. "She was bleeding on the ground and I couldn't help but bring her here. I am sorry that I bought her here and didn't think of taking her to the hospital! I am sorry!" Yomi shouted and faced Kendra who was still unconscious.
"That's not what I meant. I didn't say you couldn't bring her here. "Jeremy argued.
"But you made it pretty obvious when I first carried her in. You said it yourself that you didn't want them to know that you were alive. Bringing her here is not going to ruin our plans."
"Don't put words in my mouth yomi. All I am saying is that the hospital is where she can get the proper care."
"Hospital? What if those who shot her find out she is in a hospital and went after her? Nowhere is safe anymore! If you don't want her here then I'll gladly leave." Yomi offered.
"Why are you always trying to make me feel I am selfish?" Jeremy questioned him.
"What if you are?" Yomi questioned back.
"Guys, guys." Paul tries to call their attention.
"Shut up!" Yomi and Jeremy both shouted at him.
Paul raised his hands in defeat and pointed to Kendra who was bleeding out from her mouth and nose.
"While you two are fighting like idiots, there is she," Paul told them.
"How do we stop this? Why did you remove the bullet without proper medical skits?" Jeremy blamed yomi.
"Have you turned stupid in just five seconds? I have removed numerous bullets from my body and I didn't die." Yomi retorted.
"Will you please stop fighting? " Paul shouted. "Yomi, find a way to stop the bleeding. I'll go call a doctor." He told them and walked out of the room.
Yomi cleaned Kendra's nose and mouth with a wet towel and when the bleeding stopped, he stitched her leg and covered her up.
"Look I am sorry if you get me wrong. I am not selfish." Jeremy said to yomi.
"I am over that Jeremy. I said that cause I was angry, I am sorry."
"No you are right," Jeremy argued. "I am selfish."
"No, you are not. If you were selfish you won't try to change the world and get rid of the bad people. If you were selfish, you won't give the circle community homes." Yomi told him.
"Thank you, brother." Jeremy pat Yomi's back and looked at Kendra. "We need to know what happened to her."
"We will once she is awake. I was so scared when I found out she was the one on the ground. What if I was late? She could have died. The people on the streets didn't even care about her! They were minding their own business!" Yomi told him.
"Everything happens for a reason. She is going to be fine. Kendra James is a fighter."
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Thanks for reading!!!!!
Happy new year people.....,
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Let's go catch some bad guys
Melody.