The gift.

“I never thought I’d have to kill a person before. The thought of it crawls my blood yet…I find myself thirsty of blood, filled with rage and unexplained fury. It’s just like the bad guys on drugs, I feel like I took something and I know I have to feel guilty but then again, I ask myself…did you feel guilty with the parcel?

“What parcel?

“I’m trying so much not to cut your head off with this blade, don’t make it worse”

“You might as well because I don’t know what you’re talking ab…”

“Let me remind you then, I see there’s something wrong with your memory” He picks up a hammer and two nails. Is the chair comfortable?

“Maybe if you loosen the rope a bit”

“Good, that’s what I need to hear”

“What are you going to do?

“Tell me Miles, do you believe in God?

“Yes” He replies in a trembling voice.

“It’s such a pity, one of these things through his skin because he was innocent. Which comes down to the point, you’re guilty so I won’t feel pity, I won’t have mercy” He says this looking at a nail and looking at Mile’s face. “You don’t feel guilty Miles, you don’t care about the people that you hurt, god damn it you don’t even remember your victims. I will install some memory on your hands Mr. You will feel my pain”

“Aaggrr, what the hell do you want from me? He yells as the hammer drills down the nail at the back of his hand against the chair’s armrest.

“Why did you kill my boy? He asks in ultimate anger.

“What boy? He replies in a crying voice.

“You still don’t remember” He drills the second nail on his other hand.

“Sto-o-op, stop please, I’m begging you I don’t know what you’re talking about”

“The present that you sent my son on his birthday wasn’t so nice to him, but that is nothing compared to what I’m about to do to you now” He takes out a car battery and puts both plus on the nails drilled in hands and then switches on power.

“No-o-o-o, oh God please, please just stop it and talk for a moment”

“Did you talk to my son? Did you ask him his name? Did you give him a chance to say anything?

“Mr. I’m sure there’s a valid explanation for all this. The only person that I suspect to have killed this week is a cop which also wasn’t my intention to do but your son, I don’t know anything about it”

“Don’t say cop, say secret agent” Aries talks in a calm voice as he sits down with hands on his head” Miles looks at him with a doubtful face”

“Sir, agent Freeman was your son?

“No, agent Freeman is my son”

“Yes, I’m sorry, listen I didn’t mean to”

“Why did you kill him?

“It was not murder, I didn’t know about it” As he says this, Aries gets up swiftly and punches him on the face a countless times with anger until he gets tired. He bends forward and holds on to his own knees. Miles is crying in a soft voice.

“Mr. I didn’t even know your son, as I told you that there’s a valid explanation for all this. It is not what you think it and…”

“Then tell me what the hell it is” He interrupts

“You won’t like what you will find trust me”

“Tell me!

I did not kill your son! I delivered a box to him but I did not kill him”

“The same box that blasted off at him? Tell me why do you want to die? Who are you protecting?

“You won’t like the answers, it won’t end well for the both of us”

“Try me!

“No, you don’t understand”

“Then I’ll just carry on doing what I’m doing then, I won’t kill you. You will wish you were never born, you will feel my pain I promise you that”

“You’re headed for a very dark path”

“I already know darkness”

“You will die!

“I already died with my son” He speaks with calmness, takes a chair and sits next to miles”

“You’re not thinking straight, you’re not even listing to me. If this is what you want then…”

“Let me tell you a little story. Whoever hired you, hired someone else to dig up information about my son. In one of his safe houses, is a two roomed flat owned by a geek called Joe that my son knew from college. This boy’s computers had damning information about my son and of course the geek’s safety was intact until a guy came in looking for answers…you want to know what he did? He cut his ears out, then the nose. The boy gave up the pass codes. That was before the assassin hit the boy on the knees with a four pounds hammer on the forehead and slicing his throat with a nail clipper. He did it like he was interrogating Osama Bin Laden’s right hand man. Now, moving on; Joe lives with his grandmother who happens to be very sick from her brain tumor, Joe is…was the only surviving close relative to the old lady”

“Why are you telling me this?

“I want you to understand the pain that you’ve caused Mr.” He answers in rage.

“Okay! Okay! I get it all right. They didn’t tell me about your son’s hit, I just delivered the present to him. I was under strict orders not to open it or give it to anybody else. The guy who gave it to me told me that it’s your son’s birthday and that he’s good friends with the president so…”

“Don’t lie to me, don’t say you weren’t aware that they wanted him dead! You delivered a bomb and you didn’t know about it?

‘’You don’t have a reason to believe me but I’m not lying either”

“How do I know you’re not lying when you’ve been hiding things from me? How d…”

“Your son dug up some things about the president! He interrupts him.

“What things?

“A drug network planted a warehouse that was built shortly before or after 1994. It’s American and the government receives some imports to distribute here in the country. I don’t know how and why it was started or where the money made from it goes, who benefits, but I do know that the government is part of its legacy”

“What did my son find out?

“I’m not sure, I just know that he was working this big case and it’s very classified. You see, I’m a flipping delivery man, I count the live stock every evening to make sure the number stays intact and that is about the way I make money from the president”

“If you’re the handy man-boy, how come you know all this?

“Uhm, after I heard about your boy’s passing from a bomb posing as a birthday gift, I went to the guy that gave me the box but I couldn’t rule out it was the box I sent that killed him or at least suspect a foul play until I leant about the missing CCTV records at your son’s. It was just too awkward to be a co-incidence that I heard the president talking on the phone about CCTV footage on the night before it was lost. I gathered most of the information from the news of course”

“I still don’t’ get why…”

“I did my own research! After I found out about the warehouse and the connection to agent Freeman’s case. A guy caught me going through documents and the president’s guard came to me, He told me if I say a word to anyone they’d release the footage and I’d go to jail for assassination. They said that I would die in jail before I can even write my statement; kill my mom and sister, my dog Renie. They said that I could continue working there as long as I kept my mouth shut and if you don’t believe me you might as well kill me before they do it” As he’s saying this, Aries takes out his Cellphone and dials a number.

“Cellphone rings” Miles looks at Aries.

“You’re not one of them are you? This is not some test of my loyalty to them? Are you calling the president?

“Relax, I’m calling a friend for some help and yes I do believe you”

“Oh thank God” He says in relief.

 “Hey Aries”

“Chief, have you been watching? Aries asks the man.

“Yes” He replies as he’s looking at his computer with footage from were Aries is. “He’s not lying chief, at least about the drug warehouse”

“But how can a government smuggle drugs when he monitors smugglers and throw them to jail?

“Call it a conflict of interest chief, the government buys weapons from all over the world and is underwater shipped. Who knows what else is there especially if nobody inspects it, at least not if he’s not a government official or someone paid for the job by the government”

“I guess that makes sense”

“There’s something else chief, Jeannette, she does regular visits t the president’s home. Her phone records led me to suspecting that there’s something serious going on between them, almost an affair”

“What are you talking about man?

“She’s the president’s informant chief”

“No, it must be another Jeannette. It has to be a co-incidence”

“Chief, not when she asks the president about when is she going to stop play working your house help and it sucks”

“Damn it that woman, she’s…”

“Stop right there, don’t give her suspicion yet. I need to see who pays for her bills and the expensive jewellery, I have to get anything that will link her to the president which will be concrete proof that she’s a mutual friend to you and him”

“But I don’t get it, she could’ve just looked for my son’s documents at the house, why go through all that trouble with Joe?

“Minimum awkward moments reading your son’s documents only to get caught. On the other hand, listening to you talking to your son over the phone and of course, hacking into his Cellphones to track him”

“Wait, that means I partly gave her the information…I killed my s…”

“Aries that’s nonsense, this is a government wired operation and who knows who else is involved? Guys like us are small fish and there’s no way you would’ve predicted any of this…Now let’s meet at the at the firm, I’ll have more information than we need to take on the president”

“Chief, we need some kind of a connection with this drug network”

“Let me take care of everything. Bring the Gardner to the firm with you”

“Why do we need him?

“If he runs away to report to them, we’re dead meet”

“Yeah you’re right. See you later chief”

“Sharp sharp and chief…take care” Hangs up.

A few hours’ later, Aries meets up with Aaron, the guy he spoke with earlier on the phone. They meet at a local law firm where they both work as state attorneys. But Aaron brings yet another big surprise, he’s in company of the president and his men.

“I’m sorry Aries, I had no choice” Aaron starts to speak.

“I’m sorry too Aaron”

“I should’ve known this would happen, I told you not to do this. We’re both dead now” Miles panics.

“Relax, they won’t hurt us, or kill us at least” Aries assures him.

“Hi, I am the president but you know that already. You’ve been causing problems for me lately, your son and now you?

“All this to smuggle drugs undetected?

“What can I say, to lead, you have to be a shark and sharks have to eat”

“You’re supposed to protect us Mr. President”

“And yes I’m doing that. I wish I had more time to chat but…” Police sirens sound up. Suddenly there are different news agencies, which came to broadcast live, the South African army is ordered to raid the president.

“I’m sorry Mr. President, I brought a few friends if you don’t mind” As Aries says this, mean come in and take everyone except Aries and Miles.

“Chief, everything I said was true except for that I didn’t tell you I’m one of them. I was cornered; they were going to kill my family. I was right about Jeannette and everything, if I die in prison…take care of my daughter”

“You should’ve spoken to me chief, your family will be taken care of for the little friendship left inside me”

“Thank you, so long chief”