Chapter 03| Achilles heel

Chapter 03|Achilles heel

She smiled instead, bending to Grant him access to her cleavages, distracting him.

   At least, he would die, seeing something beautiful, she thought with disdain.

   Grabbing the blade at her side, and then holding his hand, she inched closer to his ear.

   "What will daddy do to this bad girl?" She asked smiling as his warm blood hit her face then she shook her head in disgust standing up to clean her face with his mattress, she cleaned the razor next free from her prints, just in case, and spared a glance at the escorts who stared at her gobsmacked, obviously trying to process what had happened.

   She grinned.

   As if on cue, one of the men from The Native came in with one of the girls who was originally supposed to be with the murdered man. While the girls just sat on the bed, too shocked to move, their eyes almost bulging from their eyes sockets.

   Welcome to the underground world in Lagos, she thought with a smug grin.

   As she and the man left the hotel she smirked, just as always, an assignment was beautifully carried out. The girls who they had locked in with the chief would be made to answer the wagging pointing fingers.

   And, Fred's body would never be found. She was sure they had poured acid on it and flushed it in the toilet, their expert way of hiding a body.

   Just as always, assassination by the native was carried out without a drop of a hint.

   "Done Master." She whispered, communicating to her uncle already aware he won't sleep until he hears her voice.

   One of his habits that made her skeptical about the death he has been alleged of committing, the numerous torture scary methods rumored he has used on most rival gang members to get them to talk.

  She was her uncle Achilles heels and she hated that. That was why all her life she had practiced, trained harder than anyone else, strictly followed instructions, just to make sure she was strong enough to protect herself that she became his strength.

   Mr. Young smiled fondly as he dropped the walkie-talkie. As a boss, he was fiercely proud of her and confident in her abilities but as a father figure, he couldn't help but be scared for her.

   She was so in deep, so deep with her hatred, with her thirst to bring death. She was almost drowning in her ocean of bitterness and nights like this even though a part of him was proud of her, another part of him, wished that just once, she could retreat and chicken out.

   But she never did.

   He wishes sometimes that he could bring back the innocent Jas that had her eyes lit up in intrigue while he made up bedtime stories, the Jas that believed in unicorn and tooth fairies, that ran towards him at the clap of thunder but he knew that an untainted soul like that, innocence like that Came with a price.

   A price he couldn't afford to pay.

   A price his brother and his wife had paid.

   So, he taught her to fight back, to strike stealthily, faster, harder and now he was scared that she might strike so much, she struck herself in the process.

***

She stared at the target, a human silhouette body and 2 zones target area, one on the hand and one on the chest, at the shooting range.

   She cocked her rifle.

   She shoots, it hits the paper target but gives her a 6. 

   "That was not even an almost," She mumbled under her breath wincing.

   She targeted the head and then desperately with more urgency, she shot and it missed the target entirely.

  She glares at her gun and was about to go for a shooting rampage. Shooting everything on sight.

   Her uncle held her hand.

   Jasmine turned, wondering why he stopped her.

   "Remember Jas your breath even, Your feet flat on the ground, your anger at the fucked up world and not your gun. It is your Ally. Curb your anger, Jas. Control." He whispered into her ear.

   She closed her eyes, taking his words in, and then she shot again.

   Opening her eyes, she realized she hit a 7 on the chest.

   "That was nice...." He acknowledged.

   "No. Don't bullshit me, that was an almost." She said and then hurling her rifle on the ground, she ran away.

   Jasmine opened her eyes with a sigh, worried about the dream which was an activity that happened seven years ago and it was the third time in a row it was making an appearance in her dream.

   She squinted her eyes at the sun rays, then realizing the sun was up, she immediately stood up to her feet.

   She checked the time, it was 8:00 am. Cursing inwardly for oversleeping, she grabbed her pistol and then left her room which no matter how girly she had complained it was, with its pink designs and glitters, alongside cartoon characters posters, Young had insisted she didn't need to redesign.

   So she was stuck in her childhood fantasized perfect room that looked like a glitter princess threw up in.

   She nodded at Chucks as she walked hurriedly to the courtyard.

   An acre of land they use basically for training and practicing possible death threats.

   Their tech guy who was one of the few members of the Native, she knew by name and also one of her favorites, nodded back at her. 

   Ever since Young had rescued him from a feuding war between his family gang and another, Jasmine couldn't help but feel attached to his missing tooth, innocence, and adorable 10 years old grin.

   And even though he was 13 now and had ditched his polka dot stuffed bunny, with his baby fats and nerdy spectacles, even though he was a wizard on his computer and blew her mind most times, she couldn't forget he also was a child and so had this smothering urge to protect him.

   His age and yet unbelievable capabilities made him a valuable asset to the Native. He was the last person to be suspected of any heinous crime and frequently they had taken advantage of his looks to execute their task.

   He was also unbelievably gifted and was able to hack into any device, plotted the team's entry and exit of any room once he hacks into the room layout. He was also responsible for reprogramming or overriding a program in existence when needed.

   "You seem to be in a hurry." He whispered.

   She nodded, smiling.

   "I'm late for the shooting lessons, I was scheduled to take some of the new members on. I am an hour late already."  

   He paused, readjusting his spectacles as confusion marred his 13 years old innocent features.

   "Sir Young called off any training today, he said we could all use some rest," he started still looking surprised she didn't get the message.

   She frowned, a break? "A break from what exactly we are in a fucking battlefield and don't need recess."  

   He shrugged.

   "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you..." she turned to see her uncle looking ridiculous in a party hat with his best friends Chidi and Kehinde behind him while he held a two-layer of chocolate cake.

   A choice she believed was inspired by her love for melted chocolate, cocoa powder, or both when she was 12.

   "Happy birthday Jas," he said smiling warmly at her.

   "Why did you cancel training today?" she asked frowning and then looking at the cake she sighed.

   "And why are you holding a recipe of disaster that could lead to gaining of thousands of pounds? Let's not even mention the sugars in a cake that increase your blood glucose level which may lead to one becoming a diabetic, and you just had to bring a chocolate cake which has a high serotonin content." She said, critically looking at the cake.

   "Jesus Jas, Must you overthink Everything? I am sure eating a slice of cake, as you turned 22 can't do all that." he tried to reason.

   "Why did you halt practice for today?" 

   " Because today is your birthday, I just figured we could celebrate alongside your big win yesterday. Besides everyone needs something to celebrate with everything happening around here and you need the break, my little girl is clocking 22," he said making to ruffle her hair.

   She ducked, glaring at him.