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Brinoâ Bruno said to me through the phone later that night.
âStop disturbing me I want to sleepâ I told him, hoping my tone was nasty enough to put him off. Heâd been calling me non-stop since I hung up on him earlier today when he told me that heâd not been able to get anything tangible off the Slave Masterâs computer, causing me to have an asthma attack in vain.
âBrino I’m sorryâ he said.
âIs that all? Can I go to bed now?â I snapped.
âNoâ he said.
âWhat else?â I asked impatiently.
âDid you see Walter today?â
âWhat do you mean âDid I see Walter?â How would I be able to see Walter, I’m locked up in this place all dayâ I was already annoyed.
âI saw him at the Slave Masterâs houseâ Bruno said.
âWhat?â all my previous emotions were replaced by curiosity.
âYeah, he came in as I was leaving, at first I wasnât sure it was him, but one of the men greeted him and called his name, confirming my suspicionâ
âWhat was Walter doing here?â I asked nonplussed.
âI donât know. Thatâs why I called to ask if you saw himâ
âNo, I didnâtâ I said to him as my head started spinning in different directions.
Walter was part of the den of thieves I used to move with before I met Bruno. He was Idrisâ right-hand man; just like heâd found me and took me in, Idris had done same for Walter years before he met me and they were totally inseparable. You know how people say no smoke without fire? Well, Walter was the smoke to Idrisâ fire.
I sat on my bed and sighed into the phone.
What business did Walter have with the Slave Master?
Did Idris know of Walterâs business with the Slave Master?
My head was a tangle of jumbled thoughts as I thought back to the last time Iâd seen Walter, it was at a party nearly 2 months ago, a party Bruno had advised me not to go to. When I first saw him, I turned in the other direction hoping he hadnât seen me, later events of the night had proven otherwise as Walter and a bunch of my other old friends had come up to me, we started talking and one thing led to another, he eventually dared me to steal a car; the car that landed me in my current situation if I might add.
âBrino, Brino, are you still there?â Bruno asked.
âYeahâ I replied slowly as I surfaced from the sea of my thoughts âYeah, Iâm here. I was just thinking of the last time I saw Walterâ
âWhat happened?â
âHe dared me to steal a carâ I replied simply.
âOhâ Bruno said â⊠wait⊠you donât meanâŠâ
I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head so I kept quiet.
âYou donât mean that car. The Slave Masterâs car? Right?â
I sighed into the phone giving him his answer.
âCoincidence much?â I finally said with a humourless laugh.
âCould it be a coincidence? Really?â Bruno voiced out my very thoughts.
The person who had dared me to a steal car, ended up in the house of the very person who owned the car I stole, while I was on house arrest there. What were the odds of that?
âIt has to be a co-incidenceâ I said into the phone with doubt injected heavy into my words âit just has to be. Walter dared me to break into any car I wanted, it was a full parking lot and he wouldnât have known the car Iâd pick.â
My head was spinning wildly; I could feel my brain overheating already. I analysed everything from that night up to the present moment. Nothing was making sense.
I heard Bruno sigh into the phone moments later, as I recalled events that had taken place today and I was tempted to tell Bruno of the deal I made with the Slave Master just this evening, the only thing that stopped me was the statement the Slave Master made after I shook his hand.
âOne more thingâ heâd said through his devilish smile.
I blinked âwhat?â
âNo one, no one at all must find out about this. Understood?â
I nodded yes.
âAlright, good nightâ at that he shifted his chair and left me alone in the dinning room.
âBruno Iâm tiredâ I said into the phone at last.
âYeah, me tooâ he sighed âgood nightâ