THE GENTLE RACKETEER: A Novella

by Kingsley Aguchibe

  All that got to a point where Danny learned not to complain anymore. He started playing the tricks back to his brother. They’d set all kinds of traps to each other. Sometimes, their traps would catch someone else. Or in some cases, a long set and forgotten trap would catch the very person that set it.

  Danny always planned before acting. He was a boy with lots of creative ability. His traps and tricks always worked. That only made CJ hate him more. The matter was made worse when their father started liking Danny more. He discovered that Danny has all the features necessary to take over the business.

  The two boys grew, and as they get older, their tricks kept getting rougher. The hatred kept growing up with them too. At age 15, Danny would get locked up in a boxing ring with CJ. CJ would always beat him up. Even with the assurance of victory, he still wouldn’t let Danny alone. Any score between them would be handled in the boxing ring.

  At that age, CJ was 17. But his father didn’t crown him second in command. He was waiting for Danny. He trusted Danny more than CJ. He didn’t want what happened to JJ to repeat again. For a whole lot different times, he’d tried to explain that to CJ. But CJ couldn’t just stand the feeling of letting his younger brother order him around. No. That was an unacceptable option for him.

  But the father had to do what needed to be done. In two years' time, Danny would be the second in command. Whether CJ loved or loathed it.

  Master Scott saw Danny as gentle, calm, someone that thinks before acting, trustworthy, loyal, humbly dangerous, almost heartless, a kind of poison that kills slowly. All these contradicting features make Master Scott prefer Danny over CJ.

  On the other hand, He saw CJ as predictable, rough, careless, action-oriented, not trustworthy, rude, and bossy. All these features weren’t so good for business.

  And that was because any party that intended to deliver or receive a package always observed the other party. Various assessments had to be carried out before any reasonable transactions could happen. Otherwise, the two parties would end up having intense shootouts that often resulted in lots of casualties. And even sometimes, the very package that caused the problem would get missing. One of the members of any party would take the package, all by himself.

  Danny’s features were perfect for business. Any party that he met to deliver or receive a package would easily trust him. This would give Danny room to carry out his evil acts. That, at least, was how Master Scott saw the potentials in Danny.

  He was happy and couldn’t wait for Danny to turn 17. But CJ could not stand and watch his younger brother become the second in command. He definitely had a plan. And nobody, even his closest friends, had any idea what that plan was.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Lost Grip

  The fact that CJ was 17, and was unable to be crowned second in command made him become so bitter. Not that it was his fault. He was seeing the whole situation as; “My old man can’t just accept me for who I am.” That, he’d say to his friends, who had already started to feel pity for him.

  On the other hand, Danny didn’t even want all those ‘first commander’ and ‘second in command’ craps. He just wanted to be left alone, to figure out his life, all by himself. Since everybody else was busy trying to play normal, to fit in. Danny didn’t see the point of the whole struggle. He felt he was where he wasn’t supposed to be. All his life, or perhaps since he turned twelve, he’d been having a weird feeling that something big was about to happen to him.

  He wasn’t even so sure how to describe the feeling. The feeling of waiting for something big, something that could change his life… Something that could make him see why everybody else was busy acting cool, or at least pretended that everything was cool. The whole situation, to him, was like a giant drama. A drama where they only had to implement a perfect strategy. If the strategy worked, they would have succeeded in their ‘game of wits’. In that case, they’d go home with a huge amount of money and the package – the supposed exchange for the money. Double win. On the other hand, if their strategy failed, it would ultimately result in an intense shootout. And they’d go home with either the money or the package. Or in some cases, both. The casualties would be left behind to die alone. And after everything, the police would show up to clear up corpses and damaged resources.

  All of those, Danny really never did understand the point of all of it. But he had to blend in. Because that was the only option.

  Few months to Danny’s 17th birthday, CJ decided to carry out his plan. CJ was about to turn 19, and because of the plan of his, he has started being friendly to Danny. He was like, “You know. Since you the destined to take that position, there’s nothing I can do about it. I guess its better that I let the whole thing go. After all, you my only brother. What’s the point fighting over a useless position anyway?”

  And Danny was beginning to like CJ too. The fact that CJ called the ‘second in command’ position useless was enough to make Danny like him more. Two teenage brothers that were being forced to do what they’d rather not do. Why won’t they team up?

  That was CJ’s trick. Danny thought they were together. He was beginning to enjoy the company of his older brother. And so, one Friday evening, CJ asked Danny to come and take a walk with him. Danny easily consented. After all, taking a walk with CJ and talking about the things they didn't like about their father’s business sounded like fun.

  The two lads set out. They had no place in mind. They just set out to walk around the neighborhood. That was what CJ told Danny. “Let’s walk around the neighborhood.” But CJ knew exactly where they were going.

  When they went out of the house, they didn’t alert anybody. And their father had long ago stopped monitoring them. He’d been monitoring them to make sure CJ didn’t, out of bitterness, do something stupid to his younger brother. But since the two brothers started being friends, Master Scott had taken his monitoring eyes off them.

  So, the two boys kept going far, far away from their home. “Hey CJ. I thought… you said we’re taking a walk around the neighborhood. How come we’ve been going straight up since?” Danny asked in surprise.

  “Don’t worry. There’s something I want to show you. Something you’ve never seen before… We’d reach the place very soon.”

  Danny kept quiet. He continued with his brother. They kept going till they came to a bridge. The bridge wasn’t for cars. It was intended only for people, for them to cross over a lake.

  There, on top of the bridge, Danny asked, “And what are we to see here?”

  “You’re faster than your shadow, Danny boy. We’re here to see you die.”

  “That wasn’t so funny. Really. Wait. Are you being serious right now?” Danny asked as he noticed CJ removing his shirt already.

  “What do you think?” CJ asked as he removed his shirt and kept it by the side.

  “Oh man! I can’t believe you played me. I thought we were supposed to…” Danny didn’t finish up his statement and a punch landed on his face.

  He stepped back a few steps and held his already bleeding mouth with his hands. He slightly bent down and raised one hand, a sign that CJ should hold on. “We don’t have to do this, man. What do you want from me?” Danny asked in anger.

  But CJ ignored him. Instead, he gave Danny a very strong kick, on that very face that was now covered in blood. As Danny was already bending low to the ground, the thrust of the kick, threw his head backward, with a very great force. At that point, Danny lost orientation. He was begging CJ to just stop. But CJ was determined to kill him on that very spot.

  Danny had no options but to either run away from the fight or to defend himself. Running away won’t be a nice choice. He knew he couldn’t outrun CJ with the condition he was currently in. Danny charged to defend himself.

  CJ kept hitting him hard, nonstop. That was how he used to beat Danny up in the boxing ring at home, continuous punches, and kicks until Danny falls flat on the floor. That time, on the bridge, CJ’s punches had more weight to them. All the anger and
bitterness inside CJ were manifest in his punches and kicks. With all his strengths, he kept landing those punches, coupled with occasional kicks, on Danny.

  All the while, Danny was busy defending himself. He never tried to punch or push back. He never, for once, believed he was a match for CJ. Or maybe he didn’t see any valid point in fighting. Anytime they fought, all Danny could do was to defend, or protect himself.

  Danny was moving back, with two of his hands across his face, as CJ kept coming forward with strong punches. It came to a point where Danny was so confused he didn’t know what to do. He fell on his back. He cried and begged CJ to stop. At that point, CJ just stood and looked down at him. He might have got tired of hitting Danny.

  “You know what? I’m gonna throw you into the damn water. Instead of me killing you with my own hands, I’d rather let the water do it for me. Wooh! Such a brilliant idea, don’t you think?”

  “No. CJ. Don’t do this…”

  “Shut your fucked up mouth already! Jesus Christ!” CJ shouted and ran his hand over his hair. He kept doing that, dressing his hair backward. He didn’t want to throw Danny over into the water. But he had to. Otherwise, the beatings would have been for nothing.

  CJ started moving to and fro. He was filled with thoughts. At the same time, Danny was slowly getting onto his feet. CJ looked at Danny and got very angry. “Stay down! Stay down, you little piece of shit!” He ran towards Danny, held the railings with his two hands, and stamped on Danny several times with his right foot.

  Danny fell flat helplessly on his back. “You know what,” CJ said, “I’m throwing you off right away.” CJ carried Danny up above the bridge railing. With the little strength he had left, he was determined to let Danny fall over the railings. He let go of Danny. Danny was supposed to have a free fall. But he held the railing with his two hands.

  He cried and begged CJ to reconsider. CJ didn’t want to listen. Instead, he was busy neutralizing Danny’s hand, by hitting hard, on Danny’s fingers, one after the other.

  First, he started on Danny’s left hand. He kept hitting on the fingers until Danny let go of the grip with the left hand. Then CJ went over and started hitting the fingers on the right hand. He went on till Danny finally let go of his grip.

  Danny fell freely into the water. CJ watched as Danny went deep down the water and came out again, motionless. CJ went where he kept his shirt. He took the shirt and headed home. On his way home, he was going through his mind, trying to figure out the best explanation he’d give about Danny’s sudden disappearance.

  Meanwhile, Danny was still lying lifeless, on the surface of the water.

  CHAPTER 8

  Welcome Back

  CJ got home and went right straight into his room. Inside the room, he was so restless. He locked himself up and was moving up and down the room.

  Around 8:44 pm that night, Teezee knocked on CJ’s room. “What’s going on man? Haven’t seen you or your brother outside since forever. Hope everything’s okay.”

  “Yeah! Sure! I mean, everything is cool. Thanks for asking.”

  “How about your brother? He’s not in his room. You know where he is?”

  “I totally have no idea.”

  “Aright man,” Teezee said and went away. Since he’s the one currently taking care of Master Scott’s operations, he had to make sure everything, even everyone is okay. And again, Master Scott had assigned him the task of keeping an eye on CJ and Danny, to make sure no one did something stupid to the other.

  Meanwhile, Danny was still lying lifeless somewhere else. But that time, not on a surface of the water, but on a very clean lawn. He looked dead. But maybe he was just sleeping. A man sat by him and was eating a fish stew.

  Just about when the man wanted to get up from his seat, Danny rolled over on his stomach. The sharp pain he felt all over him made his raise his head with a start. He lay like a lizard for a while. He wanted to get up, but he ached all over. The man ran to help him up, at least to sit down.

  When Danny sat upright, he held his head with his two hands. He was totally disoriented. “Take it easy, son. Easy,” the man said to Danny.

  “Please, where am I?” Danny asked.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” the man said as he offered Danny a potion of what he was eating earlier.

  “No, thank you,” Danny refused the offer. “Please what’s going on? Why am I here?” Danny asked as he looked around the compound.

  “Alright. I guess you deserve to know. Well, you’re in my home. I’m Sam by the way. I’m a fisherman. I found you lying there, all by yourself. When I was fishing, it was time for me to go, but something prompted me to go close to the bridge. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I was kind of enjoying the sail on my little boat. When I got close to the bridge, I noticed the water was, you know, ‘disturbed’. My first reaction was to be alert, with the thought that whatever coursed the disturbance could be anything. But when I slowly sailed close enough, I found you.”

  Danny quietly listened to the man. He was beginning to remember the encounter he had with his brother. “Then what happened?” Danny asked Sam, with the hope of knowing why Sam decided to bring him to his home.

  “Nothing much. I took you with me. On my boat, I did what I had to do for you to wake up. But you woke up and went right back to sleep. Then I had to bring you here. And here we are. Look, son, you really lucky I found you on time. You gotta be thankful for that,” Sam said and got up to go into his house.

  “Thank you!” Danny managed to say, with enough strength to make Sam hear him.

  “You welcome,” Sam said and went into his house.

  Within a couple of minutes, he emerged from his house, with two cups of beverage. He handed Danny one and sipped one as he sat back on his seat.

  “Thanks. Ehm… You said earlier that you did what you had to do to wake me up. What does that mean?”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. What matters is you that you’re still alive. Welcome back.”

  Welcome back. Those words reminded Danny that he’d been a dead teenage boy had it not been that the man found him in time. “Thank you,” Danny said.

  “So what’s the story behind this?” Sam asked as he made little circle twice with his index finger and then sipped his beverage.

  “Ah!” Danny held his forehead with his hand. “It’s kind of messed up man. Even I don’t understand why… Oh, I think I do. But it’s confusing, you know.” Danny breathed deeply. “My brother tried to kill me. Not that hit-and-run kind of killing. He tried to kill me with his bare hands. Damn! How did he get the heart to do something like that?” Danny asked and sipped his beverage.

  “I see,” Sam said and nodded his head three times. They both stayed quiet for a while. “So what you gon do?” Sam finally broke the silence.

  “I don’t know. My brother, he’s so complicated. I thought we were friends. We used to hate each other though. We played different tricks. But lately, we became friends. And now I get it. He made friends with me so he could bring me to my doom. Shit! How come I didn’t see it coming? The highest trick he’s played on me. Excellent.”

  “Hmm. ‘I don’t know’ isn’t an answer. I hope you know that. Obviously, you gon have to make a decision. You can’t stay here forever. Well, unless you come along with your house rents.” Sam said and giggled.

  “Oh man. I get the point now. Then I’ll be on my way.” Danny said and tried to get up.

  “No! No! That’s not what I meant.” The man expressed, trying to get Danny to sit down. “I wasn’t implying that you should be on your way. No, far from that. What I tried to tell you was that you must have to face your brother someday, obviously. So are you planning to let everything go and forgive him, or are you planning to take your own pounce?”

  “Oh, I see your point. I’m gon take no revenge. There’s nothing that I can do to him that’s worth what he tried to do to me. The reason he did what he did was that, in three month’s time, my dad would give me
the position of second in command. A position in the family where the person on it would be the one that controls every other thing. Unless my dad says otherwise. I wasn’t even interested to take that position. CJ should be the one getting to that position. Our father insisted I take it, a decision which CJ wasn’t happy with.

  “Wait a sec, Scott Jenkins is your dad?” Sam asked in surprise.

  “Yeah,” Danny said, reacting to Sam’s sudden surprise.

  “Oh man. I should have nothing to do with this. Your father is a very dangerous man. Hm! It’s no surprise that your brother tried to kill you. If your dad finds out you’re here, he might kill me. You know that, right?”

  “I don’t even know what I know and what I don’t. It’s kind of confusing.”