40 The boys

The day flew by much faster because Joao was anxiously awaiting his next adventure which was his next opportunity to become part of Monke's very small legion. He had forgotten about Copper and Tumi, the two boulders that stood in front of his progression.

For some reason, Joao felt that if he were to defeat these two he will finally be accepted into the legion. But there was more to it than simply winning a street squabble, if he was trying to become a permanent member or a reserve then maybe that would be it. But what Joao wanted was not to be a common crook but someone who stood with the bosses, and his loyalty was what they were seeking to test. He knew full well that this was going to go beyond punching people.

School had ended and Kofi together with Phenyo and Joao waited for a while in class until Po returned with his boys blasting music as they walked in. The boys were a wing of brothers like the executioners that were picked for their talent and determination to serve divinity. There were three of them, Po, Sam, and Rocket. These three were among the strongest people in school, while Po stayed out of trouble, the other two were known as the top bullies in school.

As soon as Joao saw them he was a bit disappointed and reluctant to work with them. Rocket was the first one to walk into the class, Like Joao, Rocket wore the school track top everywhere and every time, but underneath was always a golf t-shirt of different colours for every other day. Today was a Monday so he had on a grey one. His pants were shorter than the recommended height, and he wore colourful socks along with wedding shoes almost as shiny as Po's.

Sam followed behind him and he was the same height as Rocket, their uniform was identical and the only difference was that Sam actually wore a school shirt along with normal shoes. Lastly was the main character of the boys, Po came in from behind them dancing without worry into class. The speaker which was responsible for the ratchet was held by two girls accompanying him.

The boys walked over to Kofi and the others and greeted Kofi with special handshakes and just nodded to Joao and Phenyo.

"Bro I almost thought you died, after this gathering I was going to come to your house and check on you." Sam laughed as he caught Kofi in a headlock and frisked the beanie on his head.

"HA! That will teach him not to mess big boy wheels," Rocket joined in.

"OH! I had that car moving with my brain waves. After all, who is it that lost to me in all three races?" Kofi exclaimed as he finally escaped from Sam.

"At least I didn't crash," Rocket laughed, "that's what you get for disrespecting your grandfather. I taught you everything you know about non-electrical engines, all the ins and outs and now you want to act like...."

"Oh, would you shut up for a second, the little man here almost lost his life let's be happy for a minute." Sam interrupted.

"By the way, where did you go after the crash," Po said as he approached them. That is when everyone noticed that the girls had left and there was no more music in the air.

"I went to get treatment at a clinic in our neighbourhood," Kofi responded after a short hesitation.

"Don't look at me like that, aren't we all friends here?" Po said with a chuckle, the other guys joined in on the laugh but he stopped all of a sudden. "So as friends we aren't supposed to keep secrets from one another nor lie to each other." He said with his eyes slightly opening up.

Joao had been paying a lot of attention to Po recently and noticed that Po always kept his eyes closed. But this was something he started doing recently, it also reminded him of Kira and Kaine who hid behind shades. In fact, many people had started closing up their eyes recently and Joao wondered if by any chance there was a trend that skipped him or maybe it was all a coincidence and the bandaid in between Po's eyes was the cause of the sudden change in him. Nonetheless, Joao found it weird that Po was not smiling as much as he always does talking to people today.

"What are you getting at?" Rocket asked while pressing the side of Po's head, he was taller by some inches and the bucket hats they couldn't mask the difference.

"I'm saying that people are moving into our territory and are doing some shaddy stuff to damage the name of Divinity. We are a family and a community of opportunity, not some common thugs, so I want you guys to share with us anything you might have found suspicious lately."

"Shouldn't the new guys introduce themselves before we start taking off our panties?" Sam said pointing at Joao.

Joao stood up and moved over to Po's side and said, "my name is Joao, I don't have a last name."

"I'm Phenyo Matlho," Phenyo said as he shrunk into his chair.

"Are you satisfied?" Po said while looking at Sam.

Sam nodded as he repeated Phenyo's introduction with a mocking voice and the others laughed, Po tried to keep a straight face but ended up joining in. Phenyo awkwardly giggled and Joao just stood there with his expression unchanged.

"Anyway, you guys should already know us, we're superstars, and yes, yes, yes," Rocket said bow slightly at Joao with a little giggle.

Joao squinted his eyes and sank even further behind Po. He was weirded out.

"Were you talking about the sudden leap in attacks on our buildings.?" Sam asked without a smile this time around.

"Yea, Joao here was with your young boss over the weekend and together they stopped a robbery at the oasis. The problem is that the guys said they were claiming payment for drugs and loans taken by the woman's son. Would you happen to have heard about it?" Po said as he looked back again at Kofi.