He's Here To Pay Off His Debt.

"Why do you say so?". I inquired, glancing at him.

"That's 'cause I traveled when I hadn't even paid off my debt, it must have made them furious".

And that was fucking true, it was evident from the utterance that man made to Jemima after they barged into their house.

He said something like Mason borrowed money then traveled off seeing he couldn't pay up, leaving the responsibility on Jemima and their sick mother's heads.

..But I can tell that wasn't true, it was evident.

"What do you think would happen when they set eyes on you?". I inquired of Mason once again.

"They might try to beat me up or something". He responded.

"You know, I was around the day they barged into you guys' house because of the debt you guys were owing. They made Jemima really afraid, it was evident from her face,

And do you know what they threatened to do when they come back and their money isn't paid to them? They'd take your sister and do to her whatever they wanted to do. They were furious, especially the one doing the talking". I explained.

Mason was just standing there with a blank expression on his face. I was sure a lot was running through his mind at this moment...

"Let's go and clear off the debt though. Whatever they want to do to you would reduce greatly 'cause you're here to clear off the debt now. And I'm here for you, I'd make sure nothing serious happens to you". I stated glancing at him.

..He believed the assurance immediately, and I wasn't joking with my words, I meant everything I said.

"Let's get going". He said to me as the two of us began walking together.

Getting very close to the building where the loan sharks were, Mason informed me about it...

"That is the building where the loan sharks do stay".

He said that while pointing to the building, and I nodded my head in understanding. I had never had any dealings with loan sharks, I had never borrowed money from them.

And you know what? I liked it. I know the kind of trouble you'd put yourself in when you can't pay back the money you borrowed from them.

"Let's keep going". I said to Mason.

And the both of us continued walking toward the building until we finally reached it. And the moment we reached it, a certain man came out from one of the rooms in the building.

Now, there were different rooms in the building, loans sharks were in some, and the others were used for different purposes.

The building was a two-storey building, so there were rooms both upstairs and downstairs. Now, the man came out from one of the rooms downstairs.

..And the moment he saw Mason, his eyes widened a little as he voiced out,

"You? Where have you been all this while?".

The moment he was done making that utterance, he ran toward Mason and grabbed him by the collar...this was exactly what he was talking about.

Something would happen when they set eyes on him, and it was already happening. After grabbing him by the collar, he stated,

"You decided to come here after all this time, we're so happy to see you".

His voice was audible, and that statement 'we're so happy to see you' meant something else. After making that statement, he began dragging Mason toward the room he came out of.

I was trying to stop him while he was doing all these, but I stood no chance. I assured Mason I wouldn't let anything serious happen to him when we arrived at their base.

..Look at me failing, I wasn't keeping to my words. He held Mason by the collar and was dragging him toward the room he came out of, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I was trying my best, but they were all in vain. Well, he finally succeeded in dragging Mason inside the room, and I entered the room along with them.

Entering it, I saw about five men inside the room plus the one that dragged Mason into it, making six men in total. From a single glance, I could tell they were all working together, they were all loan sharks.

Each of them were all sitting on chairs since there were more than one chair in the room, the same thing for tables. Now, I recognized about three men in the room.

Yes, they were the ones that barged into the house days ago to threaten Jemima and all that 'cause of the debt they were owing...

And right now, I was glancing at the one that did the talking that day. He was the one that pushed me out of the way when I tried talking to them. I'm not sure any of them recognized me.

..They were loan sharks, so they do see different faces every day.

And I wasn't owing them money, so they don't have a reason to recognize or remember me. The moment they set eyes on Mason, that same man that did the talking that day began speaking,

"Well, well, well, who do we have here? One of our debtors who traveled off knowing he had a debt to pay off".

After saying that, he stood up from the chair he was sitting on and began walking toward Mason. I remember him saying he was going to do a lot of things to him if he gets hold of him.

And now that Mason was in front of him, I just had this feeling he was going to do something to him the moment he reaches where he was standing.

..He'd most likely punch him in the stomach or in the face.

Mason just stood there as the man kept walking toward him, and before he could reach where he was standing, I voiced out,

"He's here to pay off his debt".

I better say this now 'cause I know if he decides to punch Mason when he reaches him, he was going to do so really hard...and that would weaken him a lot.

The man stopped walking the moment I said that, he'd gotten so close to Mason by now. He glanced at me, then he focused his gaze on Mason again before inquiring,

"Is that true? Are you here to pay off your debt?".

Mason didn't say anything, he only nodded his head in response to his question. The other men in the room were a little surprised...where did he get the money?

They knew where he was living, and they knew he and his family were fucking poor. They hadn't been able to pay off the debt for weeks now...so how did they suddenly get the money?

Or was he able to hustle out the money from where he traveled to? Maybe the travel wasn't in vain.

"Where did you get the money?". The man inquired of Mason once again.

Before he could talk, I spoke out, "He got it from me, I'm going to settle off his debt. So please, after today, let the disturbance end".

The man laughed a little before saying, "What do you take us for? Kids that don't have anything to do than to disturb others? We were only visiting them from time to time because they were owing us,

They aren't the only ones, we do it to others that are owing us as well. We wouldn't need to be visiting them if they weren't owing us money. And you call that disturbance? To me, that isn't disturbance, they are reminders".

"Whatever, their debt is going to be settled today, so I hope you'd take them off your reminders' list". I stated once again.

A little smirk appeared on the man's face, then he uttered to Mason,

"Who is he to you that he's offering to settle your debt? A relative? Or is he the person you were working for when you traveled off?".

Before Mason could say anything, I voiced out once again, "I'm his relative. I should have settled off the debt since, but I wasn't aware, it was recently I just found out".

The man nodded his head a little, then he uttered once again while glancing at me,

"Do you know how much they're owing?".

"According to what they told me, $6,000 though it was $4,000 they borrowed".

"You're wrong, they are owing a good $20,000".

I and Mason's eyes widened the moment we heard that, then Mason was like...

"20,000 what? You must be kidding. I remembered clearly that it was $4,000 I borrowed that day, but you added $2,000 interest on top of it making $6,000. I signed a certain paper that day, remember? When did I borrow $20,000?".

"You must have forgotten, it was $20,000 we lent you that day". The man stated once again, his face seemed serious.