Chapter Nine

A shrill cry for help made Joshua stop in his tracks. His head tilted in the direction the scream seemed to have come from, wondering if he had misheard. On normal occasions he would have just brushed it off but he couldn't help having the feeling that Kamji might be in trouble. This part of Lagos afterall was infamous for it's high rate in criminal activities. Robberies and Street fights have become a common sight even during the day time so it was not particularly odd to hear feminine screams from time to time.

Another ear piercing scream was heard and Joshua frowned. He would recognize that annoying voice anywhere. And no doubts it sounded exactly like what Kamji's pesky little voice would sound like if amplified a hundred times. Muttering a curse, he headed in the direction where he had last seen her, silently praying that she had not run into some serious trouble. She probably ran into some rodents, he thought. The streets were infested with rats and it wasn't anything new for those who lived in the area. And considering the fact that the girl was from an influential background, the sight of the rodents must have freaked her out. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of the girl being backed into the corner screaming her head off as the rodents scurry up and down.

Arriving Infront of the alley where the screams seemed to be coming from, Joshua noticed the place had been deserted. Not because it was getting dark or anything but because people had purposely avoided the area not wanting to get involved with whatever was happening in that area. He couldn't blame them for their selfish actions and he would have probably done the same thing had it been it wasn't the principal's niece that was in danger. Most third parties that had gotten involved in similar situations had either gotten injured or killed in the crossfire. Overtime it had become a general rule for people to not get involved in matters not concerning them.

Joshua stood at a reasonable distance away from the place, just enough for him to get a glimpse of what was happening in the alley without being spotted.

He could see that Kamji had been surrounded and backed up against the wall by a group of thugs. They were four men in all and two of them stood guard at the entrance making sure no one wandered into the area. He saw Kamji bite the man that tried to unbutton her clothes earning a heavy slap in return form the man for her resistance.

"Shut up and stay still." The man said, striking her cheek again for the third time in a row. Joshua felt his blood boil at the action. He could tell Kamji had quit struggling after the first hit, yet the vile man had kept hitting her for no reason but his own pleasure. Witnessing the scene had brought back memories of what happened in the past. Memories he wanted to keep buried and forgotten had begun resurfacing in his mind over and over again.

The Blood. The Screams. The knife. All were like blurry scenes of a horror movie.

Forcing himself back to reality, he pushed the disturbing images and searched frantically for anything he could use as a weapon. it wasn't wise for him to charge into the alley without being prepared. Gangs like these were usually armed with guns and daggers. And as much as he hated playing superhero he couldn't leave Kamji to be molested.

Picking up a rusted metal rod, he walked casually towards the entrance. He wasn't some martial arts master but having lived on the streets for most of his life he had learnt a few moves to defend himself.

"Hey you! What are you doing here? " One of the thug guarding the entrance snarled as Joshua approached. "Get lost."

"Don't worry about me," Joshua replied calmly, his footsteps unwavering. "I am just a passer-by."

"I am warning you kid," the thug pulled out a dagger and pointed it at him threatenly. "I said to get lost."

Looking at the dagger, Joshua could tell it was laced with poison. One stab from the dagger was enough to send him to the afterlife.

The other thug that had been assigned to guard the entrance didn't seem fazed by Joshua appearance. He no doubt considered Joshua as nothing but a fly and didn't deem him as a threat. Joshua felt relieved by this because it was going to be quite troublesome facing the two men at once.

The first thug had dashed towards him with the dagger aiming for his blind spots. The attacks were slow and it was easy for Joshua to block each one of them and he soon countered with a strike of his own. Not wanting the fight to last any longer than it should Joshua landed three successive strikes in the man's vital spots, knocking him out immediately.

"You son of a bitch!" the second thug that had been smoking a cigarette while watching the fight quickly ran towards in a fit of rage as soon as he saw his partner unconscious. "I am going to kill you."

Greg seemed to hear the commotion taking place outside and stopped what he was doing. "Go check what's happening back there Bayo." he ordered the last of his goon that was there with him.

"Yes boss." Bayo nodded and headed towards the entrance with a gun.

While Greg was still distracted in that moment, Kamji seeing the opening had taken the opportunity and kicked him hard in his giron. The man had fallen to the floor wriggling in pain and raining curses on Kamji who had begun kicking him.

"Stupid Rapist." she screamed, kicking him as hard as she could. "You deserve to rot in prison."

Joshua was still locked in combat with the second thug who was quite skilled compared to the first one he had knocked out earlier. It didn't take him long to notice another man come out from the alley with a gun pointed at him. The sound of the gun going off was heard and Joshua was quick to drag the other thug Infront of him as a meat shield. The thug who received the bullet cried in pain, clutching his hand over his stomach where he had been shot.

He could tell the man was angry about missing the shot and injuring the wrong person as he quickly aimed the gun at him, ready to fire again.

"Drop your weapon." Joshua said still holding the thug whose cloth was being soaked with blood from the gunshot wound on his stomach.

"Or what kid?" Bayo laughed.

"Or he dies" Joshua said as he held the wounded thug firmly around the neck with one of the poisonous dagger pointed to the gunshot wound.

"You can't do anything. You're just bluffing" Bayo sneered refusing to give in to the request.

"He won't be the first person I have killed and neither would he be the last." deadpanned Joshua. And as if to prove his point,he Inserted the blade into opening the gunshot wound, and pushed the bullet farther into the muscle tissue making the thug cry in pain.

"Just give him the damn gun. Bayo" the thug who was being tortured cried.

Bayo's impression of the boy as a reckless coward suddenly changed and he became somewhat wary of the lad Infront of him. Seeing the brutal methods the boy had used to get his demands made him realize he was just as dangerous as his actions portrayed. He even started to believe that the lad wasn't joking when he said he had killed a person before. If only they were not in a violent conflict he would have done all he could to recruit the young lad to his gang. They would surely need someone as cold and ruthless as the boy who wouldn't bate an eyelid when it came to executing people and somewhere his eyes held a hint of admiration for Joshua.

"Now slide it over at my feet" Joshua commanded as the man dropped the gun on the floor. Bayo did as he was told and slid the gun over to the lad, curious about his next action. His curiosity soon turned to regret, because in seconds, Joshua picked up the gun, and shot at his leg

"Sorry. but I can't risk you following me." He said to the man, pushing away the thug he had used as meat shield and entering inside the alley to where Kamji was.

He could hear Bayo still cursing at him and groaning in pain but the only thing on his mind was making sure Kamji was safe. He soon found her stepping and kicking on the man that had tried to sexually abuse her earlier. He wondered how she got a grown up man wriggling on the floor like a baby until he caught sight of the man clutching his groin. Understanding what took place, he walked over to them.

"Here. Use this." he offered Kamji the metal rod he had picked up earlier. "It should be more effective than those sloppy kicks."

Kamji was about to take the rod when he stopped her.

"Allow me to demonstrate." he said. Raising the metal, he landed a clean strike on the man's gut making him to cough blood. He repeated the painful process before handing back the rod to Kamji to do as she pleased.

He watched her hit the injured man on the floor, allowing her to pour out all her pent up anger for some minutes before he stepped in. "That should be enough. We need to leave now." he said to Kamji that still wanted to hit the man some more.

"We can't leave yet. These men deserves to rot in prison" Kamji said. "We need to call the police."

"The police?" Joshua scoffed. "Do you think that the police or the authorities care about what is happening in a backwater community like this?"

A thin frown appeared on her lips "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, this isn't some fancy estate your used to living in with nice neighbors and tight security. This part of the state is a freetown where anyone can do what they want and get away with it simply because the police don't consider poor people like us worth their time."

Kamji wasn't happy about learning that piece of information and was ready to leave with him when she remembered her locket. "That thief took my locket" she informed Joshua.

He walked over to where the man laid on the floor and searched the pockets of his jeans. "Got it." pulling out a golden chain, he tossed it over to Kamji. "Now let's get out of here before they call for backup."

Kamji nodded and quickly followed him out of there. Joshua made sure to return the weapons he had borrowed from the thugs as they left the place. Making their way slowly back to the bus station, Joshua could see that the upper buttons of Kamji's shirt were missing exposing part of her cleavage. He tried not to laugh at her attempt to hold the shirt together with a pin.

"You can have my shirt." he offered as he unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to her. Kamji could see that he was wearing a sleeveless jersey underneath. She accepted the shirt not wanting to comment on his choice of inner wear.

"Thanks" she muttered, wearing the shirt over her ripped own. Apart from the bruise on her face, it was hard to tell that she was involved in some fights and struggles some minutes ago.

Joshua stole glances at the girl from time to time. She seemed to be buried in her own world of thoughts not that he blamed her. She probably would never try to step a foot again into the neighborhood after what happened so he didn't have to worry about the possibility of her tailing him again. He wondered if he should escort her home as he could tell she was still shaken up by the incident. She had wrapped her arms around herself protectively and her skin still looked quite pale as if she was still recovering from the shock. Seeing her look so vulnerable and petrified made Joshua want nothing but to go back and beat the crap out of those men that put her in this state. He couldn't help but feel partly responsible for what happened to her. If only he had dragged her sorry ass back to the bus station the moment he caught her tailing him, then this wouldn't have happened.

"Thank you for helping me back there." Kamji's voice sounded shaky as they arrived at the bus stop. She turned to look at him. "I will be fine going from here, you don't have to follow me home." Noticing he was about to dismiss the idea of letting her go alone she quickly added. "The last stop is right at the estate I live. You don't have to worry about me getting into any trouble or getting lost."

Joshua nodded. "You should put some ice on your bruise later, so that the swelling doesn't get discolored." he advised as he inspected the wound, his finger gently trailing on the tender skin. Kamji winced and he quickly retracted his hands suddenly remembering he had broken most of his own rules this evening one which included distancing himself from people.

Kamji seemed to have noticed his sudden withdrawal but chose to say nothing about it. "Can you please not tell my Aunty of what happened today?" she begged.

"Your family life is none of my business." Joshua responded dryly, going back to his usual cold self. "Whether you chose to inform your Aunty or not is entirely your decision to make."

Kamji felt very relieved to hear that. The bus had arrived and she hurried in, getting a sit by the window. Joshua still stood there waiting for the bus to leave. Bringing up a hand, she waved goodbye. He didn't wave back. Feeling like a complete fool, she stopped waving and turned away to stare at the seat ahead.

Joshua saw the girl was embarrassed and annoyed at the fact that her little gesture of friendship was ignored but he couldn't care less. He had already overstepped his bounds by rescuing her from those men and even escorting her to the bus station. if she thought that the incident had magically brought them close to the friendship level then she was so wrong. As soon as the bus left the station, Joshua took a different route to his house not wanting to run into the gang of thugs he had fought with earlier. He would probably need to lay low for a while in the streets because gangs like those were extremely vengeful to those that hurt their members.

He couldn't believe that it was barely the first week of school and the principal niece was already causing him so much trouble. Maybe he was going to talk to the Principal about making adjustments to their original agreement. She should add babysitting along with the tutoring and throw in some extra cash. Deep down he couldn't help but have the feeling that Kamji's sudden appearance was going to turn his peaceful and quiet life in seclusion into a whole lot of drama.