IN BETWEEN

Chapter Two

Stephanie immediately discovered that where she was, is a place where only the strong survived she was taken to a man they all respect, they call him the boss, the man looked as old as her dad was, the man looked sternly at the young girl his stare made her a bit scared but he soon stopped staring at her and that made her comfortable. The man stood up and went to the little boy who helped in saving the little girl and he gave him a slap. Stephanie was surprised she didn’t understand why the man had to do that but she then understood when Steve called the man uncle. Steve is the boss’ nephew his father was a brother to the don he was there but he had no say in the matter because his brother was the one who fed and took care him and his son. But he wasn’t happy about the way his brother treated him and his son, the boss as the brother is always angry at Steve  because he asked Steve not to leave the ghetto but the little boy was as curious as a mouse, he had to leave the home, but the boy didn’t see any reason why he should be slapped because he went with some of the boss’ men, just as the don was about to give him another slap steph interrupted sir I don’t see the reason you should treat him badly, no matter what he had done he disobeyed, yes which is very wrong but he disobeyed for a good cause if he did not come I could have joined my father, so don’t be mad at him, be mad at me, the don was shocked at the girls speech he grew a kind of affection for the little girl he was glad that she was brave at least she was not a chicken like his nephew, he bent down and looked at the little girl, then asked her, who are you? Steph began to tell the boss all she had witnessed, they all felt that the little girl was quite loquacious but she was also fun to listen to, all they did was laugh at the funny part of the story but the don took sympathy when he heard how the father was killed. But he was surprised because the little girl should have been in tears by now and this made him like her even more and he said what he had never said to anyone before “I like you little girl”, what’s your name? My name is Stephanie but my dad and friends call me steph. The don looked at the little girl and threw another bombshell which made everyone surprised “I will love to call you fille which means daughter and you will call me papa is that okay with you little girl, Stephanie didn’t know what to say, she never knew that a man who looked so harsh could be so nice, yes sir I mean papa everyone smiled except peter who was really angry, his brother had never spoken so kindly to him and his son Steve. He always spoke harshly and unkind to Steve even though they were family but one cannot really blame Arthur for his behaviour he was hurt badly by his brother peter when they were young, peter left him to burn in the fire that killed their parents he had the chance and time to save him but instead he chose to save his fathersChest which contained $500,000, but thanks to the lord and the open window in their room he escaped and he had to undergo the harsh conditions of the ghetto to survive before he became lord of ghetto, he saw his brother and his son years later when the brother had no other place to go after his wife was killed by a drug lord he got himself involved with, he had duped the drug lord of a huge amount of money and had given the money to his wife to escape and hide with but his wife was caught and murdered in cold blood and since then he had been on the run before he met his brother whom he thought to have died a long time ago out of sympathy the brother negotiated with the drug lord and took his brother peter and son Steve. But the boss still hated the brother for abandoning him the night the fire incident occurred and this made the don to unleash his anger on Steve. Steve never got the opportunity to continue his education when he moved to the ghetto, all he learnt was how to shoot guns, packaging of cocaine and pick pocketing, different types of bombs and bullets but still he wasn’t envious of steph because he had developed a kind of affection for the beautiful innocent looking young girl and he liked the way the boss accepted her. Steve said what was in his mind “I will call you sugar”, everyone burst into laughter except the boss and his brother who didn’t find it funny, keep your naughty ways away from this little girl don’t influence her I...............no sir I mean papa steph interrupted the name sounds cute and lovely I’m cool with it and sugar here seems to me like a nice big brother said steph Steve was impressed with the young girl who could express herself even in front of the don, he had never done that before he never dared to, his uncle’s yes was his and his no was his but he was glad he had a little sis to defend him. Come on fille said don I will like to know more about you and I will also like to ask you a question steph was filled with anxiety and she was so nervous, the don brought her into a room which was well furnished, it was decorated like an ancient Arabian room, which a chandelier hanged on the ceiling, on top of the television set in the room one would see a picture of the don with a very pretty lady and he was carrying a little girl on his legs, steph immediately asked who they were  the don hesitated but then he said “she was my wife and the little girl was my daughter she was the same age as you before she died and that was why I loved you immediately I saw you a while ago because you remind me of my late daughter Jessica.A.Arthur, I love the name sir i mean papa don’t be angry with me papa I’m not just used to calling you papa yet, papa what was the question you wanted to ask me? Arthur took his time to watch the little girl who curiosity was written all over her face that was when he took notice of how torn the girl’s red gown had become, but the gown seemed to suit the girl’s dark skin. Papa steph broke into his thoughts, what is the question you wanted to ask me. The don smiled and took a deep breath and asked would you like to continue your education abroad I mean away from all the troubles in this country and the people after your life. The question took her by surprise but what was more surprising was her answer no papa I don’t want to go to school, I don’t to further my education, I want to take revenge on those who killed my father I want to be a murderer Arthur was amazed at what a girl of her age would want for her future her mates would want to be doctors lawyers and other hosts of professional careers but here she was given an opportunity but yet she chose to be a murderer. Fille Arthur called her if you want to do all these things first of all you must go to school an assassin needs to be smart enough in carrying out operations and school is necessary for that, you need to be educated to be a smart assassin, so my dear you need to go to school, the thought of sitting down in the midst of odd new faces flashed at Steph’s mind, the thought of making new friends and getting used to school environment was enough to make her fall sick, papa I will get an education but in one condition, I want private teachers people who would come here and teach me, I don’t want to go to any school, I don’t want to..., just as she was waving her head in disapproval, she saw another picture this time the picture was hanged on the wall, it was the picture of a boy, the boy looked very little she seemed older than him, then she asked again papa who is this  boy, he is my son he should be your age, if he was still alive, I hate fire Arthur added what happened steph asked I  wouldn’t like to talk about it, Arthur replied and steph was nice enough to respect her new found father’s decision. So it was concluded steph was taught by private teachers and at the same time she learnt the act of war, she was taught martial art, she was taught how to categorize and bullets and types of guns she even became better than Steve coupled with the fact that she was receiving formal education. She was slowly achieving what she wanted for herself but as usual in life not everybody wants to see you celebrated, it was like each day the boss loved her more while peter hated her more, Steve was gaining a lot from her because she taught him whatever she knew and he helped her to know more about using guns that she became better than her master and became wise and her initiative and strength grew each day that passed.