"Indeed hardship comes with ease, no condition is truly permanent".
Anonymous.
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Third person's P.O.V
The following day Asad was awoken with a hot slap right on his face.
"What the hell?".... He yelled in response which surprise Aunt Karima because it's the first time he is talking to her after his parents' death.
"What the hell right?"... She questioned as she raised a brow.
"Yunusa ....bring my cane".... she then ordered
Yunusa rushed in and brought a big cane with a wide evil smirk on his face.
As soon as it made contact with Aunt Karima's hand. She started flogging Asad mercilessly, making sure to leave marks all over his body.
Little Asad shouted as she flogged him.
Meanwhile Yunusa couldn't be more contented with the whole situation.
'May God bless my mother'... He said to himself.
Kamal peaked through the curtains when he heard Asad shouting and gasped.
'I need to go and call Dad'.. he said inwardly as he rushed to his father's room.
"Let me say this once again, this!! Should be the last time I would ever wake you up, you Stupid Orphan!"... She yelled right to his face as he sat up right.
New tears gathered up in his eyes and were ready to spill out.
"If a single tear drops in my presence, I promise you I am going to skin you alive"... Aunt Karima threatened.
'I wish you would just do it right away' Yunusa said within himself.
"Now get out of my sight and go and start fetching water for bathing, do not forget the set of rules and regulations I imposed on you" .... She said but Asad remained still at the moment he was to weak to move.
"I am talking to a deaf and dumb person?"... She tore a hot slap across Asad's red face.
"Don't touch me, you are a witch"... Asad yelled at the bottom of his lungs.
Aunt Karima had a mischievous grin on her face "A witch? Then I guess you won't mind if a witch broke your hand right?"... She says as she grabs Asad's hand and began to twist it.
She made sure she put all her force and might on the boy's little arm making him shout and cry at the same time.
Soon his arm was no longer pink but rather blood was streaming down.
"Karima! What is the meaning of this?"... Her husband, Mr Zubairu walked in.
Yunusa quickly ran away as soon as he heard his father's voice while Kamal hid behind the curtains and watched everything with curious eyes.
"Well...I "... Aunt Karima became speechless.
"You what?"... He narrowed his eyes as he moved closer, he already caught her in the act, so lying was pointless.
"Do you want to rip off his arm or what, look at how lifeless and pale he looks for God's sake"... He roared at his wife who still remained silent.
"Asad , get up!" He ordered Asad to get up but Asad was to weak to move a muscle.
"I said get up " He said once more but Asad remained still.
He carried Asad and made him stand , in the process he did the unbelievable.
He fired Asad with a hard slap making him fall to the ground.
Kamal placed his hand on his mouth as he watched in horror, just when he thought his dad will be of help.
"That's for making my wife angry"... He says and averts he attention back to his wife.
"You!!!"... He glares at her.
"I said you can torture him but I didn't ask you to kill him Karima , you always like taking things over board".... Mr Zubairu heaved a sigh out of frustration.
"What are we going to do with him now"... she pointed at Asad who had a bleeding arm and had already passed out.
"Leave him there , if he wants to die , let him die in peace . We will tell your mother that he committed suicide" ... Her husband stated and left the living room.
Aunt Karima stared at Asad for a split second before she followed Mr Zubairu.
When Yunusa was sure his parents were gone , he called his brothers to come and see Asad who was almost lifeless on the floor.
Kamal played along while Lateef came out wondering what had happened. The trio spotted Asad on the floor with blood dripping from his arm.
Kamal immediately gasped , a closer view was most definitely not appealing at all while Lateef let out a soft chuckle.
Yunusa and Lateef were like their mother, wicked, cruel , heartless and inconsiderate while Kamal was different, he wasn't friendly but had a soft heart for people who were in pain. He puts on a façade but only for the sake of his mother and brothers but he was the exact opposite of what his family members portrays him to be and as for his dad, his dad was just a nonchalant man who does whatever he wills , whenever he feels like it.
"Let's beat him while he is still unconscious"... Yunusa says and Lateef nods in agreement.
"That would be a good idea but if Dad catches us, you know we will get into trouble"... Kamal tried to reason with them
Lateef hisses in response ... "You are such a kill Joy"
"As if you know"... Yunusa says as he playful punches Kamal's arm.
"Don't worry guys, when he is conscious we will tear him into pieces".... Kamal stated but deep down he didn't mean it.
'Dear God , please send someone to come and save Asad'... Kamal secretly prayed as he exited the living room with his brothers.
***
Later that night..........
Inspector Fahad was sitting on his chair , rubbing his temples. He has tried all he can to find a clue about this murder case but nothing.
Literally just nothing is working.
He heaved a sigh followed by an annoying hiss... "Nigeria does not have all the required tools and gadgets to detect and trace criminals other than Guns and Teasers and I do not have a penny to even buy the gadget".
"Nevertheless I am not going to rest, I will get to the bottom of this . I will get some money and buy some machines"... Inspector Fahad says as he stands up.
"It's only in Nigeria people do not value lives, in foreign countries, even a goat's life matters"... He says as he walks out of the station and into his car. He turns on the ignition and drives out.
He drives through the city of Kaduna as he listens to the radio just then his car starts failing him and stops.
"What's wrong with this car" ...He tries turning it on but it's not use. He tries again and hopefully it turns on but from the looks of this it won't last long so he parks the car close to a kiosk and alight from the car to check what was wrong.
He goes to open the car's bonnet and was about to start checking for what was wrong but what he saw made him stop in his tracks.
It was three men running, one had a gun in his hands and the others had blood all over their hands and shirts.
He made sure he closes his bonnet and lock his car before he slowly follows them to see where they heading to and soon they all arrived at an uncompleted building.
Inspector Fahad hides close to one wall and brings out his phone to snap the area. He will come back later but not as a police man but rather a trespasser.
If they were to see him now they will definitely kill him due to his uniform.
He takes serval shots of the area and sends it to the first police number he saw together with the address and slowly slides his phone into his pocket.
"Jackpot!"... He hears one says.
"Voice record what they are saying you idiot".... His subconscious mind tells him and he immediately did, turning on the record button .
"I got to rape that pretty lady today and still got some cash out of her"... Their leader says
"Just like we did for that family, the poor boy had to watch his family die"... Grey laughs
"Shut up , let's not talk about that family. Big boss gave us some money to leave this city and we blew the whole money, so if I were you , I would keep my filthy mouth shut so that we don't get caught"... their leader says
"Geez boss , I heard that a case was file against us and we are on the search as we speak"... Macdi says
"Good luck to them"... Their leader chuckles and just then Inspector Fahad phone began to ring.
"Shit"...Inspector Fahad curses as he sees it's his crew that is calling him.
"I hope they get here soon"... he says as he starts running, he is sure they heard his phone ringing.
"Not so fast you nitwit"... one of them jack inspector Fahad and takes him into the uncompleted building.
"Look what I found" he says as he raises Inspector Fahad in the air like a toy.
"So this is the guy that is planning to put us behind bars"... their boss says and they all burst into laughter.
"You better let go of me before you regret it. Do you know who you are dealing with"...Inspector Fahad tried to threaten them.
"Hold him up Grey, I will just close his chapter by shooting him"... the boss ignores his remark
"Affirmative"... Grey says and holds inspector Fahad firm in the air while their boss pulls the trigger , ready to shoot.
"Hold it right there everyone"... A loud voice says with authority. It was Aliyu, the police man Inspector Fahad sent the pictures and location to.
He entered with a gun followed by more policemen.
Gray drops inspector Fahad down and surrender.
The boss makes eye contact with his men then the police men and presses his lips into a thin line.
"Run!!"... Their boss says and his men followed him behind, unknown to them they were more police men waiting for them at the other side.
"We weren't sure of the location at first but we arrived at the area , so when we called you , your ringtone was faint and we were sure we were in the right place".... Aliyu says.
"Thanks man, I would have been dead by now if you guys didn't come to save me"... Inspector Fahad smiles.
"Enough with the chit chat, let's move. We need answers".. Police John says as they walk out to see that the police had arrested all the men there.
"I'm impressed"... Inspector Fahad says as he watches them take the criminals into the car and off to the police station for interrogation.
"Sir"... Police Sadiq jogs towards Inspector Fahad and Police Aliyu .
"Their boss and 4 other men escaped"...He stated and Inspector Fahad nods.
"They are behind the death of Suhail and Aneesa, I overheard them talking about it" Inspector Fahad says.
"That's a start" Police Aliyu says.
"Let's go , I will show you guys the proof on the way".... Inspector Fahad waves his phone in the air.
"This man is crazy"... Police Sadiq states as the trio enters the car and drive out
"Wait"...Inspector Fahad says making them halt the car.
The two policemen in the car look at him questionably.
"My car is still there ,it broke down and stopped working"...Inspector Fahad explains and Sadiq and Aliyu nod.
"We will call someone to bring it to the station"... Police Aliyu says and turn back on the ignition.
Soon they all arrived at the police station and each crime suspect was taken to various cells.
Some were taken for server interrogation.
The law enforcement officer was seated with Inspector Fahad by his side and opposite them was Grey.
A voice recorder was turned on so as a video recorder.
Inspector Fahad's phone was kept on the table.
"Minster, are you or are you not involved in the death of Suhail and Aneesa?" Officer Smith asked but Gray remained silent.
"Inspector Fahad, play the recording" Officer Smith requests and Inspector Fahad played it.
"I got to rape that pretty lady today and still got some cash out of her" Their leader says.
"Just like we did for that family, the poor boy had to watch his family die" Grey laughs
"Shut up , let's not talk about that family. Big boss gave us some money to leave this city and we blew the whole money, so if I were you , I would keep my filthy mouth shut so that we don't get caught" their leader says.
"Pause-" Officer Smith says , when Inspector Fahad turned it off , they both averted their attention to Grey.
"Grey , we have solid evidence and you have heard it yourself, we all know you are involved . Your voice was as clear as day in the audio recording so it's better to speak up , cause you won't like what's going to happen afterwards"... Officer Smith threatens.
"I...I...that's not my voice"... Grey stammers.
"Then why so scared?" Officer Smith asked.
"We know you are guilty, you also know you are guilty. The sooner you confess to it , the lesser punishment you will receive".... Officer Smith stated.
"I.. I..I didnt want to do it at first"...Grey confesses so soon.
"But you agree that you did it ?"...Officer Smith held a strong face.
Grey releases a sigh "Yes ,I did but it wasn't my intention to do so".
"If it wasn't your intention to do it ,then why did you?" Officer Smith questions
"Our leader convinced us to kill the family, he said if we do, we will get half a million" Grey says, fear dripping from his tone.
"But I promise I didn't kill the parents, I just held the father and brought him when our boss request me to do so" Grey admitted, you could see the guilt in his eyes.
"Okay" Officer Smith nods "And where why did your boss target that family, could it be that it was a long lost friend who he was seeking for revenge ?"
"They hired him" Grey states.
"Who?" Officer Smith questions while Inspector Fahad was eager to find out who is the master mind behind everything.
"Big boss".
***
Kamal snuck into the guard's room that evening and met Asad sleeping.
He had food, water and new set of bandages in his hand as he stepped into the room.
Asad who was having nightmares was covered in sweat and was silently crying.
"Noo.... Please no. Don't take my mother away. Please no"... he kept on repeating.
Kamal only watched him with utmost pity.
"Common Asad , wake up. It's just a bad dream"... Kamal tried waking up Asad.
Asad forcefully opened his eyes and met Kamal looming over him.
"Everything will be okay"... Kamal assured Asad as he dipped a towel inside the warm water he brought and slowly placed it on Asad's head.
Asad said nothing to this.
He just closed his eyes as Kamal bandaged his head that banged him and his hand pained him.
"I am here for you my dear cousin, I will take care of you"... Kamal promised Asad.
Asad did not reply. He just kept on crying.
"Ma...ma...mama".... He cried out loud.
"Bring my mother back... please. I promise to be a good boy".
Kamal felt bad for Asad.
He could not imagine losing his own evil mother.
Asad's mind then went to his father.
"Da..daddy"... Asad's tears streamed down freely.
"I miss my parents".
Kamal couldn't find the right words to say to Asad so he just made Asad sit and stitched his hand then he fed Asad and stayed with Asad till he fell asleep again.
Kamal prayed for everything to be okay for Asad then quietly snuck into the house before his mother or brothers catches him.