I am sitting in my office at Club Classic playing chess with Seipati while drinking water. It is 9am. My doctor said I should take it easy on the alcohol so I have been abstaining for a while. I went pretty hard on the bottle after my grandfather died. I almost had a kidney failure but luckily my doctor detected the problem early and treated me. I now own a few clubs because I love power. A call comes through and I answer my phone. It is Kamva, a hacker at Thompson Tech and the vice CEO.
“Boss we have a problem. Someone tried to hack into the company’s main frame and steal the clients’ database.” – Kamva.
“By try you mean they tried but they didn’t succeed right?” I ask calmly. I never show panic or stress when someone presents a problem to me. I am a very calm individual. Most of my crew members are scared of me but they are more scared of my calm persona.
“Yes but the only way to hack into the mainframe is to be inside the premises and only the staff know the system because it is very complicated. That means someone from the inside must have hacked us.”
“So are there any suspects?” my tone is still the same.
“Not at the moment boss. On the other news Muriel was attacked an hour ago just outside the building and an ambulance rushed her to the hospital.” Clearly this was premeditated and Muriel’s attack was somehow a distraction.
“Are the attackers identifiable on the footage?”
“They were wearing masks boss.”
“What is currently happening in my company at this moment?”
“Nokuthula is deleting the old codes and creating new ones. Until we know who tried the hack no employee will be able to touch the mainframe and access any company database. I am trying to see if there is anything I can identify from Muriel’s attackers. Maybe a tattoo or a scar from one of them or maybe their physique.”
“Great strategy. Give all the employees a week off beside Nokuthula. Give them all, even the securities. I will be there before the day ends to see if you have something for me. We will talk soon.” I end the call. I wonder who it is that dared me. Whoever it is planned this thoroughly. Hitting Thompson Tech, the base of everything I own. Whoever this culprit is, he or she will regret the day he exited his mother’s womb.
“What’s up?” Seipati brings me back from revenge-ville.
“Some fool dared me. They attacked Muriel and tried hacking into the company’s mainframe. Kamva says it’s an inside man.”
“Wow.” She exhales loudly. Yeah it is very rare that TT gets hacked. Worst of all they involved an innocent employee into this. Sange barges in and immediately pours herself whiskey and takes a sit.
“I guess you already know what happened at TT.” I say taking a sip from my water.
“Yah, some idiot by the name of Kabelo tried hacking the mainframe but I blocked him and everyone who would try after him. Funny fact, he is Bo’s nephew. He is so sexy, before we kill him can I have a piece of him?” Sange is a sex freak, all the guys that date her she dumps them because they can’t keep up with her sex drive.
“Bo never learns neh and never gives up neh? Why would he put his nephew in the lions’ den? Anyways where is he now?” this motherfucker is stupid and is a risk taker, but to play with a fellow family member’s life like this that’s just cruel. I am sure Bo knew the possibilities of KB making it out alive were slim to none yet he sent him in. other uncles out there yoh.
“In my bedroom I mean warehouse.” She says with a smirk. I am pretty sure she is already imagining having sex with KB.
“Have you identified Muriel’s attackers?”
“Nope but as soon as my computer get something I will get a notification in my phone.”
“Seipati what do you think we should do about Kabelo?” she keeps quiet for a moment then speaks up.
“Feed him the truth serum and find out more about what he wanted because it can’t be the database only. Maybe he thought he wouldn’t be caught. Bo never learns. I really don’t know why he set up his own nephew. My gut tells me this also was a divergence and a distraction. He may have almost obtained our clients’ information but he did find something that he was looking for. We just don’t know what it is yet.” Salizwa barges in.
“He got your net worth, the value of your assets, how many diamonds you produced from your mine, most of your operations information. You are right this was just a divergence.”
“Since when are you a computer person?” Sange asks.
“Never was, never will be.” She shrugs and sits down.
“But guys Bo is Q’s problem. Why is he after you?” Seipati asks with an irritated tone. I know her, when she gets like this all hell may break lose.
“Because he knows that I am after the throne and if he deals with me then Q is just a mere threat. He is a non-factor. He knows that I am the shield to this territory.”
“What are we waiting for? Why don’t we take the throne? We have all the resources we need. Why don’t we dethrone Q?” Salizwa asks.
“All in good time guys. I wanna eliminate Bo before I take on the throne. Next week same day at 9pm we will be heading to Congo. When we get there we will eliminate all things Bo. Even his cat and mouse. I am tired of this old man. He killed my grandpa and like he said every dog has its day, well his has finally arrived.” My phone rings, disturbing me from my monologue, I guess I am famous today. I frown when I see who is calling me but I answer anyways.
“Thabisa how can I help you?”
“Hey my dear. Anathi is missing. Is he there with you?” I remove the phone from my ear and put it on loud speaker.
“No I haven’t seen Anathi since last week.”
“Ow My God. What if something happened to him? He left home yesterday morning and we haven’t heard from him ever since. He is not picking up any of our calls. We thought maybe he is there with you. What if something happened to him?” Sange quickly grabs my laptop and opens it.
“He is not here but if I find him I will tell him to get back to you.” I hang up. “Sange what’s his location?”
“The Thompson family cemetery.” I frown.
I stand up and take my bike keys and head out with them following me. We get on our bikes and ride to the cemetery. 2 cars of my guards are following us. We arrive there after 20 minutes and rush to where the Thompson graves are. We find him lying on Ty’s grave in a pool of blood. His hands and feet are cuffed. I quickly check his pulse and find it there but it is faint. I signal the guards to take him and put him in the car. I tell them that we are going to the medic warehouse. We all head there and find a team of doctors already waiting. They attend to him while my friends and I go to my office. I take out bottled water from my mini bar and drink it. I go stand in front of a portrait of Ty sitting on his throne with my hand in my pocket and the other holding the water.
“We are still going after Bo next week?” Seipati asks. She can be very impatient sometimes.
“He will be waiting for us to attack now. Us going there next week will be a surprise.” Salizwa replies.
“I really don’t understand that fucker. Why South Africa of all African countries?” Seipati.
“King Ty was one of the wealthiest men in Africa. He really thought after killing him taking over his empire and territory would be as easy as taking a shit.” Sange replies.
“Bo disrespected my grandfather’s resting place. He touched my brother. He is going to pay. Seipati I want all my family members protected like the First family, when I say all I mean all. Salizwa I want Bo’s wife and children dead tomorrow by 5 pm. Sange find the motherfucker that touched my brother and dumped him at Ty’s grave. I also want you to clean all Bo’s bank accounts, even the ones offshore.” I turn to face them and they quickly leave my office. I am not a short tempered person but when I start barking out orders my friends know not to mess with me.
I take my bike keys and drive to the hospital where Muriel has been admitted at, the guards follow me, and in fact they always go where I go. I arrive there and head to her ward. She is not that bad and she is conscious. I find her watching TV. I sit on the chair next to her bed.
“Now that’s a rare site. Muriel watching TV and doing nothing.” She chuckles.
“The attack was a blessing in disguise. I don’t remember the last time I relaxed and watched TV like this. I deserve a holiday.”
“Relaxing is not on our vocabulary. Anyways is there something you can tell me about your attackers?”
“One had a thunder tattoo on his ankle. It’s a very rare tattoo so I think it would be easy to find out who was behind this.” The thunder tattoo belong to the Mozambican familia. Does that mean Bo has joined forces with them?
“Has your family been notified?”
“Yeah. They are on their way here. I don’t think Bo is the one behind my attack.”
“A few moments after you were admitted here, someone tried to hack into the company’s database. It was Kabelo, Bo’s nephew.”
“You think he planned two attacks on you in one day?”
“Actually 3. Anathi was also attacked and they left him to bleed to death.”
“How is Bo still alive? Why is he even alive?”
“Just as he said to Ty that every dog has its day, well his is very close.”
“What if Bo isn’t the one behind Anathi’s attack? What if there is a new enemy in town?” Muriel is part of the Cobras but doesn’t participate in all the gang’s activities. She is the head of all the tech operations. I scratch my head.
“I never thought about that. Let’s just find his attacker first. So what can you tell me about the Mozambican familia?” I ask her.
“They are one crazy motherfuckers. When one wants to take down a drug-lord or a gang-lord they plead their allegiance to them. They strike like thunder and disappear like lightning. That’s how fast they are… wait a minute, the Mozambicans are the ones behind my attack. They are working with Bo. But they never do such a sloppy job. They kill. How am I still alive?”
“I also don’t know or maybe Bo wanted me to see that he has the Mozambicans on his side and maybe that would make me surrender.”
“How about you set up a meeting with the Mozambicans and find out what ties them to Bo. They may be powerful but we are 10 times powerful and dangerous compared to them. They may have attacked us but there must be a reason why they didn’t kill me.” I stare down a few minutes and finally raise my head.
“I will see what I can do. Speedy recovery.” She smiles and I head out.
I send Thabisa a message that I found her son and send the location where he is at. I then drive home and I find Thabile sitting at the lounge drinking tea and eating cookies while watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. You can never separate gran with reality shows. I sit next to her, take off my boots and fold my legs on the couch. She turns down the volume.
“Who has done what to you? Whom must I kill?” I chuckle, she can be dramatic sometimes but I love her and I wouldn’t trade her for nothing.
“The man that had Pa killed had his nephew hack into TT’s mainframe and steal some of my personal information. He also sent his goons to attack Muriel and Anathi.”
“Oyintando what are you waiting for? Kill this man before he does any further damage. I know you are not scarred of him but this has gone too far.”
“Gran revenge is a dish…”
“Fuck cold Oyintando. Ty has been dead for 6 years. Are you sure the dish ain’t cold enough? Why do you keep procrastinating his demise? Do you want to lose all your loved ones one by one because of him?” I shake my head no. “I am giving you 3 days. If Bo isn’t dead by then, then I will take matters into my own hands.”
“Gran he has ties with the Mozambicans now. I don’t know who deep they are and I don’t know what he promised them. I have to find out that first before I do anything.”
“And you have ties with the Italians and the Mexicans and the Americans. What are Mozambicans compared to that?”
“I hear you gran.”
“By the way the Ndabas sent the letter today.” I clear my throat. Silungile Ndaba is my fiancé. He and I have been dating for 2 years now. He proposed 3 months ago. I do love him and I do wanna marry him but he doesn’t know the real me, the cobra me, the empress me and I don’t think he will want to get married to me once he finds out who I am. He is a biomedical scientist and he usually travels a lot so we don’t spend much time together.
“That’s good to hear.”
“Ntando how long are you going to keep this up? What do you think Silungile will do if he finds out that Ty killed his grandparents? Do you think that he will continue loving you the way he does now? What about your gangster life?”
“We will cross that bridge when we get there gran.” She shakes her head and turns concentrate on the TV. Ty killed Silungile’s grandparents because they stole from him. They both worked at Thompson Advertising and Marketing. They stole about R2 million and grandpa made them choose whether he should kill them or kill their whole families including their kids, grandkids, great-grandkids. Loyalty was everything to him. That’s why he killed the Ndabas. They proved that they weren’t loyal. Anyways I take my phone and head upstairs in my room to take a nap.
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#TheEmpress