"And that was how i was held for execution by beheading"
Jaguar paused.....
"excuse me"...he said as he gently stood up and walked all the way back to the old house...
Damaris and Pharaoh were dumbfounded at his story which he didnt complete before standing up....sadness could be seen all over his face as poor Jaguar stood...and his wrinkled forehead became prominent..
Three munites later, he sufaced again with a native bracelet... He quietly sat back in his position and stared at the bracelet in his hand. He grew really sad but somehow held it as he put up a fake smile...
Damaris and Pharaoh quickly glanced at each other, and back at Jaguar
"this was the last thing i got from my mom before i was captured for execution"
"but why did you steal?..and what did you steal" asked curious Damaris still staring at Jaguar who lifted his head this time staring into space as usual......he smiled
"maybe my creator created adversaries and suffering for me...hmm...when i was little...my poor mom suffered a rare sickness..it was a really bad cough that would lead to hard breathing and no matter how hard we tried on our own, we couldn't heal her...my mom suffered this dangerous disease...and because we were poor, we didnt have money to purchase the great leaf from the miracle tree of AKWABA ...this tree called Akwaba is not common like other trees you see around....it has miracle leaves that cures almost all diseases..and only ANAN, the great herblist of the village posseses such leaves because he had the gift of recognizing the power ofleaves that a normal man would walk past and shrug at..but ANAN became very greedy...he started selling the leaves to make wealth...and not only selling them, but selling them at a very high cost that the poor couldn't afford....and no matter how much you begged, Anan will never consider you."
Jaguar paused...he brought out a little kolanut from his old dirty short...he took a bite with his already brown teeth and chewed gently..
"what happened next..please tell us" Damaris held his arm gently for the first time...
"yes tell us" Pharaoh added
Jaguar looked down at her and smiled...
"one night...my mom started coughing very severly..so bad that i was scared she would die then.. because she had never coughed like that before.... it looked like she was loosing breath and i could see her pupils disappering.....i started crying...i checked her wrappers to see if i could see some coins so i could rush to Anan to beg him at least with the little i had, even if it meant crying to him.......but unfortunately not even a penny was in the house....something came over me...hmmm"
Jaguar paused again as he breathed out heavily and he wore a sad look again...
Damaris gently rubbed his arm with her fingers...
"i picked my cutlass that night and ran out of the house, heading to Anan's house.."
"you killed him???" Damaris quickly cut in on hearing the word "cutlass" ....she opened her mouth agape
"haha...no dear...i didn't........on reaching his hut...i entered violently and saw him preparing some concoction, maybe for the next day....i swore to cut off his head if he didnt hand me the leaves of AKWABA...he saw how angry I was and I'm almost sure my eyes were red....he handed the leaves to me and i ran out of his hut....but he started shouting immediately i left, calling the attention of the villagers...and in no time i was chased by some youths, my age mates then...........i ran with all my strength to get to the house to apply the leaves before my mom will die..even if i get caught after applying them i dont care...but i wanted to save my moms life first....but just as i was running about to take a path leading to my house, a heavy object landed across my face...and that is waht caused this big black scar you are seeing on my face now.."
Jaguar pointed at a big scar on his forehead..
Damaris wanted to ask him about the scar
"When i woke up and saw i was tied with ropes and all the villagers and elders including the chief stood around me...they were all staring down at me while the chief spoke..
'emmm..we all know the penalty of stealing in this village, and its not a new thing to us....and we have watched others who stole pay the price when caught...stealing is an abominable act which is punishable by law....this young man here attacked the chief herbalist of the village and stole from him..that is, he stole from the gods....therefore...his penalty shall be death by the sword..beheading....take him away!!' the chief pointed and immediately, four strong guards with matchets came and carried me up to to the dreaded forest of EGWI were criminals were slaughtered or twins were killed...they tied me to a stake...one of the men brought out their knife ready to chop my head off....i closed my eyes and prayed for forgiveness to my God...i belived he heard me"
Jaguar smiled...he had a wonderful smile even at his age...
"how did you make it alive??" Pharaoh asked as he looked very suprised
"just then, i heard the sound of a gun and immediately the guy with the cutlass held his bleeding arm, and i heard another shot, and another...three of the guys were already running away with bleeding arms or legs, including the fourth person......i was suprised, who must have been at the forest and what was he doing??.... i heard another shot and this time it was coming from behind the tree i was tied and all the ropes holding me fell to the ground..i now realized that whoever was shooting was a wizard handling a gun, because he shot down my ropes at a far range, and injuring my killers one after the other without killing any...that was much of a hunter...i called him a wizard"
Jaguar laughed, exposing is set of brown teeth and coughing at intervals...
Damaris and Pharaoh laughed along.....
"and who was he?" Pharaoh asked even though he felt like he already knew
"your father" Jaguar answered as he stopped laughing, staring into the eyes of a shocked Pharaoh
"my father"
"yes...your father...your father saved my life...the great hunter Nicholas...so you see how we came to be friends??"
"wow!!...really??..but he never told me a story like this" Pharaoh was actually amused
Jaguar just smiled "he must've had his reasons"
"but i want to ask...why do you live here in the jungle, and how did you survive your years here?" Damaris asked, eyes never leaving Jaguar.
" i decided not to associate with human after my incident...staying on my own gave me peace and joy, your father pressured me to come along with him to his village..but i refused...most times we quarreled over it ...but my mind was made up...together, he helped me build this house...and most importantly, he taught me everything about a gun"
He paused
"you hunt too??" Damaris asked
"yea...he taught me...and thats how i feed..i also farm..he helps me with seeds and tubbers for planting..then i clear a portion of land here and farm...thats how i feed"
"Your story is quite a sad one. You must have gone through a lot" Damaris smiled warmly. She was an emotional person.
Damaris and Pharaoh breathed out, not having any more words to say.
"I also have something to show you" Damaris said...she looked at Pharaoh who slowly nodded his head at her
"okay....but please, I feel like just drinking tea first" Jaguar said...his usual tea made of a strange green grass that gave a golden color whenever it was boiled. Damaris offered to make it for him.
********
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"that is his picture.......and please i want a cool and neat job, and like i told you, i want his death to be slow and gradual, if you guys kill him immediately, they will all point fingers at me...so make it like a kidnap, the ransom will be very high, let's say 10 million and above, if the ransom is archeived, though there's almost no chance of that, then fine. Whether we get it or not, waste him, i will pay you guys very well after this deal is done...i want this man out of my way so i can take what i labored for"
Sandra handed the picture to a tall, huge, rough looking guy who wore a red scaff on his head, and on his lips hung a stick of already burning marijuana.......he inhaled a deep smoke and exhaled it, looking at the picture in his hand..
"you sure this deal will yield profits??...i dont do lame business" The odd looking guy said with a deep cracked voice
"yes it will...i assure you... he has the possesion of a very wealthy man who is now in jail..and i also want you to request for some business documents from him too, they are alsi worth millions of naira".
"hmmmm...consider it done.."
"good!!"
"but young lady...listen..as for the ransom, we gonna share it equal..50/50..agreed??"
"haba, no naaa... 70/30!"
"i dont negociate with my clients..take it or leave it!" he said
"okay deal"
"now you're are talking" he puffed another brown smoke directly at the face of Sandra. who waved her hands and coughed