Chapter 9: Chapter 9

IS LOVE ENOUGH

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NARRATORS POV

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Chris has been on the streets for so long to know and sense danger when it lurked around. It was almost evening, the sun had gone to sleep, and shadows trailed behind their owners. Chris was exhausted after spending the whole day at the hospital beside his mother, all he wanted to do was get home as fast as his tired legs could carry him, take a long cold shower, eat and sleep, he didnt know which would come first.

Selena had still not contacted him and he was becoming afraid that her father might have sent her away to another country, he was so confused and worried but his sense of alertness was still intact, he noticed some strange movements, there weren’t many people on the street, he watched as two hefty boys, one of them had deep scars that ran from the eyebrows down to the jawline pass him by as they walked past him the other smiled revealing a gold tooth and two missing teeth in his upper jaw.

He knew what was up already, from the corner of his eyes he counted up to six of them and he knew they had weapons on them. Chris was athletic but he knew he was no match for them, so he stayed willing himself to remain calm and collected. Walking briskly, he turned towards a corner, unfortunately, some thugs were there too as he made to run, the thug with the deep scar appeared from nowhere, he was quick and strong. Pinning Chris to the wall roughly, he cried out as pain shot through his head almost making him blackout.

The thugs took turns to bash him up, they cursed him as they hit him. He tried not to listen to what they were saying, he just couldn't handle the physical and the emotional torture simultaneously, when they had all had a piece of him. Their obvious leader spoke. “You are lucky we were given orders not to kill you, but next time we might not pay heed to the order.”

Chris lay still for what seemed like hours, when he felt strong enough, he limped back home, almost crouching as the pain that shot at his back was unbearable. He avoided his neighbors, didn't want his mother to know what happened, he ran a quick bath too sore to stand for long, his mother’s shelf had some pain relief which he gulped down with a bottle of orange juice. Going straight to his bed he slept off, he had nightmares waking up at odd hours sweating and heart racing.

The reflection of himself in the mirror made him stay home even though he is supposed to visit his mother, she would break down if she sees him in such a state. His eyes were swollen and red and he had few bruises on his face. The back pain had reduced considerably but his knees still throbbed, from the bat that was swung at it by one of the thugs.

Chris knew his mother would be worried if he didnt come around so he called and lied that he

had urgent work to do, that would give him some money and didn't want to make mistakes, his mother was sad but it was a better excuse than telling her the truth.

The next day he received a call from Selena’s father,

“Chris, hope you enjoyed my gift.” the voice from the other end said.

“Who is this, and what gift are you talking about.” his jaw ached as he talked, he felt miserable.

The laughter from the other end made me cringe. The gift I sent was just a small part of what I have in store for you. Selena says hi.”

Chris already knew Selena's father was behind his attack, but he wondered what he would gain from harming him. “Selena….” he mentioned she said hi, Chris thought. Was she with him, did she know that her father was trying to kill him? Why had she not called him or contacted him? He was beginning to worry and fear that the worst had happened