We were all in the living room standing and staring at Henry who sat on the couch with crossed legs in front of us. He was in a white Jalamia_a gown that mostly Muslim people wear_with brown sandals. His face was still covered with the same mask he wore the first time I stepped into this mansion, likewise everyone. I scanned around and wondered how many members were in this room. Was Bella here? I looked away, not interested in counting any of them.
I breathed in alongside a good scent of the room as I looked everywhere, carefully noticing how beautiful and dust-free it was. The black and white patterned curtains were drawn away, giving more light to the room. The air conditioning was on, making the room cool. The chandeliers which were turned on made the room brighter and more beautiful. This place was amazing.
"I'm not surprised to see you looking around because this place is super attractive and I heard you barely looked everywhere when your friends were showing you around. But since you are back here, you can take your time to," Henry said, watching me.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks," I said nervously. I was back here to be a member officially.
"Good, now, let's get started. You are welcome again... Remind me of your name."
Hmm, nice. He just completely forgot my name.
"Tosin. Johnson Tosin."
"So, Johnson, welcome. Today, I will give you something to read out, not just to read out, but to assimilate it. It's a must."
I held my lower lip with my teeth. Bossy.
"They are the rules to follow."
"Rules?" I blurted as I jerked my head forward.
"Yes, rules. The rules you have to follow so you don't misbehave." Henry brought out a card and on the back of it was written Rules of Gangsters. Good ones.
For all I knew, gangsters meant criminals. Bad ones. Heartless ones and cruel ones. But we were the exact opposite as they told me. Where did the good ones come from?
"Hey, give it to her," Henry said as he passed the card to a guy near to him.
"No, I will do it." Jasper stood up, collected it from the guy and gave it to me. "It's so nice to see you again," Jasper said, stroking my face as I stared at his white muscular arm.
Jasper was wearing a tank top that was revealing how muscular he was, which caused me a stupid thought from nowhere. A stupid thought that made me yearn to touch his chest, just to know what it felt like. Seeing him so close to me made me realise that he was white and not albino. His eyes and skin colour made me realize that.
"Stop flirting with her, Jasper," one of the gangs said and I removed his hand from my face gently, coming back to my senses. I had never in my eighteen years of life had such a thought.
"Shut up, I wasn't. Just glad she is here," Jasper said and went back to his seat.
"Open it and read it out loud," Henry said.
I looked at the card I was holding and recalled it was the same card Henry had brought out from his pocket in the dining room. Maybe he had intended to give me that day but changed his mind. I swallowed the spit that had built in my mouth as I was nervous about what I was going to read out. They were gangsters... No, we were, but the good ones, right? Yet we handle guns, go on assignments, fight battles and that alone was enough to make us gangsters.
My fingers trembled as I opened it and right at the top of it was written Rules in red ink and everything else was in black ink.
"Hmm... I should read it out?"
Henry sighed impatiently as he gave me a cold look. "Yes, please do," he answered reluctantly as he positioned himself well, eagerly waiting for me.
"O... Ok...okay."
"Calm down, okay? Nothing you'll read there will scare you out. And you are shaking, Tosin," Jasper said in his so, so nice voice that unbelievable assured me.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, nodding my head, wondering if any of the members had gone through what I was going through right now. I briefly ran my eyes over the rules and saw that it was twelve rules? Twelve rules? My eyes widened, astonished at the rules I was going to start voicing out. They were all written in italics.
Henry began tapping his leg on the floor and I could sense he was growing impatient. I took that as a cue to start so as not to piss him off more than he was.
"Huh... I will start right now."
"So start."
"Rule no.1 No abandoning of other members during a fight."
So there will be a fight for real? I thought, scaring myself.
"2. Condemning others based on their race, height, religion, colour, background, beliefs etcetera is prohibited."
That was an excellent rule there.
"3. Raping is a taboo."
Okay, maybe these rules weren't as bad as I had thought.
"4. Bullying is not allowed."
A relief from nowhere soothed my body. I was loving this gradually.
"5. Scornful comments of one's talent are forbidden, you encourage instead."
I needed this so greatly since my adopted father had always had a way of making me feel low self-esteem that I wasn't talented enough. And it all started when he changed. I needed to hear good hypes to build me up. It was like this particular rule was made for me.
"6. Killing one another is prohibited."
Great one. That probably would restrict some aggressive humans to overreact over minor issues.
"7. We carry out assignments based on clients' orders, especially when they are the victims."
Alright, fair.
"8. Do not go into the house next to this mansion."
I looked up from the card and saw the house through the sliding windows. It was an entire apartment in a mansion that was painted in white with a black gate. I clearly recalled my friends not taking me there when they were showing me around. Why couldn't we? So cryptic. I took my eyes off it, gazed at my boss and wanted to question him but I kept my mouth shut.
"9. Masks should always be worn whenever there is a new member."
Touché. I got that the first time I got here.
"10. Revelation of our secrets to outsiders is not allowed, doing otherwise is punishable, except you are trying to get them in. And in the process of that, say less to convince them, not force."
Oh my God! I prevented myself from glancing at my besties who had been secretly telling me about the group even after their motive faded. They knew it was wrong, however, they still went ahead to tell me all that went through in the group_actually, not all. I could vividly remember their reluctance not to tell me things at times. Why? Why did they do that when they knew the danger?
They trusted me. The answer came to me so easily.
"11. No backing out once in."
I got that too. Henry had particularly emphasised that clearly.
"12. If all of the above rules are broken or one of all is, the lawbreaker will face a death sentence."
Death what? It was then that I knew I wasn't going to spill a word my besties had told me before to anyone. Even after I get familiar with the gangs.
I closed the card and became aware they were all staring at me. What now? Summoning courage, I approached Henry and stretched out the card to him.
He eyed it and said, "You understand everything you read just now?"
"Yeah, absolutely," I replied and put down my hand when I knew Henry wasn't going to collect it.
"Keep it, Tosin. That's your copy, it should be a reminder of how you should behave and shouldn't. You can have fun because we do..."
"Oh yeah, let her know!" one of the members said and laughed.
"Well, well, now that she has read out the rules, can we go straight to the point where she has to see our faces?" Jasper asked as he was about to remove the mask from his face.
"Sure, of course. You can see their faces but not mine."
"Why not?" I asked before I knew what was coming out of my mouth.
He chuckled, stood up and came forward before leaning his face to mine. Well, not forward enough to feel his forehead on mine. "Because nobody gets to see my face. Not anyone."
I flickered my eyes and I shot my eyebrows up when what he said registered in my brain. "What do you mean? I thought... You mean...?"
"Yeah." The air that escaped from his mouth rested on my face. He straightened, looking at me. He was a few inches taller than me. "Nobody here has seen my face before and I intend to keep it that way, the only person who has the right to see my face is my assistant, Jasper. My best friend. To clear some thoughts that are possible in your head right now, if your friends haven't told you, I want you to know that this Scorpion Group has been going on for three years now. Started this group when I was nineteen years old and they have no idea what I look like. Not even a picture. You will learn more about me from the gangs. So brush the thought of seeing my face, alright,?"
Why? Why wouldn't he allow us to see his face? Was it bad? Did he have brutal scars? I asked myself as I locked eyes with my boss. Different thoughts flew into my head, wondering why he didn't want us to see his face. How was he going to cope with wearing a mask all the time? He was twenty-two and had been running this group for the past three years now, so he sure knew how to go about his life. I took my eyes off his’ and looked at Toyin and Bisola who I hadn't spoken with since we last saw each other at the restaurant.
"Now can we?" Jasper interrupted my thoughts.
"Sure!" Henry said and the members obliged as they pulled the mask with four holes off their faces. Two holes for the eyes, one small hole for the nose and one for the mouth. I stepped back to where I was standing before and took a careful look at Jasper first.
Jasper was cute like he had boasted and I was no doubt charmed by it. His hair was long, black and bound in a small ponytail. He grinned at me, pointed at his face and said, "Jasper."
I grinned back at him, thinking he was full of himself with his cute face which I wouldn't dare to deny.
"Toyin, Bisola, have this car key. Your prize for bringing in a new member. Henry picked up the key and threw it at Toyin who caught it with excitement. My besties of nineteen years of age had a car that they wouldn't dare tell their parents. Henry smiled at them, gave them a thumbs up and left the sitting room to wherever he wanted to.
The gangs congratulated them with a pat on their backs while I was so carried away seeing the two of them with anger and pain in me. I was exchanged for a car.
"Wow, you two will share a car? How are you gonna do that?" Sukanmi asked.
"Toyin can have it," Bisola smiled at Toyin who widened her eyes in amazement.
Toyin jumped up exuberantly as she hugged Bisola, screaming happily with a tiny voice.
I snapped out of my thought, knowing I wasn't going to congratulate them at all. What was there to congratulate them on? For being fooled in exchange for a prize? I still couldn't seem to let that out of my head.
I ignored my bestie, turning my head around just to see some of the gangs looking at me for my reaction. I smiled awkwardly at them, trying to pretend I was cool with everything.
"I'm Bella," Bella said as she came to hug me. She smelled so nice and looked so cute. "Nice to have you join us."
"Thank you," I responded and looked her through. She was twenty years old and a mother to a two years old baby girl who I was going to see later. Bella left me and went to sit beside Jasper.
I looked around at others and sighted the guy that was a neighbour to Victoria. What was he doing here? That guy had called her a drumstick! Without thinking twice, I stomped toward him angrily as an unknown boldness overwhelmed me before I punched him right in his face.