The padlock was a rusty contrast to the freshly cut key and it took strength to turn the barrel. Julius stole an instinctive glance back, before stepping through the gate and reaching between metal bars to reattach the lock. The school tractor had churned the dirt track and he was wary of mosquitos as mud gobbled his school shoes.

After squelching a couple of hundred metres, the track merged with the road that Julius took every day on his way to school. It was the emptiest he’d ever seen it and he was relieved by the sight of a battered Mazda in the yellow and blue livery of a licensed Akure taxi.

The driver seemed less keen on the muddy lad striding towards his car.

‘Master Julius?’ he asked suspiciously. ‘You cannot be in my taxi with shoes like that!’

‘I have sneakers,’ Julius said, patting his bag.

The driver started the meter while Julius sat on the back seat with his legs out of the door, pulling off his muddy shoes.

It was twenty minutes to Duke’s apartment block. While Julius switched St Gilda’s uniform for shorts and thongs, the driver blasted Cameroonian makossa music, only turning it down to deal with three checkpoints, where he paid off area boys and two sets of Transport Union officials.

‘Now I must pay both sides,’ the driver shouted over his music. ‘Akure is a powder keg because of these shenanigans. It will go boom soon, mark my words.’

‘Let’s hope for peace,’ Julius yelled back as they stopped close to Duke and Remi’s apartment.

He tipped generously and apologised again for the muddy shoes.

‘Call any time you need a ride,’ the driver told him. ‘You have my number. Mud wash out easy!’

Julius felt liberated, walking with no bodyguard and letting the carrier bag with his muddy school shoes swing. His appetite drew his eyes to a cart selling skewered meat, but the hope of seeing Duke was more enticing.

He was about to hit the buzzer on the lobby door when he noticed a big black suit stood in front of the doorman’s desk.

Can they know I skipped school, already? Has Mum got someone tailing me?

As Julius backed up from the entrance, he noticed two more suits, and although bright sun turned the glass into a mass of reflections, one was very familiar … Simeon.

It wasn’t a massive surprise. Bunmi often fired people to give them a fright, then took them back on a lower salary. But Julius doubted the men were here for him. Simeon was no fool and would have the sense to stand out of sight and position a colleague across the street to stop him getting away.

So, why are they here?

Whatever the reason, Julius cursed, acting like he’d forgotten something as he turned and backed away.