‘About what?’ Julius asked bluntly. ‘If you don’t make a deal with Rotimi, I’ll approach his people and pay for my mother’s release. But I’ll make sure terms are much less favourable to you.’

‘I can make a few calls to see what I can do to help your mother,’ SJ said. ‘Please. Let us meet and discuss this in a civilised fashion.’

‘Not happening, Uncle,’ Julius said, almost laughing.

SJ lost his cool. ‘You think you are a big man?’ he shouted. ‘You think I have no choice? Let me tell you, boy. Few things are more dangerous than an animal backed into a corner.’

Julius felt the threat, but it meant his uncle was rattled and he kept his voice level.

‘I’m leaving Akure shortly. I won’t be back until you have arranged my mother’s release,’ Julius said. ‘I’ll text you a number so you can let me know how things are progressing. And you’ll need to call an ambulance to the Smile Kleen Centre. Collins won’t be playing soccer any time soon …’

Collins had been cowed by the stun stick and the revelations about his father. As Julius raised the gun, Collins scrambled to open his door.

‘Please,’ he whined.

Julius enjoyed hearing his cousin beg and felt no hesitation as he shot Collins through the back of his right kneecap. There was a long scream and sprays of blood as Julius threw the passenger door open.

SJ was still on the speaker. ‘What was that?’ he demanded. ‘You’ll pay, Julius! Pay one hundred-fold!’

‘That was for Duke,’ Julius said.

Then he tucked the gun into his shorts and hurried towards the scooter.

EPILOGUE

The British Museum – London, UK

Georgia’s conditional release didn’t allow her to leave the UK, while Julius’s stay beyond the expiration of his education visa made it tough to get back in. They cracked huge smiles across the sprawling museum cafe when they laid eyes on each other for the first time in almost four years.

Julius had just turned twenty. He’d stopped growing at six-feet-nine. His shoulders had broadened and he’d grown a goatee.

Nineteen-year-old Georgia had short, dyed, scruffy hair, paint-spattered jeans and a plaid shirt with rolled sleeves. Her face had barely changed, but she’d done everything short of cosmetic surgery to stop randoms walking up and saying, Hey, aren’t you …?

‘Way too long!’ Julius said as he pulled Georgia into a hug. ‘Sorry I’m late. This place is a maze and my Uber dropped me at some weird side entrance …’

‘All good,’ Georgia said, smiling as she sat back at the table.

The table was up against a railing. As Julius settled in, facing Georgia, he glanced down into an area where kids from different schools were eating packed lunch.

‘We can move if they’re too noisy,’ Georgia said as a kid crashed backwards off her chair.