Chapter Six

I knew Kofi and Nathan were up to something when I saw the look they exchanged, but I didn't actually think that they would go as far as breaking their brother out of prison.

When the police showed up at the penthouse apartment to search it, Elorm suspected it. She looked certain and angry. Very angry.

Luckily, Nathan and Kofi weren't stupid enough to bring him to the apartment. They first took him to Kofi's grandparents' house, and when the police went there to search after searching Elorm's house, they brought him.

I hadn't seen the third brother in a long while. He looked horrible, a sharp contrast to what he looked like when he was still helping run the business. I'd spent the night with him so many times while I still worked. He was a kind, caring, good person, talented too, if the nights we spent together were anything to go by.

He'd grown a beard and earned a few wrinkles, but what caught my attention was how skinny he'd become, the overgrowth of facial hair, the tattoos, and the bruises. He was even limping. He must've been beaten up so badly while still in prison.

"Why? Why would you do something like this?" Elorm asked exasperatedly, throwing her hands in the air.

They took Wolfgang to the living room's sofa and sat him on it. The kids backed away from him, but that cowardly dog was barking from a distance.

"Do you see how badly he looks?" Kofi asked. "They barely feed them there, El. He gets targeted by the other prisoners for being half-white and he almost dropped the soap twice."

"He didn't think about all those children he buried in that mass grave," Elorm countered.

Wolfgang finally looked at her. I could practically feel the bad blood between them. She'd told me that Wolfgang liked her and hadn't forgiven her for both choosing his brother and sleeping with him -- which was what apparently caused his first suicide attempt. She didn't like him because he'd murdered children.

"I did, actually. Every night. I met them, talked to them, assured them that they were going to be fine and that they'd be with their families again. I used sex to try and forget about what I'd been forced to do, and like the idiot I am, I went ahead and got addicted. So before you judge me, at least try and understand what I've been through."

"At least you didn't die before puberty."

"No," he continued, eyes moistening. "I was forced to commit my first murder before puberty. I was forced to kill someone my age. From a young age, his father," he pointed to Kofi, "raised me to be a killer, he raised me to be ruthless, but he failed as you can see. I didn't actually kill anyone. My job was to manage the finances, make sure that all the doctors got paid and we didn't go bankrupt. I could've been an accountant if that man hadn't adopted me, so shut up Elorm. You have no right to judge me, when you have actual blood on your hands."

"Stop! Stop it," Kofi said. "Both of you. What is this? What is wrong with you both? You used to be so close!"

Nathan sat with his face in his palms. His head leaned against Wolfgang's shoulder, and Wolfgang had an arm draped around his neck. "She's right though. Wolfgang deserves to be in prison, but not like that. They all think he was actually killing children, so he doesn't even get food. He gets beaten up on a daily basis and is always being thrown in solitary confinement. If we didn't get him out, he would've been killed."

"How did you do it?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me, but it was Wolfgang who replied. "I know you."

"We... I used to work for your brother," I told him.

"Yes, I remember," he said. It was as if the memories of the nights we spent together suddenly came to memory because he blushed and turned away.

"Why do you want to know?" Kofi asked. "Planning to break your rapist out of prison and kill him?"

He was joking. He was joking. He didn't know.

"That's stupid," I laughed nervously.

"I'm watching you," he said.

I couldn't have told whether it was a joke or not, because his face was completely blank, the look anyone who wasn't his adopted brother or Elorm got. Sick or not, he was scary. I hadn't forgotten how intimidated I was by him.

We all went silent after that. There was so much to talk about, but no one wanted to address the obvious elephant -- more like ant, looking at his new and improved size -- in the room.

My phone rang. Once again, they all looked at me. I smiled nervously and ran up to my room to talk to whoever was on the line.

I answered the call as soon as I was settled on the bed. "It's ready," the caller said, then hanged up.

Wolfgang had been broken out of the same prison the rapist was in, which meant that security would've been upgraded, so I didn't know if my initial plan would work. If I'd known what they were doing, we would've done a double break out.

There were other texts on my phone too. There was one from Bunny, who was saying that he'd have to kill someone if we wanted our plan to work. I refused of course. I wasn't going to kill innocent prison guards with families just to get revenge on one man. I would do anything, as long as it wouldn't affect any innocent person.

Then he told me that we could just kill another sex offender. This one was a man who'd molested his daughters and abused his wife, and was also still unapologetic. I didn't mind then. We would have to beat up one of the prison guards, but not too much that he'd be truly hurt.

The last text was from Justus who'd told me that the P.I he'd hired already had six men, one of which was certainly my father. I appreciated Justus so much. He was the best gift I'd received in a while.

I waited till it was dark, lying in bed. I needed to talk to Wolfgang and figure out how he did it, just in case things went south. I needed a backup plan. I couldn't fail, or worse, get caught.

Once I was sure it was late enough, I went down the stairs. I wanted to get a drink to help calm me down. The kitchen was dark, but I heard harsh whispers loud enough to alert me that people were in there and they were arguing heatedly.

I almost left, until I heard Elorm's name.

"Break up with her," the person I heard first said. It was Wolfgang.

"You said you weren't interested in her anymore," Kofi replied. He was the second whisperer.

"I'm not, but what you did wasn't fair. I told you two that I liked her, but you still went ahead and got with her."

"You were in prison!"

"So? Don't you know what loyalty is? You broke the bro code. You're not just my friend. You're my brother. It's not fair, what you did."

"She likes me. She chose me. I love you, but I can't break up with her. I'm sorry."

They went quiet.

I wanted them to continue, but when I got tired of waiting, I began leaving. They chose to start talking at that exact moment.

"I know you got abused your whole life, and that's so messed up, but I wish you had an idea of what my childhood was like. I wish you saw and knew all the horrors I had to stomach as a young boy, just because your father wanted me to be a monster like him when I grew up. It wasn't easy for me, like Elorm is making it seem.

"You have no idea how many times I threw up in a dustbin or cried myself to sleep, thinking about all the horrible things your father had either made me see or do. I wanted to help those kids. You don't know how badly I wanted to help those kids, but I was just as scared of your father as you were.

"The sight of him alone made my skin crawl and my heart beat so quickly that I would get lightheaded. I probably deserve more than what I've gone through because still, I could've done something for those kids -- I did help those I could by helping them to escape -- but I just want you to understand where I'm coming from and not judge me like that bitchy girlfriend of yours." He was crying heavily by then.

His cries became muffled. I knew Kofi must've hugged him. I personally didn't feel too kindly to him. It sounded like he'd been through a lot himself, but allowing innocent children to be killed? Making sure that the people who did it were paid? No. It was just too much. Too much.

"I love you Wolfgang. Never forget that."

Wolfgang laughed. "You've never really understood how you feel. How are you sure you love me?"

"I've always been sure of how I feel about you and Nathan. Ever since I was young, all I've wanted is for you two to be safe and happy. I know that must be love. It's... it's what I feel for Elorm, just that with her, I want to kiss her and hold her so close that she'd meld with me and we'd become one."

"That's not creepy at all."

They laughed.

I understood what he meant. I felt the same way about her, just that with she and I, that was impossible on so many levels.

"You know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for asking you to leave her. That was insensitive of me."

"Good you've realised," Kofi laughed. "By tomorrow, I would've found you a place. I don't think Elorm would want you here for much longer."

"I don't want to be around her either."

"Funny how the tables have turned. I was you a while ago."

"That woman is too judgemental. She should learn to shut up once in a while."

"Okay, enough, that's the future mother of my kids you're talking about."

"Poor kids."

Kofi laughed. "Get to bed now, hurry, before Elorm comes to find you here and interrogates us."

That was my cue. I rushed back up the stairs, but I waited in Wolfgang's room. I needed to talk to him no matter what. He had to tell me how he did it. I ended up waiting nearly thirty minutes.

By the time he came to bed, I was virtually asleep. He opened the door slowly, holding a million midnight snacks. He was digging in so hungrily that I felt sorry for him.

He stopped when he saw me sitting on his bed. He fixed his eyes on me, then put his snacks down slowly. He strode towards me. "Can... can I help you? If you want to... spend the night, I'm sorry but I can't--"

"How did you do it?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

"Do what?"

"I want to break someone out of that same prison," I said. For some strange reason, I trusted him more than I did the others. Perhaps it was because I knew he'd seen horrible things.

"Why? Who? The man who raped you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I want to make him pay."

He stared at me. It was a look of shock, perhaps directed at the amount of vehemence in my voice. He sat on the bed and inched his way to me slowly, eyes weary. "I'll help you."

"What?"

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Yes, but I didn't expect you to accept. At least, not this easily."

"There's a catch. I want something in return."

"Not again," I mumbled. At least I knew this man and we'd done it before, but I didn't understand, since he was trying to overcome an addiction.

"What are you saying?"

"Let's just get this over with," I said. Truthfully, I was dying for a distraction.

I tried taking my shirt off, but he grabbed my hand and pulled it down.

"That isn't what I was talking about. Why do you women assume that all men want is sex?"

"It is."

"It's not."

"Then what do you want?"

He listened to the question a little too nervously. He looked at the door, then inched even closer with his voice lowered. "I want you to break Kofi and Elorm up."

"What?" I cried, jerking backwards.

He shushed me, annoyed, glancing at the door again. "Are you crazy?"

"Why? Why do you want them apart?"

"Neither of them is in the right mental space to be in a relationship. Kofi is, mentally, the weakest person I've ever met. Not to talk of that illness he has. They're never going to work. They're just going to cause each other more pain!"

"But... how?"

"Sleep with him. He probably won't do it willingly so set him up or something."

"No," I said firmly, getting off the bed. "This was a bad idea."

"It's not. I know it'll take some time for you to make a decision, so sleep on it. Think long and hard. This may be your only chance to get the justice you deserve. Take it."

I saw him in a new light. He didn't seem so good to me anymore, but everything wasn't black and white. He was grey. He was looking out for both of them, but the means was terrible. This would end badly, I knew.

"I'll think about it," I said.

He nodded.

* * *

poor kofi. how do y'all feel about all this?

point out typos.

vote or whatever, see if i care. 🌟