The Red Mercury Run Circle by Arturo Bowman

Author:Arturo Bowman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64
Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc
Published: 2018-11-14T20:45:27+00:00

VIII

On the following Monday, five days after Jimmie arrived in Benin, they embarked on the serious business of making good on their dream. Early that morning, with Michael now in charge, they took off in a taxi to Port Samaine with one plastic bottle containing two kilograms of red mercury stowed in Maria’s handbag. They passed through both checkpoints with no difficulty. Several children demanded money and ushered them through makeshift gates. They headed directly to the lorry station where several drivers’ mates approached in an effort to get them to take their bus. They settled for a fourteen-seater Peugeot sedan.

The three of them happened to be just the right number the mate needed with ten passengers already seated. The driver took his place, turned on the ignition, and soon they were off. The road from Badagry to Lagos was among the busiest in the country, yet every vehicle on that road seemed to be moving at speeds well above the speed limit. Safety was never a consideration. Jimmie and Maria had had the experienced before when they first arrived in February and came to the realization that there was nothing they or anyone could do about it. Speeding on the highway was no cause for police action.

Forty-five minutes later they arrived at Mafoluku, a bustling Lagos community. Another bus ride from Mafoluku brought them to Anthony Village and to that same corrugated-iron-sheet structure Jimmie had spent the night when he first arrived from Accra. Maria almost cried when she found out that her husband had spent a night in the room they now stood. Nana Yaw and his roommate, Kwaku Dua, had a third man with them. He was introduced as Kwame Okyere. The consortium had gathered to begin work. Only they could lead Jimmie, his wife, and his brother to the clients. There were far too many people than Jimmie and Maria would like. They could not mask their displeasure but seemed unable to do much. Nana Yaw could sense it and tried to assure them everything would be fine.

“Massa, we always work together as a team,” he said.

Michael cut in too. “This is the way things are in Africa.”

There being no other alternative, this proposal was accepted.

“It seems that we have no choice. We’ll do our best to work with them,” said Maria.

It was time to negotiate a contract. Nana Yaw and his team demanded a 10 percent cut for every sale that resulted through the team’s effort. Both Jimmie and Maria thought that 10 percent was reasonable and agreed. In the meantime, the team had already contacted a client: a certain Alhaji Peter Abiole, a restaurateur and a known dealer in red mercury, in Anthony Village. Suddenly, there was much anticipation. Until now, there had been all speculation, with everyone saying that a teaspoon full of red mercury would bring in ₦1,000.

“If this is true, then with two kilograms, we will be clearing more than a million,” said Jimmie.

They arrived at the restaurant at a little after eleven o’clock.

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