The Dark Knight

6. The Aftermath

Dan entered his truck and headed to his receiving point, he had shipments coming in tonight and he had to go get ready for them

His phone rang ‘Yes’ Dan answered

‘We are buying some of your shipment in the morning. What time do we get it?’ the man at the other end asked

‘You know the drill man, before 6am, don’t be late. It’s hot cake cargo and I can’t keep it waiting’ Dan said

‘Sure, as always your p*****t comes once we make the exchange’ the man said

‘Sure thing, I will be waiting’ Dan replied, he cut the line and smiled to himself, it had been a hard run these past few years, somehow, funds kept disappearing form his accounts and the thief was not caught. This shipment was his whole investment and the sales from tonight would make him big once again

His phone rang again and he looked at the screen, smiling when he saw Ken’s name flashing

‘Ken my man, all is going down tonight, we will be rich again’ Dan said happily

‘Good luck man, but I don’t envy your goods you know, all them hard drugs are ruining the community, no wonder the robin guy is after you’ Ken said chuckling

‘What? Ken I am ending this call now’ Dan said

‘Wait… hold on’ Ken laughed

‘What is it?’ Dan asked tersely

Ken laughed some more ‘I am just teasing you man, I just called to wish you luck, let’s meet at the casino later okay, Bosco has good news for us’ he said

‘Oh really what’s it?’ Dan asked, excited that maybe their plans were coming together

‘It’s going down soon, Bosco and Kelani are striking Jx soon’ Ken said snorting. His casino earnings had dropped sharply and it was due to the elusive robin hood’s strikes and raids

‘Death to the street urchin and his robin hood alter ego’ Dan cheered

‘Hear hear’ Ken cheered ‘Later man’ he added, cutting the call

‘Yea later’ Dan said, getting to his destination, alighting form the car and getting his men ready for the business coming

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‘Diesel have you wired the information to me yet?’ Jerry’s voice came across the intercom

‘No Boss, Marx is still delaying’ Diesel replied

‘Marx?’ Jerry called out

‘Y-yes Boss, I am on it, the location of the warehouse is still a problem’ Marx quickly replied through his own connection

‘We need Julian Boss. He has the details.... easily’ Diesel said quietly

‘Forget Julian please, you know he is off this beat. Dig harder Marx, we only ask Julian when it is totally necessary’ Jerry said, exasperation in his voice.

He ended the call and stretched, getting up from his chair and walking around trying to ease the tension. They had one major vigilante hit coming up and he promised himself that this would be his last hit but their funds were dwindling and he had to step up with this one and he knew his wife would not understand with him

He looked at her picture on his desk and reached for it, smiling and tracing her face with his hands lovingly. Life was now finally good to him and he was excited at the possibilities still ahead for them

He packed up his work files and decided to go home, leaving the guys to tidy up the remaining details before they came back for him at midnight. He would have to sneak out of the house for this one, Lucy better not catch him, he chuckled to himself

‘See you later guys’ Jerry greeted as he passed by the open office, heading home

He stopped by at the local groceries store to buy some gifts for his children, he usually would get a few toys for them every now and then and spend the evening playing with them. Things he never had growing up, he was determined to give them the fatherhood experience he never had

Jerry's childhood consisted of throwing fireworks on the streets, making paper guns, graduating to toy guns and then real guns before he was thirteen. The old plumber adopted him when the community became wary of his violent tendencies. He gave him his own surname Dombaco and did his best to send him to a good high school and teach him plumbing. He did his best to be a father figure to him and that was Jerry's only glimpse at family life.

Jerry had already made what the society would label as 'bad friends' on the streets while at the orphanage and so he would sneak off every now and then to fuel his passions. Passions that revolved around pick-pocketing, fighting and betting. The drinking, smoking and promiscuity came a little later. His fame as a good fighter earned him a nickname JX, and he was soon sought after by criminals. That was how he grew his crowd and formed his gang

Drug dealers soon contacted him and when he would not be a courier, they then suggested he be their bodyguard and that soon included fighting and killings. His life had become a violent one just at age 16 and the ailing plumber was oblivious to the changes that were taken place. Jerry's only sane refuge was the beautiful girl he had a crush on, as he would look through his window pane into their bookstore and gaze at her. Now look at him today, with her by his side as his wife, safe and living such a good life in the aftermath of all that went down with Big Joe.

He walked round the toy store piling up his purchases in the trolley. Lucy would always tell him he was spending too much money on games when he should get them art materials. He knew nothing about art, that was her profession so they called a truce. He did the machinery and games while she did the educational art materials

Tonight he decided to get some video educational toys too, the kids would be starting kindergarten soon, he would need to let them start getting used to the learning environment

He wheeled the toys to the checkout counter, resisting calls by the sales clerk to add a new toy gun that had just been released, latest edition with real-life shooting sounds. No way were his kids having those as toys, he thought. His friends had asked him to train his boys at least in self defense but Lucy would not hear of it and so he let it go. They agreed that maybe when they turn seven or eight he would enroll them in a kiddies martial arts academy to learn how to control their emotions and win a fight honorably. He shrugged, not wanting to think of any of that, they were still toddlers, he didn't think they would know what self defense meant right now

He arrived home shortly after, carrying his treats from the boot. a full trolley load it seemed

'Hey babe' he called out as he entered the house

He didn't hear a reply so he went on to the nursery just down the hall. They had created a school-like nursery and education room for the mornings so that Lucy could have them comfortable in a formal setting. This way it would not be so bad when school started and they had to do the dreaded drop-off. She wasn't ready for crying children and emotional turmoils

He pushed open the door and saw her deeply immersed in what she was doing, teaching them how to paint. Ben could only paw on the paper and Lucy was helping him do that while Antonio was drawing little -sketches out on a draw-pad. It was a heart-warming scene, he felt content just gazing at them. He stood there for a full minute before they became aware of him standing there

'Daddyyyy' the kids screamed and ran over to him, all plastered in paint

'My boyyyys' he greeted them same way, he hugged them and handed over his gifts to them. Lucy rolled her eyes at him, class was definitely over now

Jerry laughed and came over to where she was seated and gave her the two videos he had bought 'There you go honey, some of it is nice' he pecked her lips, still laughing

'Now this I would want a dozen of' she said happily, keeping the video CDs carefully away in a locked cabinet where the boys couldn't get to easily otherwise broken cds will litter the floor in no time. boys. .

'Before my boys get curious right?' he laughed

Lucy nodded profusely 'Can we not do girls next?' she whined

Jerry laughed some more, pulling her closer to him in a hug and they snuggled next to each other and watched the boys get excited at their latest toys

Antonio and Ben searched through the bag and began unwrapping the toys and games, squealing away and having fun as their parents looked on, eyes full of love....all oblivious to the storm coming.