The Big 5

18

Robert wakes up early and calls Obakeng `` I hope you're awake. Let's meet at the airstrip” he said before he hung up. He took a quick shower and got into his car and drove to the airstrip. He arrived in 10 minutes and he took out a cigarette and began smoking as he waited for Obakeng to arrive. Obakeng arrived 5 minutes later “ what did you tell the guards'' asked Robert “ that I was going to check on things in Durban whilst you were going to Port Elisabeth” replied Obakeng. “ good good,” said Robert. They waited another 10 minutes as they waited to board their flight to Rustenburg.  Their flight took just over 3 and a half hours to land in Rustenburg. They arrived and found a man holding a sign that read “ Robert and Obakeng” and they approached him. “the boss says I should pick you guys up” said the man. They both followed him into a minibus and he drove them to what seemed to them was a gated estate. Obakeng was shocked at the number of guards that were guarding the estate along with the guns they had. They saw Gerry waiting by the front door of the houses. They went and met him by the door. “ I hope you guys enjoyed your flight, otherwise I’m going to kick Francis's ass,” said Gerry. “ Nah we had a good flight. Your driver was also good” replied Robert. He led them into the house past the living room into the kitchen where there was a small round table with food spread out. “ I figured that since you guys left Luanda early in the morning you might be hungry. And I also wanted to treat you guys to a traditional South African farm-style breakfast” said Gerry.  The table was spread out with Lamb chops, beef steak, boerewors, cheese grillers, bacon, eggs, beans, cheese, and toast. Obakeng went about dishing for himself as he forgot the reason for his trip and focused on getting food. Robert and Gerry also began preparing plates for themselves and they began to eat. The topic of discussion was mainly about the differing cultures of Luanda and Rustenburg as they proceeded to eat. Obakeng who was full at this point wiped his mouth and said “ we didn’t come this way for breakfast. So we might as well jump into the reason why we are here” “ yes OB is right. ‘Ghost’” added Robert. “ why don’t you kill him” asked Gerry. “ you know its not as easy as you put it right” said Robert. “ that and we don’t know why he’s been drinking in our clubs spending loads of cash. Not that I’m complaining” said Obakeng. Gerry took a sip of his coffee and said “ I think you need to lure him out”. Both Obakeng and Roberts eyes widened “ from what you guys told me over the phone he claims he’s unhappy working for the Molefe’s, so tell him your father wants to meet with him” “ okay we tell him dad wants to meet, and then what” asked Obakeng “ we kill him” said Gerry. Robert shook his head at this suggestion “ look if anything about that guy is true then you know 1 he is loyal to the Molefe’s and 2 he’s been sent to find out who is causing friction between the Khosa’s and his employers. And what is he gonna do when that happens” said Gerry. “ Yeah well we can’t exactly kill him in Gaborone, chances are he has backup waiting around in case something goes wrong and the Molefe’s will be on our asses instantly” said Robert. “ That's why we got him to leave Botswana where the Molefe family is strongest” said Gerry. “ Those guys have eyes and ears everywhere” replied Robert. “ then let’s get him to come to Angola,” suggested Obakeng. “ nope he would see that coming from a mile away and remember my boss doesn’t want us touching ‘Ghost’ just yet” said Robert. Gerry lit a cigar and said “ yeah and Angola your people might talk and your father might shut us down. We need a place that seems like a neutral ground to him” “ then Zambia it is” said Obakeng. “ Mr. Jimbo has made it clear that he does not want any part of this but I get the feeling he’ll inform Mr. Molefe if he's people see us. The only option is for us to go to Namibia. Besides the Dames won’t say anything, they want this deal to work out as much you guys do” said Robert. “ okay I  always wanted to f**k a Namibian b***h anyway” said Obakeng. “ and how will you guys get him there” asked Gerry. “ I’ll tell him the boss wants to show him the clubs in Swakopmund and I’ll make something up about the locals resisting us” said Robert. “ okay so while you take care of things in Swakopmund I’ll take care of things in Gaborone. It would be best if both missions are executed at the same time, that way Sean is unaware of the other whilst focusing on the obvious one” Said Gerry. They all shook hands, and Obakeng and Robert left. On the ride to the airport Obakeng said “ can we trust this guy, he seems to be scared of the Molefe family, did you see the security at his villa” “ yeah we can trust him to a certain degree, he wants a fight with the Molefe family and we use their fight to become the leaders of the big 5” said Robert.

Mark landed in Namibia first thing in the morning. He then took a bus from Windhoek to Swakopmund. When he arrived he spent the rest of his morning calling in a few favors to try to get him a gun without detecting the local authorities or the Dambe family. In an hour he had managed to get a gun. It was a see camp LWS .380. He examined the tiny pistol that he could barely hold in his huge hands but told himself it would do. He went back to the motel room he had booked and slept.  He had a dream or more of a flashback to be exact. It was 40 years ago when he was just dishonorably discharged from his post as an intelligence officer for the Botswana police force. He was awaiting trial for treason charges, the charge against him was that he had been giving classified information to the Namibian army. The evidence was fabricated by his supervisor because the day before the army arrested him he had confronted his supervisor after he stumbled upon the evidence. The day before his trial he was released with the charges brought against him dropped. He got back to his apartment and the news said his supervisor had confessed to framing Mark. Mark did not understand his luck until 4 months after all this happened a charming man came to his apartment to give him money and all he said was “ Mark you and I are going to be good friends. For now take this and I’ll be in touch soon. And don’t worry about rent, that’s taken care off”. The man who came to his apartment would call him and request to meet him outside Gaborone. The man introduced himself as Mr. Molefe and he told him about how he helped those who needed help and fought for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. He told Mark about how he was the one that needed help this time around, he needed someone like him, a man who could gather data on his enemies without being detected and when the time was right he would take them out silently or send a message if need be. Mr. Molefe told Mark that he had managed to strong-arm his superior into confessing by threatening to expose his affair with the vice president's wife. He of course told the vice president about the affair and the rest was history. Mark asked what it was Mr. Molefe needed help with. Mr. Molefe told him about the war of the big 5. The Khosa, Khatombela, Dambe, Jimbo, and Molefe families were at war for territory. Mr. Molefe needed Mark to find a weakness in the Khatombela and Khosa families as they were the strongest. A certain Niko Khosa was then executed by Mark on the order of Mr. Molefe. The hit was blamed on Kalusha Khatombela. Another head of the big 5 was also executed Roman Jimbo who was head of the Jimbo family. This hit was blamed on both Kalusha and Niko Khosa. The Jimbo family who had been renowned as the most vengeful family then went after all families killing soldiers everywhere in an attempt to avenge their fallen head. Mark then fabricated evidence that showed that Kalusha and Niko intended on being creating a monopoly hence why they executed Roman. Mr. Molefe presented this to Roman’s brother Harold. The Jimbo and Molefe alliance pushed together to defeat the Khosa and Khatombela family. Kalusha was killed in the process and the war ended. Mr. Molefe then proposed peace with the Jimbo family. They approached Boago Dambe of the Dambe family to negotiate with the new heads of the Khosa and Khatombela family. Christopher Khatombela the new head of the Khatombela agreed to the new peace terms whilst Derrick Khosa who was in charge proposed they form an alliance to cement their newfound peace. Mr. Molefe chaired the meeting that resulted in the formation of the big 5 with the terms being that every family could operate their respective businesses in any territory they felt fit. Mark woke up from his dream/flashback. He washed his face and shaved his face. He put on his suit and slid the pistol into his jacket pocket. He put on some cologne and went to the meeting with Mr. Khatombela.