The Big 5

11

Johnny arrived at Rita and Dwayne’s house at 8 am in morning. “Do you mind driving us to the airport?” asked Rita “No problem,” answered Johnny? On the drive to the airport, Dwayne stressed that Johnny was only there to house sit and he should not think about throwing any parties with Johnny reiterating that he was busy with school. “Enjoy Bali,” said Johnny as he then left the airport and drove back to the house.

The Khosa family sat in the living room. Patrick glanced over at Katherine and she knew that her brothers wanted to discuss business so she stood up and said “I’m heading over to the center'' and left. “Gerry managed to speak to both the Colombians and Mexicans and they’re waiting for p*****t from us however there is a slight problem, we can’t afford to make both orders at once,” said Francis. “f**k! f**k! But this could make us as powerful and rich as the other 2 families ``said Gerry “yeah but we still can’t change the fact that we can’t afford the orders “said Francis. Before he continued “and that isn’t our only problem bringing that much weight is going to force us to involve the Dames” “ and Boago is going to wanna spread his risk exposure by involving the rest of the big 5” added Derrick. “s**t and we still don’t have the money to pull this off,” said Gerry who then put his hands on his head. “So at this point it’s us and the Damned I say we go to the Khatombelas for a loan, “said Patrick. He had the attention of his brothers' ' we could even negotiate a deal where Ray's people get exclusive rights to move their stuff in the Khatombela clubs and hotels ``'' you smart son of a b***h we can even present this to the big 5” said Gerry. “We still need to make it worth everyone’s time and they would all have to agree to this'' said Francis “we need to be tactical about this.

Approach every head separately before presenting it to the big 5” said Derrick. “Let’s start with the Khatombelas and Dames, I doubt the Molefes will want to talk to us after the s**t you pulled,” said Patrick. This comment sparked a big argument among the brothers.

“I don’t understand why we had to come to Angola” complained Patrick. “Because we are here to ask for money” replied Francis before he continued by “when we get to the compound I need Packie the salesman, not the gunman or my spoilt brother, the salesman. Okay,” Patrick just nodded in agreement. They arrived at the compound and they were welcomed by Mr. Khatombela himself and his right hand Robert Singano.

 “Gentlemen you must be tired from your flight however there is no rest for the wicked and we have important business to discuss.” They all went into the study. A lady came into the room and washed their hands and left before another lady came in and served them with fried fish with a side of wedges and a glass of white wine. As all men were almost done eating, Francis said “Mr.Khatombela, Mr. Singano we will get straight to the point. Our family as you know is in the trade of m*******a and methamphetamine and we are now looking to expand into other substances to expand and diversify our business portfolio. 

We have acquired the rights to supply and distribute cocaine and h****n of the highest quality. All we would need from your family is assistance financially, of course, to get this new project up and running, we also figured that since you happen to own some of the biggest clubs and casinos we would like to have our guys exclusively sell in those clubs and casinos. “Robert and Christopher whispered amongst themselves before Robert said “ to distribute in our clubs, you can do that for a fee of course for the financing part it will depend on the figure you come to us with ``'' ahem P150 million,” said Patrick. Mr. Khatombela then leaned back on his chair and said, “to sell in our clubs like Rob said that’s not a problem, the P150 million I can’t do that and neither can any other family do that with the exception of the Molefe family.”

Patrick and Derrick arrived back home and found Gerry waiting for them in the living room. “ So what happened up in Angola,” he asked “ it was hot and humid that’s what happened,” said Patrick. “ Rays boys can sell in any Khatombela owned establishments, however as it seems funding is going to be our problem because only the Molefes can fund this project,” said Francis. All 4 men sat in silence trying to come up with alternative methods for acquiring funding.  They all sat in silence before Derrick said “ let’s do this we go ask the Molefes for funding but instead of one of us going we send Ray. While Ray is there Gerry goes to see Boago about the logistics of this and I go see Harold.” “ and then we see what the others say before making our next move” added Patrick. “ one problem though everyone knows that Ray sells for us exclusively and well we aren’t in the good books of the Molefe family, so what stops them from telling Ray to go f**k  himself,” asked Francis “ business,” the others said at the same time “ business”.

Ludo woke up with terrible cramps. She immediately curled into a fetal position in an attempt to alleviate the pain, however in a few minutes she was forced to rush to the bathroom and proceeded to vomit. After she finished vomiting she proceeded to brush her teeth and go to the kitchen to drink water and some painkillers for the cramps. She checked the time on her phone and it read  03;35. She tried to think if she could have eaten anything to upset her stomach before she checked her phone and opened her cycle app. What the app showed her shocked her. It said her period was late but she brushed it off by concluding that it was maybe the upcoming exams and the food and alcohol she had consumed at the wedding. She had another glass of water and went to sleep. As she was headed back to her room her mother asked if she was okay and she simply said “ it’s that time of the month mama, my cramps are a bit more hectic this month.” Before she went into her room. 10 minutes later Mmamotse Moalosi came into her daughter's room and gave her a hot water bottle and instructed her to press it against her stomach.“I’ll make you a homemade remedy your grandmother used to make for me, you just keep the pressure I’ll be back in a few minutes'' she said.

Ray and Gerry arrive in Walvis Bay. “I’ve never been in Namibia before,” says Ray “me too”. As a black sedan approached them, as the car got closer they could tell it was a 3 series BMW. Wilberforce Bongani stepped out and said “you guys here to see the boss, get in the car” and they drove to an abandoned warehouse. Wilberforce left them there alone with the guards and Gerry began to feel nervous, the thoughts of him dying dominated his mind so much that he even forgot what he and Ray were going to say. “I don’t get why they need to jerk us around you know,” said Ray finally “because we are in their area looking for their help so you know standard procedure I guess” replied Gerry “ and what’s to stop them icing us,” asked Ray “ because that would start a war and we don’t do wars anymore because that s**t is expensive,” said a voice from a distance. A group of guards approached with a man in the middle of them before he stepped out wiping blood off his hands and said again “ Gerry ! what do I owe the pleasure” said Mr. Dambe. Before he directed them to the office where they could discuss business. After all, 4 men were seated and acquainted with each other Gerry began talking “ were undergoing an expansion, well the Khosas are looking to expand their business. We have acquired the rights to distribute A1 h****n and Coke and we thought since we are all friends the Khosas might want assistance from Dames on the logistics side. I mean your specialty is moving cargo that you don’t want to be found”. Mr. Dambe only shook his head before Ray added “ I will be handling the distribution of the product and I can guarantee you sir that the market is already ours, we just need to get the product on the streets.” Mr. Dambe still shook his head before he said “  I feel like you wasted your time. As I see it between us this is a done deal, see Christopher already filled me in and I’m not your biggest worry, what you need to do is get the order confirmed and talk to Wilberforce who will in turn handle the logistics of getting your product here.” Gerry and Ray could not hide their amusement and they shook hands before Wilberforce said “ we do charge an insurance premium on top of our normal shipping rate, you know since we are the ones taking the risk here. Gentlemen do enjoy a safe flight home” as he walked them out before instructing one of the guards to take them to the airport safely. Wilberforce came back and sat with Mr. Dambe “ I will give it to them they’re are ambitious, remind me of us when we were coming up” said Mr. Dambe “ sure boss but we took over when there was a war going on, they didn’t” replied Wilberforce “ yeah but our job as the older generation is to make it easier for the new generation” replied Mr. Dambe.