Wednesday Morning
The Lab
10:00 AM
War requires supply lines.
I sat in my makeshift laboratory the repurposed yam store staring at the components spread out on the wooden crate. The air smelled of ozone and hot plastic.
To defend myself against Razor and the Bookman, I needed stopping power. I was a thirty-six-year-old mind in a ten-year-old body. If it came to a wrestling match, I would lose. I needed force multiplication.
< Objective: Non-Lethal Incapacitation, > Gemini projected onto the rough wooden table. < Options: Chemical (Pepper Spray), Electrical (Stun Gun), Acoustic (High Decibel Alarm). >
"All of them," I whispered. "We use all of them."
I started with the Electrical.
I had gone back to Bombay Electronics earlier that morning. I told Mr. Patel I needed "old cameras" for a school art project. He sold me three used Kodak disposable cameras from his developing bin for 500 francs. He thought I was playing with plastic lenses.
He didn't know that inside every disposable camera is a weapon waiting to be born.
I cracked open the plastic casing of the first camera.
Snap.
Inside lay the prize: A 330-volt electrolytic capacitor and a flash charging circuit.
< Warning: Capacitor may hold residual charge, > Gemini flashed red. < Discharge before handling. >
I shorted the leads with an insulated screwdriver.
SNAP!
A blue spark jumped, loud as a pistol shot.
"Beautiful," I murmured.
The logic was simple. The camera battery (1.5 Volts) feeds an oscillator. A transformer steps it up. A diode rectifies it. The capacitor stores it. When you press the button, it dumps all that energy into the Xenon bulb to make light.
I didn't want light. I wanted pain.
I desoldered the Xenon bulb.
I took two long, rusted nails I had pulled from the compound fence. I filed the tips until they were needle-sharp.
I soldered the capacitor output wires to the nails.
I mounted the whole assembly onto a piece of PVC pipe I found in the trash.
I wrapped it in layers of black electrical tape until it looked like a baton.
I glued the charging button to the handle.
I pressed the button.
WHEEEEEEEE...
The high-pitched whine of the charging circuit filled the room. It was the sound of a mosquito from hell.
The "Ready" light glowed orange.
I touched the two nails to a piece of aluminum foil on the table.
BANG!
The foil vaporized in a flash of blue plasma. It smelled of burnt metal.
It wasn't a Taser a Taser pulses high voltage to lock muscles. This was a Stun Baton. It dumped raw amperage. It wouldn't knock you out, but it would feel like being kicked by a mule made of lightning.
"Designation: The Thunder Stick," I said.
< Efficiency: 65%, > Gemini critiqued. < Recharge time is slow (8 seconds). You get one shot. Make it count. >
"One shot is all I need."
Next, the Chemical.
I went to the kitchen. Liyen was out selling dresses.
I found her jar of dry chili peppers the small, red "Cameroon Peppers" that burn your tongue if you even look at them.
I took a handful.
I crushed them into a fine powder using the grinding stone. The dust made my eyes water just standing near it.
I mixed the powder with water and a pinch of sand (for grit).
I poured the slurry into a small plastic spray bottle that used to hold window cleaner.
I tested it on the wall.
Psst.
A cloud of red mist.
Anyone who walked into that would be blind for ten minutes.
I packed my arsenal.
The Thunder Stick went into my right pocket, hidden by my long shirt.
The Chili Spray went into my left pocket.
My multimeter went into my bag.
I was ready.
Thursday Evening
The Compound
6:30 PM
The waiting was the hardest part.
Razor hadn't made a move yet. The bug in the bar had gone silent or rather, the battery I rigged had died. My intelligence feed was cut.
I sat on the veranda, pretending to do homework.
Tashi was in the parlor, drinking a beer. He was happy. He had deposited the 46,000 francs in a secret place (he wouldn't tell me where, which was good). He was already drawing plans for "Tashi & Son Electronics" on a piece of paper.
"We will have a glass counter," Tashi shouted from inside. "And a sign. A big neon sign!"
"Yes, Papa," I replied, scanning the street.
The sun was setting. The shadows stretched long and thin across the red dirt.
A black motorcycle turned the corner.
It moved slowly. Too slowly.
It wasn't an okada looking for a passenger.
There were two men on it.
The rider wore a helmet with a tinted visor.
The passenger wore a heavy jacket.
They didn't stop at the gate. They rolled past, the engine idling low.
As they passed, the passenger turned his head.
He looked directly at me.
I recognized the jacket. Faux leather.
Razor.
They were scouting.
Checking if Tashi was home. Checking the layout.
< Threat Proximity Alert, > Gemini warned. < Heart rate elevating. They are positioning for an extract. >
I stood up slowly.
I walked into the house.
"Papa," I said.
Tashi looked up from his drawings. "What? You want to see the plan?"
"I need to go to the shop," I said. "I need... a pen. My pen died."
"Go to Manka's," Tashi waved his hand. "Be quick. Night is coming."
"Yes, Papa."
I didn't need a pen.
I needed to draw them out.
If they attacked the house, Tashi would get involved. Tashi would get hurt. Or worse, Liyen.
I had to take this fight outside.
I walked out of the gate.
I turned left, toward Auntie Manka's shop.
The street was semi-dark. The streetlights were dead as usual.
I heard the motorcycle engine rev behind me.
They had turned around.
I didn't run. A predator chases things that run.
I walked. I kept my hands in my pockets.
Right hand on the Thunder Stick. Left hand on the Spray.
The motorcycle engine got louder.
Vrrrrr...
They were creeping up behind me.
< Distance: 15 meters. > Gemini counted down. < Distance: 10 meters. >
I turned the corner into a narrow alleyway that cut between two unfinished block houses. It was a shortcut to Manka's, but it was also a choke point. The motorcycle couldn't fit easily.
I heard the bike stop at the mouth of the alley.
"Get him," Razor's voice hissed.
Footsteps.
Heavy boots crunching on gravel.
Two sets of footsteps.
I stopped in the middle of the alley. It was dark, illuminated only by the faint blue glow of a TV screen from a window high above.
I turned around.
Razor stood at the entrance of the alley. Beside him was Bone a man built like a refrigerator.
They blocked the exit.
"Small boy," Razor smiled. His gold tooth glinted in the gloom. "You like to take walks?"
"My father is waiting," I said, pitching my voice to tremble. "He is just there."
"Your father is drunk," Bone grunted, stepping forward. He held a burlap sack in his hand. "He won't miss you for an hour."
"What do you want?" I asked, backing away slowly.
"We want the Juju," Razor said, walking closer. He pulled a knife. It wasn't a fighting knife; it was a small, wicked fruit knife. "The Bookman wants to know how you see the games. You will come with us. You will tell us the scores for next week."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I cut your eye," Razor said casually. "If you can't see the game, you can't bet."
He lunged.
He was fast for a big man.
But I had Gemini.
< Trajectory Analysis: Right hand lunge. Speed: 4 m/s. Evasion: Pivot Left. >
I didn't think. I obeyed the data.
I dropped to my knees and slid left on the dirt.
Razor's hand grabbed empty air where my neck had been a second ago.
"Bastard!" Razor cursed.
I came up in a crouch.
I pulled the Chili Spray with my left hand.
I aimed for the face.
Psst! Psst!
The cloud of red dust hit Razor square in the eyes.
He screamed. It was a high, guttural sound.
"My eyes! My eyes!"
He dropped the knife, clawing at his face. The Cameroon pepper was doing its work—it burns like acid.
Bone roared. He didn't care about Razor. He charged me like a bull.
He was too big to spray. He was covering his face with his arm.
He grabbed me.
His massive hand clamped onto my shoulder, lifting me off the ground like a doll.
"I got you, rat!" Bone shouted.
He slammed me against the rough cement wall.
The air left my lungs. My vision blurred.
< Structural Damage Alert: Rib contusion detected. > Gemini flashed. < Deploy Countermeasure. NOW. >
I couldn't breathe. Bone was crushing me.
My right hand was pinned against my side.
I fumbled for the pocket.
I felt the PVC pipe.
I felt the button.
I pressed it.
WHEEEEEEEE...
Bone heard the sound. He paused.
"Weti be that noise?"
I pulled the Thunder Stick out.
The "Ready" light was glowing orange in the dark alley.
"Thunder," I choked out.
I jammed the two nails into Bone's neck.
SNAP!
The blue arc lit up the alley.
330 Volts of stored energy dumped instantly into his jugular vein.
Bone didn't scream.
His eyes rolled back into his head. His whole body went rigid, vibrating like a plucked guitar string.
He convulsed once, twice.
Then he dropped me.
He fell backward like a cut tree. Thud.
He lay in the dirt, twitching.
I fell to my knees, gasping for air. My ribs burned.
Razor was still screaming, stumbling blindly against the wall, rubbing the pepper deeper into his eyes.
"I kill you!" Razor shrieked. "I kill you!"
I stood up. I looked at the Thunder Stick. The light was off. It needed 8 seconds to recharge.
Razor was blind, but he was still dangerous. He was swinging his arms wildly.
I didn't wait to recharge.
I ran.
I scrambled out the other end of the alley, bursting onto the main road near Manka's shop.
I didn't stop running until I hit the lights of the junction.
People were there. Safe people. Market women. Taxi drivers.
I slowed to a walk, clutching my side.
I had survived.
I had dropped a giant.
But as I looked back at the dark mouth of the alley, I knew one thing.
The game was over.
The war had begun.
Friday Morning
The Compound
The news of the "Ghost of the Alley" spread by 8:00 AM.
Collins told me at the water tap.
"Nkem! You hear weti happen for night?" Collins whispered, eyes wide. "People say lightning strike Bone for inside alley! Yi dey for hospital. Doctors say yi heart dey shake."
"Lightning?" I asked innocently, washing my face.
"Yes! And Razor? They say pepper fly enter yi eye. Yi no fit see nothing. They say spirits beat them."
I splashed water on my face to hide my smile.
Spirits.
Bamenda was a superstitious place. If you couldn't explain it, it was ghosts.
This was good. Fear was a better defense than a wall.
But Tashi heard the news too.
And Tashi wasn't stupid.
He came to me in the Lab while I was pretending to fix a radio.
He closed the door.
He looked at the soldering iron. He looked at the multimeter.
Then he looked at me.
"Nkem," Tashi said. His voice was serious. No joking today.
"Yes, Papa?"
"Razor and Bone were attacked last night. Near Manka's shop. At the same time you went to buy a pen."
I didn't answer. I kept soldering a wire.
"Razor says a small boy did it," Tashi said. "He says the boy had a stick that shot fire."
Tashi walked over to the table.
He picked up the Thunder Stick.
I hadn't hidden it well enough. It was sitting behind the toolbox.
He looked at the nails. He looked at the camera flash circuit taped to the pipe.
He recognized the parts. He had seen me buying the cameras.
"You?" Tashi whispered.
I put down the soldering iron.
"They tried to take me, Papa. They wanted to take me to the Farm."
Tashi's face went grey. "The Farm?"
"They want me to predict games for the Bookman. Forever."
Tashi gripped the Thunder Stick. His knuckles turned white.
For the first time, I saw real anger in his eyes. Not the drunk anger. Protective anger.
"They touched my son?"
"Bone grabbed me. I shocked him."
Tashi looked at the weapon. He looked at me with a mix of horror and awe.
"You dropped Bone? The giant?"
"Physics, Papa. Electricity does not care how big you are."
Tashi sat down heavily on the crate. He put his head in his hands.
"This is my fault," he said. "I talked too much. I boasted."
"It doesn't matter now," I said. "They know. And Razor will come back. He will be angry."
"No," Tashi said. He stood up. He looked different. The slouched posture of the gambler was gone.
"He will not come back."
Tashi reached into his pocket. He pulled out the roll of money the 46,000 francs.
"Pack your things, Nkem."
"Where are we going?"
"We are not going anywhere," Tashi said. "But I am going to the village. To Moghamo."
"Why?"
"To see your Uncle Lucas. The Colonel."
I froze.
Uncle Lucas. Not the neighbor Lucas. The other Lucas.
Tashi's older brother. The one who had joined the Gendarmerie twenty years ago. The one the family never talked about because he was a "hard man."
"If we are fighting the Bookman," Tashi said, his voice cold, "we need a bigger gun. I am going to bring the military."
He looked at me.
"You stay here. You lock this door. You guard your mother. Can you do that?"
I picked up the Thunder Stick. I pressed the charge button.
WHEEEEEEEE...
"Yes, Papa."
Tashi nodded.
He walked out.
I watched him go.
For the first time in two lifetimes, Tashi Mbua wasn't acting like a victim.
He was acting like a father.
< Ally Status Updated: Tashi Mbua. Role: Diplomat/Enforcer. > Gemini noted.
"He's going to get the cavalry," I said.
But until he came back, I was the only thing standing between my mother and the wolves.
Saturday Night
The Siege
Tashi had been gone for 24 hours.
The compound was quiet. Too quiet.
I had fortified the Lab.
I had run a tripwire across the gate entrance fishing line connected to a stack of empty tins. If anyone opened the gate, the tins would fall. Primitive alarm system.
Liyen was in the parlor, praying. She knew something was wrong, but Tashi had told her it was "village matters." She didn't ask questions.
I sat in the Lab, monitoring the bug frequency.
Nothing. Razor was probably in a dark room with cucumber slices on his eyes.
< Energy Spike Detected, > Gemini suddenly announced.
I looked around.
"What energy spike?"
< Not electrical, > Gemini corrected. < Biological. Adrenaline. Outside the perimeter. >
Clang-Clatter-Crash!
The tins at the gate fell.
My tripwire.
I jumped up. I grabbed the Thunder Stick. I grabbed the Chili Spray.
I ran to the window of the Lab.
Through the slats, I saw them.
Not Razor.
Not Bone.
These were different men.
Three of them.
They wore dark clothes. They didn't move like thugs. They moved like soldiers.
They were silent. Efficient.
The Bookman had sent the professionals.
< Threat Assessment: Extreme. > Gemini flashed. < These are not brawlers. They are extractors. Run probability: 12%. >
They moved toward the main house door.
Toward Liyen.
"No," I hissed.
I couldn't fight three pros with a camera flash.
I needed a distraction.
I needed chaos.
I looked at the corner of the Lab.
The Car Battery.
I had bought an old 12V car battery from a mechanic yesterday to start building my UPS.
And next to it... a bottle of Fuel.
I used it for cleaning parts.
"Gemini," I said. "Calculate the blast radius of 500ml of petrol ignited by a spark."
< Radius: 2 meters. Fireball duration: 4 seconds. Smoke: Dense. >
"Perfect."
I grabbed the fuel bottle. I grabbed a rag.
I poured the fuel into a metal tin. I soaked the rag.
I carried the tin to the door of the Lab.
The three men were at the parlor door. One was picking the lock.
"Hey!" I shouted.
They turned. fast. Precise.
One of them pulled a gun. A real gun. A pistol.
I didn't hesitate.
I threw the fuel tin into the yard, halfway between me and them.
Fuel splashed across the dry red earth.
I pointed the Thunder Stick at the puddle.
I pressed the trigger.
I touched the wires.
SNAP!
The spark hit the fumes.
WHOOOMPH!
A wall of fire erupted in the courtyard.
It wasn't a bomb. It was a barrier. A curtain of orange flame separating the men from the house.
The men jumped back, shielding their faces.
"Fire! Fire!" the neighbors started shouting.
Chaos. I had created chaos.
"Mami!" I screamed. "Run out the back!"
I saw Liyen run out of the kitchen door, heading for the fence.
She was safe.
The men looked at the fire, then at me.
The leader raised his gun. He aimed through the flames.
I dove behind the concrete wall of the Lab.
CRACK!
A bullet chipped the block where my head had been.
I was pinned.
Liyen was running.
Tashi was gone.
And I was trapped in a shed with three killers and a dying fire.
"Come out, boy," the leader shouted. "We don't want to kill you. But we will."
I looked at my tools.
I had the Thunder Stick (recharging).
I had the Spray.
And I had one more thing.
The Main Power Line.
The one I had spliced illegally.
It was running along the wall, right where they would have to step to get to me.
I grabbed the wire cutters.
"Gemini," I whispered. "How many amps in the main grid right now?"
< Voltage: 220V. Amperage: Variable. Sufficient for... unpleasantness. >
I cut the wire.
The live end fell onto the metal door handle of the Lab.
The metal door was now electrified.
"Come and get me," I whispered.
The leader signaled the others. "Flank him."
One man moved to the window.
The leader walked to the door.
He reached out his hand.
He grabbed the handle.
ZZZZZTTT!
He didn't scream. He just stiffened, his teeth clamping shut. The 220 Volts locked his hand to the metal. He shook violently, dancing the electric boogaloo.
I kicked the door open from the inside.
The door—and the man attached to it—swung out.
I disconnected the wire with a dry stick.
The man collapsed, smoking.
Two down. (Including Bone from yesterday).
Two left.
The other two men froze. They looked at their leader twitching on the ground.
They looked at the fire.
They looked at the "demon child" standing in the smoke.
And then, a siren wailed.
Not a police siren.
A military siren.
A Gendarmerie jeep screeched to a halt at the gate, smashing through the wooden doors.
Soldiers in red berets jumped out, AK-47s raised.
And leading them, wearing a faded fatigue jacket and holding a pump-action shotgun, was Tashi.
"Nobody moves!" Tashi roared.
The two professionals dropped their guns instantly. They knew the difference between a job and a suicide mission.
Tashi ran to me. He kicked the burning tin aside.
"Nkem! Nkem!"
I stood up. I was covered in soot. I was shaking.
But I was alive.
"I'm here, Papa," I said. "I cooked one of them."
Tashi looked at the man on the ground. He looked at the Thunder Stick in my hand.
He looked at his brother, Uncle Lucas (the Colonel), who was barking orders at the soldiers to arrest the intruders.
Uncle Lucas walked over. He was a mountain of a man with a scar on his cheek.
He looked at the scene. The fire. The electrified door. The stunned hitman.
"Tashi," Lucas said, his voice deep as thunder. "You said your son was smart."
"He is," Tashi nodded.
"Smart?" Lucas laughed, looking at me with fearful respect. "This boy is a guerilla. We need to talk."
I dropped the Thunder Stick.
The adrenaline crash hit me like a truck.
My knees gave out.
Tashi caught me.
"Sleep, Nkem," Tashi whispered. " The army is here."
I closed my eyes.
Gemini scrolled one last message across my mind before I blacked out.
< Phase Two Complete. Survival: Success. >
< Phase Three: Expansion. >
The war for Bamenda was just heating up. And I had just recruited the Gendarmerie.