Jury Read online

  THE CONNEXION TRILOGY #1: JURY

  Copyright © 2018 by David Dada E., 2018

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  License Notes:

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  For further information or permission, contact:

  Dada David

  +639153018650

  [email protected]

  Published by INSTRUMENTALISTS

  [email protected]

  dedication

  This book is dedicated to those who have a group of friends and know what true friendship is.

  acknowledgement

  I thank God for the salvation of my soul and constantly keeping me under the shadow of His wings. Without him I can do nothing.

  To my dad and mum I say thank you for always correcting me and pushing me to walk in the right path. I also thank you for striving very hard to give me the best education and the best of everything. Thank you.

  To my brother, Sam, thanks for always trying to make me laugh and being the best brother anyone could hope to have.

  To my family members, I say thank you for always being loving and just extraordinarily wonderful.

  To Tofarati and Chineme, I probably would not have my characters without you both. Thank you for making high school fun.

  To all my other friends who gave insights on the different aspects of the book, I cannot name you all, but I appreciate your helping get it done.

  Finally, I use this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has taught me, in school or in the church. Your teachings have shaped my thoughts and have helped me a great deal.

  Contents

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  PROLOGUE

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOUR

  PROLOGUE

  The council was gathered in the conference room at the top floor of the building and they had all been waiting for two hours for the meeting to start. They had been summoned to come for the meeting on short notice and no one had any idea what the meeting was for. They had been waiting since 6:00 p.m. to find out; it was now 8:05 p.m. and the head of the council had not arrived; he always came late for the meetings he called. The indistinct chattering began to get clearer and it was obvious that the other members did not like having to be pulled out of their busy schedules only to be stood up. They all had businesses to run and families to be with.

  The room was dark, and the only source of light was the soft glow of the moon coming through the windows. One was only able to make out the silhouettes of the others in the room. There were about 10 of them sat at the rectangular table. It was easy to tell who sat where because they all had assigned seats and they were all occupied except for the one at the head of the table.

  The man that sat at the other end of the table was silent. He rarely ever spoke during the meetings and he was not a fan of engaging in needless gossip. He just sat there and watched the commotion with so much glee that it almost seemed like he was orchestrating the whole thing. His smile quickly faded once the door opened and everyone stopped talking. The hefty man that had just walked into the room took his seat opposite the now saddened man.

  “Mr. Yeng. How nice of you to join us today.” The Man’s voice was deep and frightening. It resonated round the room like it had just come from huge stadium speakers.

  “Well, I did not have a say this time. This seems to directly affect me, so I had to come.” Mr. Yeng responded dryly. He hated The Man for many reasons but the greatest of these reasons was the fact that he did not know his name and no one else on the council did. Everyone just referred to him as “The Man”. He always wondered how he had gotten to be the head of the council, holding so much power, and nobody knew a thing about him. It also did not help that they held their meetings at night and so he could not see his face.

  “I see.” The Man said and cleared his throat. “I have to apologize to everyone for taking too long. I hope you can understand that a man in my position sometimes gets called upon by the higher ups to render assistance and I can’t possibly say no to them.”

  “That’s all well and good but we are tired of always hearing excuses.” The lady to the left of Mr. Yeng said, clearly irritated. “Just why exactly did you call this meeting?”

  “It’s not a good thing to be quick to blow a fuse Mrs. Reese.” The Man chuckled. “But I understand why you are angry. Anyway, I have called this meeting to discuss the progress of some of our future prospects. I have been planning to hold this meeting but never got to it. According to the President, trouble is coming, and we need to make sure they are ready.”

  “You do not think they are?” Mr. Yeng questioned.

  “Quite frankly, they aren’t ready and I haven’t seen anything that is reassuring. Watching them is like binge watching “Friends”.” The Man took off his glasses and set it on the table. “They don’t know how to think or do anything for themselves. To be honest, both groups are disappointing and I’m afraid they won’t be much help when the time comes.”

  “I beg to differ.” Mrs. Reese said. “Having a group of friends will be beneficial for each of them in the future and not the hindrance you think it to be.”

  The others in the room started murmuring amongst themselves.

  “I agree.” Mr. Yeng was going to side with anyone that was against The Man just out of spite.

  “Of course you do.” The Man laughed again. “I can only endure so much though. Since you all seem to think that every one of them is well, progressing, I have no choice but to give them a grace period. They all have one year to impress me and if I don’t see any improvements, I’ll have to take action.”

  The room went silent. Anytime The Man said those words, there was a lot of tragedy accompanied with it. The members of the council had learnt to fear and respect his threats in the span of the eleven years he had been in charge.

  “Any violent reactions?”

  “No. One year it is.” Mr. Yeng said and left the conference room. He had to do something about this. When he was far enough, he got out his phone and made a call. “Hello.”

  “Yes Mr. Yeng.” The voice on the other end was that of a teenager.

  “I need your help. Are you ready to move in now?”

  “Yes I am.” The voice responded. “What do you need me to do?”

  Mr. Yeng quickly filled the person he called in on the details and ended the call. He did not know how this would turn out, but he hoped it at least changed the mind of The Man and would keep him from taking action.

  ONE

  The hallways of OakCreek College this Thursday afternoon were as busy as usual. People were crowding in front of the vending machine, friends chatted away as they waited for their professors t
o arrive and other students were walking as fast as they could to get to their classes before their professors marked them late.

  It was no different in lecture theatre 404. The professor who taught them Communication Law was yet to arrive, so everyone kept busy: some were studying while those who had given up hopes that they would pass the quiz they were about to write used their phones or gossiped with friends.

  The quiz was a very important one and those who still had hopes were studying and quizzing each other from different topics they felt would come out in the quiz. It was a battle for who would be in the top four as those students would get a free pass from writing the exam; actually, it was more of a battle for who would be in third and fourth place as the students battling for top two were already decided.

  Mike Marlon and Taylor Rhodes. Those two were the best and the most competitive of the class, especially in this subject. It was common knowledge that they both wanted to go on to study law and they never failed to show off the knowledge and skills that they had gotten while doing extra study in preparation for the time they got into law school. They always went head to head, fighting for bragging rights as to who was the better lawyer and it was not only in the classroom they fought.

  They were the live versions of Tom and Jerry and there was not a day that passed that they were not at loggerheads. A day without the both of them arguing was as rare as the lunar eclipse and it was surprising because the two were really good friends. They had sparked a friendship their first year of college and two years down the road, they had not changed one bit.

  “TAYLOR!!!”

  And there it was. Mike. Every time he screamed Taylor’s name, it was not good. It was either he had gotten himself in trouble and needed Taylor to bail him out or he wanted trouble. Either way, he was still the root cause of all their fights. He was the light that ignited the fire, the gasoline that kept it burning and Taylor was the whole fire department that came to put the fire out.

  Mike never obeyed the rules; he always came late for classes and had no regards for authority. He also liked to brag about how smart he was and not many people in the class really liked him but somehow, Taylor always seemed to put up with him.

  Standing at 6’3”, Mike was always able to intimidate those around him except Taylor who was slightly taller than him. It also helped that he spent hours in his home gym working out. He could never stop talking of how he never skipped leg day and it only got more annoying the more he mentioned it.

  Taylor on the other hand was cocky but never in a way that made you hate him. He spoke in a false British accent because he thought it was sexy. He could always make you laugh, and he had good advice to offer when he felt you needed it. His favourite spot was the corner at the back of the class where the attention was far from because he hated having to answer questions in class. He was dark-skinned, ruggedly handsome with deep brown eyes, and a smile that made girls melt, extremely smart, talented and nice: he was everything you wanted in a guy.

  “TAYLOR!!!”

  Taylor definitely could not hear him. He was in the zone. He had his headphones on, his reading playlist on shuffle and a book in front of him. Taylor was reading for communication law class which would have been cool if he was not reading the topics to be taught two months from now. He had covered the topics for the quiz and seeing as he was sure to pass, he decided to read ahead.

  “TAYLOR!!!”

  Mike had started shouting Taylor’s name as soon as he had gotten off the elevator that was at the far end of the hallway. He had gathered quite the crowd and there was no mistaking the fact that it was his intention to do so from the start. He was not good at being subtle and he craved the attention of people.

  Surprisingly, Taylor took off his headphones and looked extremely annoyed that his reading was interrupted. He must have had the volume down because it was never that easy to get Taylor’s attention.

  Taylor took off his glasses and set it on the table. What now? He stood as soon as Mike entered the class and waited for him to come closer. “Why on God’s green earth were you screaming my name?!” He yelled as soon as Mike was close enough. “You just interrupted my reading and you know how much I hate being disturbed, especially when I am listening to music.”

  Mike recoiled for a second and then immediately regained his composure. “I didn’t know you were reading and honestly, I don’t care.” He shrugged.

  “You are unbearable.”

  “Awn, thank you.” Mike said sarcastically.

  “Fool.” Taylor chuckled. “Why were you looking for me?”

  “I just want to know why you ratted me out to Chloe.” Mike folded his hands.

  “What do you mean by that, Mike?”

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I am talking about. You were the only one I told and now she knows about it.”

  Taylor laughed. “First of all, bullshit I am the only one you told and second, even if I was the only one you told, which like I said, you did not, there is no way I could have told Chloe anything. I gave you my word and I do not go against my word. You of all people should know that.”

  The crowd that was gathered outside was increasing and slowly trickling into the class. It was not going to be long before a professor came searching for answers as to why the hallway on the fourth floor was still crowded. That was the last thing Taylor wanted. He had managed to stay out of trouble this past week and he would love to keep it going.

  “You lying good-for-nothing …”

  “I am going to ask you to kindly shut your mouth and calm down before you say something you will regret.” Taylor cut Mike off and put his hand on his shoulder. “I had no reason to tell Chloe about what you told me so instead of wasting your time blaming me, let me help you with finding the person who actually snitched on you because that is one hell of a violation of the bro code.” He chuckled.

  Mike slapped his hand off. He did not want to believe Taylor. No one else was capable of telling Chloe what had happened. There was a voice at the back of his mind telling him to think this through and avoid getting in a fight with Taylor till he was perfectly sure he was the culprit, but he was not ready to listen so he shoved the voice to the back of his mind.

  “You’re lying” He said as he shoved Taylor.

  “I have no reason to lie.” Taylor looked really pissed. “And please, do not push me.”

  “Why?” Mike shoved Taylor again.

  “I am warning you. Stop pushing me”. Taylor said sternly.

  Taylor was always the nice one. He always gave people the chance to think about their actions and then warn them before he had to defend himself. His life motto was that being physical should only be used as a last resort and he lived by it.

  Mike would usually not let things go this far, but it looked like he was not having any of it today. He had made up his mind to get in a fight with Taylor and he definitely did not expect what happened next. As he moved to shove Taylor, his hands were batted away before Taylor grabbed him by the shirt, spun and pinned him against the wall, his fist coming to a stop an inch from Mike’s face.

  “I don’t know why you picked today to wake up on the wrong side of bed, but I’m not in the mood for your childish plays.” Taylor loosened his grip on Mike’s shirt, took a deep breath in and let it out. “I do not want to hit you, but I swear on everything I hold dear, I will punch your teeth in and then some if you do not cut the shit.” He took his hands off and adjusted Mike’s shirt.

  The whole class was silent, and everybody was staring at the both of them. This was what Taylor was trying to avoid. He put his hand out trying to make peace, but Mike slapped it away and got a chuckle from Taylor for his trouble. Taylor turned and started walking away. The fact that Mike would even blame him for Chloe finding out what he had told him was laughable because Mike knew he did not like Chloe. She was way too sassy for his liking.

  He turned to ask Mike how he knew Chloe had found out about it when he saw Mike charging at him. What ar
e you doing? He sighed and side-stepped, causing Mike to run straight into the chairs, sending people out of their seats.

  Mike was not ready to give up as he stood up and ran towards Taylor who simply swung his fist, connecting with Mike’s jaw and knocking him down. He stood there staring down at Mike as some of his classmates cheered the once in a lifetime occurrence. It was not every time the boys got in a fist fight and the girls were making it known that there was only one person who had their support as they screamed Taylor’s name.

  Taylor did not turn his back on Mike this time. He already made that mistake once and Mike was already getting back to his feet, pushing the chairs from his path. Mike looked like he was about lunging at him, so he darted towards a staggering Mike, got around him and locked him in a sleeper hold. Mike struggled to get free, but his movements became slower and weaker as he lost consciousness.

  “Easy… Easy… Go to sleep.” Taylor whispered into Mike’s ear and held on a little longer before letting Mike's limp body fall to the ground once he was sure he would not be causing any problems.

  The cheers had stopped. People were murmuring and all eyes were on Taylor.

  “Too much?” Taylor asked, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

  One of their classmates ran towards Mike and looked up at Taylor judgingly.

  “Leave.” Alex said.

  “What did I do?! He came after me.”

  “Just leave!”

  Taylor stared at Alex for a while, shrugged and then walked out of the class.

  ***

  Taylor hated getting angry, not to talk of fighting, especially when it was his friend on the other end. He knew he had gone too far with the submission move but Mike would not have stopped coming after him. Taylor had anger issues and had been forced to get therapy all through his senior years in high school. He hated having to see a therapist, but he was glad he did nonetheless. He had gotten better at handling his anger because of therapy, but he had completely lost control this time and he could tell because he enjoyed every single part of the fight.