Chapter 2 The Billionaire

• It was true, Barry and the four men called themselves 'the Jackson five' gang. They grew up together and hustled in the streets of Johannesburg- the city with the third highest crime rate in the world. At a young age, they were forced to sell drugs as foot-soldiers to survive. When they were just seventeen they had risen to foot-soldier leaders of their blocks. At this stage, they were allowed to pack heat. That meant shooting lessons.
• Within months Barry had become a bad-ass in the streets. With the fastest gun in town, he formed a team and they quickly took over the city blocks, placing each member as a foot-soldier boss. When the street-enforcers heard about him, they saw a problem and a threat. They were bent on ending his life. But as retaliation, Barry decided to use his talent to advance his team. Within a few weeks, they had killed all the street-enforcers in the city and took-over their positions. With this singular act, they earned respect from everybody in the game. They became the youngest, most ruthless street-enforcers to ever run the four-corners of the city.
• That meant all the kids selling dope in the streets reported to them as they controlled how and when the product moved in the cities blocks. This is when someone framed Barry, and he was jailed, effectively taking him out of the game.
• "Billionaire?" Barry asked, "Did you say billionaires?"
• "Yes, ofcourse boss," Brian said, "after you were locked up, we continued to push. Took the product upstate, opened more ground, opened new clubs across the city. Some we copped and revamped. Then just as according to the plan. We bought hotels, built more. Every business that struggled we bought them out, as a result, we own thirty percent of the businesses in town. Each one of us is responsible for each chain. Additionally, we still run the drug game, hard."
• "Yes boss," added Tim Brown, "after you were locked up. We investigated the whole thing everyday. We needed to get justice but we came up short."
• "Yeah Boss, do you have any idea who framed you?" Lucas 'Trigger-happy' Gray asked. "Just let us know who it is. I'm ready to clip the motherfucker, put ten bullet holes in his head you feel me?" Lucas meant every word, he was a quick one to spray bullets at the slightest provocation.
• "Calm down Gray," Brian said, "let's hear what the boss has to say."
• Brian Hayes, the brains of the whole operation, was chosen by Barry to join the crew strictly because he was street smart. He had competely mesmerized Barry many times with his quick-witted solutions and rational thinking.
• "I have no idea who did it. I spent the whole freaking four years in prison trying to figure out who framed me, till today. I got no fucking idea." Barry said shrugging, and continued after a waiter poured shampagne for his glass. "That's why I stayed on the low for so long, trying to figure out who did me bad."
• "And if I didn't see you driving past earlier this morning, I guess we wouldn't have found you boss," Tyron said. "Who are those people you were driving with, looked like a whole new family to me?"
• Barry laughed and said, "yeah, I had to hide-out at some family as a son-in-law. Look, I needed to find out who put out a hit on my father and my friend, and also find the fucker who framed me. Until then, I'll be the live-in son-in-law of the Jefferson family."
• "Yeah Boss, we must find those motherfuckers." Added Tim 'Malcohm' Brown.
• "Now, that I know I got your backs, 'the Shadow' is back," Barry smirked. The room roared with excitement.
• "The streets will go nuts when they hear 'the shadow' is back." Lucas simpered.
• The shadow was Barry's alias as a notorious drug-dealer. Before he became the Street-Enforcer and became famous for his fast gun heroics. He decided to wear a mask and became anonymous in the streets, in such a way that other enforcers did not know his face. Even the Don of the drug business in the province doesn't know who 'the shadow' is. Fear gripped the Capos leaders and eventually they put a bounty of 'one hundred thousand dollars' on 'the shadow' because he was a threat to their position in the cartel. But could someone had figured out who the shadow was, and framed Barry?
• The success of the first big club Barry opened made him believe that his own crew could have been the ones who framed him in order to enjoy the millions the club was cleaning, but he realises now that he was foolish to think his own brothers would frame him.
• "Gentlemen, I gotta run," Barry said gulping down the last glass.
• "Take this boss," Brian handed him a black international mastercard. "There's about ten billion in there, I'll organise the other cards for you and give them to you when we meet. Still remember the pin?"
• Barry smiled and hugged his brothers again.
• Brian dropped Barry with his Golf 7 a few blocks from his in-laws house. "Ey boss, been so excited, I forgot to ask. What's with the suit?"
• Barry simpered dissmissively and closed the door before walking down the road. As Barry passed a general dealer store, he saw an ATM. He inserted his card and clicked on balance, and sure enough, there was ten billion dollars in the card. A whole wave of emotions rushed through him like adranalin. Was it true? Did he become a multi-millionaire while scrubbing toilets in the penitentiary? Did he have billions while he struggled daily for pennis to pay the gang leader for his protection on the inside? When he had to go through excruciating pain to learn boxing just so that he could protect himself? All this while he had this much dough?
• "Sorry, can we use the ATM," someone said and brought Barry back to earth. He walked out still in thought. While it's true that Barry was no Saint, he had been a ruthless gang-bang leader who would stop at nothing to get his paper and get paid. "It's all for the Benjamin's yo," he would often say.
• Being in prison had changed him though. He had decided to never go back into gangsterism when he was out. One of the reasons he'd chosen to stay low and far from his previous life. But his gang would never understand this.
• Now that Barry had the money, all the money. What did this mean, that he had to go back to that life? Or rather remain on the low and enjoy his new life. Barry decided for the latter, but there was the lingering issue of his vengeance for those who put him in the pen. "One day at a time," Barry smirked.
• "The Jefferson's first."