FIVE YEARS EARLIER

In a fast paced world full of technological advancement, Maclaud was probably the only town that sat on the last rung.

Consisting of about just over five hundred people, with their main stay being rice, it was a wonder every child born within it, didn't suffer from diabetes. If any of the inhabitants happened to fall sick, most of the time, they'd either self-medicate or choose death if their ailment got worse, as the nearest hospital was on the outskirts of town several miles away.

There was only one school for toddlers, and another for junior high and seniors, and they were side by side. There was no option to choose, you just had to go with what you were given. Anyone wanting to further their education after that often had to leave Maclaud.

Same thing applied with their religious house; there was only one in Maclaud, and it was a Catholic church, so if you weren't Catholic, you were hard pressed to become one, or remain an atheist or do church services in your house.

The only other option was to wait for the bus and attend a church in the nearest town which boasted of different denomination of churches.

There was no form of entertainment either, as the nearest cinema was in the next town, and that was several miles away as well. One had to wait for the bus which only came into town every three days.

Perhaps, the only good thing was the fact that water ran through their households from out of town. There was no shortage of it and no day it didn't run, but even that had a downside, as the land was muddy and red, and so when the water came out through the taps it was brownish in colour and tasted like rust; but what the town lacked in resources, the inhabitants more than made up for in their genuine warmth towards each other.

Each person moved around with a happy smile on their faces as they went about their daily business, and even though there was no form of excitement, they found a way around that.

Every winter evening, they would hold huge celebrations around a bon fire on the moor, and everyone would congregate, including the sheriff. They'd sit around in cliques and age grades, ranging from nine to eighty. The younglings would sit at a corner, playing games, while the teenagers would stay not far from them, playing more adult games. The adults were next, as they'd sit on the other side, exchanging stories and trying not to complain about their failed businesses. It was a known fact that the economy was dying, so if you did not have a shop that sold foodstuff, or everyday things people could use, it was a lose-lose situation for you.

The elderlies weren't left out of the party either. They'd form a circle close to the bonfire as it helped put some warmth in their cold limbs, but not too close so they didn't get burnt. They'd speak in quiet tones while they sipped cranberry juice laced with the local rum.

The bon fire celebrations were a way to bond; they were also a way to hash out issues plaguing the town. On one such occasion, while the younger one's danced, carefree around the bonfire, the elderlies smoked cigarettes and drank the local brew, the women sat at a distance not too far from them. They had experienced life in all its myriads of reflections, and they had tired of it, mostly. What they needed was peace and quiet and some somber reflection, which they had a lot of. For them, life moved at a dull slow pace.

As the fire raged and time moved steadily forward, they drank and discussed issues of the town.

There were five of them; Old Danny gap tooth the richest man in Maclaud, who was rumored to be eighty years old but still sprightly for a man his age. He was the sole owner of all the rice farms in Maclaud, having bought it over from the previous owner who wanted to move to the city with his family.

Old Danny Gap tooth's wife had died the year before, leaving him all alone, as their only child had died a year after she was born.

Next was Gregory the dentist, whose wife had died during childbirth within the first year of their marriage. He'd never remarried. He'd single handedly raised his son to adulthood. He was too old to man his business, so his son had taken over.

Amongst them was McCoy with no known family or relation. He was known simply as Bird whisperer. No one knew exactly how old he was, but they guessed him to be around seventy. At a point, people thought he was senile because he was sometimes seen holding a bird and mumbling to it, although he could carry on a conversation properly and see it to the end, so it was yet to be ascertained if he was actually senile or not.

Last but by no means the least, was Chung, who was distinctly Asian because of his name and features. As the story went, he'd shown up one day in Maclaud, and never left. As far as anyone knew, he never married, and had no children. No one would see him for days, but when he showed up, it would be with the huge carcass of an animal, slung across his back. He would painstakingly skin it, and take it to the market to sell. No one was sure, but it was rumored the animals he usually came back with were elephants.

With them, sat the sheriff. It was his third month in Maclaud as the last one had been transferred to another town. He found out that being posted to Maclaud had its ups and downs, mostly downs. Unlike where he was before, crime was on the serious rise, and it always set his heart pounding and the blood singing in his veins as he chased the criminals in the police car with the sirens whirring. That was a challenge, but in Maclaud, it was a different story. All he had to do was sit amongst the elderlies and listen as they talked; it helped solve most of the crime rate perpetrated and always led to a hundred percent success rate. As a result, the town was mostly crime-free, except for one person who had been steadily building a reputation, and it wasn't a good one.

"That Terobe boy's been kicking up a storm again." Old Danny Gap tooth spoke. He gazed into the blazing fire as a yawn escaped his lips, showcasing two missing front teeth. As the story went, they never grew, not for one day. He never visited Gregory the dentist to put in fake ones and so the nickname – Gap tooth, had stuck.

Sheriff flicked the cigarrete he was holding into the foggy dark, pitched forward and focused on Danny. "Who?"

Gathering mucor in his throat Gregory spat on the ground beside him, missing Chung's feet by inches. In a gravelly voice, he replied. "He's the devil himself."

"Says the man with a bad eyesight; you wouldn't know the devil if he slapped you on the face." Chung scoffed and turned away.

Sherriff sat up more stiffly, almost perching on the edge of his chair, and in a patient, yet 'brook-no-nonsense voice,' asked once more. "So, who is this Terobe?"

"Why? He's an angel, is who he is." A woman with short blonde hair suddenly appeared in front of the men like an apparition.

Old Danny Gap tooth groaned.

With her head cocked to the side and one hand on her waist, she faced the Sherriff. "Don't let them fool you, Sherriff, Terobe's an angel in disguise. That boy has a troublesome past, that's all; he just needs a little love and care."

"That's because he helps you mow your lawn, Maggi." Old Danny Dap tooth waved his hand in the air, as if swatting a pesky fly.

"Oh yes he does," Maggi continued. "Appears once a week without me asking him to, and mows it clean."

"And you give him food right after . . ." Gap tooth let his statement hang.

"Damn right I do. That boy works so hard on them lawns, it's the least I can do for him."

"Thanks, Maggi, for that piece of information." Sherriff nodded at her, and she smiled and walked back to her circle of friends on the other side of the bon fire.

Sherriff turned to Old Danny, cleared his throat and asked, yet again. "So, who really is Terobe? No deviation from the truth, this time, please."

As Gregory cleared his throat, ready to speak, someone stepped in front of the Sherriff, making him crane his neck to see who it was.

"I'll speak for myself, sheriff, don't allow these old farts tell you anything else." The person standing in front of him extended his left hand. It took all of five seconds for the Sheriff to realize the man standing in front of him was left handed and wanted a hand shake, so he brought out his right hand, ready to clasp it in the hand of the other man, but just as he did, the man retracted his.

"Changed my mind, I'm really not glad to meet your acquaintance."

The sheriff's mouth fell open. The person before him was just a boy - a young man if you liked. He couldn't be more than seventeen years of age, and even though his face was swathed in darkness as he was backing the light and the sheriff couldn't see much of it well, his personality told a different story.

"See here, mister," the young man continued speaking. "I've got a problem with people who poke their noses into other people's business, especially if it's the law."

As he spoke, forms materialized from all sides, morphing into people. They formed a circle around the sheriff and the elderlies. The music which had been blaring country songs to the consternation of the young adults, stopped abruptly. This got everyone wondering what the issue was.

Some of them got up, wondering why Jack, who was sitting on the other side of the bon fire and acting as the disc jockey, would stop the music. They enquired from amongst the others what was going on, but no one seemed to know. When voices were heard, they naturally followed, and it led them to the other side of the bon fire.

There, the five of them – all males, stopped and stared in shock at the scene before them.

Seven young men just like themselves stood, like guards, around the edges of the bon fire, their faces not distinct enough for them to see.

One of them stood in front of the sheriff. He was tall and had an imposing build on him.

The young man lifted a finger and pointed at each and every one of the seven figures still veiled in the shadows. "See those boys around you; they're ready to do anything if I tell them to. You're new here, so I'll forgive you, but try to see to it you steer clear of me."

It was clear to everyone around that the guy in front of the Sherriff was their leader. He leaned forward, tipped the sheriff's chin and stared at him for a few seconds, memorizing his face.

"Do you know . . . that a knife can do more damage than a gun?" That was when the sheriff felt some pressure against his neck. He tried to move, but an iron clad fist was tight against his chest. "Careful now, Sheriff, one more move, and I could cut your artery open and you'll be sprouting like a tap. "So this is how we're going to do things . . ." The young man put a little more pressure against the tender skin of the Sheriff's neck. "I don't want to ever set my eyes on you again, otherwise . . ."

He didn't finish his sentence, instead, he stood straight and snapped his fingers, and as suddenly as the young men appeared, they slunk away into the shadows. He also stepped back and without a backward glance, disappeared after them.

For a good minute, no one said a word, not even old Danny gap tooth that was usually the mouthiest of them all.

They were all shocked into silence.

Then Chung cleared his throat noisily, turned to the Sheriff and spoke. "You wanted to know who Terobe was . . . well, you just met him."

The music suddenly started again and voices flooded the sheriff's ears. On reflex, he lifted a hand to his neck, and his fingers came away with a sticky wetness. When he looked closely at it by the light of the dying fire, it was glistening, and it was red.

Old Danny gap tooth whistled. "Told you that boy was trouble."

This time, the Sherriff said not another word; instead he chose to stare into the dying red embers of the fire, silently vowing to himself that he would get Terobe, even if it was the last thing he did.

A/N:
. . .  aaaaand introducing my main character, Terobe.

What do you guys think of him?

Stick with him and learn about his wants and struggles. It's going to get a little ..... no heads up for you.

Please vote and comment, ciao ❤️