JUST as Marcuz tried to turn, the dude on top of the stairway turned to see. It seemed he caught his fear-ridden breath.
Yet it looked as if the man wasn’t sure, for he turned again to face the operation.
Jacques had a big laugh. The style that the lead counsel for Cannon often made in the ongoing case.
“Murdered your cousin, did you say? Ha-ha, murdered a boy that is really kicking somewhere!
“Come, isn’t he earning a monthly check in one of the private labs in Dominica?
“Or did he lose that job too?
“You see, that’s why I call you boys and girls of nowadays, dumb! You talk of dream and when we hand you paper, you cry “Psychomicide!”
“Did you not land a pay job by us? So what’s the use of dreaming too?!
“Go on and ask those who we didn’t take at Cannon! Those who can’t boast of your grades and pay!
“They’ll tell you dreams mean nothing, boy! And that’s why they’re safer than you!”
“Are you threatening me now?” queried Lucius.
“Oh, I’m merely stating the case right now,” replied the don.
“Because atoms, molecules… even radiocarbon in human matter, we can uncreate nowadays!
“Such is the case with matter!”
That instant the man sounded exactly like Cannon’s defense counsel in Marcuz’s ears.
This man who was defending the school in court had once been a chemistry genius. He’d made a name with an early work in chemical weaponry.
But then the man went down amid a public cry condemning the ethics of his discovery. An international court ruled against him and outlawed his new method.
He went on to train in law, called back the case to defend it and lost outright. His license to practice as a pure chemist was also taken.
So Cannon took him in to lecture at its law faculty.
That man was the real Cannon don, Marcuz knew. His name was D.M.B. Barbar.
So, Lucius yelled. “Look, if you harm me, there are lots of us who won’t stay quiet!
“So untie me now, sir! Don’t stain your hands with blood!”
In that moment D.M.B. (he was the real don, after all) went fiercer.
“Now you know when stuff gets darn real! Not this psychomicide palava you scream all over the place.
“Still there’s no reason I need to see you bleed... I’m a professor, not a hitman.”
Marcuz didn’t want to hear more. He gritted his teeth and tried to force some calm.
He was as scared as someone on a cliff would be, yet he didn’t want to get hurt.
So he raised himself. Turned toward the way down. Leaned his head further down, and descended on his hands and knees.
He moved a hand, looked back to see if he was safe. Then followed the move with a foot, and looked back to check.
He went that way crawling and stopping to check. Planning the next step and moving it just in time.
So during that whole time, Professor Barbar went on with his talk as he gave a small lecture.
“You see, there is this animal called the Deer Dolphin.
“It is a mammal that looks just like a pig – a wild boar, if you like.
“When the male grows, fangs grow out of his mouth and keep curving right back into his eyes.
“I mean, two long and bony pieces of tooth grow from under its jaws and keep curving upward like a deer’s horn.
“Well, they don’t stop growing until they touch our little boy’s eyes and puncture them till he dies.
“You know what people say? ‘His own fangs killed him… because he won’t stop growing!’
“Now I’m sure you’re smart enough to tell what your fangs will be doing to you now...
“Our dear deer dolphin!”
Marcuz froze rooted to the spot.
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