Denise’s and Phil’s POV
During their meeting at Phil’s office on Thursday afternoon, they mapped out a plan on how to annihilate Stephen. After brainstorming, they came to a consensus that they had to visit the island that was home to the indigent members of the society incognito. When Denise’s late father, acquired the island from the government many years ago, he was faced with the problem of displacing them. In his benevolence, he reserved a portion for them, which they had occupied until that day. By way of appreciation, they ensured that the Tourist Center was free from any form of attack from any quarter, and they had been enjoying that bilateral relationship. That explained why Jude had never operated in that environment.
After work, they disguised themselves like buskers and beggars by dressing shabbily and got to the island. They had five hundred pounds notes which they flaunted. Likewise, they tried as much as possible to adapt temporarily to the unkempt environment by ignoring the awful smell of the air and walking as though they were familiar with it. Then, they got to a joint where some were drinking their locally brewed gin, while, some were polishing their clients’ shoes. They walked up to some of them with friendly looks.
Now. Phil, who was the master planner, greeted them, “Good evening, Comrades.”
They waited for their response and locked eyes with them while studying their countenances. They were aware of their inferior nature, which made them aggressive and violent most of the time.
Likewise, the indigent gave them a searching look too before one of them, who felt that they were not enemies or mockers, responded, “A good evening to you. What do you want from us?”
Meanwhile, the others looked on with an askance attitude.
Now, Phil rejoiced inwardly when they got the response. He believed that the first hurdle had been broken.
Then, he appreciated them, “Thank you for your attention. We are comrades from one of the colonies and we have come to share a piece of good news with you.”
Now, the comrades, who gave them an askance look, suddenly became interested in the piece of the good news as much as they were interested in the five hundred notes in their hands. They looked up from their work and drinks and fixed their gazes at them.
Not only that, they switched their gazes from their faces to the cash in their hands.
Now, another person in the group rose from his seat and walked up to the harbingers of the good news and appreciated him, “Thank you so much, comrade. May we hear the good news, please?”
Then, Phil proceeded, “Thank you for your time once again. We are not greedy, neither are we selfish. We benefitted this money from the government and…”
While he was speaking, the excited indigents interrupted him and began to ask questions.
“Wow! From the government? That is good to hear.”
“How did you get to benefit? Please let us know.”
“You have a good heart. We can’t wait to hear the good news.”
Now, Denise, who was familiar with them, took over from where Phil stopped.
“That is why we are here, Comrades. We had privileged information that the government had given the owner of River Park Resort Center so much money to give to us to sustain our poor lives.
“Ha! Where is the park?” Some of them asked curiously.
“That resort near the lake,” he explained.
“Money for us?”
“Yes. But that man, the owner of the resort, had taken all the money for himself.”
“Oh my God! Why are the rich so incautious about the poor?”
Then, Phil carried on, “You are right, Comrade. They Aren’t’ concerned about the poor but we must fight for our rights.”
The comrades agreed with him at once and declared, “Yes. We must fight for our rights.”
“This injustice must stop.”
“That is good to hear. We have taken the pains to bring you this privileged information. We have collected ours. You need to get yours too.”
“We can’t wait.”
“Yes, we shall converge at the resort tomorrow by 4 PM and demand justice. Inform the other comrades, please. This injustice must stop.”
“Thank you so much, Comrades, for informing us. We will be there.”
“We will fight for our rights.”
“The man cannot keep what belongs to us to himself. This injustice must stop.”
They took turns to say their opinions, but Denise and Phil were not through with their plans.
At that point, Phil proceeded with their magic tricks, “That is good to know. We have one more thing, Comrades.”
The comrades who were engulfed with the joy of what they would get from the government calmed down to get the next information.
“As we said earlier, we are not greedy nor selfish people. We know that it may be difficult to find your way to the resort.’
“You are right,” they responded in unison.
Then, he continued, “For that reason, we are giving up our five hundred notes. You can use it to pay your way to the resort.”
He collected the five hundred note from Denise, put it together with his, and handed it over to the first comrade who they spoke with.
Then, he emphasized, “This is for only those who need more money and wish to be at the resort tomorrow.”
Now, their eyes shone like a precious stone when they saw them part with one thousand pounds. The comrade who collected the cash was bewildered.
“Who does not need money?” He inquired, looking at his fellows.
“Nobody. We all need money,” they responded.
Then, Denise spoke, “That is good. My brother and I need money too. Let me emphasize this: if you do not come for the money, the government will assume that we are comfortable and stop supporting us in the future.”
“You are right, Comrades. We will not let this opportunity slip off our fingers.”
“It’s all right. We will be there tomorrow to give you the support you need.”
“Thank you very much. We appreciate your comradeship.”
“That is okay. See you tomorrow.”
After they left, the comrades who were present held an emergency meeting.
“Comrades, in my viewpoint, I think we should share this money before the number of people will multiply,” the man with the money proposed.
They all concurred and shared the money before spreading the good news. Now, they were able to mobilize all the comrades in the colony to attend.
On Friday, when Phil and Denise got back to the Bailey Native Home from the Airport, they got their stuff from Denise’s car and disguised themselves like beggars. Then, they took the security officer and headed to the resort with their bucket of bolts. The ancient car was an added advantage to their disguise. No one took a second look at them when they arrived because they were very insignificant.
“Officer,” Denise called out when he parked on the road.
“Yes, Young Master,” he answered and waited for his instructions.
“When we get down, you will drive to the junction leading to the Tourist Center so that we will not be caught up with the traffic. As you can see, the crowd is already forming. If you stay longer, you may not be able to get out of the gridlock.”
“I got it, Boss.”