THE HUNT

It was my first job at the Tafaria Pub as a bartender and it being Christmas eve, the place was decorated with smoking machines, moving light beams and disco balls that reflected a beam of splashing lights on the dance floor. That aside, we were offering free drinks to customers that night. Everyone was in a jovial mood and it seemed like the best place to be. I was staring outside through a window opposite the counter and a group of people approached the entrance of the pub where I worked. They seemed to be in a pub crawl since the street they emerged from had numerous pubs. They walked towards the counter side by side to each other like a pack of wolves.

One was hackle-some while the others were middle aged. It was not long before the older one cleared his throat and said they would like to have long island iced teas. The rest were quiet, this made me have a thought of racing ideas flow on my mind. After giving them their drink, they walked to their seats. I noticed that they had same jackets with different coloured skulls printed on their backs. The air of mystery they left around made me develop interest in them.After an hour of sipping on their drinks, one of the five with grey dyed hair came and took out a flier from his pocket and slammed the counter in a manner that threatened the existence of the other customers. He asked if I knew the person in the flier. I looked into the picture and immediately denied ever seeing the person. The look on the man's face suggested that I was being economical with the truth.

He left for his seat and all I could think of was they were bounty hunters looking for my brother whose picture was in the flier. Things were not easy since the demise of mother, Pean resorted to drinking as the elder brother and that was why I had to work as a bartender to help the family. Pean was always in trouble with gamblers like him. Christmas never felt the same without mother.I had to think quick and so I approached Linsey who was one of my close work associates and asked her to watch over the counter as there is some urgent errand I needed to run for a few hours then i will be back. Linsey could not say no as I had also covered up for her a few times ever since we started working together and we had mutual respect for each other. I then quickly headed home in an attempt to get first hand information from the horse's mouth.

Before the death of mother, Pean used to work in the house of Governor Noah who was one of the big names in the community that had over the years rallied support from societal goons that would crash anyone who posed as a threat to him. The goons did all the dirty jobs for him and in turn he offered them protection because Noah also had connections across the corridors of power with even bigger authorities. It was not clear what my brother was doing as part of his team and Pean too never said a word to anyone. However, his bad drinking and gambling habits made him lose his job.

As I rushed home, thoughts of running away with my brother and starting a new life in a place far away where no one had a clue about us seemed to cross my mind, I was constantly brainstorming possible get away places. When I got home, Pean was in our secret cabinet looking at a chest like box. He looked worried and I could not help but grab his right shoulder and ask him what was the matter and why some men who looked like assassins were looking for him. He hesitated before answering that he had no idea what was wrong except that he had used our last month's savings to gamble and now we had been left with nothing.

That is when the truth dawned on me that the chest like box was where we kept our savings. I was annoyed but at this point there was a bigger nut to crack than the issue at hand. We had to think fast and determine why he was being hunted by the men who came visiting the pub. We both looked hopeless as if our golden goose that layed golden eggs had been killed. I quickly reminded him that wallowing in regret would only

worsen the situation so we resorted to running away. But then, there was only one route out of town and that was the route next to the pub where I worked and also since we had no savings that meant I had to go back to the pub and get some cash from the tips I hid in my work dust coat. I mastered courage and soon enough after gathering the few portable valuables and pictures we headed for the exit. Pean was to wait on the opposite street from where he could see me as I headed to get the cash.

Immediately I set my foot inside the pub, I had a pat on my back and when I turned I recognised the face. It was one of the men looking for Pean. He asked why I was in such a hurry and then he went forward to wash his hands in the sink. I assumed nothing had happened and still went on to the counter. When I was done with my agenda and ready to leave, the unexpected happened. Pean was in the club and before he could say anything the men came after him. I had to jump over the counter in a bid to defend him but I was overpowered. All the attention was shifted to us. He was carried to the dance floor and out of the blues a man dressed like Santa appeared and handed him a cheque which was boldly written fifty thousand dollars. They hugged him and helped him dance.

I realised that he thought the man who pat me had ill intentions and he came in my defence when he met with the sight of those I considered bounty hunters. It was when I learnt that Pean had won a lottery ticket and the men were actually his friends whom at one time saved him from being robbed in one of his drunk escapades and when they learnt he had won the lottery they came looking for him to celebrate together and at-least have a share of the big cake. I was happy and we all technoed the night away and enjoyed while it lasted. I only wondered if it was Christmas that came early or it was my mother watching us from heaven. Nevertheless, it was a great Christmas gift disguised and wrapped in an old casing. What a way to celebrate in style for me and my brother the birth of happiness in our lives