THE 12 CONTINUED,,,,,,,,,

“Not that, they are just scared of the little impact the spice have made. But we are going to handle that,”

Three days after the spice had moved the world again, they had no plans of doing it again till after their vacation. Their two designers Rooney and Johnny came to pay them a visit. Amongst all the elderly people they knew Ro and Jo as they always called them were the people they trusted most. They gladly welcomed them into their home.

“Hmm wow, beautiful house,” Rooney exclaimed as they both admired it.

“Suit you girls perfect.” Johnny commented.

Maul said, “You think so?”

The girls surveyed the house with their eyes like it was their first time of seeing it.

“It is beautiful; I love the furniture, the graphics…… Everything is just perfect.”

“We were actually forced into accepting this house.” Shelly told them.

“Seriously girls are you trying to say you don’t enjoy yourselves in this house, you don’t like being here.”

Cindy shook her head, “hmm it’s not that bad,”

“It isn’t bad, it is beautiful, awesome.”

“Yeah, we got it, can we all have a sit?” zodiac said and they all found sits for themselves.

“We need you guys to advice us on where to spend this vacation.” Shania told them.

The guys smiled in amazement.

Rooney asked, “why us?”

“You know ever since our lawyer died you guys are the only ones we really trust now. We know you won’t mislead us.”

They felt honored.

Johnny said, “That’s really sweet of you girls. I think the best vacation you can ever go in a time like this is where you will experience what you’ve never experienced.”

“Think about it,” Rooney added. “Where have you girls not visited that you will want to visit?”

“Asia, Africa, I think these are the two continents you girls haven’t at least visited in person.”

The girls thought about it. Seconds past,

Shelly finally said, “Africa,”

Lindsay said, “I was thinking about the same thing.”

“Asia,” zodiac said.

Shania said, “Africa,”

“Asia,” maul said.

“Asia,” Cindy said.

“Wow, we have a tie,” Rooney smiled.

Johnny added. “Three people want to go to Asia and the other three wants to go to Africa and you all need to be in one place at a time.”

The house went quiet.

Johnny broke the silence. “You girls will have to ponder on this and come to a conclusion by tomorrow and then you let us know where you’ve decided to go.”

The girls agreed.

“We are starving,” Rooney smiled, “do you think we can have some food,”

They all laughed.

Lindsay said, “of course. We haven’t any food yet but we can fix that. I hope you guys will be able to wait,”

“Sure we will,” Rooney replied.

“I, Cindy and Maul will take care of that while the rest keep you company,”

“Okay thanks,” Johnny said as the three girls went into the kitchen leaving the other three to keep talking with the designers.

The six boys sat outside beside their little house. They were all frustrated with the way their lives were turning. They only wondered how their lives will be when it turns out how God truly planned it to be. According to them, their talents were wasting and time was quickly passing them by. The success of the spice was mounting up serious pressure on them and their drive to make their voices heard was getting stronger with each passing day. Ben began to sing:
           ‘when I am down and oh my soul

So weary, when troubles come

And my hearts burden filled

I am still, I’m waiting in the

Silence, until you come and

Stayed a while with me,

They all joined in the chorus:

You raised me up, so I

Can stand on mountains

You raised me up to

Walk on stormy seas

I am strong, when I

On your shoulders

You raised me up

To more than I

Can be………

“Are we going to let this die?” Zed wearily asked.

“No, we aren’t letting this die,” Maxwell replied with assurance.

“Then what do we do to keep it alive?” Michael asked.

“Let us pray, pray to God and ask him for a way. We need a way to get out of here. I believe if we meet the spice our story will change.” Ken said. “Let’s right now pray and sincerely ask God for a way to meet the spice.”

They all heed to Ken’s advice, bowed their heads and heart with their eyes closed and made that prayer to God in sincerity with groaning in their heart. Few minutes past and Ken rounded up the prayer. He asked God to do the impossible for them, they only wanted him to create the opportunity for them to meet the spice in person, and they promised God not to fail him when he presents the opportunity to them. If they could see God at that moment they would probably be holding him on his feet and won’t let go till he gave them what they were asking for. But then all they had was their faith and they put it all on Jesus and his word which says if they asked anything in his name believing it will be done unto them. Ken rounded up the prayer asking in the name of Jesus Christ and they all sealed it with an Amen.

             The next morning the boys were up to another day. It seemed brighter than the others as some of their faces showed. There was a quick meeting called by Ken. They all sat on the floor, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“I have an idea,” he started. “The only way for us to make our dreams come through is if we leave this place. True we are Africans, street children and orphans at that but we have a God and we have a gift that should be heard. I doubt if the spice care about the children’s crisis that’s going on in the world especially in Africa. We know they all have an African origin but as they are now wealth, fame and the society must have caused them to forget where they came from. Our dream is to someday see all our brothers and sisters on the streets free from the slavery mentality they have and avert the children’s crisis right?”

The other boys nodded.

“We know how much it will cost us to make this happen and we can’t afford it. I believe if we meet the spice and share this with them, open their eyes to see deeper into the children’s crisis, we will build a strong force that will be unbreakable then we can make our dreams come through.”

“Ok, so what is your idea?” Michael asked.

Ken went on, “Mr. Roberts has a boat, we can ask him to lend it to us. Tell him things like we want to sail to the deep sea to catch fish,”

“What?” Zed exclaimed. “You want to get us arrested?”

They were all looking at ken for a better idea.

Ken said, “I was coming to how we will get out of that. If we fish and don’t get caught we won’t go to jail,”

Larry asked, “How will that be possible? Mr. Roberts won’t even allow us use his boat to go fishing when he knows we have been banned from fishing.”

Ken didn’t reason like that before but immediately he had a solution. “Mr. Roberts can’t fish either but if he sees an opportunity to use kids like us to do it he will despite the cost.”

Still they were not buying his idea.

“Let me be the one to talk to him, don’t worry about it.”

Ben nodded. “So the main idea is when we get the boat, we sail out of Botswana to New York,”

Ken replied, “Yes, we have the map, we have been studying the road all our lives and we know it’s possible we just have to believe.”

“It is dangerous, too dangerous. We very well know that only a big sophisticated ship has the power to with stand the storms and waves in all the oceans we have to cross before reaching New York, we might even have to walk on foot. It’s a dead sentence.”

The thought of it was scary.

“I will rather die trying than spend the rest of my life bearing the identity of a street child when I could be much more than that. Ken I am with you, anybody who is scared can stay back and keep burying great treasures.” Ben said. He was right and the boys knew it but they couldn’t deny reality. Travelling like that was going to be a suicide mission, one a bigger part of them was willing to take.

On the other side the spice had all made a decision concerning were to spend their vacation. A call came from Cindyto Rooney.

“Yes Rooney we have come to an agreement,”

“Let me hear it,”

“We are going to Africa.”

There was a huge smile on his face and his heard the click ending the call.

The spice walked into the studio that morning. The workers there were always pleased to see them.

“Hi everybody,” they greeted.

“Hi spice, you’re welcome,” the replies came.

“You girls were wonderful the other day” one of the workers said.

“Yeah that was possible because someone like you contributed,” Cindy said.

The worker smiled in delight.

“I loved your performance,” some other worker commented.

“Thanks,” the girls said with smiles as they went to see their manager. They walked into his office without knocking.

“Hello Mr. Jakes,” they greeted.

He was surprised to see them. “Hi, what are you girls doing here this early?”

“We have something to tell you,” Shelly said.

“You want to sit?”

“No, we won’t be here for long,” maul answered.

“Ok, is there a problem?” jakes asked curiously.

“Not a problem.” Shania said. “We have decided our place of vacation and we need you guys to approve it.”

“That’s good, where if I may ask?”

“To Africa,” Lindsay said as if she expected the response of Jake. They all did.

“What!” he freaked out.

“To Africa,” zodiac replied. “Why are you freaking out Mr. Jakes, it’s not like she said to hell,”

“This is unbelievable.” Jakes went to the phone and called. “Please meet me in my office,”

They know he called the other three marketers.

“Your proposal is so wrong,” he shot out.

“What is so wrong in us wanting to go to Africa? We won’t be the only super stars who have visited that place.” Shania said.

“Besides we’ve never been to Africa so we want try something new,”

Maul added.

Leon walked in, he was the only one.

“You won’t believe what they are telling me,” jakes went straight to him. He was tensed.

“What are they telling you?” Leon wondered.

“Mr. Leon,” Cindy replied. “We want to visit Africa,”

Leon was as shocked as jakes but his reaction was different, cold and calm.

“Why did you choose Africa? You know that place is not for people like you, it is too small to contain you,”

“Other stars visit it?” Shelly said.

“For days, probably three to four days, the highest time should be a week,”

“You want to go to Africa for a three month vacation? Are you guys thinking at all?” jakes finally said.

“That is the best place for us to go at this time. Do you know why stars visit that place so often? Because there are so many things to inspire us there, to write songs, to do documentaries, the list is long.” Shelly lectured. “We have already made our decision and you have to approve it.”

“My problem is not you going to Africa,” Jake spoke calmly now. “It is the length of time you are going to be spending there.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, we are six of us. We can take care of ourselves.” Lindsay said.

Leon said. “Therefore we need to increase your protocols.”

“We don’t need them,” Shania said. “They can accompany us to the airport and that’s it.”

“Now you all listen to me,” jakes became tense again. “You are one of the greatest super stars in this world as it is now. You are not like some local artist do you get me? If you must go to Africa, you must have guidance.”

“Mr. Jakes our contract didn’t say we must have some men always following us,” Cindy reacted. “You all inverted that and we can say no if we don’t need them.”

“Arguing with you manager is not what we want,” zodiac added. “We just came to let you know, and to also tell you that you don’t have to worry about the arrangements. We can handle it,”

“Nonsense,” Leon spoke. “We will arrange everything, your lodging, and people to look after you while you’re there.” There was a pause, and then Leon asked. “Where precisely in Africa,”

That’s what they had not decided, they looked at each other, and the room was getting unusually quiet. They knew if they didn’t give an answer then they might not get the chance again.

“Botswana,” maul said suddenly.

The other girls agreed with her but in their hearts they doubted even maul doubted what she said. They waited for a negative response from the men but they were surprised with what they heard.

“Ok,” Leon said. “We will make reservations for you there at the best hotel and actually get people to serve you.”

“Thank you,” Shelly said and the girls left.

“This is bad, so wrong.” Jakes was still against it.

“jakes, dealing with children who do not care about the relation between them and the suffering nuts, need to be giving the liberty to go and understand. They are uncommonly different.” Leon left Jakes that was still shaking his head as he thought about the idea.

“Goodbye everyone,” They waved as they walked out.

“Goodbye spice,” everyone shouted and waved them.

When they walked out the men immediately opened their car on both sides, they walked in and they shot the door. They ran into their own car, one behind and one in front. They drove off.

One after the other the boys moved to Mr. Robert’s bar around the corner of the shore. He had been drinking and was now at sleep, snoring as ever on a couch beside the door of his bar. Larry was the first to reach the snoring old man. He waited, tapping patiently at the man. Eventually one after the other surrounded him, as he woke up confused, hissing. “Ah, you stupid, dirty kraut?”

The boys folded their arms and stared at him.

Mr. Roberts yawned loudly then he stood up. What do you want? He said. Falling back to the chair, Larry sat down beside him. “Mr. Roberts, we want to borrow your boat with some fuel inside”

He looked at every one of them and then he laughed.

“Look Mr. Roberts we are not joking” Maxwell said loudly.“Please give us your boat”

“Ok, what do you want to do with my boat?”

“You see there are no fishes in the waters again” Ken explained.” So we thought we could just go into the deep seas and get more fish for you. We know you’ve secretly wanted to join the fish business. Now is a good opportunity”

“Yes that is a good idea”. He said agreeably.  “But why would you want to risk your lives for me? You know a jail time awaits you if you’re caught.”

They let Ken answer that again. “We won’t get caught if we go far from here to fish.”

Mr. Roberts laughed excitingly standing up. “Yes that’s it, when do you want me to give the boat?”

“Tomorrow,” there was some response.

“But we will journey two days after when the coast is clear,” ken added.

“I don’t think I have enough fuel in the boat.”

Ben replied. “Don’t worry about it, we just need the boat. We will hustle for fuel.”

“Ok, my boat is available for you. Service it and get it ready for sailing.”

“Thank you Mr. Roberts,” they said and left, hearing the foolish laughter of Mr. Roberts.

 

             Ro and Jo visited the spice that afternoon. They had called them to plan for their vacation. They were all sited in the living room.

“She said Botswana,” Lindsay shouted.

“Is that even a country?” Cindy asked looking at Ro and Jo as they were laughing at their ignorance.

“I just said what I could.” Maul defended herself. “I saw Botswana on the net and they were advertising their fashion trends…………it is Africa and that’s the first name I could think of.”

“You girls can change it if you want.”

“No, no, no,” Shania shook her head. “Mr. Jakes and the rest most have already made the arrangements like booking of tickets, hotels and the people to take care of us. We can’t even think of changing it. They will freak out again.”

“Ok,” Cindy took a deep breath. “We are stocked with this Botswana. Do you guys know anything about this place?”

“Yeah,” Rooney said. “I made the research immediately after you called Cindy. Botswana is……………………”

               All arrangements for their trip to Botswana were made. The girls were excited about the trip after all they had heard about Botswana. They went shopping, bought new clothes and shoes that will suit the atmosphere of Botswana. Ro and Jo helped them put everything they needed for the trip together while their manager and marketers took care of the rest. They arranged for a private jet to bring them to Botswana, lodging in Botswana and the people to host them. The men didn’t arrange for a hotel, they rented a suit for them for three months which was more preferable and comfortable and would give them more privacy. They spice got all the more excited when they heard of all the things their manager had arranged for them and the trip.

             The next day, the spice was ready to make their trip to Botswana. They got to the airport where the jet was waiting. They opened their door as usual and the six girls stepped out. Their designers had picked just the right outfit for them for the trip. Their marketers had also managed to keep their travelling from the press and the public. Their designers rode with them and their manager and marketers waited for them beside the jet. Amongst all of them only Leon had a little support in their decision to go to Africa but the girls couldn’t care less what they all were thinking. Their joy was that again they got what they wanted and was making the trip in grand style.

“Welcome spice,” Leon smiled at them.

“Thank you Mr. Leon.” They replied.

He went on. “Everything has been set; your pilot is waiting for you. Go on and enjoy your trip.”

The girls nodded.

“Before you leave, there’s someone I will like you to meet,” jakes told them. Before they could ask who the person was, a black ford jip dropped behind them and Duncan walked boldly out of the car. He was dressed like a star his hair coiled, black and shiny, the spice recognized him. The spice folded their arms and stared at him. Duncan walked to them and greeted the men standing with them with a hand shake.

“Nice to see you again Duncan,” Benedict said. The designers were wondering why Duncan had to meet them at the port.

“Spice, he looks familiar doesn’t he?” jakes asked.

“Hello spice,” Duncan looked at the girls with a gentle smile.

“Hi Duncan,” Shelly said and the girls folded their arms and watched him.

“I am most honored to once again meet the high class, ever reigning…………”

“Yeah Duncan,” Cindy interrupted and the men were just watching. “Why don’t you just act formal like always,”

Shania added. “What are you doing here?”

“Your manager told me you guys were living for Africa so I came to wish you well.”

“Oh,” they said and looked at their manager.

“He is the only one who knows so don’t worry,”

“Too bad you won’t be able to come for my concert,” Duncan said.

“Too bad,” maul repeated.

“But if will do a good job we will meet it with people celebrating it.” Cindy told him.

“Go on with your preparations,” zodiac said. “Good luck.”

“See you when we come back,” Lindsay said.

The girls walked to Ro and Jo and hugged them goodbye, they waved their manager and marketers who also waved back and told them to take care. They walked into the jet; the men watched the door close gently. When they were finally settled in the plane took off. The men watched them disappear in the distance. They all went to their cars and drove off.

            The six boys went out to the streets, for that day they accepted the identity of a street child, joined in with the other children to hustle on the streets of Botswana for food. The six boys made a decision to do what they could to raise money that will enable them get enough fuel for the boat that was given to them. Since the fish business was closed to them, the only way they could make honest money was to beg from the people on the streets. They spread out on the streets to make the work more effect. Joining with the other street children they went on begging from person to person especially from those they saw from their looks that they had money and could help. Some people gave and some ignored them, it wasn’t an easy exercise for the boys, they could finally understand how it felt to be an orphan abandoned and a street child with no one to depend on. They had to beg or clean people shoes or carry their heavy luggage’s before they could have some coins.

            The six boys waited that evening behind Mr. Roberts bar after a hard day on the streets. They watched him in his silent struggle between his will and the net he was preparing for the boys to use to get his fish.  His drive and motivation for doing that was the fact that he was going to earn much and they will not.

“Yeah,” he dusted his hands. “Come over I’m through.”

The six boys walked quickly to the boat.

“Did you make enough money for the fuel?”

The boys thought about their struggle and nodded.

“Good, the boat is in perfect shape. All engines are working on point. Hope you still remember how to ride it.”

“Yes we do,” Larry replied. “You taught us well.’

“Good. When do you plan on sailing?”

“Tomorrow,” Ken said.

“No problem, just make sure you don’t get caught. I won’t come for your defense neither will I even tell them I gave my boat to you and you know what that means.”

“Yes Mr. Roberts,” Maxwell said as the other boys nodded.

“Tomorrow then,”

Mr. Roberts started off and the boys followed.

Jakes visited the Rolex centre that evening, seeing the rapid preparations they were making towards Duncan’s concert. He walked into Rolex’s office with the permission of his secretary after the call she had made to Randy. He was holding Duncan’s invitation.

“Hello Rolex,” jakes greeted with a hand shake.

“Hello,” Randy replied. “Welcome jakes,”

“I’ve got your invitation.” Jakes waved it at him.

Randy smiled. “I was expecting you, sit down.”

He sat.

“Coffee,” Randy asked.

“Yeah,”

Randy got a cup from shelve and poured the coffee. “How is business?” he asked as he handed the cup of coffee to him.

“More in control,” jakes replied after a sip.

“I can see that, how are your stars?”

“Talking about spice?” he ran through a magazine he picked from randy’s table.

“Yeah spice, how they are?”

“Pretty well, they are on vacation.”

“Duncan told me to Africa,”

“Yeah,” jakes nodded without batting an eye lash.

“Why Africa,”

“Something about it’s a land of inspiration.”

“Oh,” Randy saw some sense in that. “I’m just sad they won’t be here to watch my Duncan perform.” He shook his head. “Seems like your success with them is directly proportional to their well being,”

Jakes stared at Randy, “their success was a combination of innovation and luck,” he said modestly. “If we can accomplish everything that an engineering company can within five years then we are to offer a real value proportional to their well being.”

“That’s giving them a growing popularity all over the world.”

“You’ve gone a long way to prepare for this concert.”

“Yeah, we seek one hundred percent participation from our invitees for this program to be effective.”

“How do you plan to handle incoming calls when you are out of line or out of the office? Have you considered getting a toll free number?”

“Yes, everything is set because tomorrow has to be perfect.”

Jakes stood up and shook Randy’s hand. “Good luck Rolex. I wish you the best in this concert.”

“Thank you, I wish to see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, we’ll be there, every one of us.”

“Very good,” he smiled.

“Let me get back to the office,” he started off.

“See you then,”

“Yeah,” jakes said as he left.

            At two AM the convoy that was to escort the spice was already present at their stop point. They had been waiting for them for an hour and the plain was estimated to land in the next one hour. They were going to bring them to their suit and be their care takers for their three months vacation. These two men were all black and jakes had done a thorough research on them. They were known for assisting the tourist who visited their country and they got paid for their services very fairly. At three AM the jet plane landed, opened up and the spice walked out. Though they were putting on jackets Botswana was not as cold as they expected, the weather was warm, it could accommodate a jacket or not. The two men immediately recognized them and with utmost respect for the spice they walked and bowed to them in greetings.

“You are most welcome to Botswana beloved spice,” one of the men said. “My name is Ayanda and this is my partner Sifo. We are here to serve you any how you want and need.”

The introduction sounded like music to the spice. They were impressed and all smiling.

“Cool,” zodiac said.

“This is like the most warmed welcome I have ever experience,” Shelly said. “Speaking for myself though,”

The girls were still smiling. Their pilot stepped down to meet them.

“Botswana is very privilege to have a group of people like you girls visit us,” Sifo said. He had a most welcoming smile. “We hope you enjoy your stay here with us,”

“Do everything you can to make that possible.” The pilot intruded. “Spice I was asked to stay for a day or two just to make sure you girls settled in alright.”

“Ok,” Shania said. “What time is it?” she asked Ayanda.

“It’s three AM,”

“Three AM?” the girls gasp.

“Please can we go?” maul said curtly.

“I can’t wait to see our lodge,” Cindy said.

“You will love it.” Sifo assured. “This way,”

They both led them to the car, when they were all in Ayanda asked the pilot. “Sir you may drive with us,”

“My name is Eric,”

“Welcome Mr. Eric,” Sifo said. “Ride with us.” He got into the car and they drove off.

At ten o’clock the spice were up and well rested. They had already gotten themselves familiar with their suit and they loved it, it wasn’t exactly as big as their house in New York but it was perfect for a vacation. They were having late breakfast.

“This food taste great,” maul said. “I will give a tip to the cook when I see her.”

“This is not a hotel maul,” Cindy commented.

“Still, someone cooked it.”

“It is good.” Shania said.

“Botswana is awesome,” Lindsay shouted. “Africa is awesome.”

“Lower your voice Lindsay,” Shelly told her.

“Let me be, I am excited.” She said.

“I didn’t make a bad choice after all,” maul praised herself.

“We all made the choice,” zodiac said. “If we didn’t we won’t be here now.”

“She’s right,” Cindy told maul.

Ayanda and Sifo came to check on them.

Ayanda asked, “How are you girls doing?”

“We are doing perfect Ayanda,” Shelly replied politely.

“Hope you like this place?” Sifo asked.

“We love it,” Shania replied.

“And the food too, sweet,” Maul said. “Please can I know the cook? I want to give her a tip.”

That was funny.

“Well we appreciate that but we don’t do that in our service.” Ayanda told her. “She will get a good reward.”

“I don’t mind,” maul persuaded.

“Err, where did the pilot go?” Cindy interrupted.

“He lodged in a hotel,” Sifo replied. “He said you should call him in case you need him but he will be gone by weekend.”

They girls nodded.

“Another thing,” she said. “We want to go out, is there somewhere around here that’s…… that’s really nice. We know Africa to be a great touristic site.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?” Sifo asked.

“Err somewhere that has very few people but vast environment, very cold and we can get inspired by the environment.”

The girls didn’t exactly get her but they were involved in what she was trying to achieve. Sifo and Ayanda travelled round Botswana in their minds. They were experts in giving people a tour; they knew every touristic site in the country and were searching just for the perfect place to bring the spice.

“I know of just the perfect place you girls can start your vacation and believe me you will be highly inspired,” sifo told them. “It is a place that will tell you almost everything you need to know about the history of this land.”

The girls became even more excited.

“Where is that?” Lindsay asked.

“The shore,” Sifo replied and Ayanda agreed with him with a nod.

“Shore,” Shania asked, curious. “What can be so inspiring about the shore?”

The girls wondered.

Ayanda smiled. “You will find out, trust us.”

“Can we go now?” maul asked.

“Are you done with your breakfast?” Sifo asked.

“As much as I don’t want to leave this food, I have had enough,” she stood up and left the dinning and the rest followed.

“We done,” Shelly told the two men.

“Ready and all dressed.” Cindy added.

“Good thing we came prepared. On our way, I will call our agency to make ready the ship.” Ayanda said. “Will you want to tell your pilot?”

“Since all arrangements will be made on the road, we will do same,” Shelly replied.

“Ok,” said Sifo.

“Let’s go.” Ayanda walked and opened the door for them and Sifo led them to their ride. Before they entered the car maul had a question.

“How long do we have from here to this shore?”

“Twelve hours,” Ayanda replied.

“Twelve hours?” the girls asked.

“Yeah,” Sifo replied.

“It will be shorter if we fly right?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah but the fun will not be there,” Ayanda told them. The door was opened; they got in and drove off.

            Hours later the spice were riding in a big luxurious ship to the shore. It was first class ship and the girls were enjoying every service and treatment they were receiving from Ayanda and Sifo’s company. While at the shore Mr. Roberts handed the key of the boat to Michael because he was the eldest and had more experience in driving the boat than the other boys. They were excited that finally they were going to leave Botswana and find the link in making their dreams come through.

“Thank you very much Mr. Roberts,” Michael said and the other boys joined in the appreciation. Mr. Roberts didn’t understand why they were so grateful to him where as they were the one’s risking their lives to make him rich.

“You kids be careful,” he warned. “Come back in one piece.”

They nodded. Boarded the boat and drove off. Mr. Roberts watched them as they disappeared in the distance.

                  The hall at the Rolex center was noisy. About one thousand people had come to watch Duncan Steech perform .The auditorium was really thick that Duncan looked through the backstage and smiled, people screamed, laughed and waved papers in the air, which they had written some encouraging words about Duncan on it. Mr. Randy Rolex came out from the room, climbing the stage, people screamed and waved him. He took the microphone and spoke.

“Thank you, thank you very much I am very happy to welcome you all to the first ever concert at Rolex center,” People screamed and clapped. “Without any waste of time,” He went on. “Please welcome on stage Duncan Steech.”

He ran out of the room climbing the stairs to the stage, smiling and waving at everybody. The people shouted and screamed even more. Mr. Randy Rolex excused himself from the stage. The music began; he started singing keeping in mind that he was to perform his skills on that stage so as to become the most prominent, inspiring and the greatest world star in music. He had to live a legacy right there at the Rolex hall with everybody.

             The spice was inside their ship. They were enjoying the rain, relaxing and eating hot food. They had fun, enjoying their vacation. Shania had something to say. “Okay,”

She got their attention. “We have so many horses. We don’t know what to do with them. Let’s assume, when we get back, we are going to sell this horses so as to raise money for charity. How is it decided how much your stock will sell for and how much money you will raise?”

“Is it a question” Cindy asked

“Yeah a question”

“This is usually concluded via negotiations with the person to buy. If the person wants the stock to be priced as low enough in a way that it can successfully sell the stock in public and rise afterwards, it’s me to decide,” Cindy explained.

“Because,” maul added. “Me selling the stock is desirous of getting as much money I can use,” The rest of them smiled eating their food.

“Here is a quick way to estimate how much money you may potentially raise.” Shania said. “Assume other people have a price earning through your horses. They have every right to give you an annual profit. Do you get something?”

“Yeah, in the sense of renting them out,” Shelly said.

“Exactly,” She said agreeably.” If you rent out thirty horses a month, you could raise six million dollars. That’s thirty percent of twenty million dollar.”

“How come you know the price tag of renting out thirty horses so well?” Lindsay asked. “Are you planning to do some kind of business with our horses?”

They were all looking at Shania now, almost suspicious of her.

She smiled. “Common guys I’m only assuming, besides twenty million dollars is too big an amount to make just from renting out thirty horses in one day.”

“Am not a business manager I don’t know much of that,” Lindsay said and they all laughed.

“I am not a business manager either but if you think about it we can make real cash from our horses, we can…………………”

“Don’t even think about it,” the other girls interrupted her in chorus and she laughed.

                It was night at the shore and places were very cold at the sea. The six boys were suffering under the cold because they had nothing to cover their body, they only had jackets on which was not enough to stand against the sea cold. They had reached the middle of the sea trying to drive on again, but the boat stopped there. Immediately Michael sensed the fuel was finished. Lightening struck heavily and great thunder hollowed in the sky, the boat began to dangle as the wind blew the waters.

“Oh my God,” Zed was scared. “Michael can’t we drive a little further out of this deep part?”

“Am sorry to say that, the fuel is finished we can’t go any further.” He turned and showed them and they buried their faces in their hands despite the cold.

“God, Michael it’s going to storm.”  Larry tearfully said.” We can drown and die in this sea,”

Michael came and sat down. “Listen boy’s we are not going to die. God knows why we took this risk.”

“We are not going to die sure.” Maxwell said. “But where do we go from here? We’ve been stuck in the middle of the sea. If we are not going to die today, we will definitely die tomorrow from cold or hunger.”

And a mighty wind blew across them bringing a heavy rain. The rain was very heavy, it poured with ice from the sky. Zed was the youngest and his body couldn’t with stand the cold. He started shaking. The other boys saw how Zed was seriously shaking and they got scared.

“Zed, are you alright?” Maxwell asked.

“Oh my God he is freezing.”Larry said going to hold him. He held him tight to his body. Michael stood up and brought out the net. “Maxwell, help me with this please”. He stood up and they both spread managed to spread the net over them after a bit of struggle. They were shaking under the net because of the heavy rain; they still believed they will make it out of the shore either dead or alive.

            The next morning, places were warm and clean at the sea. Ayanda and Sifo got the girls out to have a closer view of the sea to see how big it really was. The girls were excited; they had been excited since the day they stepped into Botswana. The view on the sea was beautiful and it was a good background for perfect pictures as the girls said. They had fun taking pictures of different kind. Ayanda and Sifo were so satisfied seeing the multi millionaire dollar kids, the most appreciated stars the world had at that age and time, they felt proud knowing they were capable of taking care of personalities as such and most especially keeping them happy.

“Alright spice,” Sifo said after they watched them for some time. “We will let you girls have fun while we go prepare your breakfast. We will reach the shore in less than four hours.”

The spice were having so much fun that the time they had to stay on the ship didn’t matter to them anymore.

“Thanks,” zodiac managed to answer them as the men went back into the ship.

For thirty minutes the girls were outside, picture time had cold down and they were now resting on the sweet breeze from the sea.

“I should be familiar with this breeze,” Shelly said closing her eyes. “But why does it seem so different?”

“Because you are in a different continent,” Cindy replied her.

“Shelly I agree with you,” Shania said. “There’s something different about this sea breeze.”

“From the other once you’ve inhaled?” maul asked.

“And felt,” Shelly added. The girls laughed.

“To cut a long documentary short, Botswana is exceptional.” Lindsay told them. She had seen something and she was trying to figure out what it could be with her eyes and mind.

“I see something,” she said stretching her head to look further. “girls I think I see something,”
she got their attention, after few seconds they were all stretching to see what it could be.

“I think it’s a floating boat,” zodiac said.

“Do you also think some people died in the storm last night?” maul asked and they looked at her. “Yeah cuz the rain was really heavy and they might have drowned.” She concluded and they shook their heads at her crazy imagination.

“The real question is,” Shelly said. “What kind of a sick person will take a boat like that to the middle of the sea?”

“I think there are people on it,” Cindy said as she looked further. “Maybe it’s a fisherman and his team.”

“Yah cuz there’s a net there too,” Shania added. They all had different thoughts in their minds concerning the situation. As they kept on wondering what could really be in the boat, the ship was slowly drawing closer to the boat and their view became clearer. Sifo then came out to meet them.

“Spice your breakfast is served,” he said.

“Come over here,” Lindsay turned to him. “There’s something you should see.”

He walked to where they were standing.

“Oh my God,” he immediately understood what might have happened.

“What?” the girls asked him.

“I think that boat is stucked,”

“Why”? Maul asked they were all curious to know.

“Possibly because the fuel got finished and from the look of things whosoever is in that boat was there all through the night.”

“Under that storm,” Cindy added. The girls began to understand the dangers that the content of that boat must have faced.

“May God help them,” Sifo said, “let’s go, your breakfast might get cold.”

As the girls slowly turned and followed Sifo, they felt something so strong in them; an urge to go back and help whosoever was in the boat. It was not in their nature to put the needs of others before theirs but this time something was truly different. The six girls all had in mind that saving the boat was the best idea but they didn’t know what they were all thinking. One person had to speak out and when they were about entering the ship something happened, the six girls turned and looked behind. Sifo noticed.

“You forgot something?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Shelly replied.

“What’s that? I could go get it for you,”

“We forgot to help.” Cindy said.

“Help?” he wondered.

“Help whosoever is in that boat,” Shania said. “We can’t just pass through and ignore it. What if they are still alive and need medical attention?”

“If that will be the case we will have to turn back,” Sifo told them.

“Turn back?” maul asked, “Why, are there no hospitals in the shore?”

“There are no hospitals in the shore, if we are even thinking about it that means we will have to change our city and that’s not in our plan, we can’t work like that.”

The spice struggled with the idea of going on with the fun they were having, enjoying their vacation or for them to turn around and help some people they didn’t even know. Sifo waited for their reply as they thought about it.

“A human life is more important than whatever we could have at the shore or throughout this vacation.” Lindsay said. “If we don’t help those people we might never be at peace again.”

The girls thought.

Cindy said. “She is right; we need to stop the ship.”

“Are you sure?” Sifo asked. Then Ayanda met them.

“What’s happening? Come in and eat your breakfast,”

“Not yet Ayanda, we need to help some people.” Shelly told him.

Ayanda was surprised; he looked at Sifo for explanation.

“There’s a boat stucked in the middle of the sea.” He told him.

Ayanda didn’t reply he went to see for himself. Then he was back.

“There are people inside, looks like the rain dealt with them.”

“That’s why we need to stop the ship and help them. They might still be alive and need medical assistance.” Shania said.

“That means we are going back?” Ayanda asked. Sifo didn’t reply him he went into the ship to tell the sailor to stop it.

“We are turning back,” maul replied him and the girls went back to see the situation of the boat and the people inside. The ship was now closest to the boat and the girls could see the boys even clearer.

“They are young boys,” Lindsay gasps

“Teenagers just like us,” Cindy screamed. “Hey guys wake up. We are bringing help ok,”

“Are you sure they are still alive or conscious?” Shelly asked.

“We have to find out.” Shania said. They became even more anxious to help the people they had seen. The ship stopped moving and Sifo came to meet Ayanda and the girls who were not taking their eyes off the boat.

“Ayanda, how do we pull them in?” sifo asked.

“We need a hook to pull the boat.”

“Hey!” maul shouted.

“Hey,” the girls called out hoping they will hear them. After few seconds one of them moved, it was Larry. He had gotten the echo from his deep sleep, as he slowly opened his eyes, he saw his brother’s beside him. He recalled what had happened and how why they got trapped in the middle of the sea. He shook Ben, shook Larry calling out their names, the rest heard and felt the shaking then slowly they woke up except for Zed.

“Look, they are moving,” zodiac pointed and the girls rejoiced for they were alive. The boys paid no attention to what was going on behind them, all they wanted to do was get that net off their skin and find a way out of the sea. Larry, Ben and Michael struggled to take the net off them while Ken Maxwell tried to wake Zed up but he wasn’t moving. Finally the net was off and they could stand on their feet. Michael knelt before Zed as they were all calling out to him. The spice watched while the rescue was set. Before the boys could know what was happening they felt their boat hooked and a force pulling it behind. Then they turned to see what was pulling it, they were so scared when they saw Ayanda and Sifo pulling their boat. They thought they had been caught by the fishermen, Zed was lying there unconscious and in their minds jail was awaiting them. The spice was not visible because they were standing on the level floor waiting for the boys to be rescued. Quickly Michael tried to unplug the hook from the boat so that they will be able to escape the men. Ayanda and Sifo noticed.

“Hey don’t do that.” Ayanda shouted. “We are trying to help you,”

They both struggled to pull the boat even as Michael tried to take off the hook. His efforts were not paying off but he kept on making it difficult for the men to rescue them. When they spice noticed the struggle, they decided to go help. At the sight of them Michael’s hands grew weak, he thought he was dreaming and so did the other boys. They stopped trying to regain Zed’s consciousness and they just kept staring at them.

“Common guys we are just trying to help,” Shelly finally said.

Ayanda and Sifo took advantage of their weakness and finally pulled the boat.

“Give us your hand ok, we will pull you up one after the other.” Sifo said.

The boys were still perplexed by the encounter they were having.

“Common guys, you can’t just stare forever,” Ayanda shouted. “Your friend over there needs medical attention doesn’t he? We need to turn back and bring him to the hospital.”

“Yes, yes, please help him, help us.” Ken cried.

“Spice,” Ben whispered to himself. As Michael and Larry carried Zed and passed him over to Ayanda and Sifo who carried him into the boat and laid him on the couch. There was the spice, standing right in front of the boys. There, one of their dreams had come through but they were standing before it speechless. Everything they had ever planned to say to spice seemed like it flew out of their minds and the shock of it happening so quick kept them nom and speechless. The spice didn’t talk to them, they kept a close distance. Ayanda and Sifo came out and started helping the boys get into the ship one after the other and the closer they were to the girls the more they felt like they were maybe dead and in paradise.

“What happened to you boys?” Lindsay asked.

The boys couldn’t speak.

“Where were you going to? And why did you end up in the middle of the sea?”

They still couldn’t speak. Ayanda and Sifo unplugged the hook and brought it back to where it should be.

“Let’s go in,” Ayanda said. “We are turning back.”

Ayanda started off. “Guys, you should really come in. you have to change your clothes and keep warm.”

The boys felt like they couldn’t move and spice understood why they felt that way.

“You are probably surprised to see us right? You don’t have to think too much,” Cindy said. “Yeah its spice flesh and blood, you are not dreaming.”

“Spice,” Ben finally forced the words out.

“Yeah spice,” maul replied and the girls smiled at the boys who were still adjusting to the situation. Sifo came around.

“Let’s go in guys,” he said. “follow me boys, you need to get changed and then give us a good explanation as to what you were doing in the middle of the sea with a boat like that.”

The authority in Sifo’s voice took their feet off the spot and they followed him with the girls coming from behind. The ship had been turned successfully and the boys were in the ship which looked like one of the living rooms in the house of a multi-million dollar superstar. Everything they could ever need was inside.

“What’s the condition of our brother?” Michael asked.

After a quick checkup Sifo told them. “He has a fever, very high and that’s why he is unconscious but he will recover if we get him to a hospital. He might regain consciousness if he is kept real warm.”

The boys were relieve from the fear that something horrible might have happened to Zed but each time they looked at the girls sitting in the same room as them they felt like heaven on earth.

“There are clothes for you in the other room, Ayanda will show you. When you get a hot bath, change and wear something warm. He has to change as well; I don’t know how you guys will do it…”

“Don’t worry sir, we will take care of it,” Michael said calling unto Larry to help him carry Zed into the room Ayanda was to show them. The spice admired their care for one another. Michael and Larry carried Zed and the other boys followed to where Ayanda lead them.

“Spice,”

The girls sat, weary from witnessing the rescue.

“Are you girls alright?”

“I feel alright,” Shania said.

“Me too,” said zodiac.

“Me too,” Shelly said and the same response came from the girls one after the other.

“You want to eat your breakfast now?”

“It’s probably cold now isn’t it?” Shelly asked.

“It is but I can make it warm for you,”

“Please do,” Cindy said and collapsed on the chair. Sifo excused himself.

“I have never seen something so………… all my life,” she said.

“You can’t put a word to it right?” zodiac asked her and she nodded.

“My biggest question is why did I feel such an urge to help? Why did we? We had all the liberty to ignore those guys and turn back………” Shania said.

“They might have been some assassins sent to kidnap or kill us,” maul slowly interrupted. “Who decided to mask themselves like that?”

“But they ended up not being anything dangerous.” Lindsay said. “Girls we actually saved lives. Do you realize that it’s the first time in our career we’ve had this kind of record? We saved lives and from this we can write a great song.”

“Yeah,” the girls got excited about the fact that they actually saved lives.

“It feels great,” Shania said.

 

                  Just a day after Duncan had created impact around his country, a little celebration was put together at Rolex’s center. It was a round table celebration with all the immediate staffs and workers sited. Duncan was sited besides his manager Randy Rolex. He stood up with a glass of wine in his hand.

“I want to appreciate,” he started. “Everyone for being here today and for the work you all put up for this concert to be a success. Our one and only star Duncan proved to the world yesterday that this company was preparing something hot and inspiring for them. Today we are celebrating hard work and patience, cheers.”

“Cheers,” they raised their glasses up.

                   Leon, Harrison, Benedict and jakes had a short meeting in jakes office.

“What have you both done?” Harrison asked pointing at Leon and jakes.

“What have we done?” jakes repeated.

“You allowed those young kids travel to Africa all by themselves? Who does that, who lets stars like that wonder in a land they know nothing about all by themselves? They can get kidnapped and held hostage for ransom.” He explained.

“We got escorts for them, the best in the country. We have to believe they are secured.” Leon said.

“Besides what were we supposed to do?” jakes spoke. “Tell them no and impose our own place on them for vacation?”

“No,” Benedict replied softly. “We are just worried; they have never been on a venture like this and in Africa to make it worse,”

“I just pray nothing happens to them.” Harrison said in between breaths. Amongst all of them jakes was more affected by the spice trip to Africa, he had a plan in his mind he wasn’t willing to share. A strategy he will use to bend the will of the spice to make them obey whatever he will tell them.

 

                 Finally Zed was up though he was still weak. The spice had gone to freshen up and the boys were alone with the ship moving back. Thanks to the first aid that was amongst the setting of the ship, the boys had recovered strength except for Zed who needed a little more professional medical touch for him to get better.

“Where are we?” Zed asked. He was speaking low and slow. Michael was sitting beside him and the other boys sat on the other couch. The room could accommodate close to thirty people.

“Well Zed, we are in a ship,”

“This big?” he asked looking around. “Where we captured by terrorist? Did the fishermen catch us?”

“No Zed,” ken came and knelt in front of him. He had tears on his eyes.

“Then why are you crying?” Zed asked then Ken smiled cleaning his eyes. The other boys were smiling too with tears filling up their eyes.

“Guess what Zed?” Ben asked.

“What?”

“Our dream finally came through,” Ken smiled loud this time.

“The spice is here with us,” Michael told him. You see those people we were going to look for, those people we almost died, you almost died trying to find………… they are right here with us.”

“What?” Zed was surprised as well. “Sure you’re not telling me this just to make me feel better,”

“No he is not,” Maxwell assured him. “The spice rescued us, I don’t how, and we can’t explain why they were coming this way at this same time.”

“God heard our prayers,” ken said. The smile had not left their faces. Zed didn’t completely believe them and the spice who had been watching for some seconds decided to make their appearance. When the boys noticed them they adjusted themselves and their emotions. Zed noticed something had changed before he could ask, the spice were standing in front of him. He saw Maul his favorite because they were age mates, he got excited but didn’t have enough strength to express it. He had tears and smile on his face.

“Spice,” he said.

The girls smiled.

“Yeah it’s spice,” Cindy replied.

“Maul,” Zed was almost breathless.

“Yes it’s me, how are you feeling now?”
“I feel……” he was sobbing.

“Why are you sobbing?” Maul asked him.

The boys felt the same way. The girls were feeling pressed inside.

“We are just so happy,” Zed tried to sit up and this time Maul and Zodiac helped him before the boys could.

“You don’t know how long we have dreamt and waited for this day,”

“And this day has come,” Zodiac said.

“Is it really you?” Ben asked. “Spice,”

“Yeah,” Shelly replied. “Why is it so hard for you guys to believe? It’s never this hard for people to believe.”

“Maybe because we have been dreaming about meeting you girls for so long that we got use to it just being a dream,”

“Now you can snap out of it,” Cindy said. “Because it’s really happening,” She found herself a sit.

“So tell us,” Shania said s they all sat. “How did you guys end up in the middle of the sea?”

“It’s a long story,” Michael said.

“We have time,” Lindsay said, “we want to hear it.”

“We were actually traveling across the sea, to get to New York,” Ken told them.

“New York?” the girls exclaimed.

“Were you boys planning to commit suicide?” Maul asked.

“Did you care to count the cost of the journey you were about to make?”

“That was not our focus,” Ben quietly told them.

“It should have been,”

“All we wanted to do was to meet you girls,” Zed broke the ice and the girls really felt cold. They knew they had fans but they never imagined they had fans who loved them with such devotion and commitment, who would risk their lives just to see them.

“Why will you guys risk your lives just to see us?” Cindy asked.

“You see us on TV and magazines, you even have our faces on clothes.” Shania Said. “Why would you risk your lives?”

“We have a dream,” Larry explained. “That someday we will be able to sing with you girls on stage. We believed too much in that dream and it was pushing us from when we were still kids till now. It pushed us to take that risk and God just proved to us that he answers prayers.”

Their story was touching and one thing the spice noticed about it and loved was the fact that it was honest and sincere. They were not just talking to impress them but every word they said came from their hearts.

“Can you tell us your names?” Maul humbly asked.

“I’m Zed and that is Michael our eldest brother, Larry the second, Maxwell the third, Ben is forth Ken is fifth and there’s me the youngest.” The girls nodded in amazement. They felt like they’d met their twin.

                    The next day the spice was back at their suit with the boys. They had hired a private doctor to come and check the boys to make sure their vitals were alright and balanced. Zed was giving a proper treatment and was getting better.

“We are very sorry for disrupting your vacation.” Ken said.

“And thank you girls so much for helping us back there.” Zed said. “Our notions about you were not wrong.”

The girls felt embarrassed. They smiled.

“What were your notions about us?” Shania asked.

“I don’t think there’s any good complement in this world that has not been directed to you girls.” Maxwell said and they laughed. The boys were slowly getting use to the fact that their dream of meeting the spice had come through.

“Wow, this is good.” Cindy said.

“What is good Cindy?” Lindsay asked.

“We together like this; this is the best vacation I’ve ever been in.”

“Speak for us sweetie,” Maul said. “You are so right.” And the rest of the girls agreed. The boys were flattered and they couldn’t hide it.

“No doubt it felt so different here; God actually knew we were going to meet you guys.” Shania said. “It’s just incredible to meet people who are just like you and to top it all you sing.”

“Talking about singing,” Zodiac said and the girls clapped because they knew what was coming next but the boys hadn’t understood.

“Do us a piece,” Cindy requested.

“What?” the boys gasp.

“Yeah,” Shelly said. “You thought we will just let you sing with us without an audition?”

“You better do your best cuz this is your one and last audition.” Maul told them.

“Common,” the girls cheered them up as they prepared themselves to sing. They sang a song they loved so much. “You raised me up.” That song was like a prophecy to them each time they sang it but this time they were singing it with a different light. God had truly raised them up and their dreams of helping their street brother’s and sister’s get off the streets mounted up to the level of no impossibility. As they all sang with each doing a solo and harmonizing the chorus the spice fell in love with their voices, their honesty and sincerity. They realized they were different and had this strong passion towards life issues with so many dreams they were fighting for even in their emptiness and poverty. When the song was about to end, the spice joined in the chorus and it was a perfect blend. Nothing could compare to the joy the boys felt and when the song ended they had tears in their eyes and spice could understand why. The only thing they didn’t know about the boys was their origin.

“What about your parents?” Maul asked. “They might be looking for you,”

The boys cleaned their eyes.

“Did they know you guys took on that journey?” Lindsay asked.

“Our parents are dead,” Ben replied. “We are orphans and we grew on the streets,”

“What?” the girls were surprised.

“You…….”

“Yes, and we are not brothers. We just met each other on the streets. I guess our dreams and passion brought us together. Then we decided to live in one house since we became each other’s comfort. Till then we have been living like brothers,”

“Just like us,” Cindy said.

“What is this?” Shania said. “Are you guys being serious? How are we so sure you guys are telling us the truth?”

“Why are we going to lie to you?” Ken asked.

“For sympathy, you make your story look like ours so we will bring you guys to New York and have you sing with us, so you get famous and rich huh? Easy way to get off the streets,”

“It’s not strange for you to think like that but believe me; we have nothing to gain from lying to you girls. We have suffered on the streets all our life’s and if looking for an easy way to get off the streets was to take a boat to travel round the Atlantic just to meet you girls then you should have a rethink. You have been living your life’s been sheltered by so many folks who love and believe in you even though you lost your parents, you forgot about your African heritage, you didn’t care about how your mates here are faring but each day we walk the streets we pray that if God will just give us half the influence you have we will try to make the lives of our friends better too.”

“If you are talking about charity we stars make huge donations down here every time,” Shania said. “Too bad you don’t appreciate that.”

“Do you seriously think food and water is all the street children and orphans need to succeed in life?” Ken asked. “Did food and water make you girls who you are and what you are today?”

The spice felt invaded, they felt the boys were getting rude.

“What has come over you boys?” Lindsay asked. Their sudden change of behavior was scaring them.

“We are sorry for sounding rude,” Maxwell gently said. “We don’t want to be rude or arrogant but these are the questions we’ve been dreaming to ask you girls if we ever saw you.”

A brief moment of silence,

“Think about it,” Michael said. “So many people have written us off as nobodies, as long as you’re an on the streets you have no hope and no right to dream. These young children grew up being tortured with that mentality and deprived the right to positive energy that will make them feel enthusiastic about life cos its been choked off by the slavery mentality they grow into.”

The spice were shocked, everything was happening so fast, the truth felt like a part of life they were yet to experience.

“We stopped speaking our language when we were still very young,” Zed continued. “We had to learn English as it is the only way we knew we could communicate with you girls and with majority of the world.”

The girls were speechless.

“There’s something we like for you girls to see,” Ken said. “And after you have seen if you still think we are trying to be fraudsters, we will turn our backs and you will never see us again. You can go on with your vacation and your life,”

“Ken what’s your plan?” Ben asked.

“We are taking them to the streets.” He replied. “And please we will need your car. We will make sure no one sees or recognizes you girls.”

The girls thought about it, going for that ride might be the only way to free themselves from the boys and whatever voodoo they were trying to cast on them.

“Fine,” Shelly said. “We are going with you boys, but after this we go our separate ways. I think we’ve helped you enough.”

The other girls agreed.

“Maul, call Ayanda and Sifo and tell them we want a tour on the streets. They should come with a bigger car, enough to contain us all.”

She heard Shelly and went to make the call. In a few minutes everything was set for the tour. Ayanda and Sifo had no rights to question whatever the girls wanted to do as instructed by their sponsors. They only had to satisfy them at all times. They checked on the health of the boys and confirmed they were eligible to make the tour. The two men knew nothing of the agreement, they just followed and they were not the only ones who didn’t know, their pilot as well who was somewhere having the time of his life, enjoying the rich African culture and trying new food recipes had no idea of what was going on. It wasn’t a very long ride from where they stayed to the streets. The spice had openly told the boys that they were responsible for educating them on everything going on in any area they passed by and the two men had nothing to oppose as long as it pleased them.

                 The tour lasted for an hour, the spice returned to their suit with the boys. When they stepped down from the car they felt like a heavy log was placed on their heads. Ayanda and Sifo could only understand that they were touched by the situation of the street children they saw. They opened the door for them and they all walked in and sat slowly. Sifo and Ayanda drove back to their work side to make sure their lunch was in preparation. Some of the girls had tears in their eyes and their  faces buried in their hands, they kept on seeing the reflection of the street children and orphans and as the boys had explained their situation and the kind of things they did to get by a day, they had equally told them of the amount of children who die per day either from starvation or from sickness.

“So what is our fate?” Ken asked after a long time of silence and mourning from the car to the suit,

“Do you still think we are fraudsters?” Ben asked them. Whether or not they believed the boys was not the issue of the girls at that moment.

Larry said, “It wasn’t worth saving shore boys after all.”“So what,” Shania bombs out, “We should have just ignored the situation and let you boys die?”Ben replied. “It’s better off than living a meaningless life, a life inevitable to abuses, insults and darkness.”

“Did you…?” Shelly managed to speak, “Did you grow like that?”

“Yes, there are more of us from where we came from than you girls just saw,” Michael replied.

“Then how come you are this………”

“Different?” he interrupted. “That’s because we had dreams, we discovered our talent and it made us realize that we have something God has given us to bless our world with. You see those children on the streets, they all have talents maybe not dreams because of the too much suppression but if they are given a chance, if their environment can change, if the knowledge they have about themselves will change then they will be just like us.”

“I can’t believe we’ve been this negligent and wicked all this while,” Cindy tearfully said. “when we were passing by one thought kept coming to me over and over and over again, one of those girls being sexually assaulted, being sold out just for a plate of food could have just been me,”

“I never ever thought that there was so much suffering in the world like what I’ve seen today,” Lindsay said.

“God raised you up,” Maxwell said. “So you can raise others, he has given you a voice so you can speak for those who can’t speak. You are influential and people will listen to you. The street children need you; they are all looking up to you just as we are,”

The spice was deeply hurt by what they saw and a sudden wild range of compassion grew in them for those kids they saw on the streets. The boys had successfully made them buy the vision and the dream to see every street child and orphan become a better person was equally birth in them.

“We need to do something to help,” Cindy said. “Something real,”

After some moments of reflection the spice came to a conclusion. They were going back to New York; Maul was the one who always made the call. She called Ayanda and Sifo and the girls told them their vacation has been suspended. They were going to come back but just had something very important to take care of. Ayanda and Sifo were not happy about the situation but they couldn’t oppose.