The Imperial Judge: The Prudent Criminal

By Joy Agwu

The sorrowful voice of a helpless child from a deprived home, where parental rights and responsibilities were denied, is dominant in this book. Sometimes children do wrong things; they start by making minor mistakes. However, with proper intervention, their negative acts can be turned to positive. If a child cries out for help, help should be rendered to him with urgency, because growing up is an emotional battle. Poverty and injustice can push a child to the edge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504988582

Joy Agwu

Joy C. Agwu is a Nigerian-born author who lives in Ireland. Her writing reflects a pre-occupation with themes of family, faith, community, spirituality, psychological well-being. For more information about Joy’s work, including new and forthcoming titles, please visit her official website at www.JoyAgwu.com

Book preview

The Imperial

Judge

The Prudent Criminal

Joy Agwu

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AuthorHouse™ UK

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

Phone: [phone]

© 2016 Joy Agwu. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/08/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-8857-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-8858-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

Act Six

Act Seven

Act Eight

Act Nine

Act Ten

To God almighty, for his love and mercy. To Denise and Iris O'Brien for being there for me always.

Characters

Pastor

The congregation

The pastor’s bodyguards

Charles, the imperial judge

Tim, Charles’s friend

Mark, Charles’s friend

Jimmy, Charles’s friend

Jack/Tom, Charles’s brother and security guard

Agent in the goods-clearing department

Secretary to the minister for transport and aviation

Minister for transport and aviation

Lisa, Charles’s girlfriend

Introduction

Charles is a young man who considers himself a generous criminal. He does all kinds of shady deals. He is very notorious and knows how to get himself out of trouble.

Charles and his friends live in big houses in a luxurious area called the Garden of Kings in a land called Endeavour. Endeavour is a land where everything is possible. Corruption is rife, and many people make money easily there with no specific job definition. It is a land where everybody wants to be rich and spend money as if tomorrow will never come, all at the expense of the other inhabitants.

Charles is known for defrauding banks, Internet gambling, and all forms of dubious activities. Charles considers himself a justified criminal because after he commits a crime, he goes to church to give offerings, pay tithes, and make donations. Charles gets away with many things because in that land called Endeavour, people get away with things as long as they have money. Crime is like a game; money speaks the language everybody understands.

The big cities are full of gambling tycoons. Moreover, with bribery and corruption being the order of the day in that land, the man with a heavy wallet is always a renowned gentleman. It does not matter how he made his money; after all, he is ever ready to shut the case down with his full pocket if anybody is crazy and brave enough to confront him. Again, you’d have to be crazy to convict Charles, the imperial judge, and his friends. Their houses are worse than prison yards, with gigantic fences, tunnels, underground compartments, and all forms of electronic security gadgets.

Act One

It is four o’clock in the morning. The imperial judge and his gang have just arrived at their hideout after a bank robbery in the city centre. Enjoying their loot, they turn the TV on and are very happy to hear their activities being reported on the news. They cheer, drink, and laugh. Each carries a big bag of money.

Charles (laughing): Come on, guys. (The door shuts. He opens a bottle of wine. It bubbles away and splashes. (Laughter and cheering)

Tim (dancing and dropping his bag): Oh! What a success!

Jimmy (laughing, clapping): This is good!

Mark: And it is called money.

Jimmy: Silence! It is 4 a.m. let’s listen to the news.

Tim: fine (sits on the carpet)

All Four (focusing on TV)

(Breaking news: in the early hours of today, there was a bank robbery in the city centre. The robbery was carried out by four young men called the Magnificent Four, led by one man called the imperial judge. The activities of these four men are quickly increasing and have become a security nightmare to this nation. These four young men are described as elegant and devastatingly good looking. Each one of them is more than six feet tall. They are equipped with more sophisticated weapons than the police. They have been intimidating and terrorizing this land for a long time. Therefore the police are appealing to the public: anybody with the slightest information about these four men should please contact the police. That’s it for now; goodbye

Charles, Mark, Jimmy, and Tim: (exchange gesture, Laughter and celebration).

Tim (turns the TV off, hisses): Bloody people!

Jimmy (kicks the TV): Bastards!

Charles: All right, guys. Let’s share the loot so that every man can depart to his house.

(Shares the money and they all depart.)

The next day, in Charles’s house, outside Charles’s gate, his three friends Tim, Mark, and Jimmy honking the horns of their big cars. Jack, the security guard, runs to open the gate.

Jack: Oh! What a glorious day! Here come the undertakers! (He opens the gate.)

(Tim drives in. Jimmy follows. Mark drives in last. All three come out of their cars.)

Jack (prostrates himself): Good morning, the noble gentlemen. Welcome, sirs.

Jimmy: Ah ha, how are you, boy?

Jack: Very well, sir, except …

Mark: Except what? How are you doing?

Tim: He is doing fine, except that he wants the usual.

Jimmy: Okay, got it. Here, take some money and buy something good.

Jack (collects the money): Thank you, sir, and may you live long.

Mark: Come on, boy. Take this and use it prudently.

Tim: Oh yes, with prudence indeed. Take this also and add it to the ones in your pocket, smart guy. You know how to get what you want. This land is full of corruption; everybody is corrupt; both young and old.

Jack: From the leaders down to the people they are ruling, and from the pastors down to the congregation. I like this; this is money! It talks and commands a high respect.

Jimmy: And you like bribes.

Jack: Oh, pretty much!

Mark: This guy is a crook. (Pushes him) Get out of the way! Where is your boss?

Jack: He is on the balcony, sir.

Tim: Give way. We want to see him.

Jack: Okay, sirs. Thank you very much, sirs. The noble merchants of our time! May your pockets never dry so that servants like us will never starve?

Mark: Nifty young man.

Jack (talking alone): I call them gentle merchants, yet I don’t know what they do. They are men of the underworld; hardened criminals. They cut corners, but they are celebrities because money speaks the language we understand in this land – evil money. Sometimes they behave strangely, as if they belong to some form of cult. But anyway, what concerns me? Nothing really; dear God, I don’t know where they are getting this money from, but I am sorry because I have to eat too.

Charles (looks down and sees his friends): Oh, great men! Yonder they stand unshakable! Come on! Come on! What a beautiful day!

Jimmy: The day is indeed beautiful.

Tim: Therefore let us enjoy the day and make merry.

Mark: Come down! Great imperial judge, come down and see my new car.

Charles: (comes down): Oh! Look at that! Beautiful! It is a beautiful car.

Jimmy: Life is sweet, but without money, it is worthless.

Tim: Indeed. Without money, life is worthless, and a poor man is nobody.

Mark: What are you telling me? Money is everything; he who has money has authority.

Charles: (brings out a bottle of wine from Mark’s car): Oh! This is cool! And a nice bottle too.

Tim: Open that damn thing, boy!

Jimmy: And let the music play on.

(Charles opens the wine. It makes a loud sound and they all cheer.)

Mark: Guys, let’s keep it down.

Jack (dancing and looking at them): Sir, can I come and join you?

Jimmy: What are you doing there?

Jack: Nothing, sir.

Tim: What is wrong with that boy? Sometimes he behaves like a fool.

Jimmy: Not only that – he eavesdrops on our discussion. I hope he is not a spy. Charles, I suggest you examine that boy very well, because sometimes I get confused by his attitude.

Tim: Besides, his looks are very suspicious.

Mark: Sometimes I do wonder why both of you like picking on little things. What did that boy do now? As far as I am concerned, he did not do anything wrong. He is just a happy young man. I like that boy. The two of you are small-minded. What do you think that boy is going to do?

Jimmy: Everything! Every damn thing! Don’t underestimate anybody.

Tim: Charles, better watch that boy.

Mark: Watch him for what?

Tim: He is a snoop! What is his name?

Charles: It is all right. His name is Jack. Hmmm, Jack, go back to the gate, okay?

Mark (throws in an immediate interruption): Forget about those two guys and lead me into this mansion; (Points to Charles’s house.) Charles, I want to go inside this house.

(Charles laughs.)

Mark: Lead the way, Charles. Into this castle we go.

Charles (laughs): In we go guys. Leave Jack alone; he is just a bloody clown.

Mark: Moreover, we’ve got better things to do than discuss Jack.

Jimmy: Let’s go into this temple.

Tim: Temple indeed. Beneath this castle dwell many secrets.

(They laugh and walk upstairs, discussing their criminal activities.)

Jack (murmuring): These four men are deadly. They are very dangerous criminals. What do they do? Heaven knows. Yet they are the type of men society wants, not poor men like me. Nobody questions what they do for a living. They have business investments all over the world, houses all over the city. They drive the most expensive cars, and they penetrate into every domain of human endeavour by all means. They gamble. They do everything humanly possible. Casinos are their second homes, and they are in occult, intimidating human beings. Yet they will never be brought to justice. Heaven have mercy on me.

Charles: (notices that Jack is there): Jack, what are you still doing there? Go and lock that gate! What has come over you this morning?

Jack: Yes sir. (Picks up the remote control and locks the gate.)

Jimmy: You see? What did I tell you before? You have to be vigilant. You trust that boy too much. One day that boy would take you by surprise. You do everything for him, and you say he is like a little brother to you. Better watch what you are doing before it is too late. I have told you.

Tim: I hate that boy. I never liked that boy. The first time I saw him, I complained of his looks.

Mark: I like that boy; I do not see anything wrong in his behaviour. We are the bad boys here. That boy is just an innocent young man struggling to survive. Please, you two should leave that poor boy alone. We are here for a different purpose. We are not here to discuss Jack or whatever his name is. Besides, he is a very handsome dude.

Charles: Thank you, Mark. I discuss a lot of things with that boy, and that boy has saved me from danger many times. Most times I sit at the same table with that boy, and most of the advice I get from