CHAPTER FOURTEEN, Nairobi Cocktail, The Sleaze

Deaths, Murders and Planned Murders

One moment, Naliaka was in the gentle arms of Samuel, watching a beautiful sunset over Mt Kilimanjaro. The next moment, she was standing on a beach watching a similar sunset, standing next to Boss, enjoying the feeling of the wet beach sand sup through her toes. But the seemingly beautiful dream transformed into a nightmare when a tsunami kind of storm started rising from the horizon, swallowing the sunset, rushing towards them. The storm frightened her, but she stood rooted on the same spot, hypnotised by its beauty. She woke up screaming Boss’ name.

She sat up in bed so fast she knocked her head on the headboard. “Ouch!” She groaned, rubbing the head before opening her eyes. Disorientation took over for a moment because the purple walls she was staring at did not match the cream ones in her house. Then she remembered. It has been three days and two nights since she moved in with Queen, but her psyche was determined to resist that she was not in her house, and why she was not.

The three days had been a reminder that time could either sprint or crawl, depending on what one was up to, or not up to. She had not been up to much, what with her most taxing activity involving playing hide and seek with other occupants. For two days, she had jealously looked through the window, down at the laughing girls soaking up on the sun.  

The nights had been worse with elusive sleep and when it came, the abyss of nightmare after nightmare would take over. For two nights, she had had nothing but intense dreams that left her body soaking in sweat, her heart beating at dangerous speeds.

In one of the dreams, she was a bank robber. She managed to break the vault but just as she was about to leave, a backpack similar to the one Boss had given her strapped on her back, she was shot by a masked man. The masked man was Boss, she did not need to see his face to know because she could smell him.

In another nightmare, she had fallen in love with Kaggai and just as she was about to kiss him, Boss had walked in on them. “You betrayed me!” He had screamed before shooting at her. What had angered her most about the dream was not being shot at by Boss, but by Kaggai’s repugnant presence.

She was weak with fatigue. Anxious with worry. And she was starting to wonder how long she could hold on to her sanity. Now, slowly and unwillingly, she got out of bed, stretched her tense body, dragged her feet to the window and drew the curtain to look outside. It was a wet morning. The long rains, the ones that had been preceded by a scorching sun, had broken the skies the night before. She spotted one vehicle at the parking lot, Queen’s. She turned to look at the clock on the wall. Eight AM. Still too early. Clients would not start streaming in until ten AM.  Then she groaned with frustration, wondering what she would do with the rest of the day.

There was a soft knock at the door. She adjusted her shorts, rubbed her eyes and sides of her mouth to rid them off any white stuff from the night, run a hand over her bald head. “Come in.” Queen, wearing an uncertain smile, poked her head through the door. “Hey princess. I am glad you are up. I was afraid of waking you up…”

Naliaka smiled. “You didn’t wake me up. Been up for a minute.” She sighed and rubbed her face again, walking to the bed and slumping herself on it. She bounced on the mattress a few times before throwing herself flat, hands spread out. “Argh! What I would do to get some decent sleep.”

Queen entered, shut the door behind her softly and sat on the bed next to Naliaka, studying her with concern. “Eye bags don’t suit you. I hear cucumber works wonders on them.” Queen remarked. Since Naliaka’s impromptu arrival three days ago, she had been waiting for the younger woman to tell her what was happening. She was tired of waiting.

She however did not need to be told something was wrong, she had seen it on Naliaka’s face the first day. Queen had been on the way out when two unfamiliar vehicles had driven in. Naliaka had emerged from the first one and left two burly men inside. The two occupants of the second car, as burly, never left the vehicle. None of them had acknowledged Queen. Later, the gateman on duty had later told Queen that a third car with four occupants had been parked a distance from the gate.

Queen, who had paused by the car door when she saw the vehicles drive in, first noticed Naliaka’s drained look. If Queen didn’t know she was a teetotaller, she would have concluded a hangover was responsible for the haggard look. The red eyes. Something about the way Naliaka had looked at her, something about the way she had hugged her, had made Queen to hold on the many questions she wanted to ask.

Naliaka had waved off the men before walking, hand in hand with Queen, to the house. The other girls were still in their rooms and Queen and Naliaka had quietly walked to Naliaka’s usual room. “Do you need anything?”

“Shower. Breakfast and sleep…is it…is it okay if the maid brings my breakfast in the bedroom?” She had woken up late because of the hangover and by the time she got ready to leave, Boss had started rushing her. She had opted to forego the breakfast, knowing that Queen would have food available.

Queen went to say something but changed her mind and nodded instead. “I will bring it myself.”

She had sat with Naliaka for a while, in silence. Queen had watched a spaced out Naliaka, head turned towards the window, slowly chewing on her breakfast of two sausages and two slices of toasted bread, once in a while drinking her tea noisily. As soon as Naliaka was done with her breakfast, Queen had kissed her forehead, picked up the breakfast tray and walked out, leaving her in her spaced out silence. When she returned at night, the lights in Naliaka’s room were off.  

Day two, Naliaka had feigned period pains, her reason to Julia when she came up to the room to ask why she was not joining everyone else downstairs. The rest of the day had been spent in Queen’s bedroom watching television.

Today was day three. She was not feeling any better mentally than day one, she did not have any answers the questions she was asking herself. She was afraid of the questions Queen would ask, questions she would have to give honest answers to. She wondered if being honest to Queen amounted to betrayal to Boss, a thought that increased her nerve levels.

“So…you want to tell me what the hell is going on? And don’t tell me crap about period pain and other fabricated stories. I want the real story. Is there trouble in Boss paradise?”

Naliaka sighed again and sat up, facing Queen and letting her eyes linger on her for a few seconds.

“Let me show you something…” Queen’s eyes followed Naliaka as she walked to the wardrobe and retrieved the backpack with money, one Naliaka had not opened since it was handed to her. She sat back on the bed and handed it to Queen. “Open it, please.”

Queen gave her a questioning look but took the backpack. “Why can’t you open it yourself?”

Naliaka shrugged. “Please…You will understand why when you open it…” As Queen unzipped the bag, Naliaka’s eyes were on her, taking in all the different emotions that played on her face within seconds. There was uncertainty just before opening the bag, then shock that came with a gasp. Then surprise and finally confusion. It was the same confused face she turned to look at Naliaka with.

“What the hell is this? Whose money is it?” Queen demanded, letting the bag slip off slowly to the floor, some of the money pouring out of it. Like someone trying to wipe of traces of the bag, Queen rubbed her palms together in quick succession.

“Boss. It’s his money…”

“You stole his money? You are a thief?” It was a roughly whispered question. She stood up, put her hands on her waistline, glaring at Naliaka in disbelief. “How could you?”

“No…no. Please. It’s his money but I did not steal it. He gave it to me. To keep it for him.” Naliaka saw the anger leave Queen’s face, but the confusion remained.

“I do not understand any of this. Why would he give you so much money to keep?”

Naliaka sighed again. Even she was tired with the number of sighs she was giving. “There is something I need to tell you. I don’t know what you will think about me, if you will still want me to be here. I will understand if you do not want me to be here…”

“Oh come on. Get on with it already…” Queen said with exasperation.

“Boss is a robber.” She said quickly.

Queen paused for a moment. Then started laughing.

***

An hour later, Naliaka and Queen were still in the bedroom, both visibly more relaxed, both sitting against the headboard. Within the hour, tough questions and equally tough answers had been exchanged. Queen had popped up a bottle of wine, one of the special ones she hid in her room. She had poured two glasses.

“At this rate, I will end up being a seasoned drinker. I got really drunk the other day…” Naliaka said, accepting the glass of wine and taking a comfortable sip.

“It’s about time you gave alcohol the respect it deserves. It helps you relax…but don’t get used to drinking on an empty stomach.” Naliaka had not had breakfast yet.

“I have no intention of getting used to drinking on any stomach…” She said, sipping the wine and savouring the taste before swallowing.

Sitting and standing positions had been changed severally within the hour. They had laughed. They had cried. They had consulted. And now, they were exhausted and Naliaka was feeling drunk but relieved.

“You know.” Queen said, dubbing her eyes with her tee shirt. “When I still had illusions of having a man in my life, I always wanted a thief for a boyfriend.” She chuckled. So did Naliaka. “I was convinced a thief would be the only type of man to understand they type of person I am. Ole wangu, even the thieves did not want me…” Queen giggled. Naliaka smiled. “Now I know why. If Boss is the type of thief available, of course I was doomed from the start. That man is too good looking for his own good…’

“Is that the thing bothering you most? That he is too good looking for his own good?”

Queen chuckled. “Naliaka my dear, when you have lived as long as I have, when you have experienced as much as I have, when you have watched women go through hell and you end up soaking in all their problems and then feeling guilty at the same time for using them to make yourself rich, then you learn how to look at the bright side of life.” Naliaka nodded. “This…this Boss business is serious. It puts you in danger not only from his rivals but the law as well. By extension, it puts me and my entire network in danger…”

“I am sorry…I could leave…”

“Rubbish. You stay right where you are. If they don’t shoot us if they arrest, we can buy our way out of jail…it is what it is. Now, how to deal with it…”

“Any idea?”

Queen shrugged. “I am with Boss. Stay around until whatever shit is sorted. I can, in the meantime, enjoy the security he is providing…and please, I know you are generally an honest girl, but fire consume you if you even consider running off with that money.”

“I wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway.” She looked at the bag, still on the floor, money still pouring out of it. Neither had bothered to collect. Both kept walking over it, like they wanted to believe it was not there.

Queen chuckled. “It is a lot of dollars. I shudder to think how much. We could however hope Boss gets shot dead, then you end up with the money…ah…things you could do with that money.”

“Queen! I don’t want him to die.”

Queen shrugged. “I just wanted to be sure.”

***

“So why are you here, pretending to have period pains?” Malaika, the one person who could be relied on to ask direct questions, shot the first question at Naliaka. The four of them, Malaika, Julia and one Susan the new girl, were having their lunch in the dining room. The rains had relented, but the grass was left wet and it was too cold to sit outside. The other girls were with their clients in the room.

“I wasn’t lying…”

“You were.” Julia asserted with an eye roll. “Remember you lived here for years and we would have known if cramps were your thing.”

“It could have started when I left…”

“Lies. The only other explanation is an abortion. Did you have an abortion?”

Naliaka gasped, horrified. “No, please. I always use condoms...”

“Condoms are not one hundred percent. Some girls here have had accidents…”

Naliaka shook her head, shocked that there were girls who got pregnant yet there were no babies. It had never crossed her mind that an accident could happen. “I just wanted to be alone.” Telling part truth suddenly appealed to her better than letting anyone think she had an abortion.

“Boyfriend trouble?”

“Leave me alone. I am okay now, that’s what matters.”

“How long are you going to be here?” Malaika was relentless.

Naliaka shrugged. She has been wondering about the same thing. “I don’t know.”

“Will you start working again?” Malaika pressed.

“Here? No…”

“Lucky witch. And you still get to live here, for free, in your own room.”

“You sound jealous, Malaika.” Naliaka was feeling cornered.

“Of course I am. The day I tell Queen that I no longer want to work here, it will be the day she asks me to pack all my belongings. Yet, here you are, swaggering in and out like you co-own the house.”

“You have been here for many years. Surely you must have saved enough money to comfortably set you up in a business when you leave.”

“I have a lot of money saved up, but money is not the issue. You need much more than money to survive out there. I didn’t do a very good job at taking care of myself before I moved in here, I was miserable and suicidal half the time. That is something I do not want to go back to. In this house, I am living with people who love me, or at least understand me, people who look out for me. The happiest years of my life have been spent in this house and I cannot imagine not living here…”

Naliaka reached out for Malaika’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “You can. I didn’t know how to take care of myself and I survived out there…”

“You are Naliaka. You are sober, and brainier…”

“I think you are brainy…if only you didn’t get high most of the time.”

“Right there is the problem. I do not think I could stay sober. Do you know I have been on one type of high or another since I was twelve? You think I can live without intoxicating myself? I don’t even remember how it feels to be sober…”

Naliaka had a strong urge to give an encouraging speech to Malaika, but she was not equipped. She knew Malaika’s story, bad enough when narrated, she could not imagine living it. “You could give it a try…”

“And if I fail…”

“Then you will have tried. If you fail, you can move in with me…” She had not planned to say that, but her inadequacy to say something right was giving her a kneejerk tongue, but as soon as she said it, it felt right, like something she could happily do.  

But Malaika looked at Naliaka with pity before shaking her head. “You are crazy, but bless your heart. Some of us, when we leave Queen’s house, it will be to the grave…”

“Stop being such a defeatist.”

 “It’s not defeatist, it is called pragmatism. I will stay on until Queen kicks me out, and I suspect it is going to be soon. I am nearly too old for this. Even my regular clients have started preferring younger and newer women…” Malaika said, shooting an accusing glance at Susan who had been listening to the conversation quietly, nibbling on her breakfast. Susan looked down at her plate and refused to look up. “Pretty soon, I will have nobody to service.”

Naliaka sighed in defeat, turning her gaze to Juliet who was lost in thought. “But Julia still gets clients and she is older than you…”

“Julia is Julia. The men who pick her do so because they are looking for someone motherly. She has longevity more than all of us…”

“Do you ever plan to stop?” Naliaka asked Julia.

Julia shrugged. “I could stop yesterday. The only thing keeping me here is because I cannot breathe the same free air with that bastard. Why will he not die?” She was looking at each of the three other girls in turn, like one expecting an answer.

The bastard, Naliaka was aware, was Julia’s husband and Kaggai’s brother, the very same person who still had no clue that his missing wife was often a few feet from him and slept with his own brother.  

***

Kerubo sat in a near stoic state, staring at the television but not seeing it, trying to fight the feeling of doom. Her mouth tasted like battery water. On the sofa, she tucked her long legs under her, chewing her nails, one at a time, an intense look on her face. She had just left the bed, still wore Samuel’s over size tee-shirt and nothing underneath. She should have been feeling better because last night, she had finally slept well after Samuel had made beautiful and gentle love to her.

Samuel emerged from the kitchen chewing on a slice of toasted bread. He stopped in his tracks, stopped the chewing to study her. He had not realised she had left the bed. “Why, I didn’t know you were up.”

Kerubo turned slowly to look at him, pausing on her nail chewing. “Hey…”

“Gosh, anyone would think I was the one taking you to meet my parents. You are more nervous than I am…” He said, offering her his half chewed piece of toast. She accepted it, replacing the nail chewing with the toast.

“I think this is the stupidest idea I ever came up with. I just have a bad feeling about this…”

“I could agree, but it is too late to pull out. In fact, you should already be in the bathroom. It’s ten AM and if we do not leave in an hour, we will be late for the lunch date…”

“Why do you sound like you are looking forward to this?” She sounded accusing.

He chuckled. “In a way I am. I have never, ever been introduced by a girl to her parents. I always wondered how that felt.”

She smiled. “Only this is not an honest introduction. It’s a lie…”

Samuel shrugged. “A noble lie. Besides, you and I shag. Isn’t that what boyfriend and girlfriend do? We are friends also…I don’t see the lie.”

“You don’t think she will work it out that we are lying?”

He shrugged. “Well, if they want us to demonstrate by having a quickie, we can use your bedroom over there…”

“Piss off…”

“Breakfast? I was just preparing something light…”

She shook her head. “I am seriously bloated. I will take a coffee…”

***

At midday, Kerubo and Samuel pulled into the Kamau’s compound. It was quiet, not even the wind seemed to penetrate into the compound. The leaves of the trees within the compound were still while the ones outside flapped happily. Kerubo had opened the gate, expecting, hoping to find Mrs Kamau basking in the sun like she had found her the last time. She was not. The car was at the usual parking lot.

“It’s so quiet…” She whispered to herself as Samuel parked the car next to the Kamau’s.

“Perhaps they are not in…” she said hopefully, but she knew Mr Kamau hardly ever left without the car, even when he needed to go to the town only a kilometre away. He had developed problems with his knees and too much walking left him in pain for days.

“So…” Samuel interrupted her thoughts.

“We go in…” She had a spare key, but when she tried the lock, it opened. She put her head in first, looking around before calling out. “Hello…is anyone home?”

Silence. Kerubo started shaking. She had been in many scary situations, but not even the one she had been on the verge of being raped next to Cecelia could measure up to the kind of fear that was engulfing her, bit by bit, starting with her feet, travelling up her body like quick sand. She took a deep breath and straightened up. Whatever it was, if it didn’t have a gun, she could handle it. “Come in Sam. Have a seat as I check upstairs. They could be in the bedroom sleeping.” She said hopefully.

She took two stairs at a go. She softly knocked on the Kamau’s bedroom door severally but there was no answer. When she opened the door, she couldn’t decide what repulsed her most. There was the smell. A diseased kind of smell mixed with lack of air circulation, smell she felt in her eyes as well. Her throat contracted. Then there was the darkness. It was well past midday, but the thick dark curtains were drawn, locking out the light. She squinted her eyes, focusing on the bed. Finally there were the two figures, huddled together, still as death. She squeaked. Or perhaps she screamed because the squeak could not have been heard by Samuel, yet he ran upstairs, taking three steps at a go.

He found Kerubo grabbing on the door handle, knees buckled, trying to stop herself from hitting the floor. He stabilised her as he went through the same emotions Kerubo had a few seconds ago. The smell. The darkness. The stillness. “Oh shit…” He said, his way of acknowledging the two still figures, then he turned to Kerubo, gently pushing her out of the door completely. “Come on, get the hell out of here…” He grabbed her hand, leading her downstairs. She was not resisting, yet he had to work extra hard to make her move. She was still, nearly as still as the Kamaus. She was unblinking. He hoped she was breathing. When he got her to sit on the sofa, he located the kitchen and got her a glass of water. She took it but held it without drinking. He ran back upstairs.

He knew. He had no doubt she knew. They were dead. The question was, how? He knew for a fact Kerubo had spoken on the phone to Mr Kamau the previous night to confirm their visit. She had not spoken to Mrs Kamau because according to Mr Kamau, she was asleep. Now he wondered. He had been in crime world long enough to know that one could not make assumptions. Perhaps they had been murdered by a burglar? He dismissed that thought immediately. A murdering burglar would have left evidence in form of messy rooms. Suicide? Murder and suicide? Death and suicide? It had to be one of the above because as far as Samuel knew, Mr Kamau was healthy, nowhere near death.

The first thing he did was to draw the curtains and open the windows. Then he turned to look at the bodies. How peaceful they both looked. He poked them – no hope, rigor mortis had already set in and there was no way to tell if they had died together or one had died before the other one. He sighed and looked around. On the side of the table was a note written in red. There was a jug of water and a couple of empty bottles of pills. He picked the letter.

“Kerubo. If you are reading this, it means we are off to a better place. I am sorry it had to be this way, but my wife and I discussed it and agreed it would be better to leave together. You were obviously aware of your mom’s cancer. What you did not know is that I was diagnosed with colon cancer a month ago. Stage three. I have watched my wife suffer, I was there to look after her. I refuse to suffer like that, especially when I know the only person who would end up taking care of me is you. I refuse to do that to you, not after you have been nothing but a loving daughter to us. I thank God that my wife had the good sense to adopt you, I apologise for being hesitant at first, and I thank you for never taking it against me. You are a great woman, you deserve to be happy, and I wish you nothing but happiness. We are so happy that you finally found yourself a man to love, it means we shall die in peace; may he make you happy. Do not worry about informing our children, I already sent them an email but please, do not let my wife’s mother know it was suicide.

All our love, Kamaus”

“What is that?”

Samuel jumped guiltily. He had not heard Kerubo walk up the stairs. She stood, legs and arms crossed, watching him. And she was looking…normal?

“What are you doing here? Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked with a shrug, walking to him with a stretched hand. The handwritten suicide note was dangling between his fingers, she bent a little and grabbed it. She went to the window, leaned on it and started reading. Samuel looked at her in confusion, all the fifty five seconds she took to read the letter, he didn’t blink once.

“That’s it then…” She said, looking up at him. He realised she was avoiding direct glances at the bed.

“Kerubo?”

“What?” she snapped.

“Your parents just died…”

“Erm…this might sound strange, but this is kinda the second time it is happening…”

“Kerubo…”

“What!” She screamed. “Look, I don’t know what you expect me to do. They are dead, I cannot resurrect them. Jesus does that kind of thing. I did not cry when my blood parents died, I have no intention of doing it for the Kamaus. They chose to die, together, good for them but there is nothing I can do now but accept it…” She shrugged and walked out. Samuel remained on the same spot, looking at the door she just walked out on, and only moved when he heard the microwave turned on.

“That woman is mad…” He muttered and turned to the dead bodies. “Oh well, I guess it is you and I…oh, nice to meet you, dead or alive…” he chuckled at the last statement, immediately reprimanding himself. He fished out for his phone and called Onyango. He always knew what to do. He did.

Within half an hour, the police was there, tagging along an ambulance. Samuel and Kerubo were questioned together, but he ended up talking more than she did, like he had more information about the Kamaus. All along, Kerubo was either chewing on her food, or sipping on coffee, expression glassier than anyone’s Samuel had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of glassy expressions.

***

“Did you take precautions?” Boss asked without looking up from his phone.

Kamau had just walked into the house and paused at the door in confusion. It was not his first time to be summoned by Boss enough times. He, Boss, often used Kamau to deliver personal messages to contacts, or do banking. Once in a while, he was invited for lunch but those lunches always involved a lot of picking of Kamau’s brain. He always wondered if all the others got the same treatment, but he never had the guts to ask.

It was however, the first time he had found the house crowded. It unnerved him especially because the call that had summoned him here had been short and terse and it had left him nervous. Since his arrest over a year ago, he had been walking on eggshells around Boss, unable to completely believe that he had been forgiven for his side job misdemeanour. It was unlike Boss to forgive anyone. He had been present during several of those punishments against the betrayers. The punishments were never a pretty sight, unless one considered blood pretty.

He cleared his throat and stood straight, feigning courage he did not feel. “I did.” He answered, but he was busy calculating his chances of survival were he to be attacked. He knew four of the men present. Two were Boss’ regular bodyguards, one was Boss’ impersonator, and there was Boss. The other three were strangers, and they reminded him of Hannibal Lector. The only people seated were Boss and his impersonator, strangely assuming the same pose of sitting against the sofa with spread out legs. They were dressed in similar clothes; white tee shirts and blue jeans and similar haircuts.

Kamau found the two of them fascinating. They were so similar, except in colour. The impersonator was a skin shade lighter than Boss, but that difference was only visible to people who knew the existence of the impersonator. What he wondered whenever he saw the impersonator was, were they related and if no, how did they meet? What did the impersonator do when he was not impersonating Boss?

Those questions were the least of his worries at the moment because, why was he here, in the presence of the crème de la crème of Boss’ operation?

“Would you like to sit?” Boss asked, finally looking up.

“What?” Kamau heard the question, he was just having a hard time processing it. Boss did not ask questions that sounded like giving anyone a choice.

Boss grunted. “Sit over there.” He pointed at the dining table area with his mouth. Kamau slowly took a seat, his nerves threatening to blow his calm façade.

“Would you like something to drink?” Boss continued with what Kamau started considering as gentle torture.

He tried to talk but instead swallowed hard. The first tickle of sweat was emitted from his nose tip. He wiped it with the back of his hand.

“What’s that?”

“Water…”

Boss shrugged and nodded at one of his bodyguards. “Bring him water, and a beer for me, and a drink of whatever everyone else is having”.

Kamau was trying not to stare at anyone, but his eyes did so involuntarily. He was watching everyone in turn. How nobody looked threatening at all, not that any of them looked particularly friendly, but he had seem most of them at their worst, and this was not it. In fact, unless his eyes were deceiving him, he caught Boss looking at him with a bemused expression, a hint of a smile on his face.

The bodyguard returned carrying a tray with everyone’s drink. He and the bodyguards were the only ones on water, everyone else had a beer. He was the last to take his drink. He placed it on the table, wondering if they had poisoned it.

“I am sure you are wondering why I called you…”

“Yes Boss…”

“It’s because I need you to take a break from your …erm, field operations…”

“Boss?” In his pessimistic state, he understood Boss’ statement to mean he was fired. Boss did not fire people though, he killed people.

“Relax, I am not about to kill you. You are too important…”

“Huh?” He gasped, finally gathering the guts to taste the water. He drank half of it in one go.

“Yes Kamau. You are important, but that does not mean you should think you are indispensable…”

“I don’t …” He said quickly. “Boss.”

“Good. Now, I need to find another partner for Otis…do you think Otis can work with someone other than you?”

Kamau thought. He liked Otis, very much, but he also knew Otis was a loose cannon with crazy ideas of how they could do well without Boss. Kamau always talked him out of it, but was tenacious and a born renegade. Boss’ question had put him into a quagmire – he felt pressure to be loyal to his friend, and Otis was his friend, to protect him from Boss’ wrath that was always a metre away, but his bread was buttered by Boss, and his ultimate loyalty lay with Boss.

“I…I am not sure…”

“Kamau, be very careful. Be very careful with the answer you give. We are not in the business of protecting friendships. I will ask you again, and I expect an honest answer.” Kamau returned Boss’ stare and saw, in that look, fiery warning. It was the look of the killer he knew his boss to be, not the friendly face that had welcomed him and offered him a drink only a minute ago. It was a laser eye look, one he was convinced could drill into his brain and cherry-pick the lies, like a lie detector machine could. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Good. Do you think Oti can be trusted if paired with someone else?”

Kamau shook his head emphatically. “He is the type of person who is not used to taking orders. He was a lone ranger since he was a kid, but he is generally a good person.”

“Good for him.” Boss said sarcastically, sitting back on the sofa. His body double next to him mirrored him. “I am sure Jesus will take note of his good nature on judgment day. So, what would you do with him?”

Kamau gasped. “Me?”

“Was I talking to anyone else here?”

“I…I would keep him close to me. I can control him.”

“How?”

“I talk to him when he sounds like he is going off the rail…”

“So you are willing to be a babysitter to a full grown adult?”

Kamau looked down at his black socks, what he had thought were both black socks, but what he was looking at was one brown and one black. He pulled his legs under the seat, hoping nobody else had seen.  

“You are going soft on me,” Boss tone sounded so disappointed that Kamau almost apologised. “We do not have time for tomfoolery. In this business, you cannot make emotional decisions.” He thought of Naliaka and how emotional he got around her and allowed himself to feel like a fraud, just for a second. “Emotions cloud your judgment. They make you hesitate. They make you start rationalising stuff. So I ask again, what would you do with him?”

“Kill him.” Strangely, Kamau felt no guilt at saying that.

Boss smiled and nodded. He sat up. His body double did the same. Their movements were starting to bother Kamau. “That’s one option. The other option is to have him get himself killed…”

“Sorry?”

“That’s your homework. Find out how you get someone to get themselves killed. When you find out, let me know. You do not have much time by the way.” Boss cleared his throat. “Oti is not why we are here though.”

“Oh?” He asked with relief.

“No. I already told you I need you off the streets, at least for a while, perhaps forever. You see these people here?”

Kamau looked at each of them in turn. “These are the most important people you will ever have as your friends. These are people who, like a soldier, will take a bullet for you. They have kept me alive. Know them. Listen to them. Respect them. Consult them. Treat them well. You know my bodyguards, of course?” Kamau nodded. There was more sweat running down his back, sweat of confusion and apprehension. “You know Boss2?” Boss2 was the body double. Kamau nodded. “These other three are very important people in this organisation, possibly the most important. They head the surveillance team. The team they head is the reason I know where you live, where Otis lives…”

Kamau sat up. He always suspected Boss had such people, but he always imagined them to be smart and mostly friendly, like in the movies. The three men he was looking at were anything but friendly. They were scary, scarier than the ones he had met during interrogation of enemies.

“With time, you will get to know more of them, more about them, including names.”

“When…when does all this start?”

“I am glad you asked. Tomorrow is when it starts. You however still have today to take care of pending business, like telling Otis that he is getting another partner, like convincing him that he should not try to be stupid. Like moving out of your current house…”

“Move out? To where?”

“Ngumo house. It is easier to secure. Oh, and Mary is not allowed in that house…”

“Mary?” He asked stupidly.

“Isn’t Mary the name of your new girlfriend?”

Kamau fought an urge to laugh and shifted on his seat. He had only been dating Mary for not more than two weeks, having broken up with his previous girlfriend. “It is.”

“Good. You change your women too often. That’s your life though, I cannot stop you, unless it is interfering with my operation. No women in Ngumo. You can retain your current house, tell her you will be working out of town. That makes it possible to still meet her there when you want to…or any of the other women who come after her.”

Kamau did not understand why he was feeling like a child who had been caught stealing sugar. He however had bigger things to worry about. Or wonder about. It felt like he was being elevated, very high up. The why was what was bothering him.

***

It made sense that the rooftop was only accessible from Boss’ house because after all, he had the whole of third floor to himself. There were apartments on third floor, his and two others belonging to his bodyguards. Only three people had access to the rooftop; him and his two bodyguards. The rooftop was accessible through a wardrobe door in Boss’ bedroom. Behind the clothes was a door that had been drilled through a wall, it had a ladder going up to the roof. From the roof was another ladder, a foldable one that could get close enough to the street floor for him to jump without hurting himself.

If it ever came to him escaping through the rooftop down the ladder, he would land next to the shack he spent enough years calling home, and from there he could disappear to different directions, helped by over thirty street children.

9pm found Boss on the rooftop, alone. It was not a place he liked going to except when he was emotionally overwhelmed, like now. It was too windy and he could smell the filth from Nairobi River, plus there was nothing much to see from up there except other old buildings and dirty streets. It was also not the most comfortable of places to relax, not even with a beer. There were no seats, instead there were concrete slabs that had been put there by the builder, but on those cold slabs, he sat and thought, and sipped his beer. He also walked round the rooftop, gazing down to the streets below.

He should have been feeling more relaxed after speaking to Kamau, after his top management agreed that with a little polishing, Kamau could indeed make a good replacement. He had, just before Kamau arrived, told them about his intention to retire without disbanding the organisation. There had been protests, he had expected them to. He had begged them to agree to monitor Kamau, to test his ability and resilience, at least for the next one week. “If you are not impressed, I will gladly stay on.” His retirement depended on how well Kamau would do because if push came to shove, he would never be able to live with himself if he walked away from the hundreds of people working under him, tens of boys who looked up to him. The promise he had made to Mato on his death bed meant more to him than his freedom, even more than his desire to run away with Naliaka.

After Kamau had left, they had all agreed he had potential. Kamau’s visible fear of Boss had been his greatest impediment, but then again, everybody was afraid of Boss. Boss, they were all aware, had succeeded in making everyone who worked under him to be suspicious of everybody who worked under him because he had everybody who worked under him to follow random people working under him and report their activities. Nobody trusted anyone. Everyone feared everybody.

As much as the afternoon had been a success, he was far from relaxed. There were too many details to worry about. He was putting faith in too many people at the same time, including Kamau and Naliaka, and that felt more strange than scary.

It was a risk, but a necessary risk. If he survived the battle, he had no intention of leading the criminals anymore, unless Kamau failed him.  

He sighed and walked to the edge of the rooftop. Below him was a shack. That shack was an integral part of his fiefdom. Through the bad lighting of the city, he could see a smouldering fire inside the shack, most definitely an old tyre fire. There was laughter from the shack. If he listened keenly, he could hear the clicking and clacking of aluminium spoons against aluminium plates. The family was having dinner. After dinner, they would tell stories, or have orgies. The memory of the orgies made him grunt with jealousy.

He let himself think about Naliaka. He smiled, a short happy smile that warmed even his morbid heart, a smile that ended as quickly as it had come. He hated the likely possibility of never seeing her again. He hated more the possibility of being betrayed by her.

They had not spoken since she left, not because he couldn’t, but as much as his heart ached for her, he needed to give her time to process the heavy stuff he had just dumped on her. On the bright side, the security had assured him that she stayed indoors.

He removed his phone from the pocket, walked back to the slab and dialled her number.

***

The rain was beating gently against the roof and the windows and like the Pied Piper, baiting Naliaka and Queen to sleep. It had taken Queen’s horror reaction at the time to get both of them to decide to watch a movie. “We cannot sleep at nine fifteen. We are not babies, or invalids.” Queen had declared.

They changed into warm night clothes and sat against the headboard, feet under the duvet to wade off the chill. The chill, one that must have been several degrees lower outside, made her worry about Boss’ boys. Queen had dismissed her worries with a single statement, “knowing how such people operate, they probably have already put up a structure inside the farm, or dug an underground tunnel.” So they settled in.

Their cosy set up was interrupted ten minutes into the movie. She did not hear the phone ring because it was on silent mode, but she saw it flashing. Unnecessarily, she peeped at the caller ID but she already knew who it was. She took a sharp breath anyway when Boss’ name displayed on her phone.  

“What?” Queen asked, pausing her glass of wine halfway to the mouth. Naliaka nodded at the phone. “Well, what are you waiting for, pick it.”

“What do you think he wants?”

“How would I know…pick it. Were you not the one worried about his not calling? Pick it.”

Naliaka picked it, cleared her throat and tried to stay calm. “Hallo…”

“Naliaka, hey. How are you?”

“You are okay…” She said with relief, looking at Queen and smiling.

Boss laughed. “I know I am. You?”

“Okay I guess…”

“You are sure?”

She nodded.

“That’s great.”

“How…how is everything?”

“Same same. Things are quiet, but it’s definitely the calm before the storm.”

 “Oh…can’t you just…run away?”

Boss sniggered before answering. “Run to where? There is no place far enough to run, unless it’s six feet under…” He regretted his choice of words when he heard her gulp. “Let’s not talk about that though. I just called to check on you. I miss you.” 

It was a five minute long conversation, one that could have been a romantic one if only both of them were not constantly thinking about tragic endings. She was happy that he was okay, but she worried if it would be the last call he made to her.

“You okay?” Queen whispered after the call was over.

“Can I sleep with you?” She asked instead of answering. Queen’s bed was where she slept every night, until the day she left.

***

Before leaving the house in the morning, Queen had gently shaken Naliaka from sleep. “Listen here sleepy head, if I return in the evening and find out that you haven’t gone for a walk, I will whip you with a belt.” Naliaka had groaned and pulled the duvet to cover herself. She wished never to wake up because last night had been nightmare free and she was still enjoying dreamless sleep.

An hour later, Julia had stormed in Queen’s room to find Naliaka still asleep. “Goodness…almost ten years in this house and this is the first time I am having access to this room…” Julia’s voice was what woke Naliaka up. The former was going from end of room to the next, opening the walk-in closet, the bathroom and asking why there were two bathtubs. “One is a Jacuzzi.” Naliaka answered, still half asleep.

“Why are you sleeping in Queen’s bed anyway?” Julia demanded, finally settling down on the bed. “I hope you are not having sex with her.”

That woke Naliaka up completely. “Good lord, no. I am not gay…”

“Is she?” Julia quipped, poking Naliaka playfully.

“Gosh, no. She has never tried anything with me…” But she did remember the kiss, a long time ago, that Queen had given her, a kiss that had never been re-enacted, or spoken about.

Julia lifted one eyebrow. “If you say so…but I often suspect she is. So, why are you sleeping here?”

“It’s none of your business Julia. Gosh, you guys ask the weirdest questions…”

“So shoot us. Anyway, her royal highness asked me to wake you up in an hour for your royal walk. I am your designated escort…”

“Argh…what if I don’t want to go?”

“She didn’t sound like she was giving you a choice, or me, so I may have to carry you on my back. Come on, the rain has relented so we better walk before it pours again.”

She had nothing to lose, and she could really use the fresh air. When she first moved into Queen’s house, staying within the compound for days had been easy. It had been her way of escaping from the big bad world. When she moved in on her own, she slowly discovered the joys of freedom, that she was not on anybody’s schedule and she could go out whenever she wanted, returned whenever she wanted, no Kaggai to worry about.

After breakfast, Naliaka slipped into a pair of skin tights, a pair of boots and a long sweater. A brolly dangled from one of her hands, the other hand held the phone. Julia wore a pair of jeans and sneakers and only a tee-shirt to protect her torso. Her head, covered by a hat, neck by a scarf and eyes by sunglasses, was more protected that her torso. “I cannot risk running into you know who. This is for disguise, not for warmth.”

“Are you not going to freeze?” Naliaka asked Julia.

“Skinny people worry about freezing with cold.” She retorted. “This layer of fat on me is there for moments like this…”

Naliaka was a fast walker but had to slow down for a much slower Julia. When they stepped out of the gate, Naliaka looked around discretely, expecting to see evidence on the supposed security. She saw nothing. It was possible, she thought, that Boss had just told her about the security to keep her on edge, to discourage her from running away with his money. All the way to the road a few hundred metres from the gate, she saw nothing.

Then her phone vibrated in her hand. Boss.

“Where are you going?” He asked urgently.

Naliaka turned sharply, spun round, searching for someone, anyone, anything. She saw thing.  

“What’s going on?” Julia asked with alarm, emulating Naliaka. 

“Nothing…” she assured Julia as she covered her mouth piece. |Hey… sorry, Julia and I are just going for a walk…” Her voice was calm, she had managed to stay calm on the outside, but her insides were anything but.

“Where to…”

Naliaka laughed unnecessarily but for the benefit of Julia. “Oh…I was bored in the house and I wanted to stretch my legs. So, how is Mombasa?” She asked with forced cheer, hoping Boss catch on.

“You are sure you are fine? Not leaving to somewhere?”

Naliaka laughed again. “Oh no…perhaps I will buy a plate of chips for Julia…as for you, Mr, make sure you bring back some seashells with you…bye bye, love you.”

She turned to a confused Julia.

“John?”

“Yep. He is in Mombasa…”

“I heard that. What was that though? Why did you look frightened?”

“Oh, that? I don’t like maize plantations and when the wind beat against the maize stalks I freaked out. Sorry…”

During the rest of the walk, Naliaka’s biggest effort was to try not to look around her in search of the unseen eyes. One day, she promised herself, she will find out how they were managing to trace her without being spotted.

“It’s a good thing we have this time on our own.” Julia had complained about being too tired and they had stopped by a bar in Ndenderu. In front of Julia was a beer while Naliaka had ordered for water. “I am so serious about wanting to leave this life I am currently living…”

“I can imagine.”

“My children…I have been thinking a lot about them lately. Much more than usual. One is nearly twenty, the other one following closely behind. I want to see them so bad.”

“You want to cut your losses and just walk out of here?”

“Nope. I need leverage against that man…”

“You could tell him you know he visits a whorehouse…”

Julia shook her head. “Nah. That cannot work because nobody would believe me. I am the resident witch who abandoned her children years ago.”

 “I am sorry…I wish I could help…”

“Malaika has agreed to poison my husband.”

Naliaka spluttered her water on the table, some of it landed on Julia’s hand. She didn’t wipe it out and continued to look at Naliaka defiantly. “What the…”

“What? It’s a very nice way of dying, you know. He will not suffer, which is more than he deserves. The poison would take about two hours, meaning he would already be out of Queen’s house.”

“That’s risky. Isn’t there another way of ….I don’t know, doing things without killing him?”

“Any ideas? Because this is the only one I have, and Malaika has agreed to do it for me…”

“I don’t have any ideas right now, but I can think of something…please don’t do it. Give me a few days…”

Now she needed to ask Boss if his guys could do some dirty work for her friend.

***

An opportunity to talk to Boss presented itself that same night when he made an impromptu visit at eight PM, just after dinner. Naliaka had just forced herself in between Julia and Malaika in the television room so she could share the blanket they were also sharing, when Queen’s call came through.

“Your boyfriend is outside…”

“Where?”

“Outside, at the parking lot. Go get him…”

She wriggled herself out and grabbed another blanket on the way out. There were three vehicles, she headed straight to the one Boss was in.

“My goodness, what are you doing here this late?” she demanded, getting in the backseat with him and hugging him.

“I missed you. Is that so bad?”

“Are you not putting Queen in danger by coming here?”

“No. She is fine, trust me. The last thing I would do is put you or Queen in danger…”

“Where are your bodyguards?” She had just noticed they were alone in the car.

“In one of the other cars. I wanted us to be alone.”

“I really do miss you. Would you like to come in? It’s warmer in there.”

“I would rather not. We can warm each other up.” He said, pulling her towards him, his mouth seeking hers and kissing her with urgency and desperation, each second of the kiss offloading sadness.  

“Now I am hot…” She giggled when they stopped.

“Told you. Now we can talk without shivering with cold…”

 “What about?”

“Nothing in particular. Just stuff…I didn’t just come for a kiss, I have presented myself so you can ask me any question you may have, to give you another opportunity to pull out of my crazy scheme.”

“Well, forget about that latter one. I am not pulling out, but I may have a few questions…and perhaps a favour to ask.”

“Anything…”

Naliaka cleared her throat. Earlier when she had promised Julia to think of a way out for her, she had not expected to see Boss this soon. She was struggling with the right words, even having second thoughts about asking anything of him.

“This is so, so hard…”

“What is? Surely, the kind of secrets we have exchanged, nothing should be hard to say to each other…”

“Would you kill someone for me?” She blurted out.

“Are you joking?”

She shook her head. “No I am not.”

“Yes. Then it’s a yes, I would kill for you. But I am curious, and shocked. You are not a killer. I would by now know if you were – you just do not have it in you. What would someone have done to you to warrant that kind of hate? Who is it?”

Naliaka pulled her blanket closer to herself. “How does it feel to kill someone?” She whispered instead.

How did it feel like? He sat back against the car seat. He wanted to tell her the taste of the devil, that metallic taste that flooded his taste buds whenever he felt murderous, precedes all else.  

He thought about the first murder he committed. How utterly relieved he had felt as he drove the knife into Kimakia’s shoulder. How he had wanted to shout with joy when he cut off a piece of the repeatedly offending manhood. How orgasmic it had felt when Kimakia had finally finished the job that he, Boss, had started. How fascinated and strangely fascinated he had felt when the warm red liquid had come in contact with his fingers.

He thought about how he had killed the rapist gang. He had lured them to him, one by one, over a stretch of time, pretending to be selling weed to them but instead puncture their lungs with the knife given to him by Mato. How vindicated he had felt as he watched life and blood drain out their evil bodies. Somewhere along the way, he had lost count of the number of people he had killed. The ones he had ordered killed were even more.

Only one of his victims still haunted him because in his opinion, everyone else deserved it, had asked for it. He had just started stealing cars, him and one of the other street boys. He still had the rookie fear, perhaps too trigger happy. He had not intended to shoot anyone, but when the woman passenger had started screaming and punching, he had pulled the trigger. The trigger had gone through the woman’s throat, turning her screams into gurgles then silence.

Boss had paused in shock. His partner had ran off into the night, never to be see again. He had tried to run, his legs had refused to cooperate.  His knees had given way, he had sunk to the ground, against the front wheel, feeling the vibrations because the engine was still running. He had listened to the mourning husband. He mourned on behalf of their two children, over and over. Only when Boss had spotted headlights approaching from a distance did he crawl away, into the woods. He had spent the night and following day hidden in the same woods and only walked to town when darkness fell.

He thought about the greedy cop. Back then, he was still doing drug runs for Monde. He also used to be the one to give the street cops their cut, but there was a particular cop who kept robbing him, violently.

“One day, I will kill this fool. Why does he have to keep taking all my money?” He had complained to Monde, sitting by his wheelchair after having all his pockets turned inside out by the cop.  

“Be careful about killing cops. The rest of them will hunt you down and make minced meat out of you.”

“Then you may have to find someone else to do this. I cannot keep losing all my money to him. I am warning you.”

“You know, a little bird told me that he also takes a huge chunk off the other cops’ cut.”

“Greedy bastard. Why can’t they kill him then? Nobody will hunt them down…”

Two days later, Monde had a message from the greedy cop’s boss. “They said they don’t care if he dies or not. They are tired of him too…”

“Are you kidding me? Are you telling me I can kill him?”

“That’s what I am telling you. He is mincing from everyone including his colleagues. What is worse is he has severally threatened to rat on them whenever they challenge him. He has to go one way or another, it doesn’t matter if you will do it or they will.”

“So I can kill him?”  He asked with a smile

“You want me to say it in French? Don’t be stupid.”

A week later, the rogue cop’s body had been found near Gikomba Market inside a sack. A single stab wound through the liver had killed him.

And those were just the killings he was allowing himself to remember.

Back to his conversation with Naliaka. “Killing is definitely not for you Naliaka – it shouldn’t be for anyone. You have to live with the ghosts for life. Not for you…”

“I wish I could kill.” She whispered again.

“Why would you wish on something so stupid? Who do you want to kill, anyway?”

“Kaggai.”

He remembered Kaggai. “I could do that for you…no need to get your pretty hands dirty.” He chuckled, slightly amused of the discussion he was having with her. It did not suit her.

“Really? How?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to thank me for. The only thing I would need from you is information about him. Like, does he ever drink in town?”

“No he doesn’t. Also, he only takes women from Queen.”

“Okay. What can you tell me about him?”

“He is married. He hates his wife. She hates him more. The sister in law works for Queen – the big bubbly girl. She tells me his wife would like to kill him but she doesn’t have the guts, or the means. He is disgusting. He is very rich.”

“Why can’t she just divorce him if she hates him so much?”

“It’s always about money, isn’t it? She probably would not end up with the money.”

“Can’t she get a good lawyer?”

“He could afford a better one I guess…”

“Julia would also like to kill her husband…”

“Naliaka! Have you been telling people about me?” He asked in horror, grabbing her hands.

“No…I swear I haven’t told anyone except Queen, and she needed to know. It’s just stuff we talk about…”

He released her, willing himself to believe her. “Well, you all seem to be suddenly too interested in killing people. Killing is a not like slaughtering a chicken…”

Naliaka wanted to tell him she knew that, but also tell him that if she killed Kaggai a million times over, she would never feel guilty. She would feel like the saviour who saved many girls from him, she would feel like the special one who took revenge on behalf of all the women who had suffered under him.

“Anyway, he is very fat and lives a very unhealthy life. He looks like someone who could die of a heart attack soon…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am saying anything in particular, but sometimes you do not have to kill people, they just die…I need you to stop thinking about murdering people, please.”

She wished she could, but Julia was relying on her for her freedom, and the only way for her to have freedom would be to kill her husband.

And Kaggai.