CHAPTER NINETEEN - Nairobi Cocktail, The Sleaze

The phone alarm shrilled at six thirty AM waking Naliaka from a drowning dream. She snoozed it three times within thirty minutes before eventually forcing her eyes open but continued to lay on her back. Even without lifting it, she knew her head was heavy, the pain just waiting for the slightest movement to ignite. She had a hangover because she, Julia and Malaika had stayed up late, repeatedly raiding Queen’s drinks cellar, laughing about this and that, especially the part about Julia’s husband finding out about his wife’s and brother’s ten year long shenanigans behind his back.

Naliaka, keeping a safe distance from Julia, had narrated that part of the story with bated breath, afraid that Julia would hit the roof over the exposure, but Julia had laughed hard and long, a new kind of laughter that came with the joy of speaking to her son after ten years. Only after the laughter did Naliaka move closer to Julia. “If I do not have another payback, this will be enough.” Julia had finally said. “You awesomely malicious woman, hitting two birds with one stone. Who would have thought you had it in you? It is always the quiet ones you have to worry about.” They had clicked their glasses and continued laughing and drinking. Naliaka  had been the first to go to bed at one AM.

Now, with snail’s speed, Naliaka sat up against the headboard for a moment to let the brain settle. The only reason she was getting out of bed was Queen who had sounded strange on the phone and she, Naliaka, needed to know why. Slowly, she eased her legs out of the bed and let her feet sink into the thick soft bedside carpet. With half closed eyes and half the will to live, she dragged her feet to the bathroom.

From Queen’s medicine cabinet she got two painkillers, swallowed them with tap water then brushed her teeth as she studied her red eyes on the mirror, wondering when she had become a regular drinker, deciding she needed to get back to her teetotaller days. What she really wanted to do was fill Queen’s under-used Jacuzzi with water, dip herself in it for an hour. What she did was have a warm and long lukewarm shower. She felt better after, but only half better.   

She found all the eleven girls around the table having breakfast and chatting in low tones. They chorused a good morning. The painkillers had not worked fully and she smiled painfully and waved at them, taking the only available seat between Malaika and Julia.

“The best cure for hangover…” Malaika offered her usually unsolicited advice. “Is this…” She picked a half-full glass of wine from the table and gulped some, washing down the bacon she was chewing. 

“Are you mad? More alcohol? If I smell another drink for three years I will throw up.” She meant it.

“What you should worry about is that she thinks it is okay to eat bacon and wash it down with wine.” Julia said with an eye roll.

“Come on, try hair of the dog. It really helps…” Malaika urged.

“Hair of what?”

“…of the dog. Kufungua lock yaani. It just means having another drink to neutralise the previously taken drink. Dawa ya moto ni moto…”

“Or…” Julia cut in. “If you are a normal human being, pop down a couple of painkillers and wash them down with a lot of water.”

“Thank goodness someone is normal around here.”

“Why are you up so early, anyway? You do not have to work like the rest of us?” Malaika asked.

“I am going to see Queen.”

The whole table went quiet and turned to Naliaka, even those who were having cluster conversations.

“What do you mean? Where is she?”

Naliaka shrugged. “I don’t know. She is sending the driver to pick me up.”

“Perhaps she is in hospital…” Malaika suggested, digging out for a cigarette and holding it unlit between her fingers.

“Why would she be in hospital?”

Malaika shrugged with near nonchalance. “I don’t know…but she has this sickly look of late. I grew up with a lot of sick people around me and I know how they smell and look like…and she has lost weight.”

“She did tell us she was dieting…”

Malaika shrugged. “Yeah. That’s true. Perhaps you should also ask her why the client booking has gone down. Today I only have two…I am worried about my income…”

Naliaka did not know that, but when she looked around at the table, the other girls nodded at her. The rest of the breakfast was consumed in silence, thoughts collectively on Queen.

***

The drive took forty five minutes with Naliaka seated back-right, staring out of the window, thinking about the conversation during breakfast, trying to remember things she may have missed that could suggest Queen was unwell. She couldn’t think of one except the weight loss that Queen had explained, but Naliaka still felt selfish, that she may  have been so absorbed with her own issues and could have missed clues that were possibly staring at her in the face. The other possible clue was Queen’s absences, but then again that was nothing new as Queen was known to have episodes of long absences.

The hospital sign at the gate they pulled up to caught Naliaka off-guard. She jerked involuntarily, for a moment thinking, hoping, that she was hallucinating. 

“She’s at the hospital?”

The driver nodded, looking at her strangely through the rear-view mirror.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “But I have her room number. Here…” He handed her a piece of paper and hoped the driver did not notice how shaky her hands were. Suddenly, she felt nauseous. She burped an alcohol smelling burp. Her headache, one she had taken painkillers for, was back, so was the thin sweat.

On her walk to the hospital reception, up to the third floor room indicated on the paper, she started hoping that Queen was not the patient, that she was just there giving moral support to someone else – like a relative, or a friend, an unlikely thing because as far as Naliaka knew, Queen had no close relatives or friends, not ones she would spend long episodes in hospital supporting.

It was Queen in the hospital bed. Queen, without her wig, a visible bald head, face without a trace of makeup, or smile, or the hardness that often scared off people, looked extremely vulnerable. In one instant, Naliaka’s world crumbled. She howled and burst into tears. Queen, who was asleep when Naliaka walked in, woke up with a start and nearly dislodged the tubes going into her hands.

“Shhhhh….” Queen hushed, beckoning at Naliaka to approach. “Stop crying like a little girl.” That got Naliaka crying harder. “Come here and give me a hug…” Naliaka did and for ten minutes, sitting at the edge of the bed and buried in Queen’s ample bosom, she cried shamelessly.

When she finally sat up, her face was puffed and wet with a mix of tears, sweat and possibly snort. She picked a tissue from the side table and blew her nose, throwing it in the bin.

“There is a sink over there.” Queen pointed at the sink with her mouth. “Wash your face. You look as terrible as I do…”

Naliaka smiled and did as she was told. “What’s going on?” She asked when she returned to the bed, her face undried. She took another tissue and blew her nose noisily.

“Life. Life is going on…”

“Why are you here? Why do you have IVs? I saw you three days ago and you were fine…I thought you travelled…”

“Then let this count as travelling…”

“What is happening? Is it food poisoning?” One time, Naliaka had suffered food poisoning and ended up in hospital, tubes running into her because she had been badly dehydrated.

“I wish. I wish it was food poisoning…”

“Are you going to be okay?”

Queen shrugged. “Who knows…only God does.”

“You don’t believe in God…” Naliaka said accusingly.

“Says who? Anyway, when mortality looks so within touching distance, you start believing in anything that gives you hope, like God. The thought of hell scares the hell out of you…” Queen laughed. Naliaka did not.

“You are not dying though, are you?”

Queen shrugged. “Are we not all headed to six foot under? It’s just a matter of when. Only the angel of death can answer that question…”

“Stop talking nonsense…”

“Stop asking nonsense questions. I did not call you here to discuss my mortality. It is such a drag topic.”

“Why did you call me?”

“To tell you I am sorry…”

“What? Why?”

“For everything. For anything I might have done wrong. For anything I could have done differently.” Naliaka swallowed salty tears. “I could have done so much for you, Naliaka, but I threw you to the hyenas and the hyenas devoured you…”

Naliaka blew her nose again. She was not willing to lie and tell Queen that it was not true because they both knew it was, but she was not about to rub it in either.

“I could have turned you into a respectable member of the society. I lost my opportunity to do good for mankind …”

“That is not entirely true. I think you do great for a lot of women…”

Queen sneered. “By making money out of their vaginas?”

Naliaka shrugged in a near dismissive manner. When she was new at Queen’s, everything had been black and white; that Queen was a flesh peddling enabler, that prostitutes were the lowest of the society's low. She had assumed that like her, the other women were there by pure coercion. Not anymore. Many of the women who ended up with Queen confessed to being happiest they had ever been. Queen often received calls from women asking if they could join her. “The women come to you, willingly. They come because they know they can be safe with you…”

“Yeah, except you…”

“I…well, yeah. But it is different now. I am happy…”

“Because you have learned to be happy, not because I made you happy…”

“Well…debatable. I think you have been part of many of my happy moments…”

“…sad moments too…”

“Yeah…All in the past. Why are we talking about this? It is making me uncomfortable, especially when you are lying there with things attached to you…” Naliaka walked to the window. Looking out through windows often gave her clarity on pressing issues, like a lot of life’s answers were floating in the invisible air and all one had to do was look harder.

“Because, my dear Naliaka, I would feel better if you let it out…let out all the anger and bitterness you surely hold against me. You are a good girl with a great heart, but you are human. I feel like shit whenever you are so nice to me.”

Naliaka turned briefly to look at Queen. Her feelings towards Queen always tended to be intense. She often hated her with the same intensity as she loved her. The tendencies to hate had drastically reduced with time. Besides her hatred for Kaggai, her conflicted feelings towards Queen was one of the reasons she had left to start life on her own because one moment, she would be wishing Queen a painful death and the next day, she would be convinced she would be miserable without Queen. Then there were Queen’s open affections towards her that had made it hard to hate her. At first she had thought Queen treated all the girls the same but soon it was clear that the open affections were reserved just for her. She turned back to look through the window at the dreary weather.

“I wished you dead,” she said in a low tone. “I really wished you dead, often. Sometimes I wanted to kill you myself…” She paused, expecting Queen to interrupt. Queen was silent. When she turned to look at Queen, she expected to see a shocked face but Queen had no particular expression on her face. She nodded at Naliaka in encouragement. Naliaka turned back to the window. “That was a long time ago though.” She said and was sure she heard Queen sigh deeply. “That is no longer the case. Now, I have nothing but love for you. Perhaps I have learned to be positive and see the good side of life and that good side has you all over. You fed me, housed me, you hugged me when I needed a hug and even when I walked out on you. You still got my back. I honestly do not know where I would be without you…”

“Even though I could have taken you through school?” Queen asked in a whisper. That she did not educate Naliaka was her biggest regret.

Naliaka shrugged again. “Why should you have? It was not your prerogative. I was a stranger, not your relative. You could have, but you didn’t, but you still turned out to be the one person who has stood by me at my lowest moments. You still are…”

Queen finally let out a tear. “You really mean that?”

Naliaka nodded, walking back to Queen and kneeling beside the bed, taking her hand into hers, careful not to interfere with the tubes. “I really, really do. If there was anything to forgive, I already did, and that is from the bottom of my heart. You might have messed up at first, but you have more than made up for it and now I feel nothing but thankful. You opened my eyes to the harsh realities of this patriarchal society. Do you remember when you gave me the speech of men using me anyway, and it would be better if I had a say in how they would use me?” Queen nodded. She remembered the speech only too well. She could even remember what they both wore and where they were. It was the day she took Naliaka for her first shopping spree. When Naliaka could barely string two words together because she was too shy and grieved and confused by the death of her mother. “The times I have ignored that advice, I have been fleeced…” Naliaka laughed. Queen laughed.

“Thank you…”

“So when are you getting out of here?”

“Who said I am?”

“What? Why wouldn’t you? They are treating you for whatever, aren’t they?”

Queen shrugged and cringed with pain. The talk with Naliaka had drained her. “They are trying but…listen, let’s not talk about that right now. There is something else I need to talk to you about.”

Naliaka released Queen’s hands and sat on the bed, looking down at Queen. “I am listening…”

“The house. I want to close it.”

“What? Why? What happens to the girls?”

“That’s where you come in.”

“Me? Gosh…what is going on?” Naliaka stood up again but instead of going to the window, she started pacing up and down the room.

“I do not want to have a whore house anymore, at least I do not want to run it…I am asking you what you think we should do with the girls.”

“We? Like what? Where would they go if you kicked them out?”

“I do not want to kick anybody out, not until they are ready to walk…you could run the house if you wanted to, I know you can. I am not asking you to though, I am asking you what you think we should do.”

Naliaka thought of Malaika’s observations. “Erm…have you by any chance reduced the bookings?”

“More than that. I am not making any more bookings. The men who are still coming in had been booked already…”

“What? How will the girls earn their living?”

“They will get paid more or less what they were earning per month, but only for three months. After that, they are free to stay on. I am happy to keep feeding them but I cannot pay them. Also, they cannot bring men into the house...”

“Oh wow…this is…this is so confusing…”

“I know. I am too tired to come up with ideas so it is over to you. You do not have to give me an answer right now but, if you had such a house, if you did not want to kick the women out, what would you do?”

“Wow…this is so…sudden and huge. Everything…including you being here and talking like you are going to be here for long…”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. A nurse came in, carrying a tray with bottled water and pills in a saucer. She smiled and said good morning. Naliaka nodded and continued to watch in fascination as the nurse took Queen’s vitals, noting them down. She watched Queen accept what seemed like tens of pills form the nurse and swallowing them. By the time the nurse walked out, Naliaka was leaning on a wall and crying silently.

“Tell me about Kaggai and Julia’s husband…” Queen said in a sudden change of topic. She had been observing Naliaka, seen her realise the seriousness of the illness, the acceptance and the confusion. Her work was done. Naliaka was now ready to hear that Queen was suffering with the big C  but for now, she needed to distract her. 

Naliaka chuckled involuntarily in between tears. “That was almost funny. He is your friend though, Kaggai, I mean. Are you sure you are okay with what I did?”

Queen shrugged. “He is a sanctimonious bastard. I have no particular feelings of love towards him. He is a friend quote unquote because I have no other male friends and by virtue of him being the oldest customer I have. That does not change the fact that he is a creep.”

Naliaka chuckled again. “His brother?”

“Misogynist… it’s an unfortunate family they come from.”

“But what if they expose you? The house is illegal, isn’t it?”

“Let them try. I have interesting files on them.” Queen smiled. “But even if they did, they would not have any proof. The only records I keep are from the clients doing what they shouldn’t be doing…”

Naliaka gasped and covered her mouth with her palm. “Like, you have cameras in the rooms?”

“Don’t look at me like that! I only record their first day purely for insurance, not entertainment.”

“Have you ever recorded me?”

Queen nodded. “Of course…but I destroyed yours…”

“Wow…I don’t know what to say…”

“You can call me sleaze if you like. I know I am, but I am in a sleazy business so it comes with the territory.”

 “The police could raid the house though…”

“And find what? Many women together? That is hardly illegal. I could just be giving them shelter…”

Naliaka shot up so fast, shocking Queen and nearly sending her off the bed.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s it! We could turn it into a rescue centre for women…”

Queen smiled. “Now you are talking.” All along, Queen had been steering the conversation to this. It was an idea that she had been flirting with since she decided running a whore house was no longer her forte. Rescue the same women but in a different way. “See? See why I love you? Now, your homework will be to work out how it would work. How the women would earn their living. How …”

Naliaka’s phone shrilled in her pocket. She fished it out, hoping to see Boss; number. She had not spoken to him since last night. It was not Boss. She frowned.

“Boyfriend?” Queen asked.

“No…Julia’s son. I don’t know why he is calling me while he now has Julia’s number…” She picked the call. “Jamie?”

 “Naliaka…sorry…I…I didn’t know how to tell mom. Please tell her that both dad and uncle Kaggai are both dead…”

Naliaka’s phone dropped noisily, hitting the floor. Before she started shaking violently and hitting her head on something hard, she saw the phone screen shattered and for a nano-second thought about Samuel who had gifted her that phone. Queen screamed and pressed the emergency bell on her bedside. By the time the nurse who had been there earlier walked in, followed by another, Naliaka was out cold on the floor, next to her shattered phone.

***

Six thirty AM, Globe Roundabout. 

It was foggy and drizzling and darker than it should have been at that time of the morning. A tall, lone figure covering herself with an umbrella, wearing a trench coat over skinny jeans tucked inside a pair of brown leather boots walked in quick and deliberate steps from Ngaara to Kirinyaga Road. The drizzles had enough water power to form small tributaries on the tarmac. Once in a while, vehicles ran over the tributaries, sprinkling the water to twenty different directions. The same tributaries would re-form immediately.

She was an hour earlier than her usual time and it was no wonder she was nearly alone on the walk. Or perhaps, she thought, it was because of the rain and not everyone loved walking in the rain like she did. Globe Roundabout was popular with thugs, Samuel had all sorts of stories about things that happened around Globe roundabout. Lone walkers avoided the route. Not Kerubo. She had confidence in her fighting skills and if they were not enough, she could always shoot them. She had never had to test her combat skills or her sharp shooter skills and she was confident the resident thugs were now too familiar with her to bother her.

She stopped a few metres from the shed to catch her breath and to watch Samuel.

He lay on the hard, metal seat under the shed, his mattress was a carton. She could see his body rising up and down in regular breathing. He was deeply asleep. He was covered head to toe by a blanket, but Kerubo still felt uncomfortable on his behalf. Over the years, she had made peace with Samuel’s choice of lifestyle, often took it for granted because she had no doubt that it was a choice. A wealthy person’s choice to live like a pauper for three weeks of his every month. Once in a while though, like now, just when less than an hour ago she had woken up in a comfortable and warm bed and had a hot shower, she wondered and worried about his choice.

What was his drive, his determination to live in such discomfort when he could live like a king anywhere in the country? Possibly the world? His determination to sleep out here, in the cold, under harsh night weather conditions while he could afford the most expensive vodka to keep his insides warm from some balcony in the Maldives. In a sudden movement, Samuel uncovered himself and sat up.

Kerubo chuckled involuntarily. “Did you feel me watching you?”

Samuel yawned and stretched his arms. “Of course I did. I have animal instincts, remember?” He swung his legs down. “Good morning…you look wet and ready to eat.” He winked. The reason he had woken up had nothing to do with feeling Kerubo’s eyes on him but a graphic sex dream about the two of them. She had had kicked his balls for a reason he could not remember.  

 “Shut up…” She rolled her eyes and walked towards him.

“What’s your problem?” He asked, adjusting himself on the cold metal seat. “A moment ago you almost looked like you felt sorry for me…”

She smiled, handing him a bag that had his breakfast. Tea, two sausages and toast. “I actually do. Are you really okay doing this?”

“What? Sleeping on the streets? Easy peasy…besides, what else is there to do with my life?” He accepted wet wipes from her.

“So this is merely out of boredom?”

He shrugged, pouring the steaming hot tea in a plastic cup. “You could say that…”

“Or perhaps you are just running from something?”

“Like what, oh dear shrink?” He took a bite that took off half his sausage.

“Like happiness?”

“Don’t be daft. I am happy right here.”

“Liar. This is abnormal. When you are here on the streets, you have no responsibility to yourself. But when I looked at you a moment ago, I couldn’t help thinking how dumb all this is. You should consider quitting…”

“And do what?”

“Anything that does not involve living on the streets.”

He chewed thoughtfully before talking. “Well, your wish for me may come true if this thing blows up, which it will. Our covers will be blown and we may both be jobless for a while. Have you thought about what you would like to do?”

Kerubo shrugged. She had. “I think I will retire to Nyeri and farm. It would be awesome to wake up and look at Mount Kenya every morning…”

He sniggered. “You don’t have enough money to retire.”

She sniggered. “Money is not everything, but I guess you wouldn’t know that seeing you are wealthy.”

“Trust me, I know money is not everything, otherwise I wouldn’t be here on the streets. Anyway, why Nyeri?”

“Well, it would appear that I inherited land in Nyeri. The Kamaus left their Nyeri land to me…”

“Oh, wow. And the kids are alright with that?”

“I don’t think they have any use of it seeing they all live in America. Besides, there is enough land for everyone.”

“There is never enough land for some people. Is it in writing?”

“It is. Joe gave me a copy of the will last night.”

“You saw him last night?”

“Mh-h. Went to dinner with him. I took Selina with me.” She said and giggled.

“What?”

“It was love at first sight for them. Let’s just say I left them there…”

“Are you kidding? And you are okay with that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she snapped, feeling defensive. “Anyway, I wasn’t drinking because I was expecting to be summoned to shoot someone anytime. They were both drinking and I didn’t want to be the party pooper. So I faked a headache and called a taxi.”

“Right. Anyway, why are you in so early?”

“Because I wanted to find out if anything happened.”

Samuel shook his head. “Nothing. Zilch. I walked that way several times and nothing except for a few street boys, and we know those ones are Boss’ toy soldiers. It’s weird…”

“Very. I found a text from Onyango though. ‘enemy appears to have been neutralised’ it said.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

Kerubo shrugged. “Perhaps the enemy is regrouping. We cannot relax. You know, I feel like this thing should just blow up already. I hate waiting for something to happen, something that may or not happen. It is stressful…”

“I know what you mean.”

***

That Boss managed to catch several decent hours of sleep pleasantly surprised him. Even the nightmares that had been shadowing his dreams for days were absent. That he had taken copious amounts of alcohol and woken up without ahangover was a sign for good things ahead, at least he hoped so. He woke up at ten AM and because he did not want to take chances with delayed hangover decided to prepare an elaborate and greasy breakfast. He had the appetite and he had time because there was nothing particularly planned for the day.

As he beat the eggs, as he cut the onions, tomatoes and hoho, as he separated the bacon, as he defrosted two sausages and warmed ugali in the microwave, as he boiled water and milk to make tea, he thought about his jaded life, one that had so far involved chasing rainbows and running from the bogey man. All he had ever wanted was to be happy, happiness had been constantly elusive and when available it was in small bursts, like chewing gum that lost its taste in minutes, leaving a flat taste that did nothing to excite the taste buds. He was tired of running from invisible enemies. Of looking over his shoulder. Of being the absolute bad guy.

He thought about his childhood, something he hated doing because the top memory was the rape by Kimakia, may his soul rest in eternal hell. Thinking about it always made him clench his buttocks. As he thought about it now, he clenched his buttocks and cussed when he cut his finger. It was a superficial cut, he sucked the blood and swallowed it before putting pressure on the graze for a minute. 

He thought about his dream of getting a good job in industrial area all those years ago, about the drugging and the mugging and the gang rape that had quickly turned his life upside down and all ways. He thought about Mato and only realised he was crying when he tasted the tears. He blamed the tears on the onions he was slicing. He thought about his short career as a Monde’s drug mule, thought about Monde’s death. How Monde had been his stepping stone to being the all-powerful crime boss. Monde had been the stepping stone to power and riches for Boss. One day, he thought as he resumed slicing the onions, he would (hopefully) tell his grandchildren about how he became a crime boss. 

With a smile, he thought about Naliaka, the best thing to have happened to him since Mato. He frowned as he started beating the eggs, worried that it may not be a happily ever after with Naliaka, and for two reasons. One, that  he may not live long enough and if he did, he may never be able to make her truly his because, how would he do that if he could not do the most basic thing?

If he survived and couldn’t make Naliaka his woman, he would resign himself to a life of celibacy. He could not imagine being open to another woman the way he had been open to Naliaka. He could not imagine another woman succeeding where Naliaka had failed.

***

Cecilia pitched station at her usual spot at nine AM. She looked across the street and spotted Samuel sitting alone, pretending to be asleep. There was no trace of a watcher. Not that she was expecting to see anyone because earlier on her way, she had spoken to both Onyango and Kerubo and she already knew there would be no watcher.

“Does that mean I should not report?” She had asked Onyango.

“No. If we withdraw you so soon after, they will put two and two together. We have to let them think you were just a coincidence. Give it a few more weeks until we are sure…"

And so, with her coriander and hoho and tomatoes and onions and lemons and a gun, she sat down, mentally prepared to be bored out of her mind but open to street excitement. In the few days she had been around, she had managed to make a few friends. Perhaps today would be a good day to ask seemingly innocent questions.

All day, there was no sighting of Boss and by the time Boss left the building in a hurry, Cecilia was long gone, having run out of stuff to sell. Samuel was also not there and did not see Boss leaving, having walked to the other end of the street.

***

Selina walked into the shop, red-eyed, wearing clothes Kerubo did not recognise and looking a tad embarrassed. She paused at the door and glared at Kerubo. In return, Kerubo giggled before bursting into laughter. “You are glowing. Busy night?”

Selina grunted and entered the shop. She did not talk until she was standing next to Kerubo, first elbowing her softly. “I have never had sex on the first date…” she whispered to Kerubo, covering her mouth in embarrassment.

Kerubo gasped in genuine shock but recovered quickly to answer with wit. “You still hold the record. That was not really a date, was it?” She had been set on hooking up Selina and Joe but that it actually happened still came as a shock.

 “I feel so naughty…” Selina was covering her face with her palms. “He had to have the hotel boutique open earlier than usual to get me these clothes…”

“You lose woman!” Kerubo giggled and playfully poked Selina’s shoulder with a finger. “You have matured.” What she wanted to ask was if Joe had told her that the night before she, Naliaka, had slept in the same bed.

“He is a beast.” Selina declared. “I want him for keeps, but only if he promises to keep his game up…”

“He is leaving tonight…”

“No he is not. He postponed the flight by a week!”

Kerubo gasped. “What! Why?”

“You wouldn’t know this, but I am a pretty amazing woman in and out of bed.” She bent closer to Kerubo. “I am moving into his hotel room for the week.” She whispered. Kerubo gasped again. “He is also coming to pick me up at lunch time to take me to see Kamau…”

“Goodness! You guys move fast…I need time to catch up.” Kerubo felt more jealousy than shock. Jealous that it seemed so easy for everyone but her to just get together and make such grand plans while all she successfully managed with one night stands. Then again, she was good at sabotaging herself and how she had treated Joe was a typical example of how she treated men who were not Samuel.

“Life moves fast, you have to move with its speed. He loves you by the way.”

Kerubo gasped again. “What do you mean?” she was searching Selina’s eyes.

“Stop looking so shocked. He watched you grow up. He told me you are the little sister he never had…”

“Oh…that’s true. We just didn’t spend enough time together…”

“He told me that too. Told me you were a cagey little thing…”

“Ah…ah! What else did he tell you about me?”

“Oh, not much. Just that he loves you and wished you happiness…”

“Right…all the best to the two of you.” And she meant it. Jealousy couldn’t stope her from being happy for Selina. If she couldn’t be happy in a relationship, she could afford to be happy for people getting into relationships, long or short terms. She just hoped their one night affair would remain buried forever. “So, you are going to see Kamau today?”

Selina’s face brightened up more. “Yes. He called me a few minutes ago. His office is on Ngong Road…”

“Oh. Where does he work?”

“He is a manager of some car yard…I told you he sells cars, I just did not know he got promoted to manager.”

Car yard. Would that be where the stolen cars ended up?

“This is awesome news. I wish I could come with you…”

“Why don’t you?”

“Because, for starters, somebody needs to man the counter so we both cannot disappear and secondly, I do not like being a third wheel…”

“Is that why you faked a headache last night?”

“I did not. You guys were giving me a headache with all the lovey-dovey behaviour. It was disgusting…”

Selina giggled as she walked away. “Gosh! You can be such a prude.”

***

Besides feeling like an imposter, Kamau was extremely nervous. Enough times, he had been to this particular car yard on Ngong Road to run errands for Boss. Sometimes he stayed around, admiring the cars, wondering if he would one day steal the same cars once they were sold. A couple of times he attempted to be a salesman. He was not good with sucking up and no wonder he never made any sale.

Today he came in wearing not his usual jeans and a tee-shirt but in a suit, shirt, tie and leather shoes, all of them bought earlier that morning. The tie was strangling him even though it was loosened. The leather shoes felt too hard to his sneaker feet and they were pressing on his feet and he hated how they looked. The suit and shirt, as well as they fit on him, made him feel ridiculous.

That Oti was laughing at him as he sat across the table did not make it any better.

“Keep laughing like that and I will shoot your stupid mouth!” Kamau threatened Oti but it only made Oti laugh louder. They were in a disused office, one kept aside for Boss for when he visited, which was about once a year for five minutes. The office was wiped and dusted every day. The only thing Kamau had brought with him to complete the look of a legitimate office was the laptop. He had also called Oti to accompany him for moral support, but also because he was trying to repair his relationship with Oti.

Today, Kamau had not tried to boss Oti. Instead, he had spoken to him like a friend, like he used to speak to him not more than a week ago – like an equal, a friend. It had worked because Oti was relaxed and laughing.

“You look ridiculous…” Oti said in between laughter.

Earlier on when Oti had entered the car beside Kamau, he had been nervous because he had not known why he had been summoned but the moment he saw Kamau dressed in a suit, all his nervous had disappeared, quickly replaced by chuckles and laughter.

“What the hell is going on? Why are you looking like that?” Oti had asked between laughter.

“Family business…”

“What family business needs you to look like that?”

And Kamau had explained.

“So why am I coming?”

“You will be the guy I send around for errands. You will make coffee and stuff like that…quite honestly, I just need a familiar face, and you came to mind.

“Anything you ask, I am at your service.” Oti had answered, immediately understanding Kamau's olive branch gesture.

Hours later, Oti was still amused and unable to stop taking digs at Kamau.

“What time is she coming? I need to get the coffee ready…”

Kamau grunted. “Can you even boil water, leave alone preparing coffee? I wouldn’t trust anything you cooked. Bound to give me a bad tummy…”

“Your loss. What time is she coming?”

Kamau looked at his watch. It was twelve forty five PM. “In about fifteen minutes…”

“I got you.”

Kamau nodded. “I know. Thank you.” He took a deep breath. “And Oti, sorry about…you know... Things happened too fast and it was hard to think straight…I got your back.”

Oti studied his friend long and hard before answering. “You got me very worried, man! Thank you. I got you too. I have never had a friend in my life. You are my first friend and …it was …” Oti choked, unable to finish his sentence.

Kamau gestured at him. “I know what you mean. We are good now…I would like you to stick close to me, like a confidant but please, do not let me down. Please. I am doing this without consulting Boss first so you have to behave so I can convince him that you are worth it.”

Oti made a mock salute. “I swear you can trust me."

"Evey person in power needs someone to confide in...”

“Except Boss… and he is weird, you are not…”

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Kamau snapped, looking around the room like he was looking for microphones. “Don’t…” He whispered.

“Sorry.”

“I know what you mean though. I am lucky to have you as that person…”

The two men nodded at one another in a silent pact.

***

 They were at the front of the queue of the traffic lights. The red counter was at 57 seconds going down when Joe took Selina’s right hand into his left one and squeezed it. “Marry me.” He said casually without looking at her.

Selina, in the middle of literally pouring water from a bottle into her mouth with her left hand, paused. A few seconds ago, she had worried about alcohol breath in her mouth and what Kamau would think if he smelled it. Within seconds, that thought had been rendered insignificant.

Slowly and carefully, she turned to look at him, bending a little forward so she could look at his eyes, but his eyes were behind sunglasses, his mouth curved into a smile. “What did you say?” It was a gurgled question, like she was talking with toothpaste in her mouth. She had not swallowed the water and was afraid to, in case the shock of what she thought she heard made her choke.

“I said, marry me.” This time, he lifted his sunglasses to his forehead and looked at her. The counter was at 29 seconds.

Selina spluttered the water that ended up on the windscreen ahead. “The hell? It’s not even a funny joke!” she squeaked and started wiping the windscreen with her sleeve, leaving circular smudges.

“Who said it is a joke?” Joe asked, reaching for her hand but she pulled it away. “I want to marry you. Today. Tomorrow…as soon as possible.”

“I think I am going to throw up!” She declared, going ahead and doing it on the tarmac through the window, glad that there was nothing but water in her stomach. The counter hit zero and Joe drove on in total silence. Several times she stole glances at him and found him smiling, nodding his head to the soft music playing on the car stereo. When they arrived at the address, Joe reached out for her hand, squeezed it then bent close to her and whispered, “I am serious.” He planted a kiss on her ear. “Good luck with your brother.”

With sweaty hands and shaky feet, Selina stepped out of the car and leaned on the door for a few seconds. She was nervous, and not because she was about to see, for the first time where her brother worked, not because she was about to prove her father (and the rest of the family including herself) wrong about Kamau, but because of Joe’s ridiculous proposal.

It had just been over twelve hours since Kerubo introduced them. Now he was playing with her emotions by proposing. As she shook off the nerves, she decided she would be using public transport on the way back and she would have a talk with Kerubo about her insensitive brother.

She paused at the entrance of the car yard and studied rows upon rows of vehicles. She did not own a car, her salary did not offer prospects of owning one any time soon, but she loved cars and less than a year ago she had passed her driving test. Perhaps, she thought, if she agreed to marry Joe, she could finally own a car. “Selina!” She told herself. “Your mother raised you better!”

There were tens of vehicles, different makes and colours and designs. There were two men leaning on one of the vehicles, ones she assumed were salesmen. She waved at them and walked on. The only structure was a large container she assumed was the office because there were no other structures. There were two doors. She paused in front of the container indecisively. She was about to knock on one door when somebody emerged from the other door and called her name.

“Selina?” She peered at him. He seemed like he was trying to smile at her but it looked more like a grimace. She smiled back and nodded. “Mr Kamau is in here…”

“Thank you.” Oti stepped aside to let her pass.

She found Kamau sitting on the wooden table, nervously smiling at her. “Selina…so good to see you.”

She smiled and approached him, giving him a long hug. “Since when did you start wearing suits?” She asked when he released her. She did not realise she was crying until Kamau used his thumbs to wipe off her tears.

“Comes with the job.” He said, pulling a seat for her then took the one opposite. “I really miss you, you know…” Oti had disappeared, leaving them alone.

Selina studied her brother across the table, hand on her chin. She missed him. They were many siblings but somehow, they were closer to each other than they were with all the other eight siblings. Kamau was the first born while Selina was born first among the girls. They were best friends, often conspired against their parents or other siblings as well as against the world, until Kamau started changing.

It had been a slow change. He had started by disappearing for too long. Then he became a scarce sight at day time. Then he started having unexplained sporadic wealth.  He had stopped looking at people straight in the eye. Then the rumours about his dark activities started circulating in the estate. That was when he had moved farther from the family.

“What happened to us?’ she asked with a deep sigh.

Kamau shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess people change…” He was looking beyond her.

“But why? You just…you just stopped being you…”

Kamau shrugged. “Life can change you. You are not the same person you were five years ago…”

I am not the same person I was less than twelve hours ago, she thought. “But siblings should not change. Look, you and I have always been straight with each other so I will not beat around the bush. Are you a criminal?”

Kamau chuckled, looking beyond his sister again and wondering why Oti was taking too long with the coffee. “Does this look like a criminal activity to you?” His inside was in turmoil but on the outside, he was calm and smiley and even managed to look hurt by the question.

Selina turned around and looked outside at the cars. “Well, no…but the rumours…”

“So you would rather believe rumours than me?”

“No!” It was a guilty no. “No…it’s…so, you want to tell me that you have never done anything criminal?” She challenged, more to hide her guilt about believing rumours over him.

Kamau shook his head. “Selina, do not be naïve. I challenge you to bring me a man who has never done a shady deal in his life. We cut deals left right and centre to survive, or to improve our income…I am sure you have done the same. Now, if you are asking me if I have never cut a deal in my life, the answer is no. I cut deals all the time. I am as criminal as the next person…look, can we talk about something else? I feel like I am in a court of law. How is dad?”

Selina sat up in relief, glad she did not have to talk about crime. She believed her brother.

“Dad is not well. I think they sent him home so he could die there…”

“Who is looking after him?”

“A nurse…the money you keep sending me is helping a lot…he is a lot of pain so they sedate him a lot, but he is as comfortable as he is every going to be.”

“Is he not wondering where the money is coming from?”

Selina shrugged. “He is too sick to care.”

Kamau reached for his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. Among several cards, he selected one and handed it to Selina. “Here…take this. It has a lot of money in it. Please do not hesitate to use it for dad, or for other needs for that matter...”

Selina hesitated. “How much is in there?”

“I am not sure, but it is a lot. You can check balance…”

She took the card. “So you really are not a criminal?”

“I thought we went through all that! I am as criminal as the next guy…”

“I am getting married…” For many years, Selina would wonder why she had blurted out that piece of information.

“What? That is great! Who is the lucky guy?”

“His name is Joe. He lives in America…”

“Oh. You are moving to America?”

“We haven’t discussed that yet…”

“I hope you do not. I want you around…so, when is the wedding?”

“We haven’t decided that either. He is outside waiting for me. Let’s all go for lunch…”

“Why not?” Kamau said enthusiastically, happy to get out of the office that was slowly closing in on him, wishing he could get out of the suit as well. “Oti was supposed to get us some coffee but clearly we shall have dry bones as we wait. Come on, let’s go…”

Oti was just coming in with a tray when Selina opened the door.

“Sir, are you going already?”

“Sorry Oti. I will have the tea when I return. My sister and I are going for lunch. Please wait for me, we need to go through a few things. Try and sell some cars, will you?”

“Yes boss…”

Oti, still holding his the tray and standing by the door, looked at Kamau and his sister as they walked away, Kamau’s shoulder on Selina, the two sharing a joke, Selina laughing and throwing back her head. For the first time in a long time he thought of his own siblings and wished he made more effort in connecting with them. He had no memory of every sharing a joke with any of them.

He sighed and entered the office, occupying the same seat Kamau just vacated and poured himself a cup of coffee.

***

Joe saw the two siblings approach and came out of the car to greet them, his figure towering over both of them. With a nervous smile, he stretched his hand to Kamau, taking in the resemblance between them. “So good to meet you.”

Kamau took a few seconds to answer, using the seconds to study the man who was about to become his brother in law, immediately deciding he liked him. “Good to meet you too. I hear you are about to become my brother in law…”

Selina coughed. Joe’s face broke into a wide grin. “I am indeed.” He pulled a shy Selina towards him, placing his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it.

“This then calls for a good celebration. Come on, lunch on me…”

“Absolutely not. Lunch is on me. I cannot be seen to be a man who cannot pay his bills…”

They all laughed. “Alright. But we use my car…” Kamau said firmly, signalling a man standing beside his big car. He took the front passenger seat as the lovers sat at the back.

A few metres away was another big car similar to Kamau’s but black in colour. The darkened windows kept the three men inside from view, but they could see everything going on around them. They were watching the group of three. As soon as Kamau’s group drove off, two of the men came out of the car and headed straight into the car yard.

Oti saw them first and nearly fell down as he vacated the seat, spilling some of the coffee on the table. He used his tee-shirt to wipe the table then picked the tray, coming face to face with Boss and one other man. A bodyguard, Oti decided.

“Boss. Welcome…”

Boss looked at Oti in a moment of confusion before nodding. “Oh, hello there. You are still working here I see?”

“Sir?” Oti asked in confusion. Only yesterday he was with Boss in the same room. For a moment, Oti lost his respect for Boss.

“Who else is here?”

Oti nodded towards the gate. “Kamau has just left with his sister, but there are two men in the next office…”

“Right. Where has Kamau gone?”

“I don’t know, sir.” A feeling to defend Kamau just kicked in. Already, Oti was regretting why he mentioned Kamau and his sister but as far as he was concerned, Boss and Kamau were close enough to know about each other’s movements. Looking at Boss, he was not so sure anymore. Perhaps, like in politics, there were no permanent enemies and no permanent friends.

“Right. I need to be updated on the account books. Who can do that?”

Oti tensed then pointed to the next office. Boss huffed and walked into the office. Oti was left, still holding on the tray, staring at the door that Boss disappeared into.

***

Kirinyaga Road was eerily quiet. There may have been no action but the nerves on everybody involved in Boss-gate were tangible.

The only exciting thing that happened in Kerubo’s day was when Selina called her at four PM to tell her that she just got engaged to Joe. Kerubo laughed, dismissing her friend because she was obviously drunk.

Mwenda Samuel was equally bored. He decided to use the downtime to ponder on his earlier conversation with Kerubo about his reasons for being on the streets. After all this was over, he decided he would take a long drive around the country, hopefully with Kerubo. He would take time to face his devils. The streets were a good escape for him but Kerubo was right, he could not do it forever. At some point, he needed a hustle he liked enough but one that would keep him indoors. Perhaps he would talk to Onyango and ask for a deployment.

Cecelia was out of vegetables by three PM. As she was gathering her sack and kiondo to go home, she was thinking, with amusement, how vegetable hawking could actually be something she could do if she was after income. She was making money, surprisingly a good amount. She had a new respect for people who sold their wares on the streets.

***

Boss, looking flustered, walked into the hospital room where Naliaka was. She was asleep, her chest was moving in regular up and down movements. He studied her face, looking so peaceful and beautiful, nothing to show she had just had a concussion.  He resisted the temptation to wake her up and instead walked to the next room where Queen was.

He found Queen sitting up, looking worried. She sat up straighter when Boss walked in.

“How is she?”

“She looks fine.” He answered, shutting the door behind him. He sat on the bed, facing Queen. “What happened?”

Queen shook her head. “I don’t know. She received a call. The next thing she went down and hit her head on the edge of the bed.” Queen cringed as she pointed at the part where Naliaka had hit.

“Who called her?”

“Julia’s son…Julia is…”

“Yeah, I know who Julia is. Where is the phone?”

Queen turned to the bedside table. “It’s totally broken. No way to get the number…”

“You have Julia’s number though?”

Queen nodded. Earlier she had come this close to calling Julia to ask if she knew what was happening but had changed her mind. Whatever it was, was bad news and she did not want to have another casualty in Julia. Besides, the doctor had said Naliaka would be fine in a few hours. She told Boss as much.

“Makes sense. I guess the thing to do is wait for her to wake up…how did you get my number, anyway?” It was Queen who had made a frantic call to Boss. At first, three of her calls had gone unanswered. She had texted him and when she called the fourth time, he had answered.

"I demanded it from Naliaka when she brought you home on my birthday. I need to know numbers of people she is closely associated with..."

Boss smiled. "I am glad you have it. Why are you here anyway?" Boss asked, looking at the tubes questioningly. "Naliaka never told me you were unwell..."

"That's because she did not know, until today. Listen, I am dying..."

"The heck!"

"I am, as we all will eventually so stop looking so traumatised." Queen's attempt to joke worked on Boss. He gave her a half smile. "That girl means everything to me. Please, take care of her..."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Cancer. Advanced enough to make me call hell in advance to ask if they have the presidential suite..." Queen giggled. Boss shook his head and wondered if he could afford to joke about death if it was as imminent.

“What's your intention with Naliaka?”

Boss studied Queen as he pondered the question. He knew what his intention with Naliaka was but he also knew he was not equipped to carry through the intention. In the end, just before a nurse walked in to tell them that Naliaka was awake, he said “It really is up to her. I know what I want, but she may be after something different. Whatever she wants, she will always hold a special place in my heart.”

***

The Inspector had spent a terrible twenty four hours both at home and at work. He had considered escaping to his girlfriend’s but the humiliation of the day had taken away his energy. The same zero energy had stopped him from questioning his wife about her whereabouts when Boss’s boys took her. That, plus he was also afraid that she may tell him the truth. He knew the truth but it was another thing hearing it from her. He knew his wife paid men to sleep with her, he knew where she went and the days she went but for her efforts to keep it from him, for his guilt of not having sex with her, he had let her be.

After his hospital session with Watcher Two the previous day, he had driven straight home. He had found his wife alone, no trace of children. He had guessed that she had taken them to her sister’s house, perhaps in anticipation of a fight between the two of them. Either she had not heard him come in or she had simply ignored him, but for a minute or so, he had stood leaning on the kitchen door, watching her buttocks shake in rhythm as she made ugali.

She had then paused her ugali pounding and turned to look at him with a flat expression, or perhaps that was hate on her face, or even fear, then she had resumed the pounding without a word. He had gone to the bedroom, showered and gone straight to bed on an empty stomach but had spent the whole night listening to his tummy rumbling and his wife’s snoring and his thoughts.

How she could sleep after such an ordeal was a mystery to him but then again, she was probably suffering effects of what they had drugged her with. At four AM he was out of the house, arriving in the office three hours earlier than usual. He sat behind his desk, mostly staring at nothing, plotting and un-plotting, scratching his head and beard he had forgotten to shave in his hurry to leave the house before his wife woke up.

At eight AM, he had walked to the police canteen and had a breakfast of two mandazis, two sausages and tea. It was on his way back that he bumped into Judas talking to another officer. “Would you please come to my office when you are done here?”

“Sir, you called me?” Judas asked, standing to attention at the door.

“Come in. Shut the door and sit down.”

Judas did.

“What the hell happened yesterday?” It was not a demand, rather an appeal from somebody who was totally confused. For a moment, Judas felt sorry for his senior, thinking that no man in authority deserved such humiliation, but then again, he had gone to look for it, actively. He had been warned but ego had been his drive to near destruction.

“About what, afande?”

“Please, don’t take me for an idiot.”

Judas shrugged. “I really do not know what you are talking about.”

Inspector sighed in frustration, running a hand over his face. “Alright. I get it. I get that I have not been cooperative, but I think you are making a mistake supporting this...this..this Boss. We in authority should stick together. That guy is a criminal. You cannot collude with criminals against your own…”

Judas stared at his boss unblinkingly, fighting the temptation to laugh.

“You people will regret this. I promise you that…” Inspector declared, unable to hold his pleading attitude.

“We have nothing to regret, sir. At least not I. I do not know anything…”

“You think you have your tracks covered but I will find a crack somewhere. Somehow. That’s a promise…”

“Can I go, sir?”

“Get out.”

Judas walked out, thinking if looks were bullets, he would have been shot from the back. He needed to speak to another boss of his and tell him that war had just been declared.

***

Inspector, driven by dented ego and desire to avenge for the same dented ego, spent the day making calls to his cronies, officers he had worked with in other stations. If he could not use the resources available, he would out-source. By evening, his dignity and confidence had been repaired some and to celebrate, he decided to stop by his favourite beer joint on Waiyaki. It was past seven PM when he parked his car in the car-crowded parking lot.

The parking lot was lit, but only by distant lights from surrounding buildings. He locked the car and as he turned to walk away, he came face to face with a man taller than him. He had time to wonder how such heavy weight had approached so quietly. He went for his gun but another hand had already dislodged it from his waistline. He turned and came face to face with another man just as tall. He started sweating profusely.

“Relax inspector. We don’t mean you harm, unless we have to. Just walk with us. We will not take much of your time.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not really, but you could choose to walk peacefully or otherwise…”

He walked, trapped between the two men. He could hear his heartbeat.