Boss Takes All

by Carl Hancock

  ‘So why can I feel no hate?’

  ‘Because you love them!’

  During the long silence the followed, Sonya left her seat to walk around the platform surrounding the table. She peered down into each face in turn.

  ‘Perhaps I am blind, but I see no murderers here. Their faces remind me of my three when they are in a peaceful sleep.’

  ‘When deep pain comes, sometimes, if your mind is strong, it creates in your heart a wellspring of joy.’

  ‘What will happen to these two when they return to themselves?’

  ‘Paul has asked me to call him when I think the time comes. You know that he is a compassionate man, but he is also one who has a passion for justice. If you had seen poor Simon when Bertie brought him back to Londiani …’

  ‘But the law says that, for what they did, they could hang. Perhaps Gareth was right. We should have let them go when they were unconscious.’

  ‘No, Sonya. We must hear them before they go to the court.’

  ‘If Rubai knew that they were in the house next door!’

  * * *

  ‘My name is Elias and that is my brother Samuel. The other person with us was Saul, our youngest. Our mother was crazy for the Bible, like many poor women in this country. Tell me, where are my clothes, our suits? The boss had us measured for them specially.’

  ‘Elias, your clothes are safe. You have had a serious operation. Loose clothing will be more comfortable.’

  ‘Is this a hospital?’

  ‘Almost.’

  ‘And you are a doctor?’

  ‘No. My name is Paul. I’m a friend of the family.’

  ‘A family lives in a hospital? Is Samuel going to die?’

  ‘Not at all. You know what sedated means?’

  ‘Like when you are on something. My head is not staying in one place. Is Saul somewhere in this hospital?’

  Paul hesitated briefly. ‘No, Saul is dead. You remember the accident?’

  ‘I thought so. It is my fault. He is not the best driver. Too wild. This thing will hurt our mother very much. He was her baby.’

  ‘Elias, we must wait for your brother to wake up. We’ll have a talk together.’

  ‘So you are a cop? The boss has told us what to do if we ever get picked up by you people.’

  ‘I am not a cop. And this lady is my sister, Maria. And standing by your brother, Sonya, one of the doctors who saved your life.’

  Maria explained some practical details. ‘Some comfortable chairs are being brought. And some food and drink.’

  ‘You mean a Tusker?’

  ‘Not quite yet. Your bodies are weak. This drink will have the vitamins you need.’

  ‘So where is the catch, lady? Listen, my head feels like it’s been hit by some big piece of wood, but the old brain is still working. I won’t say nothing, drink nothing until my brother is here by my side.’

  In the Pink Palace the next morning, the third email in Abel’s inbox at first startled him and then sent him into a rage. He was not used to having his commands dismissed lightly by petty bureaucrats. He had left a message for the Naivasha town council instructing them to get busy with the job of putting an end to the illegal attempt to put up a private hospital on the edge of town. The reply, in the name of the town’s headman, was clear: ‘We were so sorry to have missed you when you honoured us with a visit to our office recently. We noted your request, but we are sure you will understand that we intend to allow the building work to continue in accordance with a newly instituted local by-law that encourages sponsors to offer and support charitable causes that will benefit the local community. No doubt you will be pleased that the funds that our MP has requested from the government in Nairobi for the last twenty years will now be available for projects elsewhere.’

  After a fifth reading of this graceless piece of impudence, Abel’s rage was in the process of being transmuted into a decisive course of action. First he got his secretary to check that the message was genuine.

  ‘Sir, it is from the council in Naivasha. I was told to inform you that the message itself was composed by a Mordecai Chambers, a writer/farmer who owns a block of land on the opposite side of town to the future hospital.’

  Abel Rubai was not having a good week. There were no leads in the search for his two missing boys. And now some jumped-up local nobodies were spitting in his face by refusing point-blank to take his advice on a matter involving the law of the land. So they get some Jew boy who can string a few words together to do the dirty work, at some special price, of course.

  We never had trouble in that place until the singing whore came along. Now the fools have fallen for her. They can’t see the Europeans pushing her on behind the scenes. He slapped his hands together in triumph. Got it! It was so obvious. Why had he not worked it out before? They were pitching to win the election!

  It was time to put an end to this nonsense, time to wrest back control. A plan was suggesting itself in the back of his mind. Give him an hour or two and he would have it worked out. Whatever it turned out to be he knew that he would have to hit hard and hit soon.

  * * *

  While he waited for a message from his sister to tell him that the second patient in the surgery was wholly back in the land of the living, Paul was talking with Daniel and his own brother, Barnaby, a successful lawyer from Boston.

  ‘Daniel, do you still think it a good idea that just one of us confronts those two?’

  ‘Paul, you are forgetting Maria is in there with you. She’ll be better than any of us in getting them to cooperate. She’s got the touch.’

  ‘Oh, I haven’t forgotten. What a sister, Barney! Yes, the gift, but I’m still not sure what it is. She loves people and … they understand that and warm to her. And she never gives up on anybody.’

  Barnie pressed a large piece of paper flat onto the table. ‘This is the list of headings of charges we have so far. If we get a fair shake in court, we’ll nail him to the floor.’

  ‘If they let us get him to a court, Barnie.’

  ‘Right, Dan, our biggest problem by far. Marion says I’m worrying her with my worrying! I have these visions of a couple of brave policemen going up to him in the street: “Abel Rubai, we are arresting you on the following charges …” Two fewer constables on the streets!’

  ‘Sure, but if we get these two to sing, then they will be our most potent witnesses.’

  ‘Assuming we can hide the pair of them until the trial.’

  ‘And assuming his lawyers don’t wipe them out in cross-examination.’

  ‘And assuming that they’ll even be willing to testify in the first place!’

  * * *

  ‘Paul, the boys want us to call them Eli and Sammy.’

  ‘Good. More relaxed. Must say that you seem very relaxed, too, in those armchairs.’

  ‘How much drugs did that doctor pump into us?’

  ‘Maria, any idea? You were there all the time when David and the team were working.’

  ‘Team?’

  ‘Five altogether. A big accident needs a big team. All of them are from one family. One of them had her husband murdered just weeks ago. You must have heard about that.’

  Sammy stirred from his torpor, leaning forward in his chair and pointing aggressively at Paul.

  ‘Yeah, and Eli says that Saul is dead. Our brother was just a kid.’

  Maria broke in with a raised voice and her eyes focusing her anger on each brother in turn.

  ‘Listen a moment. Your brother and you two had a choice up to the last seconds when you collided with the truck. You were chasing an old man with orders from that person you call the boss. It is easy to guess what those orders were. Then your time of choice was over. You were close to being dead meat yourselves. Other people had a choice. You could say that they could have let you die, but they chose life for you, for you! Do you understand? In a few days you will be able to walk and go on your way.’

  Like a fellow musician, Paul took up the theme from his s
ister and elaborated on it.

  ‘Gentlemen, prepare yourselves to stand before a judge. As a lawyer I have to say that you must expect a verdict of guilty!’

  ‘You don’t scare us. We’ll have protection. If we ever do get to that court, that judge, we know we will walk away.’

  ‘Mmn, interesting that word protection! Let me give you more information. Sammy, when Eli asked me if this place was a hospital, I replied that it was “almost a hospital”. The truth is that this is a special surgery, in a house where doctors live, doctors and the kindest people you could meet. They saved your lives. This house is in Karen. The Daniels family has a famous neighbour, a very rich man. He has very many men working for him. He likes them to wear smart, dark grey suits and to ride about in black Mercedes cars.’ He paused for the information to sink in. ‘This man is searching for two young men. They were in a car accident and they have disappeared. We think that he might be looking for them because he wants to give them … protection. You just used the same word.’

  ‘Paul and I are sorry to have tired you with so much talk, but you have just had a life-changing experience. Do you know …’

  ‘Yes, we know. We are not fools. And this mysterious man. Abel Rubai …’

  ‘And, Eli, this is the boss you spoke of.’

  ‘It is. You have said many things to us. We have a small thing to tell you. Our parents live in Thika. They have a small farm there. They grow pineapples and vegetables. Ten years ago, when we lived in Kibera, our father gambled, with money he did not have. Some tough guys from Mombasa Road said they would kill him if he would not pay. Father had the green fingers and two days a week he worked in the garden of the Rubai family before they moved to Karen. He took us there to help sometimes.’

  ‘Mama Sally liked Saul. He made her laugh with his stories. One day she did not laugh.’

  ‘Sammy is right. He said to her: “Memsahib, men are coming to our house to kill Papa.” When we got home Papa beat Saul with a big stick. We all cried, even Mama.’

  ‘Next day a stranger came to tell us the money was paid.’

  ‘Rubai?’

  ‘Yes, madam. After that Papa did more work for the new boss, not often in the garden now. For five years all was well. One night Papa returned home drunk. Another man was in the house. There was a fight. Our Papa killed the other man with a panga and ran off. After two weeks, Papa returned and said we were moving to a farm in a new place. We brothers never went to school again. We were very happy. We were doing men’s things. One year ago we learned to drive a vehicle.

  ‘“Big strong men should always look smart!” The boss’s son told us this, the one who was killed on the golf course. Obi, the main driver, took care of us and we were sometimes the backup men on big jobs.’

  ‘This week, I forget how many days ago, we were at the police station in Gilgil …’

  ‘And the boss told you that you must drive after the old man.’

  ‘Who will tell our mother about Saul?’

  Maria stood behind the brothers and pressed her hands into their shoulders. ‘I will do it today. This will be the worst news she will ever have. I am a mother and I know this. Tell me where the farm is. I will tell her that you are safe and well.’

  ‘We are going to give you a break from all this talk. You need a rest. When I was a boy, I fell from a tree and broke my leg.’

  ‘And he slept for two days. I remember. I was his nurse.’

  ‘You will leave us on our own? What if we just walk out?’

  ‘Then you could go home and tell your mother about Saul yourselves!’

  * * *

  The only sound disturbing the peace of the surgery was the rasping snore of Sammy Akamba. Eli smiled and shook his head.

  ‘Lucky again, Sammy. We’ve just lost our baby brother and we are too scared to go home and tell our mother. But you are lost in a dream. I wonder if it’s a good-looking woman or a cold Tusker!’

  Eli cleared his throat noisily and then clapped his hands without rousing his brother. A single sharp call of ‘Sammy’ close to his face did the trick.

  When he was fully himself, Sammy rubbed his eyes and gave Eli a hurt look. ‘Not nice! I think I was enjoying a happy dream and you drag me back to this hellhole!’

  ‘That’s the point, Sammy. Is this a hellhole or a safe hiding place?’

  ‘What are you on about now?’

  ‘Just that we are on our own now. Do we try to get out, or do we stay?’

  ‘You decide. You’re the brains. I don’t care any more.’

  ‘Okay. We have a choice. Rubai lives close by. He is looking for us. Perhaps we could manage to make it over there. Or we could phone for him to get us picked up. See, I still have my phone.’

  Sammy pondered briefly. ‘We don’t feel too good now. He won’t want us around. Mama will have three dead sons by nightfall, two of us out in some forest. What’s the other choice?’

  ‘Stay. These people want us alive. God knows why. Maybe they think we can help them to hurt Rubai in some way. Witnesses, I suppose.’

  ‘No choice! I hope the food’s good.’

  * * *

  ‘Paul, Mary phoned half an hour ago. I wanted us to talk before we replied. She will be in her office until six.’

  ‘How did she sound, Daniel? If we’ve got the vibes wrong on this we’ll be in very deep dudu.’

  ‘You know Mary, Paul. The youngest high court judge in the country has got to watch her back. She was … pleasantly formal. “I understand you and Paul Miller are asking me for some legal advice. Strange question from the two best brains in our year in law school!”’

  ‘Daniel, I say we take a walk around the garden for a few minutes, clear the tubes.’

  ‘Mary, Paul Miller here … Yes, Daniel’s listening in … Yes, a big problem. We want to know what someone on the bench would advise … No, it wouldn’t work over the phone. Mary, perhaps it wouldn’t be wise for you to be seen talking to us, not around Nairobi anyway. Okay, we won’t move for the next half hour. Thank you, Mary.’

  ‘You know, Paul, I have a sneaking feeling that she’s still very much our Mary from the old days, always ready for some excitement.

  ‘Excitement with a wig on!’

  Twenty minutes later Paul and Daniel were checking out with each other the plan that Mary M’Tambo had given them.

  ‘Let’s get this clear. It’s Mary’s daughter’s birthday this coming Thursday. The girl’s husband is driving the three of them out to lunch.’

  ‘You know that place, Daniel, Elementeita Lodge?’

  ‘Didn’t we have lunch there one time? Perfect place, well off the road, not too many visitors.’

  ‘And a taxi driver she can trust. I had visions of us disguising ourselves and taking a matatu. Stop laughing. We couldn’t take our cars, now could we?’

  ‘Sure, but you as a bent old man with grey hair and a walking stick.’

  ‘And you, a woman of the night. You always said you had nice legs.’

  ‘Yeah, for a soccer player!’

  * * *

  ‘Daniel, Paul, my daughter Elizabeth and her husband, Jonathan. Paul and Daniel, the smartest students in our time at law school. How was the ride?’

  ‘Marvellous! Emmanuel, best driver I’ve ever ridden with.’

  ‘And Paul and I are often up this way. We are on the road too much, but with the election coming up …’

  Jonathan, tall and skinny like a middle distance runner but with the heavy spectacles more typical of a successful manager of the Westlands branch of Barclays, was eager to make a point.

  ‘It may sound a bit childish, but you two are my nomination for top men in the country. You are truly heroes.’

  Paul and Daniel swapped amused grins.

  ‘Paul, shall we ask him to put that in writing?’

  ‘Sure. We could put it on our posters. Not everyone sees us like that.’

  ‘Elizabeth and I are both members.’

  As Jonathan spoke, Paul
was watching Mary closely for any hint of a reaction. The eyes were impassive. He was encouraged that there was no sign of disapproval.

  Lunch was taken on the veranda on an end table.

  ‘The English, or was it Irish, lord chose the best spot on his estate to build his farmhouse, as usual.’

  ‘Mama, imagine waking up to this view every morning. Pity Papa couldn’t come today.’

  ‘I wouldn’t complain too much. Don’t forget he’s taking us out to dinner tonight because he wanted to play some important golf match this morning. The way he talks about them, they all seem important to me. Anyway, he’s seen this view several times. He and Lord Delamere’s Nose are on nodding acquaintance.

  Though the restaurant and hotel were hidden behind rising ground, travellers moving up and down the A104

  could see the soda lake and brilliant white shoreline with the extra treat that day of the ring of flamingos feeding around the margin.

  As the young couple made their way down the grassy slope towards the monument and the lake itself, the three lawyers watched in a silence broken eventually by Mary.

  ‘So, you two, what is the advice you want from me that you cannot mention over the phone? More intriguing, why can we not speak about it in the normal, everyday manner?’

  ‘Mary, it’s a delicate matter.’

  ‘I can see that, Daniel, but if you were pleading in front in a courtroom, I would be urging you to get on with the business, more expeditiously!’

  ‘Yes, your worship! There is a case we want to bring to court involving, shall we say, a big man in this country. We know that there will be massive opposition.’

  ‘Paul, the name!’

  ‘Rubai!’

  ‘Thank God! At last someone who is ready to rid our country of this scourge.’

  She moved to grasp their hands and responded to their smiles though a lens of tears.

  ‘No need to ask if the case is watertight, but you know that there is much danger here, too. Our strategy must be irresistible. But what a lovely place for us to begin our adventure. I’ve been hoping for a long time and many others as well. When I received your call …’

  ‘Mary, our big problem will be getting him in front of a judge.’