by Carl Hancock
‘Fact is Papa Rubai is obsessed with this place. Rebecca, I’m sorry to bring the name up, but Julius is having a big say in this. The wound is still raw. Having another son in the seat here will keep a piece of his memory alive.’
‘Julius was a thug, I know, but you knew he was around. I wouldn’t recognise this one if he walked up those steps right now.’
‘Paul, he was here two days ago, the whole family was. Reconciliation meeting. What a farce! Rebecca was the lucky one, taking the youngest ones down to the lake to see the hippos. Dad and I were left with the angry buffalo and the crazy dik-dik!’
‘Tom, we think that this buffalo is taking a big risk. You can win.’
‘Yes, Paul, but money will be grabbing the votes for KANU, as usual.’
A fish eagle screeched high overhead as she swooped down onto the lake to pick up her supper. Paul followed her flight, pointing as she dived.
‘Good omen! Local girl gets her way and tries to tell us something. Get out there and bring home the big fish!’
The three men chuckled, but a preoccupied Rebecca was staring out beyond the calm waters and the dry plains to the massive bulk of her friend, Old Longonot. Her expression was calm but serious.
‘Perhaps not a good omen. A powerful bird has come to steal from our lake.’
‘Wrong, love. She is our bird, no stranger, and she only takes what she and her family need.’
‘The Rubais will win. We all know it.’
‘Rebecca!’
‘I am sorry, Paul, Daniel. Thomas knows that this one is no good man. Papa’s people down at the coast would say that he has the evil eye.’
‘But you know that your father doesn’t go for that superstitious stuff.’
‘I know it. I know, too, that each time I think I am clear of this family, they are back like a bad smell.’
She wanted to be alone with Tom. Riding home from Eburu, grasping Tom’s body, wearing his shirt, she had hope that this time the haunting was over. Now she needed Tom’s comforting again and she was ashamed. Please God, I am carrying his child and yet I am a child myself, crying out for help. In her desperate need she was willing to embarrass herself, opening her heart in front of these two highly intelligent, strong men.
‘Thomas, you said just now that I was the lucky one taking the Rubai children down to the lake. Not so lucky. Before I took the children, we were having sodas on the veranda. On the surface everything was “civilised”.’
‘My mother’s favourite word!’ Tom was smiling, but inwardly, he was apprehensive.
‘Inside here I was very confused, very frightened. It was my first time being with that family, the first time since they found out that I was a teller of lies. I think Sally understood but to lose her son because of me.’
‘Rebecca, no!’
She picked up the mild irritation in Tom’s voice.
‘Oh, God, I am making it worse.’
Paul stepped in. He was distressed to see this brave, innocent young woman punishing herself. He positioned himself in front of her and looked into her face. He took a long, slow breath. His tone was compassionate but firm.
‘Young lady, Daniel and I have sat in courts of law up and down this country more times than we care to remember. By any legal criteria there is no blame, none attached to the name of Rebecca Kamau, for the death of Mister Julius Rubai, nor to the name of Thomas McCall, for that matter.’
‘Paul, on the veranda, that other brother … Three times I turned and he was staring at me. I shuddered then and I’ve shuddered every time I’ve remembered that face since. Those eyes were full of hate. “You killed my brother!” Thomas, you are so much stronger. I am failing you again.’
Before Tom could reply, Paul raised his hand and continued.
‘Heart law is more important than court law, that’s for sure. Hard hearts never see any blame in themselves. That is why Daniel and I are so busy. But there is a problem with this heart law. The heart and the mind have to be tough. Not hard. Dear Rebecca, you have a choice here. Perfection! Perfection! You are punishing yourself for not being perfect. Crazy! But you can spend the rest of your life with this, punishing Tom, everyone else around you as well.’
Paul saw the cheeks wet with tears but continued.
‘Or, yes, or you can carry the wound and give it time to heal. The scar will never disappear completely. And this scar will make you even stronger than you are. The Rubais are not going be carried away on the wind, but see them for what they are. And there are huge wells of love around you. Now, do I make sense?’
A long silence followed. A special moment had been created and no one wanted to be the person to break the spell with a wrong word. Rebecca closed her own eyes, but she felt the focus of her three companions on her. She knew that one of the wells of love was open and offering her its freshness.
She opened her eyes. The heightened emotion present in the air around helped the three men to be aware of a change in Rebecca. The damp cheeks were glowing and the smile radiant. She broke the silence.
‘I think we could all do with a coffee. I’ve brought a flask. No power on yet.’
They were standing in what would be the kitchen of a long, low, single storey house when the builders were finished with their work. While Rebecca busied herself with the drinks, Tom led the two lawyers out onto the grass to get a different perspective on the progress of the new home.
‘Wow, Paul, what a view!’
‘And you can walk to work!’
A happily subdued Rebecca sat between her two guests. Tom picked up a piece of discarded wood and swung it thoughtfully to and fro. A pleasant calm hung over them all, survivors content to have overcome the squalls of a minor emotional storm. The men failed to light on a topic of conversation to push on with. Rebecca suffered no inhibitions.
‘I am thinking a lot about buildings these days. We are lucky to have good men to help us here.’
Tom was taken aback by the assured calmness in her whole manner.
‘Don’t tell me you’re thinking of putting up something else around here!’
‘Not quite around here, Thomas, but I’ve talked to Mister Sawyer about things. He says he has one or two jobs lined up after he finishes with us.’
‘Come on! Don’t keep us in suspense!’
‘All right. What do you think about a … new hospital in the town?’
A long silence followed while the three men took in the unexpected news. Paul remembered a visit to the maternity ward of the present public hospital at the beginning of the year. His wife, Miriam, and Rebecca had been very upset then by a conversation with the Australian matron of Pembroke House who was finishing off a training stint at the unit.
‘“We treat out cattle better in Oz.” Miriam reminded me of the visit and those words just last week.’
Rebecca nodded her head several times in solemn confirmation of Paul’s speculation. She reached out to touch Tom’s shoulder and to look into his eyes. What she saw brought a smile to her face.
‘So, you are happy with the idea?’
‘Great! Wonderful! But don’t hospitals cost a bit more than houses to build? And all the equipment …’
‘Sensible, practical Farmer Tom! But this has got to happen. Paul, how many times have I heard you tell us about your dream for Kenya? Dreams here must begin small. There, I’ve finally got it out of my heart.’
Chapter Eleven
nspector John Kostas led his sergeant across the gravel driveway to the front door of the home of the Daniels family. His long strides forced his chubby colleague to break into a trot to keep up. Those at home that afternoon were in the kitchen which was doubling up as a temporary surgery. Mother Dorothy, the only Daniels with no medical qualifications, was moving her lips fretfully as she watched her husband bathe away the congealed blood from their daughter’s forearm. Their two elder sons, Gareth, gyneacologist, and Rhys, paediatrician, watched their father in admiration as he worked his gentle magic.
‘
Dad, if your hands were as soft when you’re holding your putter, you’d give Tiger Woods a run for his money!’
‘Gareth, it was the time I wasted on the rugby field that did for my golf. And, by the way, the big man in my day was Jack Niklaus. Eryl, I need to know exactly what happened out there with you and old Shadow.’
There was a gentle tap on the half open door. Rhys answered and reluctantly led two strangers into this private hub of the Daniels clan.
‘You are members of the Daniels family. Correct?’
Father David nodded with a look of puzzled irritation. Before he could put the taller, swarthy intruder in his place, the man was off again in a less abrasive tone.
‘This is my sergeant, Ezra Kabari and I am Inspector John Kostas. We are from the CID, Nairobi Hill.’
‘So? Look, my daughter here has probably broken her arm. Please wait outside. Your business can surely wait a few minutes. My business is vitally important just now.’
‘Regrettably, sir, we cannot afford to waste a single minute.’
Sergeant Ezra was eager to add a few words of his own. He did so with pride.
‘Sir, the Inspector is with us for just three months. He’s helping with training. From the Athens Police Department. In Greece. He’s seen lots …’
A brief widening of the eyes and a tight-lipped smile from his much admired colleague cut the sergeant’s flow abruptly. The Inspector continued with some urgency. ‘Doctor, Mister Daniels (David Daniels nodded appreciatively that, for the first time a policeman was addressing him correctly) you have a younger sister, Sonya, who is now Sonya Mboya, married to Doctor Simon Mboya.’
‘True, but …’
‘And can you confirm that she is not presently in the country?’
‘Yes. She is in Wales for a friend’s wedding. With the three children.’
Dorothy Daniels, who hated the sight of policemen as much as she did the sight of her only daughter’s blood, was beginning to show outward signs of the fear that was growing in the minds of all five of the Daniels family present. She pleaded, ‘Inspector, we know that policemen who come calling don’t normally bring good news.’
‘I am afraid you are right on this occasion. We need to contact Mrs Mboya. Her husband has been taken.’
‘Taken?’ Gareth Daniels wished this elegantly dressed, handsome man would be less formal and more open. ‘Do you mean kidnapped?’
‘Sergeant, the report came to you.’
‘I’m very sorry. Today the doctor took his weekly clinic at Kibera, starting at seven. He parked outside his mobile surgery in his usual spot close to the little row of dukas, just by the entrance.’
‘Sonya usually goes with him. Llewellyn said he was going to try … Oh my God!’
Rhys put his arm around his mother’s shoulders as she screwed her face into a mask of pain.
‘Llewellyn’s our brother. Another doctor.’ He smiled wanly.
The inspector took over. ‘Yes, we know. A little after noon, a white van pulled up in front of the surgery. Three young men stepped down. Very smartly dressed, dark suits, sunglasses.’
‘We have witnesses, so many witnesses!’ Sergeant Kabari was wringing his hands in angry agitation.
‘Patience, Sergeant. We have to learn that it’s important for a policeman to keep his emotions under control when he is working. We have to start with the facts as we have them right now. These young men smashed their way in through the door of the surgery and threw out half a dozen female patients and their children. There was a lot of shouting and screaming and soon people were rushing from all over the place. Two shots sent the crowd scattering. Doctor Simon staggered down the steps, pushed so hard that he went sprawling in the dust. He was bleeding. Someone said it was from his shoulder but could not be sure. The doctor was into the back of the matatu so quickly …
‘Doctor Welshman (that’s what our old lady witness called him) chased after the third thug with a heavy lump of wood, but a new man, older and heavier, surprised him, grabbed the wood and smashed it into Welshman’s neck, knocked him out cold. In seconds the matatu was gone and soon mingling with the traffic on the main road.
‘Doctor Welshman was taken to Nairobi Hospital less than an hour ago.’
Without interrupting the Inspector’s flow, Dorothy got up and left the room.
‘And Doctor Simon, where is he now? You tell me how to find a specific white matatu in this city. But our boys are working on it. I know … I know that policemen are not the most popular people in this country. But most of our people know Doctor Simon and the work he does down there and Muthare and Haruma. And most of them have kids of their own. They are very pissed off. That’s not too impolite? Emotional, I know, but sometimes …’
He shrugged and looked around at the faces that were fixed on him.
The silence that followed the Inspector’s grim story was short-lived. Gareth Daniels, with a catch in his voice, explained to the policemen. ‘Dr Welshman, that’s our brother. Nickname. Had it for years. He liked it. So many Doctor Daniels around here. He enjoys being that bit different! You saw our Mam go out. She’ll be halfway to the hospital by now!’
The Inspector nodded and smiled. ‘Ezra and I will leave you in just a couple of minutes. It’s our job to make sure that the family, all the family, know about any bad stuff, good stuff, but …’
‘Yeah, we understand. We’ll do it.’ Rhys, the middle of the three brothers, was the star man in the family when it came to crises and his mind was whirring with practical thoughts and plans.
‘Sonya and the children are due back in three days. They are over in Wales for a friend’s wedding. Llewellyn’s wife, Kate, will be here later. We’ll divert her to the hospital. A lawyer this time. Sorry for being a bit shirty when you arrived. As you can see, things here weren’t exactly going swimmingly even before you arrived. And we thought …’ Rhys shook his head in disbelief. ‘Simon should have been at that wedding. He changed his mind the day before they were due to leave. Sod’s law, big time! But there you go. Any ideas? What kind of a demented so-and-so can do shitty things like this? Sorry for going on like this.’
For the first time since the arrival of the policemen, David Daniels interrupted his work on his daughter’s arm. He went over to a cupboard and pulled out four tumblers and a large water glass.
‘What say to a stiff whisky, to settle the nerves? Water for you, young lady. Just in case you need an anaesthetic later. Care to join us, gentlemen?’
‘Another day, perhaps. Just now we have to follow your wife to the hospital. My family will be praying. I just want to check. You will let Ms Mboya know? We can do it, but …’
‘Don’t worry. It’s our job.’
‘Thank God for your mother, Gareth. Inspector, my wife’s got the gift, and the guts for it. You get on with getting him back.’
Only one glass was used. David took the drink in one gulp, thought about another but instead looked out through the window to watch the police car move sedately down the drive and disappear through the gate. He turned away to follow his family into the sitting room. There was a distant roll of thunder.
Ten minutes later he was alone. Rhys had volunteered to go down to Kibera to check on the state of the clinic. Gareth was on family duty, taking his sister to casualty in Nairobi Hospital.
‘Eryl, I’m almost sure that the arm is not broken, but you don’t take chances with bone injuries.’
Sitting back in an armchair with his eyes closed, David allowed his mind to drift. Minutes later he was roused from a doze and wondering where he was.
Simon. The harsh reality was soon back in the centre of his mind. Their first meeting had been in that very room. As a seventeen year old, he had come along with his uncle, Tom, who had been making a speech to students at the medical faculty in the university. It was a few days later that David discovered why he had not seen much of the young man that night. He had spent most of his time wandering ‘round the garden with Sonya. Their shared passion fo
r the wonders and possibilities of life in the world of medicine began that night and continued until that morning. He and Simon had become best friends.
The world had admired the wonderful gifts of the charismatic Tom. He had been loved too much and paid the price, the president who never was, cut down by his inferiors. In his own field Simon had been as gifted, loved by the masses who saw him as one of their own.
‘Where are you, my friend?’ The tears were streaming down. ‘Captain Cat there in the muffled middle, he’s crying all over his nose,’ and Sonya not ten miles from the statue of the old fraud tugging on his bell rope on the shores of Swansea Bay, and not knowing, not knowing and no one to tell her but himself. The solution was waiting on a shelf in the room next door.
The golden liquid burned his throat. Two tumblers made him ready. Three would have made him sick. He dialled the number and as he waited for the tone to ring in the hallway of that Llanelli house, he was not sure whether he wanted her to be there to answer.
‘Sonya, how was the wedding, love? How was the weather?’
The long pause on the other end put him into a panic. He had been cut off after a single ‘hello’.
‘David, have you been drinking? You’re there on your own, aren’t you?’ Then came the lightning change of tone from chiding domestic anxiety to terrified recognition as though vibrations had carried the message across the thousands of miles that separated brother and sister. ‘It’s Simon, isn’t it?’
‘He was taken from the clinic early this morning. The police have been here. They’ve got men out searching.’
Listening to his words caused him to feel weak and useless. The sense of shame deepened when Sonya began again.
‘David, I’m coming home tonight.’
‘But what if they won’t change your flight?’
‘That’ll be no problem. If they try to be difficult, I’ll give them the scream treatment.’
‘We’ll be at the airport. And the boys?’
‘David! But I won’t tell them anything till we’re back. Perhaps there will good news by then.’