Black Mischief (5 page)

Before a shaken Alex could try to console his son, Stephen had moved to Tom's side, put his arm around his shoulders and grasped tightly. Rebecca and the children were almost off the plain and onto the gravel of the driveway.

‘Thomas, take a good look at her. What do you see?'

‘You know the answer to that.'

‘Sure. There was a time when the idea scared me. A long time ago now. You talk about Julius Rubai. Such a mixed up man. He was a headstrong, selfish person. The Bible says that we should not judge others, but it also says that we must be as wise as serpents. That young man did not have to die, but, Thomas, you did not make this thing happen. He had a choice.'

‘And so did I, Stephen! I knew that the engagement party was happening. I knew all right! Philip gave me a hammering on the squash court. Couldn't concentrate. Afterwards there was a kind of craving to see her just once more, but I resisted. I went to collect the mail like I always do, but I was desperate to get out and away from that place.'

‘Thomas, look at it this way. On the surface what you say is true, but truth is rarely on the surface. Truth, it's a big mystery and it has many, many threads. Fate, I don't believe in it. God's will, but He gave us free will. Guilt, it is easy to take that on board, comfortable, too, in a strange way. Fear, we are getting close here. The human heart has many wounds to bear. The death of that young man is a massive wound for the Rubai family. They have to bear it. We have a wound here, too, a smaller one perhaps, but we have to bear it. And the best dawa? Love …'

The lake travellers were back, excited, noisy and thirsty. Five minutes later Sally, Maura and Rafaella returned from their visit into town. Sally was shocked to discover that Abel and Reuben had gone home. Alex wanted to explain, but he was forced to delay to allow the children's enthusiasm to run its course. While she was listening to their stories of the adventure of a ride on a boat on the lake where they had seen hippos, five of them, under the boat, about David trailing his hand in the milky, green water and nearly touching the wet, brown back of a baby one, and thank goodness he didn't because that would have made his mother angry and she would have tipped the boat over … Sally did not have the usual relaxed smile that lit up her whole being when she was in the company of her children. Meanwhile, after a nod in her direction, Stephen took the opportunity to go back to the fields. Alex walked with him to the kitchen where he drew the big man to him in a warm hug.

‘Stephen, it was a very lucky day for the McCalls when you walked down our driveway. You're the wisest man I know. What you said to Tom in there. Fantastic! Thank you. I'll be down soon. Don't ever leave us. Well, my turn to explain something. Here I come, Mrs Rubai!'

Alex had not recovered his composure. He felt light-headed after the two assaults on his thinking powers from Abel Rubai and then from his own son. But when an anxious Sally asked what it was that had sent Abel and Reuben home so abruptly, his instinct for quiet diplomacy served him well.

‘Sally, it got a little heated here when you ladies were away, but I think it's fair to say that it was, how shall I say, mission accomplished for Abel.'

‘You mean he asked forgiveness?'

‘Yes, but it was forgiveness from himself for himself.'

‘Alex, you're talking in riddles here.' For the first time since he had known her, there was tetchiness in her voice. For a few moments she was the wife of the big man in the country and she wanted straight answers, now!

‘Well, in the end you'll have to wait to find out at home. But … but when he left here, he was his old self-assured self. And he and Reuben were good pals, in harmony.'

She narrowed her eyes into a frown. ‘Hmm, that's a bit of a puzzle. Those two don't always get along. “Harmony”, that's a mighty word.'

Without warning this new abrasiveness in Sally melted away. She shook her head and chuckled to herself. She patted her stomach. ‘Julius, my boy, we'll need to talk about this later.'

The children came out of the kitchen carrying glasses of soda and tea plates that could barely contain the huge slices of chocolate cake that Angela had just cut for them. Her children were happy and Sally's good humour was fully restored. She called out to Angela who was still in the kitchen. ‘I hope you've got a slice or two of this gorgeous cake left! There's a boy in here says he needs some pretty quick!'

ally arrived home just before sunset. All the cars were in, but Abel was nowhere to be seen. Reuben was watching a sports program on the plasma. That was a surprise to his mother.

‘Son, what's going on? First the McCalls tell me that you and your daddy were in harmony down at their place and now you're watching little people chasing after a ball on the television. Am I missing something? What did they give you to drink after we left?'

The boy was smiling and eager to explain about his father.

‘Never seen him smile so much at one time. Like he just got some big worry off his back. Told me some stories about the old days in the village. He was laughing and joking.

‘Then, as we were coming up the Escarpment, he made this one phone call and now there are twelve men sitting around the table in his conference room. Just snaps his fingers and they all come running. He must have some big hold over them!'

Reuben did not explain to his mother about his sudden, new interest in football. In fact, there was still no interest, in any sport. Watching the television was just another attempt to shut out certain troublesome thoughts from his mind. Rebecca Kamau. When he saw her standing on the McCall veranda, it needed a big effort to stop staring at her. In the months since the night in the Muthaiga, he had relived the scene of her coming towards where he was hidden thousands of times. The slow movement of those lovely thighs, the frightened expression in her dark eyes. In his fantasies he had touched her cool flesh, smelt the perfume of her, possessed her willing body, moaned at the overwhelming thrill of their coming together. He had resolved that one day there would be a real coming together. Some day it would happen, even if it cost him his life. But, for now, he must keep his fantasies well hidden.

Alex and Reuben had given Sally an accurate but partial picture of Abel's state of mind. Neither of them could have been aware that a miraculous shift had taken place in his outlook on the world, and so very quickly.

‘It only took a few of your words, Mister Alex. Suddenly I could smell the release. Like a white witchdoctor you broke the spell and did not even understand what you had done.'

‘I believe part of you fears us.'

‘Yes, Bwana McCall, yes, yes! I see it. Fear, guilt, I must have been crazy! Asking forgiveness from you people. Sally, how could I let you persuade me to eat that crap? Well, it's gone now. I don't need your forgiveness, anybody's forgiveness. No part of us fears you or anybody else. Can't you see it in my eyes? I can breathe again.'

‘Julius, I should have pulled that trigger. I allowed fear to betray me. I cannot bring you back, but I will make it up to you. But we will bide our time. We will be patient. When the moment comes, we will be ready. We will talk about this.

We'll hit them when it will hurt most. I have come back to life. I will live for both of us.'

* * *

This was the first meeting of the Circle as the exclusive group was known around Nairobi since Abel and Sally had returned from England. They had been looking at possible boarding schools for thirteen year old David who was in his last year in the Banda School. Abel found two that he liked, but as with Reuben six years before, and against his better judgement, Sally won her battle to have the boys educated in Nairobi.

Before Abel came in to join them, his colleagues had been in a subdued mood. Most of them had been at the engagement party, watched with horror as a wild-eyed Abel had pointed a gun at a big man carrying what looked like the corpse of a young white man. After that May night, meetings of the Circle had been few and at none of them had any real business been completed. There were rumours of nervous breakdowns and that Abel had taken to the bottle. They were fearful for their own positions. Abel was so dominant a force in the group that they accepted that he could remove any or all of them, replace them with a fresh batch of minions and carry on pulling the strings of government and most of the other institutions of the country. Money was the key and Abel was a magician at creating mountains of the stuff. Not one of them had been in his screen room where he was known to work long hours taking on financial wizards around the globe, usually making impressive profits. It was Abel's version of the sporting life, to outwit marketing giants and yet remain a shadowy figure behind the scenes. He was a man who enjoyed surprises as long as he was the one who was creating them. He was about to spring another one.

He strode into the room exuding energy, power and enthusiasm. His smile was confident and reassuring to his colleagues. Fitter and slimmer than they could remember, he was down to business before he had taken his place at the head of the table.

‘Gentlemen, good to be back. Just like old times, I feel. Now then, if there's no objection, let's get to the election.'

There were murmurs of approval and even a short burst of applause. The feeling of relief around the table was palpable and the change of mood instantaneous. They may not have been in charge in the affairs of the country, but they were happy, and lucky, to be the backup crew to the main man. The spin-offs in terms of money and influence were considerable. They would still have the first and biggest slice of the millions and millions of shillings, dollars, euros floating around. They were grateful that their leader never took a single shilling of the aid money or the pickings of the other scams and schemes that brought spice to the financial life of their great country. Abel continued.

‘As you all realise, we must put an end to the reign of our beloved president, who has proved to have been an inspired choice to replace his much lamented predecessor. Joseph Oringa has obeyed our instructions to the letter and has, by the way, not been an expensive item on our balance sheet. Headmasters never are! I am pleased to announce that the elections for parliament and president will take place on the first Saturday of the new year. This will give us plenty of time to prepare our people in every district.'

The cheers from Abel's conference room were heard all ‘round the house. Sally, who was in the kitchen with her chef, organising supper, paused to listen. She had become an expert in judging moods from the noises that she heard coming out of that room. Silence was always ominous. This cheering was high on the scale and she was eager to see what kind of Abel would emerge from this meeting. The signs were promising. The family outing to Londiani must have been a success after all.

ally did not have long to wait to have her hope confirmed. Marcel, the French chef, had finished his work and she was alone in the kitchen. Through the open door, she saw Abel sauntering towards her whistling as he conducted an imaginary orchestra.

‘Sally, I didn't hear you come in. Mmn, that is one very pleasant smell! I think we both deserve a hug.'

Sally considered herself to be an expert on reading body language. What she saw stunned and thrilled her. The transformation in her husband was miraculous. Her response to his suggestion was to open her arms and issue an excited warning.

‘Husband, do not forget that you are hugging two people. Not too tight now. We don't want to give the little one a nasty shock.' She was a very happy lady. For the first time in many months Abel was giving her his complete attention. She sounded him out, hesitantly.

‘So it was a success, then?'

‘Sure. They all want me to stand for the big one.'

‘Abel, are we talking about the same thing?'

‘Why don't we have supper in here, just the two of us? The kids …'

‘Have had their supper an hour ago. Not very hungry. You missed out on the chocolate cake.'