Darkness is a mystery. It carries so many uncertainties. Thievery and robbery is mostly carried out in the dark. Murder is also carried out in the dark. That’s why most of us cannot walk in the streets when it’s dark and lonely because you never know what lies ahead. The dark also carries some fun. The best clubbing experiences happen at night. It would be awkward to go clubbing during the day. Sleepovers too happen at night and they are fun. Darkness is inevitable in the case of day and night but it is sometimes a state that one can be in.
I don’t know for how long I have been unconscious but by the time I wake up the sun was no longer peeping through the small room’s window. I guess it has shifted position and from the heat that I am feeling it must be around midday. My armpits are sweaty and so is my forehead (someone once told me that I have a fivehead! I don’t feel bad though. I’ve shed a teardrop). I’m a softie and I have been on a cold floor the whole time, so I coughed despite me feeling heat and even sweating. It is midday but the room is dark because it only has a small window that is far above me. It also smells like a toilet but I hope they put me in a store. Or maybe there is a toilet next to this room.
Despite the sharp pain I am feeling in my head as a result of being hit with the gun, I struggle to lift my feeble body up. I stretch out my hands and touch my way around until I get to the door. I knock hard hoping that someone will help me out and at least give me food. Yes, I know I have done wrong but I am starviiing. First round of knocks, second round, third round. No one opens the door. After the first round of knocks I heard some footsteps running away from the room. The door is hit hard and I am ordered to stay calm.
“Kijana tulia!”
“Mkubwa niko njaa sana. Niletee angalau kakitu katulize minyoo.”
“Kaa njaa ndio ukose nguvu ya kusaidia bwana za wenyewe kufanya kazi yao!”
Wow! COLD! SO COLD! I am now convinced that they want me dead. Haikuwa kupenda kwangu ata. Felicia should be the one to be punished. She tricked me into coming here and seduced me for crying out loud. I don’t even know where my phone is. I’m trapped with no link to the outside, no food and with only my trouser on. If I’m to spend another night here I might walk away and go hang out with my ancestors. The events from last evening replay in my mind, moment by moment (or in a photographer’s language, frame by frame). Maybe if I have the gift of prophecy I would have given an excuse and just go to my house instead of following the woman.
By this point I don’t even know what time it is or for how many hours I’ve been awake. I just wish for food or death. Both will save me. I am unaware of my fate. Maybe Felicia’s husband will torture me then send me to jail! Maybe he will let the dogs eat me alive! Maybe he will shoot me dead! Or as I thought earlier, maybe he will let me starve to death! What I know for sure is that I will be among part of the statistics when they talk about mysterious disappearances. I know that death is painful but I never wished to die this way. If I do not die and get sent to jail then my future will crumble. Plus from all the rape stories I have heard, I also wished to never find myself in jail. Let me just stay here and wait for whatever will happen. With all this hunger I cannot even push away negative thoughts.
A key rattles in the keyhole. The door opens. A big bellied man takes up most of the space between the frames. A guard stands behind him. From the way the sun is shining, it must be late afternoon. I hope they have brought me food.
“I thought you’d be dead by now. I was coming to collect your corpse. Now that you’re not dead I’ll be forced to kill you and dispose your body! No one messes with me and continues living!” roared the round man.
If someone puts a stethoscope on my chest and connects it with a speaker, then the pounding will make some good beat and those that are alive with filled stomachs can dance. I do not even have the energy to utter a word.
” Put him in my car. It’s time to take the trash out!” he orders the guard.
I am roughed up and frog marched to a big black Land Cruiser Prado TX. At least I’ll have a luxurious ride before my death. I have no energy left in me to struggle or fight. I guess they notice this so I am not tied up. The big man gets in the driver’s section and starts up the car. He then gives me an evil look, takes out his gun, cocks it and returns it to its pocket on his waist. I am going to die a rich death, though mysterious. He drives away.
The drive leads us far into the countryside. From what I can decipher from the surrounding, we must be in Naivasha. I’m going to die in one of my favourite places. Nice! I dig my head into the headrest and close my eyes. I silently pray and repent my sins before we arrive at my final resting place. I hope that God is not like Tala. I hope He will not refuse to forgive my sins and say I owe Him. I know He is not like that so if I repent I might get a chance to enter Heaven. Amen. The car comes to a stop and I hear the sound of the handbrake being engaged. We must have arrived at the bush where I will take my last breath.
“We’re here. This is it!” said big man.
He opens the rear left door and helps me to hop out the car. I throw glances around. We’re not at a bush. We are at a parking slot. This must be some cultic church and I’m going to be sacrificed. Big man holds me by the shoulder and leads me to the back of the building. This church is beautiful and so big. They have disguised it to look like a hotel. There are a number of people eating, drinking, swimming and children are playing. I thought people in cults look disturbed especially now that they are in a place where the demons are free to torment them. Oh wait, it’s a hotel. I saw its name written on a big golden plate on a wall. Hello big man, you’re supposed to kill me, not take me out. I’m not your wife. Are you gay? Maybe he wants me eat so I cannot die hungry. Okay that’s humane. At least I’ll go to heaven with a full stomach. Wait for me angels, I’m coming to dance my ass off.
Big man gives his order and gestures me to follow suit. All this time we’re silent. Our eyes are busy surveying the area. The food is brought and we munch it slowly. I hatch an escape plan in my mind. As soon as I regain energy I’ll dash out. I’ll run in between people so that they can be my human shield in case he decides to open fire. I’ll then dash past the open gate. I know this fat man will not have managed to appear and tell the guards to stop me. Perfect plan! Hello El Professor from La Casa de Papel. I have learnt your ways and I’m also a mastermind. Regards, your student.
Big man breaks the silence halfway into the meal.
“I know you’re wondering why I have come to feed you instead of kill you. Maybe I do not want you to die hungry. In fact I have no intention of killing you. Yes, none at all.”
Wait what! Your food must be drugged. Look man, you’re supposed to kill me or act like you’re going to. I have a plan to execute.
” You did good by doing what you did with my wife. You’re heaven sent boy. You have saved my life. I owe you big.”
This man must be intoxicated. Snap out of your state dude! I banged your wife! Your beautiful wife! How are you grateful for that? You should be mad! Kill me!
” Felicia and I have been married for a decade now. All along I thought she loves me but I was mistaken. She loves my money and the good life she is living courtesy of me.”
Big man continues lamenting about his wife. In my mind I cannot get the sense in the story. Even if the wife doesn’t love him at least he has a very beautiful woman to himself. A woman fit to become a sex symbol. So it’s a win-win situation. The mind of a young man can be stupid.
“I am tired of living with her and I was looking for any slight thing to use as an excuse to file for a divorce. You’re my saviour boy. I’m now going to file for a divorce and the good thing is that she will not get a share of my property. She will only get what she has gotten herself. Exactly what I wanted!”
He continues telling me how he feels betrayed and useless and fears for his property. If he dies before divorcing Felicia then she will inherit all his property. That would be unfair to the man because, from his stories, he worked so hard to get to where he is. We continue chatting into the night. He tells me that he has poor vision so he cannot drive at night. We have to spend the night at the hotel, in separate rooms of course. He assures me that he has no intention of harming or killing me. After having dinner we head to the bar section. We have some drinks and dance for some hours before retiring to bed in our respective rooms.
I have never had such a peaceful night’s sleep. Maybe it’s because of the cosy bed that’s different from the rickety one in my house. Big man passed by my room after breakfast. We sign out of the hotel, get into his car and head back to the capital. This time I sit at the front since we have bonded and he no longer wants to kill me. The drive was not as quiet as the other. We exchange stories and actually this makes the journey seem shorter.
We get to the capital and head into a tower with office blocks. Big man ushers me into some executive office with an expensively furnished interior. He peruses through some papers and writes or signs something, I’m not sure. I’m confused. I just look blankly. After he is done he hands me the papers. Maybe it’s the divorce papers he has been storing. Maybe it’s the divorce proposal that he had written and he wants me to go through it and tell him what I think of it.
A look at the papers and I think I’m intoxicated. Must be the alcohol from last night. No, this can’t be! This is impossible! This only happens in movies and fantasies! I pause for a moment so I can process the information. I must be in a dream that seems so real. Someone pinch me, slap me, punch me. Guess what? The man has handed quarter of his property over to me! This includes a beach house, another mansion in a leafy suburb in the city and one of his hotels at the coast! His lawyer walks in and signs the papers. It is now confirmed! I am a multimillionaire in minutes! AIM Global affiliates will be jealous when they hear such a surreal success story that is better than the ones they tell.
“Receive my token of appreciation for saving me. I’m forever grateful. I hope you manage it well and grow more. Welcome to the Big Boys Club.”
I slept a poor man and woke up a millionaire. It seems like a wish granted by a genie.
Fast forward years later and I am a successful mogul. I used my Solomonic wisdom to multiply the wealth handed to me. My wealth now is vast like the ocean. You can’t see the end. I’m among the people that never worry about ever being broke again. No matter how recklessly I spend my money, I cannot deplete it (Maybe if I decide to buy the earth). I own cars I only dreamt of and saw in pictures, music videos and movies and the big man is among my closest friends. Sometimes blessings take the form of a mistake.
