Mist

by Dora Okeyo

  Mist

  Smashwords Edition.

  Copyright 2015 Dora Achieng’ Okeyo

  Thank you for downloading this story.

  Somebody murdered my husband. Kennedy was a wonderful man; he wined and dined with whoever could afford to spend time with him, and had a wonderful mechanism of distribution. His generosity saw him have three children with three different women upon death. I thank the heavens every day for such generosity. Don’t think I didn’t know about them, I just learned to let him do his business. I never asked why or when because I knew if I did two things could happen: we would fight or I would walk out on him.

  Kennedy was found dead in an open field somewhere in Kahawa Sukari at 10am by a stray dog. He had two bullet wounds; one went through his heart and the other right above his neck. He was wearing his grey suit and his eyes were open having beheld his killer. I got the call while I was at work, and it took every bit of strength I could master to continue listening. The man who called identified himself as Kuria. It was his land and he found a phone on the man and dialed ‘home’ hoping to find someone. He always knew he’d come home to me, maybe that’s why he could not bring himself to save my number as ‘Rose’ or ‘Wife’ or ‘Sweetheart’ or ‘Honey.’ I know he had a lot of those sweet nothings women saved on his phone. I remember calling his elder brother, Thomas from work and he said, ‘I’m coming to pick you up, and then we will call the police.’

  “No! I don’t want them involved in this Thomas.”

  “Why? Surely, whoever did this to Ken must pay!”

  “I want justice, but not the kind offered by the police. They will take long and ask for bribes and in the end nothing good will come out of it. I just want Leslie and Samantha to know their father the way they do. He was good to them Thomas, please, not now.”

  “Okay, but they will know one day.”

  “Yes and until then he got involved in a car accident, is that clear?”

  “Yes boss! I forget how stubborn you can be. Have you called mom and dad?”

  “No, I thought you would tell them.”

  “I’m at the corner; meet me at the gate outside your office building in five minutes Rose.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  At times I think it was God that found him first lying in that field, miles away from the comfort of his sweethearts and lovely drinks, and I hate myself for it. When we first met Ken had more enemies than the devil, and he hunted them like a lioness on a vengeance streak. He could smile in a breath and strike someone dead in the next. It was his eyes that called out to me across the room. We met in church after the second service, and he was the man in a fitting suit standing next to three old women talking about King Saul. His voice was timbre and mellow like butter. I wanted to look and listen to him forever but he was quite taken at the moment. One of the old women noticed I was staring and that’s when he saw me. He smiled and nodded my way and I blushed. I never doubted his love because I found it in the holiest of places, didn’t I?

  “Hi, my name is Kennedy, and you are?”

  “Rose.”

  “It’s nice to meet you Rose. How are you doing?”

  “Fine I guess. I am waiting for my eldest brother to wrap up and then we can go home.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s the Curate.”

  “And are you in the line of salvation too?”

  “In some ways I like to think I am, but not here in the church. I am a Teacher.”

  “Great, what subject do you teach?”

  “History.”

  “I love History.” History could tell about our first date, but I never knew what kind of death awaited my husband. I would never wish the kind of pain of seeing him surrounded by flies and a salivating dog on anyone. Thomas reached out to shut his eyelids but my dead husband could not let the horror go away, and so some of the people who came with us asked me to step aside as they put him in a body bag. The father of my children was lying dead in an abandoned field with flies and a stray dog for company, what a waste of the beautiful women and posh parties.

  The spot he’d occupied was red as the flies feasted on what was left. I wondered, did he think of me and his children? Did he cry out for us? I looked around the field and saw the road somewhere in the distance and upcoming buildings. It was almost noon, and some construction workers must have seen him. They killed him and dumped his body like it was garbage. They killed my husband! I knew it was too much to take in but amidst the screams and tears my heart felt heavier and constricted. They killed my Kennedy! They killed him miles away from his home, who would be so evil as to take away life in such a cruel manner?

  When I first discovered that he was cheating on me, I remember being so mad that I threw everything at him. I told him I hated him so much and that he could go and be with his mistress, but Kennedy in his own way made it to me and held me by my arms. He pulled me into a tight embrace and spoke above my head saying, “I married you because you are Iron Rose. Remember that every time you accuse me of cheating.”

  I stood up and turned to Mr. Kuria who was struggling not to stare at me. My mother always told me that men handled grief differently. He nodded and started to walk away when I called to him, “Did you call the police Sir?” He stopped and turned to face me his hands hanging loosely on his sides. I felt Thomas place his hands on my shoulders to get me to calm down, but I knew he was crying too. He’d looked after Kennedy and handled the family accounts before he quit to pursue a career in Journalism. “No, see Madam, this land is for sale. I was afraid that by calling the police this would go into their records and that would affect my business. I need the money so, I am sorry I never did so, but you can do so I think he was a good man after all.”

  “May I have your number Sir? I know it took you a lot of guts to find a way of contacting me, most people would walk past a dead body, but you did not and I’m grateful.”

  “I did what I thought was right. Even the dead deserve their respect Madam, and to be honest I can only hope that wherever death meets me someone would be kind enough to remind my family of my love for them. You can have my number Madam. Kenya’s not the same anymore, and people never forget.”

  I saved his number and held onto Thomas’s hand as we walked back to the car. I felt like everyone was staring at me and waiting for me to explode, but the pain that was within me would wait until I was home alone. We took Thomas to the Lee Funeral Home and left him under the care of his friend Dr. Shivesh. He looked at me and said, “He was right about you Rose. I’ll take good care of him.” I saw him wipe away a tear or two as I filled out the forms at the reception. Thomas walked me back to his car and opened the door for me. He strapped the seat belt around me and got in. As he backed out of the parking lot he turned to me and asked, “What was that about?” He looked so much like Kennedy that it hurt looking at him. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not the time to ask questions, but it is an old habit.”

  “Silence can save you.”

  “It can?”

  “It’s what Kennedy used to tell me every time I asked him questions about his life, business deals and affairs.”

  “I’m sorry Rose, but I feel like there’s something I am missing here, like you knew this was coming and somehow you were prepared for it. Why did you ask that man about calling the police?”

  “Thomas we both know that Kennedy was a ruthless businessman, and he’d be gone from home for months without saying where he was or what he was doing. He was bound to face his death elsewhere, but that’s not the point. Mr. Kuria is a messenger.”

  “A messenger, for whom?”

  “He works for the person who killed your brother.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “He was wearing brand new leather shoes. The field was dusty but his shoes wer
e not. He was also physically fit, like he’s used to taking and carrying out orders. When I asked for his number did you see him pause, as though he was guilty of betraying that about him? He also gave me a Telkom Wireless number which I’m sure if you call now would be inaccessible.”

  “Are you sure about this Rose?”

  “In Human Resources we say ‘leave no stone unturned,’ when we are recruiting for various employers. It’s just that something about this tells me that Kennedy trusted and even revered who killed him. He was wearing his Grey suit Thomas! That’s his power suit and he only has two of those, and for all the ten years that we have been married he’s worn them twice! Maybe I am crazy right now, but someone closer to him killed him and though Ken was never faithful- he was a great father to our children and it’s because of that love that I will find the person who killed him and let him know that I know it was him.”

  “Fine! Just take it easy now…do you have a list of suspects?”

  “This is no time for CSI Thomas! This is Kenya, even the priests are corrupt! I will unravel this one day at a time, and until then my life goes on.”

  “You keep saying, ‘him,’ how sure are you that it’s a man? I know Ken had female partners too, it could be them.”

  “The power suit was only for the men he trusted most. He often told me that he could not trust any woman in the business.”

  “And how did you know about Dr. Shivesh?”

  “Silence can save you Thomas.”

  Thomas brought me back to the present moment when he told me that we had gotten home. My sister, Nancy and brother Joseph were at the house waiting for us. I looked at them and tried to smile but it was too much to take in. Nancy led me to the bedroom with Joseph following behind. I knew it was going to be a long week, but I wanted to bury Ken as soon as Saturday and continue with my life. I could not wait for two weeks and entertain endless phrases of ‘I am sorry for your loss,’ while people were fed and they talked about my children. As my body found the warm comfort of the bed, my mind went back to the first day Ken had bought me this house. It was a graduation gift and he wanted us to fill the rooms with happy memories. My first question to him was, ‘How did you afford this?’ I came to learn later on that money was nothing but a piece of paper to him that earned him favors. He told me that day and every time after that, “never ask me how I afford anything when it comes to you and the children. I love you Rose, and I hope you come to accept that as the truth.” So we stayed up that night as I told the children that their father was no more. Samantha took it better than I had hoped; it was Leslie that worried me instead. My son looked at me and in the softest of voices asked, “Will we be okay?” I reached out to him and told him the truth, “yes, we will.” He hugged me and started crying and soon all of us were crying right there in the sitting room holding each other as though an atrocious act had been committed. Thomas said he would stay for the week and help out by answering the phone and ensuring that guests were well taken care of.

  I visited Dr. Shivesh on Thursday evening, a day before Ken’s body was released for burial. He took my hand and led me outside past the parking lot into his car. It was a blue Subaru Forester that needed a wash. “I’m sorry for meeting you like this, but Ken told me you would come to me some day, I just wish circumstances were different.”

  “I knew this would happen in a way, but nothing about seeing him like that made me be at peace. I know something is going on and my husband was caught in the middle and now, well…now he’s gone.”

  “I did a post-mortem and I have never seen anything like this. Look, Mrs. Wamina, are you sure that you would like to pursue this?”

  “If someone put two bullets through your wife, wouldn’t you do the same?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t know what Ken was mixed up in. Look, how about I ask around and get you someone to look into this? I mean if anything were to happen, then at least you would be safe and you can live well with your kids.”

  “What is it Dr. Shivesh?”

  “You do know that Ken was my best friend. He was stubborn and though it may not seem like it, that man was wise. He knew numbers and saw profit where people saw nothing. Ken had an Emergency fund set in your name. He asked me to make sure you get access to everything if anything ever happened to him, and there’s something else.”

  “What is it?”

  “He said I should tell you to never trust the brightest star. I don’t know what that means, but he just said that if I told you then you would understand. Mrs. Wamina, you still have a long life ahead, and I did not like what they did to my friend. Ken never went back on his word, and though he may have had some setbacks, I trusted him with my life because he knew the value of his breath in his business dealings. He worked hard for what he made and to see them do this to him is…wrong, careless, inhuman but at the same time a threat. Please come see me when you can and we can sort out the details of what Ken left behind.”

  “Thank you Daktari, I’ll never forget what you’ve done for my husband.”

  “He was my friend Mrs. Wamina, perhaps the only true friend I had and those are very rare.”

  He walked me back to the main road and watched as I boarded a bus back to town. It was only when I reached the city centre that I realized I had not viewed my husband’s body or gotten the full report from Dr. Shivesh. How many more secrets did Ken keep from me? I wanted to know what kind of business he specialized in so much that I nearly walked into incoming traffic. A man pulled me from the road asking what was wrong with me. A lady stared me down. Two college students must have thought I was sick, but when the man asked me if I was okay, all I could say was ‘my husband is dead.’ He looked at the pavement shaking his head in defiance of the word, but he simply said, ‘take heart Madam, bado uko hai, you will heal only if you choose to. Mungu halali.’

  Later on as I sat in a Café drinking a cup of tea, my mind went back to what Dr. Shivesh had been told by Ken. Why didn’t he trust the brightest star? I tried to make sense of his anguish at that moment but nothing seemed to come to mind. As the Doctor’s words played in mind I realized that there was more to Thomas than he let on. How else could Ken have warned me about him? I remembered being introduced to his family for the first time and his Father was bold enough to say that he had two sons. They were identical but one was the brightest star because he knew how to make the accounts balance. He introduced me to Thomas who welcomed me with the easiest and friendliest smile of them all. He then asked more about my family, aspirations in life and went on to say that his son, Ken, was full of surprises. They always knew that Thomas would be the first to settle down but upon meeting me it seems they were forced to change their minds about him. I sipped my tea quietly and looked at the tiled-floor afraid to make my concerns known.

  Ken’s father is the loudest of all men because he speaks with his eyes. In the ten years that I have known the man, he always wears the finest of suits and talks to conclude a matter. He bought Thomas a house against his wishes, set up a trust fund for Leslie without my consent and even bought my siblings cars. I always felt like he was buying me off or trying to appease something in us, but Ken never went against him. Ken always said, ‘my father is like the sun, he burns you whether you like it or not, you cannot seek shelter from the man, plus he’s rich.’

  “Have you always been rich?”

  “What kind of question is that Rose?”

  “I mean, have you always had money at your disposal?”

  “Everyone has money at their disposal, that’s why we have currencies.”

  “Poor people do not have money Ken.”

  “Poor people are stupid and like to play the victim. Money exchanges hands, question is do you stretch out yours to be given money or to make it from one hand to the other while earning some for yourself. Poverty is an excuse my beautiful wife and I don’t like you speaking like that!”

  “Ken…”

  “Now what?”

  “When I was in class six, we once
went without food for four days, my small sister died on the fifth day and I rushed into a neighbor’s field to steal maize- so I could share it with my Mom and other siblings, do you know what the owner of the farm did to me? He set three dogs on me, one of them almost bit my leg- and when I got home my sick father could do nothing but cry when he saw the maize. He died two months later.”

  “Babe…”

  “No, it’s a free country isn’t it? Kenyans have the right to free speech too, so don’t babe me.”

  “I never knew about your father.”

  “You never asked me Ken. In fact your father knows more about my background than you do, and sometimes I wonder just how much he’s making up for while you expect me to jump at your orders. I know my family is not as rich as you are; in fact my mother has to thank your father for the nice house she lives in. My brother and sister now have cars too, and sometimes I wonder where does all this money come from? I know you love me Ken, but if there’s one thing I don’t understand it’s why everything your father says goes.”

  “Babe…come here. Look, I am sorry for all you have gone through, but you worked hard. You wake up before me, and always want to make sure that your mother is fine, and maybe God is rewarding you through my father. He is my father. He’s the sun remember.” I never knew what to expect of Ken’s family because they did as they pleased without a care in the world. Most of my friends envied me. I had married a rich man. I lived in a big house. I had a good job and two beautiful children. I had what people desire but not what I desire, and that’s to have known my husband. Weren’t we joined together as one? Don’t get me wrong, my husband was a good father. He adored the kids more than I ever could, but somewhere between his secret deals and desire for money he lost me. I struggled so hard to find him, but he always made sure that whatever was between us was either the dark or a fog. He’s dead now, and the fog is slowly turning into mist.

  I finished my coffee and looked around the café trying to grasp something about the interior design that was unique. The walls were a good shade of brown, the lighting was fine, but the seat was comfortable. I looked around long enough but settled on the seat and the mugs. I had always been good at advertising and maybe that’s why Ken invested in my education. We had endless arguments about it but sometimes it felt as though Ken wanted a puppet and not a wife. I think it’s the reason he always had a beautiful slim and tall woman beside him at every function he attended. They drank the wine, smiled for the camera and kept their mouths shut during events. I couldn’t simmer my opinions and Ken hated that.