Black Mischief

by Carl Hancock

  Chapter Four

  uthless Abel Rubai was a fine actor, but his performances were never seen in any theatre. His role playing was strictly for real life situations. In high school he had never gone near any of the plays or musicals that often starred his own beautiful girlfriend, Sally Molan. He was too busy working at his books, mostly on mathematics.

  The work paid off in a big way and, with one outrageous piece of luck, he found himself, at the age of twenty, appointed financial adviser to a new president. Mister President had been principal of Kakamega High in Abel’s early days at the school and been impressed with the handsome Kalenjin boy with the smart brain and the keenness to get on.

  President and protege flourished together. They learned quickly how to use their privileged positions for their personal advancement. Mister President was delighted to discover that his boy possessed a very special gift. In the privacy of his quarters in State House, when Abel reported that another big stash of money had been salted away in one of a growing number of foreign banks, his boss would whoop with delight.

  ‘Mister Midas, what would this poor, humble schoolteacher do without you? God has truly blessed you with a wonderful gift!’

  Abel’s reply was usually a modest smile and a gentle nod. He did not mention his gratitude for the gift he had received from the leader of the nation. So many times he had watched how the big man played the role of the ‘man with two faces’. This was one of his mama’s many colourful phrases to describe people and life in the village.

  ‘Abel, boy, you be very careful if you ever meet one of these kind of folks. They’ll steal the posho off your plate when you not looking.’

  So, when there was a meeting with a smart talking Western ambassador or the chief of some big multinational, interested in investing in Kenya, Abel would stand by in amazement and admiration as he listened to his old headmaster spinning his yarns.

  ‘Mama, this old fellow is a man with four faces, maybe more. Who knows?’

  But, for sure, Abel never lost a single spoonful of posho.

  As the months and years passed, Abel honed his acting skills until they were pretty well perfect not only in matters of money. He enjoyed being a very private man, to the point where no one, not even Sally, knew the truth of his thoughts. He had become very wealthy, solely by his own efforts. The money had helped him to develop his own power base. He had gathered around him a group of men, powerful in their own minor ways. He had become Mr Big, the shadowy figure without whose consent nothing of any importance in the country moved forward. He would not tolerate opposition. He had his methods of making sure that the country was run in the proper way, the Rubai way. These methods sometimes involved the disappearance of people who did not understand what was best for the country.

  His equilibrium had been shattered by the death of Julius. His beloved son had been snatched from him just when it seemed that the boy was emerging from his wild period and ready to become the true heir to the Rubai fortune and the Rubai way. For a time his senses had been numbed and he suffered bouts of deep depression. A worse stage was to follow. More and more he became convinced that Julius’s death was a judgment, a punishment. So there was something in this mumbo jumbo bible stuff that dominated Sally’s life. And the bastard who gave out the punishments had chosen his moment carefully, to hit him when he was at his most vulnerable.

  He had known that Sally had been in contact with the McCalls, specifically the mother of the man whom he saw as his son’s real murderer, even though the cocky runt of a farmer had not actually pulled the trigger. If talking and writing to this woman helped Sally, he would have to put up with it.

  But it was not enough for Sally just to get on with dealing with her problem. She had to be looking around for something or someone who could take away his own pain.

  Chapter Five

  ithin a week of Sally’s visit, the Rubai family descended en masse on Londiani. Eddie and Rollo were back in Oundle School, but the rest of the McCalls were waiting on the veranda to greet them. Rebecca had her left hand in Tom’s right, so making her prominent engagement ring invisible. It had been arranged that everyone would dress informally, mainly to ensure that Abel would not appear wearing one of his dozens of dark, London tailored suits. Reuben Rubai had gone his own way and turned up in a black suit and polo shirt, in spite of his mother’s pleading. This and the defiant scowl in his expression caused Tom and his father to exchange quick glances of mild amusement. Sally’s extra dose of exuberance and the enthusiasm and noise of the younger Rubai children quenched any gloom that Reuben hoped to create with his melodramatic entrance. When the handshakes and hugs were done, coffee, cold sodas and beer were brought out and the polite but strained conversation began.

  Maura, happy survivor of a thousand parties of every description, would make sure that there would be no uncomfortable silences to endure. Her skills were never put to the test. Sally, with her natural warmth and good humour, enjoyed social contact and was always ready to talk children, even more so because she was carrying her ‘miracle’ baby, her new son.

  ‘The children are so happy to come to Naivasha. They know about the hippos and they are hoping they will see one. It’s half term and I love having them home all day. After having Julius in Eton and so far away I vowed that none of the others would go to boarding school.’

  Maura smiled and looked across at Tom. ‘Our three all went to Oundle. Eddie and Rollo are in their last year. I think they enjoy getting away from home for a while. Right, Tom?’

  ‘I didn’t think the weather was too flash. Made me appreciate home, but there were plenty of fun times.’

  Everyone could see that the Rubai men were not enjoying this visit. Abel was sinking his beers too quickly and Reuben succeeded in making it clear that he was bored and did not want to hang around in this bush backwater. Maura had also made plans for the afternoon’s activities. Sally went with Rafaella and Maura on a visit to Naivasha Hospital to see how the staff had spent the hundred thousand shilling gift donated by the Rubai family for the previous Christmas. Rebecca and her sisters, Martha and Jane, led the younger Rubais through a herd of grazing waterbuck down to the lake, confident that a few hippos would do them the courtesy of rising to the surface to wiggle their little ears in greeting.

  So to the business on the veranda where four men sat uneasily, waiting. Abel looked towards Reuben whose expression had shifted from surly to scornful. The Rubais were not used to humility. The McCalls were looking out over the grassy plain that led down to the yacht club, composed, sipping their sodas.

  The silence was broken by a rush of words from Abel. He was in a hurry.

  ‘Let’s get something straight here. I loved Julius, probably too much. In my head I’ve been back on that golf course a hundred times a day and every time I hope I’m not going to lose him. I even allowed myself to be conned by Sally into praying. A waste of time, of course.’ He paused briefly. ‘I never realised before how deep pain can go.

  ‘One night I arrived home and there was this stranger in the sitting room, a friend of Sally’s. She’d come over from London, a psycho something. She stayed for a week and we … talked every evening. At the end of her stay, the pain was less. She kept on about bringing closure. I only half understood what she meant. Forgiveness, she used that word so many times, how I must forgive myself, forgive Julius even. Yes, there were times when I felt angry with him, too! I could cope with all that, but I must also ask for forgiveness. Now that was an idea that churned my insides. I don’t ask for anything. The killer was when she said I must ask forgiveness from you, McCall, forgiveness for being ready to kill you. I had my finger on the trigger.’

  Tom broke in. ‘I remembered none of that. I was out cold. Philip Coulson told me about how Stephen was carrying me.’

  Reuben moved to the edge of his chair. For the first time that afternoon he was ready to give up the incomprehensible mumbling and speak up, but Alex was in before him. He looked directly into Abel’s eyes.<
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  ‘Tom mentions Stephen. You know he’s our foreman. He’ll be here shortly.’

  Abel narrowed his gaze. ‘Why so? What’s he got to do with this?’

  ‘In case you’ve forgotten, you were pointing your gun at Stephen.’

  ‘I’m not hearing this! You are telling me to ask forgiveness from the man who beat up my son till he was unconscious and carried him over here like a slab of meat?’ Abel was struggling to hold his temper.

  Tom could not hold back, but his voice remained calm. ‘Mr Rubai, Julius had just tried to rape Stephen’s daughter.’

  Reuben moved across the room and in three long strides launched himself onto a startled Tom.

  ‘I will not let you say filthy lies about my brother.’

  Tom pushed Reuben to the floor. ‘What time does your keeper arrive?’

  From his position on one knee, Reuben launched another verbal assault on Tom. ‘You murdered Julius. You didn’t pull any trigger, but you knew exactly what you were doing when you turned up at the club. You knew what that would do to him on the happiest night of his life! Papa, you should have pulled that trigger and you know it!’

  Abel rose to his feet and stood looking down on Reuben. ‘That’s enough!’ His nostrils flared with anger and he sucked in long, heavy breaths. ‘Do not disgrace your brother’s memory with your stupid words!’

  Reuben backed away until he collided with his chair. He raised his right arm and pointed towards his father. After a brief hesitation he launched out. ‘My brother’s sacred memory! Julius was a first-class shit! The only person he ever cared for was Julius Rubai. You and Mama spoilt him rotten. In the last five years he hardly spent a night at home. Most times he was out shagging a piece, as he called it. He had a dick for a brain! He disgusted me!’

  ‘Have you finished?!’ his father screamed.

  ‘Now you and Mama are having another child and you are calling him Julius already! Do you hate me so much? Okay, some people say I don’t look like a proper Rubai. But I’ve kept myself clean and I do care for others. Sometimes I wish we were a poor family. There’s a lot more love going ‘round in Kibera than there is in Karen!’

  Reuben was spent. He was sitting on the floor, head down and sobbing. Tom and Alex were so bewildered that they could not bring themselves to move, to say a single word. Abel had sat down and, for a time, was silent.

  When the words came they were quietly spoken and took a lot of effort.

  ‘So, I’m asking for forgiveness, after all. If Sally was here she’d be praying for us.’ He managed a weak smile. ‘It can take a lifetime to learn some things, but sometimes understanding comes in one second. You McCalls must despise us.’

  Reuben interrupted his father. ‘Papa, it is wrong for us to be here. You are right. These white people despise us. The old hatreds are still there.’

  It was Alex’s turn to interrupt. ‘Not true. We don’t despise, don’t hate you, anybody. I believe that a part of you fears us. Yes, fears. Sounds crazy?’

  ‘Not so crazy perhaps, not so crazy.’ Abel closed his eyes and seemed about to doze off. A beaming smile lit up his face and his eyes popped open and completed a picture of contentment. He leaned forward in his seat and pointed his finger in the general direction of Tom and Alex. There was no malice in the gesture.

  ‘And then again we are learning from you. But soon, I think, the days of fearing and learning will be over.’ He raised himself to his feet and walked slowly towards Reuben. Reuben, standing now, looked warily at his father as he came closer. When Abel raised his arm Reuben ducked to avoid the blow that never came. Instead Abel closed his arm around his son’s shoulders and led the pair of them down the steps off the veranda towards the nearest of the two Mercedes, turned and took a step back towards the veranda and fired his parting shot to Tom.

  ‘Thomas McCall, the girl is yours again now. But my son did not have to die for this. Yes, he was headstrong and you knew this, too. There was no need for you to be in that place. Julius’s quick temper cost him dearly that night.’

  There was no smile now. He spoke the words in the solemn, neutral way of a judge pronouncing sentence on a criminal. Moments later the dust raised by the car speeding up the dirt track leading up to South Lake Road was settling back to earth.

  Tom and Alex did not move, did not speak. Tom looked down towards the lake and watched Rebecca and her sister leading the Rubai children back to Londiani. They were skylarking and in the still air the sound of their laughter was clear to the two serious faced men waiting up at Big House.

  The voices of Angela and Stephen Kamau could be heard in the sitting room. Stephen was first to join them on the veranda. He was surprised to find no Rubais present.

  ‘Bwana, sorry to be late. There was a little bit of trouble with a machine in the loading bay. It is fixed. But where is the Rubai family? Angela told me I must hurry.’

  ‘Sit down, Stephen. Please, Angela, this time.’ Reluctantly she obeyed. ‘Angela, I don’t know if you heard any of that row that was going on here just now.’

  ‘Mr Alex, when my girls left to take the Rubai children to see the lake, I borrowed the bicycle to go down to the fields to fetch Stephen.’

  Stephen was scrutinising his bosses’ faces. ‘Thomas, are you well? You are very pale.’

  ‘Stephen, someone has just let me know that he thinks that I’m a murderer! Not very pleasant. But if I am as pale as all that, it’s because I think that person may have a point.’

  Tom was trembling. ‘Sorry about all this.’ He was trying to gather himself. ‘It’s almost five months since it happened and every day it’s been the same question: did I need to be at the club that night? I’ve wrestled and wrestled with this and my best answer is that I wanted to see her once more before she, well, belonged to him. I never expected to see him, didn’t enter my head. There were five seconds when it could have happened and it did, it did.’

  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 goodnes
s 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.’