The Prime Minister's Daughter

by William Manchee

  Chapter 25

   

  Before going back to Trinidad, Kevin and Deviane helped Cetawayo move into an apartment. It was late in the afternoon, all the new furniture had been delivered, and the girls were lining the shelves and putting away groceries. Kevin finished up the installation of a set of bunk beds while the three boys, Kimba, Taiwo and Atiba, watched.

  Kimba was eight-years-old and would have his own room. Taiwo and Atiba were six-year-old identical twins and were destined to occupy the bunk beds, once Kevin was finished.

  Finally, Kevin tightened the last bolt and stood up to admire his work. Taiwo and Atiba immediately climbed on the beds and started jumping up and down, laughing hysterically. Hearing the clamor, Deviane and Cetawayo, came in to see what was happening.

  "Kevin, you're finished, huh?" Deviane said. "They look good."

  "Putting those suckers together was a royal pain in the ass."

  "Thank you, Kevin. I'm glad I didn't have to do it," Cetawayo said. "Obatala always did those kinds of things. He was the mechanical one in the family."

  "When is Daddy coming home?" Kemba asked.

  Kevin looked at Deviane and Cetawayo, not knowing how to respond. Cetawayo knelt down and spoke to Kemba.

  "Like I told you before, sweetheart, your daddy had to go on a trip. He won't be back for a long time."

  "Why did he have to go?"

  "To protect you and your brothers. If he didn't go, you might have been hurt. He loves you very much. Someday he'll come home."

  "I want him to come home now, Mommy. Will you tell him to come home?"

  "I wish I could, Kemba, but I have no way of talking to him."

  "Can't you call him on the phone?"

  "He doesn't have a telephone where he is."

  "Is he mad at us? Were we bad?"

  "No, no. You've been good kids. Like I said, someone was trying to hurt us. He had to go away to protect us."

  Kemba finally gave up and ran off into the living room.

  "He just doesn't understand," Cetawayo said to Kevin and Deviane.

  "I don't either," Kevin replied.

  "Well, thank you both for helping me. You've been wonderful. I know you need to leave and pack for your trip back to Trinidad."

  "You're welcome," Kevin replied. "I'm glad we could help."

  Cetawayo started walking toward the door. "You two be careful back in Trinidad, okay? I don't want to read about you in the newspaper again."

  "We'll try to keep a low profile this trip," Deviane replied.

  "Do you think you'll be able to visit Obatala?"

  "Yes, I plan to visit him," Kevin said.

  "Would you tell him I miss him terribly, and that I love him?"

  "Of course," Kevin replied. He opened the front door and held it for Deviane.

  "You take care now, Cetawayo," Deviane said. "We'll see you after the wedding."

  "Oh I wish I could see it. I know it will be beautiful."

  "We'll bring back pictures, okay."

  "Good, I’ll look forward to seeing them. Go now, it's getting late."

  "Goodbye, Cetawayo," Kevin said, pausing to give her a quick hug.

  "Take good care of your mommy, you guys," Deviane said to the children who had huddled up next to their mother. She looked up and smiled at Cetawayo. "We'll pray for Obatala," she said.

  "Thank you, goodbye."

   

   

  The next morning, Kevin felt the first pangs of depression. From the expression on Deviane’s face, she shared some of his sadness. They had enjoyed the visit to Plano so much, they hated to leave. The prospect of facing Obatala's trial in Trinidad was sobering to say the least.

  The small jet finally landed after a long five hour flight from Los Angeles to Trinidad. Anila and Kiran greeted the weary travelers at the government airport. It was raining when they deplaned. Kevin held a large umbrella over their heads as they rushed to the awaiting car.

  "Deviane!" Anila cried.

  "Hi, Mother," she said as they embraced.

  "Hi, Kevin," Kiran said.

  "Hello, how are you?" Kevin asked.

  "Fine. How was your trip?"

  "Excellent."

  "Oh my God! Look at that diamond!" Anila said. "Oh, Deviane, it's so beautiful."

  "Kevin picked it out. He has good taste, don't you think?"

  "Oh yes, I love it," Anila said.

  Kiran looked at the ring carefully and smiled, but didn't say anything. Kevin watched her until their eyes met. Then he looked back at Deviane.

  "Anything happen here, while we were gone?" Kevin asked.

  "Not really. The trial is set to begin the day after tomorrow. The press has been all hyped up about it, as you would expect. Everyone is saying that if Obatala and the others aren't convicted, Father's going to be in serious trouble."

  "Is there any chance they won't be convicted?"

  "I'm afraid so. Sharad says that much of the evidence is circumstantial. If they get any NDC sympathizers on the jury, it could be difficult to get a conviction. Everything seems to depend on Obatala's testimony. If he isn't convincing, then we might have a problem."

  "He knows a lot about the NDC. They had a lot of meetings with Ray at his house. I'd bet he'll be pretty persuasive."

  "I hope you're right," Kiran said.

  When they got back to the Prime Minister's residence, Kevin and Deviane went to their rooms to unpack. It was well past dinner time, so Anila had someone fix tea and a snack. While they were sipping their tea, the Prime Minister arrived home.

  "Deviane! You're home."

  "Hi," Deviane said.

  "How was your trip?"

  "It was wonderful," Anila said. "See what she got."

  Anila held up Deviane's hand so Ahmad could see her ring.

  "Oh, very nice."

  Deviane turned away from her father. He frowned.

  "Kevin's parents are great. I really like them."

  "I heard you had dinner at the White House," Kiran said.

  "Oh, and you should have seen Deviane," Kevin replied. "She wore a magnificent silver gown. She was the most beautiful woman there."

  "I wish I could have seen it," Anila said. "Did you spend much time with the President?"

  "Fifteen or twenty minutes," Deviane said. "He arranged a tour of Georgetown for us."

  "Really? How did you like it?"

  The Prime Minister pulled on Kevin's arm. "Kevin, I need to have a word with you. Would you come to my office?"

  "Sure." Kevin got up and followed the Prime Minister.

  He poured a couple of glasses of Scotch, handed Kevin one and set the bottle on the table in front of him.

  "You will need the bloody bottle before we're done, I’m afraid."

  Kevin looked at the drink. Oh, God. What’s happened now?

  The Prime Minister downed his drink and poured another. He sat down behind his desk and looked at Kevin and swallowed hard. "Listen, I’m afraid our preparation for the bloody trial has not gone well. Many of the witnesses have vanished into thin air. Others are refusing to cooperate. Obatala's testimony is going to be absolutely critical if we’re going to convict the NDC leaders."

  Kevin took a swig of his drink without taking his eyes off the Prime Minister. "That's what Kiran told me."

  "Sharad would like you to meet him in the morning, to prepare you for the trial. He'd like you to take a look at some more of the bloody traitors, to see if you can identify them. We must have your help here, Kevin. There is a lot at stake."

  Kevin sighed. Oh God! Is there no end to this? "I realize that, but I won't lie. I'll testify about Obatala's actions without defending him, since that's what we’ve all agreed. Hopefully, these men you have picked up will be ones that I recognize. Have you had any luck locating Malcolm Mann?"

  "Yes, he and some others are in Cuba. The government there has granted them political asylum."

  "Damn! I wish he hadn't got away."

  “Yes, it w
as very unfortunate. If I’d gotten hold of him before he got away, I’d have kicked his bloody ass all the way to Cuba!”

  "So, what did you want to tell me?”

  The Prime Minister downed his second glass of Scotch and squirmed in his chair. “Oh, yes. . . . I spoke to the chief prosecutor and suggested rather strongly that Obatala be shown mercy for his cooperation in testifying against the other NDC leaders. He agreed to make that recommendation."

  "Recommendation?"

  "Yes. You see, it's not his decision, you know. The bloody judge must decide. Unfortunately, I have no control over the judge. I can't guarantee that he'll take the chief prosecutor's recommendation."

  "You promised Obatala wouldn't be executed!" Kevin jumped to his feet.

  "I said I would do all that I bloody could to prevent it."

  "Damn it! We had a deal."

  "Relax, the judge will probably go along with it. I'm just warning you that it's not really my decision. I've done all that I can to honor our arrangement."

  Kevin shook his head hardly able to contain his anger. You lying son of a bitch! You knew all along you couldn’t guarantee Obatala’s life.

  Kevin took his drink and the bottle and stormed out of the meeting to find Deviane and break the news to her. The thought that poor Obatala might die after all consumed him. What will Cetawayo think when she finds out Obatala’s been betrayed? Will she think I was a part of it? Oh, God. I hope not.

  He thought about calling the whole thing off and blowing the whistle on the Prime Minister. He knew it would be the end for he and Deviane, but at least he wouldn't be a part of this ruthless scheme to manipulate the judicial process. He wondered how many of the so-called NDC leaders were actually innocent citizens, just like Obatala.

  When he found Deviane, she was shocked to see him with a bottle of liquor in his hand. She realized by the smell of his breath, he'd consumed a fair amount of it already.

  "What's wrong? Why are you drinking?"

  "Your father's a bastard."

  "Kevin! Someone might hear you."

  "I don't give a shit!"

  "Come into my room and tell me what's going on." Deviane took Kevin by the hand and escorted him into her room. Kevin sat on her bed and put the bottle of booze on her night stand. "Okay, I'm waiting. What's going on?"

  "Your father lied to us. He knew all along that he couldn't keep them from executing Obatala."

  Deviane stared at Kevin. "Oh no! You mean Obatala's going to die?"

  "You got it. He's a dead man and I might as well have pulled the trigger!"

  "Oh, God! Kevin, I'm so sorry."

  "Tell that to little Kemba and the twins."

  Deviane frowned. "Are you blaming this on me?"

  Kevin sighed. "No, of course not. It's all my fault. I should have let your father ship me back to the United States rather than selling out to him."

  "You didn't sell out. Obatala wanted you to do what you did. We all just trusted my father, that was our mistake. We should have known better after he tried to use Kiran and me to get what he wanted."

  "So what are we going to do now?"

  "I don't know, Kevin, but you better tell Obatala the truth. He has a right to know."

  "When he refuses to testify, your dad will know I told him. He'll be pissed off. He may lock you up and refuse to let me see you."

  "He'll have to kill me, because I won't be a prisoner!"

  "Oh, God, Deviane, I couldn't live without you!"

  "Nor could I. I'd die if I lost you!"

  Kevin polished off another shot and then handed Deviane the bottle. She took a swig and grimaced from the bitter taste. Before long, the bottle was nearly empty and Kevin and Deviane fell asleep in each other's arms. They slept soundly until the next morning when light flooded into Deviane's bedroom.

  Kevin opened his eyes and quickly stuck up his hand to shield himself from the glare. He looked down at Deviane, asleep in his lap, amazed that they’d been that way all night long. He yawned and stretched causing Deviane to wake up. She sat up and suddenly grabbed her head.

  "Is this what a hangover feels like?" she said.

  "You've never had a hangover before?"

  "No. Thank God."

  "Huh, well this may be the first of many."

  "I hope not. My head feels like it's going to explode."

  Kevin looked at his watch.

  "Oh crap! It's already eight-thirty. I'm supposed to meet Sharad at nine."

  "What about Obatala?"

  "I'll ask Sharad if I can see him while I'm there. Are you sure you want me to tell him?"

  "No, but it's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

  "Yeah, I suppose,” Kevin said. “How could we live with ourselves if we allowed this to continue?"

  "We'd have to drink a lot."

  "Two guilt-ridden alcoholics. Wouldn't we be a sweet couple? Okay, we'll have to do what's right and take our chances. While I'm gone, you better do a lot of praying."

  "Believe me, I'm going to wear out my rosary beads!"

  "What if I never see you again?" Kevin asked.

  A tear rolled down Deviane's cheek. "That can't happen. I won't let it happen!"

  Kevin and Deviane embraced and kissed each other fervently. When they finally took a breath, they looked into each other's eyes, wondering if they would ever see each other again. Kevin lingered as long as he could. Finally he reluctantly left Deviane's room to get ready for Sharad.

  He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth to rid himself of the stench of alcohol. After getting dressed, he ran downstairs and opened the front door. As he stepped outside, the car was just pulling up to take him to the capitol building. He got in, took a deep breath and tried to relax. Maybe the judge will go along with the recommendation after all. It’s possible. Ahmad may have exaggerated the risk. As the car drove away, he looked back, praying that he would be returned safely to Deviane that evening.

   

   

  The capitol building was crowded with spectators, government officials and the press. It was obvious from the activity that the government was in turmoil. Kevin felt a thousand eyes on him as he made his way to Sharad's office. He opened the door and stepped inside. A tall, slender Caucasian receptionist smiled at him.

  "Mr. Wells?"

  "Yes."

  "Have a seat, I'll tell the Attorney General you're here."

  "Thanks."

  Kevin noticed a copy of the Daily Express on the end table. He picked it up. He saw his own picture and one of Obatala on the front page. The article was entitled–Key Witnesses To Put Nail In NDC Coffin. Kevin scanned the article, which summarized the testimony expected of him and Obatala. He cringed at the thought of the consequences if he and Obatala refused to testify. He was beginning to feel light headed when Sharad finally came out of his office to greet him.

  "Kevin, how are you?"

  "Fine."

  "Thanks for coming by. I notice you've seen this morning's paper. What do you think of the article?"

  "It looks interesting."

  "I don't know how these things leak out, but somehow, they always do. I've got a dozen or so additional defendants I need you to take a look at. They're being held downstairs. Let's go ahead and get that out of the way. Afterward, the chief prosecutor wants to go over your testimony with you, all right?"

  "Sure."

  Kevin followed Sharad down the stairs to the basement. They took a long corridor to a small detention room. Inside, two detectives were having a cup of coffee and talking. They stood as Sharad entered the room.

  "Okay, this is Kevin Wells. Bring in the men, one at a time."

  Kevin sat down and watched through the two-way mirror as each suspect entered the room and was briefly interrogated by the detectives. Kevin didn't recognize the first or second suspects, but when the third one entered, he stood to get a good look.

  "Yes, I remember that guy. He's one of the men who kidnaped us from Miss Victoria's place."

/>   "Excellent," Sharad said. "Bring in the next one."

  "Yeah, that guy was there, too. There were six or eight soldiers who captured us."

  Sharad was delighted as Kevin identified seven of the twelve men as being involved in the kidnaping. Kevin hoped that this would take some of the pressure off Obatala if he decided to renege on his deal.

  "Well, Kevin, this was a profitable meeting."

  "I'm glad you found these guys. I was beginning to think everybody got away."

  "Okay, I'm going to take you by the prosecutor's office and then you can go back home."

  "Sir, do you think I could see Obatala before I go? I have a message for him, from his wife."

  Sharad considered the request for a moment.

  "I guess it couldn't hurt. I'll arrange for you to see him right after you meet with the prosecutor."

  "Thanks, I really appreciate it."

  Kevin met with the prosecutor for several hours. The prosecutor was impressed with Kevin’s vivid memory of everything that happened since his first arrival on Trinidad. H said that would make his testimony more credible. When they were finished, Kevin was escorted to the jail where Obatala was being held. Obatala smiled when he saw Kevin and they embraced.

  "Kevin, what a surprise.”

  "Hi, Obatala. How are you holding up?"

  "Not too well, actually. They're wearing me out."

  "You do look tired. What are they doing to you?"

  "Every day they spend hours and hours with me, going over my testimony. I don't know what's truth or fiction anymore. I'm just so tired of it. I wish they would leave me alone."

  "God, I'm so sorry, Obatala. I wish there was something I could do."

  "I know. How's Cetawayo?"

  "She’s fine and she said to tell you that she loves you."

  "Did everything go all right?"

  "Yes, we got them all settled in an apartment in Dallas. It's very nice and I think they'll be happy there."

  "How are my boys?"

  "They're fine. Kemba really misses you. He doesn't understand why you can't be with them."

  "He's a fine boy. I miss him so much," Obatala said as he tried to hold back the tears.

  "I told my dad to check on them every once in a while, to make sure they're okay. They've got plenty of money. I put the two hundred grand in the bank for them."

  "Two hundred thousand?"

  "Yeah, I figured if you're going to be bought, you shouldn't go cheap."

  They laughed.

  "It's too bad I won't be able to spend it."

  "I know, you finally get a few bucks and you can't even spend it. It's a pretty sad world we live in."

  Obatala put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder. "Thank you, Kevin, for doing this for me."

  Kevin took his hand and squeezed it. "It was a pleasure. Cetawayo is such a nice woman. Deviane and I really love her so."

  "So, how are you and Deviane?"

  "We're okay. We had a good trip to Dallas. We even stayed overnight at the White House."

  "The White House? Really?"

  "Uh huh. It was a big shock to me too. It was quite an experience."

  "I can imagine."

  "So are you ready for the trial?"

  "Yes, I just want to get it over with."

  Kevin swallowed hard. "Listen, Obatala. There's something I have to tell you."

  Obatala looked at Kevin anxiously. "What is it?"

  "I'm really sorry. I know the Prime Minister promised that if you cooperated and testified against the NDC, that he would be sure you only got a prison sentence and didn't get the death penalty."

  Obatala closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Oh, God."

  Kevin struggled to maintain his composure. "I’m so sorry, Obatala, but he may not be able to keep that promise. He says it’s totally out of his hands. Frankly, it looks like no matter how much help you are to them, they may still sentence you to hang."

  Obatala shook his head and grimaced. "That bastard! So what's the point of my testifying? What will I accomplish, other than to insure Ahmad stays in power?"

  "I wouldn't blame you if you told them to forget the deal. That's probably what I'd do."

  "What about Cetawayo? Do you think she's out of danger?"

  "I don't know. There's some kind of a connection between Ahmad and the United States government. I don't know how safe Cetawayo would be if you suddenly lost your memory."

  "What about you and Deviane?"

  "It would make it tough for us obviously, but we don't want that to play a part in your decision. We'll figure something out either way."

  Obatala got up and walked to the cell door. He grabbed the bars with his hand and hung his head dejectedly. Finally he turned and looked at Kevin.

  "I'm prepared to die, if it must be. I will keep my bargain, even though Ahmad is a cheat and a liar."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, Kevin. I will die for you and Deviane, for my wife and my children, and for Trinidad!"

  Kevin began to cry. "I'm so sorry, Obatala. I wish there was something I could do! You're a fine man. You don't deserve this."

  "Don't cry for me, Kevin. I'm tired and I just want to get this over with. Just promise me one thing. Don't let my children forget me!"

  "I won't, I promise! Your children will know what a great man you are."