Pamela attended events and parties with Allan for the first year he was in parliament. In the second year, she decided against it. He insisted that she should accompany him, but Pamela held her ground. She never told him her fears because if there was one thing she was taught by her mother was to never show her weakness. They were at the State party when she saw the girls cling onto her husband. They giggled, held onto his hand and kissed him on the cheeks. She knew it would happen because she heard the rumors along the corridors of justice. Lawyers were believed to be liars but they never kept their mouth shut. If there was no such thing as lawyer’s fee then their confidentiality could always cost them. It was ironical that their loud mouths got them into trouble just as fast as it got them out. She knew of his quick affair with Molly at the registrar’s office. She also knew of his late meetings with a socialite in the city. He visited her twice a month because he was her lawyer and she could never be seen with him in public. Her clients were the honorable men of the country who ensured that she had the two houses in Runda, shares in the Tea and Coffee industry, stake in the Import and Export business in Kenya and a youthful waist. She knew all this and still bid her time. Allan was like an ant. He carried ten times his weight but never fell, and sometimes she loved him for it, but at other times she desired to end his life for the sake of some peace of mind.
The call she would get five years later while heading out to church would remind her of this. Everyone would look at her expecting a breakdown and endless wailing but she would have none of it. Days later after his burial she would tell her mother that she stopped caring when their second child was born. It had to do with test results three months after the baby.
“He loved you my daughter, he gave you a good life.”
“Yes mother, he loved me. If by love it meant a sexually transmitted disease, then he truly loved me.
He brought me a rose for every lie. I would count them just to shield my heart from the pain of his betrayal, but even then the newspapers and media made it easier. I knew wherever he was just by going out and getting a newspaper.”
“A man who does not forget his children is worth forgiving my child. You need to let go and be strong for your children.”
“Mother, I have been strong for them for ten years. I will not stop now that their father is dead.”
“Go get some rest. School starts tomorrow.”
“Okay mother.”
VII
The people of Micheni did two things: they demanded Allan to provide for them and stopped working. He would often stay in his office and wonder why his people became housewives. He knew Daisy Mitau who was a housewife, but she had brains and used them to advance her husband’s career. She could dress up and get a contractor to give her husband the tender by having dinner with them. He was brutal while she was welcoming. She was an educated woman. She knew the fine lines in contracts and could spot a demerit just by touching the piece of paper. Her husband let her reign in that domain and still respected her for taking care of their children. He would never tell a soul, but she was the most responsive woman he had ever held in his arms. It had been a mistake and they had forgotten about it. The people of Micheni on the other hand expected him to do everything for them. They wanted national schools, white collar jobs, better healthcare, cars, and hotels. When it rained heavily, they would cry out to him to make the rains stop. When it was too dry they would cry out to him to quench their thirst and farm their land. He listened, until one day; a local man visited his office at seven o’clock.
The man refused to sit down. His eyes travelled every inch of the walls in his office and then settled back on him. “You have grown fat and you are eating what does not belong to you. I want my son to become a Doctor. He should go to the University of Nairobi.”
“I have grown fat by eating my own money and you can thank my wife for that. Now, tell me what did your son score in his K.C.S.E?”
“C.”
“Yes, he scored a C but the school of Medicine has room only for an A, so how do you expect him to get a chance?”
“You will get him a chance. I voted for you! You promised that you would make sure our children got the best and what about my son?”
“The pupils who did well got a scholarship. Your son has not done well enough to join the school of medicine, if you would want him to join then he must sit those exams again and score an A, then I will pay for his school fees.”
“What am I to do with him then? Listen…”
“No, you listen; I did not sit the exams for your son. He used his brains and scored that C. Now, he has to go back to school and study hard to pass if he wants to study medicine, but what surprises me is that you came here to insult me without cause. Am I your son’s brain? Am I some god who grants wishes for everyone? If he wants to do anything he has to work hard for it. I built two schools. I asked for more well trained teachers and Micheni got them. The new theatre and maternity ward was built under my supervision. Your children get to go to school for the first five years without paying a cent and you still come here to insult me. Mzee, I will not listen to you anymore and you had better pray that your son passes, because if he fails again, I will not help him. Leave my office!”
Mzee was the first.
He received more complaints in the next year and the year after that. He stopped visiting his people and relocated his office. He hired a new Assistant and returned to the corridors of justice by taking up cases to represent his fellow honorable men.
Pamela had just delivered their third born child. He would be home once a week or twice a month to get her opinion on some of the cases he was handling and leave at dawn after placing a cheque on the dining table. Pamela would wake up look at the cheque and start by cleaning the house and getting the children ready for school. Their driver, Kaunda, would drop off Henry and Jacinter and return to receive his assignment of the day from Pamela. Pamela would go to the bank and deposit the cheque in their children’s trust fund and return home.
VIII
When he walked into the Statehouse that Monday evening, Allan knew that he would never walk out. He also knew that to receive such a call meant that there was more he was expected to either be silent about or to lie about. He had just signed the papers for that new two bedroom apartment in South C for Angela and their baby. She had lips that kissed away his frowns and he promised he would never abandon his child. His mother had upon learning of this asked him, “Have you told your wife?”
“No, I have not been home in three years.”
“How many women have you kept you away from her?”
“None mother. I would never do that to Pamela, you know me.”
“Ai, I used to know you Boyi but you have just told me some other woman has given birth to your child. In all these years, Pamela never said anything ill about you. She was here for Easter and she never said anything, what would her people say if they knew of this? How would you feel if your sisters’ husbands treated them the same way? My son, we raised you better than this! Your Father would be disappointed, where did I go wrong Boyi?”
He did walk out of Statehouse with a file.
He was simply asked by the Secretary of Defense to look at it and do the right thing. In the file were directions and contacts of witnesses that he could talk to, but nothing about the murders or any information about whoever sanctioned the orders.
He took the files and drove to Oak hotel. He stated his name at the reception and he was led to his room. The lady smiled at him and said, “Have a lovely stay at the Oak.” She walked away swinging her well formed hips and he smiled at this before locking the door.
At ten o’clock he dialed for his supper to be delivered to his room together with a bottle of red wine. The meal was delivered in ten minutes and he set aside the file and sat down to eat. He thought of calling Pamela and telling her everything, but they would be listening and watching him, so he took a bite of grilled chicken and opened
the bottle of wine.
He finished his meal and got into bed.
IX
The room attendant screamed when she passed by room 402 and saw blood. There was a man and two women on the bed and blood all over the floor. When the police came, they told the Manager to make sure that no one spoke of this or else they would face the wrath of the state.
One of them was overheard saying, ‘this is bad, call the Minister.’
They waited for five days before approaching Pamela to break the news. She was told he was driving home when armed robbers attacked him. When she followed them she saw his car three meters from their gate and Pamela knelt on the ground wondering why she never heard the gunshots or why he never called her. She thought of the last bouquet of roses she had received from him and rushed back into the house. She had thrown them in the dustbin in the kitchen together with the card. She emptied the bin on the kitchen floor and reached out for the card. He’d written: “I love you Pamela. Here, keep this: 123412340089. You’re beautiful honey.”
She slipped the card in her wallet and walked back to the sitting room to dismiss the policemen. They told her the state would organize everything and Allan would be given a befitting burial.
As they lay his body to rest days later, Pamela would look at the people of Micheni and smile. Her husband had given them all he could