HEARTLESS

Tuesday 12:30 am

Sirens rang over the city as fire trucks and ambulances converged on an isolated house at the edge of Karura forest. The fire was spreading to the trees, threatening to torch Wangari Maathai’s legacy. Alone and seemingly paralyzed in the would-be parking lot of the house stood an eight-year-old boy, and right beneath his feet lay his four-year-old sister. He stared into the abyss as if waiting for something or someone to reach out, oblivious of the firefighters and the first responders who were by now trying to break into the blazing inferno. His sister grabs his leg as she comes to; he reaches down and lifts her up, never once turning his gaze away from the spreading fire.

 

‘Are you okay? Let me examine you,’ one responder says, jolting him back to the madness going on around him. He looks straight into her eyes with an empty gaze that mirrors the sense of loss that he has just undergone. His clothes are burnt and shredded, some pieces adhesively glued to his skin, clear signs of his struggle to shield his sister, whose only blemish is darkened smoke.

 

‘LET GO OF ME!!’ he screams at the first responder, taking her aback.

‘Please let me help you,’ she says, looking into his eyes with concern. ‘your back is burnt.’

 

At that moment, sharp pains shot through his body, breaking through the numbing shock and adrenaline that had spurred him to action. In an instant, his body gave way, and he collapsed into the first responders' arms, never letting go of his sister, who was still clutched in his fragile hands….

 

Five hours later, he came to at Nairobi Hospital’s children’s wing; it was 5:30 am. He lay on his side with an IV line attached to his left arm and respirator machines covering half his face. Sirens and smoldering flames gave way to beeping machines and the ta-tat-tat of his little heart. Where was he now? Then, with a fright that accelerated his heartbeat and stirred a loud buzz on the Heart Monitor, he rose, disconnected the respiratory machine, pulled off the IV line and set off the alarm.

 

‘IMANI!! IMANI!! IMANI! ’ he shouted for his sister as the nurses and doctors stormed the room, fearing the worst. They pushed him back on the bed and injected something into his vein that sent him into a dizzy stupor. They put him back on his side and connected the IV line.

 

6:20 am

 

When he came to again, there was a nurse holding up Imani; this time he lay still for a while before sitting up and reaching out for his sister. The nurse placed her by his side, and he hugged her as she clung tightly to him. Then she asked a question that broke his little heart;

‘Bahati, have daddy and mummy come to see you?’ she said, looking up into his eyes. ‘They looked so nice in their bright clothes, just like angels.’

He was taken aback by her last statement. ‘Imani, daddy and mummy have gone to heaven’

 

‘No, Bahati, they are standing behind you; look,’ she said, pointing behind him.

 

‘Imani, there is nothing there.’ His mind was lost; he could not understand it. How does he tell his little sister that she will never see their parents again? He is only eight; he cannot understand it. How can she?

 

Little Imani looked on beyond her brother to the rising morning sun whose rays were breaking through the windows; she could not understand why Bahati could not see them. They looked so pretty in a mix of white and golden sunlight, holding each other, smiling at her and her brother. Mummy and Daddy looked angelic, but why weren’t they saying anything? Why weren’t they holding her and Bahati as they used to? Why didn’t they move when the nurse walked over to remove that straw attached to Bahati’s arm? How did the nurse walk through them?

‘Bahati? Do Mummy and Daddy have superpowers?’ Bahati followed her gaze to the window. ‘The nurse walked through them.’

 

Bahati shook and reached out. How could this be? They are dead! Yet standing right there by the window, bathed in white and golden light, their parents were smiling back at them.

 

‘You see them too, Bahati,’ Imani said, smiling at him as the heart monitor spiked into loud noises. The nurse, who had all this time been listening in, saddened by the tragedy that had befallen the two children looked away from the monitor to the window. How sad it must be for two children so young to lose so much at one go.

 

Bahati looked away from the window; he understood that they were gone… He hugged Imani tightly and started crying.

‘Don’t cry, Bahati, ’ Little Imani said. ‘I know they are gone, but they are watching over us.’ She too started crying. ‘We will be ok’

‘Yes, Imani, we will be ok,’ Bahati said as his mind wandered back to the beginning.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

June first 2015, the Furaha family was celebrating their wedding anniversary and their daughter Imani’s third birthday; their friends and family had gathered at their home on the edge of the Karura Forest. The land had been in their family for five generations; it was Furaha’s father who had first brought the fate of Karura Forest to the great laureate Wangari Maathai. The Furaha’s had initially intended to relinquish their land to the government under the Kenya Forest Service, but Furaha’s grandfather learnt that corrupt officials had plans to sell off the land to a private developer who wanted to build a gated community dubbed the ‘Forest Park Development ’; the plan also included the setup of a lumber mill on the very spot where the Furaha home stood. Having been a renowned archeologist who had worked alongside the great Louis Leakey as a porter, Mzee Furaha knew that he could not allow the plan to go through.

 

He charged his son with the responsibility of taking care of the land, registering the property as a conservancy and heritage site, and building a small museum complete with the history of Kenya's forests and tree species found within the Karura Forest and across the country. The Furahas' also set up a small bird sanctuary for bird lovers and even imported birds from other countries, naming it the ‘Msitu cultural centre’. The logic behind it was simple; the cultural centre’s boundaries on the government’s map would act as the forest’s buffer zone.

 

As the fourth-generation protector of the property, Furaha knew he had to keep the legacy alive; his family would forever be grateful to Professor Maathai, whose fight to protect the forest created additional buffer zones all around the forest. The Furaha’s party was however, clouded by a dark presence: his brother Jumbo and a County official, Mr. Tembo, both of whom had different plans for the family land.

 

Their grandfather had placed the trust deed in the names of his grandchildren, Jumbo and Furaha; this had created complications for the Centre, with Jumbo’s greed having already led to the sale of a quarter-acre plot. Furaha, who had been in London for his master's, had rushed back home and reacquired the land at an inflated price that had left the entire trust in debt.

 

Jumbo was now mounting pressure to sell off more land to pay off what he termed as ‘the stupid mistakes’ of his overzealous older brother. The board of trustees, while agreeing with Jumbo that Furaha had jeopardized the future of the Conservancy, castigated Jumbo for having sold off the land in the first place.

 

The matter had been complex; the board was split 50\50 between the two brothers. Jumbo had only been able to sell off the land because Furaha had delegated his vote and power of attorney to him while he was studying abroad. Furaha had regretted the decision; he even tried to fly back for the vote, as the agreement required his physical presence to nullify the power of attorney. To secure the vote, Jumbo had moved up the dates to ensure that his brother would not travel back in time to stop the sale.

 

Now two years after his return, Jumbo was making a new push to liquidate the property by mobilizing a majority vote that would not only enable him to sell off some property but also remove Furaha from his directorship of the trust.

 

As the night wore on, Jumbo and his dodgy County official called Furaha aside to a small office in the Furaha home.

 

‘Furaha, we have to sell or cede some land to the county; if not, they will use our debt against us and repossess most of the land,’ Jumbo said.

‘Mr. Furaha, I like that you believe in family. I know this is about your family legacy, but surely the county is being more than generous in its offer,’ Mr. Tembo said as he sipped his whiskey. ‘Your trust owes the county Ksh. 40 million in land rates, funds I'm sure you cannot pay back due to the huge bank loan you took to buy back the land from the county last year. We are offering you Ksh. 200 million; we will also write off the debt to the county. This will leave you enough money to pay back the bank loan and also share out some money with your brother here.’

 

‘Mr. Tembo, I understand the county’s offer, but like I told you before, this is not a business and the trust will never cede land to anyone,’ Furaha calmly answered.

 

‘Furaha, the county is not looking to destroy the work done by your family; we just need the land for a few recreational facilities. Think about it Furaha, we are building a playground and recreational park just like the one Machakos has. This is not a commercial project. The city needs the space,’ Tembo retorted.

 

‘With all due respect, Mr. Tembo, I have seen the plans; only 45% of the land will be used for recreation, the rest will be hotels, malls and a gated community.’ Furaha asserted in a rather angry tone.

 

‘Calm down Furaha; the county has to pay for the land somehow, the commercial projects will also drive traffic into our conservancy, and we stand to make over Ksh. 80 million every year in fees alone,’ Jumbo said.

 

‘The county and its development partners are also open to granting you and your brother a timeshare in the project, and 10% shareholding of the development will be owned by the trust, putting more money into your pockets. It’s a win-win situation,’ Tembo added with a smug smile on his face.

 

Suddenly, Furaha’s lawyer Mohammed burst into the room. He looked at the three men before walking over to Furaha’s side.

 

‘Hello, Mr. Tembo. I did not know we had distinguished company,’ Mohammed said as he poured himself a drink. ‘Jumbo, how is the family?’

 

‘Cut out the small talk, Mohammed; we both know you have no interest in my family, and we certainly know that you frown upon Mr. Tembo,’ Jumbo said rather unapologetically.

 

‘Very well then, gentlemen, I suppose we are still talking about the Forest Park Development project, or is it the Nairobi Recreation Project, Tembo?’ Mohammed said with an equally smug smile.

 

‘Look, Mohammed, we are only here because Furaha has nearly bankrupted the trust; the county is threatening to forcibly acquire the land anyway. If not for my efforts and Tembo’s influence, we would be in trouble…’

 

‘Let me stop you right there, Jumbo, ’ Mohammed cut in. ‘You are right; if not for your efforts, we would not be in this position. Don’t be naïve or too lenient on yourself; it was you who sold off the land, forcing the trust into its current position.’ Mohammed sipped his drink.

 

 

‘Look, Mohammed, this is the county’s last offer; advise your clients accordingly,’ Tembo stepped in.

 

‘Furaha, we could lose everything,’ Jumbo jumped in. ‘We have everything to gain from this deal; think of Bahati and Imani’s future. They will never want for anything, and the trust will still have some land left and a legacy’

 

‘Oh dear brother, how blind you have become; this is the Furaha legacy,’ Furaha said rather reflectively, ‘you are Jumbo Jabali Furaha; this is about family. My children already have everything, as do your children. What they need is a legacy.’

 

‘Mr. Furaha, this conversation has gone too far,’ Tembo said, standing up. ‘Let me put it this way: you have until the end of this month to sign the agreement, or the county will use its mandate to acquire the land. Make no mistake, Mr. Furaha, we will get what we want. We have already spoken to the bank; your loan is three months overdue, and our business partners are set to acquire the loan and place your so-called family legacy under receivership. Let me be very clear: at the point we will get more than just the 10 acres we want.’

 

‘Hahaha, you haven’t heard, have Tembo,’ Mohammed stood up and confrontationally looked straight into Tembo’s eyes, ‘as of- wait for it,’ he glanced at his watch. ‘Now, the trust owes the bank and the county nothing. It’s 5 pm in London, the banks have just closed, and their last transaction was the liquidation of some of the trust’s assets in London. What was the value of the properties in London, Furaha’

 

‘I believe the apartment was valued at 10 million pounds and the Yorkshire farm at 50 million pounds, ’ Furaha said with a smug smile of his own. ‘How much is that in Kenyan shillings, brother’

 

‘Outrageous, you cannot sell trust assets without the approval of the board, ’ Jumbo said.

 

‘Oh, the board did approve of the sale. You see, we met just before the party started. I believe you were still on your way; your proxy vote, represented by your nominee, was present, Furaha said.

 

‘I was not informed of this,’ Jumbo protested.

‘Don’t worry, little brother, your proxy vote rejected the sale, but none the less 70% of the vote was in favor of the sale’ Furaha said as Jumbo sunk back into his seat. ‘Come on now, little brother, I just borrowed a trick from your book; it’s not every day that an older brother gets to use lessons from his baby brother. If nothing else, consider this payback for what you did to me while I was in London’

 

‘Now, Mr. Tembo, ’ Mohammed said, ‘Let me make myself clear: you and your county thugs are no longer welcome in this conservancy. As of today the trust is effectively registered in London, putting it under the protection of the Crown and therefore no longer under the administrative purview of the county’

 

‘This is an outrage; you cannot register the trust under the Crown, none of you is a citizen of Britain,’ Tembo retorted.

 

‘Oh my, you are getting smarter,’ Mohammed said. ‘However, my client, as you put it, has relinquished all claim to the trust, and as provided for under the trust deed, his rights to the property now fall to his children, Bahati and Imani, both of whom, as I am sure you are aware, are British citizens’

 

‘I will fight you on this,’ Jumbo shouted, ‘and as they are children I will gain control of the trust, enabling me to do as I will. The trust says as long as they get their fair share of proceeds I am well within my right to profit from it’

 

‘Oh dear Jumbo, do you not understand the full magnitude and gravity of the situation?’ Furaha sat up. ‘Then again, you never were one to read and remember the finer details of the deed. Let me ask you a question: when you sold off the land in the first place, what allowed you to sell?’

 

Jumbo gazed first at Tembo, then back at Furaha and Mohammed.

 

‘Let me refresh your memory,’ Mohammed said, ‘Clause 14 a). Upon attainment of the age of 30 by both the holders of the deed, the parties may agree to cede, sell or donate a segment of the property not in excess of half an acre. The parties may also, in agreement with each other, opt to dissolve the deed and split the holdings amongst themselves with the trust holding 50% of the land in perpetuity for future generations.’

 

‘I vote to dissolve the trust; I am well within my rights,’ Jumbo said. ‘My lawyers will have a field day, seeing as you violated my rights when selling off the London properties’

 

Mohammed claps his hands. ‘Well said, Jumbo; however, the rest of the trust provides that “should either of the beneficiaries die or willfully relinquish their rights to the deed, which may only be done by inheritance to a living descendant, the trust will reset to the 30^th birthday of the youngest beneficiary’

 

‘Now correct me if I am wrong, Jumbo, today is Imani’s third birthday; that means you can sell in 27 years, right?’ Furaha said.

 

‘You will not get away with this Furaha; don’t think you’ve won,’ Jumbo said, holding a copy of the trust deed. ‘I have done some reading myself; the trust deed goes on to say that, should either of the beneficiaries die, the trust reverts to the remaining living descendant of the Furaha family’

 

‘Is that a threat?’ Mohammed said, stepping directly in front of Jumbo.

 

The silence is broken by a sound behind the bookshelf; Furaha walks over and pulls a frightened Bahati from behind the bookshelf.

 

‘This is not the end of it, Furaha,’ Jumbo says as he picks up his coat. ‘Let’s go Tembo’

 

The two leave.

~~~~~

 

9:00 am

 

‘Uncle Jumbo! ’ Imani shouts, waking up Bahati from his daydream.

 

‘Bahati, Imani, are you ok?’ Jumbo says as he hugs Imani. ‘I came as soon as I heard’

 

‘Get away from her, you monster,’ Bahati shouts. The nurse steps in, rather confused.

 

‘It's ok I’m their uncle,’ Jumbo says. ‘I will take care of them’

 

‘No, you won’t, you murderer,’ Bahati says as his breathing changes, setting off the medical equipment in the room. The doctor runs in.

‘Nurse, sedate the patient’

 

The nurse injects more of that dizzying syrup that sends him back to his stupor.

 

Bahati comes to; Jumbo is standing right above him, and Imani is sleeping on the next bed.

 

‘Welcome back, little man. You scared us for a minute there. Nurse, get the doctor,’ Jumbo says, feigning affection. The nurse leaves the room.

 

‘Listen, you spoilt little brat, you and your little sister are under my care now. If you know what’s good for you, you will keep your mouth shut’ Jumbo says, smiling.

 

Bahati pulls out his IV and stabs his uncle in the hand. ‘You will never get away with this.’

 

‘Why, you little bastard,’ Jumbo jumps in pain. ‘Listen to me, I am taking your sister home with me. If you care for her, you will remain silent and say nothing to the police, do you understand me?’ He looks down at Bahati and then over to Imani, who is still asleep. ‘Dangerous things can happen to little girls when they are all alone’

 

‘Never, I will not let you take her home,’ Bahati says, trying to stand up, once again setting off the machines.

 

‘NURSE,’ Jumbo shouts, trying to hold down Bahati, who is fighting to get up.

 

The doctor and nurse run in. ‘What’s going on here?’ the doctor asks.

 

‘Nothing doctor, My nephew is delirious; he keeps calling for his parents, ’ Jumbo says. ‘the loss is too much; isn’t there something you can do to help him sleep’

 

‘Let me go,’ Bahati says, fighting on. ‘He killed them, he killed them’

The doctor looks confused. Imani stirs awake.

 

‘Please doctor, help my nephew. I will take my niece home for now,’ Jumbo says. ‘She also needs to rest’

 

‘No don’t let this killer touch her’ Bahati shouts.

‘I don’t know what is going on here Mr. Jumbo, but none of them can leave the hospital without the approval of child services,’ the doctor says.

 

‘I am their legal guardian surely these children haven’t been through enough, Doctor.’ Jumbo says, grabbing Imani. ‘We can settle the legal matters later’

 

Just then Mohammed bursts into the room. ‘Put her down Jumbo’

 

‘Who the hell are you? This is a family-only room, forgive me if I am mistaken, you are in no way related to these children, ’ the doctor says.

 

‘Actually, I am their legal guardian,’ Mohammed says, producing a letter.

 

‘I don’t know what is going on here,’ the doctor says, ‘but clearly only child services can resolve this matter. The police will be here shortly to talk to Bahati and Imani. In the meantime, I suggest that both of you wait outside for child services to clear up this matter.’

 

‘No problem, Doctor,’ Mohammed says. ‘Jumbo, shall we’

 

‘Don’t leave us, Uncle Mohammed,’ Bahati says as he stirs back into a panic. This time the nurse steps in to sedate him as before the machines go wild.

 

‘Look, your presence is clearly not in my patient’s best interest,’ the doctor says to the two men. ‘Now you can both wait outside or I can have the police arrest you both till this matter is cleared up, your choice gentlemen’

 

10:00 am

 

The dialing tone of a phone breaks the silence in a small, secluded room at Nairobi hospital where Jumbo is being held separately from Mohammed.

‘

Tembo, what did you do?’ Jumbo says. ‘You assured me that no one would survive the fire.’

 

‘What do you mean? It’s all over the news. One of the heirs to the Furaha Trust is dead along with his family,’ Tembo says. ‘The media has been reporting what the fire chief told them, it was an electric fire. I have everything in control,’

‘You fool; both children are alive at Nairobi hospital. That little brat Bahati even accused me of killing his parents in front of a doctor and a nurse’

 

‘What? The fire chief assured me that no one survived the fire.’ Jumbo shouts back.

 

‘Don’t be stupid Tembo, the CID must have instructed him to tell no one of their survival. Mohammed’s influence no doubt. I got here before him to try and silence the boy, but that stubborn boy almost killed me with a needle. Were it not for my contacts at CID headquarters, I would still be in the dark about their survival’

 

‘Where are the children now?’

 

‘At Nairobi hospital, children’s wing’

 

‘Jumbo, they both must die. The only way you can liquidate the trust is if they are both dead’

 

‘I know that, Tembo, but I am currently being held in one of the rooms by the police until child services gets here. My hands are tied. And God knows what that little boy might tell the CID if they get here before we silence him’

 

‘Leave them to me. What is their condition? Any injuries that can cause their death’

 

‘The doctors say the boy has major burns that put him at risk. The girl only suffered from smoke inhalation.’

 

‘Ok Jumbo. You keep pressing your rights as their uncle. I am sending Onsongo and his legal team to help you.’

 

‘What about the children? They may be telling tales to the police as we speak, Tembo’

 

‘Don’t worry about them. I will handle it. I have a doctor working as a consultant at the hospital. He can take care of the boy. The girl, on the other hand, might be harder to deal with. She sounds ready for discharge’

 

‘I will take care of her once I win custody. Tell Onsongo to come prepared, Mohammed is already waving his power of attorney papers. Oh, and Tembo, have my wife and children accompany Onsongo, child services need to see the family around.’

 

10:30 am

 

Imani sits on Bahati’s bed.

 

‘Bahati, wake up. Wake up Bahati, Auntie Njeri and our cousins are here,’ Imani says.

 

Bahati stirs awake. He looks around the room, his Auntie smiles at him as his cousins ask him dumb questions. Was she part of the plot, he wonders, did Uncle Jumbo send her to play some part in his grand plan? His mind wanders back to last night’s events.

 

~~~~~~

 

Monday night 9:30 Pm

 

‘Oh, Bahati and Imani, finish up your dessert,’ Mrs. Furaha says. ‘It’s almost bedtime’

 

‘But my movie is not over, Mum,’ Imani says. ‘Frozen is so nice.’

 

‘If you go to bed now, you can see it at IMAX on Saturday,’ her mother says.

 

‘See, little sister, I told you to wait,’ Bahati adds.

 

‘Ok upstairs, both of you,’ their father says.

 

‘I want you to carry me,’ Imani says.

 

‘Ok up we go.’ Furaha grabs her.

 

‘Goodnight, Mum,’ Bahati says, hugging his mother as she clears the table.

 

 

11:00 pm

 

Bahati is woken by a noise. He steps out of bed to investigate. It’s coming from his Parent’s room. Some strange man is shouting. As he gets closer, the voice sounds familiar.

 

It’s Mr. Tembo. But why is he here at this time of night?

 

‘You should have taken the deal Furaha. Now I have to kill you, your wife and those poor little kids,’ Tembo says as four men hold down Furaha and his wife.

 

‘You don’t have to do this Tembo,’ Mrs. Furaha pleads.

 

‘Don’t worry, ma'am, it will all be over soon.’ Tembo says as he pulls out a needle and some strange liquid.

 

‘Tembo, listen to me. I will reverse the deed. Please let us go. Kill me; leave them alone.’ Furaha pleads.

 

‘Sorry, Furaha, it’s too late for that. We have already come too far,’ Tembo says.

 

‘Tembo, surely Jumbo cannot have brainwashed you into doing his dirty work?’ Furaha asks.

 

Just then, Imani jumps out of bed. ‘Bahati, Bahati, what are you doing?’

Bahati runs back to his sister and tells her to be quiet. ‘We are playing a game, Imani. Go hide in our secret place, then I will come join you’

 

‘Who are those with Mummy and Daddy?’ Imani asked in a whisper.

‘They are bad people, like the evil Prince Hans in Frozen; you and I are like Anna and Kristoff. We can save Mum and Dad’

 

‘But Kristoff and Anna kissed; I cannot kiss you. You are my brother,’ Imani retorts. ‘I want to be Queen Elsa’

 

‘Ok Imani, you are Queen Elsa, and I am the Snowman. You can freeze the bad men when they come to where we are hiding. Now go hide…’

 

Imani runs off to their secret hiding place.

 

Bahati creeps back to the door linking their bedroom to their parents’ room.

 

Tembo is on the phone with someone; he puts the phone on loudspeaker.

 

‘Hello, big brother,’ Jumbo’s voice rings through. ‘Why did you have to be so stubborn? Look how far you have pushed me’

 

‘Little brother please call off your thugs, we can resolve this’ Furaha says.

 

‘No, big brother, we can’t, you have doomed them all. Tembo, make sure they are all dead including those annoying children’

 

‘You bastard, how can you do this to us?’ Mrs. Furaha shouts.

‘Sorry, sister, blame our husband. He should never have transferred his rights to the children. Now I have to kill them too. Tembo do it.’ The line goes dead.

 

Furaha looks at his wife, and they both begin to fight. Furaha grabs a gun, but before he can fire, they subdue him. His wife kicks one of the thugs to the floor and tackles the second one. She grabs the bed lamp and strikes Tembo on the head before she can be subdued.

 

‘You bitch, you will pay for that. Boys, hold her down,’ Tembo begins to remove his trousers as Furaha screams for help. Then Mrs. Furaha sees Bahati looking through the door.

 

She begins to sing, ‘one boy, one girl, in the whole they go. Slide slide slide, foolish giant gets tricked by the pillow’

‘Shut up bitch, hold her mouth,’ Tembo says as he forces himself on her.

Furaha follows her gaze and sees Bahati. Now he understands: they will both die, but their children don’t have to. He remembers the secret song and starts singing.

 

‘Slide slide slide. Daddy will slay the giant, mummy will sleep. Slide slide slide, daddy cut the tree. The giant will die. Slide slide slide’

 

‘Shut up, you fool.’ One of the Men strikes Furaha unconscious.

Bahati runs back into their bedroom and grabs Imani’s big dolls. He puts one in his bed and the other in Imani’s and places a pillow under each.  He understands now, it was their secret song, a coded message to help them get away. He pulls Imani out of the closet, and they run into the bathroom. They sneak behind the water heater to a small room.

 

11:40 Pm

 

The Men get off Mrs. Furaha as Furaha comes to. He starts screaming again as Tembo injects his wife with some liquid and lays her on their bed. He then turns to Furaha and does the same. As Furaha slips out of consciousness, he hopes his son got the message.

 

The men pour paraffin all over the floor.  They walk into the children’s room and pour paraffin all around their beds.

 

‘Sir, do we inject them too?’ one of the men asks Tembo.

 

‘No time for that; they will never get out of the room alive. Hurry up and light the fire,’ Tembo says.

 

‘But sir, they are children, I don’t want them to wake up and burn alive’

 

‘You can follow my order, or you can die with them,’ Tembo shouts back.

 

They lock the room and leave.  Once outside, they set the paraffin trail on fire and the house begins to catch fire.

 

11:55 Pm

 

Bahati opens the bathroom door and is met by a huge blaze that burns through his pajamas. He quickly shuts the door as smoke begins to fill the room. His sister is crying now. He opens a latch on the floor, and they both slide down under the house. They can still hear the men outside the house as Imani begins to cough. Bahati quickly covers her mouth until the men get into a car and drive off.

 

Bahati lets go of Imani’s mouth, she is not breathing. He can hardly breathe himself the smoke is too much. Then the house begins to cave and they are surrounded by flames. Bahati looks around, but there is no way out. He grabs Imani and dives into the fire, making his way out through a small opening. Once outside, he puts Imani down and rolls on the ground to put out the fire before running back to Imani.

 

She is not breathing, what can he do? He begins to cry.

 

‘Imani, Imani, IMANIII’ then he remembers that day at the swimming pool, when he fell into the deep end, what did mummy do, she kissed him and he woke up.

 

He puts his lips on Imani’s mouth breaths into her body, nothing happens. Then he remembers what Imani said that day, ‘mummy kissed you and pushed her hands on your chest and stomach.

 

He hits at her chest and breathes into her mouth again and again. Then like a miracle she starts coughing and breathing on her own. He stands up and looks into the fire as sirens rent the night air.

 

‘They are gone; they are gone’ he thinks to himself.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Tuesday 1:00 PM

 

Bahati wakes up, everyone is gone save for little Imani sleeping next to him. There is a man towering over him, a doctor.

 

‘Hello Bahati, I am Dr. Mwangi,’ the Man says. ‘I am here to take care of you’

 

He thinks nothing of it. The shift must have changed. The doctor pulls out a needle and some medicine from his coat, but there is something odd about the doctor. 

 

Why did he connect the heart monitor to Imani? What is he doing? He injects him. Bahati starts to feel funny, he tries to move but he cannot move. The medicine is not the same as the other dizzying injection. He tries to fight it.

 

‘Don’t fight it, it will be over soon,’ the man says. Bahati knows he must do something, that’s it the heart monitor. If he plays dead, the doctor will reconnect it to him, and it will alert everyone that he is in danger. What if he tries to kill Imani? No, he has to take the risk. Bahati breathes in deep, then lets go and plays dead.

 

Doctor Mwangi wipes down the room. He is sure the boy is dead, but he waits 30 more seconds before reconnecting the heart monitor to Bahati and the room goes wild with noise. Bahati breathes out. Dr. Mwangi is shocked; he should be dead. He grabs a pillow and holds it over Bahati, he holds it down. Time is running out the nurse will be here in one minute. He gives up and runs out of the room just before the doctors run in with a crash cart. In his hurry, he forgets to take the needle and liquid with him.

 

The doctors burst in as Bahati loses consciousness in his hand the needle that Dr. Mwangi held. The doctors try to resuscitate Bahati as a nurse notices the needle in his hand.

 

Just then, Mohammed bursts into the room with a CID officer. ‘What happened, Dr?’ Mohammed asks.

 

‘The boy was injected with something; he is stable for now,’ The doctor says. ‘I don’t know how this could have happened.’

 

‘What about his sister?’ Mohammed asks.

 

The doctor moves over to Imani on the opposite Bed. He checks her vitals. ‘Nurse, give me a crash cart now, connect the heart monitor’

Mohammed stirs. ‘Dr. What’s wrong’

 

‘Move, move, Suction pads now… 10 mm Epinephrine… clear… again…. 20 mmm Atropine… ’

 

Mohammed looks on.

 

‘Clear… am calling it… Time of death 1:30 Pm, patient’s name: Imani Furaha, age 4. Cause of death: poison.’ The doctor walks away as the nurse covers Imani’s body and carts her away.

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

2:00 Pm

 

Jumbo gets a call; it's Tembo.

 

‘Get out of there now; the dumb doctor failed, but he got the girl’

 

‘What?’ he turns to Onsongo and the Officer from child services ‘Just a minute gentlemen’ he walks out of the room. ‘What do you mean, failed’

 

‘That little boy fought, he is still unconscious. We can get to him later, Jumbo’

‘No, Tembo, they will have a guard at his door now. All we can do now is cover our tracks. You need to take care of your friend, the doctor’

‘But Jumbo, the boy, knows. He must have seen me at the house and heard your voice’

 

‘Control yourself Tembo, all that is circumstantial, but if the doctor talks, our fate is sealed’

 

‘Ok I will have the doctor dealt with. In the meantime, get out of there. They might arrest you regardless of the evidence they have’

 

In the next room Mohammed and the CID officer listen in on the call between Tembo and Jumbo.

 

‘Did we get it all, Inspector?’ Mohammed asks.

 

‘Yes, sir, they will both hang,’ the officer answers. ‘We have everything we need’

 

‘It's too late, Inspector; the girl is dead,’ Mohammed says. ‘We recorded the first conversation but were too late to stop them, poor girl.’

 

‘No poor boy, he has lost everyone’

 

The two jump out of the room. ‘Mr. Jumbo Furaha, you are under arrest for the murder of Kombo Furaha, Jane Furaha and Imani Maathai Furaha’

 

Jumbo, who is still on the phone, drops his phone and makes a dash for the open door, but before he can get out, two officers step in and detain him.

 

‘Don’t worry, Mr. Jumbo, the officers have your friend Tembo too,’ Mohammed says.

 

3:30 Pm

 

Bahati stirs awake. He looks around; he is in a different room. Then he remembers….

 

‘IMANI, IMANI…’ he sees her there she is standing by the window, for a second there he thought he had lost her. Then he looks again and there is a light around her.

‘Don’t worry, big brother, I'm with daddy and mummy now,’ Imani says as she walks into the light.

 

‘No, Imani,’ Bahati bursts out as Mohammed walks into the room and hugs him….

 

4:00 pm

 

The screens in the hospital fill with a breaking news band. The announcer’s voice rents the silence

‘…Sad story breaking out of Nairobi hospital as Bahati Furaha is flown out of the country for specialized medical care following a family feud that left the great archeologist Dr. Kombo Furaha and his wife Dr. Jane Furaha dead in a late-night murder. Their home was razed to the ground by their killers. In a bizarre turn of events, their son Bahati managed to save his sister from the inferno. Doctors at Nairobi Hospital however, say that the two children were in stable condition until a lone assassin identified as Dr. Mwangi made an attempt on their lives, leaving little Imani dead and Bahati in critical condition. Our hearts and prayers go out to little Bahati, who is at this moment being flown for further medical care. According to sources within the CID Dr. Furaha’s brother and a senior county official are being held over the murders that are connected to the Furaha Family Trust…’