Kill Me Quick by Meja Mwangi

Author:Meja Mwangi [Mwangi, Meja]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HM BOOKS
Published: 2017-05-30T04:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Maina woke up very early on the morning of the next big action, washed, combed his hair, and did his best to make himself look respectable. Sara had given him the money he needed the night before, with a warning not to squander it on foolish plans.

“It is an investment,” she explained. “You understand what that is?”

“You want it back,” he said.

“All of it,” she said. “With interest.”

She had a little book in which she recorded all the gang’s income and expenses. She recorded everyone’s input, commented on how much food they ate, and threatened with starvation anyone who did not get off his seat and start bringing in money.

“No free food,” she said to the gang, as they watched her dish out extra meat to Maina.

Razor did not like that, but there was nothing he could do about it. She was looking after the interests of his outfit and Maina was the only man in the house who worked with his hands as well as with his head.

“She is good,” Professor said quietly, “But for the fact that there is no business here to talk of, she runs this outfit like a real enterprise.”

It was still dark outside and only Sara was awake when Maina left Shanty Town that morning. He had to jump in the ditch to hide when he saw approaching cars in case the occupants turned out to be policemen.

During his research patrols in the past weeks he had confirmed that not all the houses on Shady Avenue had guard dogs. Now he waited at the end of the avenue until the milkman came along pulling on his cart loaded with milk crates. As soon as he passed, Maina started after him, staying out of sight, and watching every move he made. The milkman stopped at every gate, to deliver a carton or two of milk and then moved on. Maina noted every move the man made and how long the household took to fetch the milk from the gate. He followed the milkman to the end of avenue and on to the next road. When they got to the third road, Maina turned back. He had seen enough. He took an early morning bus to town and walked the rest of the way to Shanty Town.

He heard the noise and the commotion from a long way, a rumbling sound punctuated by cracks and booms. A pall of black smoke hung in the skies in the direction of Shanty Town. Maina heard the distant wails of ambulances and fire engines, and he started running.

The residents of Shanty Town were gathered at the top of the hill watching their home burn. They were confused and frightened, but no one cried, not even the children, as they watched their lives go up in smoke. The valley was a lake of fire so fierce that the firemen were afraid to dive in and rescue those who could not get out of it on their own.

The destruction was fast and ferocious.

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