I follow the man as he grinds his way amidst the jostling crowd and I can't help but suspect his gait , it looks like one of a serial killer. Just how he had talked with his friend spoke about his ruthless personality.
I see him winding a turn and breaking into a run ; the police didn't bother to stop him and this instant I feel something is completely off.
He runs and hides in an alley as I keep following him very briskly while keeping a safe distance in case I get beleaguered.
As I come close to the dark and mysterious alley , I hear a voice that nearly betrays my presence as I gasp in fear.
"Did you carry out the job ?"
Dry and thunderous , it echoes in the alley and I can deduce it is from a second party who was waiting in the alley for his criminal henchman.
"Yep, but their father whose my friend kinda suspected me but it ....he wasn't serious about it. Nevertheless, I knew that I had to leave as quickly as possible because of a certain boy..... forget it."
"Tell me who's that?"
The second man raises his voice and I can feel the intensity of his sudden outburst flowing from the cryptic alley.
"A young boy was watching me and his look was unnerving maybe he has tipped of the police after he saw my suspicious elusion. I couldn't withstand that stare it made some people suspicious and I escaped quickly before , perhaps, I get cornered by them."
I almost jumped at my identity being spoken but I rein in my anxiety and stay still. Clearly, he had noticed my avid eyes on him which peers into the essence . That's why Miss Garie nicknamed me Keen . I muse as I try to be quiet and invisible as possible . I tiptoe carefully towards the source of the voices and stand beside the adjacent wall that is cloaking my presence and crane my neck and ears to catch their dialogue.
" A boy !! " A huge guffaw ensues "Ooh come on don't be childish .
What can a mere boy do ?
Don't be frightened he was jus simply curious and ...., " Complete silence and then, "Maybe we can track him down one day and butcher him too, he sure must have a jewel body for trade to make my rogue so fearful."
I shudder as I hear the sound of a fear-inducing chuckle escape the alley to run down my spine giving me a chilling effect .
" Right , ok now let's get out of here very quick don't underestimate him. He must have tipped off the police by now ."
A slow redoubtable voice like the wind fingering the sapling siala trees that bordered the vicinity pierces the cool ambience as I cower back unwittingly. Instantly , I realise that they are leaving the alley and taking the same route the man ran in here- which I'm standing on right now.
I curse myself as I gird up my loins to canter off if they make an appearance. But complete silence .
I wait for seconds but nothing happens. No sound of feet coming and there is an ominous silence.
I tiptoe and crick my neck to look if they are gone but what I see nearly make my eyes pop out.
They are dicing , slicing and packing kidneys , eyes , brain and two scrips of liver of a human into a big polythene bag which they are hastily tying onto a rusty motorcycle. What?
I have a shock of my life.
So it is true and it has been happening and they're just not rumours.
I clutch my heart as tears unwittingly well up in my sore eyes.
The breakdown is too much, seeing fellow human beings slaughtering their own kind is a huge blow to me if not to our county that has been ravaged down to detritus of injustices.
So this is why they have hijacked the police, the Telecommunications Authorities and even the Hospital Agency to trade human body parts to the black market.
So this is why Mr Garie's parents tried to sue them in by compiling evidence in that green-leather briefcase but they murdered them in the cold.
So this is why Mr Garie and Snyder had tried to hide their whereabouts.
So this is why they have been trying to escape from this part of Oyugis and get to Hilwa to present the allegations.
Ooh God . This is incredible. I can't believe it . This is too much.
My vision is blurring , I see a silhouette appearing from my back but I can't recognise it and I don't care if it is a member of this heinous gang. Let them just kill me . Thy will be done.
My head throbs as the images of Mr Garie , Catherine, Snyder flash in my vision . All the happenings of the past replay in my head as I slowly and quietly fall into a swoon.
I hear a motorcycle buzzing away as a soft hand touches me.
"Get up , get up what's ...."
********
I open my eyes and a blinding effulgence attacks my sore eyes and I blink a number of times to get accustomed to the light.
The room looks oddly unfamiliar and I instantly get up from the bed only to be intercepted by a soft hand.
"Easy , easy young boy. You're safe."
I cringe as a young , slender woman with a lustrous hair and seductive eyes that seemed to spell an air of nonchalance cackles at me. Is she a nurse?
"Where am I ? What happened?"
I hastily enquire with a terrified tone .
Have they kidnapped me for butchering?
Or is this a hospital and I was brought here for medical treatment?
Who carried me to the hospital?
I am confused as questions pop and dance in my head.
"You're in a hospital you're safe from the Jakachinja if you think you've been abducted."
A shrill womanly voice cut through the flood of questions and I instantly calm down heaving a sigh of relief .
"Better be that way ." I utter while inhaling the cool morning air invigorating my frazzled body .
"Huh!"
She chuckles as she stands up to fetch water from a cupboard at the far left end of the room which is filled with stethoscopes, thermometers, syringes , beakers some I-don't-know-their-names medical apparatuses. It looks more of a science laboratory than a hospital ward. Anyway , It is fortunate I wasn't kept with other in-patients or else I could not endure the noises of groaning and crying . My mind already is in a turmoil and needed peace at least the doctors saw my plight in advance.
"Who brought me in here Nurse ?"
" I don't , I was just told to look after you . By the way , young boy what's your name ?"
" Jeff Chris."
"Such a sweet name ." She says as she sips a drink. " Alright, let me call your mum and teacher they really stayed here all night to check on your condition . "Such a lucky boy , you have a loving mum and teacher."
The nurse smiles wryly and shuffles out of the room . I do not bother to ask her name . I can't care less . Hopefully I am not kidnapped by the Jakachinja .
They're too barbaric and terrifying.
Yesterday's incident is still embedded into my mind .
The door creaks and without warning Catherine and Miss Garie rush to me and I am smothered under their arms while they are cuddling me lovingly as if I were the prodigal son.
"Oohh!! Jeff you want to leave your mother . Why did you chase them . Why did you put yourself in danger ?
" I'm so sorry mom. I'll NEVER do it again." I say emphasising the word never before being given a zilch of a time to catch my breath. I will have suffocated.
"Leave him to me . I want to teach him that we don't want carelessness in this dangerous county. You got to be careful Chris . Ok?"
"Mmm."
I grunt as Miss Garie moves to the side of my bed.
"Tell me, why did you follow that yobbo? Because I know you well . Maybe you found something interesting. Tell me."
" Aah!" I am surprised that they had managed to find out . But I quickly brush it off anyway I'm still worrying over who shipped to the hospital. " I saw him and felt something fishy and I chased him .
He carried a simi and reeked of fresh blood and then I instantly presumed he had killed the two children not a long time ago and had hid when I took a detour at the river. I followed him and heard him talking to a second man and this further confirmed my assumptions that he indeed killed them . After that I passed out , I didn't know how. Thank God they didn't attack me but I saw someone coming towards me when I fainted."
I tell them meticulously the details of the incident I can recall.
"That's very good and damn of you." Catherine fulminates with a face which is angry and at the same time happy . I can't make of it .
"Did you notice anything helpful that we can track them down with?" Mr Garie asks as she shoot forth a questioning glare at me without blinking a bit.
"Yeah I can recall the code affixed on the Number Plate of their motorcycle and one of them is called Otieno . Something like that."
"That's commendable , what's the code ?"
"6901Cat55."
"What!!!" gasps Mr Garie eyeing me as if I'm an inherent fabricator . "Can you repeat it ? I think I didn't hear you well."
I feel angered but I palliate and once more rant the code that is etched indelibly like an epitaph on my mind. "6901Cat55."
" 6901Cat55!6901Cat55...6901....Cat." Mr Garie repeats the number loudly as if she were a schizophrenic patient , as she rummages her florid purse that is hanging from her shoulder .
"What is it Miss ?" My mother asks with a concerned voice.
"Nothing I've just remembered something . Sorry I gotta go . Hope you recover well Chris ." She kisses my forehead before stomping out of the room in a fluster leaving our mouths agape.