(Continued from Mom on Fire I (Raped))
Jane arrived at Galleria Mall at 9.45. Joseph was already there, dressed casually in jeans and a T-Shirt. Joseph was a tall man with a well built body. His square face would have made him intimidating, but he always wore a gentle smile that had a soothing effect on anyone he was dealing with. His large brown eyes seemed to dance with mischief. Jane had always liked him, in a sisterly way.
He approached her with the signature smile and gave her a bear hug. She did not like the way the men at Fire Ministries imposed hugs on her. She liked it even less now, after being raped by the Bishop. She always excused Joseph because he was a friend, but now she found him annoying.
“Shall we?” he asked gently, shepherding her towards the car park. He did not look like a man who was leading her to abort her baby. Jane wondered how many times he had made this trip. They approached a black Range Rover Sport and Joseph opened the door for her. She felt sorry for him, considering what was about to happen.
Jane had boarded many luxury vehicles before, but never a Range. Her immediate boss, the head of Legal at Fire Ministry Foundation drove a Land Cruiser Prado V8. Joseph himself had given her a ride several times in his VW Touareg. The Operations Manager at Fire Ministry Foundation, the senior most person below Mom, drove a Chrysler. She had ridden with Mom in her Mercedes S Class twice. Jane concluded that the Range was Mom’s latest acquisition. All these vehicles had blown her away when she boarded them. She had long given up trying to figure out which one she would acquire when she reached the upper echelons of the Foundation. There seemed to be a silent agreement amongst these people not to acquire what someone else had. But she was now free of these people. She would buy whatever she wanted when she made money. And she decided there and then that it would be a Range.
The road seemed to bow before this metal king as they cruised along Lang’ata Road towards Karen. As they passed the Nairobi Academy, Jane settled in the leather seat. She could see a silver Mercedes behind them, matching the Range’s speed. The rich and their toys. They slowed down and branched off. Jane closed her eyes as they meandered through a maze of neglected suburb roads.
They stopped at a huge metal gate. A youthful guard opened a side door and approached the car. Joseph gave him what seemed to be a computer print out and he studied it for about a full minute. He nodded and went to open the gate. Jane felt panic start to rise within her. What if her plan failed? What would happen to her?
Joseph parked next to the only house in the compound, a one story bungalow. A young lady greeted them warmly and guided them inside.
“The doctor is bathing. He will be here shortly.”
Jane’s pulse quickened. She was about to lose her baby. And probably her life too. Please God…
Joseph sat down at a couch and motioned Jane to do the same. He looked at ease. But then again, it wasn’t his belly that was about to be opened. Besides, he probably had been in that room many times before.
At the sound of steps on the stairs, Jane nearly choked on her own saliva. An elderly man with a grandfatherly smile appeared. Joseph stood respectfully, and Jane followed suit.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said as he shook their hands.
“It is okay doctor. We have not been here long,” Joseph replied with a charming smile of his own.
“You must be Jane,” the old man said, turning to the frightened girl. Jane barely managed to nod.
“We will be done here within no time. Do not be afraid. Please follow me”
Jane glanced at Joseph, who in turn nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. Her feet felt like ship anchors as she followed the old man towards the interior of the house. Why weren’t they here already? What had gone wrong?
The doctor opened a door and Jane found herself in a large room with an operating table at the middle. The walls were painted white and there were no windows. Besides the main entrance, there was another door on the far right side of the room. There was the usual paraphernalia found in a clinic, including a sink at the far corner.
The doctor locked the main door and put they key in his pocket. Odd, Jane thought.
“Take off your clothes” he ordered, as he moved to arrange his apparatus. The smile was gone. What was left was a cold man with lethal black eyes. Just like Mom yesterday.
Jane did not move.
“I said take off your clothes,” the doctor repeated without looking up.
“I am not doing an abortion,” Jane found her voice.
The old man looked up and eyed her for a while. Then he sighed and shook his head. He stretched his hand onto a high shelf and pulled out a pistol.
“It is not a request. Take off your clothes,”
Jane almost wet herself. Her heart was now threatening to jump out of her chest. She removed her blouse. The doctor pulled down her skirt and started unfastening her bra with his left hand, the other still holding the gun.
“They said you think you are toug…”
“Not so fast doctor. Do you remember me?” a new voice asked.
The doctor spun around, stunned. The inner door had opened, and a young lady, about Jane’s age, was pointing a gun at him. Jane was confused.
Was this part of the plan? If so, where did James get this woman? And how did she access the clinic? And where was James and his buddy Jude?
The doctor recovered quickly. He grabbed Jane by the waist and pointed a gun at her head.
“One more step towards me and she is dead,” he said, glaring at his youthful adversary.
Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/sad-depressed-depression-sadness-505857/
