(Continued from The Boss Lady I)
“Hello Kadong’. I thought you were in Juba,” Silvia says calmly.
“That does not give you the right to bring men to my house,” the Sudanese man replies, pointing the gun at her. Silas is slightly relieved to have the gun pointed away from him, although he has a feeling that Kadong’ can kill the two of them without batting an eyelid.
“You know I love you Kadong’, but I have needs too. These days you spend all your days in Juba and leave me here with unfulfilled desires. That is why I turned to prostitutes. We have sex, I pay them and they leave. That way my needs are met but my heart remains intact for you.”
Silas is shocked. He is not even hurt at being called a prostitute. He is just shocked that she thinks it is okay to cheat on her husband with a prostitute. As a Christian, Silas has been taught that the act of sex is sacred; the idea of casual sex is therefore alien to him.
“I expect absolute loyalty from you, Silvia. Haven’t I given you a comfortable life? What more do you want?”
“You are the one I want babe. I need you to be in Nairobi more.”
“Betrayal must be punished. But first I want to deal with this fool. Young man, what makes you think you can walk to another man’s house and violate his wife? And you do this for money? Have you no shame?”
As Kadong moves closer to Silas, the latter’s eyes widen into saucers. He knows he should say something, but he doesn’t know what to say that will not infuriate Kadong’ even more. He cowers on the sofa. Kadong’ looks larger and more menacing as he moves closer. He actually doesn’t need the gun. He is huge enough to kill Silas with his bare arms. But the gun is still firmly held in his hand.
The first person Silas thinks about his mother, the woman who struggled so much to bring him and his siblings up. When he got the job at SilvHair, the first thing he did was to rent a larger room for his mother to conduct business. Previously, her salon was in a dingy room in a filthy part of the market. For ten thousand shillings a month, Silas was able to move the salon to a spacious room in a new building that has been constructed near the tarmac. He bought basic furniture for the salon.
Because Silas knows how much top salons charge, he advised his mother to adjust her fees upwards. He didn’t expect her to start charging like SilvHair, but he thought that the amounts his mother had been charging for years were ridiculously low. At first she was resistant of the idea. She was apprehensive that if she increased her fee, she would price out most of her clients.
“Relax mom,” he assured her. “You will get clients who can pay.”
The gamble paid off. Now the salon has started attracting more well off clients, who would ordinarily have gone to have their hair made in Nairobi, Kikuyu or Ruaka. Most of the middle class women in Wangige, Lower Kabete, King’eero, Karura Kanyungu, Ndenderu and Mwimuto have been flocking to the salon. Some even come from as far as Kikuyu, and there is one woman who religiously comes every Saturday from Redhill. Silas only paid rent for the new place for five months, after which the business was able to comfortably pay its own rent.
Silas’s two sisters, Jane and Stella, have joined the business. Silas advised his mother to pay them, and all the other employees, on commission, until the business is stable enough to sustain permanent employees. Of Silas’ six siblings, only the last born is in school. That boy, Weldon, is also the only one who made it to secondary school. He is a form two student at Kabete High School, a mixed day and boarding secondary school. Silas has cleared his fee balance of thirty thousand shillings, thus keeping him in school. He promised to take Weldon to a school with better facilities next year, because he is a very bright boy.
Hellen, Silas’ mother, is very proud of her first born son. Silas is the only one of her five sons who still attends church. The second born, Lee, is in jail. He raped a woman two years ago and was sentenced to twenty five years in the slammer. The third born is a girl, Jane; the fourth born, Bruce, and fifth born, Alexander, are matatu conductors, and have taken to alcohol and miraa. They have not seen the inside of church since they stopped going to Sunday School after class eight. Stella is the sixth born. The last born, Weldon, prefers to hang out with Bruce and Alexander at the matatu stage whenever he is not in school. Hellen hopes that Silas’ success can inspire him to change his ways, pay more attention to his studies and become more Godly.
Silas knows that his mother will be crushed when she hears the news of his death. It will be worse if she hears that her favorite son was killed by an irate husband when he found him in bed with his wife. But at least he (Silas) will be dead and will not see the sorrow and disappointment in his mother’s eyes. It would be too much to bear.
“I am talking to you!” Kadong bellows. Silas fearfully realizes that he hasn’t heard what the man has said. Surely the man will kill him now.
Before he can venture a reply, Silvia picks a stool and throws it at Kadong. It hits him on the neck, right at the base of the head, and he collapses in a heap. She calmly picks the stool and returns it to it usual position. Then she takes a phone and instructs someone she calls Batman to come to the house. After making the call, she goes upstairs and comes back wearing a red bathrobe. That is when Silas realizes that she has been naked all along.
“Come, let’s go and grab something to eat. You will need the energy for the work I intend to make you do,” she tells him with a wink. For a brief moment, Silas thinks that she intends to make him dispose the body. He has heard that some people commit murder and bury their victims in their backyards. Does she expect him to dig a grave after eating? He throws a glance at the fallen giant and shivers involuntarily.
“Do not worry,” Silvia tells him calmly. “He is not dead but he will not survive the night. Batman will take care of him.”
*
They have just finished eating rice and chicken when Batman and another young man arrive. Silvia lights up a cigarette and starts puffing away as she watches them work. Batman and his assistant carry Kadong out of the house. Silvia motions Silas to follow her outside. From the balcony, they watch silently as the two young men load him onto a black Toyota Prado. When the Prado disappears into the night, Silvia returns to the house, with Silas following like a loyal dog. She throws the remains of the cigarette into a trash can and takes Silas’ hand.
“Let us go to the bedroom and have some fun baby.”
*
Silas wakes up at 10 am. For a man who is usually in church by 8.30 am, 10 am is very late. But today he has no desire to go to church. After having sex with Silvia last night, he feels filthy. She dropped him at his apartment at 3 am. He is grateful that he moved out of his mother’s compound last month. What would she say if saw him being dropped home by a woman at 3 am?
There are eleven missed calls on his phone and four messages. He was the one supposed to lead worship in church today, and since he did not communicate his absence, they have been looking for him. It is even possible that someone knocked at his door and he did not hear. He does not intend to return the calls today. He is simply not the mood.
He switches on the TV, intending to catch one of the Sunday services being broadcast live. But the first thing that catches his eye is breaking news.
“South Sudan’s Newly Appointed Information Minister Assassinated in Nairobi: William Kadong was shot dead in his car along Mombasa Road.”
Silas shivers. Who is this woman Silvia?
*
“Why didn’t you come to church? Are you okay?” Silas’ girlfriend Christy asks. She has come straight to his house from church, and has found him still lying on the couch. He has not moved since morning, except to open the door for her. He is just about to answer her when his phone rings. He looks at it; the caller is Boss Lady, which is how he has saved Silvia on his phone.
“Will you come and visit me tonight?” she asks sweetly.
“I don’t…”
“Don’t worry, I will come and pick you. At least I know where you live.”
“I don’t think that that is a good idea madam.”
“Is it because of Christy? I am sure she will understand.”
Silas is shocked. He has never told anyone at his workplace that he has a girlfriend, much less her name. Even his cousin Anne, the one person who could have told Silvia, doesn’t know.
“I…”
“I want you to be mine, Silas; and you will be. So get rid of Christy or I will do it for you. And by the way, tell her that that yellow dress looks really nice on her. See you tonight,” Silvia says and terminates the call.
Silas stares at his girlfriend’s yellow dress in disbelief and fear.
(Continued Here)
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/rose-red-smoke-fog-red-rose-5974372/
*
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