(Continued from The Narrow Path I)
Caleb is just finishing his meal when she enters, and she blows his mind away. She is a stunning beauty. Her yellow, fitting jumpsuit is accentuating her figure, and the six-inch heels are making her tower over the waitresses and their supervisors. In the presence of this goddess, the waitresses now look ridiculous in their uniforms. The lady looks at Caleb and smiles, causing his mind to scatter like chaff on a windy afternoon. She strides to Caleb’s table and holds a vacant chair.
“May I hold sit down?”
Her silky voice is one he had forgotten. Now all the good memories come flooding back.
“Sure,” Caleb says weakly.
“You don’t seem happy to see me.”
Caleb laughs nervously.
“Are you kidding me Lilly? I am thrilled!”
“”You have a strange way of showing it,” Lilly says, laughing.
“I will admit that my mind blocked for a moment there. You have become even more beautiful than I remember.”
“Yea, I do remember that I wasn’t beautiful enough for you back then.”
“You know it wasn’t like that. But I guess I deserve that comment for not having the courage to fight for you back then. Why don’t you place your order so that you can eat as we catch up?”
Caleb has no fear of getting caught talking to his ex by his wife, his parents or his in-laws. He is in Nairobi, the city that thrives in anonymity. The church he pastors is in Eldoret, where he was born and brought up, while the sixteen branches in the ministry are scattered in towns across the Rift Valley. The nearest is in Nakuru, two hours away. He will be in Nairobi for three days, representing the Bishop in the Conference of Evangelical Bishops.
“I see you finally got a woman that your parents and your Bishop approve of.”
Caleb stares at his wedding band and sighs deeply.
“Yes, I did.”
“But you are not happy with the marriage.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. It is written all over your face. What’s up? Do you still miss me or something?” Lilly asks with a smile. Caleb knows she is teasing him, just like she used to when they were dating. How he had missed her! Being in a relationship with Lilly was always refreshing because she has no hypocrisy whatsoever, so their friendship was true and genuine.
“I miss you every day, Lilly,” he says honestly. “I don’t love my wife, and I suspect that she hates me. If you see her photos on Instagram and Facebook, you would think we are the happiest couple in town. But in truth, I am dying inside.”
“Why is that?”
“Like I said, I am stuck in a dead marriage. Dinah doesn’t even let me touch her, so for three years now we have not consummated our marriage. You remember what I told you about my parents?”
“That in private they can’t stand each other’s guts yet they are dolls in public?”
“That has become me and Dinah.”
“Why don’t you leave her?”
“First, I married her and God hates divorce. Second, my wife is also my boss’ daughter. If I am fired from the church, where am I going to start looking for a job? Do I go back to teaching?”
“First, divorce is allowed in scripture when there is infidelity. Second, I think you should man up babe. Don’t let the fear of your Bishop and your parents ruin your life. You can choose your own path.”
“I guess you are right. But the problem is that there is no infidelity involved. Dinah doesn’t have a lover.”
“She does.”
“What? Look Lilly. I know you love me, and I sincerely do love you. But I don’t think it is fair to bear false witness against someone you barely know.”
“Do you remember my friend Marie Chepkoech?”
“How could I forget Chep? She was your best friend in KU.”
“Well, she joined the DCI after campus. She has risen to be an Inspector, or Chief Inspector I am not sure. Anyway, few months ago she was sent to Eldoret. Her assignment was to investigate the Bishop. She didn’t like the assignment…”
“Why is the Bishop being investigated and why doesn’t she like it?”
“I was getting to that. Actually, the answers to your two questions are tied together. Chep doesn’t like the assignment because it is politically motivated. The Bishop has told a few friends that he intends to vie for position of Governor in the next general election. He has actually formed an exploratory committee. That is not sitting well with other politicians eyeing the seat, including the current Governor who will be seeking a second term, the Senator and several businessmen. The Bishop is very popular in Uasin Gishu County, and has been a king maker in the past. He endorsed Governor Kirwa in the last election, and that support was considered vital. Remember, of his seventeen churches, a whooping seven, including the one you lead, are in Uasin Gishu. Then there is the fact that the Golgotha Divinity Foundation has been doing charity work in the region for the past few years. Simply put, his competitors are afraid of him.
Governor Kirwa has the ear of the President and he must have whispered something because Chep and her team were removed from crucial investigations and dispatched from Kiambu Road and sent to Eldoret to try and dig up the Bishop’s skeletons so that he can be brought down. Marie did not like the assignment, but she had to follow orders. She led her team to Eldoret and they integrated in the community. She is very good at her job, and in the past few months she has made a few shocking discoveries about your father-in-law.”
“What are they?”
“Did you say your wife doesn’t allow you to touch her?”
“Yes.
“That is probably because she is sleeping with her own father.”
“What?”
“The Bishop has been sleeping with Dinah since she was sixteen. That is the reason his other daughters never come home. He had sex with them too when they were teenagers, and when they became adults, they fled. But for some reason, Dinah stayed. It seems she is in love with her own father in a twisted way.”
“No, that cannot be. Chep has to be wrong.”
“I told her the same thing. But she is double sure of what she is saying. In fact, she tells me that she is almost ready to arrest him. But what I have told you is not the only shocking thing.”
“There is more?”
“Yes there is. The Bishop has had sex with multiple other women, and one of them is your mother.”
“That is an outright lie. My father would never allow it.”
“What can he do? He probably knows men the Bishop has killed when they tried to kick their wives from home because of association with the Bishop.”
“Do you know what that means? It means I am probably that fool’s son.”
“Yes you are; you and your brother Jesse. Abigail is the only one who is not his child.”
“And that means Dinah is my half-sister.”
“Which probably is the reason she doesn’t like sleeping with you.”
“She can’t sleep with her half-brother but she is okay sleeping with her father? That makes perfect sense.”
“Look, Caleb. I know all this is confusing. But Chep told me to tell you to be careful. She is going to arrest the Bishop soon, and things are likely to get messy. She wants you to be careful so that you are not caught in the crossfire.”
“She is in Eldoret. Why couldn’t she have told me herself?”
“Because she knows I still love you, and she wanted me to meet you personally and tell you that. Babe, your marriage is going to publicly collapse soon. When it does, please remember the beautiful dreams we shared at K.U. We can still live them.”
*
Caleb and Lilly do not notice as the beefy man in the table next to theirs rise and walk to the washrooms.
“Boss, your boy has finally met a woman,” the man says when he is finally outside the restaurant.
“Good work, Hakim. Do you have photos?” the Bishop asks.
“No, not yet. The two of them are still in a restaurant eating.”
“Then why are you wasting time? I want photos, Hakim. I want you to take photos and videos of Caleb in the act of sex so that I blackmail him. I want to fully control him, so I need photos and if possible videos.”
“I am sorry sir. I called you because I overheard their conversation and I thought it was important.”
Hakim tells his boss what he has heard, and the Bishop listens in stunned silence.
“Wear your mask and go back to the restaurant. I want you to shoot both of them dead.”
“You want me to kill them inside the restaurant?”
“That is what I said. We can’t afford the risk having any of them talk to anybody else. The shooting will trigger chaos in the restaurant. Use that confusion to get away. Make your way to the Stalker Hotel in Kitengela. Someone will pick you up there tomorrow morning for your well-deserved holiday to Zanzibar.”
“Yes sir, consider it done.”
(To be continued on Tuesday)
Image by sspiehs3 from Pixabay:
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