Jabali's Redemption - Episode 27

 

Neema stayed wide eyed until 10.00 o’clock at night when Jabali decided to come back home. he hadn’t come in the day as he had earlier promised. Neema didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. She had taken her supper in the sitting room while waiting for him. All the time she called; she was transferred to voice mail. Since she had been his secretary, she knew that he worked late at times.

‘You are still up,’ he noted when he glanced inside the sitting room and saw her seated on the sofa . A glass of water beside her. He had his laptop in hand and approached her. Depositing it on the coffee table. ‘You shouldn’t have to wait for me,’

‘I wanted to talk to you about Ngao,’ she stated and didn’t waste time on greetings. The earlier they get done with this the better. He sat on the single chair before her and raised his cut eyebrow at her, a shiver ran through her. She swallowed and focused on the topic at hand.

‘What about him?’

‘He was here earlier today, claiming you had hired a lawyer…’

‘What about it?’ he cut her off, ‘wasn’t he wrongfully accused?’

‘So, you decided to help him?’ Neema asked incredulously

Jabali sighed and turned towards her, ‘why do I feel like I did something wrong?’

‘You think you are doing something right?’ Neema countered and continued flashing him questions after questions until she received a satisfying answer, ‘why are you doing this? You promised to let Ngao go when I agreed to sign the marriage certificate with you. Why don’t you let him be?’

Jabali stated in a low gravel voice, ‘you think I did it because I have something against your brother?’ his face on the low night light had a blank expression

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/jabali-s-redemption

. For a second he appeared hurt but Neema knew Jabali. He was a calculating man and she won’t fall in his trap.

‘Why else would you do it? You have been on Ngao ever since I stepped my foot back on this town recently. You had him jailed and now when I had managed to get him far away from this town you succeed to drag him back. What do you want?’ Neema was nearly shouting now, her frustration reaching breaking point.

‘I want nothing.’ Jabali anger matched her ire, the mask of indifference falling off. Now he was angry too, ‘why do you think I have something against your brother? All am doing is trying to help. It was not fair what happened to him…’

‘Not fair?’ Neema scoffed, ‘get off your high horse now Jabali and stop talking about fairness. Not long ago you were practically ready to jail him for an offence he committed. You forced me back to this cursed town and then forced me into this marriage. Admit it you do everything thinking about yourself. Everything you do is for you, you don’t think about anyone else,’

‘That is not correct,’ Jabali shouted and rose from his seat coming towards her, he roughly pulled her from the sette by her shoulders, ‘I have nothing against you or your brother, why don’t you understand that,’ he screamed at her face now and Neema was openly crying,

‘Then let me go, we can cut short this charade of marriage,’ she whispered at him, his grip tightened at her words,

‘Why? Do you want to go back to the city? Or run to the arms of Akila? What are you going to do? I warned you am not going to let you go Neema. Not again. I own you and the earlier you forget about the thoughts of running away from me the better.’ He then released her and she fell back on the cushy sofa.

Tears now streaming openly from of her face. Jabali didn’t waste time, he turned and walked out of the room and out of the house, the door banging loudly behind him. Neema slightly jumped from the force of the bang. She was left in the large house alone. The only comfort was the sound of her silent cries.

…………………………………….

Flashback.

‘Are you sure he is going to come?’ Naiti asked Aluvisa as the stood in the rain, they were drenched despite the rain coats they had on and the cold was settling in but they refused to bulge from their spot. The consignment tonight was going to cause them a lot of money. The money that could keep hi s family afloat for some time. Neema would stop working long shifts at the restaurant and look for a college to apply, mama would stop spending a lot of time in the market and finally he could get Ngao the train toy he had wanted for long. Maybe just maybe he could prove to Lulu that he needed the job even if it was an illegal activity.

‘He promised. you have to be patient, just promise me that this is the last job we are doing, we can’t go on risking our lives like this.’ Aluvisa said shivering under the heavy rain coat he had on.

‘You know I can’t promise you that,’ Naiti said in a low voice his lips set in a flat line.

‘Look Naiti, it has been months but you have found out nothing. Maybe its better to let it go,’

‘My father didn’t receive the burial he deserved, if I give up now, I will never learn what happened to him.’ Naiti had his mind set, it had taken time for Majid to trust him to involve him in the smuggling business inside the tea estates deep inside the mountains. Though the goon was tight lipped about who their financier was, Naiti knew it was a matter of time before he met him. He couldn’t give up now when he was close to finding out the truth.

‘Have you thought about what will happen to Neema, your mama and Ngao if you were to die in this desolate forest?’

‘Nothing will happen to me,’ Naiti answered cockily though a doubt crossed his mind for a second, how will his family cope if he died? Smuggling was not for the faint hearted, the thick forest was hard to navigate at night without the help of flashlights and the police were constantly on their tracks. He had a few hair-raising escape stories; he didn’t wish to relive. He thought about his mama, how she was always worried for him; his bruises that he could hardly hide. Ngao was too young to understand anything that was happening and Neema, sassy, stubborn smart and proud. Though she hadn’t been smart in choosing to date Jabali Kasri, Naiti frowned.

His sister turned into a star eyed fool at the mention of Jabali Kasri. What did she see in him? He was not that handsome much more rugged than handsome. Jabali sighed, Neema was stubborn, saying no to Neema was as equal as challenging her. If Jabali tried anything on his sister, he was going to bust his nose and break a limb or two. He didn’t care if he was the son of Mzee Kasri. Nobody would get away with hurting Neema.

Suddenly his phone vibrated on his pants, expecting to see Majid calling about the plan but instead Lulu’s name flashed on the screen of the phone. A smile lit up his face then faded almost immediately. His relationship with Neema’s best friend was best described as complicated. She hated that he risked his life in the mountains and she also hated keeping secrets from Neema. By some chance, Lulu had found out his nightly activities and was going to spill all the beans to his sister but he had managed to persuade her to keep silent.

‘Lulu?!’ Aluvisa’s voice registered surprise, ‘why is she calling you?’  he frowned under the heavy hats they had adorned. Even in the dimming light, Naiti could see his friend’s surprise.

Naiti pressed the decline button and stuffed his phone back inside his pocket. He wasn’t in a mood to deal with Lulu now. He would go to see her later after the deal had gone off successfully. He hoped/

‘Its nothing,’ he brushed Aluvisa’s concern off and focused on any movement on the forest. The dark rain coats they had adorned and the hats helped them blend in well with their surroundings. It wasn’t easy to be detected in the heavy forest.

‘Listen Naiti someone is coming,’ Aluvisa whispered and Naiti turned extra keen to listen. On top of the heavy rain falling, his keen ears could pick the sound of footfalls falling on the ground, very sure footfalls. Signaling Aluvisa they both took cautious steps back. The footsteps seemed to be coming from somewhere in front of them.

Soon they were hidden under an undergrowth of sorts. the person was now close enough and a slice of lightening revealed a figure in a black raincoat and hat. Dressed just like them. The person stood right in front of the undergrowth gazing around. He was tall and Naiti guessed he could take him down.

Motioning for Aluvisa to stay quiet, he striked. Chocking the man, who responded by hitting him squarely on the ribs by his elbows.

The blow made Naiti loosen his choke and the stranger’s hat fell down. Revealing the angry face of Jabali Kasri.

‘Jabali!’ Naiti exclaimed, he was the last person expecting to see in the forest at night. On the day of the mission.

Read " The Dancing Bride And Her Spirit Warrior " by the same author ( Razia Iminza )

. He had been inside his office a few days ago confronting him about his relationship with Neema.

‘There is a raid tonight, you can’t be here,’ Jabali didn’t waste time with greetings. He picked his hat and placed it back on his head.

‘A raid?’ Aluvisa stepped forward from the undergrowth, ‘wait! are you here to warn us?’ he asked astonished. He knew first hand that Jabali and Naiti didn’t see eye to eye. If Jabali was surprised at what Aluvisa was doing in the forest, he didn’t show it.

‘Maybe he is here to lead us into a trap,’ Naiti refused to believe that Jabali was helping them. He looked around to see if Jabali had been accompanied by someone else but they were all alone.

‘Would I have trekked deep inside the forest at night just to lead you into a trap,’

‘Yes,’ Naiti answered without missing a beat, ‘maybe you want to play hero and show your father how loyal you are by catching the pesky smugglers that are threatening his business,’

Jabali sighed, ‘Neema is worried about you. She doesn’t know of your night activities in the mountain,’

‘Of course, she doesn’t know what is going on here, and you are not going to tell her.’ Naiti took a threatening step towards Jabali standing almost nose to nose with him.

‘You have to come clean with her,’ Jabali didn’t back down. It was wrong for Naiti to keep Neema in the dark. She was forever worried about him and that was the only reason he was here, high in the mountain to warn him about the impending attack.

‘Just because you have managed to hoodwink my sister into a relationship with you don’t think you have the right to talk about my family dynamics,’

 A slice of lighting cut through the sky and reflected on Jabali’s hard face, ‘I didn’t trick Neema into anything, I am genuinely interested in her,’

‘Cut it out you two, we are not going to get anywhere with all this bickering like small children,’ Aluvisa had enough with the two trying to prove who is more tough than the other, ‘now Jabali what were saying about the raid?’

Jabali cast Naiti a stink eye before replying, ‘a team of K-9 dogs will accompany the police officers to the raid tonight,’

‘K-9 dogs? Huh,’ Naiti scoffed, ‘the local police can’t afford that, how will they manage to do it?’

‘Mzee Kasri has hired the dogs from the city. This time you will be tracked by a specialized team and not the local officers you have on your payroll,’

‘If we leave now, and the rest of the team stays, they will think we betrayed them and they will come after us,’ Aluvisa noted openly shuddering thinking about Majid and his band of misfits finding out that for some reason they survived the raid.

‘That is not my problem, I have already warned you,’ Jabali fixed his hat and walked away, disappearing on the dark forest, just like the way he had come. Naiti frowned his eyebrows and turned to Aluvisa who looked at him worriedly.

What were they going to do?

………………………………………………….

Hey guys, a new fresh chapter for you. I hope you enjoy it.

Much Love.

Remember to like, comment and share.