Presage of Downfall Chapter 1 – 2

Check out the previous part – Presage of Downfall Chapter 1 – 1

A heavy, black metal door was closed and sentenced to a night of carrying heavy padlocks. The reason behind it was to make sure that those who reap where they haven’t sowed could not gain access to the building.

If they tried, then it would be a lot of intimidating work for them. Sometimes it was just a delay tactic rather than a full protection measure.

Then the young man of about twenty-five, dangling a bunch of keys in his right hand, crossed the worn-out road. He looked back and saw the usual signboard he was used to for the past three years – LEVI THEO****^, s HARDWARE.

Below it in small letters read, – ironmonger; available: pans, nails, locks, pipes and many more building materials, farm and household inputs. Many people called it the four-star hardware. It was their favourite.

Proud Owner of the Hardware

Levi Theodore was no other than the proud owner of the hardware. He had made a profitable investment immediately after clearing his secondary education.

Levi did not manage to secure a place in any of the local universities. Not that he had performed poorly but the entrance grades had been raised so much.

He missed the cut point by a mere two points. He wanted to join any of the private universities in the country but the fee was exorbitant. It is only the filthy rich who could afford to take their children to those universities.

The irony of it is that most of those taken there were dunderheads but since they were able to pay their fee then no one would complain.

Levi decided to join one of the small local colleges for a course in Business Management. After two and a half years, he graduated and he decided to start his own business.

He wanted to be his boss. After gathering all he had saved, Levi went to his father for a soft loan. His father agreed to the idea on the condition that Levi would repay him in small instalments once the business picked up.

A Well-Moneyed Young Man

The hardware business had helped him to invest in other businesses and they were all doing well. His investments had catapulted him from a low-income earner to a well-moneyed young man.

It was a feat that most of the young men of his age had not yet achieved since most were still dependent on their parents and did not want to dirty their hands. So it was either drugs or crime for them.

Levi was just transitioning from a teenager to a respectable young man, thus he was very handsome. He was of average height. His dark hair was well kept and he was clean-shaven.

He wore blue jeans trousers and a light grey jacket. The young man looked immaculate. He wore the Stetson hat he had been holding in his other hand and walked on mingling with the nightwalkers who were hurrying to their homes before they were stopped by the night ladies or even the police.

The New Dola pub

Theodore was headed to the New Dola pub. This was his favourite pub; in fact, he was a patron. It was a bit quiet due to its location in a cool part of the busy town, but to say the inside was devoid of noise would be a lie.

He went in and walked over to his favourite corner. He sat at a table for two not that he was expecting company but he didn’t want to join the rowdy youths who even lacked respect for themselves.

Even before he had accustomed his eyes to the place and its occupants, a waiter was breathlessly standing in front of him. “Your pleasure sir?”

If there was something done perfectly in the New Dola Pub, it was the lightning speed of serving the thirsty customers.

The waiters and waitresses were not the drowsy types who you find in nearly every other drinking place. These were alert, fully alert.

They Sat at the Bar Nursing Their Drinks

He looked up at him. The waiter was a young man with very wide eyes almost the size of a cow’s. His spotless white coat made him look more like a doctor than a waiter was it not for the pub’s logo on the breast pocket.

Levi could not fail to notice his well-manicured fingers with a fresh coating of nail polish and his African hair which had been subjected to a torturous process to make it curl like spring only that it could have been better to leave it like that of a bushman.

“Hello Don,” Levi called without using the full name, – Donovan, indicated on the badge. “You don’t have to think of business every time nor do you have to keep on calling me sir every time I come to this watering hole.”

Donovan smiled evenly showing a set of brownish teeth, a sharp contrast to his white overalls and shirt. He adjusted his bow tie sheepishly and rolled his eyes like a lost chameleon looking for its way home.

“You see I have been used to it.”

“Okay man,” Theodore said. “My usual and have one on my account. But be careful not to be caught by your boss.”

He walked Away Smilling

Don walked away smiling, like someone who had invented a new kind of dish.

Now customers were beginning to flow in. They came in singles others as couples. Some were smiling others laughing out loud while others wore serious and surly faces. Most tables were by now full and covered with all kinds of drinks and drinking glasses.

As Levi nursed his cold drink, savouring its taste, a man came and sat opposite him. Levi looked up and they shook hands.

“Otieno, how are you?” Levi Theodore called to his friend.

Otieno was a tall and stony looking man. His physical appearance and the way he carried himself were an outright sell-out of what kind of job he did. He was clean-shaven and he wore a heavy jacket.

His Brown Eyes Were Sharp and Piercing

His brown eyes were sharp and piercing. As he entered the pub he had scanned the place like a forward-looking infrared radar camera. Only a few people could not recognize that he was a policeman.

“I am very fine,” he said releasing Levi’s hand. “How are you pushing on with your business?”

“It is going on well,” Levi said and called for Don who emerged from behind the counter. He hurriedly walked towards them licking his lips ready to take orders.

When he was halfway to their table, Otieno shouted, “my usual one.”

Donovan halted and made a beautiful u-turn.

Levi couldn’t help smiling.

“How is police work?”

The waiter walked away heading to another table with his beer laden tray after delivering their order.

Crime Rate had Gone Up

“Well Levi,” Otieno began, “Here in Mukuri town, we are sandwiched between two forces. The public is demanding action from us, and the thugs are giving us nightmares. Nowadays there is a lot of shooting. People are dying. The crime rate has gone up.

Each day these thugs are getting bolder and they are getting a lot from their raids. Imagine a man enters a bank poor, and when coming out, he is worth millions. Mark my word no one ever catches him.”

“What do you mean by this? Are you supporting them?”

“No! And I say no a thousand times.” He said raising his voice slightly over the background noise of the patrons and soft African music that was playing. Then in a low tone, the policeman said, “Something must be wrong in the … or I may say in our police force.”

“Good,” Theodore said. “I see your point. Internal wrangles, that is what they are called.” He put his glass down. “Then the problem must be high up above your reach.”

Otieno gave a short dry laugh. “You got it.”

He took his glass and downed his beer in one big gulp. “It is worse than that. Some officers are abetting crime by giving out guns and shielding criminals instead of helping in curbing crime.”

His friend shook his head in disgust. “That’s terrible. Where is the world heading?”

They talked for quite some time while watching the activities in the New Dola pub. They concurred that crime, (child and drug trafficking, kidnappings, and other flagitious crimes) had shot up in the last few months in the country.

A Failed State

Well-formed gangs and cartels were terrorizing the harmless wananchi committing all sorts of atrocities against them. Cold blood murders, maiming, indiscriminate rape and of late, something previously unheard of sodomy!

Everyone was crying of insecurity; the moneybags and the hoi polloi alike. Insecurity was a vice that inhibited Africa from becoming an economically stable continent.

Foreign investors could not risk bringing their hard-earned money to an unstable Africa. Also, most of the wealthy Africans themselves could not invest in their own countries.

It was extremely difficult for the ordinary citizens to start investments with the draconian rules set in place by the government itself or, sorry to say, most of them had been set by the colonial governments.

Another hindrance to prosperity was the lack of initial capital for the youth to start reliable businesses. But the sad thing was that politicians were not willing to change the outdated oppressive laws.

Gun-Totting Thugs Roaming All Over

This is because they largely benefited from them and also because they did not care about the poor. Then there were the cartels demanding money for protection. There were also the gun-totting thugs roaming all over the country terrorizing the populace. What was the sense of stealing from a man and then killing him? What was society coming to?

Small light arms had infiltrated the country so much that they were readily available and at a throw-away price. To make the matters worse some were readily available for hire. You could hire a gun like people hire vehicles and then take the gun back once you were through with your business.

Drug cartels were on the rise, trafficking all kinds of drugs mostly to the cream of the Nation – the youth. On one hand, the drug peddlers could be blamed for the rise in crime since once the young people were high on drugs, they could commit any sort of crime without thinking twice.

On the other hand, the addicts could involve themselves in antisocial activities to get money for one next high. It was a rather confounding situation; a catch-22 situation. Even Otieno didn’t know what was to be done now to change these people who had refused to conform to the norms of the society.

The Politicians Had Failed the People

All in all, he knew deep within himself that the leaders of the country had a role to play.

Otieno glanced at his wristwatch. It was getting late. “My wife must be very lonely,” he said rising. He needed to rest and wait for the new day ready to face challenges.

Levi stood up, stretched and yawned. “We must be on our way.” After paying the bill, which was Otieno’s turn, they left the pub. Theodore bid his friend goodnight, crossed the dimly lit street which was a haven for muggers and headed straight to his house.

Those Present Were Rushing Home

At this time of night, the streets had fewer people and those present were rushing home as if a ghost was chasing them, most of them muttering prayers that were hard to comprehend. Levi opened the door and entered his three-roomed house.

The sight of these large rooms brought his mind back to what he had been thinking of earlier. He sat on the bed after switching on the lights. He had not eaten but he did not feel hungry. How he detested cooking!

Levi’s mind was set heavily on thinking; he was trying to visualize whether he needed a woman, a caring and loving one. Someone who would ease the loneliness he had.

He dreamt of a beautiful, young and self-worth girl, a vivacious girl with a sweet temper and one who sheds happiness around her. Someone he could trust and give his heart to.

Yes. Not like this girl he had loved so deeply only to end up with a broken heart slow of healing. Where had trust gone in modern society?

You give your heart to someone who swears never to betray your trust, but in the end, that special someone ends up being careless with your heart and as a result ends up breaking it, shattering it into small pieces. That is what had happened to Levi.

Julia Muthoni, when Levi came to know her, was a black African queen. A tall slender girl of fair complexion. Her well-aligned teeth were sparkling white. Her lips were round and beautiful. She had an infectious smile.

She Became Obsessed with Worldly Things

But what was more captivating were her charcoal black eyes, cool but penetrating on whoever they were directed to. Most of the time she let her long, black hair fall loose on her shoulders. In simple terms, nature had granted her beauty, a beauty that made every man turn and others ogled whenever she passed by.

Levi, who considered himself lucky thought he would live a blissful life with this beautiful lady who worked at a beauty salon.

At first, their relationship was steadfast and smooth, but with time the glamorous girl began to change slowly. She became obsessed with worldly things and her love for Levi started fading.

Julia had proclaimed to Levi in a silky voice. “I have no other man apart from you. I love you so much, Levi. You are the pillar of my heart,” she kept on saying. This however was pure hypocrisy.

Then at the end of their relationship, the girl changed drastically like a chameleon. She began hanging out in bars with other men irrespective of the dreaded modern-day sexually transmitted diseases. She changed men like clothes.

Levi Theodore tried to make her change her habits but in vain. The irony of it all was that she refused to admit that she had affairs with other men. She continued reiterating how she loved Levi.

What kind of love was this that could lead them to their early demise?

“Julia Muthoni, you were a beautiful lass,” he said to himself. He shuddered and grimaced like a man in great pain. He sighed with a big relief and let his eyelids meet.

***** It was an Afternoon Off at the Mines

In the quarries, there was no work in the afternoon after the ghastly accident. Ting Shark had given the miners the afternoon off and in that way, he had managed to fool them so that they would not think of protesting like they had done last time.

Some of those who could reach their homes had rushed to see their families. The others had found time to stretch their tired limbs; they did this by lying flat on the bare ground like the red-headed rock agama lizard.

Mugo and Karume were working on their small shamba. Since the sun wasn’t so hot they had decided to water their plot of Sukuma wiki. It was hard work fetching the water from the unused quarries but they had no option but to persevere.

“Mugo, Karume, hey you people, you don’t even rest for a while?” A voice echoed all around in the defunct quarry they were fetching water from.

The two men looked up startled.

It was Kariuki, a co-worker, who was coming toward them.

“We came here on our own feet but it seems as if we will leave on stretchers and if unlucky, inside coffins.” He was referring to the morning incident.

“Do not even mention it,” Karume said. “Something has to be done so that we save ourselves from such a calamity. You cannot cut down the only tree that is bearing fruits.”

“It is true,” Mugo concurred with Karume. “But do you think Ting Shark will toe the line?”

“Not unless we the miners came together and faced him. That is the only time our lives can be a bit protected,” Kariuki spoke his thoughts.

Karume said, “But with the disunity among the workers I wonder how far we can go.”

“Anyway,” Kariuki said, “I have come to buy onions and Sukuma wiki; let us leave politics to our wise political leaders.”

He Wanted to Change the Topic

“It is good of you to be supporting us,” Karume said also eager to change the topic.

“I feel I must support your work. You know what? You are the ones who keep the quarrymen alive. We cannot depend on the rations issued by our boss,” Kariuki spoke as he took his purchases.

“We have to help each other if we want to succeed in life,” Karume said pocketing the money Kariuki had paid.

“Thank you, men,” Kariuki said moving away. “And don’t forget the proverb that says; ‘he who tills the land is not the one who consumes.’”

When the realization of what Kariuki had said hit Karume, Kariuki was long gone. Karume could have called him back and explained to him how thugs had altered the proverb so that they could steal everything that the farmer produced.

Or maybe Kariuki knew it.

Check out the next episode here – Presage of Downfall Chapter 1 – 3