Beating The Odds

Beating the Odds – episode 17

Beating The Odds – Episode 17
 
© Brian Ngoma
 
Sitting under a shade, Cayn thought about his plan. It had been eleven years since he had seen his mother. Ever since the encounter with his mother that took a part of his being, not a single night passed by without thinking of his plan. In fact, all his life pointed to this moment; getting his mother out of prison. He put in a lot of resources into it. No one knew what he was up to and they never asked, even Sky. Over the years, he had managed to get information on how his mother was doing in the prison and from what he got, not so well. Her memory loss had become permanent. She was a stranger in a strange place and that hurt him. Finally, the day he had been waiting for was here. He had all the gear and information for getting her out of prison. Not a single person had attempted to break into a prison and break out in Zambia. He was determined to beat the odds like he had been doing so since birth. He looked on his right and saw Sky coming towards him. He thought to himself why someone would have his back like She did, he groomed her well. He was grateful for her.
 
“Morning Boss,” she grabbed a chair and sat exhaling heavily.
 
“You came by foot?” he asked her.
 
“After yesterday’s incident with Blank shot, i thought it best to lay the car low for a while,” she answered.
 
Smart, he thought while looking at her. “So the plan,” he paused. “Before i continue, you didn’t change your mind, did you?”
 
“Could i be here if i had changed my mind Boss?”
 
“Good. So i have been gathering information for the past few years about Mukobeko Medium Prison. And from what i have gathered, you and i can break into it easily,” he looked at her. She kept her face expressionless. “On Monday, the 22nd March, at ten hours, there is a girl who will be convicted of murder. She’s our ticket to get in. After she’s been convicted and ready to be taken to Mukobeko, you will abduct and replace her.”
 
Sky sat upright and carefully looked at Cayn. “How Boss?”
 
“It’s simple. Here is what you will have to do. This girl will be given ten minutes to use the bathroom at the courts. She will find you in the restroom and you will knock her out. You have to make sure she’s knocked out really good. I’ll have someone take her out of there and hide her away.”
 
“But won’t the police notice?”
 
“We are in lucky, the girl just look like you,” he smiled mischievously. “It was difficult to find one that looked exactly like you though. She’s one hell of a little rebellious brat.”
 
“That sound fun and simple,” she smiled. “How will you get in? I don’t suppose to do this all alone. You must know the place well.”
 
“I will be your driver.”
 
Sky’s face brightened. “Boss!” she held her chin nodding. “You never cease to amaze me. How?”
 
“I will do the same too. While you are doing your job, i will also be doing mine.”
 
“How about when we get in? What happens there?”
 
“You will be taken to your cell and as a newbie, you will be put in a cell together with what they call the wasted. These are women who are old and neglected and to show you prison life is tough, you will have to become the babysitter. That’s where my mother is. From my sources, there are only two wasted inmates; my mother and the other one.”
 
“I have never seen your mother; how will I identify her?”
 
“Limbikani.”
 
“What’s that?”
 
“That’s what she keeps saying.”
 
“How do you know all this Boss and Who is Limbikani?”
 
“I have my sources,” he answered ignoring the Limbikani question. “Once you are in, you will have to pick rock the Rocks, can you have trouble with that?
 
She thought for a while and answered. “Not really but what will I have to use? I believe I will be searched at the correction reception.”
 
“Don’t worry about that, I have my people in,side. They know we are coming.”
 
 
“Why don’t they get her out then?” she laughed.
 
“Do you think I never tried all that? They are chickens. They love their jobs more. They would rather take money and let me do the job on my own. Theirs is to make our breaking in and out easy, with no traces of their involvement.”
 
“I hope she’s not heavy.”
 
“No, in her state, you won’t have a problem.”
 
“What if something goes wrong?”
 
“Nothing will go wrong,” he answered confidently. “Everything will go well, i trust you.”
 
She looked at him and nodded her head. “Boss!” she called him.
 
“What is it?” he looked at her.
 
 
She looked away and answered. “It’s nothing.”
 
“Let’s get in,side i show you the gear.”
 
They both stood up and as they were walking to the house, a police car pulled up in the yard. Sky looked at Cayn who kept his eyes at the car. He wished he had built a wall fence but he never liked wall fences. They creeped him out and that would have been suspicious. He wanted to appear as innocent as possible despite the three cars parked outside his house. He saw through the windshield a man and woman in the car. The passenger’s door opened, a foot stepped out and the wh0le body came out. It was Shekinah. What was she doing at his house? He asked himself feeling like a tremor had just passed underneath him. He studied her as he walked towards her. Short, dark in complexion and with some black dots on her face, she was ski-ny compared to how he saw her on TV and had very white eyes. “Welcome, you must be an officer?” he extended his arm.
 
She stopped and stood a meter before him. She studied him before extending her arm too. “Cayn Simfukwe?” she asked forcing a smile exposing her not so white teeth.
 
“Yes, who are you?”
 
 
“You don’t know me?”
 
“Do I have to know you?” he smirked.
 
“Shekinah Wambachi, The Chief of Police.”
 
“OH, it’s you,” he pretended well. “To what do i owe this visit Chief?”
 
She looked at him. “I have seen you before,” she said.
 
“Maybe at the station,” he said. “I am a regular that side,” he chuckled nervously.
 
“Are you sure?” she asked him.
 
“Very sure madam,” he answered keeping his gaze at her. He didn’t want to avoid her eye contact. He could tell she was studying him and looking for a weakness. “What is the Chief of police doing here? Aren’t you afraid to come here alone? You must have made a lot of enemies in your career.”
 
“Should i be afraid of you?” she asked sternly looking at him.
 
He stiffened.
 
“Should i?”
 
“Why should You? I am just a law abiding citizen.”
 
“And more all over I am not alone, I came with a colleague,” she looked back at the car. How free are you on Monday Mr. Simfukwe? “
 
He was puzzled. “I’m not free, why?”
 
“There is a case that we are investigating and we want you to identify some people for us. From what have been told, you have been of great help to the station. I doubt if this will be a problem to you, will it?”
 
Something felt wrong. Was this a trap? He thought while keeping his eyes on her. He could see she was tough lady. He just couldn’t figure if she was young or old because she looked both. “I am not free on Monday sorry,” he said. “Tuesday perhaps.”
 
“We’ll be expecting you, don’t keep us waiting. You seem to have done pretty well for yourself just by owning car washes and Parks,” she looked around.
 
“Family business. I inherited it,” he said.
 
She suspiciously looked at him and said. “Alright, don’t forget.” She turned around and started walking back to the car.
 
“Chief!” he called her.
 
She stopped.
 
“You came all the way to deliver that message yourself, must be really important.”
 
“Don’t kid yourself, we were just driving by. I was handling some business in Kafue and since Boadi gave me your address, I decided to pass through,” she said without turning her face to him.
 
“I see.”
 
As she waked back to her car, he watched her. He appeared calm and all smiley. in,side, he was burning with fury he was surprised he controlled it. He felt like he could blow her head right away. Who does she think she is coming to his home and acting all tough? He cussed her as he walked to Sky who had watched the two from the Veranda.
 
“What did she want Boss?” Sky asked and went on. “I don’t like her.”
 
“Neither do i, we will have to get rid of her soon but we have pressing issues at hand.”
 
“I thought you would say we postpone with all this heat behind our backs.”
 
“With this heat, it’s the best time they least expect us to hit and i cannot pass this opportunity to get My mother out of prison. She’s getting out on the 22nd,” he pulled the big drawer under his dining table.
 
“Wow! This is the last place I expected to find all these” She exclaimed. “All this gear boss?” she grabbed a gun from the drawer.
 
He got a blue print of the prison from the drawer and looked at it. He turned his head to Sky and she was busy playing with guns. His mind drifted to Shekinah: He had never met a woman so tough like her, Sky was tough alright, but Shekinah was on another level. The way she looked at him, he could tell she didn’t like him at all and so didn’t He. The second she stepped her foot on his property, he felt like he could set her on fire. The way she walked to him showing she was not afraid of anything irritated him. That was not important at the moment, he would deal with her later, he thought. What was important was breaking into Mukobeko Medium prison.
 
 
To be continued

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