NINA KENYA CHRONICLES (NKC) : THE BEGINNING

 
My name is Nina Kenya. I was born and raised in Kenya. My life has always been sort of a bore. The usual stuff like going to school, being first in class, attaining a degree and finding a job in an audit firm. I was living in Parklands in a famous apartment building for singles. The building attracted many due to the updated amenities and lack of judgemental couples. In this building was a lady called Lillian Kivau. She always had the latest gadgets, cars and went to the sleekest parties in town. She even had a VIP card to the hottest club called Lei Club. When you went to this club you could spend over 100K on simple things like drinks and a meal. What bothered me about Lillian was the fact she had no permanent job or anything she did for income as far as I could tell. She spent her days in spas, movies and other entertainment activities. However, she had the habit of disappearing for while. No one knew where she went or what she did. Upon returning she would resume her life right where she left. Her friends always speculated on where she was but they were more excited on the fact that she comes back with a lot of money.

I was always interested in her "trips". It was fascinating to see how she lived her double lives. Over time I become more and more curious about what she does to get all that money. I highly doubted it was drugs. She never had shoddy or suspicious people at her place, mostly very pretty girls. My curiosity lead me to accept an invitation to  her 28th birthday. We were never friends, more of acquaintances, but I really wanted to take a peek into her life. Her birthday was on September 16th 2015 which was a weekday so it was pushed to 19th, on Saturday. I had a perfect grey lace fitting dress that showed off my curves and a pair of blue stilettos which made a perfect outfit for the party.The days before the birthday party passed by slowly. I could not wait to snoop around and uncover the well hidden secret of Lillian's life.

On the 19th of September, I took time to look my best with my dress and shoes plus a little makeup on. I styled my twisted braids so that they fell off one shoulder to my waist gracefully. I then went to Lillian's door and the house was awfully quiet so I said a little prayer hoping the party had not been cancelled. As soon as I knocked on the door, one of her minions opened and informed me that they were waiting for me to go to the party. My excitement only grew. If she was hosting her party somewhere else then there must be more people who did her kind of business coming to the party. We got into a Limo and headed to Kiambu town.

The house we arrived at was grand looking with hints of Victorian architecture. It must have been constructed shortly after we gained independence. It had a few pieces of modern construction trends like the outdoor lights and the tiled floors the accentuated the overall look of the house. The guest were well to do which was evident by the brands of clothes, shoes and jewellery they sported. Inside there was a variety of appetizers and dishes at the table. This was my first stop as I was famished. I looked around as I enjoyed a mini sandwich and punch. There were security guards carefully scattered around the living room.  Their only identifying factor was the fact that they were not mingling with other guest and seemed more interested in monitoring people, otherwise they came adequately dressed for the party.

I was introduced to a handsome fellow called Elijah. Lillian hang tightly onto his arm as she and her minions were hanging onto every word he spoke. He was even more handsome when he smiled. Elijah was tall and wore a navy blue Armani suit. Something about him was off. I couldn't place a finger on what it was. The fact that he acted a Lillian's chaperone meant that they had dealing in whatever she was involved in. It occurred to me that he might even be the boss. Elijah walked through the room exuding confidence and charm. He seemed to charm everyone into his bidding. Women were fawning over him and men wished to be like him.The room was full of extraordinarily beautiful women which was weird because it was hard for so many beautiful ladies in one party which was not full of media personalities. Maybe Lillian's organization used them for some of their activities. After all, people are willing to do a lot of things for pretty ladies in the hopes of dating them or being in their circles.

Lillian was not beautiful. In fact she was merely average which made it the more curious that a handsome fellow like Elijah would pay that much attention to her. There was a loud bang at the door. A tall, dark, handsome, beefy fellow walked in. He seemed really angry and the object of his anger was Elijah. The guards started herding people out of the house quickly. It seemed the foresaw impending danger. Elijah was startled upon seeing the huge man. He yelled "Kavul, What are you doing here?" Kavul started hitting Elijah as he yelled " I have told you a thousand times. I don't want you to host your criminal parties in my house"

"Jackpot", I thought to myself." Wait a minute, Did I just spend the last few hours with a bunch of criminals? This time my curiosity has really gotten me in a tricky situation." I wish I knew this was the beginning of a long, treacherous adventure. Maybe I would have done things differently.  Things where about to change rapidly in the following months.

My cab pulled into the driveway and I was more than happy to rush into it and get away from the piercing gaze of Kavul. I felt like he was having a hard time deciding whether I was a criminal or not. On my way home I realized how close I had come to uncovering a criminal organization and that would have ended poorly for me. It is common knowledge that criminals do not leave spectators alive to tell the stories. Dead men tell no tales is the best philosophy for people involved in illegal activities. I had picked up a few hints of the businesses Elijah was running but I didn’t want to let my mind wonder around. By the time I got home I was scared of the consequences that may arise from the confrontation that occurred earlier that evening. The more I thought of the impending danger that I might find myself in, the more I wanted to distance myself from anyone in the party. It appeared that my curiosity could land me in real trouble. My sleep was not as peaceful that night and neither was my Sunday.

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Monday mornings are usually hectic with people having their troubles piling up over the weekend.  I had a mountain of audit work on my desk with a tight deadline. I couldn’t be happier to get back to familiar activities after the weekend I had, work was a good way to let out some steam.  I worked through my caseload forgetting the events of the weekend. It always amazes me how people think they are very clever when embezzling money from companies or stealing from their clients. The paper trail always leads straight to the guilty party. Working on challenging audit cases had a way of calming me down. It was a bonus to catch people who did stupid mistakes and stealing the money of hardworking people.

The extension on my desk rang just as I was about to leave my office. I could have dashed out but my assistant was giving a “do not dare” look.  I just picked up, “what’s up?”

Carol : you have a visitor.

Nina: now? Can’t you make up an excuse?

Carol: He’s adamant. Sit down and see him.

Nothing pisses me off like going back to my desk after I am done with my day but I wouldn’t risk making my assistant mad. Good assistants are hard to come by.  When Kavul walked into my office I almost jumped out of my seat. Here I thought I had a productive day that helped work on my fear of a criminal organization. 

Kavul:  Nina Kenya. There is more to you than I thought. I didn’t imagine you have the brain than can actually conduct audits. I do see why my brother invited you to his party.

Nina:  Thanks for stopping by to insult me. I really needed that to wrap up my Monday. FYI, Lillian is my neighbor and I do not know your brother. How can I help you?

Kavul:  You do have a brain. You forgot your shawl at my place. I wanted to give it back.

Nina:  Thanks. You could have just sent over or thrown it away.

He handed me my grey shawl. I took it, put in my bag and stood to imply that the met was over but he stayed seated on my visitor’s chair. I figured if I put on my mean face and act impatient the man would move but nope. He sat there like he was in his home and that was enough to peek my interested in what was in mind.  Despite his direct insults, I settled my pretty self back on my seat. Kavul looked serious. The kind of serious that sent shivers down someone’s back. He cleared his throat and told me a tale that sounded out of this world.

“Nina, I was surprised to see that you work as an audit consultant. I tried to do some research on you and I have to admit that you do know how to keep a low profile. All that came up was that you have a consultancy business that has a stellar reputation with serious companies. There isn’t a hint of a sponsor, rich dad, rich boyfriend or funny conditions for winning tenders. I couldn’t figure out why you are this successful until a friend of mine explained that you are passionate about your work. ”

“Is there a reason why you are telling me about myself on a trip to drop off my shawl? I am trying to distance myself from your family if I didn’t mention it before. So if you don’t mind it’s time to leave.”

With that I got up and showed him out of my office.

 “I need you help Miss Nina. You might help me in knowing what my brother is doing. I have been confronted by several people about Elijah’s activities. He is tarnishing our family name and using the power of the family name to intimidate anyone who questions him. He is the black sheep of the family but when he got into crime, he smeared everyone with dirt. I want you to help me to find out what Elijah is into. Please. “

”Listen Mr. Kavulunze Kilai, I don’t want anything to do with you and your family so please leave my office right now!”

It seemed that I finally got through to Kavul. He simply got up and left without another word. The man must be used to getting whatever he asked for but I was free to go home so I wasn’t about to start wondering about him. After the long day, I needed a warm shower and a glass of Best Cream to calm down and call it a night.  I did just that when I got home. As I went to poor myself a second glass of my drink, Lillian loudly knocked on my door. She sounded tipsy and angry. It would have been a bad idea to ignore her so I opened the door for her.

“Hey Nina, sorry we left you on Saturday. I got back from Elijah’s today and I wanted to apologize. The weekend didn’t go as planned and Elijah has spent the weekend in a horrible mood. Let me make it up to you and take you out to another party this weekend please?”

I had plans for the weekend and I had a good reason to stay away from Lillian. So I told her I was grateful for the offer but I am busy with my caseload. In truth, I had enough drama to last me a whole month. I was looking forward to going upcountry for the weekend to relax at my father farm most likely weeding my maize farm. If the weekend went well I could extend my stay. I loved how I can wake up, drink fresh milk with some sweet potatoes straight from the farm. There was no way I was letting Lillian prevent me from going home.

On Friday morning I found a lady waiting for me at my office reception. She said her name was detective Celine Toto. Ms Toto was one of those tall slender women with a nice figure. She would have made a great model if she wasn’t so plain. You probably wouldn’t remember her from a party. I guessed this skill served her well during her investigations. She wasn’t pretty enough to stand out but not plain enough to ignore. She had a few questions about Mr. Kavulunze’s visit. I told her the truth but the visit got me curious on exactly what was going on with that crazy family. She seemed convinced that the family was made up of funny characters with Elijah being on the spot light. His white collar crimes where harder to trace since he didn’t steal actual physical things and all the transactions looked legitimate. I couldn’t offer my services to the detective since I wasn’t looking to get involved. However, it was very clear that she was expecting me to offer my services. When she left my office I was sure I would see her sooner than later.

I booked my train ticket to Emali. Nothing was going to keep me from going home. I left immediately after work and boarded the first class carriage, entered my cabin and pulled out a novel I brought to read on the journey. The train was 20 minutes from the station when I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, I couldn’t believe who it was. Kavulunze Kilai.