Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) (33 page)

‘Lucy I’m not
sure I should be in a place like this.’

‘No problems,
here I have many friends,’ she announced airily as she walked in
the entrance, winking at the bouncer. Lucy selected a table and
snapped her fingers at a waiter. Ordering two cold beers she sat
down and patted the seat beside her. ‘Sit here,’ she commanded. He
chuckled as he sat down. ‘Why you laff?’

‘You amuse me,’
he replied.

‘Pffft,’ she
snorted. ‘Mens you all the same, so tell me?’

‘Tell you
what?’

‘You troubles
you fool,’ she said pushing her face close up to his and looking
pitifully at him.

‘Lucy,’ he
explained, ‘I work for a bank and some bad men are stealing the
money and they want to kill me because they think I know about the
theft.’

‘Noooo,’ she
said eyes wide, ‘how much money they thief?’

‘Much money,’
Brian answered distracted, as the beers arrived.

The waiter put
the bottles on the table and stood poised with an opener. ‘Two
beers,’ he said looking at Brian.

‘Birin gives
money,’ ordered Lucy.

‘Oh right,’
Brian paid.

Lucy drank from
the bottle, sucking on it suggestively and smiling with her eyes on
Brian.

‘You know where
this money is?’

‘Not yet,’ he
answered.

‘It’s that fat
manager friend of yous, with the Indian and the Arab woman,’ Lucy
announced, ‘they are the thives.’

Brian stared at
her. ‘How, but how do you know that?’

‘I have seen
thems,’ Lucy pointed to a table in the corner. ‘The Arab womans
think she sexy when she dance, but her bottom too big,’ she
giggled. ‘She shake it for Indian but he don’t care!’

Brian looked at
Lucy puzzled. How in the hell did she know Patel and Evans were
conspirators?‘But how do you know?’

‘Lucy clever
girl eh?’ She winked at him.

Brian getting
angry said. ‘Lucy tell me how you know?’

She leaned back
in her chair and waved one arm in the air. ‘Look you white mans,you
sees Indian buying drinks for African mans, they are thives and if
have Arab womans they are gangsters too!’ she told him
condescendingly, returning his frown.

‘How many times
have you seen them together?’

She shrugged,
holding up two, three fingers as she swigged her beer. She put the
beer down. ‘The fat one, he comes here alone sometimes to eats, he
wanted to fucks me, but I no like him, not like you,’ she reached
out and stroked Brians thigh. ‘You nice mans you crazy for Lucy
eh?’

‘Is that how
you got my number? From Evans?’ Brian asked looking around him in
alarm. Christ! Have I been set up again?

‘Yes he give me
number, but Birin, I no fucks him.’

‘These people
tried to kill me, I can’t stay here.’

She looked at
him reflectively. ‘Ok we go your hotel?’

Brian looked
sad. ‘No.’

Lucy extended
one long finger and scratched her ear, looking idly at her
fingernail. ‘The polices, they looks you?’

Brian shut his
eyes. ‘Jesus,’ he muttered.

‘It’s ok Birin,
I heleb you, we catch thives and take money ok?’

Brian smiled,
despite himself, at the idea.

‘You laff at
me?’ she challenged.

‘No, no, it’s
just this whole thing is so crazy, I don’t understand how I got in
such a mess.’

‘You stays with
Lucy, ok. It too dangers for you in Malindi on your selfs,’ she
announced.

‘I need to get
out of here,’ Brian said standing up.

‘Where you
go?’

‘I don’t care,
anywhere,’ he told her. ‘I’m leaving,’ and marched off towards the
exit.

Lucy swore
‘stupid’s!’ And banged the cap back on the beer bottle with her
fist, stashing it in her bag. She caught up with him in the car
park as he climbed into a waiting tuk-tuk and put her hand on the
door and made to climb in. Brian held it shut. ‘No,’ he said.

Lucy put her
hands on her hips. ‘Where you go? I find you like that,’ she
snapped her fingers. Brian let go of the door, she climbed in
beside him. ‘You silly mans you love too much.’

Brian and Lucy
stood awkwardly outside the entrance to his hotel, he didn’t know
what to say.

‘You stays
here?’ she barely hid her scorn. ‘This place for thives and
malayas.
’

Brian shrugged.
‘I’m staying here,’ seizing on her displeasure as a way to
disengage himself.

‘No,’ she
announced, ‘we go my places.’

‘Your
place?’

She nodded. ‘I
have swim water,’ she made a breaststroke motion with her hands,
‘you teach me yes?’

Brian frowned.
‘Oh, you mean a swimming pool.’

‘Yes that what
I say, swim pool. You get your things we go,’ she dialled a
number.

‘Lucy, you have
been very kind.’ She shook her head and turned away from him as she
spoke into the mobile. Brian waited for her to finish and then
repeated himself, edging away from her. ‘But I must go now. Thank
you, I will call you in the morning ok?’

‘It not safes
here, my place safes, you come with Lucy,’ she spoke as though he
was a disobedient child.

‘No I don’t
think so,’ said Brian and muttering goodnight, he headed for the
hotel entrance.

‘Birin, you
fools, the polices find you here tonight.’

He stopped and
swore under his breath, turning to her he challenged. ‘And you will
tell them I suppose?’

Her eyes opened
wide. ‘You think I’m friends with those blally fukin bastareds. I’m
trying to heleb you, stupids
mzungu
,’ she stomped her foot.
‘The first time you were in polices station I heard the polices
talks man in Nairobi. They find you here you deadi mans!’And eyes
bulging she slid her index finger across her throat. ‘You, you,
idiot mans!’

Brian stared,
the commotion was attracting onlookers. ‘Ok, I will get my stuff,’
he relented and walked into the hotel. When he returned, Lucy was
already in a waiting tuk-tuk. She smiled as he climbed in and gave
his hand a squeeze.

‘Where are we
going?’ He asked as the taxi set off.

‘No worry,’ she
said and fishing about in her bag, retrieved the bottle of beer,
deftly knocking the crown cork off on the doorsill. ‘You want?’ she
offered. He shook his head.

The tuk-tuk
drove through Malindi and then onto the outskirts of a residential
area with trees and high walls surrounding white painted villas. It
stopped outside a pair of imposing metal gates set in a walled
compound. Brian was intrigued.

Lucy laughed at
his expression. ‘Thisis my friends house, he in Italy. You pays
taxi, I find askari,’ she quickly got out and disappeared in the
dark. He paid off the taxi driver and stood waiting. He could hear
the sound of surf breaking on a beach, wondering if this was his
chance to escape. Lucy appeared with a uniformed guard in tow.
Brian steeled himself convinced he had been set up.

‘This Alphonse
my friend,’ Lucy said waving at the guard.

‘Bonjourno
sir,’ said the guard in a pleasant voice. ‘Welcome to Sunset Villas
amigo,’ he opened the gate and beckoned them in, handing a key to
Lucy as she walked through.

She took the
key and asked Brian for five hundred shillings.

‘What for?’ he
asked puzzled.

‘For Alphonse,
he no let anyone in.’

‘I see.’ Brian
handed the money over to Alphonse.

‘Grazias
Senore,’ he said and shut the gate behind them.

Lucy did a
little excited dance pointing with her hand. ‘See swimwater.’ An
elaborate free form swimming pool dominated the walled compound,
surrounded by what looked to be double story holiday villas. Apart
from the security lights all the houses were in darkness.

‘You say this
place belongs to a friend of yours?’

‘Yes,’ gushed
Lucy, ‘but he no here so we stay, no problem,’ moving towards one
of the villas. She reached the door of the first villa fumbled with
the key in the lock until Brian intervened.

‘Let me have a
look,’ he offered.

She kicked at
the door and then gave Brian the key. It was attached to an oval
wooden plaque with a number seven clearly carved into it, the
number on the door was a two.

‘Wrong key or
wrong door,’ he announced.

‘What you
mean?’ and peered at him.

He pointed out
the number seven on the keys and then the two on the door.
‘See.’

She tut-tutted
in annoyance, took the key from him and strode off along the
outside corridor, high heels clacking loudly. Stopping at another
door she again tried the lock and squealed in delight as it opened.
‘Here Birin, come.’

Picking up his
backpack he warily followed her. ‘What the hell am I doing here,’
he muttered to himself. Lucy was already inside the apartment
hunting for a light switch, her progress impeded by unseen
furniture. ‘Shiti,’ she swore banging about in the dark.

Brian reached
out for the light switch and flooded the room. ‘I thought this
house belonged to a friend of yours?’

She ignored
him. ‘Oww, it pains,’ she grimaced and sat down in a chair rubbing
her shin.

Brian looked
around. The apartment was neat and well designed. The main living
room had a kitchenette off to one side, a sofa, two easy chairs
pointing towards a music centre and TV. Brian parted full-length
curtains, revealing a view of the pool through glass doors and an
outside balcony. He continuing exploring, flicking on lights he
went upstairs.

There were
three bedrooms, one master and two single bedrooms one of which was
used as a study. There was a computer on a desk covered by a
dustsheet and shelves of books, all in Italian. There was a small
bathroom and toilet on the landing. Back downstairs he went into
the kitchen.

Lucy watched
him. ‘You like?’

He didn’t
answer, but opened a back door, which led to a small walled garden
with washing lines and an outside sink. He walked back and sat down
opposite her. ‘Lucy, who’s apartment is this?’

‘My friends of
mine,’ not liking the tone of his voice.

‘What sort of
friend, what’s his name?’

‘He Italiano
friends. Antonio,’ she said defiantly.

‘And this
Antonio, he lets you stay when he is away?’

‘Shuwa.’

‘I don’t
believe you,’ he said.

‘Ahhgh,’ she
snorted, standing up, slipping of her shoes and walking into the
kitchen, banging the cupboards noisily looking for something. ‘You
bad mans,’ she said as though making up her mind. ‘I heleb you and
you just complain, like, yes - like,’ she imitated a clucking
chicken, laughing at herself, long slender arms waving in the air.
‘Ahaa,’ she stopped suddenly, lifting something out of the back of
a cupboard - a bottle of red wine. ‘Good,’ she frowned at the cork
and marched back into the main room. ‘You opens.’

‘It’s not
yours,’ he said pointedly, taking the bottle from her and holding
onto it.

‘You opens.’
She repeated.

‘No.’ He shook
his head.

She took
another tack. ‘I know where that fat mans live.’

‘What fat man?’
Brian frowned.

‘The manager
bank.’

‘Oh, you mean
Evans?’

‘Yes the fat
one, your friends,’ she added sarcastically.

‘Really where?’
He said, falling into the trap.

Walking across
the room she tried to open the sliding aluminium doors, pushing at
the glass ineffectually.

‘You want to go
out?’

‘Yes,’ she
pouted, ‘you teach to swims, but first opens wine.’

Brian got up
and slid the glass doors back effortlessly; it was getting hot in
the room anyway. Lucy took the opportunity of their nearness to
grab his belt and pulled him towards her, laughing playfully. Brian
smiled despite himself and gently unhooking her hand he went to
look for a corkscrew.

When he
returned with the bottle and two wine glasses, Lucy’s’ yellow dress
was lying on the floor discarded. Intrigued he stepped through the
door into the garden looking for her. She waved to him from the
pool already standing waist deep in the water. He smiled and walked
over. As he got to the pool edge Lucy submerged hiding her breasts
from him.

‘You come to
swim,’ she smiled coyly.

‘No, not now,’
pulling up a plastic lounge chair and sitting by the edge of the
pool. He poured a glass of wine. ‘You want some,’ he invited,
trying to tempt her out of the water.

‘Later, you
teaches me to swim first,’ she told him, and started a frantic
doggy paddle her legs kicking wildly. Her head went under almost
immediately; she rose back to the surface spluttering and gasping
for air, eyes wide.

He laughed at
her antics. ‘Be careful of the deep end.’

She wiped her
face with both hands. ‘Why you laffs at Lucy.’

‘You look
funny,’ he said, enjoying himself.

‘Ahhh Birin,
why you not teaches me to swim, pleses you come, teaches me,’ as
she moved away from him, ‘you nasty mans.’

‘No. Now tell
me about Evans,’ he asked.

Lucy turned to
reply and her feet slipped on the pool bottom and she went under,
legs and arms thrashing wildly pushing her further away from the
pool edge.

He waited for
her to regain her feet, but now it seemed she was out of her depth.
‘Shit,’ he exclaimed and putting the wine glass down quickly took
off his shirt and dived in. He reached her and grabbed one flailing
arm and hauled her back to the surface, his feet in surprise
finding the bottom, he was only chest deep in water. Lucy surfaced
and saw the astonished look on his face and broke into a high peel
of laughter.

‘You funny
man,’ she said as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, pushing
her breasts teasingly against his chest, he let go of her arm and
was about to respond when she pushed him away. With an elegant
sidestroke and still laughing, she regained the side of the pool,
climbed out and dripping wet ran across the lawn to the house
dressed in the skimpiest of panties.