RECUPERATING

At six in the morning I was seated in a bus headed for the coast. The old man gave me some sedatives to numb my pain. I learned from Waridi the very baggy floral flowing dress I borrowed was her late mother's . The doll shoes were hers. They pinched a little but they were better than mine which had torn from my not so graceful walk through the forest.

My heart was beating slowly I almost couldn't feel it. I still haven't registered everything that happened to me in the past few hours. I lost my gang who were family to me. They have been in my life ever since I was born and now they were all just uprooted from it like they were weeds. If they were, then they were my weeds.

Nobody, absolutely nobody had the right to uproot my weeds. I never cared whether or not what my family did was good or bad. They were family. They walked with me every step of the way. They were there for me always and now they are not. And I can't even bury them.

But I can and will avenge them. I think it's time I lived as Njiwa. I'll have to drop Violet Roberts and take Njiwa Tana. Only my parents called me Njiwa. People know me as Violet.

My parents kept me a secret. I lived at the coast growing up. They rarely visited and never stayed long when they did. At eighteen though, they took me to Nairobi with them where their mafia operations took place. And were one of the two biggest mafia groups of the city. The Cross was our symbol.

Even the police knew about the Cross mafia but never found dirt on them. Barely. Just a few times they would find a reckless junky in a sewer line dead with some heroin package with a cross on it. They would follow the trail which would lead them on only to go cold and have them waste their time and resources.

I did get trained for two years. I accompanied my parents to their meetings and deals masked. I've met the Infinity. I knew I didn't trust them. They were always the arrogant bunch. And they liked to cry foul when their goods didn't sell, something about us stealing their customers and going into their territory.

I should have known sooner they were planning something big. Their nagging had become too much. I should have seen the red flag. We had a treaty for six years and now they have broken it. I'll make them pay for it so dearly.

After several hours of trees and bare farms and a few shopping centres zooming past the bus, the atmosphere changed.

The temperature shoot up and air becomes humid. We were entering the land of salty waters. I can't wait to get home to my house.

Thank God it's under Njiwa because with my parents dead it would have been difficult to change it from Violet since it's them who bought it when I was born.

The all too familiar two giant elephant tusks crossing at the tips over the road. To crossing the ocean in a ferry to Likoni. Been two years away. I missed the beaches. But then two years ago, I was just an angry teenager who's parents were never around and all I did was go from party to party having finished my high school and not planning on going to college.

Don't judge, teenage years are just those awkward times in your life when all you have for yourself is an attitude problem and a face full of acne. In short, I don't miss my teenage years!

The house is just as I remember. Not very close to the beach but surrounded by rich neighbors. Mostly foreigners. But the Beach Front is not that far either.

When the sun sets tonight I'll take a stroll there to clear my mind. For now,

"Take it easy on that leg. We don't want the stitches coming out due to straining. " The old man had insisted severally this morning.

I almost forgot I promised to reimburse his money. So I limp to the master bedroom which I used before and know all too well the safe pass code. I confirm there is money in it.

So I call a friend who is a mobile money street agent and ask him to deposit to my account some three hundred grand. I promise to come around tomorrow to give it to him.

Then I remember he knows me as Violet so I make a mental note to put him in my payroll or in a casket. Dad told me not to trust anyone. And I think he's been in the business long enough to know what he was talking about.

So as soon as he sends the money to my phone, I send it to the old man and just now I know his name. Then I lay down for a while to rest a bit.

But before sleep could engulf me, my iPhone pings and I check it immediately. I see it's a message from the local mobile money transfer providers. The old man reversed the money transaction . He gave it all back. Another text message comes through vibrating the phone. It's him. He says he's glad I'm fine.

Such a strange old man. I know I shouldn't trust people but I'll cut him some slack.

I swallow some more paracetamol for the pain and close my eyes in sleep. It's been a long couple of hours.

I need to regain my strength to bring the Cross back to life, bigger, better and stronger. But mostly importantly, bring the Infinity to their knees. Make them suffer slowly and then kill them one by one as the others watch!