Read Online The Fall of Saints by Wanjiku wa Ngugi - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Wanjiku wa Ngugi
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on the gas and engage first gear to move forward again, out of the way. It was too late. BOOM. Darkness.
I woke up in a strange place. I could barely make out the figures surrounding my bed except their white overcoats.
“She’s coming around,” I heard someone say.
It took me a while to figure out that I was in a hospital bed, surrounded by a doctor and nurses. My head felt as if it were a bag of heavy metal attached to my body and rattling when I moved. The collision came back to me. I tried to get up but felt a sharp pain on my side. “Kobi! I must get him from school, I must—”
“Take it easy,” a familiar voice said.
It was Zack. Thank God. He bent and hugged me. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Sore. All over.”
“I’m glad you are not seriously injured. No broken ribs, says the doctor, but what happened?” he asked.
“I remember backing out and seeing a car come straight toward me,” I said as the day’s events became clearer.
“You think they did it on purpose?” Zack asked, looking puzzled.
“Zack, it was not an accident,” I said.
“I hope the police catch him.”
I said nothing. The concern in his voice made me feel guilty about the doubts I harbored. The guilt followed me home. I was grateful that I was not badly hurt. Kobi’s joyful smile was enough to lighten the ache and the gloom.
• • •
I thought about Ben. Minutes after our first meeting in his office, I’d gotten the phone threat. I had made the sensible decision to quit. Then, out of the blue, he’d volunteered some information that led to our meeting at Starbucks. Moments after our meeting, a car had hit me. In my mind, I went over his glances, gestures, and silences. To Ben, I was a black damsel imprisoned in a white castle. Could he try to accomplish his self-avowed mission by scaring me, making me suspicious of Zack, bringing about an irrevocable division between man and wife? How could I trust the story about Edward and Palmer?
I must tell Zack everything. Yes. Build trust. Then ask him about Palmer and the Kasla agency. The heart-to-heart must take place on a day when he was not going to the office. The weekend of my return was the best time to unburden myself. Rosie had offered to take Kobi for the weekend to give me space.
On Saturday, Zack attended a fund-raiser to which we had been invited. We agreed he would make an appearance, offer excuses for me, and come back quickly. The fact was, I was scared to be left home alone. Sensing my fears, Zack asked me to lock the entire house from the inside.
He called every half hour till I told him he should not have gone to the event if he was going to spend every minute checking up on me. But his solicitous calls quelled my lingering doubts about him and increased my determination to confess everything.
I was watching the nightly news when I heard a car in the driveway. My heart skipped a beat. I quickly switched off the TV and picked up the phone, ready to hit the 911 button. I crawled on all fours toward the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and went to the window to peep. It was a police car. Relief. Speak of the devil. Ben was standing right outside my door and pressing the bell. I put the knife down where I could reach it quickly if needed. Then I opened the door.
“Ben, you should have called to say you were coming. I was going to stab you with a kitchen knife,” I said. “Can I get you something to drink?” I gestured for him to take a seat.
“Yes, some water would be nice.”
I pulled a bottle from the fridge and gave it to him along with a glass. I watched him carefully as he took the first sip.
“I came to tell you we caught the guy who hit you,” he said.
“You did?”
He looked at my anxious self and smiled. “Well, let’s see,” he started, as if amused by a thought. “He is seventy-five years old, with bad eyesight. He lives in the nursing home up the block from the café. This man stole the car from the nursing home.
I woke up in a strange place. I could barely make out the figures surrounding my bed except their white overcoats.
“She’s coming around,” I heard someone say.
It took me a while to figure out that I was in a hospital bed, surrounded by a doctor and nurses. My head felt as if it were a bag of heavy metal attached to my body and rattling when I moved. The collision came back to me. I tried to get up but felt a sharp pain on my side. “Kobi! I must get him from school, I must—”
“Take it easy,” a familiar voice said.
It was Zack. Thank God. He bent and hugged me. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Sore. All over.”
“I’m glad you are not seriously injured. No broken ribs, says the doctor, but what happened?” he asked.
“I remember backing out and seeing a car come straight toward me,” I said as the day’s events became clearer.
“You think they did it on purpose?” Zack asked, looking puzzled.
“Zack, it was not an accident,” I said.
“I hope the police catch him.”
I said nothing. The concern in his voice made me feel guilty about the doubts I harbored. The guilt followed me home. I was grateful that I was not badly hurt. Kobi’s joyful smile was enough to lighten the ache and the gloom.
• • •
I thought about Ben. Minutes after our first meeting in his office, I’d gotten the phone threat. I had made the sensible decision to quit. Then, out of the blue, he’d volunteered some information that led to our meeting at Starbucks. Moments after our meeting, a car had hit me. In my mind, I went over his glances, gestures, and silences. To Ben, I was a black damsel imprisoned in a white castle. Could he try to accomplish his self-avowed mission by scaring me, making me suspicious of Zack, bringing about an irrevocable division between man and wife? How could I trust the story about Edward and Palmer?
I must tell Zack everything. Yes. Build trust. Then ask him about Palmer and the Kasla agency. The heart-to-heart must take place on a day when he was not going to the office. The weekend of my return was the best time to unburden myself. Rosie had offered to take Kobi for the weekend to give me space.
On Saturday, Zack attended a fund-raiser to which we had been invited. We agreed he would make an appearance, offer excuses for me, and come back quickly. The fact was, I was scared to be left home alone. Sensing my fears, Zack asked me to lock the entire house from the inside.
He called every half hour till I told him he should not have gone to the event if he was going to spend every minute checking up on me. But his solicitous calls quelled my lingering doubts about him and increased my determination to confess everything.
I was watching the nightly news when I heard a car in the driveway. My heart skipped a beat. I quickly switched off the TV and picked up the phone, ready to hit the 911 button. I crawled on all fours toward the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife, and went to the window to peep. It was a police car. Relief. Speak of the devil. Ben was standing right outside my door and pressing the bell. I put the knife down where I could reach it quickly if needed. Then I opened the door.
“Ben, you should have called to say you were coming. I was going to stab you with a kitchen knife,” I said. “Can I get you something to drink?” I gestured for him to take a seat.
“Yes, some water would be nice.”
I pulled a bottle from the fridge and gave it to him along with a glass. I watched him carefully as he took the first sip.
“I came to tell you we caught the guy who hit you,” he said.
“You did?”
He looked at my anxious self and smiled. “Well, let’s see,” he started, as if amused by a thought. “He is seventy-five years old, with bad eyesight. He lives in the nursing home up the block from the café. This man stole the car from the nursing home.
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