Kampala, 2015 AD
Gunshots! Mwine dove to the ground moments before the bullets hit the wall behind where his head had just been. He rolled on the ground into a side street, got up and ran. There was the sound of footsteps behind him. After a series of turns into different alleyways, Mwine pressed against a brick wall that turned out to be a door in which he entered. As the door swung back into place, the pursuers ran into the alley and whizzed on by, stopping at the end. Puzzled and wondering where he could have got to, they ran on in pursuit.
Mwine Tugume, a third year Makerere University student of architecture, found himself in a sleazy strip bar. Girls on various platforms gyrated to an old Vanity 6 song, "Nasty Girls". Uncle Moses, the bar owner, glanced over at Mwine as the latter ordered for a drink. "What mischief have you got yourself into this time," Uncle Moses wanted to know. Mwine shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and said, "Nothing really, just some thugs intent on doing me some grievous bodily harm."
"When are you ever going to learn?" Uncle Moses was disgusted. Mwine was on the defensive, "I can't help it if trouble keeps cropping up."
"Boy, don't be more idiotic than you already are. You are the cause of your current situation and you would do well to wise up or you will wind up dead!"
Mwine muttered to himself as he sipped on his drink. He let out a deep sigh. He would have to find a solution to the problem or he would wind up dead.
* * *
As Mwine wondered around the Wandegeya alleyways, he decided to walk to the Bermuda Triangle to catch up on some drinking and gossip with his friends. Suddenly, as he got to the entrance, he felt a gun against his back.
Justice Amani Jr., a second year Mass Communications student at Makerere University, was hurrying to catch up with his cousin when he saw a sleazy looking man pull out a gun and point it at Mwine’s back as two other sleazy men flanked them on both sides. Just then Kaheru Bugaari, a second year Law student at Makerere University and a friend of Mwine's, spotted him and let out a shout of joy, "Hey Mwine, what's up!" Justice caught Kaheru's eye and mimed Mwine's predicament. Kaheru caught on fast.
As the men were leading Mwine away, Kaheru asked, "Hey Mwine, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Before the men could assess the situation Justice grabbed the man that had his gun pointed at Mwine and in the process of disarming him, the gun went off. In the ensuing commotion, Kaheru took the opportunity to pounce on one of the other men and proceeded to pound him into the ground, fist flying in a fit of fury. Mwine took hold of the third man and fought him with a lightening series of kicks and punches that left his opponent unconscious.
Justice signalled to his friends and they took to their heels. A few allies later they stopped to catch their breath and Mwine gasped, "We can't go back to campus now."
"Why? Will those thugs come after us?"
"It's more than likely that they will but I know a place where we can be safe for awhile."
* * *
Makerere University Guild ClubHouse; Twine Mugume sat by the bar, deep in thought. Kenneth Gimoro, the manager, watched the contemplative expression on his face and wondered what the third year student of architecture was thinking about for so long. Twine's attention span was notoriously short. Twine sighed deeply and noticed Gimoro watching him, "What?" Gimoro shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. I was just wondering what was on your mind." Twine looked at Gimoro for a while as the latter wiped the bar counter.
Then Twine blurted out, "Gimoro, do you think I'm desirable?" Gimoro spluttered and choked. Twine laughed, "I didn't mean it that way." Then in a sombre tone he said, "It's just that lately I've been feeling rather unwanted."
"Why? I mean, with the way girls fall into your bed with such monotonous regularity I don't see how you could possibly feel unwanted." Twine muttered something about Gimoro not being able to understand. Gimoro shrugged once again, when Twine was ready to he would tell him what was bothering him.
* * *
Back at the Dungeon Uncle Moses watched Mwine and company's entrance and immediately knew that something was wrong. As the boys joined him he asked, "What trouble are you in this time?" Mwine ignored the question, "Kaheru, this is Uncle Moses, the man who raised me since I was four." Kaheru stepped forward and shook Uncle Moses' hand, "Nice to meet you, sir."
"Nice meeting you too."
"Hi Uncle Moses."
"Hello Justice. It's been awhile since you last came to see this old man. Now...could someone please explain to me what on earth is going on?"
Justice proceeded to narrate the night's events. Uncle Moses agreed that they would be better off laying low at the club, "But I can assure you that it won't be a long term guarantee as the thugs will eventually track you down here. Now, Mwine, I want to know why you've involved your cousin and your friend in your troubles?"
"Yes, Mwine, I've been meaning to ask you what mess you're in," said Justice.
"You mean you don't know?" Uncle Moses was incredulous. Kaheru and Justice shook their heads. Uncle Moses threw his hands up in the air and exclaimed, "I don't believe this! How could you risk their lives without an explanation? What's got into you?" Mwine chose not to answer and moved to the bar to order for a drink. Justice and Mwine were not particularly concerned because they knew that everything would soon become known.
* * *
Thunder! It was a dark and rainy night. Occasional flashes of lightening illuminated the drenched landscape as the wind howled about with a fierceness that threatened to up-root even the sturdiest of trees. Twine was watching television, sipping on his beer when he heard a knock at his door. Wondering whom it was that was willing to brave the storm to visit him in his room at Livingston Hall, Twine got up to answer the door.
Standing in front of him was an incredulously beautiful and curvaceous lady in a wet dress that clung to her every contour. She sighed gently and said as she stepped into the room, "Thank goodness you're in, but you must go into hiding at once!"
"Um...I think you're mistaking me for someone else."
"Look, this is not the time for your silly games. I don't think you realise the magnitude of the danger you're in. Your attackers are determined to get you and get you they will if you continue with this foolishness."
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. My name is Twine, Mwine's twin brother. I presume you're Melissa Kagwa," said Twine as he handed her a towel. Melissa stopped drying herself. "Twin brother? Mwine has a twin brother? He never told me he was a twin."
"Yeah, well, that's just typical of Mwine. He doesn't talk much about his personal life, me inclusive."
Melissa leaned forward, eyes roving over his face. Then she leaned back to take in his well-defined torso. "Well," she drawled, "I suppose that's why they call them identical twins. If it wasn't for that scar on your right shoulder I could've sworn you were Mwine...well, and the fact that you smile much more than he does." With a glint in his eyes, Twine smiled lazily, "I presume that you're the cause of my brother's troubles."
"You know, you presume a lot."
"You can relax, it wasn't meant as an accusation. Anyway, Mwine has not been here for the past two nights but I can guess where he is."
"Look, you have to take me to him immediately."
"Can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Just can't."
"Well can you at least arrange a meeting? I have some important information for him."
"Can't you just give it to me?"
"No. I have to give it to him in person."
"Okay I'll see what I can do."
"Good." As she turned to go, "Oh, and by the way, you had better join your brother because the guys that are after him will come after you if they fail to get their hands on him."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Do you have a sister?" Incredulous, she turned and left. He grumbled to himself as he shut the door, "She didn't answer my question."
* * *
Bosco, the sleazy man that had held his gun at Mwine's back, marched into Boss' study and stood almost at attention. Boss raised an inquiring bushy brow. Bosco shuffled his feet and mumbled that they couldn't find the boy. Boss was enraged, "What kind of imbecilic idiots do I have in my employ that can't find one puny little boy? I want that boy found and I want him found now!" Bosco turned on his heel and marched out of the room. Melissa silently watched Boss. He growled at her and he too left the room. A wicked grin appeared on her face. She enjoyed goading him.
* * *
Twine sauntered into the Dungeon. Uncle Moses beamed when he caught sight of him. He welcomed him heartily, "What brings you to see this old man? I hope you're not in trouble."
"Well...technically no, but I have to go into hiding."
"I wasn't serious when I asked if you were in trouble," said Uncle Moses then he muttered something about Mwine's problems becoming his brother's, "Look, why don't you have a talk with him? Maybe you can get some sense into him."
"I could give it a try but you know it won't do much good. Mwine will do what he wants regardless." Uncle Moses grunted his agreement and led Twine to the bar.
Mwine barely acknowledged his brother but Justice and Kaheru were delighted to see him. Mwine's moodiness was beginning to get on their nerves. At least Twine would liven things up. Kaheru and Twine moved to a corner to chat up two of the club dancers as Justice and Uncle Moses watched in amusement.
* * *
Lightening flashed as the wind rushed through the alley, whipping at the lone figure standing in a darkened doorway of a derelict building in the old section of Wandegeya. A storm was brewing. Another figure joined the first. Melissa moved closer to Mwine and kissed him, a long deep kiss. "Boss is going crazy," she said against his lips, "He knows that it's Uncle Moses who's moving in on his operation and the fact that you're his nephew." Moving away from her Mwine cursed, "How the hell did he find out?"
"Sooner or later he was bound to find out," she moved closer to him, "It just happened to be sooner. By the way, the new dancer at the Dungeon, she's Boss' niece."
"Damn, he knows about the Dungeon too?"
"Yes. Because his niece hasn't had the time to send word of it's location, Boss had Twine followed."
"Bloody hell!"
Justice, Twine and Kaheru slipped into the doorway. "Speaking of following," said Justice, "It looks like you were followed here." Melissa muttered several curses as she recognised the figures of Bosco and his thugs as they cautiously entered the alley. "Look," Justice spoke up, "Those guys don't know that Twine, Kaheru and I are here. So why don't you and Melissa make a dash for it while we wait to attack as they run by? After that we'll know what to do. Now go!"
Mwine pushed Melissa out of the doorway and they started running. Bosco and his thugs spotted them and immediately gave chase. As the thugs passed the doorway, Justice, Kaheru and Twine pounced on them as Mwine rounded on Bosco. In the ensuing struggle, Bosco's gun went off and Melissa let out a blood-curdling scream as she fell to the ground. Mwine was momentarily distracted and Bosco took the opportunity to knock Mwine down and aimed his gun at him.
Twine, who had just beaten his opponent to unconsciousness, threw himself into motion and jumped on Bosco as he fired a shot. Mwine got up and attacked Bosco with a ferociousness that knew no bounds. After Twine kicked the gun that had fallen out of Bosco's hand into the gutter, he had to pull Mwine off Bosco and wrestle him to the ground. Twine panted into his brother's ear, "Chill out, he's not moving." Justice and Kaheru joined the brothers after their opponents took to their heels.
Mwine stood up, gasping for breath. He moved to Melissa. She had been shot in her left thigh. Mwine fussed over her wanting to take her to a hospital. She wasn't having any of that. She urged them to leave; insisting that she could take care of herself. They left reluctantly. Melissa hobbled over to Bosco and felt for a pulse. She smiled.
* * *
Later, at the Dungeon, Arthur Muhairwe, Uncle Moses' elder brother, walked into a gloomy scene. "Why the long faces? The tension in here is thick enough to cut." Uncle Moses filled him in on the recent events. "Justice, why didn't you tell me that you were working on a case? I thought we always worked together. You do remember that it is I who is the private investigator?" Uncle Arthur seemed offended.
"Hey, calm down," said Uncle Moses, "This' a case I've been working on for a while now. Justice just sort of got sucked in thanks to Mwine. Besides, things have been happening so fast that I've hardly had time to report to my superiors at the NBI. So I can understand Justice's predicament."
The boys looked at Uncle Moses with disbelief and Uncle Arthur laughed, "Yes boys, your 'gangster' uncle is really an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation. You know, it's funny Moses, that you're investigating Boss and now so am I."
"Let me guess," said Justice, "Dad hired you."
"That's right." Uncle Arthur went on to explain that after Chief Justice Justice Amani, Sr. hired him he had wanted to see Uncle Moses to see if he could shed some light on the case.
Since Uncle Arthur had done some work for the NBI before Uncle Moses and he decided to join forces and work together on the case. They also agreed to enlist the help of Mwine's lady, Melissa Kagwa. Liola Tendo, a dancer at the Dungeon stepped forward, "I don't think that would be a good idea."
"And why not?" Mwine demanded to know.
"Because she's a staunch Boss supporter, she was just using you to get to Uncle Moses."
"I wouldn't talk if I were you. I know for a fact that you're Boss' niece. You are the one who has been feeding Boss with information."
"Mwine, it's alright," Uncle Moses cut in, "I knew all along that Liola is Boss' niece."
"What! And you let her hang around?" Then a look of comprehension appeared on Mwine's face and he smiled, "Oh, I get it. You were watching her to see if she'd let slip information about Boss. You were just using her."
"Not in the way you think. You see, Liola works for me."
"And the plot thickens," Justice said.
"Hang on a bit. I'm a little confused here." Mwine did indeed look confused.
Uncle Moses laughed and Uncle Arthur watched in amused silence. His younger brother sometimes had a tendency of dragging things on a little. "Let me clarify," Uncle Arthur said, "Liola's father is Boss' younger brother. When he refused to join forces with him, Boss arranged an "accident" to keep him from squealing on him. Liola's mother didn't believe that her husband's death was an accident and decided to investigate. Their home was "robbed' and everyone in it killed. Liola was the only one who escaped. Uncle Moses - who was one of the agents on the case - took her under his wing.
"For a long while Boss was not aware that Liola was still alive. You see Uncle Moses had a fake autopsy report made and Liola was given a new identity. Unfortunately, she was spotted by one of his goons and had to go undercover."
"I was tired of hiding," Liola interjected, "I wanted to help put Boss away so that I could get on with my life. Besides, there will be a certain satisfaction knowing that Boss will be paying for the wrong he has done."
"Uncle Moses' investigation of Liola's family's death led him to discover Boss' shady dealings," Uncle Arthur continued. "There has been a lot of noise being made about corruption in parliament and Boss' name has increasingly been associated with these shady transactions. A few honest members of parliament had had enough of all this nonsense and wanted a confirmation of the identity of the culprit behind it all. They had enough circumstantial evidence to start an investigation and they approached the CJ with the matter. And here we are."
Uncle Moses suggested that they make preparations to move because Boss would be striking soon. "I know somebody who can help us out. I believe Justice, Kaheru and Uncle Arthur are acquainted with him. He's mentioned you on a number of occasions."
"And who might that be?" Uncle Arthur wanted to know.
"Rashad Mukooli."
"Ah, yes. The young man from Nakawa."
Rashad was a student at Makerere University Business School, Nakawa. Uncle Arthur and Justice have used him a number of times. He always seemed to know about everything going on in Kampala. Uncle Moses suggested that Uncle Arthur, Justice, Liola and Kaheru go see Rashad while he and the twins made things ready for the move. It would also give him a chance to bring his superiors up to date.
* * *
At MUBS, Nakawa, Rashad told them that they could operate out of the house of a friend of his in Kamwokya. He further suggested that he go into Boss' employ to dig up more information. Uncle Arthur was against the idea but Justice pointed out the fact that Boss and his cronies did not know him, and that they needed inside knowledge of Boss' operation. The fact that Rashad was a consummate marshal artist and was proficient with firearms reassured Uncle Arthur of Rashad's safety level.
"Now, what I want to know is how you're going to get information to us?" Uncle Arthur asked. Liola chipped in, "I could be the go-between." Uncle Arthur shook his head, "No that would be too dangerous for the both of you."
"Well there's always Keza," Kaheru suggested.
Keza Gakwandi was a first year student of Mass Communications at Makerere University and the object of Justice's desires. Rashad said, "Yeah, I know Keza, she's smart and confident enough to act as a conduit." Justice was against using her. "Justice, you mustn't allow your personal feelings to get in the way," said Uncle Arthur. To mollify him, Rashad brought up the idea of using Kenneth Gimoro, the manager of the Guild ClubHouse at Makerere as a drop, therefore limiting the danger to Keza. They all agreed.
* * *
At the clubhouse, Rashad Mukooli delivered a message to Gimoro. When Keza Gakwandi entered she spotted Rashad and moved to greet him. Rashad frowned and shook his head. Remembering that she was not supposed to know him, she moved past him, ordered a drink and moved away. Rashad downed his drink as he finished delivering his message and left. A young man had watched the interaction between Keza and Rashad and thought it was rather odd. Out of curiosity, he decided to follow Rashad. Gimoro quickly filled Keza in on what was going on and she left with a troubled mind.
* * *
In Kamwokya, Keza delivered Rashad's message. "We have to move fast. Boss is preparing to move in for the kill," said Uncle Arthur. "Mwine you're going to lure Melissa here on the pretext of a secret rendezvous." Mwine nodded affirmation. "What we also need to do," Uncle Moses chipped in, "is to divide ourselves into two teams. Officially I'm not supposed to use civilians with the exception of Arthur, my agents and I will deal with Boss. The rest of you will be Rashad's backup team. Try and get word to him to let him know." They never had time because events escalated.
* * *
Rashad was in trouble. He was cursing himself for his carelessness. If he had been more alert he would have noticed that he was being followed. The young man who had been curious at the Guild ClubHouse had been very perturbed by Keza's odd behaviour towards Rashad, a man he thought he recognised though he couldn't place his face. Although Keza was in her first year at Makerere she was popular and he knew her character. Keza didn't make those kinds of fumbles. He had decided to follow Rashad and discovered his connection to Boss, a man on whose payroll he was.
On some of the occasions Rashad was at the Guild ClubHouse Keza was there too and she always acted tense. The young man had also observed that there was a pattern. Rashad walked in, ordered a drink and held a conversation with Gimoro who sometimes doubled as the barman, but the conversation always seemed tense even though outwardly it was casual. Although Keza and Gimoro were on friendly terms she never talked to him when Rashad was present. He had decided to follow her too.
When the young man had seen her with Justice and Kaheru, he remembered that Justice had an investigator uncle. It had dawned on him where he had seen Rashad. He often visited Justice and Kaheru in their room at Lumumba Hall. It had all come to him. That is how Rashad come to overhear the conversation between the young man and Bosco. He was on the run.
* * *
Justice and Keza walked hand in hand along Nakasero Road underneath the moonlight posing as lovers. As they passed a mansion they saw Rashad run out of the gates. Puzzled and somewhat apprehensive they moved to follow but Justice saw Bosco and his thugs in hot pursuit. Knowing that he would be recognised - even in the dark - Justice quickly grabbed Keza and kissed her - with a little more passion than was necessary - as Bosco and his men ran passed. Breathing hard and somewhat dazed they fell from each other's embrace. Shakily, they went after the thugs. Justice raised Kaheru on his radio.
Further down the road, by a kiosk, Kaheru, Twine and Mwine noticed Rashad running towards them. Twine moved to stop him but Kaheru held him back, gesturing to Bosco and company. They stepped into their path and Bosco and his thugs pulled out their guns as Rashad - unaware of what was happening ran on. "It wouldn't be very wise to use your guns as the State Lodge isn't too far away." Kaheru informed them. Bosco grinned wickedly, saying, "There are four of us and only three of you, so that's alright."
There was a glint of light, as hunting knives seemed to appear from nowhere. Suddenly there was a melee. Mwine received a cut on the abdomen as he tried to dodge Bosco's knife. Bosco was out for revenge for the thorough beating Mwine had given him a few nights ago but Mwine was determined to stay alive and even managed to land a few strategic blows. Kaheru's left shoulder was gashed when his opponent attacked in frenzy. It was all he could to keep the thug from slitting his throat.
Twine had his thug in a stronghold after having disarmed him. But the thug's fourth colleague was coming to his rescue. The kiosk attendant having recovered from his shock took hold of his wooden stool and charged the thug, hitting him on the head. The young man smiled when he observed his handiwork. The thug lay in a heap, unconscious. He was led to believe that these fine young men fighting for their lives were undercover agents and he wasn't about to stand by and watch these thieving scum get the better of them.
Justice and Keza caught up with the action. Mwine was weakening; he was losing too much blood. Justice managed to wrestle the knife out of Bosco's hand as Keza kicked him in the groin. Twine helped Kaheru with his opponent as the kiosk attendant brought some nylon rope to tie the thugs with.
Justice radioed Uncle Arthur and brought him up to date. Keza took Mwine and Kaheru to New Mulago Hospital while Justice went in search of Rashad. Twine and the kiosk attendant stayed with the thugs, waiting for reinforcements. The young man was excited beyond belief. Wait until the boys hear about this. They probably wouldn't believe him. That put a damper on his thoughts, but what the hell, it was a night he wasn't about to forget in a hurry.
* * *
Back in Kamwokya Melissa arrived at the address Mwine had asked her to meet him. She made the mistake of underestimating Mwine thinking that he was too young and naïve. Instead, she was the one who turned out to be naïve for if she had really thought about it, it would have occurred to her that there was a possibility that Uncle Moses was guiding him. She thought that Mwine was too smitten with her not knowing that he had seen the light. She walked confidently into the trap.
Uncle Moses and Uncle Arthur interrogated her but they discovered that she was much tougher than she looked. They decided to take her to the NBI Headquarters in Nakasero for further questioning. Meanwhile they had to send reinforcements to Twine.
Uncle Arthur then called Chief Justice Amani and filled him in on what was happening. They still didn't know where Rashad was. "You can relax on that front. Rashad is with me," said the CJ. "In fact he has told me all that he knows about Boss' operation and I've passed it on to the director of the NBI."
The raid on Boss was successful. Boss had just finished ridding his home of any evidence of his criminal activities - in his haste, he did not realise that there were some documents missing from his safe. He later found out that Rashad had cracked his safe and only managed to get away with a few files because he heard Bosco and one of his men discussing him in the hallway outside his study.
When he escaped, Rashad realised that CJ Amani's house was in the vicinity and that he would be safe there. The CJ read the files and realised that they had enough evidence to put Boss away for a very long time. The shady deals and the killings to protect them from prying eyes, the damning information Boss had on a few cabinet members in order to have them do his bidding and the willing participation of a couple of MPs were all in the files. Heads were going to roll.
* * *
At the Guild ClubHouse, it was a clear sunny day and it felt good to be back in the normal world where the only worry was meeting the next deadline for handing in course works and where the next party was. Gimoro leaned over to Twine and asked him about his anxiety attack the other day. Twine smiled sheepishly and said, "I knew that Mwine was seeing somebody that he was crazy about and I was jealous. With hindsight, I'm glad that I wasn't in his shoes. Look at the trouble she put us all through."
"I hope you've learnt your lesson." Said Gimoro. "I hope you've learnt yours too, Mwine." Mwine nodded, saying, "I've always taken my brother for granted; never again. You know it's funny the way Melissa approached me. I thought that she wanted me for my body the way other girls do, but her interest in me was more intense and I assumed that it was something more. Well my assumption was right, but the subject matter was far more than I bargained for. I know now how Twine feels and I hope that some day I'll find a girl who'll want me for more than just my body and social standing"
"Amen to that," agreed Twine.
On the other side of the Guild ClubHouse, Kaheru signalled to Twine to join him. The two were soon hard at work convincing two girls to join them later on in the night. Gimoro and Mwine shook their heads in amusement.
Keza asked Justice what his kiss the night before was all about. Gimoro raised a brow as Justice squirmed in his seat and Mwine let out a hearty laugh, "When did that happen?" he wanted to know.
"At the time Rashad was running for his life," Keza said.
"What!" Mwine was incredulous.
"What were you thinking of?" Gimoro asked in disbelief. Justice was on the defensive, "Don't get so worked up. I had to do something to keep those goons from recognising me and that was all I could think of at the time." Keza seemed to accept the explanation but Gimoro and Mwine smiled knowingly at Justice. Ah, the trials and tribulations of a university student.
THE END
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