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Adui Mpende (SWAHILI) - Enemies Love Him
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Three Days Later - Tanzania, Africa
“THERE YOU GO, YOU’RE doing well.” Dhakyia said.
The baby latched on to Marietta’s nipple with pursed lips and gums. She felt the tug and suck as a tightness squeezed her breast. It was followed by a tingling sensation that she wasn’t comfortable with but adjusted to all the same. Especially while holding her daughter.
“She’s so small and hairy,” Marietta smiled. She traced the long sideburns and the hair over her brow. “Just like Lorenzo. Hairy.”
“Have you given her a name?” Dhakyia asked.
“Yes. The moment they told me we had a girl I knew her name. I want to call her Lorenza.”
Dhakyia smiled. “That’s after your husband?”
“Yes. Because... I can’t have a son for him.” Marietta sniffed back her tears. “At least I think so. I may never see him again; she may never meet him.”
Dhakyia stopped folding the cloth nappies she had bought in the room and stared at Marietta. The comment wasn’t said to shock or offend. It was a fact. Her time with Carlo had all led to this point. Soon he’d do what he came here to do. It had been a long time since she talked to Lorenzo. If he knew how to find her he would have by now.
“I hear the men talking. The guards,” Dhakyia said.
Marietta looked up. “About me and my baby?”
“No. Your husband.”
“What about my husband?”
“He’s near. You did it. He’s in Tanzania.”
If it weren’t for her daughter suckling she might have gone into cardiac arrest. “He’s here?Are you sure?”
“I’m not one hundred percent sure. But yes, I think so. The men. They said they will move you and the baby soon. Carlo is preparing them with guns.”
“But we can’t... I can’t... if he’s here...I have to—.”
“You must think of your daughter. Think of what is best for her. Carlo is a mean man. He won’t hesitate to use those guns they keep here.”
“Guns?”
“Lots of guns. This place used to be a hospital. A place for good, until the Battaglia’s bought it and started bringing the guns. Day in and day out they bring in guns and they take out guns to the boats on the shores. If your husband comes here, then you and your daughter’s life will be taken before it’s given to him. Do you understand the danger?”
“I have one chance to keep my family safe. And you have to help me.”
“We nearly failed before, remember?” Dhakyia asked.
“But we didn’t. Giovanni allowed me to lure Lorenzo here. That’s his plan. They want me to give Lorenzo up. To betray Lorenzo. That would be the only thing that would break my man. Losing me and our baby by my betrayal would be the final straw. That’s the revenge Giovanni wants. But if Lorenzo is here and you can help me escape I can beat the bastard at his own game.”
“No!” Dhakyia stood. “That’s suicide.”
“Is it? You know this country. When you leave here in that niqab and those long dresses they don’t know you from any other woman. If I were to wear one, they wouldn’t recognize me. I could just be one of the nurses that come and go. I will give you money, take you to places you’ll never see on your own. Give you the life you want outside of here. Dhakyia, think about what I’m offering.”
All Marietta could see was Dhakyia’s dark piercing eyes under her niqab. The eyes were the windows to the soul and Dhakyia had a soul. Marietta saw deeply into the young woman’s soul. She had that same hunger for rebellion Marietta had since she was a child in Chicago.
“But how would we do it?” Dhakyia whispered.
“Lorenzo. We must find out where he is and get a message to him. He’ll tell us how to do the rest.”
“If this is where they are keeping her then let’s just go fucking get her!” Lorenzo jabbed the map with his finger. The men around the table didn’t oppose him. No one was brave enough to speak to him when he was in such a state. No one but Josef.
“This is a different country. We don’t know anything about this terrain. Here is the ocean and two miles away is the hospital. All of this is forest and villagers.” Josef said. “We need intel on what is going on at this hospital. How many men? Where she is kept. If she’s had the baby.”
“She’s had the baby. It’s past her due date.” Lorenzo paced.
“Calm yourself mate. Think it through. This isn’t an easy grab. One wrong move and you could lose them both. We need to know what we are facing.”
Lorenzo stopped pacing. He had a tough time breathing lately. The drinking and lack of sleep was taking its toll. The only alliance that wasn’t threatening to crumble was the one he maintained with Alik and his men. But that too could be at jeopardy if he didn’t get his head back in the game. The only way to do so was to bring his wife and child home.
“You know your cousin,” Josef said. “What is his move here? If he wanted them dead he would have killed them by now. It’s too convenient that he let the doctor lead us here. He could have stopped you cold in Switzerland.”
The question stung like a bee. He didn’t know Giovanni’s move. What he thought Giovanni would do he hadn’t. Especially after Lorenzo killed Giovanni’s cousin Wolfie. That death should have brought down Giovanni’s wrath. The only personal attack was the prolonged separation between Lorenzo and his wife.
“Gio brings me here. He puts her somewhere he thinks ‘I think’ I can reach her. I charge in. They ambush me. They don’t kill me, that would be too easy, no-no-no it’s not about killing me. The men capture me and make... me see them.... wait. No. He’s going to kill me in front of her. He wouldn’t take their lives. He’ll do it how it should have been done before she shot him. He’s going to make her watch.”
“That’s what I needed to hear mate.” Josef patted Lorenzo on the back. He nodded to one of his men. The man left and brought in a fisherman. A very skinny dark man with jaundice yellow eyes was pushed to stand before him. Life had been hard for the man. Lorenzo could tell. But there was still a sense of resilient pride in him. The man looked them all in the eye. He didn’t waver. Even with the gun held on him.
Josef surprised Lorenzo when he spoke Swahili. He invited the man to sit with them. The fisherman did what he asked. And then Josef turned his attention to Lorenzo. “His name is Dagher. He has a daughter who works in the hospital where Marietta is kept.”
“You know this? How?”
Josef smiled. “Money. It’s always the universal language. You spread enough around, and you get a man like Dagher to sit at your table. One willing to sell his own child for a pay day.”
Lorenzo regarded the older man with suspicion. Josef began to question the man and his intentions. He listened as the old man told his story in his own language. It was hard. He wanted to understand. Hear the truth and the lies in the words.
“Dagher says the Butcher arrived in November.”
“Butcher? They know Carlo by his name?”
Josef nodded. “He said that they fired most of the staff at the hospital. That the Dar es Salaam moved in. It’s a very feared group headed by a man named Ali Mostafu. They kept a small staff of doctors from Kenya and nurses that once worked from the villages. They only let the nurses leave. The doctors cannot.”
“How many of these Dar es Salaam are there?”
Josef asked the man. Lorenzo felt his heart sink when the man shrugged to a number.
“He says they are everywhere. On the beaches. In the forests. Even in the village. But he tells me something else that is valuable. His oldest daughter is close to Carlo. Her name is Abedi. She’s a medicine woman, an outcast. He thinks of her as a witch and whore. She keeps time with the Butcher. Gives him drugs and sex. Carlo visits her often.”
“Is this the daughter that works in the hospital?” Lorenzo asked.
“No mate, this is a different daughter.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“So Carlo does leave to see one daughter and we have another on the inside. Where does he go? When?” Lorenzo asked.
Josef asked the man. The man crossed his arms and refused to answer. Josef gave the nod to the man behind him and a gun was pressed to the villager’s temple. It had no effect. He guessed the man’s age to be closer to seventy than sixty. He didn’t seem to care much for preserving what was left of his life.
“What does he want?”
Josef took out more money from his shirt pocket. He put it on the table. The man’s eyes lit up with life. He gave them all a toothless grin. He grabbed the bills with his calloused fingers and shoved them into his pockets. He started yammering. He talked so fast that Lorenzo feared Josef wouldn’t understand. When the man was done Josef asked two more questions and then had him escorted out.
“We shouldn’t let him go. You see how greedy he is. He’s turned on his own daughters.” Lorenzo said.
“My men would put a bullet in his head, but we need him. He is going to get his daughter and bring her to us.” Josef said.
“Why?”
“He says the Butcher doesn’t come to Abedi anymore. Stopped days ago. But Abedi had another visitor. Just recently after a baby girl was born.”
“My baby.”
“Exactly. The other daughter in the hospital knows that Carlo plans to kill Marietta. To have you find her that way. She wants to help her. She wants to help Marietta escape, she came to Abedi for some poison to use on Carlo and the guards.”
“Wait? How would he know this if he doesn’t speak to Abedi?”
“I suppose the other daughter told him of the conversation,” Joseph said.
“It’s too convenient.”
“I agree. It could be a trap.”
Lorenzo stroked his chin. “Let’s get some other villager to verify the story. That the man is legit. Okay! Fuck! Yes! Let’s do it.”
Josef grabbed his arm. “Your friend the Butcher knows you’re here. Everyone knows. Even if this information can be trusted we move when I say move. I know these people, this country. I know how they think. When I was a mercenary I came through here. These people are very close. They trust no one. We have to be ready. When we take her we have to be ready?”
“I’m ready. No matter the risk, I won’t let Giovanni hurt my wife and my child. I’d give my own life first. You understand. If they get me, you make sure Marietta and the baby get to Armenia. Far out of his reach.”
Josef nodded. “You have my word brother.”
***
LORENZO WOKE TO FINDING Josef standing over him. The heat was insufferable in the room with no windows. He was drenched in his own sweat and dehydrated. He sat up on the moldy mattress and put his face in his hands. “What is it?”
“Abedi. The old man delivered.”
He looked up at Josef. “Can she be trusted? Is it verified?”
“No. No one will speak on her. She’s here. And she wants to speak to you. You only.”
“Let’s do it.” Lorenzo got up and walked past Josef into the next room. Several men were gathered. And they were all staring at the beautiful woman in the room.
The sight of her stopped him in his tracks. Slowly she turned and took notice of him. She smiled.
“Hujambo,” she said and gave him a slight nod of her head.
Lorenzo nodded as well.
Abedi’s presence among the men stirred something Lorenzo couldn’t name but keenly sensed. He knew power. And he knew powerful people. The village feared Abedi and it wasn’t because of her beauty. Though she was beautiful. Her skin was a deepest tone of brown he’d ever seen on a woman, and her figure shaped by regal curves. She wore a vibrant orange, red and green patterned skirt that tied at her hip and a halter top that held petite breasts and tied at her neck. Revealed was her slender arms and shoulders. Her petite waist despite her tall height and flat tummy with a tiny pierced navel was uncovered. But her shapely hips and thighs stretched against the fabric teasing the men. All of the women he’d seen since he arrived in the beach side village remained covered due to their strict religious beliefs, but not Abedi.
“You are Lorenzo?”
“I am. And you are Abedi?” he asked.
She nodded again. Her hair was very short, her face was a perfect oval shape and her eyes enchanting. They revealed intelligence and defiance. She knew what affect her presence had among men and she held to it with regal authority like someone born to it.
“I’ve been waiting to meet you?”
“So, you’ve heard of me?”
She nodded.
“May I ask by who?”
“Carlo. He talks of you and your woman often.”
Her Italian wasn’t perfect, but Lorenzo understood her clearly. She was slow to speak to make sure she delivered every word.
“Then you know why I’m here?”
“I do,” she gave a soft chuckle that sounded almost whimsical. “The old man is very excited. You’ve just paid off his home and land bill for this meeting.”
“I will do anything to find my wife.”
“Anything?” Abedi arched a slender brow. Her ruby lips parted, and her tongue slipped out and disappeared as if she were tasting his offer. Her lashes lowered, and she looked him over. Was she flirting with him?
“You’re a lot like him. Carlo. But different. More determined, less broken,” she said.
The information was useful. It confirmed what the old man had said about Carlo’s state. If he was still grieving Ciro or his losses through Opium he was likely to make a mistake.
“You’re nothing like what I expected.” Lorenzo said.
“Asante,” she chuckled.
“Let’s speak business. How can you help me? And what do you want for it?”
Abedi glanced to Josef then the other men in the room before her gaze settled on him once more. “I want Carlo. He has no soul, but the rest of him works just fine. I give you the woman and the baby you leave him here to me.”
Lorenzo chuckled. “You like him?”
Abedi dropped a hand to her hip. “I understand his demon and he understands mine. Now. Let me tell you how we will get you your wife.”
***
“WAKE UP.” MARIETTA opened her eyes. The baby slept in her arms undisturbed. She’d just finished feeding her. Her daughter’s lips continued to pucker on her nipple while she slept.
“Wake up,” Dhakyia whispered and shook her shoulder.
Marietta squinted. “Something wrong?”
“Not wrong. Good. I have news.”
Marietta scooted back against her pillow and held her little one close. Dhakiya removed her niqab. For the very first time since she knew the young woman she saw her face and hair uncovered. And she was stunning.
“She met him. She met him.”
“She met who?”
“Abedi met your husband,” Dhakyia whispered.
There was no way to answer such a proclamation. She couldn’t find her voice to release the many questions bubbling up in her throat.
“Did you hear me?”
“Lorenzo? Did you see him too?”
“No. No. But she sent for me. She told me that he’s very worried for you and he’s determined to have you back.”
Marietta eyes teared.
“Did she tell him about the baby? That we had a girl?”
“I told Abedi and I’m sure she passed the information to him. I have even better news. She will help you and him.”
“How?”
Dhakyia opened her bag. She removed clothes and scarves. “We are going to get you out of here. Tomorrow night.”
“Where is Carlo? Does he know Lorenzo is here?”
“He spends most of his time on the beaches. With the other men. It’s like he’s waiting. He knows. But he’s not returned here, and the men we need to escape past have never seen you. They won’t know who you are when you leave with the nurses. You’ll blend in.”
“But my baby, what about Lorenza?”
“Abedi has a plan for her too.”
“Huh?”
“You leave, and I’ll bring her. I can get her out of here better than you. I’ll just tell them that she needs to be blessed. That you want it done. They won’t let my Imam come here for a blessing. So they should let me take her. Abedi is going to help.”
Marietta looked down at her daughter. She frowned. The thought of separating from her made her feel short of breath. “I can’t do that. I’m breast feeding. I can’t be separated from her.”
“I brought you something. Tonight, we can use it. I want you to pump some milk. As much as you can. We’ll freeze it. She won’t miss a feeding while we are getting you and her to safety. It’s best. The men are preparing for something, Marietta. This is your only chance. Do we do this or not?”
“Carlo’s not stupid. I need to talk to him. Feel him out and gauge the risk.”
“If you speak to him he may feel you out,” Dhakyia warned.
“No. He needs to believe I have hope. I can’t risk anything happening to my child, or Lorenzo. I was impulsive before and shot Giovanni and started all of this. I must be careful. Let me try. If I’m right and I can work Carlo to our advantage. If not, we do this your way. Okay?”
Dhakyia shook her head.
“If they catch me they will kill me. I’m taking a significant risk.”
“I know. I promise you I will make sure you are safe. I won’t risk anyone, especially my child. If Carlo can’t be trusted to do what we need from him. If he suspects, then we call it off. Okay?”
“Your husband is coming whether we do this or not.”
Marietta looked down at her baby girl. “I know he will. I need to be ready for what comes next. We all do. Tell Carlo I want to talk to him. Please.”
***
THERE WAS A KNUCKLE-knock at the door.
Lorenza stirred awake first. Marietta held her close and eased from bed. She wasn’t as sore as she was the day before. But the stitches to her vagina were painful the most when she walked or sat. She calmed her baby and fixed herself as best she could before opening the door.
“You usually just walk right in.”
“You breastfeed her, I want to respect your privacy,” Carlo said as he entered.
“Respect? That’s a new one from you.”
Carlo looked from the bed to her table with her half-eaten lunch and then back to her. “What is it?”
“I wanted to talk. The last time we saw each other—”
“Dhakyia said it was important?” Carlo paced.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. What do you want?”
“You’re acting funny. Can you stop pacing back and forth? Is something wrong? Is it Lorenzo?”
Carlo paused. He narrowed his eyes on her. “Why do you ask about him?”
“I’m not stupid, Carlo. I had the baby. It’s been several days, and I haven’t seen you. I ask if you are here and Dhakyia says you’re on the beach. I know you have plans. I need answers. It’s making me crazy being locked away in here.”
Carlo ran his hand back over his head. “What do you want me to say, Marietta?”
“Say you will let us live.”
“You’ll live,” Carlo said.
“What?”
“You heard me. You’ll live. Giovanni wants you both alive.”
“But... I thought the whole point was to take the baby and kill me.”
“Did I ever say that?”
Marietta sat down on the bed. She looked up at him speechless. She opened her mouth, and nothing came out. “It’s Lorenzo. You have to kill him?”
Carlo stared at her.
“So, is he here? Is he close?”
Carlo didn’t answer.
“Doesn’t Giovanni want to see Lorenzo. Get answers from him? After all of this, he is just going to kill him and then what? What happens to me and my baby?”
“You’re going back to your life in America. I’m taking you back. I’ll make sure you’re okay. And you are to never contact the family again. That is the request of your sister.”
“Of course it is. She’s his clone now. A heartless bitch!”
“She’s your clone Marietta. As heartless as you.”
“Fuck you, Carlo. You asked me to choose between my baby and Lorenzo. But you’re telling me the choice is already made. This is stupid. If Giovanni is so bad ass why do it this way? Why isolate us, why torture me, why?”
Carlo crouched. He looked her in the eyes. “Pain. That’s why. You’ll feel it. Lorenzo will feel it. The kind of pain that follows you to death. That’s the punishment, Marietta. Lorenzo will see you before he dies. He’ll see the baby he’ll never hold. And you’ll see what betraying our Don means for the rest of your life. And when your child asks about Lorenzo, your only child, you’ll tell her this story. Warn her of the family you betrayed, teach her to never look their way again.”
“He sterilized me. Made sure I couldn’t have kids. He did it. Didn’t he?”
Carlo nodded. “He spared your life and he took your life. That’s the balance. That’s what you and Lorenzo did to him. You shot him, and Lorenzo saved him.” Carlo looked down at the baby. “She’s your blessing. The only act of mercy Giovanni will give you.”
“Lorenzo is stronger than you. He’s stronger and he’ll fight for me. If he dies fighting for me he doesn’t die in fear. It’s the opposite of what Giovanni wants.”
Carlo shrugged and stood upright. “If you say so.”
“You could end this. Let us go. Force Giovanni to be a decent human being for once. Let Lorenzo be a better father than either of you had. You could do that, Carlo and maybe save some part of your soul. But instead you’re nothing but a serpent. A weapon.” She spat at him.
“I can’t wait to pull the trigger, sweetheart.”
“Burn in hell!” Marietta shouted at him.
Carlo walked out. “I’m sure I will.”
“Fuck you to hell!”
***
CARLO SAT IN A JEEP nearest the beach. His men were on patrol. The last shipment of guns from Giovanni was being delivered to the Dar es Salaam. The debt and hospitality for the past few months was paid. He lit a cigarillo and took a long drag from it. The tobacco filled up his lungs and escaped his nostrils. He removed the satellite phone from the glove compartment and stared at it. The slightest hesitation tested him on many levels. He was Camorra. He was loyal to only one, and that was Giovanni. But he couldn’t help but remember the time of friendship he shared with Lorenzo. He had nothing. His mother and sister were happiest when he sent money and stayed away. He had no woman. The birth of Marietta’s baby made that very clear. All he had was this mission and many more like them in the future. Until someone put a bullet in him and it all went away.
What if he let her go?
What if he told Giovanni that he failed?
What did it matter if the boss took his life instead of theirs?
Carlo couldn’t silence the cries of vengeance for his fallen brothers. Carmine’s death was hard but losing Ciro had been the last straw. And it was Lorenzo to blame. For all of it. For every war he fought since the Calderone. For the blood sacrifices he had to make. Or was it his own fault?
He dialed the number and waited.
“Is he there?” Dominic asked.
“He’s here,” Carlo said.
“Will he take the bait?” Dominic asked.
“He will. I would if I was him.” Carlo looked up to the hospital that could be seen off in the distance. “The baby is here. And he knows.”
“Yes, Giovanni told me.”
“Well there’s nothing left to say. Tell Giovanni I will be headed to America soon after to finish this.”
“Carlo?”
“Yes?”
“I know Lorenzo is your friend. I know you may question the justice in this—.”
“I question nothing. I’ll do as Giovanni wishes. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“A presto,” Dominic replied.
Carlo ended the call. He tossed the phone to the side. The cigarillo had burned out in his fingers and he flicked it into the sand. He dropped his head back and closed his eyes. There was nothing left to do but wait.