CHAPTER II

The lilies at the edge of the picket fence surrounding the cemetery were waving in the chilly morning breeze - as though they too were saying goodbye. From a bird’s eye view, one would think that there was a black smudge in the neatly manicured grass inside the cemetery. Jerome stood beside his mother and clamped her with his arms trying to support her. She fought her tears, but from behind her shades, they dripped. From time to time she choked on her muffled cry, breaking the eerie silence. Cassie stared on blankly. She had been in a trance of disbelief for the past nine days. She held herself tightly behind Jerome.

“It’ll be alright mother…” He muttered in her ears, “…all will be well, I promise!” telling her - and himself.

One of his uncles put his hand over his shoulder. Jerome slowly looked back at him and he nodded. Jerome nodded back. He had not cried. He had not slept. How could he? At twenty five, he still could not fully comprehend what had just happened. No life experience had come remotely close. His father’s death had turned him into a zombie. He did what he was advised to do without question. He had to. He was the man now. It was wise to show everybody that he could handle the burden, especially now. The life he lived had not prepared him for this, though.

The Reverend gave Jerome a glance and then preceded.

“…And so it shall be of flesh, ashes to ashes, dust to dust! The Lord taketh what the Lord giveth!”

The casket had a flawless pearl white finish lined with rose gold. A white see-through veil covered it and three fresh wraiths sat on it. It slowly sunk to the ground. Mrs. Kaiza could not hold back her cry anymore. For the past week, she played the strong woman. But, her heart had been shattered, her mind confused, and her world turned upside down. She could not play any other role now apart from that of a grieving widow.

“Why?” She wailed, “Please tell me why?!” “Who would do this to you?”

“Mother, Please!”

She had not realized how restless she had started to become, almost fighting Jerome’s grip.

“They will pay!” She screamed “Every single one of them, you hear me!”

“Mother please, now is not the time.” He insisted as he firmed up his grip around her.

At one time she lost her footing and almost slid into the grave. Jerome cautiously pulled her back. Some looked in almost disbelief. At that moment it could have been what she had just said or how she almost fell in. Everyone else looked on but remained cautiously silent. 

“Mother, that’s enough, please. Try and get a grip, we talked about this!” He commanded.

Cassie wrapped herself around Mrs. Kaiza’s waist, as though Jerome’s restrain was not enough. She looked at him… “I got her!”

“Does anyone have any last words for the departed before we disperse?” The Reverend announced.

Silence!

“Jerome?”

He unwound his arms from his mother and took a step forward.

“Thank you everybody for being with us through this unimaginably painful and almost unbearable time. Holding our hands and all the moral support you have shown my family can never be repaid. Pardon my mother. If you are here today then my father must have impacted your life in one way or another - even if it is in the smallest, most insignificant of ways. Take some time to think about it and smile. Let him know that he left something worth remembering. I’ll be lying to you if I say it’s going to be easy to fill this void, to stand where he stood, to fit in his shoes, but I will be here to continue with everything he had started, nothing will change. You all know the type of person that he was, this is what he would have wanted…again my family and I are forever indebted for your support. I know how demanding your professions can be for most of you, but you deliberately chose to be here today, thank you!”

“We shall now escort the family back to their home where there will be a brief prayer service, then we can disperse, thank you!”

Every family member was present for the funeral - all except one.

He rolled down the window of his coupe and smoke poured out of the vehicle. As the fume dissolved into the air, gradually, piercing bloodshot eyes appeared. There were bugs below the eyes and on the left side of the man’s face, a stitched scar run along his cheek. He stared at the people in the cemetery and shook his head. An unpleasant smirk drew on his face. He put on his sunglasses and sped off on the road leading away from the cemetery.

“Mrs. Kaiza!” A hoarse voice called. “Mrs. Kaiza, a minute please…”

She turned back to see where the voice was coming from - they all turned. Jerome still had his hands around her, a little less tightly though. Cassie also still embraced her.

“I am so sorry for your loss madam, I…”

“Who are you again?” Jerome demanded.

“I’m Detective Daren Lemi from…”

“We’ve already talked to the police, the family has submitted an official report!”

“You see, I am aware of that but I’m not necessarily the police son.”

“I am not your son sir!”

“Pardon my insens…”

“You better take back your words and get out of here before I make you!”

“You do not want to do that!”

“Oh yeah? Now I really think I do!”

He had already released his mother and was fiercely breathing down Detective Lemi’s forehead. Jerome was a sky scrapper; even with Detective Lemi standing at 5’8” he could still cast a shadow over his face. His face had now turned red and he had irately clenched his fist.

“That’s enough son!”

Nancy understood his son’s anger. She had always known that she was safe with him. Even in all those times when her late husband was away, Jerome was always there. He skipped an uncountable number of dates just to come home and be with his mother. Sometimes he even took fake sick-offs from work. It was so natural to him. He grew up very close to his mother. Unlike his brother who moved out of the house when he was sixteen. He had just rented his apartment about 20 minutes from his parents' house. That was barely two months ago, just after his twenty-fifth birthday. His father was really happy about the news and he called him one afternoon to share his delight. He did not have a solid relationship with his father because John was always away when they were young. When he got older, he was always at school. The only thing that signified John’s presence was an occasional gift given to him by his mother with the phrase, “…this is from you father.” From birthdays to graduations to holidays, it was all the same. He was once gone for so long that when he came home, Jerome and his brother did not recognize their father - so they cried and ran across the house to the kitchen so that they could hide behind their mother’s legs.

Now, she was the one who needed protection. However, he was not going to let his son put his hands on a detective. It would never end well, especially now, with all the media droning on their every move.

“I’ll be fine…please take Cassie and go have some tea, then maybe wait for me in the car. I will be right with you.”

Jerome stared into Detective Lemi’s eyes until he looked away. He then turned around and gently held Cassie by the hand and led her away.

“Fierce kid, you got there, with kids like these, who need us on the streets quote unquote protecting people?”

She gave a faint smile.

“Make it quick Mr. Officer, we sort of have to leave.” She remarked.

“Well, I am just trying to get the story of your husband’s death right. The force usually handles these cases, but when there is a possibility of foul play, maybe homicide, then, they call me.”

She took off her sunglasses and directed the hair on her face behind her ears. She had brown eyes, a little bloodshot. There were dark patches under her eyes and veins could be seen formed around them. It was a bit scary and sad at the same time. She squinted and placed her hand over her eyes. She had not seen the sun this past week. Detective Lemi paused and looked at the woman, anticipating a reaction to his words. She was pale and looked fatigued, but all that was not enough to mask what was obvious - her bewitching beauty. She was a woman who was three years away from seeing half a century but did not look a minute over thirty. She had a long lean face that was the most symmetrical the detective had ever seen (and he had seen many faces, both living and dead.) 

“It must be really expensive to stay this young in your fifties.” He thought to himself. 

“Those two must have cost a fortune!” Staring at the widow’s breasts before his thoughts were interrupted.

“I know he was murdered…”

“ummmm!”

“…and I am going to find out by whom!”

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, we don’t want to do anything to compromise the investigations you know, and our friends the media are really waiting to hand it to us because we have locked them out!”

Tears had again started flowing down her face. The detective took out some wipes from his jacket pocket and wiped her face.

“It’s just so hard to even think about it!” She broke down and just flung herself at him.

There was an awkward second but then Detective Lemi embraced her.

“There, there! It’s gonna be okay I promise you.” 

Jerome saw her mother in tears and quickly started heading over to her. But before he could, Cassie tightly held his wrist. “She is fine, let them talk…please!”

“My husband was not a bad man, who could do this to him?”

“In my experience, anybody!”

“I am really sorry!” She said as she got herself off him

.

“No, no, no! It’s fine, I really don’t mind.”

“Thank you!” She chuckled as he supported her upright.

“Would you know of anything that was out of the ordinary with your husband in the few days leading to his death?”

“Ummmm…”

“Anything would certainly help - anything at all!”

After a pause…

“I don’t know…I don’t think so.”

“It’s okay, just take your time, and if you remember anything at all, here’s my card. That’s my direct line, just call me anytime.”

He pulled a bunch of cards from his pocket, picked one, and handed it to her with both hands.

“I will be making frequent visits to your house if you do not mind, just to check up on you and your family.”

“It’s fine!”

“Again I am really sorry, my team and I will do our very best to help put this behind you.”

“Thank you!”

She slowly turned and headed to the car where Jerome and Cassie were now waiting and unbelievably, she was strutting. The detective wondered if that is how she always walked. He could see her silhouette as the wind blew on her back. Mrs. Kaiza was a gorgeous woman.

“John Kaiza! God rest your soul but you do not know what you left behind.” The detective said to himself.

“Wow...Ok...Well, Now where to start? Multi-millionaire investor, subject name, John Milishe Kaiza, dead in a hotel room, no struggle. What is your deal Mr. Kaiza? What is your goddamn deal?”

That evening was like all the other previous eight evenings, quiet. Nancy was sitting on the master chair and was almost falling asleep. Cassie had earlier covered her with a leso. She sat in the master dining area which was overlooking the living room. She stared at the marble floor with a handkerchief in her hand. Jerome was lying on the sofa - half dangling. He was exhausted and was relieved that it was over. Then the lights flickered and the hum of the generator could be heard.

“Damn K.P.L.C.!”

Nancy woke from her siesta, but her body did not move. She stared up at the ceiling and for the first time really appreciated the beauty that her husband always talked about. Their home was a modern mansion dotted with art and ancient collectibles from John’s vast travels. Rustic bronze beams ran from the floor to the ceiling. The beams themselves were curved out of a gold and copper alloy to resemble ancient Chinese home decor. John fell in love with the design of the beams when he and Nancy were globetrotting in Beijing. Their tour guide took them to an ancient weapon museum which was supported by similar pillar designs. It was revealed to him that the pillars represented what the museum stood for; love, honor, purity, and dedication to family. It was a war museum.

“That’s why china still stands today!” The little shrilly voice of the tour guide echoed in her mind, right before John planted a kiss on her cheeks.

She smiled. Her teeth were visible for the first time in nine days.

“I love you too!” She said silently.

On the ceiling, there was a magnificently detailed mural of a war. It was a portrayal of the biblical apocalyptic end of the world - the last encounter between good and evil. There is a winged monster about three times the size of an angel. It had red and black scaly skin and seemed very ruthless. It breathed fire through its nostrils and has claws for hands. Then there was the angel, a petite woman with beautiful sky blue and white wings. She had really long hair. The two were in a confrontation in such a manner that the monster was towering over the angel ready to pounce on her, but then the lady angel seemed to thrust herself at the beast nevertheless with a sword held towards the monster’s neck. 

“You see honey...when all seems lost…”

“Yes sweetheart I know, when all seems lost good will always come through and triumph!

She recalled one of the so often conversations she had with him. She always thought that the mural was too graphic but John had convinced everyone else in the house of how beautiful it would look on the ceiling. He was really good at convincing. But, Nancy was probably the only human being who could see right through John. She could tell if he had a card up his sleeve way before he put it there. John could very rarely convince Nancy of anything that she did not agree on. He could not manipulate her or bend the truth like they often saw other couples do to each other, and John never even tried. He knew from the very first time he met Nancy that he had met his match. Out of that came two boys and a very intriguing love story. 

“I wish I could just speak to you somehow…I wish I could just reach out to you!”