bwanji, Ba General!’ Christian corrected.
They all intoned the greeting. The General adjusted his spectacles but did not reply. He flicked his fingers over his shoulder to call one of his men, who leaned in for a whispered instruction. The minion sauntered off and came back with a tray bearing glasses of a clear liquid, which he served to the three quivering guests. The vodka went from knife cold to searing in Jacob’s throat. Pepa gulped it down, thinking it was water, and started coughing. Solo sipped cautiously, then eagerly.
‘So,’ the General smiled. ‘I hear you have been robbing me, ehn?’
The three of them glanced at each other, Pepa shaking her head subtly in an ‘I told you so’ way. This must be the bwana whose warehouse Christian was stealing from. Christian had clearly brought them here to take the blame for the missing loot.
‘Toys, gadgetry,’ said the General. ‘Whatwhat, other things. Clothez, camera, iPhoney.’
Jacob sat up, pulled the dead iPhone from his pocket and stretched it towards the General. Christian grabbed it from Jacob’s hand and ferried it to his boss.
The General pressed the silver button on the edge of the phone. ‘What kinds of things are compound children doing with my phones?’ He sucked his teeth. ‘Why is it not coming on?’
‘The battery is finished, bwana,’ said Jacob.
The General called for a charger. A guard brought a black square covered with gleaming panels. Jacob stared with professional curiosity as the guard plugged the phone into it and placed it in a spot of sunlight by the sofa. A solar-powered charger.
The General thrust his beard upward. ‘You! Come here.’
All three of them touched their chests: Me? Christian hoisted Pepa to her feet.
‘But I am the one who took!’ Jacob said.
The General waved his hand dismissively. Christian slammed the butt of his gun down on Jacob’s shoulder to shut him up, then grabbed Pepa again and began dragging her to the General. She looked over her shoulder, her pale cheeks blotchy, her eyes pleading.
‘No, no,’ the General smiled. ‘They cannot help you, pretty girl.’
Jacob tried to catch her brother’s attention but Solo was staring dismally into his glass of vodka. The sky stretched flat and blue above the roofless house. Rays of light skewed down, foreboding as blades. The guards ceased their patrolling to watch. A few feet from the General’s armchair, Christian released his clutch on Pepa’s shirt and spanked her buttocks forward like a reluctant child. Pepa tripped ahead but stopped, eyes downcast.
‘Come and say hallo, kapompo.’ The General patted his thigh.
‘She has injured me!’ Christian said abruptly. He was staring at his hand, which was stained with red. Pepa’s menstrual blood had leaked into the seat of the skirt he had just spanked.
‘She is just on her period, bwana,’ said Jacob, rising to his feet. ‘It is not her fault.’
Christian sucked in a breath and raised his hand over Pepa. But he was too caught up in the taboo to touch her. He walked off angrily, shouting for a towel. Jacob approached Pepa and pulled off his t-shirt to give to her. She took it but didn’t put it on. She was sobbing.
‘Ah you, Jelita. Stop crying. We are happy that you are mature,’ the General laughed. Pepa only sobbed harder. ‘Go and clean yourself up.’
She raced off, covering her stained behind with Jacob’s shirt, and crouched behind the sofa to put it on.
‘And you. Hero,’ the General said, his spectacles blank discs. ‘Do you know what your galifriend’s condition can do? It can cause a miracle! It can heal people who have The Virus.’
Jacob frowned. Growing up in a women’s hair salon had accustomed him to periods as a fact of existence. Periods didn’t heal anything, though they often seemed to come as a relief.
‘…perfect specimen,’ the General was saying. ‘Have you tasted that creamy white skin?’
‘What are you saying?’ Jacob demanded. He always felt protective of Pepa when people mocked her for being albino, when they spat on their chests for fear of the hex of her.
Before the General could answer, a man burst into the clearing, yelling ‘Ba General!’ He skidded to a stop at the edge of the pool, then turned and ran into the house through an invisible wall. ‘We have been spotted,’ he panted. ‘Pa airport.’
Jacob’s eyes darted to the man’s hand – two gold stripes – and his earlobe – a bead of gold.
‘Spotted by who?’ the General stood up. He carried his big belly with authority.
‘I do not know if