Read Elephant Dropping (9781301895199) for Free Online

looking at the next I.T.
genius mum.’
    ‘What’s I.T.?’
Asked Gulam.
    ‘Oh tube light
has woken up,’ teased his elder brother. Gulam tried to get at
Jitu, their father held them apart. ‘Now, now,’ he warned
affectionately ruffling Gulam’s hair. ‘No time for fighting, go and
check on the new car. Make sure it has no puncture to worry your
mum,’ as they ran off excitedly.
    ‘London, we are
going to London!’ shouted Jitu. Fatima gazed at her husband
adoringly.
    She snuggled
into his shoulder. ‘I will miss this place,’ she admitted, ‘we can
always come back for holidays can’t we?’
    ‘Yes, of
course, my dear,’ he lied, ‘now, I must get off to work to support
my holiday-minded family.’ He kissed her lightly on her
forehead.
    *
    At the factory,
Patel did his usual quick tour and in the office he responded to
the more immediate e-mails and orders. He paused in these tasks to
call Azizza with instructions to get the next hundred title deeds
from the land office.
    ‘Are you sure?’
She queried. ‘It’s a lot of money to outlay.’
    ‘Yes,’
confirmed Patel, ‘we need to get things moving. You got the note I
left about a further advance to Evans?’
    ‘Yes,’ she
confirmed.
    Patel
continued. ‘And remind Evans I need the information I asked him for
yesterday, as soon as possible.’ He cleared his desk of the most
pressing business and instructed his secretary to get hold of the
managing director of Poppy Buckets, one of his main rivals in
Mombasa. She quickly connected him.
    ‘Farook how are
you - it’s Patel from Malindi.’
    ‘Ahh, Patel,
king of Malindi,’ Farook responded.
    ‘I have a
proposition for you,’ said Patel.
    ‘Oh really,’
Farook said warily. ‘Are you looking for a merger, competition to
hot for you?’ Leaning back in his chair, intrigued.
    Patel got
straight to the point. ‘No, I wondered if you would like a
distribution centre in Malindi. I have decided to sell my factory,
are you interested?’
    Farook sat up
in surprise. ‘Really,’ then in disbelief. ‘Why?’
    ‘Listen Farook,
I’m a busy man. You’re the first one I have called.’
    ‘Yes, Jugdish
my friend, I am interested, what sort of price are we talking
about?’
    ‘How soon can
you get down here to assess the product?’ Then you can make me an
offer.’
    Farook, picking
up on the urgency, looked through his diary. ‘I can be there on
Thursday by ten; would that be good for you?’
    ‘Yes,’ Patel
replied, ‘perfect, and bring your engineers with you.’
    ‘Ok, but tell
me my friend, why the hurry?’
    ‘It’s my wife,’
Patel replied not elaborating.
    ‘Nothing
serious I hope?’
    ‘No, no - you
know, women.’
    ‘Ahh, yes, if
the woman unhappy, the man cannot stay.’
    ‘Yes, exactly,
can deny her nothing,’ Patel giggled.
    ‘You will let
me have first option won’t you, keep it amongst ourselves,
right?’
    ‘Yes of course,
I can do that, see you day after tomorrow, thanks.’
    *
    Evans arrived
at work hung over and in a bad mood, made worse by the questioning
looks on the security guards faces as he drove up in the small
Toyota. He had gone home from the golf club the previous evening,
nervously thinking over the lie for his wife about the Mercedes,
only to find her absent, and a message on the answering machine;
she and the two boys had missed their flight from Nairobi and would
not be back until Thursday. With no cooked food in the house, he
went out to the Day and Night Club for chicken and chips and
decided to stay and have a few beers. Inevitably, he drank more
than he had intended to, drove home, and made a complete fool of
himself trying to bed the house maid.
    She had
rejected his advances politely trying to reason with him and when
he drunkenly persisted, curtly informed him that his wife had
anticipated he might attempt this and to inform her if he tried.
Thwarted and outmanoeuvred, he had angrily slammed the door to her
room shouting out that he was going to