“We?” said Jack, after she was gone. “I like how you dragged me into that. I’m not sure my penmanship is up to filling out any forms.” He flexed his raw, bloody knuckles.
“Well, I’m not letting you out of my sight. But first, I want to see Bahati. And I want to know exactly what happened.”
“What happened was that K.K. and his goon beat me up pretty bad.” He reached for my hand as the guards swung the gate open for us.
“Yeah. I was there for that part,” I replied, thinking how ridiculously happy my hand was, holding his. And my heart. “Get to the good stuff. You know, when you whooped their sorry arses.”
“That’s not exactly how it played out.” He chuckled. “So, there I am, flat on my back, pretty sure I’m done for when they start arguing. K.K. is mad because he told the other guy to stop the driver, but now the train is leaving and the kids are still on it. The other guy’s yelling that he turned around to save K.K.’s ass when he saw that I was getting the upper hand. So K.K. shoots back that he’s doesn’t need anyone’s help, and that’s just disrespecting him.
“Meanwhile, I’m on the ground by Bahati’s car. The door is open from when they dragged him out, and what do I see? Bahati’s bag—the one he uses when he puts on his full Maasai garb at the Grand Tulip. It’s toppled to the floor, and sticking out of it is his spear. So while K.K. and his friend are bickering, I’m inching my way toward it.
“The rest happened so fast, it’s all a blur. I got his friend first, swung the spear around and slashed him in the leg. Then I went for K.K., but he’s small and quick and vicious. He kept dodging my jabs, waiting for me to tire out. He knew I wouldn’t last. Not with an injured arm. The more time I wasted, the farther away you got. So I cornered K.K. into the back of his van. Tied him and his buddy up, back to back. I locked them in there, where they’d kept the kids. No air, no windows, no light. He laughed as I was leaving. Creepy little fucker. He said he liked the irony of it.”
“He gives me the chills,” I said. “We have to tell the police where to find him. Which reminds me—we have to call Goma. She’s putting together a search party—” I stopped in my tracks when I saw the car. “Oh my God, you managed to drive Suzi all the way here?”
She was dented, dusty, and badly banged up. Her bumper was lop-sided, one headlight dangling, the other shattered.
“Ro, is that you?” I heard a mewling from inside the car.
Ro. He called me Ro.I grinned like an idiot. He considered me his friend now. “Bahati?”
He was lying on the back seat, wrapped up in a shiny, metallic emergency blanket, like a potato about to be baked in the oven.
“Are you all right?”
“My eye is still swollen.” He peeked at me with the other one. “You don’t think it’s permanent, do you? I make a living off this face. And I’m very cold. I think I might need a knee replacement. Everything hurts. I can barely move, but I’m so happy to see you.Oww,” he moaned, trying to shift to his other side.
I shot a concerned look at Jack, but he rolled his eyes. “I’m sure we can ask someone at the orphanage to give you something for the pain,” he said. “Until we get you to a doctor. You want to come in?”
“I don’t think I can get up.”
“Food?” I tempted. “You hungry?”
“No. I don’t think I can eat. My jaw is bruised. My nose is bloody. I can’t taste anything, and I have this cut right here.” He stuck his tongue out for me to see.
“The kids are all waiting for you. The staff, too. You’re a hero, Bahati,” said Jack. “They want to take pictures with you.”
“They do?” Bahati rolled his tongue back in.
“Yeah. But don’t worry. I’ll tell them you’re not feeling up to it. Come on, Rodel.”
“Wait.” There was a loud rustling as Bahati unpeeled his blanket. “Maybe I can pop in for a bit.”
“You sure? You’re in pretty bad shape there, buddy.”
“I know, but I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“All right. Come along then.” Jack held open the door and stuck out his hand.
“No. Not like this. Pass me my bag. I will go in my Maasai clothes.”
“You’re not serious.”
But Bahati insisted, so we turned our heads and ignored the thudding and swearing as he changed in the car.
“So how did you find him?” I asked Jack.
“I hopped into Suzi, trying to catch up with you, and found the rest of the train, unlinked from the main body. I thought they’d got you. God, Rodel, I kind of lost it. I picked up a couple of tracks and was heading that way when I heard something. I followed the sound until I came upon two tufts of grass. It was Bahati. Sneezing. He’d jumped off the train and covered himself up with dirt to escape the men he thought were still looking for him. It wasn’t until he told me you’d managed to get away that I could breathe again.”
