Beating The Odds – Episode 15

Beating The Odds – Episode 15

 

© Brian Ngoma

 

Thelma’s death didn’t come as a surprise to both Yohane and Cayn. She had hypertension which she struggled with for almost all her old age years. She put up a good fight but eventually succumbed. That was seven years ago when Cayn was seventeen. After Thelma’s death, with little to no education at all, Cayn had to look for something to do. Even though Thelma’s daughter sent him some money every month, he didn’t want to be a bother. He looked for ways of getting money but the world was harsh and cold. To his luck, Yohane who apparently was living with him proposed a business to him. “We have to survive one way or another, “Yohane had said.

 

“I know that but my hands are tied, i cannot think of school. I am turning 18 soon. The ship for school has already sailed,” Cayn had said.

 

“18 and no girlfriend?”

 

“Not interested.”

 

Yohane laughed and said, “Get yourself laid and we see if you won’t be interested.”

 

“I don’t need any distractions. There is something I’m thinking of doing later in the future and relationships will just be an obstruction.”

 

Yohane laughed and looked at the boy. He admired him. Since that day he picked him up with Thelma and saw how he grew, he knew the boy was courageous and determined. It was for this reason that he decided to tell him his plans. “When i was young like you, life was tough. You are lucky you have someone who is sending money and have a roof over your head,” he paused. “For me it was hell. I was living in the streets and had to scavenge for food whenever i could, it was tough,” he bowed his head. “But something happened, i was introduced to a gang which was making counterfeit money.”

 

“Counterfeit money?” Cayn asked.

 

“Yes, fake money,” Yohane answered. “I was just a pawn in that business. Despite not being involved with the big bosses, i was attentive, i learnt a lot of things and as it is right now, i know a lot of people who are still interested in that kind of money.”

 

Cayn was interested. He sat upright and his eyes beamed. He had that grin. It made Yohane shift nervously in his chair. “Go on,” he said.

 

“I have the materials but I am thinking of upgrading. I don’t want to be involved in counterfeit, i want to directly deal with banks, money lenders and trust companies by defrauding them by means of forged checks, notes, drafts and whatever i can use. When Thelma was diagnosed with her disease, i knew i would be left stranded, i was just a driver so i started making schemes and studying everything. As it is, i think i am ready to go into business. I have connections of people who can render me services of the documents required. So i am wondering if ….”

 

“Damn right I am in,” Cayn interrupted Yohane.

 

“Oh, i didn’t think it would be that easy,” Yohane laughed. “let me see, we need three other people for us to be five.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Forgery is a very tricky job Cayn,” Yohane answered. “I am the master schemer. I need a middleman, a forger and a presenter. As a schemer my job is to furnish the funds for the organization, frequently laying out the plans of work and obtaining the genuine paper from which forgeries will be made. I have to find a” professional” forger, who will do the actual forgery work. He has to be something of an artist, not just an amateur and i think i have one in mind. As a schemer, I am not supposed to be known to the middleman, forger or presenter. The middleman will find the presenters.”

 

“What’s the job of presenters?” Cayn asked carefully looking at Yohane.

 

“They present the forged papers to banks and the likes and under no circumstance am i supposed to meet those people because once caught, they can put me at risk.”

 

“But i thought you said you have the forger in mind. How will you meet him when you are not supposed to?”

 

“When i find the middleman, I will take him to the forger. The middle man will be the one to take the checks and drafts to the forger. After they are forged, he will get them and take them to the presenters and wait for them to be presented at the Banks. Once successful, he gets the money. Pays the forger and presenters and report back to me.”

 

“Where do i fall in?” Cayn asked nervously. “Obviously, i have no idea on how to present the forged papers at the bank,” he laughed. “I don’t think i can also work as a middleman, that seems like a lot of work. Forgery, that’s a no go area.”

 

Yohane sat upright and smiled. “You will be the gangs shadow. I don’t trust anyone. I have known you for five years and i trust you. I want you to be overseeing the whole operation. You will be my eyes where they cannot reach and if anyone tries to play smart with us, you deal with them.”

 

Cayn smiled and said. “That, i like.”

 

“One other thing, we need a cover up business. We will start up car washes in the city. I have some funds I kept. Maybe that can get you laid.”

 

“Not now or anytime soon.”

 

That’s how Yohane and Cayn formed a forgery organisation. They found the people and the operations were successful most of the time. They had encountered some problems where the presenters had tried to run away but since Cayn was a shadow which no one even knew, he caught them where they least expected. At some point, a middleman tried to escape with the money, again Cayn was there. Yohane and Cayn grew close together and Yohane taught the boy everything he knew. He also insisted that he starts attending some night classes. “Enough with denying school, you will have to start,” Yohane had said.

 

“But.”

 

“No buts, I know what Greg and Veronica did to you, they spoiled you but with what will be doing, you need to be as smart as possible. It won’t be about the physique but the mind. You need to outsmart your opponents in ways they cannot predict and only school can enhance that.”

 

Cayn saw sense in what Yohane had said and accepted to enrol for school. It wasn’t difficult for him because he had already known how to read. When the business started blossoming, Yohane organised some individualised learning for him. By the time he was dying, Cayn had learned everything. It wasn’t hard for a twenty-year-old Cayn to adapt to the business. The first thing he did was DISBAND Yohane’s initial crew. He first found Sky and after some training, he gave her the job of recruiting the others. That’s how she got to find Martin the middleman, Wezi the forger, Fungai, Chishimba and Boyce the presenters. Unlike what Yohane had taught him about this people not working together, he brought them together in a space where he could have monopoly over them. These were learned people and all of them had higher education compared to him but since he was the master schemer, they couldn’t touch him and he had saved them from unemployment.

 

On their tail was Blank shot. Ever since he saw Cayn, he had been all over him. Cayn remembered him the day they met at the police station. He wasn’t his problem because he had managed to outdo him no matter how close he got. The problem now was the new Chief. It meant everything. The old Chief was on their side. With the coming of the New chief who apparently was just known as Shekinah, he knew he had to everything in his power to get her on his side. There was no time to get behind with his business.

 

“Boss!” Sky called him. It had been a week since he had sent her to dig some information on the new chief. “I’m back.”

 

“Oh good,” he turned around. “What have you got for me?”

 

“As you requested, i have everything on the New chief,” she sighed. “I think we might have a problem.”

 

He stiffened.

 

“She’s a tough one. Her reputation exceeds itself. She is a no nonsense type of cop boss.”

 

“Everyone can be bought Sky. Remember the last Chief, we also thought we might have some problems with him but we got him on our side.”

 

“Not this one boss. She’s known to be the straightest cop ever. She has accolades of hard work, corruption bustling. She has even gone head to head with dignitaries who thought they could buy her. She’s a force to reckon with and her file says she’s the one who instigated the fall of Triple E Group of Companies.”

 

“The Hamuumbu’s?” he asked sitting upright.

 

“Yes boss, she took them down in the shadows; The public doesn’t know it’s her. She had been investigating them for close to three years. When the manuscript of that crazy girl surfaced that had Elise’s hidden murder of her friend, she didn’t hesitate to put her in prison. She’s hard-core.”

 

“We have to find another way then.”

 

“Which is?” She asked.

 

“I don’t know yet but I’ll think of something. Hand me the file, go and gather everyone around. I am sure everything is done, we have to hit Investrust Bank tomorrow.”

 

Sky handed him the file and left. Ever since he got her from the streets, he made her the shadow of his gang. What she didn’t know was that he was the overall shadow of everything. He sat in his chair thinking about Shekinah Wambachi. He read the file and got more nervous. Like Sky had said, Shekinah was not one to mess with. He finished going through it and took a cigarette and stood by the window. He had never been nervous before and when he did, he smoked. Not only did the arrival of the new chief scare him, but also a team that would come out of Shekinah and Blank Shot. That gave him the chills.

 

Everyone at the police station was busy working and trying to impress Shekinah Wambachi, the new chief. They didn’t know much about her and they were really trying to be on her good side especially the detectives. She had called a meeting for the top detectives and Boadi was amongst them. Everyone was sitting and she was standing before a small white board with pictures of suspects and criminals that were tearing up Lusaka. One photo got her attention. The man on the photo looked gentlemanly compared to the others. “What’s his story?” she pointed at the photo.

 

All the detectives looked at Boadi who sat upright in his chair. “That’s Cayn Simfukwe. He is a suspect in forgery cases that we have been having in our country. It has been difficult to find evidence against him but we have a person we are talking to we just cannot reveal them to him. From what we have been told, he is very dangerous. He is the true definition of a gentleman criminal.”

 

Shekinah disgustingly looked at Boadi. She turned her eyes back at the photo and cleared her throat. “Don’t you ever praise a criminal in front of me detective. Your job is to outsmart him not the other way around, why are you a detective if you can’t catch petty criminals like him?”

 

Boadi was speechless.

 

“If there is no evidence against him, he is not supposed to be on my board,” she removed the photo from the board.

 

Boadi quickly stood up and seemed confused. “I am getting close to getting him.”

 

“How close?” she directly looked at him in the eyes.

 

“Our source says tomorrow he is planning on hitting either Investrust Bank or BancAbc.”

 

“Detective are you ever sure with yourself? Now you’re talking about two potential victims of forgery and you are not sure. I need precision please.”

 

“I…. I…. I…” he scratched his head.

 

She interrupted him. “I need everyone on this case, let’s deal with it and help our old detective here who seems to know a lot about this true definition of a gentleman criminal. So detective, this information of yours, how sure are you that the hit will be either on these banks?”

 

“I bet my life on it.”

 

“Then let’s catch this gentleman criminal,” she looked at the photo with scrutiny.

 

To be continued

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