Nuruddin Farah - Hiding in Plain Sight

This must be an attorney representing Valerie and Padmini, Bella guesses. The thought that such a person exists relaxes her. She will not walk away from her responsibility to her sister-in-law, she knows, but she also knows that, once free, Valerie will carry on as if nothing has happened, except that she will blame the whole thing on anyone but herself.

Bella calls one of the landline numbers she has been given. As she waits for someone to answer it, she tells herself that she won’t ever forgive herself if she does nothing to help Valerie, never mind the nature of the trouble the woman is in. And Uganda being Uganda, she thinks that she will be able to find the right officers to bribe. To get matters moving, Bella decides to insist that Helene not disclose to Valerie who is putting up the bail and paying all other expenses incurred.

Finally, Helene answers. After Bella has introduced herself and then acknowledged receipt of the fax, Helene says, “I’ll tell you enough of what we are up against so you can decide whether you wish to get involved.”

“I can’t help it, I have to be involved.”

Bella can hear papers being shuffled and then Helene says, “I must tell you this at the start. We do not represent Valerie as such.”

“Please explain your meaning.”

“We represent Padmini, her partner, in a property dispute between her and a Ugandan businessman,” Helene says. “And then this.”

“‘And then this’? What’s ‘this’?”

Helene says, “A few days before Padmini and Valerie’s arrest, we had received notice from the courts about a preliminary date when a judge would hear the property dispute.”

“Are you telling me that this is why they are locked up?” says Bella. “Because the Ugandan has played a dirty hand?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“The Ugandan tycoon hired a private eye to dig deep into the dirt,” Helene says. “He hopes to force Padmini’s hand so that she will flee the country or at least withdraw her case.”

“How much dirt did the private eye dig up?”

“The private eye sneaked in on Valerie and Padmini’s privacy and left his hiding place with a rich harvest of sexually explicit photographs.”

“How careless of them,” Bella says.

“Their lack of awareness would be quite understandable if it weren’t for the fact that Padmini comes from here,” Helene says. “She was born here and her family is well known and well respected too.”

“How do we proceed?”

“We need to get them out of prison. The yellow press is sniffing around, readying to run off with the story. This will do irreparable damage to their reputations. Somalis, as Valerie told me — as if I needed telling — will bay for her blood if it comes out that she is Aar’s widow. We must do something quick, get them out, and put them on a flight to Nairobi.”

“Why a flight to Nairobi?”

“According to Valerie, Nairobi has one of the largest communities of homosexuals, second only to Cape Town in the entire continent, and she says they will feel comfortable there.”

“How can I help?”

“Can you come in person to Kampala?”

“As I said, I do not want her to know that I am her benefactor,” Bella says, this time with great emphasis.

“We need to move fast,” Helene says.

“How much will it take to get them out?”

“A couple of thousand dollars in legal fees, and a couple more to make sure that we grease the right uniformed palms adequately so they will be discreet in their dealings with us and the press,” Helene says.

“What if I can’t come in person?” Bella reminds herself that she is primarily in Africa not to solve Valerie’s problems but to mother her nephew and niece.

“You can choose one of two options.”

“I am listening.”

“You can wire the funds. Or you can find someone residing in Uganda whom you know personally and whom you trust — a Somali, say, as there are hundreds of thousands of your nationals residing in Kampala, many of them very wealthy, and you arrange with them to settle the bill right away and then pay them later. This will be the quickest way of having them released. The money will be delivered to us in cash and we will act forthwith — very efficient!”

Bella doesn’t like either option.

“What if I transfer it electronically?”

“We don’t have that facility at our legal firm, I am embarrassed to say,” Helene says.

Uganda has never figured in Bella’s imagination in any shape or form beyond the revulsion she felt for Idi Amin when he was in power, in addition to being disgusted by the bloodthirsty Lord’s Resistance Army sect led by Joseph Kony. “Let me come back to you shortly,” she says to Helene. Then she requests that Helene supply her with all of the bank details and the address of her chambers just in case.

But she won’t ring off until she understands how it is that a lawyer with her own chambers is in no financial position to have funds transferred electronically from a neighboring country. Maybe there is something not kosher about the deal. She asks Helene to explain.

“Recently, we’ve been victims of hackers,” she says. “We suspect a former client of mine, a Nigerian, now in jail for drug-related crimes, has had a hand in this. Since then, all our accounts are frozen because of the ongoing criminal investigation. But trust me. We are legit.” Helene goes on and then breaks into laughter, adding, “Listen to me trying to convince you to trust me! This is hilarious.”

Whereupon Bella says, “I do trust you.”

Helene says, “You do? How noble of you!”

And then Bella does ring off, promising to get back to her in an hour at most.

Next Bella rings Gunilla on a mission for more information. While she waits, she Googles Ms. Johansson, who is described as heading the forensic department for the UN office in Nairobi and who is charged with determining the disposition of the UN victims’ assets as well as dispersing any additional support for their dependents.

“Gunilla,” she answers, sounding clipped and purposeful.

This time, Bella, who has her wits about her, remembers to ask Gunilla for further details, not about Valerie’s situation but about where Aar’s body was discovered.

Gunilla confirms what the news reports said, that his body was blown apart by the blast of the bomb, unrecognizably mutilated, and that his head was recovered several yards away.

“Where is he buried?” Bella asks.

“At least he has his own grave.”

“Not a mass grave, like the others share?”

“That’s right.”

In the pause that follows this, Bella joins Gunilla in crying herself sore. Then she remembers her first order of business, as well as the promise she made to Helene. “Where are you now?” she asks Gunilla.

“I am currently in Kampala.”

“The children, where are they?”

“The children know you are expected.”

“But no one is answering their phones.”

Gunilla explains that people in Nairobi do not answer their phones if they do not know the identity of their caller, too many wrong numbers. “Have you sent text messages?” she asks.

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Bella says.

Gunilla says, “I’ll call them.”

Then Bella says, “Speaking of Kampala, Gunilla…”

Assuming that Gunilla is in the know about Valerie and Padmini’s situation, Bella fills her in on what has transpired with Helene. Gunilla then says, “Will you please allow me to act on your instructions and settle the attorney’s fees and all other expenses, and you and I will go over it when we meet in a couple of days?”

The phone line carries Bella’s hesitation all the way from Nairobi to Kampala — and Gunilla can sense it. Bella, in turn, can feel it, even though the two women have never met. But Bella says, “You’ve been of immense help.”