Criminal Fate

Swindled

It was on a sunny Friday afternoon and Jack Brown was relaxing on a folding chair bathing in the sun on the sandy beach of Mombasa, Kenya. He was a middle aged white man from Canada and he was enjoying his three month vacation.

As he enjoyed the view of the ocean, he couldn’t help but notice a curvaceous black woman who was vending coconut juice a short distance from where he was. He watched her for a while and being a man with his fair share of lust, he could only dream of having her in bed.

He sprang from the folding chair, headed to where the woman was and asked for some coconut juice. “There you go sir.” The woman said to Jack as she handed him his juice.

“Mombasa is quite a place. It’s full of life. I love the beautiful sceneries and the coastal people.” Said Jack.

“Thank you sir. We love visitors as well.” The woman replied.

Jack managed to get her name and attention too. Maria Njeri was her name and she was a 25 year old Swahili girl trying to make a living along the beach. He noted that Maria was well conversant with English despite being of Swahili origin. He invited her for a drink and she gladly accepted.

Later that evening, Jack took Maria to the Beach Front Motel. It was a five star hotel along the beach and Jack had been staying there for the six weeks he had been in Kenya. They went to the dining area and had seafood for dinner. He later took her to the bar section and bought her some Champagne.

As they talked, Jack boasted about how rich and prominent he was at home in Canada. He boasted of, properties, businesses, cars and riches. He thought he was impressing Maria but he was digging his own grave.

“So tell me about yourself Maria.” Jack said to Maria.

“Well sir,” Said Maria before Jack cut her short.

“Please, just call me Jack.” Jack said.

“Okay Jack. I don’t really have much to say about myself. I’m just a simple person.” Maria replied.

Maria was a brilliant woman but having grown up in a poor family and society, she had no opportunities at her disposal. Her potential and brilliance had therefore been choked by the circumstances she found herself in. She had also lost her dad at a young age and this necessitated her to hustle to provide for her four younger siblings and ailing mother.

Maria had a lot of financial burdens. She had gone through tough times in the hands of heartless people in her pursuit of money. This only made her heartless as well. She would exploit all chances to get quick money, even if it meant suspending any form of moral sanity. In any case, morality never made her any money, it only made her look stupid back in the days when she was morally upright. But those days were long gone. She had learnt to use her corrupt brilliance to get as much as she possibly could. Her beauty came in handy as well.

They chatted for long as they sipped champagne. They soon got drunk and Maria stood up to dance. She jiggled her behind as if trying to seduce Jack. He marveled at her beauty and the bright smile on her dark face. She was really a black beauty. They laughed and danced and had a lot of fun together. For a while there, they seemed to have a connection.

Later that night, Jack got Maria to accompany him to his room. They stormed into the room high on s****l desire. As they kissed passionately, Jack ripped off Maria’s light clothes and they made love. They had a good time and Jack slept like a baby. The following morning, Jack woke up at noon feeling weak and dizzy. He thought it was a hangover.

He woke up to a surprise. The room was stuffy and in a total mess. He checked where he kept his money and there was nothing. Many of his precious possessions were missing as well. Maria was out of sight too. It dawned on him that he had been robbed. His drink had been spiked by Maria the night before. He thought he had been deceiving her just to sleep with her. But she slept with him just to deceive and steal from him. He just couldn’t believe it. His liking for women and hunger for s*x had just cost him a fortune.

He tried to trace Maria to no avail. Even the hotel management couldn’t help him. They told him it was hard to trace someone in such a densely populated and busy town with so many visitors. Besides, he welcomed her into his room. He ought to have been alert.

Maria vanished into thin air with $20,000 worth of cash and possessions. That was equivalent to two million Kenyan shillings. This was a lot of money then and it meant so much to her. Her mom’s medication was expensive and she was happy she could afford it for a while.

It did not matter how or where she got the money from, she had the money and that was all that mattered to her at that time. She was happy because she had acquired such a huge amount of money so suddenly. She lied to her mother that she met a well-wisher who gave her the money. Her burden would be lighter for a while now. She had gotten away with it, or so she thought.

Jack Brown used his credit cards and boarded a flight for Canada at Moi International Airport Mombasa after staying in Kenya for seven weeks, therefore prematurely ending his vacation. He ran before he could be tricked once more and robbed by another woman. He was not a happy man. He had not only lost money and precious items, but had also cut short his vacation. This meant he had he had go home earlier than he had planned and stay home for six weeks before his official vacation ended.

Jack hated home. He even liked to spend a lot of his time away from home when in Canada. No wonder he had gone for a three month long vacation overseas without taking his wife with him. He had a mansion in Montreal, Quebec where he lived with his wife, Olivia Brown. He had a wife but no children. His wife had been diagnosed with infertility five years into their marriage. He despised her for that reason.

His wife was always unhappy because Jack hated her for something she did not will for herself. She once suggested they adopt a child and spice up their marriage. But Jack couldn’t hear any of that. He wanted a child of his own blood. One that he would nature and raise. He also wanted an heir that he would leave his businesses to once he got old.

He still had faith he would once have a child. Life itself is uncertain and things do fall into place sometimes. This was the case for Jack Brown.