Chapter 11: Like Father, Like Daughter
The next morning, John woke early and propped himself up on one elbow so that he could watch Kem sleep as the first rays of morning's light illuminated their room. Her long black hair was splayed out over her delicate shoulders, and a few stray wisps lay alluringly across her mouth.
He smiled as he took in the beauty of her shape and the peacefulness of her face. This was the sight that he wanted to greet him every morning for the rest of his life. Kem opened her greenish-brown eyes and smiled. However, her smile didn't last long, and her expression changed to one of mild annoyance.
"Didn't I ask you not to watch me sleep," she asked in her musically beautiful voice.
"I honestly can't help myself," he replied unrepentantly.
"Oh God," she groaned in mock annoyance, but then she moved closer to him and brushed his hair gently with her hand. "It's Saturday," she said. "Are you going to go to work?"
"I don't have to, but I told Angelique that I would be around just in case she needed me."
Kem nodded her head. "Good," she said.
"Good?"
"Yes, good. I have other things that I want to get done today and I'm glad that your time will be occupied elsewhere," she said playfully.
She disentangled herself from his embrace and rose from the bed.
"Other things," he repeated quizzically. "Like what?"
"You'll see."
John got up from the bed, and started to look around for his robe so that he could go down the hall and take a lukewarm but refreshing shower.
"I don't know what you're up to," he said slowly, "but I hope that this isn't part of some strange counter counterproposal thing that you have in mind."
"Nooo, and don't be so impatient," she replied.
Then she walked over to him and gently pushed him towards the door. "Why don't you run along and get a shower whilst I cook us some breakfast."
Minutes later they enjoyed a leisurely breakfast together before John left for the clinic, and Kem was left alone in the apartment.
Although she hadn't said anything to John, Azel's news about the proximity of the rebels to Kisangani had her worried. She began to review Azel's last comments in her head. He had claimed that his sources had told him that the rebels were approximately three hundred miles away, and that that they were advancing at a pace of ten to fifteen miles a day. If they continued that pace, she reasoned, then they would approach the refugee encampment and Kisangani in thirty days or less.
That thought sent a slight shock through her heart. Thirty days wasn't a lot of time to devise a plan, but clearly something needed to be done.
She walked over to a three foot high by four foot wide rectangular object that was draped by a multicolored piece of fabric. When the apartment was really crowded, that object easily doubled as an extra seating area. She removed the fabric and revealed the steamer trunk that had been hidden beneath it. Kem knelt down and flipped open its lock. As she opened the lid, she was greeted by the pleasant smell of aged oak and leather, and the sight of numerous objects and files stacked into neat piles.
These are her father's things.
She carefully rummaged through the folders and piles until she found a folder with a simple label written on it, Logistics. She sighed deeply and opened the folder to reveal its contents.
Her father's position as an engineer upgrading the water supply had required him to travel often, and to travel into places that were unfamiliar to him. As a result, he had detailed maps of the region that included a list of roads and basic information about different places.
She looked through the maps until she found one that detailed the region directly East of Kisangani. She circled an area of interest, and then searched the contents of the trunk for one last item before neatly returning the things that she had removed earlier. She lowered the trunk's lid, flipped the lock back to closed, and covered it with the fabric.
She looked at the last object that she had removed from the trunk and smiled wistfully. The black 9mm handgun was one of two that her father had owned.
Although, he had believed in the kindness of people, he had not been a fool. So he had always kept two guns for self defense: one at home and one in the glove department of the vehicle that he would be traveling in.
Unfortunately, one 9mm was not much good against an army, so the weapon had not been able to save his life that day and it had 'disappeared' along with all other items of any value when she went to claim his body.
Kem checked the gun and dry tested the firing pin before she loaded it. Her father had insisted that she learn how to shoot both a pistol and a rifle, and she had become a good shot with both types of weaponry.
She put the safety on, placed the gun in the deep right pocket of her khakis, packed up the map and set out to find a vehicle. She considered her options and decided that maybe James down at Karibu would have some contacts that might be willing to loan her a jeep for a few hours.