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"Know who I am, kid?" The huge man in the striped 3-piece suit asked. He even had a cane to complete the 'African mzee' look. As it always is with such people, his shirt was all wrong. Instead of being some plain color, he had picked a checked pink and white shirt. How this look made sense while looking at a mirror, Lee would never know.

"Yeah, of course, I know you," Lee responded.

Lee lived in a small village that was one of the many that surrounded the local town. The town was known as Koronio, a native derivative of the word colonial, as it had been referred to once.

This was a small town where everyone knew everyone, and this included those in the nearby villages. That being said, certain people were more recognizable than others, and the guy standing in front of him was one such.

Kagia was renown as the town crook. He had his fingers in everything that went down in the town, the good, the bad, and especially the ugly. He had done all this and still managed to clean up his act.

Currently, he was the kind that priests would kowtow to so that he can give a generous donation to the cause. On paper, he had several horticultural farms sprouting all over the place, and many claimed that was how he had made his wealth.

In-person, this man looked like a box of scrap metals, as the son of a mechanic, Lee understood that well. He stood at 5'8, a few inches lower than Lee, which made him insecure, causing him to take an aggressive stance.

His street name was Original, not many knew his real name. Lee always thought it was a tacky name, but he kept his opinion to himself.

"Now young man, I need to talk to you about serious matters. Come, let's get in and talk," All this while, Lee had not invited the man in, nor was he planning on doing that. The man bulldozed his way into Lee's father's workshop and took a seat.

"I know you are going through a lot, kid, so I will get to the point. I don't want to be here now, but you must understand this. Your father owed me a lot of money, and I am here to collect."

Lee was beyond shocked. Never would he had expected his father to do business with a man like this, and he even suspected this man to be lying.

Thinking about it, he surmised that Original had no reason to lie. The only reason this man would interact with the likes of him was if he owed him money. This did not make him feel better, or aid his situation.

"Look man, I don't know anything about that," Lee began, but Original grabbed his collar violently.

"Are you trying to escape your responsibility? Did your father not teach you how to be a man?"

Needless to say, what followed was not a pleasant couple of minutes, but the gist of the matter was that Lee was to come up with the money, which was 200,000 Kenyan shillings. Lee could barely afford 10,000 at this point. In short, he was not coming up with anything.

After the box of scrap metals was done, he and his goons made their way into the Land Cruiser and took off, leaving a trail of dust in their wake. Lee watched them leave with a cold stare. This was all he could do to mask his worries.

As much as he had disdain for that man, he knew he would keep his word. he would not be coming only after him, but also his family. Lee sat down to write any plan he had to raise money, and after 3 hours of seating in the quiet unopened garage, he still had not written anything.

His phone rang, his friends were letting him know that they would be passing by the garage. Since they had come with 2 rentals cars, they did not have to worry about transport back to the city.

Lee went to meet up with them and send them on their way. He received the messages of condolence from the friends and those who had not made it back. He reassured them that he was fine and that he would figure all this out later.

"Hey Lee, make sure to call me," Trizah said as she got into the vehicle. She had been Lee's close friend on campus, and had things remained the same, she would have probably have been his choice for a girlfriend.

They always had that special chemistry, and it hurt her to see him in such distress. She wished there was anything she could do to help.

She had a few ideas on how she might, but she did not want to force them on him, fearing that he might end up rejecting her offer. This man had his pride still, but would he choose pride even in such odds? She wondered. Nevertheless, she would offer her help, she had decided that.

As for Lee, 2 days passed quickly after his parents' funeral. He still did not know what to do with the Kagia situation. Several choices had run through his mind but had been rejected on account of how idiotic they were.

One Monday morning, 3 days after his parents' funeral, Lee got up early in the morning and set off to Kagia's mansion. Everyone knew where the man lived, and it only took him 2 hours of trekking to get there.

Along the way, Lee had come up with a list of many things he could say to the man, but ultimately he had decided to settle on the truth.

There was no way he could come up with the money, so he was going to beg for his life. If that did not work, he would offer himself as a servant, to work off until the load was cleared.

Not that he was excited by the whole idea, but he had no other choice, his father had seen to that. If he did not do this, his siblings would suffer alongside him.

By now, there was no thought of going back to school. That was just not an option. He just did not have the time to deal with that.

"What kind of job do you think I have for a university drop-out?" Original asked callously when the boy suggested employment. "What I want is my money!"

"Sir, we both know I cannot come up with that much. Is there truly no other way?" Lee asked, unfazed by the menacing machinations of this man. However much he tried to huff and puff, Lee was not moved, remaining assertive under pressure.

The man took a step back to analyze the boy. Whatever else he was, the boy was no coward. He did not shrink down to beg, nor was he rude. Perhaps there was a future for the boy after all.

"The jobs available are not for boys like you, but for men!" Kagia went on, wanting to see how determined the boy was.

"Sir, just try me," Lee pleaded. Right now he was at wit's end on what to do or say with this man.

"Okay, I just might, but first, how well do you know Nairobi?"

"I am familiar with it, more or less," Lee was not lying. He had spent a few years in the city, but that was not enough for him to claim to know the city.

Do you know where my store is in Koronio? Tomorrow morning, you shall go there and pick up a bag. You will then take it to the city to this address where you will meet with Mr. Patel. Hand him that package and tell him it's from me. You got that."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, then let us go over the guidelines. You are never to open the bag or the parcel he gives you to bring to me, you got that?"

"Yes, sir."

"After he gives you my parcel, make sure to bring it here pronto! Now go!" The man bellowed as he showed Lee out the door.

A very distraught Lee returned to his house. As it was beginning of the year, the festive season had just passed and now it was time to start again.

This was the week his brother and sister would be going back to school. They would go on Wednesday, which bought him a day to rush to the city and back.

He could use the excuse of going to buy them some shopping. Somehow, he did not think the trip he would be making the following day would be legal, so he had to come up with alibis and reasons for travel.

Perhaps he could make a stop at the school, apply to defer the semester he was in. Since he was government-sponsored, that was no easy task and there was a lot of bureaucracy and red tape going on but he had to get it done.

With that in mind, Lee got to work on the farm. It seemed the work of preparing had just extended to full-blown farming.

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