The Reckoning

By Valentine Butale

The rain poured down relentlessly on the dark, empty alleyways that hid within Francistown’s gridded streets and rows of storefronts.

In one of the alleys, behind a fried chicken place, Neo sat in the front passenger seat of a Francistown Central Police Service Chevrolet Cruz, gawking through the windscreen at her fellow police officers standing under a small shade and blurred by the rain. She couldn’t tell what was being said but she could see Chief Inspector Loapi’s burly figure flailing his hands; probably barking orders as usual.

Her mind automatically filled in the conversation she was witnessing with his hoarse, phlegmy voice. It was not much of a conversation, as the two other officers seemed to just look around and nod from time to time. Exactly how she had reacted earlier when Inspector Loapi told her they had received a lead on an ex-convict rapist who had struck again. The same rapist who had violated her as a teenager. The rapist she had put behind bars for ten years with her damning testimony at his trial.

“A civilian says they saw Selepe,” Inspector Loapi had said to her outside the briefing room, a few hours prior. “Apparently he has been sleeping in an abandoned storage house behind Jackie’s Chicken. I’ll check it out later and let you know how it goes.”

“No, I’m going with you,” Neo had rebutted.

“Neo, this time we might actually encounter Selepe. Are you sure you can–”

“Yes,” she had affirmed, interrupting him. “And remember, the Station Commander said–”

“Yeah, I know.” This time Loapi had cut her off, before turning away and leaving.

*

It was typical of him. He knew very well about Neo’s history with Selepe, the rapist, but he kept her at arm’s length in cases that pertained to him. Neo knew it was a professional decision, but knowing Loapi, he probably thought she was not good enough to get the serious cases anyway. It didn’t matter that she had graduated top of the class at the police academy, she was not a policeman.

“Liability, thy name is woman,” Neo had once overheard Loapi tell his CID friends in the station parking lot. He was stuffing his face with dumplings and stew as he said it, unaware of her approach with a file he had earlier requested. “I’ve always said police work is not a woman’s job. Well, I guess the paperwork might be. But on the streets, I’d rather have a man as my partner. A woman would get in the way. If an altercation erupts, I’d have to protect both myself and her.”

“The academy is churning out good ones now,” one CID detective had responded when he noticed Neo arrive. “Some of them would take down a grown man if he became unruly.”

“I like the diversity,” another CID detective said with smirk as he scanned Neo from head to toe. “Would be rather boring if the entire force was a bunch of guys. There wouldn’t be much motivation to go to work every day.”

Loapi had chortled and begun to respond but stopped abruptly when he saw Neo standing among them. She still remembered how his eyes had widened and how he had cleared his throat. She had just given him the file and left, not saying a word. As she walked away, she could feel the CID detectives’ eyes locked on her rear in silent indulgence, like her bum was the most scenic of views. It was on that day that she had realized she would not get far in her career as long as Loapi’s authority remained unchecked.

That lesson had given her the wisdom to visit the Station Commander as soon as she heard Selepe had struck again. She requested participation in the investigations and although she was a uniformed officer asking to do a Detective’s job, the Commander had agreed dismissively, giving her the ability to subvert Loapi’s instructions and thus find herself sitting in a police car on a miserable, rainy night, hoping to catch the animal that was Selepe.

*

Neo flinched when she heard a ruffling sound from behind her.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” asked Constable Baeti, poking his head around from the back seat. “I was just digging in my bag for sweets. Need something to distract me. Want some?”

“No, thanks,” said Neo, feeling slightly silly. “I had totally forgotten that you were here. Inspector Loapi must have forgotten you, too.”

“I don’t mind,” replied Baeti with a sigh. “I would have rather stayed at the office. My idea of a perfect day of work is attempting to correctly pronounce some of the names on the IDs of people who come to certify their documents.”

Neo managed a smile as she glanced at Baeti through the rear-view mirror. He was a short, scrawny man with an attitude that suggested that the police service was a last resort job for him. His stature rendered him unpopular with the fitter male officers, who often remarked at how weak he looked, especially when he wore a shirt and shorts in his brief stint in the bicycle patrol unit.

“Imagine if you were dispatched to stop a bar brawl,” Neo once heard a senior officer tell Baeti. “Those drunkards would squash you. You probably hit like a girl, anyway.”

Those words had almost made Neo boil. She very nearly challenged the officer to a boxing match so she could show him how hard a girl could hit. But she knew the police gym would never allow such behaviour.

“I’m surprised Inspector Loapi didn’t ask you to join him,” said Baeti, finally finding a sweet and lobbing it into his mouth. “You live for all this ‘outside’ police stuff. You should be out there strategizing with the others.”

Neo agreed. Yes, Loapi had conceded and allowed her to assist, but when they arrived, he had told her and Baeti that he would be back – an indirect order that they should remain in the car. Baeti, Neo thought, was probably just a buffer Loapi had brought along to avoid driving alone with her.

“Also,” Baeti continued reluctantly, “you have history with Selepe…”

“Yes,” Neo replied, looking outside at a stray cat using old crates for shelter against the rain, as it moved along the alley.

“I’m sorry, by the way. I assure you, most men hate rapists, too. They’re cowards who give us all a bad name.”

“I know, Constable. Thanks.”

“I think you’re strong, too, not allowing that… incident to determine how you live your life.”

Neo hummed in agreement, partly wishing Baeti would not continue with this line of conversation.

“You know,” Baeti went on, leaning forward in his seat, “I read a transcript of his prison interview. He spoke about his tactics.”

Neo sighed loudly and turned her head away from him, hoping it would be indication enough for him to stop. It was not.

“He took advantage of his victims’ kindness,” Baeti said. “You know how you women are always so compassionate? Selepe would fabricate some sob story to get into their homes. Things like, ‘I need to call my sick daughter, but my phone is dead.’”

Baeti continued speaking but Neo had zoned out of the conversation and her mind was now replaying that terrible night when Selepe had broken into her motel room and taken away her innocence. Visiting the city for the first time was meant to be fun and exciting, but Selepe had made it a nightmare.

She remembered everything. The dim lights in the motel hallway that had exposed a stranger pacing in circles ahead. The rotting hallway carpet that cracked under her flip-flops when she walked to her room, and how it cracked some more when the stranger approached her. The low, shy voice the stranger spoke in when he arrived by her side, masking his true intentions with a fake goofiness anyone would pity.

“Sorry, my child,” Selepe had said to her that night, rubbing his knuckles like a shy boy. “Don’t mean to bother you, but I accidentally locked my key in my room, and I’ve asked my daughter to go down and notify the front desk, but it’s been almost fifteen minutes.”

“Why is it taking so long for them to assist you?” Neo had asked him with the genuine concern of a naïve teenage girl alone in the city for the first time.

“No idea,” Selepe had replied with a sigh. “I would go down and check myself but I’m afraid I may miss my daughter on her return. She’s been diagnosed with anxiety issues, you see. She’d have a serious breakdown if she didn’t find me by the door where she left me. It’s really bad.”

In hindsight, Neo found this story incredibly far-fetched. But then again, the best liars often stray from simple, ordinary stories. The more complex and incredible the story, the more it sounds more like a very unfortunate situation than a lie. And teenage Neo had believed Selepe.

“Could I use your phone to call the front desk?” Selepe had continued, frowning desperately like a begging puppy. “It will only be a few seconds. Just so I can know if my daughter is still down there.”

“Sure, sure you can,” Neo had replied, as she rushed to unlock her door.

She had opened it wide and walked in first. She had started to say something to Selepe but was interrupted by a heavy blow to the back of her head, which caused her to fall face first to the floor.

She remembered the loud ringing in her ear, the burning pain on the side of her face and the tears that collected around her cheek. She remembered the smell of the cheap lavender scented cleaning chemical on beige carpets as she teetered in and out of consciousness. She remembered trying to call out or groan or scream when she heard the door shut violently, the TV switch on, and the volume increase dramatically. She remembered the weight of his body press her flat onto the floor as his grimacing face came close to hers, glistening in sweat.

And then it happened.

Neo snapped out of the flashback as an annoying ache gradually engulfed her right hand. She looked down and realized that she was tightly clenching the passenger door arm rest. She let go immediately and studied her palm. It was pale white for a second, and then gradually regained its color as blood repopulated it. Taken aback by the rage that had momentarily possessed her, she shook the pain out of the hand, and then she realized that Baeti was still speaking. His monologue had evolved into something else, and Neo figured it was not worth entertaining any longer.

“Sorry, Constable, I need some air,” Neo interrupted him as she opened the car door.

Baeti started to respond but the roar of the rain drowned out what he was saying as she stepped out. She felt the icy rain drops pierce through her uniform and immediately regretted not taking her raincoat. Francistown weather was notoriously unpredictable. It was overcast when they left the station, but such heavy rainfall so quickly had seemed highly unlikely.

She rushed to the shade where Chief Inspector Loapi and the other two officers were still standing. Loapi’s face wore a mask of strong disapproval when he saw her, contradicting the welcoming smiles of the other two officers. One of them was Seargent Buzwani, colloquially known as “B” in Francistown Police circles. He chuckled in pleasant surprise when he recognized her.

“Kid, you’ve come to throw this guy in jail for the second time,” said Buzwani.

“For the last time, Sergeant B,” Neo replied.

“Most definitely,” said Buzwani, rubbing his hands as he turned his attention to Loapi. “You didn’t tell us Neo was with you, Chief Inspector. Now we can go with my plan.”

Neo stifled a grunt as she realized Loapi was making plans without considering her.

“You mean split up,” said Loapi.

“There are four possible escape routes, and four of us. You’re the one who doesn’t want to call backup.”

“Multiple vehicles arriving in a dark alley would spook Selepe and he might try to run.”

“We have Constable Baeti in the car too,” Neo chipped in.

Buzwani and the other officer grunted in unison while Loapi hung his head and sighed.

“Tell me, Chief Inspector,” said Buzwani, eyebrow raised. “Have you got the entire police precinct sitting in your car?”

“Sergeant, I am your senior officer, you shall address me with respect!” Loapi barked.

Buzwani gave a tight-lipped smile and shared a mischievous glance with Neo.

“We’ll split up,” Loapi conceded. “You two will make an entrance at the two possible escape routes in front, and Neo and I will keep watch here.”

Buzwani and the other officer quickly rushed through the rain and disappeared around a corner. Loapi glanced briefly at Neo before gazing into the darkness.

“Sir,” Neo started, “I should go to the third escape route.”

“And you’re prepared?” Loapi spoke with an uncharacteristically soft voice. “You want the action. To be in the thick of things. Don’t you? To prove me wrong? Prove to your male chauvinist pig of a boss that you can be the super heroine of the police service?”

Neo dared to look up at him, but not directly into his eyes.

“I know you don’t like me,” Loapi continued, “much like most of my officers. I’m just old fashioned. I’m from an era where police work was simple – hurt the bad guys, help the good guys. Nowadays even criminals have rights, and we must be sensitive to people’s cultures and so on. Stations are praised for… gender… diverse hiring practices or whatever and it’s just too much for a politically incorrect old geezer like me.”

Neo could sense the exhaustion in his voice as he spoke.

“You young ones can handle it,” Loapi continued. “You’ll probably make a better Chief Inspector someday. For now, all I ask is that you bear with me and look beyond my exterior, because inside there’s a good, passionate Police officer trying to serve this community.”

“Sir,” Neo replied, looking directly into his eyes, “that is the exact same thing I ask of you.”

Their eyes stayed locked in silence for a few seconds before Loapi averted his gaze. Neo thought she saw him nod slightly but she wasn’t sure. Suddenly a loud noise ahead startled both of them. As they looked around, Buzwani’s voice cracked through their radios.

“Selepe is running!” was all Neo could pick up.

She immediately bolted forward toward the noise, leaving a stagnant Loapi in her wake.

The rain and the general darkness of the alley made visibility a nightmare. She could not see signs to indicate directions or entrances so she resorted to feeling the wall with her fingers as she moved along, looking for grooves and gaps that could suggest a door or window. When she thought she had found an entrance she looked up to check, exposing her face to the icy rain drops that felt like thousands of tiny blades slicing through her face. She looked away to wipe water from her eyes and sensed something move behind her. Turning around swiftly, she noticed a ginger cat on a trash can. It glanced at her briefly, then disappeared through a small hole in the wall. A hole she, too, could fit through.

She followed the cat through the hole into the dark musty building, which was filled with broken crates, abandoned furniture and trash. Patches of light from other buildings entered through its high, poorly boarded up windows, giving her better visibility, but she still pulled out her Glock 9mm handgun with the torch mount from its holster and pointed into any area of darkness. She moved forward slowly, trying to minimize noise by taking big steps as she craned her neck over heaps of broken things to get a better view.

She was a third of the way through when Loapi’s voice over the radio distracted her. As she checked the radio, a figure jumped out of the darkness and pushed her with such great force she slid across the floor and dropped her gun, resulting in the torch breaking, plunging them into almost total darkness. She struggled to get up and noticed that the figure was digging through the trash violently, probably looking for the gun. Neo started throwing loose trash at him to get his attention. He quickly approached her, passing through a ray of light in the process. Neo recognized his face… It was Selepe. He stopped and inhaled sharply when he saw her. He remembered her.

He turned to run but Neo hooked her foot around his leg, causing him to stumble. She got up as he tried to swing at her and missed. Neo kicked him in the shin, and he fell to a kneeling position, groaning in pain. Quickly, she grabbed a nearby plank and slammed it across his face so hard the impact vibrated through her arms as he fell into an unconscious heap. She kicked trash around in search of her gun, and when she found it, she pointed it at his head and put a finger on the trigger, rage pulsing through her as she aimed.

I could end this, she thought. Prison won’t rehabilitate this animal, so why not put him down forever?

As she contemplated, she saw Loapi arrive a short distance away. Bracing herself for his rebuke, she closed her eyes and waited, but it never came.

What could that mean? Was Loapi endorsing what she was about to do? Did that moment of confession earlier change his attitude toward her? Would he allow her to kill an unconscious suspect, go against police rules, just to get some closure? Could this be their little secret, an I-Owe-You-One between them?

No. Neo realized it was not wise for a young woman to owe a man of authority like Loapi. He already had power as her boss; she’d rather not give him more. As she put her gun back in its holster, Buzwani and the other officer came rushing past Loapi. They pounced onto Selepe and cuffed him as he groaned, regaining consciousness.

“You okay, kid?” Buzwani asked Neo.

“I’m fine… He’s worse off.”

“I can see. Good work.”

Neo nodded and walked toward the exit, toward Loapi. When she saw that he was looking at her, she stopped.

“Officer,” Loapi started, “it takes lots of strength to do the right thing, even when it doesn’t feel right.” Neo nodded in response as Loapi continued. “With an officer like you on my team, I know the future is bright.”

Loapi raised his hand and saluted her. Neo smiled at the gesture, and although her arm ached from the attack, she raised her hand and returned the salute.

---

Valentine Kabo Butale is a digital marketing professional and a creative writer from Francistown. He enjoys creative writing in various forms and has had a short story published in an anthology titled The Blue Train. He is also the scriptwriter for Sparkle Season 1, a drama series on NowTV. Valentine enjoys storytelling in its various formats and enjoys creating stories that showcase the diverse experiences of living in Botswana.