LIGHT FROM THE DESERT✓

||CHAPTER 3||

||KIMULI||

I pull up the driveway and park my truck at the far end of the parking lot. I shut it down before jumping out and closing the door. I haven't been around the club, Catchers, for about a month. I have missed it. More so the lively vibes that live on like a tradition. They never get old. The neon lights outside are flickering boldly and seductively. As if they are calling on the passers-by and bystanders to come and have some fun inside.

Setting up this club was one of my biggest dreams. It took me several years to get it done but nonetheless, I am proud of having accomplished it. The other one was having an art parlor. One that specifically dealt with tattoos--tattooing people their desired pieces of art. It was an urgent dream that boldly surfaced after high school. I wanted to establish the parlor then but my mom refused.

She said it was too early for me to start a business. It was never the case though. She just wanted to continue keeping me as her spoiled brat. I would have loved to--it feels great to always have someone spoiling you rotten--but sometimes one needs to grow up and stand up on their own. It is called being independent. Nevertheless, I allowed her to pamper me for a few months before joining campus.

After joining, in the middle of the first semester of my first year, I felt the urgent need to establish it again. I will have you know that it took me exactly a whole month to convince Neisha Kimuli, my mother, that I was a grown man who was ready to start, control and manage his own business. I will never understand what it is about mothers wanting their kids to always remain to be kids. Having given up on her protests, she bought and set up some place for me in town. I love her for her support for that. Since then, the parlor has grown at its own speed. It is now one of the biggest tattoo arts parlors in the city. 

Sometime in June last year, we decided to expand our art business further. So we decided to venture into the painting business. We give painters a platform to paint, showcase their art and sell it. It was an idea that we didn't think would pick up so nicely, but I can definitely say that I do not regret putting it into work. It has been rewarding us generously. Something that  painting department manager has decided to take advantage of shamelessly. It is because of him that I spent so much time at the parlor without coming here. I learnt that the scumbag has been draining money from the business and clogging it into his pockets.

I am grateful someone trustworthy discovered it on time. Otherwise the business would be heading towards a foreseeable downfall. In that last month I have been there, I have been working to keep things on track. I have also been assessing my workers to ensure that there are no more hungry hyenas planning to feed on other people's hard work. I have also been looking for a new manager. It will not be easy to get the one I want, but that does not mean I won't get him or her. It does not matter how long it will take. I can take care of matters by myself until then.

In the meantime, I'm working to see that the scumbag pays for his deeds. I'm not tolerating him at any cost. The dude was close to stealing tens of millions. That's no small amount of money. Especially when it comes from people who are hopelessly work hard to get it. It is such a pity. In fact, I pity him. He misused his position when he should have used it to become someone bigger and better. He should have been wiser. Although I do understand that common sense is not a flower that grows in everyone's garden. His deeds will now probably cost him his freedom. One of the precious things a human can have. If not that, then a very good fortune.

Stepping into the club, the warm and stuffy air crowds my nostrils. It is a toxic mixture of sweat, alcohol, perfume, cigarettes, et cetera. The beats of the loud music bang in my chest like a second heartbeat. The song on play is Mi Gente by J. Balvin and Willy William. My poor ears are forced to adjust to the loudness. My body as well, dances unwillingly to the beats. The people here seem so oblivious to the world outside. They make this place look like a whole new world where problems don't get exist. Instead, it's where they cease. And for a moment, they can live life freely. Well, until dawn reigns and everything is back to normal. It is a great but tiring cycle. One is always forced to live life again as it is after escaping its reality for a few hours.