Entrapped

Louis possessed a good strong figure, tall assertive with a subtle spirit. He worked as an accountant for an insurance company. As the saying goes “punctuality is the essence of a disciplined worker” he was careful to report to work early.

At a quarter past seven in the morning, a young lady walked to his desk, Louis was assiduously balancing his books. She handed him some documents and a delivery book which he was expected to sign for the documents. A culture in the company which he could not comprehend. Reluctantly, Louis signed and handed back the delivery book.

“Isn’t that Florida the intern in the Human Resources office?” asked John. What a beautiful lady!

Disregarding his assistant’s comments, Louis tore open the envelope and read the details of the letter. A terrible fear grasped him he had been summoned to the Human Resources office. He was suspected of complicity in a series of fraud.

He rose from his chair and moved around the office frantically, he could not think, he could not reflect. He hurriedly went through his desk as if looking for something very important, grabbed a huge file, not daring to turn around, as if for fear of seeing what was going on behind him; he dashed out of the office.

He came at the end of an hour without the file he had picked from the desk. “Are you okay”? asked his assistant.

“I am fine”, he mumbled. His temples bathed with perspiration, he frightfully shuddered from head to foot.

A minute later his boss walked into his office accompanied by two police men. So unexpected and bewildering was their coming. Louis moved uneasily on his seat. They approached his desk. As the police whisked him out of the office, he could hear murmurs of his colleagues. An innocent man in his words, his attitude and behavior, he was whisked out of the office as if he was a criminal. They all stood there watching, reflecting with amazement, with horror on what he had done.

He had worked very closely with his boss for fifteen years; he would not have done anything without his knowledge and approval. How could he escape from this situation? The Entanglement! The Entrapment! It dawned on him why the company insisted on signing of the delivery book.

A terrible rage was taking possession of him, a rage that verged on madness. He gave his boss a long stare just as one does at sight of something horrible. “I will not go down alone, I have all the evidence”, Louis said.

He would pull himself out of the mire; he would make a man of himself again.

By Janet Mukuhi from Kenya