Collo's jaw just about dropped to the floor when the authoritative, tall, bald and burly police in a red fitting t-shirt and blue jeans, reached underneath and pulled out the green basin.
“Evidence!” Bob exclaimed as he showed it to David.
He scooped a handful of the dense and sticky Shashamane and took a whiff. They had nabbed a handsome jackpot of high grade ganja from the unsuspecting and terrified dealer. He struck Collo's right leg repeatedly, playing deaf to the hapless victim's screams for mercy.
"Shut up! We haven't even begun," Bob lashed at Collo and swung ruthless backhands across the peddler's already swollen face.
“Please don't hit me again!" Collo pleaded while shielding his battered face using his free hand since he was handcuffed to Tony. “Why don't we talk calmly?"
"Fine. Where did you get this cannabis from?" David asked bluntly.
“My friend from Mumias was here yesterday and he left some."
“Take out your phone and call him," Bob ordered.
Collo's dishonesty manifested itself through his rapid nervous blinking as he took out his phone. They heard a knock at the door. All eyes turned towards it anxiously.
“His phone is off," Collo said.
The knock persisted and David glanced at Bob with raised eyebrows. Bob was uncertain of the next move but concealed it under a stone cold face and a veil of arrogance. A slender dark complexion hand appeared through the padlock slot and pushed aside the steel bolt.
" Collo! Wassup, I need some...." the short stranger with a shaggy afro paused abruptly at the sight of handcuffs and two large men wielding long, thick sticks glaring at him with bloody red eyes. Adrenaline kicked in and he fled towards the stairs.
“Is that your friend from Mumias?" Bob asked.
"Yes."
“I know you're wondering how we got information about your illegal business. It's one of your neighbours who came to the station and complained about your daily smoking," David said.
“Now that we have caught you red handed, you are going to spend the weekend in the cell and on Monday, we will take you to court," Bob smiled sadistically.
“Officer, let's just settle this and I promise to quit selling it," Collo replied meekly. He felt a piercing pain in his injured jaw.
“How much do you have?" David asked.
“Two thousand shillings," replied the weed dealer.
His answer earned him a couple of unexpected slaps across his wounded face from Bob.
“Are you trying to insult us?" Bob sneered and raised his hand threateningly.
“No...No.... please! It's all I have, I swear!"
“Then prepare to face the judge on Monday. Get up!"
Collo reluctantly got up and watched Bob and David stash his weed inside a large green polythene bag. David opened the door and Bob pushed Collo and Tony outside. A middle aged lady busy polishing her shoes gasped at the sight of her handcuffed neighbour being frog marched down the corridor.
“Officer, I know where I can get an extra one thousand from," Collo suggested as they neared the bathrooms.
Bob shook his head and said, “Four thousand shillings."
His answer stunned the weed dealer but he still obliged to Bob's demand.
“The money is inside the flat."
They returned to the smoky flat and Collo pulled out a couple of crisp one thousand shillings denomination notes folded under his mattress. The rest were inside his wallet. Bob pocketed the money and fished out the keys from his pocket. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
“Is that another customer?" David asked.
“I don't know," Collo replied.
His answer earned him a slap across his face.
“Tell whoever it is to come back later. This is a serious matter," Bob ordered.
Collo limped to the door still handcuffed to Tony, wincing with every step since the slightest pressure only worsened the intense throbbing pain in his swollen left knee.
“I’m busy right now. Please come back later," he said.
“Collins! It's me, open up!" A female voice demanded. Bob's heart skipped a beat because he recognized it.
“I’m in the middle of something really important Judy!"
“Okay," she responded, hardly concealing the disappointment in her shrill voice.
Bob unlocked the handcuffs when suddenly the heard the steel bolt squeaking. He quickly turned around as the door swung open and his eyes almost popped out of their orbital sockets.
“Bob! What are you doing here? What are those handcuffs for?" Judy Mwikali, Bob's ex girlfriend demanded. Her conspicuous pretty little dark eyes widened with surprise.
“What happened to you?" She gasped in shock at the sight of her boyfriend's swollen and bleeding face.
Judy was 5ft 5 inches, light skinned and had Heena dyed short hair. She was a popular diva among various campus circles known for their flashy lifestyle and extravagant partying. She majored in partying and skipping classes. The young and bold diva joined Kenyatta University in January 2012 as a Computer Science major together with Bob, David and Tony but she opted out after the first semester. She switched to Psychology because it was a much lighter load compared to the grueling, time consuming and headache causing Java, Visual Basic, C++ and other complex coding languages she unsuccessfully struggled with the previous semester. Despite switching her major, her relationship with Robert Kahiu aka Bob remained intact until January 2013. It was all good between them until the day she broke up with him after she confessed to have cheated on him with Collo at a weekend party. What she wasn't aware of was that Bob had come to settle scores with her new boyfriend even though Collins wasn't aware of the damage he caused.
" Let's go," David grabbed Tony and the polythene bag full of Shashamane then frog marched him outside the flat.
“Bob, why is Collo hurt?" She demanded hysterically while rushing to nurse her gory faced lover. Her flying handbag landed Kahiu’s feet.
“You know this officer?" Bob faced her.
She rolled her eyes in disbelief and exclaimed, " Bob is not a police officer! He's a student just like us!
The cat was out of the bag. Bob's menacing face vaporized instantly.
Collo swung a straight right vengeful fist towards Bob but he narrowly missed since his target ducked right on time. Bob kicked Collo's battered left knee, pushed his livid ex-girlfriend aside and fled for his life.