DAR, 1982
A black 3-door SUV Range Rover parked 30 meters away from Isaac Rwehembu’s residence. The half-moon and millions of stars didn’t give much light to brighten the area. Latricia went to spy on the house. His house wasn’t surrounded by any nearby houses. He didn’t have any neighbors. Maybe he was happy, Latricia thought. When you are poor, neighbors close by will not come. Once you become rich, you'll be surprised by visits from relatives afar.
“His wife and two kids are in the sitting room.” Latricia said as she entered the car.
“Isaac?” Rayhan said.
“He’s reading in his library, 10 meters from his house.” Latricia said
“Is everything ready?” Saleem said.
“Yeah…” Rayhan said.
“As planned, I’ll cut off the electric power.” Saleem said, “Rayhan, you’ll have five minutes to set fire on his library and making sure Isaac never walks out. After 5 minutes I’ll turn on the power. Latricia, you’ll drive us out after seven minutes.”
The two nodded. Saleem walked out and headed to the power box. Rayhan peeked on his watch, so did Latricia. After two minutes, the lights went off in Isaac’s house. The two started their stopwatches and Rayhan ran out.
After five minutes, the lights were turned on. An immense fire was seen blazing from Isaac’s library. It would take at least ten minutes for neighbors to reach Isaac’s residence.
In six minutes, Saleem was inside the car. Latricia’s hands were on the steering wheel.
“Where is Rayhan?”
“Not back yet!”
Saleem peeked on his watch, 30 seconds left. “C’mon Rayhan!”
20 seconds left, Rayhan was nowhere to be seen.
10 seconds. Latricia bit her lips, Saleem clenched his fist.
1 second. The only din heard came from a mother and her two kids wailing for help. No footsteps were heard.
“Let’s go!” Saleem said
“One extra minute please…”
“We’ll get caught!”
Latricia gazed over the darkness, her right foot a few inches from the accelerator.
“Lat… we have to go!”
Latricia pulled the handbrake.