SHEM

Shem hadn’t planned to be awake this long. After breakfast at the staff quarters and a quick shower, he’d tried to lie down to catch a nap, but his mind wouldn’t let him. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he’d seen. Malaika. That guy. The ease in their body language. The hands. The way it twisted something deep in his chest.

So he did what he always did when he needed peace.

He opened his Bible app and began listening to 1 Samuel, David’s wars. It wasn’t long before the pattern of David’s heart started sinking in. David never went to battle without asking God first.

Shem closed his eyes and whispered, “Lord, help me bring this thing to a close. Let this be Japheth’s wedding gift. Let him marry without fear.”

He was still lost in quiet prayer when he heard a knock. He opened the door,  it was Malaika.

“Can I come in?”

The apartment they’d given him had a small living room. She stepped in and sat.

“You’re back already?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” she said. “Midway to the airport, they called to say they’d taken a taxi. Said they were almost home.”

“That’s dangerous,” Shem frowned.

“Nanny’s an ex-soldier. She can handle herself.”

He nodded slowly, watching her. “So… where’s your boyfriend?”

“That’s actually why I came,” she said. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my ex.”

Shem raised a brow. “You didn’t need to come all the way here just to tell me that.”

“I know,” she said, giving a small laugh. “But I still wanted to. It’s not like I even have your number.”

He took her phone without a word and typed in his number.

“There. Now you do.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“So he’s not your boyfriend.”

“No. He wants to be my next. But there’s a reason I left him.”

“Tell me why. You want tea?”

“I’m a coffee girl.”

“Even better,” Shem said, heading to the kitchen.

She looked around. “This place is nice. They should give me an apartment like yours.”

“Don’t change the topic,” he called from the kitchen. “Why did you leave him?”

“He said I was childish. He said a lot of things. And I’m pretty sure he cheated on me… with one of my friends too.”

Shem handed her the mug. “First of all, you’re not childish. Second, any guy that cheats on you is stupid.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think there’s anything special about me.”

He turned to face her fully. “Don’t you ever say that about yourself. You are special.”

She looked away. “Thanks.”

They were silent for a moment. Shem started to say something, then stopped. Malaika stood.

“I should go.”

He nodded. “I need to sleep, anyway.”

She paused. “Actually… Can I stay here? Just the living room. Japheth and Kaweme are doing premarital counseling with their pastor. Kalo is around too. I just want somewhere else to be. Somewhere… quiet.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “I’ll be in the room. I need an hour.”

“I’ll be reading. I have a novel on my phone,” Malaika said.

“Cool. Someone will probably call me in an hour anyway.”

But no one did.

Shem opened his eyes much later, disoriented. The wall clock read 2:00 p.m.

He blinked. Five hours?

And there she was, still on the couch, earbuds in, nodding to some beat, softly rapping the lyrics with a grin on her face.

“You’re still here?”

She pulled one earbud out. “That was the deal, to be here when you wake up. You said you’d sleep for an hour.”

“You’ve been here for five.”

“This place is easy to be in. You don’t know?”

“Weren’t you bored?”

She smiled. “I think I just wanted to be sure you actually rested. Now that I’ve seen it with my eyes, my job here is done.”

She stood and walked toward the door. Shem followed.

“Thanks for telling me about your ex, I think it made me sleep better.” he said softly.

She glanced back. “What is it to you?”

He didn’t answer.

She gave a small smile. “Bye, Shem.”

And then she was gone.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Shem stood by the door, fingers on the handle, almost calling her back.

He didn’t want her to go.

Malaika’s chatter, her light open way of speaking was always comforting. To him, she is like the wind on a tense day. She was the complete opposite of him, and maybe that was why her presence lingered even after she’d stepped out. 

But just as he opened the door to call her back—

His phone rang.

He glanced at the screen. One of the soldiers. He picked instantly.

“Shem here.”

“Sir,” the man said, a little out of breath. “Something strange is happening here. All suspects are at the location. They’re going into their safe house. Together. Sir, we’ve got facial visuals. They’re not sending proxies this time.”

Shem straightened, his voice low but sharp. “Is it a meeting?”

“Likely. And sir—” the soldier lowered his voice. “We think it’s something serious. Tension in their body language. Guard rotation doubled. This isn’t normal.”

Shem’s heart kicked.

“We need a fly on the wall,” he said. “Audio. Eyes. Anything. We need to know what they’re discussing.”

The soldier chuckled. “Already handled, sir. One of ours was stationed inside two days ago as a security guard. His body cam will pick up everything.”

Shem blinked. “You’re serious?”

“Yes, sir. He’ll transmit live the moment he gets a clean setup. Give him five minutes.”

Shem exhaled. “How much do we pay you again?”

The soldier laughed. “It’s an honor to serve, sir.”

“No, no. This isn’t just service. This is war. And you’re liberating my brother. I’ll make sure Japheth knows. Your men will be compensated properly.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As the line ended, Shem didn’t waste a second. He called the Colonel.

“Sir,” Shem said. “We’ve got movement. The big three are in the safe house. Our mole is wired and ready. We’ll be getting live feed.”

There was a pause. Then a gruff breath on the line.

“This is gold,” the Colonel said. “If anything incriminating is said or shown, we move in immediately.”

Shem held back. “Sir, let’s be careful. Unless they’re caught mid-act, conversation alone might not be enough.”

“I hear you,” the Colonel said. “But never say never. Especially with General Mwape backing this op.”

“Yes, sir.”

As the call ended, Shem rang Japheth. He picked up on the first ring.

“Hope I’m not interrupting wedding counseling?”

Japheth laughed. “That was hours ago. I’m just bonding with my future little brother-in-law now.”

“Good. Can you come over?”

“Sure. I was working on something on my laptop. I’ll bring it with me.”

Twenty minutes later, Japheth arrived.

Shem didn’t waste time. He filled him in on everything, the safe house, the movement, the hidden bodycam.

Japheth’s brows furrowed. “You know… I’ve actually been trying to break into my former boss’s cloud drive. I’m pretty sure he’s hiding something in plain sight. If I can just speed this up…”

Shem raised a brow. “Since when did you become a hacker?”

“Since I stopped believing in fairy tales,” Japheth muttered, fingers flying across the keyboard.

Shem laughed. “You’ve always been a whiz.”

Minutes passed. Japheth’s eyes widened.

“Oh-la-la. I’m in.”

“You’re in?”

“I’m in! And this man? He doesn’t even bother cleaning his digital fingerprints. Lord!”

Shem’s eyes flicked to the live feed from the mole’s camera. Something moved.

“Japheth… come here.”

Japheth came around just in time to see it: weapons. Crates of them. AK-47s, shotguns, stacked like they were ready for deployment.

Shem reached for his phone immediately. Dialed the Colonel.

“Sir, they’re not just talking. They’re preparing. Weapons. Military-grade. It’s live.”

The Colonel’s voice turned steely. “Mobilize. I’m en route to the barracks now. You’ll go in with me. But it won’t be just your team, this is bigger. I want ZNS, ZDF, and the police. No missteps.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Shem?”

“Sir?”

“We finish it tonight.”

As the line cut, Shem turned to Japheth, already heading into the room to suit up.

“I’m coming with you,” Japheth said.

“No. Civilians stay back. I need you safe.”

Japheth’s face fell. “Please. Just… be careful.”

“I will.”

There was a pause, heavy, weighted.

“I love you, bro,” Japheth said.

Shem paused. Looked up.

“I love you too.”

It was the first time Shem responded in words.

Japheth pulled him into a quick hug. Then stepped back as Shem zipped up his camo, strapped his vest, and grabbed his comms unit.

As he stepped out the door, the sky was turning grey, as if it, too, was bracing for what was to come.

When Japheth stepped back into the house, he walked straight toward the dining area where Kaweme, Malaika, and Kalo were gathered.

Kalo had wrapped his small arms around both women in one of his signature hugs. “I miss this house,” he said with a soft smile. “But I miss Daddy and Mummy too.”

“Aww,” Kaweme murmured, kissing his forehead. “I miss you too, champ.”

Malaika held him a little longer than usual, as if anchoring herself in the calm before the storm.

Just then, his nanny walked in. “It’s time for lunch, Kalo. You haven’t eaten.”

Kalo glanced at Kaweme. “I want to eat with you.”

Kaweme crouched to meet his eyes. “Not lunch. But how about dinner? You and I. Something really nice. What do you think?”

His face lit up. “Yay!”

“Good,” she smiled. “Now go with Nanny. Your friends will arrive soon.”

That was all he needed to hear. He trotted off, chatting excitedly with Nanny.

As the room grew quiet again, Kaweme turned to Japheth.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, stepping closer. “You look… scared.”

“I wouldn’t say scared,” Malaika said gently. “More like… disturbed.”

Kaweme shook her head. “Yeah. I know what I’m seeing. Something is wrong.”

Japheth exhaled, running a hand over his beard. “I’m not scared. But things just got very serious.”

Malaika stood. “I don’t think I should be here. Let me give you two some space.”

“No, stay,” Japheth said, stopping her. “We need to pray. All of us. I already called Luyando, he’s on his way.”

Kaweme’s brows knit together. “Now you’re scaring me.”

Japheth nodded solemnly. “A breakthrough has happened. Shem and the team… they’re going in today. If things go well, it ends tonight. All of it. But nothing must go wrong.”

Malaika took a step back, hand over her chest. “Oh God… Is Shem going to be okay?”

Kaweme reached for her hand and gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. He’s trained. Experienced.”

Malaika looked at her with wet eyes. “Yes, I know he is. But he’s still human. One bullet is all it takes. These are dangerous men. They killed your driver like he was nothing. Shem can’t… he can’t die.”

Her voice cracked. The tears came fast.

Japheth moved toward her. “He’s my brother. You think I want anything to happen to him? We’ll pray. Come. Let’s go upstairs.”

Malaika wiped her face and nodded. “I’ll join you shortly.”

She walked away.

Japheth turned to Kaweme and opened his arms. She stepped in without hesitation. He held her, and for a moment, they said nothing.

Then Kaweme whispered, “I think she’s in love with Shem.”

Japheth rested his chin on her head. “I don’t think so. I know so. You could feel it in the way she spoke; in the panic. That kind of emotion… it only comes from love.”

Kaweme pulled back slightly. “But do you think he feels the same?”

Japheth shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. But honestly, right now, that’s not what matters. What matters is that this mission is successful. If it is, then they’ll have all the time in the world to explore whatever’s blossoming between them.”

Kaweme nodded. “We just have to pray they don’t make a mistake. That it’s not just… proximity.”

“You mean like forced intimacy because they’ve been around each other?”

“Yes,” she said. “You know how the heart works sometimes.”

“I get that. But this feels different,” Japheth said. “The way Shem looks at her? That’s not casual. I think… I think she’s the first breath of fresh air he’s had in a long time.”

Just then, Japheth’s phone rang. He picked it up quickly.

“Luyando?”

“I’m almost there,” came his voice. “Traffic’s a bit tight. But I’ll join you guys shortly.”

“Alright,” Japheth said. “We’ll start praying. Just come up when you arrive.”

As he ended the call, Kaweme’s voice softened again. “You know, this reminds me of the story in the Bible… Moses and the battle. When his hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur held them up so Israel could keep winning.”

“Yes,” Japheth nodded. “Exodus 17.”

She smiled. “Exactly. Shem may be out there on the field, but we’re the ones holding his hands up in prayer. That’s how we win.”

Japheth took her hand, and together, they began to climb the stairs.