Kaseke met them at a tea stall near the road leading to the plot. He did not wait for Juma to arrive. He stood beside the table, holding a blue folder and a phone crowded with messages.
“I have postponed completion for twenty-four hours,” he said. “I haven’t cancelled the agreement.”
Amina sat down first.
“We want to see every page that was signed.”
Kaseke put the folder on the table, but kept his hand on the cover.
“I thought Juma had the authority.”
“Why did you think that?” Neema asked.
“He had the documents, the keys and all the details. He said his sisters knew about the process.”
Halima looked at Juma.
“We didn’t know.”
Juma did not answer. He looked down the road, then pulled out a chair.
Kaseke opened the first page. It described the plot, the date of the preliminary agreement, the deposit amount and the completion deadline. Beneath it, Juma’s name was written as the family’s representative.
Amina read it twice.
“There are no signatures from the rest of us.”
“Juma said he would bring the final signatures,” Kaseke said.
“How did you pay the deposit?”
“I sent the money to the account I was given. The reference said ‘Mhando plot.’”
Juma said, “I wanted to make sure the money wouldn’t be lost.”
Amina turned to him.
“Which account held the deposit?”
Juma opened his phone, but Kaseke spoke first.
“The money came out of my account after I paid it. I was told Juma would complete within seven days.”
“Did you receive an estimate of the plot’s value?” Neema asked.
Kaseke took out a paper stamped by an estate agent.
“The broker told me the price was good because I was ready to act quickly.”
Amina took the paper. Two other estimates on the side listed higher amounts. The difference was substantial.
“Who is this broker?” Halima asked.
“His name is Rashid. Juma introduced us.”
Juma moved the folder.
“Rashid had helped at the shop before. He knew people in the area.”
“Knowing people is not the same as setting a price,” Amina said.
“I needed a buyer who would wait a little.”
“You needed a buyer who would agree quickly.”
Juma’s jaw tightened.
“The debt was closing in.”
“And the price was dropping.”
Kaseke raised both hands.
“I didn’t come here to hear you argue. I put down my money because I was promised a clear transfer. If the family disagrees, I don’t want to enter a dispute.”
Amina looked at him.
“We are asking you not to complete until we verify authority and value.”
“That is why I paused for twenty-four hours. After that, the broker wants his expenses.”
“What expenses?”
Kaseke showed them Rashid’s message. It listed travel, an inspection and paperwork preparation, but there were no receipts.
“We cannot count undocumented claims as a family debt,” Neema said.
Before Kaseke could answer, Rashid appeared behind the stall. He wore a white shirt buttoned to the collar and carried a thin envelope.
“I heard you were looking for documents.”
Juma stood.
“Who called you?”
“I helped Kaseke get here. I brought the two sides together.”
Amina did not invite him to sit. “We need your service agreement and receipts for expenses.”
Rashid gave a crooked smile.
“A family can’t finish a deal if every piece of paper requires a meeting.”
“A family can’t sell a plot if every paper is hidden,” Amina replied.
Kaseke looked at Rashid.
“You told me Juma would bring the final signatures. Did you tell him the price might improve if we waited?”
Rashid looked at the folder.
“The price was agreed.”
“And two estimates showed a difference,” Amina said.
“Estimates are not the market price.”
“Then we will ask for a third estimate.”
Rashid turned to Juma.
“I told you your family would start delaying things.”
Juma stood as well.
“Don’t direct me in front of them.”
“I told you the truth. You said time mattered.”
“Don’t bring private matters into this.”
Amina felt the air shift. Rashid was not simply a broker waiting for his fee. He had known Juma was in a hurry before the rest of them knew the whole debt.
“How did you know Juma was in a hurry?” Amina asked.
Rashid turned to her.
“He told me.”
“Why?”
“Because I was finding him a buyer.”
“Why did he choose you?”
“I knew his father.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
Rashid folded the envelope.
“Every family has its business. I brought a buyer.”
“And you recommended this price?” Neema asked.
“I recommended a price that would make the transaction move quickly.”
“Why did speed matter more than value?” Halima asked.
Juma tapped the table with his fingers.
“Because we had a debt.”
Rashid fell silent. Kaseke watched Juma as if he had finally heard an answer he had not been given at the start.
Amina opened a photograph of the SACCO contract on her phone but did not show Rashid the details.
“The debt belongs to Father. The plot is family security. No one person had authority to promise a transfer in seven days.”
Rashid said, “Family matters are not my concern.”
“But your fee depends on this agreement.”
“I did the work.”
“Then let us see it in the documents.”
Rashid put the envelope on the table.
“My expenses are in here.”
Amina opened it. Inside were two fuel slips, a copy of the boundary inspection and a printed message. There was no service contract signed by the family. In one message Juma had written: **Make it quick. Don’t bring up the debt.**
Neema read it aloud.
Juma raised a hand.
“That message was between Rashid and me.”
“And it was about everyone’s property,” Amina said.
Juma sat down. His voice grew quieter.
“I wanted Kaseke to complete before the SACCO statement reached a worse stage.”
“And you wanted us not to know,” Halima added.
“I knew you would stop everything if you knew.”
“Because we should have stopped it,” Amina said.
Kaseke closed his folder.
“I am suspending completion. I won’t send any more money until I have proof of everyone’s signatures.”
Rashid stood angrily.
“What about my fee?”
“We will review it,” Amina said. “But it won’t come from the rent or deposit until we know what work the family authorized.”
Rashid looked at Juma for a moment, then left without saying goodbye.
Kaseke gave them a copy of the preliminary agreement and the deposit message. Amina made sure they photographed every page in front of everyone. Juma did not try to stop her.
As they walked toward the plot, Halima opened Kaseke’s message again.
“The low price did not help only the debt,” she said. “It helped the buyer too.”
“And Rashid got a quick fee,” Neema added.
Juma said, “I didn’t plan to deceive Kaseke.”
“But you gave him half the information,” Amina replied.
They reached the plot. Grass had grown long along the bent fence. Kaseke had already left, but tyre tracks marked the earth.
Amina stood in the middle of the land and looked toward the side road.
“Father wanted the shop to survive,” she said. “He never wrote that Juma—or anyone else—should sell the plot at the first price.”
Juma let out a breath.
“I thought if I cleared the debt, you would congratulate me.”
“Maybe we would have thanked you for telling us,” Neema said.
“And if I had told you and you refused?”
“Then we would have found another plan.”
“And if no other plan existed?”
Amina turned to him.
“Then we would decide together what to sell, at what price, and why. What you did was not that you wanted to pay the debt. You made fear your private secret.”
Juma looked at the ground.
A new message came to Amina’s phone from Kaseke.
**I WILL PAUSE COMPLETION. BUT RASHID SAYS HE WILL FILE A FEE CLAIM AGAINST THE FAMILY.**
Beneath the message was an image of a paper Rashid had sent to Kaseke.
The last line made them all go quiet:
**THE BROKER WAS APPOINTED BY A FAMILY RELATIVE, NOT BY ALL THE CHILDREN.**
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