The Rain Catcher
Jack, the strange dog had nurtured her babies and they had grown to be lovely dogs in the neighborhood. When John lost his job following the strange events in the organization and on the street where he lived, he engaged in a small business of selling dogs. His saving grace was the same dog that was once abandoned in the market. He made money from the sale of Jack's puppies. He however had fun playing with the puppies before they were sold.
Meanwhile, the government of Buenos had finalized arrangement to receive the President of one European country who planned to visit.
When the President finally arrived, the whole country was in festive mood. The aircraft that brought the foreign Head of State landed at the airport at about eleven o'clock in the morning. Many government officials were at the airport to welcome the visitor and to usher him into the city where he was expected to commission a project that involved his country and the government of Buenos. Military men were at the airport to give the customary gun salute. As the visiting President was reading his address, people noticed that the cloud was gathering above the city. At first, they thought the cloud would not pose much threat. But the host President was worried that the rain might fall despite the fact that the rain catcher was paid and he promised to hold the rain in the sky. Buffalo who was the official rain catcher of the government was also at the airport and he too was equally worried that the cloud was gathering.
After the visiting President's address, the soldiers gave him a twenty-one-gun salute and from there, he was driven to the main city about ten kilometers away. Before they could cover five kilometers, rain began to pour down in torrents. Buffalo was very worried where he was at the venue of the airport ceremony. The rain also fell on him despite the fact that he was the one who said few weeks earlier that he had power to hold rain in the sky. He stood at a corner of the airport complaining bitterly.
"What kind of disgraceful rain is this?" He asked himself as the rain continued to fall.
The government officials were worried that the rain would mar the programs of the day and it may not be possible to give the visiting president a befitting welcome as they planned. The rain drove many people that lined both sides of the road to wave at the President into their homes. The host President was very bitter in his car as they drove to the venue of the commissioning of the project. He thought that he had to remove his officials from office for tricking him with Buffalo and making him to believe that there was someone who could prevent rain from falling during the visit. There was thunder and lightning in the sky as the rain continued to fall. The two officials who paid Buffalo to hold the rain in the sky were very furious where they stood. They vowed that as soon as the rain stopped, they would ask the police to pick Buffalo for making false claim and promise to the government. Key government functionaries used umbrellas to cover the visiting President and his host before they could conclude the program.
After the commissioning, the host accompanied the visiting President to the airport and he flew back to Europe. Minutes later, the police stormed Buffalo's house with the two officials who paid him to catch the rain. He was arrested.
"What have I done?" Asked Buffalo as if he was unaware of the problem.
"Do you know us?" Asked the two government officials who had earlier visited him.
"Yes I know you," answered Buffalo.
"If you know us then you have committed an offence," said one of them.
"You promised that you will hold the rain in the sky and it will not fall today and you failed after we had paid you to hold the rain," said one of the officials.
"Things do go wrong sometimes. We are human beings and we are not perfect," said Buffalo.
"What do you mean?" Asked a policeman
"I am not God who made heaven and earth. It was true that I promised to hold the rain but God who made the clouds and rain decided to pour His rain back on earth. Is that an offence?" Asked Buffalo.
"God poured it on earth?" Asked a furious official.
"Yes he did! And there was nothing I could do when God was ready to pour it back," Buffalo said.
"And there was nothing you could do?" Asked a policeman.
"Yes. Have you seen where the god of thunder and lightning has struck before? If you have seen it you would not ask me to counter the Almighty when he was ready to pour His rain on earth," said Buffalo as he was led away by the officials.
"But we paid you, and you promised you could hold it," they said furiously.
The police put Buffalo behind bars that day, while the president called his officials. He demanded to know what happened to the money approved for Buffalo to catch the rain. They explained to him that they actually paid Buffalo but they were also angry that Buffalo failed to honor his own side of the deal to hold the rain and he had been detained by the police. The president was happy that Buffalo had been detained and he sent a message to the Police Chief in the area that he was particularly interested in the case and the outcome.
Many people did not expect the news that there was a sudden change of government in Buenos. The truth however was that there was a coup de tat.
The news spread around the world that soldiers had toppled the government.
The soldiers played martial music on radio and television trying to convince the people on why they toppled the previous government. But no one believed them. What sounded more intriguing was one of the excuses given for the change of government.
The excuse was that the previous government was toppled because large sums of money was paid into the account of a Rain Maker to help the deposed government catch rain during a state function. The soldiers alleged that this was a ploy to divert public funds.
Buffalo was still being held in detention at the time that the coup took place.
No one was in doubt that the soldiers were referring to the celebrated case they read in the media about Buffalo who was paid for the rain that he could not stop from falling. Apart from accusing the old government of failing to catch the rain, the new Head of Government who led the mutinous soldiers lambasted the deposed government for causing the country's economic problems. In his address to the people, he said:
" I saw the former President in my dreams. He went to the European country whose President visited the other day and pleaded in the country's Central Bank that he was looking for someone to buy our country. Yes, he wanted people to come and buy this country. I saw him in my dreams, and he said he was going to keep the money in the Swiss Bank and that he will run away from the country in future and enjoy the loot with his family."
This was the kind of bizarre story that emanated from the lips of the new president. It was a story that was unheard of anywhere in the world and he said it with seriousness. This however did not matter much to the citizens since they did not have the power to confront the soldiers that seized power.
From the moment the government took over power, many people suspected to be opponents of the government were rounded up. Many of them were innocent. John was at home with Hain on the day of the coup. They saw the new leader on television and were equally amazed by the utterances of the coup leader. They were also surprised about his excuse for seizing power.
However, few days later, John was arrested at home. It was a big shock to Hain when he saw his friend being led away that night when they came to arrest him. Anyone could be picked during and after coups if they are suspected of having links with perceived enemies. But John's arrest was unjust. He was not a soldier and he had no links with them. He was also not a politician. No one knew how he got into trouble until he was sent to the interrogating officer. The interrogating officer was later found to Juliet's brother who had vowed to teach John a lesson for dumping his sister. Where John was being kept, the soldiers chained his legs saying that this would prevent him from escaping.
"You will pay dearly for what you did to Juliet. Now is my time and we are in power. I will seize this opportunity to deal with you," said the soldier.
That was when he knew where his problem was coming from.
A State of Emergency was declared in the country. It meant that civil rights had been removed and people could be detained under trumped up charges. One night, while sleeping, John again saw rats in his dream. It was when he woke up in the morning that he could make the connection and found out that his dream of rats had come to reality. He realized that the rats that seized power were the ones he saw in his previous dream.
The following day, he was brought before someone who interrogated him. The man did not ask him questions about Juliet but untrue stories about his involvement in something that did not take place.
"What do you know about the rain catcher's money?" Asked the interrogator.
"I do not know anything about the rain catcher," answered John.
Such is the antic of interrogators who want to implicate innocent people. When the interrogator realized that John did not fall into his trap, he barked at him.
"Let me tell you something that you do not know. This is no man's land. You are at my mercy and I am capable of doing anything here. I will make sure you rot in jail," the interrogator swore.
John was stricken with fear. He thought that the end had come. He looked at the face of the man interrogating him and begged him for forgiveness. The man did not have any thought of pity. He already had a mandate. He asked John if he was ready to marry Juliet. To secure his release, John agreed that he was going to marry Juliet.
"I will waste you and your parents will not be able to see you again. I will waste you and lie to the world that you committed suicide in the cell!" the man vowed.
John shivered. He was really terrified. The interrogator saw this in him and he continued to bark orders at him as he questioned him further. After one hour of interrogation that day, he was taken back to his cell where there was one wretched mattress on the floor. When Juliet learned about John's arrest, she was not surprised that her brother would go to that length.
John was made to sign an undertaken to marry Juliet and take care of the baby before he was released from the detention center. When he got home, he discussed with Hain that it had become very urgent for them to run away from
Freedontown.
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