Beverly Hills Maasai Read Online Free Page A

this is the last ticket you’ll ever write.”
    “I’m really, really sorry,” he sputtered. “Really sorry … I didn’t know. I didn’t mean anything … I’m sorry, really.”
    I turned to Nebala. “Is that apology sufficient for you?”
    “He needs to apologize to you, Alexandria, for his harsh words and tone.”
    “I’m sorry to her, too!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t mean anything! Here, let me take that.” He reached out and took the ticket back from me and ripped it in two, and then in four and eight, and dropped the pieces to the pavement.
    I handed him back his radio.
    “Thank you,” I said. “Now is it good?” I asked Nebala.
    He didn’t answer at first. He looked as though he was studying the situation, studying the man. Nebala finally placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Friend. All is good.”
    The man grabbed Nebala’s hand and began pumping it up and down. He reached out and did the same with the other two, and then with me and finally with Olivia.
    “You just sit here as long as you need,” he said. “Do you have to get luggage?”
    “Oh, yeah, luggage,” I said. “Where is your luggage?”
    “Samuel has all our belongings,” Nebala said, motioning to the canvas bag that was on the ground beside him.
    “Talk about travelling light,” Olivia said. “My makeup bag is bigger than that.”
    I looked at the crowd that was surrounding us. It had continued to get bigger and bigger. There had to be hundreds of gawking people, all watching, all waiting for something to happen. And then, through the crowd, I saw two policemen moving our way. I wasn’t going to count on them being as agreeable—or gullible—as the parking control officer.
    “Okay, everybody into the car!” I exclaimed. “Quickly!”
    I picked up the bag—it was heavier than I’d guessed—and tossed it into the back seat. It landed with a metallic clatter.
    “Olivia up front, and the three of you in the back!”
    Olivia opened the door, and I grabbed Samuel and practically pushed him into the back. The other two followed. It wasn’t a very big back seat, and the three of them, their bag, and their shields were all squashed together. Olivia climbed in to the passenger seat, and I circled the car, jumped in, and started it up.
    “Nice meeting you!” the parking control officer yelled out.
    Samuel stood up and waved to him. “Good night,
dude!”
    I squealed away from the curb and Samuel almost toppled out of the car. I looked back through the rear-view mirror. The parking guy continued to wave goodbye. He was now flanked by the two officers. I’d got away without a second to spare.

CHAPTER FOUR
    I kept one eye on the road and the other on the rear-view mirror as we swerved away from the terminal. I was relieved that my backwards glances continued to reveal no police cars following behind. What they did reveal was the reality that there were three Maasai warriors, clutching their shields, in the back seat of my Mustang convertible. Somehow Samuel, who had got in first, had managed to get into the middle. His face, his wide smile, filled the rear-view mirror.
    I turned the mirror, angling it so I could see Nebala.
    “Nebala, this is all a pretty big surprise,” I said, yelling loud enough to be heard over the roar of the wind.
    “No surprise. You invited me, so I came.”
    “I mean I was surprised by you being here now.”
    “Now is the time.”
    I wasn’t sure what that even meant. Was it like Maasai philosophy?
    “I figured you might have called to tell me you were coming.”
    “I did call … That is how you knew to come to the airport to get us,” he said.
    “I didn’t mean call me from the airport. I meant why didn’t you call me from Nairobi and let me know you were on your way?”
    “There was not time. I just found out. We had to come now.”
    “Why now?”
    “It is the time. It is when it will happen.”
    “When
what
will happen?” I questioned.
    “The run … when the run