Day 2… Gango takes the receipt to the police station this morning to prove to the police that we bought the cement, the police didn’t ask for it but I thought it would button up the situation beyond doubt… stupid me.  It turns out that the police had no right to demand a document of me and he was going to be in trouble.  If I would have just let it be he would have gotten in trouble and we would have gotten our cement back (theoretically).  I was the signature on the paper and it was our stamp on it no questions about it.  But when I bring a receipt, ‘no this is a forgery’ they put Joao Simao in jail for using a forged document.  We have to find a copy of this receipt to prove it is not forged.  I argued venomously with the police over this issue.  It turns out that when Joao Simao gave the receipt to Jo to be put in the books she couldn’t read it well so he just made it a little darker so she could see it. It obviously was the same as before there was no messiness about it that made it look like it had been altered.  It was just that the receipt was written in black ink and Joao highlighted with blue and that was all the police needed.  During the argument I caught the police lying once or twice and pointed out the contradiction, they didn’t like that.  One was that they said the document in question was the receipt and not the one I wrote up, but I pointed out that they refused to release the cement last night saying the documents were not right and the receipt wasn’t given to them till this morning… The police don’t like to be embarrassed.  Then the other was the policeman who stopped the cart denied asking for the document from me even though this conversation happened in front of 4 people he still denied it and the chief of police didn’t seem to care.  I asked them why then would I go home make a document bring it back then you not release the cement on the basis it was a forgery?  Why wouldn’t I have just come straight to the police station to talk with the chief?  Why would I go home and draw up a document from myself to prove I was saying what I was saying???  The stupidity of it all was amazing, but like I said the police don’t like to be embarrassed.

          It is now noon, I have to go back to the store where we bought the cement and ask for another receipt to prove the one at the police station is not a forgery… the store is closed, he’s not there and so I wait, Joao sits in jail… The store opens at 2 and the owner does come in, he won’t be there till 5 so I wait… Joao sits in jail… Gango is very good at what he does he just sat in the police station very humbly pleading with the police, Joao apologizes for ‘doctoring’ the receipt, at around 4 the police say that Joao can sleep at home our cement sleeps at the police station, bring the other receipt tomorrow.

          I’m glad Joao is out of jail, wondering what tomorrow will bring very wound up don’t sleep well matter of a fact it’s raining hard all night very noisy on a tin roof I finally fall asleep around 4 30 only to wake up to start breakfast for the boys at 5 30.

          Day 3

          5 30 coffee and breakfast, put pans on for hot water chuck yesterdays coffee grains outside around the house (ant repellant) … Hey where are all the steel beams for the construction for the house 6 beams are gone??????  We’ve been robbed.  I go back in to continue with breakfast because I know there is nothing I can do about it.  I go into the pantry to make the porridge for the boys… no sugar no rice no flour no oil no soap… even the water filter is gone.  I make my coffee.  I go to sit down to read, the chairs are gone…

          Everyone is awake now hard to talk because the rain is still pouring down and nobody can hear what the other is saying… but the general opinion is that you shouldn’t embarrass the police.  If this is true it would not be the first time and it is common knowledge that the police and thieves are in each others pockets, call it a working relationship.

          It is not even 8 am and this day is already a whopper, we still have to go in and resolve the thing of the cement with the police… will they be gloating?  Do we even say anything to them about us being robbed.  Even if they aren’t involved will they even help?  Or will it just be another avenue to ask for money?  

          I’m not going to say anything to them.

          My boys are out in pouring rain trying see if they can find anything… good lads they are, wish I didn’t like them so much, I be outta here in a heartbeat.