TASTELESS

CHAPTER TWO

"I will tell you when we get to the house. Kayla, I need you to stay with us a little longer, more than a week" Mercy says as she negotiates through traffic in the CBD.

"You already know that is impossible Mercy. Even baba Vin would not be comfortable with that." Kayla responds.

"Are you serious now? Who rejects such a lucrative opportunity? I will be dropping you at your workplace every day, no rent, no bills. Come on!" Mercy replies. Kayla looks at her with widened eyes. She doesn't understand why her cousin is sounding good all of a sudden. She is not used to this kind of generosity, especially from Mercy.

"Well, I need to be independent. You know living with you guys will affect my independence." Kayla responds.

"You will have your room and all privacy Kayla. This will even help you save money. Can you imagine renting a house all by yourself, no company, no TV? Besides, you will not stay with us forever, it is for a few months or a year." Mercy replies.

"Well, I will have to think about it," Kayla responds and looks away through the window. The new car is swiftly cruising out of the CBD into Thika road.

"How is everyone at home?" Mercy asks.

"People are good, but grandma has not been feeling well. You people decided to never come home. She always asks about you and when you will go to see her." Kayla responds.

"It is not my wish. Baba Vin always insists that we go to their upcountry." Mercy replies.

"You should tell him that you also have a family. It has been years since I saw you in Bugoma." Kayla says.

"Which family? My family is in Nairobi." Mercy replies while pressing harder on the accelerator to overtake another car.

"Grandma! Mercy, your grandmother is your family!" Kayla responds. Mercy looks at Kayla as if she didn't hear her well.

"After all that she did to my mom?" She asks Kayla.

"Come on! People make mistakes Mercy. I thought you forgave her and forgot." Kayla replies.

"I can't forget it." Mercy replies as she drives fast but carefully along Thika road. Kayla's Dad is the big brother to Mercy's Mom. When Mercy's mom conceived a second child while still in her mother's compound, things took a different turn. Mercy was 5 years old when her grandmother chased them away.

"Pelekea watoto wako baba Yao." The grandmother said. They went and settled in Kisumu town where her mom would sell fish to buy them food. Fortunately, a wealthy tycoon fell in love with her mother and married her as the second wife, then relocated them to Nairobi.

"And how is Alvin?" Kayla asks. Alvin is Mercy's young brother.

"Alvo ako poa. He is going to Australia for studies." Mercy replies.

"Oooh, I didn't know that," Kayla says.

"Wacha tu aende. Amekuwa kichwa ngumu siku hizi.(let him go. He has been rude nowadays)" Mercy responds as she changes lanes to the service one near Roysambu.

"Ubaya wa soft life," Kayla replies and looks outside through the window pane. To her, Roysambu looks different. The last time she was here, TRM was still under construction. She is astonished by how fast the place has changed.

"How much is the salary?" Mercy asks. She is now driving fast along Kamiti road.

"20k tu. But they said if my work is good, they would raise the pay." Kayla responds.

"You are so lucky, my first ever job I was paid 8k. I only worked for two months and left." Mercy replies. Before Kayla could say anything, Mercy's phone blasts with a Luo ringtone. She picks it and starts talking.

Kayla looks away through the window. She seems amazed looking at people walking along the way. It is around 6 in the evening.

'One day I will buy myself a car so that I don't have to walk every day from my job' she tells herself, then looks back at her cousin, who is still on phone.

'I want to be like her.' she tells herself. Kayla has always had this feeling that one day she would become super-rich. Although she was raised in the village, her dream is to live in Nairobi.

'I've stayed in the village enough. I don't want to ever go back there.' she tells herself. After finishing high school, Kayla wanted to attend university in Nairobi so badly. Her dream school was Kenyatta University. But that never happened. She joined the University of Kabianga instead.

"I will call you later," Mercy says as she hangs up and steers the car away from the road and slowly approaches a big gate.

"These apartments are beautiful," Kayla says.

"Baba Vin wanted us to relocate. I refused." Mercy replies as she drives through the gate.

"Why did you refuse? Maybe he had a better option." Kayla asks.

"Ni kuharibu pesa tu, hakuna kitu ingine.(wasting money, nothing else.)" Mercy responded as he parked the car. As they took out Kayla's bags from the car's trunk, a 4 years old boy runs up to them.

"Vincent, where is daddy?" Mercy asks.

"Ako kwa nyumba." He replies. Kayla does not believe that Vincent is all grown up and knows how to talk.

"Amekuwa mkubwa. Hadi anajua kuongea." Kayla says. Vincent does not seem to recognize her.

"He is a big boy now. Let us get inside." Mercy replies as she held Vincent's hand and leads them into the house. She walks past the living room and gets into one of the bedrooms.

"What a big house you got!" Kayla says.

"All this room, for you," Mercy says and places Kayla's bags at the corner.

"Thank you so much," Kayla responds.

"I know you are tired, the shower is here," Mercy says as she points to the bathroom. All that time, little Vincent is cluelessly looking at Kayla.

"I will do that. And before I forget, there is maize in that bag and some yams." Kayla says. Surprised, Mercy looks at Kayla.

"Are you sure about this?" Mercy asks. Before Kayla adds anything, Baba Vin calls Mercy from the living room. She grabs Vincent and walks away, leaving Kayla alone in the room.

'What a beautiful house.' she tells herself. As she changes clothes and gets ready for a shower, she vividly remembers her mom's words,

"Na usikae kwa wenyewe sana. Enda utafute nyumba yako.(don't stay in their home for long. Find your own house)"...(to be continued)