"FOREVER AMEN - CHUI..."

THE GODS NEVER CAST THEM OUT...

It was Tuesday and Robert had gone to Zimmerman to pick Brian up for school as he had earlier promised to see him off. The three days he had spent with him had already seen them being good friends. Nilla was happy for her brother. She helped Brian prepare for school too, as she reminded him of how lazy he had been at school work. Brian had never experienced this comfortable side of life. He was so happy. Nilla saw it. The tough blows life had delivered in colossal sums before were the motivating factor for leaving Brian be much as she would want him to study during the very short half-term holiday.

The chauffeur pulled over at the bus stage where Brian would take the bus to school. It would be a twelve-hour drive to school, but it would not be so boring as there were five more boys who went to the same school as Brian. They were senior to him, so Nilla and Robert asked them to take care of Brian on their way to school. “ Young man, this is your pocket money for the term.” Robert said as he handed Brian ten thousand shillings. “ Nooo!… no, that's waaayyy too much, Chui, no” Nilla said as she pushed the notes back to Robert’s hands."Thank you so much Robert, you have done more than enough for my sister and I, also, I’m sorry I cannot take money that’s more than our house rent for pocket money." Brian said. “ Whaaat! How much do you guys pay for… anyway, how much should I give him then? How much do you want?” Robert said as he looked at Nilla, then at Brian. Give him a thousand shillings. I know it’s still much considering he has got too much shopping for someone going to school..” Nilla said. Robert gave him three thousand shillings, then gave the boys who were traveling to school with him another three thousand to share amongst themselves. After listening to Brian’s stories about bullying in school, he thought paying for his protection in school would be a good idea. “ Son of mama, listen, you did not study at all during the holiday, please, do not forget the promise you gave me when you first joined high school. Please, promise me you will not forget that education is important.” Nilla told her brother. “ I promise you that I will work hard. I promise you too, Robert, that I will give school my best.” Brian said.

“ I believe in you. Please give it your best shot and just know we will be here for you should you need anything.” Robert said.Brian bid them goodbye as he entered the bus.

Nilla and Robert were on their way back to Nilla’s place. “ Short one, how much do you pay for rent? I mean if ten thousand is more than it, can only imagine how much it is...” Robert said.

“ Just know Jesus loves you dear earthling” Nilla always answered questions with answers that made no sense whenever she was being silly. They laughed hard. Her friendship was easy, and the laughter was always so natural. Robert really enjoyed her company. He had never had a female friend with whom he bonded. “ I will soon get my first paycheck from Plutex, and I am planning on using a part of it for moving. I really want a two-bedroom house now. Having my own room and Brian his own would be an achievement. Thank you for everything you have done for me. I’m sorry I do not know what to get a man like you, to show my gratitude. I pray a lot for you, Chui.” Nilla said with her face making an attempt to spell every word she spoke. Robert had saved her. He had introduced her to things she had never imagined.

“ Your hard work contributed greatly to your growth too. Keep growing. And ooh, your English is getting better!” Brian said as he tried getting Nilla out of the I-would-have-died-without-you moment. He was not having any expectations of ever being paid. He had come to like Nilla and also liked her brother too.

They got to Nilla’s place. Nilla knew Robert had come to love her biryani, a Swahili dish which included rice and a thick curry of the cook's choice. That’s what she had planned to make him for lunch. They weren’t going to work, and she thought she would make him lunch before he went back to his place. It was an afternoon full of laughter and fun for them. Nilla then realized that it was getting late, and the driver was also getting bored. She had invited him earlier to have lunch with them. He declined to join them but instead asked Nilla if she could take it to him in the car, which she did. “ There is no way I’m going back to that empty house, you know.” Robert said. He decided he would spend the night at Nilla’s house. The chauffeur was released. He had to take the car back to Robert’s place as Nilla’s place was not safe at all. They spent the night watching movies and talking about their lives. Nilla kept Robert up to date on how she had been faring at work. She was giving it her best shot. She had come to learn that Wi-Fi could be installed in homes for personal use at a pocket-friendly budget. She told Robert that she was considering it for her English classes. It was also in the middle of their chat when she mentioned that she would one day want to go back to school and maybe take a course in the position that her friendship with Robert had birthed.

The two were dead asleep in the middle of the night when Nilla heard Robert make a distressing noise… she quickly rushed to the switch which was on the same wall as the toilet light switch. She saw a rat. Rats were a very normal thing where Nilla lived. The careless behavior of dumping garbage anywhere was the main contributor to the increase in the rats. The residents, however, had become used to living with rats. Poverty has got a way of making people make room for anything, as long as they survive the present day. Nilla and Brian had lived with rats before in Mombasa. In fact, when they moved to Nairobi, they would even compare the different behaviors of the rats. They loved the ones in Nairobi as they would not eat clothes and people’s feet. The only strange thing about them was their big size. At first, Nilla thought she saw a kitten, only to find out it was a rat. The ones in Mombasa were tiny and very overwhelming. It was possible for one to have up to ten of them in the house at the same time. The ones of Nairobi, however, would only eat food and were not easy to find so many at the same spot.

Nilla saw the rat, she rushed to grab it with her bare hands. Robert watched in disbelief. He was perplexed and had never seen such a thing. Nilla walked to where Robert was. “ Wanna say hi?” She asked as Robert folded his hands and feet, moving to the edge of the bed in protest.He had slept on the upper bed where Brian would sleep. Nilla laughed. She opened the door and threw the rat down through the balcony.

“ What did I just witness?” Robert asked Nilla, his eyes and eyebrows raised. Nilla bit her lips then rubbed her thumb on her forehead.” I’m so sorry, I might have forgotten to mention that bit of living here. Pole sana” Nilla apologized in Swahili. “ When are you planning on moving again? If I remember correctly, you said you were planning to move, so, when might that be, short one?” Robert asked, still looking confused. Nilla had to promise him that she would move the following week. She would get her first ever pay as she had finished her first month at Plutex Global Company.

The following morning, the two got up to prepare for work. There was no water from the shower. Nilla had to warm water and put it in a basin for Robert to take a bath. “ I know this will be your last time visiting me, you keep witnessing trauma after trauma “ Nilla said while laughing. Robert laughed back. He was given a pair of bathroom flip-flops and a clean towel as he headed for the bathroom. He finished and then it was Nilla's turn.“ As you dress up, I’ll go take a bath too,” Nilla said as she carried her pail of water to the bathroom. Robert had to wait for her outside as she dressed up, after she was done bathing. She definitely needed a proper house, the family had grown.

Robert’s driver came to take them to Robert’s place, where Robert would change his clothes since he had not carried any to change at Nilla’s place. “ Yeah, shake off the ghetto trauma son” Nilla said as they both burst out laughing. “ I still can’t believe you held a rat in your hand, goodness! As if that’s not enough, you tossed it in the air and watched it fall!” Robert said as he laughed and gasped for air. “ You are a true brother Nini” he kept laughing. “ Next time, I’ll let the rats scratch you, keep laughing" Nilla said as she punched Robert on the shoulder. “ By the way, I will be leaving for Johannesburg tomorrow in the afternoon. I really didn’t expect it to be this abrupt,” Robert said. He had a very busy schedule for the next two months. His friends had also been trying to reach out to him, they always had fun traveling the world, basking in the company of women of different cultures. It was almost a month since Robert had caught up with his boys. The squad needed him for it to become a full circle.They prepared and left for work.

Nilla received her first paycheck since she joined the Plutex Global Company. Her paycheck was a dream that she never thought would ever come to pass. She went on a total shut down after seeing her bank balance. She cried. Tears of joy. Tears of gratitude to the gods. She decided to give Robert a call. The two had never talked for two days since Robert left for South Africa. Robert did not pick up, so Nilla decided to leave him a message: Hello Robert, I hope you landed safely. I called to tell you thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me. Your friend here is grateful. Have fun.

Nilla had been scouting for a house. One of her junior teammates had told her of a gated community, directly opposite where her aunt lived. Nilla had gone to check it out. It was in a very different and far place from Zimmerman, where Nilla lived. The place was in a very different community, where the middle-class people of the country lived. There was no garbage dumped everywhere, there was no loud music, there were no stray dogs roaming around and there were no rats in sight. The rent was five times what Nilla had been paying in Zimmerman. The children there had a play area and vehicles were instructed to be moving at twenty kilometers per hour as there were children playing. Nilla had never been to this part of the city, but one thing was sure, she really loved it. Lang'ata was a place where fairly rich people lived and next to it was Karen, a leafy suburb where rich people also lived, just like Kileleshewa. Nilla would be happy to be emancipated from poverty at all levels. She would really love to live in a place where security would not be an issue. The following day was a Sunday, Brian’s school would allow them to call home. She would ask him if at all it was a good idea for them to move to an expensive neighborhood. She really wanted this new place, it would bring an end to the struggle life. It would place her at the level she had always dreamed of, a level where she would finally get to live and not survive anymore. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind… Sarah! She always had the perfect words to say for every moment. She called Sarah. Just as always, Sarah encouraged her that there was nothing wrong with wanting to live a good life. She was very happy for Nilla and talked her through saving money and how she would spend her salary, which was way more than what she was used to. Sarah helped Nilla breakdown how much she would save by moving from Zimmerman, which was very far from where she worked. It had never occurred to Nilla that walking for thirty minutes to work then taking a bus for another thirty was time-consuming. She had never had a friend like Sarah before. How would she know? Sarah had told her to move, she trusted her judgment. She left Lang'ata for her house in Zimmerman after paying for the rent and deposit. She got home and started parking.

Being a Sunday, Nilla had hired a pickup to pick up her household items, which were not many. She moved to a new neighborhood. Her belongings were too small compared to the new home. Her house seemed like a hall. There was an echo which confirmed that indeed, there was a difference between her previous and present house. That day, Nilla spent the morning cleaning her new house as she kept checking her watch so that she would call Brian’s teacher once the clock hit twelve noon. She had also taken the pictures of the new house and sent them to Robert too. Noon came and Nilla finally got hold of Brian. He was excited about the latest progress. He asked for Robert and felt a little bad that he was not around and could not speak to him. Brian had also done well in school. His sister was very pleased. She encouraged him to keep being better. Brian, on the other hand, congratulated his sister. He praised her for the strength she had shown. He thanked her for letting him withdraw strength from her faith and strong will over the years. They always spoke life into each other. They were never owned, yet the gods never cast them out either.