Claiming Love

4

mistake.

The officer stopped writing and looked at him. His anger showed clearly and Stanley braced himself for what was coming. On second thought he seemed to change his mind and deal with Stanley with a bit of decorum. “Mr. a person is deemed to be missing after twenty four hours of no communication of whatever manner from or about him.”

“Sorry officer, I did not know that,” he said knowing he was telling a lie.

“So now you know. Next time be patient and wait for twenty four hours,” the constable said and closed the OB.

As Stanley walked back to his car he felt very stupid for himself. He had long seen this coming. How did he allow Jennifer to go the whole way and drive Gina out of his home? He was very sure the disappearance of Gina had something to do with his wife’s constant harassment of the young girl; he felt he had let his beloved daughter down. Where could she be? It was now about six o’clock. He hoped and prayed that she would be at home when arrived.

The somber silence that greet him as he entered the house told the same story as when he left, Gina had not come back home. All the guests had left. Young Maria was cuddled in her usual corner in the baby chair trying to make sense of what was really happening. Jennifer had earlier on told her that Gina had gone to visit one of her classmates.

For the first time in his life Stanley knelt beside the master bed and prayed for the safe return of Gina. Very little talk was exchanged until they all retired to bed.

Unknown to Gina fate had granted her a nineteen hour head start advantage of her pursuers.

****

In terms of travel Gina had never gone beyond her former school which was about eight kilometers from home; so finding herself in this almost deserted dirt road in a place she did not know was to say the least frightening but at times strangely exciting; the latter borne out of the realization that she was engaging in an exercise of self preservation. She would continue travelling as far as fate would take her. The few people she met were busy minding their own businesses and no one seemed to care or notice her as a stranger among them. This was a reassuring sign. The road she was travelling on passed through small rural market centers replete with equally small dukas, the Indian-style shops built in the early 1990s by Indian merchants who were constructing the Kenya-Uganda railway.

Almost five kilometers on she came to the main Kisii-Kisumu highway. The fast moving vehicular and human traffic terrified her. She felt exposed. If there is a place my predators are likely to fish me out, this is it! Egged on by this thought, Gina waved down the first public service vehicle she saw approaching her, and without inquiring as to the its destination she boarded hurriedly as if any delay was giving her nemesis the advantage of getting her. She was careful not to draw any attention to herself; she tried to keep calm by thinking about the only peaceful moments she had spent in the last twenty four hours, at Felicia’s. ‘I felt as if she was the mother I never had,’ she felt the warmth in her heart.

Almost twenty minutes later Gina snapped from her reverie by the sound of hooting and crowd noise and looking out of the window she saw that they were in a big town. She wondered where she was and was about to ask the bus conductor when he remembered what her father at one time told her what to or not to do if at any time she found herself in such a situation; ‘do not trust stranger especially if you find yourself some place you do not know. Look around for road sign boards and business premises names and addresses which are usually written on the front of the buildings; more often than not there you will find the name of the town. While doing this you must always behave normally as if you belong there, do not draw attention to yourself.”

 And true to her father’s advice, there at face of one of the buildings selling electronics she saw that she had arrived in the great lakeside city if Kisumu. She hurriedly got out of the bus and headed towards a food kiosk nearby. She was famished and needed to replenish her energy before embarking on her next cause of action. She removed the money Felicia had given her that morning from her handbag and counted it. To her amazement there in her hands was a sum of two thousand shillings in a hundred shilling notes, it was the largest amount of money she had ever held in her hands. She continued to wonder as to what kind of a wonderful lady this Felicia was. She silently thanked God for her.

Kisumu town is the largest metropolis in western Kenya. Its inhabitants’ love for the good life is evident from the time one enters its boundaries. The loud benga and rhumba music rule the airwaves from the local radio stations, men in flashy suits and women clad in multi-flowered silk attire can be seen driving or riding in top of the range SUVs. The central business district is resplendent with shopping malls selling anything from baby toys to cutting edge designer electronics. However, what goes for this city is the ease with which visitors can navigate their way to different destinations; physical planners made the roads network as simple as can be possible for ease of movement.

As she sat down to have lunch Gina felt like everybody in the food kiosk was watching her. This made her uncomfortable and frightened. She told herself, “act normally and do not look like a stranger”. Judging by the massive traffic in and out of the eatery there was no question that this was a popular joint, little wonder then that it was christened The Jackpot. Gina ordered for the most popular cuisine in town, fish and maize dough. Although she felt extremely hungry, she exercised control when the food was brought not to arouse attention to her, carefully going through the motions of eating at a normal pace. Her mind raced as to her next course of action; of cause time was not on her side. The afternoon was wearing off very fast.

Looking around the place Gina could not fail to notice something strangely unique about the staff that were busy going about their different chores, they were all women except for one who, from the uniform he wore, was more likely the chief chef. The dark face plump rotunda of a woman at the pay counter seemed by all means the owner or manager of the place. She kept on issuing instruction to her staff who in turn frantically scrambled to carry them out; all but one; a young lady almost Gina’s age who worked at her own comfortable pace. This interested Gina and she kept throwing glances at the girl whose demeanor exemplified a carefree attitude and a face that told the bitterness of some past experience. Instinctively the young waitress approached Gina at her table and asked if she wanted to order something else.

“No, I am ok,” Gina responded unconvincingly.

“I have not failed to see you stealing glances at me. Can I help you?

“As I said I am ok. But just out of curiosity, what is a young girl like you doing selling food in this place instead of being at school?” she asked and immediately regretted it; it showed all over her face.

“Don’t be sorry for yourself for asking it,” the waitress said and left the lounge and disappeared through a door which Gina surmised should be leading to the backrooms. She appeared about five minutes later and headed to where Gina was clasping something in her right hand which she slid on the table to her. Gina didn’t know what to make of it. She cautiously unfolded the piece of paper and in surprise read the words; meet outside in ten minutes time.

Twelve minutes later the two young ladies were walking towards the bus stage. They had exchanged very few words as the waitress had indicated there was time later to talk about Gina’s situation. They boarded a public transport vehicle commonly known in the local lingua as matatu and Gina noted that from the position of the sun they were moving in a northern direction. At this time of day there was very little traffic and so the journey to their destination took about ten minutes.

Gina’s hostess had a one bed roomed rental in the lower class suburb of Kondele. This was a close-knit society of people whose major preoccupations were mainly working in the fish industry doing menial jobs; there were also those who eked out a living from selling illicit brews and other contraband. A few like Gina’s hostess whose name she came to know was Jerida Achieng’ who worked as waitresses were considered a cut above the rest. However, interestingly enough, this community seemed to be bound by one philosophy, fighting the powers that be for their rights, real or perceived; no wonder then that during every election cycle and season Kondele had always become a hotbed of political violence. It was a period many people feared most and especially for the ones considered non-indigenous whose better judgment always dictated that they leave the area every election period and only come back when everything had been done and the dust settled. 

Achieng’ welcomed her guest to the single room abode furnished with a well spread bed pushed against the wall, at foot of  the bed was small wooden cupboard with a travelling bag placed on top,  in the centre of the room was a coffee table and two stools. A kerosene stove with some utensils neatly placed at one of the corners completed what seemed to be Achieng’s earthly possessions. Gina took one of the stools and sat down.

“Welcome to my humble abode. It is nothing much but I make do. It is my home currently,” Achieng’ started as a way of introduction.

“I am more than honored to be here. To tell the truth I don’t know what I would have done had not come to my rescuer,” Gina said with a lot of conviction. Achieng’ discerned honest in the tone of that statement. But this aroused her curiosity

“I don’t understand how a beautiful girl is out here talking about being rescued. What happened?

“For the last over twenty four hours I have been running from those who have sworn to punished me for mistakes I know very little about,” she responded cryptically.

“I don’t understand. Are you running away from the police? Achieng’ had a wry smile on her well pampered face which did not escape Gina’s notice.

“No, not the police but from my own whom I have always thought to be flesh and blood.”

This was becoming interesting to Achieng’. She thought Gina was deliberately playing on words to arouse her anxiety and eagerness before she told her story. She did not have a care in the world, for she knew, Achieng’ had probably seen more trouble in her lifetime than the girl sitting across from her in the enclosed space. In any case from her guest’s looks she did not seem to be one of those weirdo street people who would at the slightest provocation would suddenly turn on their benefactors and cause serious harm.

“What do you mean by ‘thought-to-be flesh and blood?

“The people I have known as my parents from childhood till now,” Gina said wearily. How many times and to how many people was she going to tell the story of her life? She wondered.

When she was done, Gina coyly inquired on where she could at least freshen up. Her hostess took a plastic basin and towel and other bathing material and signaled her to follow outside where Achieng’ drew some water from a plastic drum filled the basin and led her guest to small exterior washroom at the corner of the residential place.

Moments later cleaned up and feeling some kind of renewal the two ladies sat down for a meal of chapatti and fried beans washed down with a cup of tea. Gina was feeling a sense of unease calm; there was something uniquely unexplainable about Achieng’s behavior. In as much as Gina wanted to hear her story, the steely stare in her hostess’ eyes stopped her from asking. This however did not escape the latter’s attention.

“I know you want to know my story. Do not deny it, it is all over your face,” Achieng’ said nonchalantly. Before Gina could protest or offer some kind of explanation Achieng continued. “I was never like this. I don’t blame you; many people who interact with me for the first time have been kind of drawn away. It does not really give me the creeps; it kind of gives me a sense of control. I have always wanted to be in control of my destiny since the day I was betrayed by the person whom I trusted and believed in,” this last part was spoken with a lot of regrets and bitterness. It showed.

‘Same story different scripts,’ Gina mused to herself and thinking of her and Felicia’s own case

Suddenly Achieng’s face turned thoughtful as one reminiscing about the past and nostalgically trying to relive the past reveling in what was good and damning the bad while trying at the same time to know where the rains started beating her. She shook her head and looked straight at Gina, that wry smile back.

“He was the best thing that had ever happened in my life, or so, I thought. Stewart was a sweet loving young man who swept me off my feet before I completed my high school,” she paused to once again relive that moment in the not so distant past.

The final examinations were two months away and the candidates were rushing to spruce up their academic acts, remove any cobweb clogging there cognitive crenels and properly prepare for the determinant of their destinies. Achieng’, was a bit restless. For the past one month she had found herself in an unfamiliar territory, a budding love relation with the co-gender school’s toast of the moment, Stewart Ottopen, who was arguably every girl’s dream of a perfect lover. Although being in the same class stream with Gina, the two had never engaged in any useful conversation outside the class setting until that fateful day at the ‘candidates’ farewell party. It was a long held tradition in the school where the final year students would meet and freely interact and wish each other success. During this occasion there was an agreed rule among the school’s administration not to be overly vigilant over the institution’s regulations, so the young boys and girls were left to their own devices so long as they never went overboard.

It was here that Ottopen saw his chance of approaching the one person who had been avoiding his passes. He cast his eyes around the party hall and espied Achieng’ having a chit chat with two other girls near the drinks serving area. With a big smile on his face he stealthily maneuvered his way through the mass of humanity milling around and in no time found himself at the three girls’ side.

Reading his intentions, the other two girls swiftly left the scene leaving Achieng’ alone with the Casanova. Feeling betrayed and terribly annoyed she turned around to follow her mates and demand an explanation for such uncouth behavior. Ottopen reacted swiftly, getting hold of her arm and firmly and deliberately pulled her in such a way that her chest fell on his. That was a defining moment in her life. His grip albeit firm felt tenderly so; confusion mixed with the excitement of the moment sent through her a feeling she had never had before, a desire to belong and be held and loved just like a toddler. Like the smooth operator he was Ottopen did not waste time. Just looking at Achieng’s reaction he knew he had his new catch. He wasted no time in leading her to a secluded corner of the hall where, as in a prearranged plan stood two seats waiting for them. As they say ‘one thing led to another’ and the rest is history. Achieng’ was a changed girl after this encounter; wherever she was and whomever she met she didn’t stop to hail her new soul mate in glowing terms. She was to say the least smitten with ‘love’. Ottopen was her world. He in his characteristic fashion did not disappoint but led her along.

On the eve of their last examination paper the two lovebirds had a rendezvous at the school’s playground. Unknown to Achieng’ this was going to be a defining moment in her life. Since it was now an open secret in the institution that the two were lovers, nobody seemed to care about these frequent get-togethers; it had become part of their daily life.

“Tomorrow we part ways,” Ottepen opened the discourse. “What are your plans?

Achieng’ stared at him and she had an ominous feeling. ‘What was this guy planning? Damp her? No! In her estimation Ottopen was a reasonable guy and reasonable guys do not leave their girlfriends if at all, before consummating their relationship. She intended to hold on to this man whatever the cost. At that moment she made up her mind to submit to his whims.

“After the examinations, obviously I leave for home,” she said unconvincingly. “What about you?

“I intend to visit some friends, have some fun and maybe after that I will decide my next step,” he said the disarming smirk on his face.

“That is good for you,” she sounded downcast. “I will miss you darling,” Achieng’ did not believe she uttered the last word. It was the first time she had done so since they began dating. She felt like a heavy load had been lifted from the pit of her heart.

Ottopen saw the opening. “Honey, I will miss you too. But...” he did not complete the sentence.

“But what …? She felt it coming.

“Don’t you think we should share one more moment together away from the hustles of academia? My friends will be throwing a party for colleagues and I am sure each will be with their partners,” he said suggestively.

“I can see where you are going and the answer is a big NO! Achieng’ said without any conviction in her voice.

“I take the emphatic response to mean a big YES,” was Ottopen’s response, doing very little to hide his excitement.

“You devil you always have a way to read my mind,” she was equally excited. “But I have conditions of my own.”

“Name them and my princess I will be at your command,” he said without caring what was coming.

She looked at him suspiciously. ‘What could this tall well-built handsome man be planning?

“I am attending the party if one, it is a real party and two I will leave early enough to arrive home in good time so as not to arouse any suspicions in my old people. Remember they expect me home tomorrow.”

“Then it is a deal. Just having you beside me is great enough,” he said with glee.

The occasion was attended by ten ex-students, so Achieng’ thought. Each of the five couples seemed to be glued to their partners. The scenes looked to Achieng’ like having been choreographed; for was only the male partners who were serving the girls with drinks to a point of coercing the tumblers to their mouths. This is a scene Achieng’ would recall hours later and regret as to why it never raised the red flag in her.

By the time lunch was being served Achieng’ was starting to feel groggy. Her eyes became frosty and her mind struggling to construct some sense of the happenings around her. Then she passed out.

She was supposed to be in a get-together party thrown by her boyfriend’s friends but the aura of meticulous medical tests and examinations she was undergoing from a coterie of persons all dressed in what looked like hospital gowns accompanied with the strong smell of medicines made her feel like living a nightmare she could not wrap her hands round. In a fleeting moment lying on that bed she looked round the room to see if she could recognize or notice anything familiar that would give her an idea of where she was. It did not take long. The room was full of other beds with people in them; some taking their drugs, others undergoing some test or other while others were getting injections. She was in a hospital! She slid into unconsciousness again.

The voice was faint but distinct. Her body ached and made her mind alternate between sub consciousness and unconsciousness. “Achieng’ my dear wake up. Mama is here,” the voice came again and this time it was clear; it was her mother calling. She struggled to wake up. By sheer will and immense innate power she sat up and looked round; her mother Neria was standing there wells of tears running down her cheeks. She could not help it albeit with the excruciating physical pain, but join in the teary episode. When it was all over mother and daughter were in each others’ arms in a bitter-sweet embrace that had to be broken up by the nurse on duty due to concerns of the patient’s condition.

***

The five days after Neria’s visit to her daughter in hospital were without a doubt, a period of dystopia in hellish limbo. Achieng’ knew after this period she had to go back home and come face to face with reality; shameful as it would be she had to come clean with her father, a respected man of the cloth who always wasted no opportunity to remind his congregants of the importance of leading a holy life that would serve as good examples to their families.