THE CITY OF PANDORA

chapter 3: Crushed by life.

The training ended at eight and I left immediately.

I was lucky today I managed to catch my favourite bus commonly known as "sniper".It had been featured in several local magazines for its exclusive comfort.There were screens at every seat and the lights inside the bus were green.It almost felt like a club.It was no secret many young people wanted to have a ride in it.I managed to secure one seat near the window.The street lights were turned on and several buildings had there security lights on.This created a nice calming view and I kept staring.The music in the bus was loud.Coincidentantly most of the passangers were young people ,they sang along the tunes together in harmony. I was carried away in the fun.i almost felt like i used to feel when i threw parties at our old house.The voice of the conductor calling out people to alight brought me back to the moment. I alightened and went straight to the grocery.The lady was used to my usual order kales,three eggs ,two tomatoes and two onions.She already had them packed.i paid and left.The slum's pathways were dark so I was forced to put on my phone flashlight on to see. I opened the creepy iron sheet gate that had turned brown due to rust.Our house was located near the gate.I knocked gently and Clara reached for the door.

"You are late today,"clara commented as she moved to one side of the door to give me space to pass."Mum was already sleeping."

"Am sorry,i went over to the gaming classes,"

I replied as I put my bag on the table,unzipped it and took out the little shopping.I carefully handed it to Clara that was now continuing to do her assignments.

"How is school sis," I asked.

"Its fine i have a couple of maths asignments that i want you to help me solve."

"Are you still seeing Sam?"

Clara hesitated for a while and took a deep breath.

"Nop,i hope you are happy now,"she replied with a sudden change in her tone as if she wanted to cry.

Sam was her boyfriend.She used to spend a lot of time at his place when she was depressed.I can't hide it ,I didn't like Sam because of a lot of reasons.One he was older than her,two he was a d**g dealer,three he was a school drop out.When itcame to Clara I was always overprotective.There was an unusual silence in the room.Clara served her own plate as a way to revenge.I didn't see any problem with that i stood up served enough food for himself and sat at our little dining table.Mother was already asleep so she didn't eat that night.I looked at the ocean blue clock and i realised I only had 20minutes to 9:00 .i put the empty plate on the sink,took my raincoat,cap and torch then left.The afternoon watchman left when i signed in.I checked if all the doors were locked then I sat down inside the watchman's house at the gate.I always hated this job.Winter seasons were the worst for me.I was forced to stay watch the whole night in the chilly night .Most nights when it was almost dawn I tended to dozz of alittle.Anyone with my kinda committments would.

The next morning as I was preparing to go to work i was interrupted with a loud irritating knock.Standing at the door was our landlady. She was a short plum woman.She wore a white stripped dress.On her feet she wore pink crocks with handnitted socks. One would see her black coloured toes with overgrown nails cutting through the front of the socks.

"When do you intend to pay your rent young man.

I had given you two weeks to pay but you still haven't paid. I want my money if not remove your things from the house I want to rent it to someone else."

Mum heard the commotion and woke up. She dragged her feet to the door and stood next to her son.

"Mama boi please give us a few more days we will pay. "

She said with a shaky voice.

"The next time am coming back to this house Masha I will come with a padlock, i don't care where you and your children will go."

Mum took the scarf she had tied around her waist, her face was wet with tears. She slowly entered the house,sat on one of the chairs and started sobbing and lamenting.

"I had my own house, I had bussiness,i never knew this would happen to me. This sickness has taken away my pride.I want to die, I want to die. Why is this happening to me .Am an orphan I don't have a relative to turn to. I have worked so hard to give my children a better life.Now they are the ones that have to work day and night to sustain mine, why God? why is this happening to me?You said you would never leave me, why do I feel so alone right now. " I just stood there feeling a mixture of anger and guilt. I just wished I would do more.

Mum threw her arms in the air looking up to the heavens as if she would get an immediate answer from God.Rivers of tears rolled down my cheeks as i gazed at his helpless mother. I heavy weight lied in my chest. An ocean of tears were dancing near my eyelids too. With much courage, I walked right took her, grabbed her hand and led her to her bed.I covered her with the blanket and left the room silently wiping my eyes . I got to work late again but I was lucky today my boss wasn't around.

The whole day I thought about my past. I was a rich kid. We had two servant girls to do their house chores. We had two cars, they lived in a 3 bedroomed mansion.Since my childhood he had never lacked anything.I had studied in the best schools.I remembered that everyone at school wanted to be part of his life.I would host the coolest parties and people would talk about them for months. Things had taken a drastic turn. Life had slapped us in the face.Our mothers medication had left them in debts.We had to sell our house, furniture and cars.At the beginning Clara had such a hard time accepting the new life.She went into depression. She would sleep all day. She did not want to go to school or eat. Her face became pale because of frequent tears. Her eyes had become soar because of rubbing. She had so much hatred for life and for who she was.I walked into their church on his way home. I found pastor Chris in his office. "Can I have a few minutes man of God."

"Yes sure sit.How is your mum."

"She is the reason am here."

"Is she okay? what happened?" Pastor Chris asked with fear in his eyes. He was a smart elegant middle aged man

Many people loved him for his compassion and empathy.

"No, nothing bad has happened, am just afraid she is giving up. The landlady came today to ask for her rent and mum was really affected. She wished she was dead. "

"Am so sorry for that."he commented calmly.

"Today am a little busy so I won't go to see her but let me pray with you. Before we pray how is your job?

"Sincerely daddy am so stressed right now, I have bills to pay, I need to buy new medication for my mum next month, I need to pay Clara's school fees and buy food in the house. This things are so overwhelming I feel so hopeless and discouraged. " I said as he buried my head in the pastor's arms for solace. Pastor Chris rubbed me gently on his back to console him. I cried for a while but after I had calmed down, he gave me a glass of fresh orange juice to sooth my sad hopeless heart.

"You know what son, everything you are going through everyone goes through them at same point. God has ways of moulding us in the fire. Don't give up, and anytime you feel like talking to someone the church doors are open.If you don't find me talk to pastor Martin, okay?

I nodded his head in response.

"Here is 3000 shillings for your rent and food.You are not alone, reach out to us anytime, hang out with your friends, do physical exercise, all this are therapies that will help you not to get into depression ."I walked down the hall of the large magnificent church a better man. The fresh orange juice,the money and the little chat had given him a degree of relief. As I got to the gate of the church, I looked in the church mirrors, made a big joyous smile and said a loud thank you to God. The next day the man of God walked to our house. The influential black haired pastor was loved by many people because of his fiery, forceful eloquence that made him exceptional. He was a lion on the pulpit.His voice echoed all over the slums as he read through the verses. He urged his listeners to repent and love one another. The rest of the afternoon he spent with Mum encouraging her and praying with her.