Have you ever been beaten senseless, almost to a pulp for something you believe is rightfully yours? Well, come walk with me…
I met Louisa at a mutual friend’s home in South B and, eeish! The girl was cute! Everything about her was on point – smack flawless, with not a hair out of place! All the time that I sat there I kept on staring at her…At one moment our eyes met and she smiled this kasweet smile at me, I sheepishly smiled back. Shortly, she moved and sat next to me and enquired why I looked so bored. That close, she was even more spectacular! I started imagining what burnt offering I had made to God to warrant this…
I struck a convo and the lady turned out to be pleasingly humorous as she was witty; life had bestowed her with both beauty and brains, I tell ya! The 2nd Year Pwani University lass was the most salt-of-the-earth type of girl you can ever meet and, you were unlikely to regret a single second, minute or hour in her exuberant, absorbing and intelligent company.
We conversed for a long time, our talk taking long bends and turns. In the course of our tête-à-tête, Louisa opened up and informed me that she hailed from a humble background uko Ilima area, Makueni County. Her mother, who had single-handedly raised her through thick and thin was a small-time bar-tender at Wote town…Two hours later, even as we parted ways, we were an item, flowing in the same wave-length.
That marked the start of our many meetings, lunch dates, movie outings, hot dates, and whatnot. The charm and raw sexual oomph that Louisa oozed made me to love her unreservedly. She on the other hand, fell in love with the giddy and unencumbered ease of a teenage girl.
Too bad, when the relationship was at its sweetest point, Louisa’s long holiday came to an end and she had to go back to college in Kilifi. I saw her off amidst tears, hot kisses and, a warm embrace. We however, vowed to keep the fire burning through constant communication.
Three weeks later, dearly missing my love, I went visiting. People, I was totally shocked by the deplorable living conditions that Louisa was putting up in. She resided on the outskirts of college in a beggarly, one-roomed, mud-walled and makuti-thatched ‘hostel’. The shower-room was a moss-paved, piss-stained dingy communal thing! It was just pathetic, I am telling you!
Godammit! As if nature had conspired against us, on the very day that I had visited, the heavens opened up. It rained cats and dogs and, the ‘hostel’ roof leaked like it was a sieve! This hopeless situation forced us to literally cover our heads using sufurias!
No! Nah! I would not allow my sweet-love to live like a pig…Never! I house-hunted the next day and luckily found a decent one-bedroomed house which I promptly rented for her. Louisa was pleasantly surprised by this gesture that she shed tonnes and tonnes of tears of joy in appreciation.
I kept my promise and paid the monthly rent plus her maintenance cash pronto on the first day of every month.
Our love went on well. Inexorably. Ours was a delicious tale of a true and unflinching love… She had stolen my heart♥ kabisa! I used to visit Kilifi just as Louisa frequented my place in Nairobi. In her, I had found real love, a future mother to my kids…
Kaboom! Things started taking a turn for the worse during Louisa’s last semester of study. Out of nowhere, she started being blatantly rude over the phone and oft-times ignored my messages – RED FLAG! This flaky behavior left me puzzled, confused and anxious for answers - Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said? Did I seem too clingy? The streams of questions begging for answers were just too many. In my mind’s eye, I kept imagining of a fisi confusing my love but quickly disabused this notion, choosing instead to bury my head in the sand ostrich-style.
After a week or so of no communication, I texted her – “I miss you, babe. Will come over there. I have gifts for you. Love” She immediately replied in a terse, cryptic message – “Not available. The bird flew.” This message caused me great mental anguish and suffering: It broke my heart, I couldn’t eat, and I couldn’t sleep! It was the strongest evidence yet of our crippling relationship.
Failing to put my mind at ease, I decided to go uko Kilifi and find out what was amiss. I booked and boarded Coast Bus and by the crack of dawn, I was in Mombasa connecting to Kilifi.
Teren, teren…I was welcomed in Kilifi with the sight of a resplendent black Prado car parked outside Louisa’s place!
“Crap! What now?” I thought. My mind churning, imagining scenarios. Cool RnB music was wafting from the house. I knocked on the door. No answer! Bang, bang…No answer! ‘Louisa it’s me, Fungua! Open!” I shouted. No response! Eeeeh! I gritted my teeth at the absurdity of calling out and being snubbed at my ‘own’ house!
The balls of brass monkey that I was, I decided to smash open the wooden door with brute force. One kick, two, and three…
Louisa opened the door slightly and upon seeing me yanked it open, hands akimbo, “You foolish, stupid thing what do you want here eh?” she spat out, “Dear…” I mouthed, right hand out-stretched in greeting, “Ati dear! Dear my foot!! Jinga hii. Get out of here! Mjinga sana” Louisa retorted, her mouth foaming at the sides, her voice ripe with bitterness. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and boiled over. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard! I moved closer to her. She shoved me away, causing me to lose balance. Out of anger and frustration, I gave her one hot slap twaaa!
Bang! I didn’t even see it coming. A big, muscular guy with a glistening bald-head lunged from the house and held my neck in a tight vice-like grip. “Huyu mjamaa ni nani?” the Kamba-accented giant boomed in a husky-voice. “Gosh! Imagine honey I don’t even know him!” Louisa answered, a-matter-of-factly. “And who are you, bugger?” I shouted at the giant while struggling to free myself from his grip. “Kasee, unataka nikumalize saa hii, kwanini unaslap my wife? Fala hii?” the Kamba chap ferociously boomed again. I spat at him. His next response was not a verbal one but a hefty right-hand slap that landed on my left cheek. It drew me to see several stars before sending me sprawling to the ground.
Shocked by the unexpected slap, I remained glued to the ground for about thirty seconds. Smiled wryly, licked some of the blood off my lips, inhaled a lung-full of air and then sprang up like a leopard. Sparring. Ready for a hand-to-hand combat with the giant. Faux pas!
The guy charged and pounced on me. He slammed my head into the wall before hitting it with a bottle of soda. It shattered into pieces with its bits cutting me. I growled in pain before falling down in a sorry heap.
The chap sat on top of me and then, pinioned and subdued me into submission. He began raining hard, solid blows to my head, his hands working like pistons. I tried waggling my body in a bid to shake him off… I tried blocking the blows, but it was all in vain…He was overwhelmingly stronger than me…He was merciless. He ripped me apart. Blood flowed.
By sheer luck, I disentangled myself from the man’s grip and, without a moment’s hesitation feebly ran towards the gate with all the strength that I could muster.
I was met with ribald jests and laughter from onlookers who were doing everything but literally climbing over each other to see the unfolding drama. I overheard one woman shouting at me, “Anataka kuchovya vya wenyewe…mwivi wewe!”
Meantime, the Kamba bully had not finished with me yet, he paced after me and pulled my backpack before giving me one last upper-cut blow. I went up in the air and landed on my face. The contents of my bag, which included the gifts I had procured for Louisa emptied to the ground. The towering bully proudly stepped on my back with his left leg, as if posing with a war trophy. Louisa gave him her handkerchief which the chap used to wipe off the rivulets of sweat running down his face and then cleaned his bloodied hands.
I weakly raised my swollen head, took a last glance at Louisa with my tear-dulled eyes and shook my head. Tears mixed with blood flowed freely down my cheeks… Kumbe I was holding the horns as somebody else was milking my cow!
Aboard Coast Bus, on my return trip to Nairobi whilst nursing a black eye, swollen/puffy face, injured tongue, missing tooth, aching muscles and a myriad of other injuries, I had so many unanswered questions…
Folks, there is nothing as painful as losing the girl of your dream in such a manner, on top of being beaten in front of a very public sea of onlookers…That notwithstanding, much the greater damage was to my ego and self-esteem which is why the incident pains me to date. But, that is life, I tell ya!