First things first, nimekuja na kiti changu.
[ATTACH=full]77509[/ATTACH]
January has to be the most ironical months of the year. It’s right in there with messages of a hopeful year to come, yet a majority of the people have blown their savings on holiday spending. A sick twist that throws you right back in the rat race. The hustle. The grind. That which keeps a roof over your head and a meal in your belly. This makes people do uncharacteristic things. A situation I saw first hand back in January 2009.
I was a sophomore in campus then living in UoN halls. HELB was long depleted and I was pretty much staying indoors to save up whatever coins I could gather. Noodles and boiled eggs were a staple. Sometimes I look back and wonder how I managed to survive on 50/- a day. Nowadays it’s even an insult to tip a waiter 50/-. I digress.
Friday evening on the third week of Jan found me headed back home. 7:00 pm to be exact. I was looking forward to a warm shower and a home cooked meal. I hadn’t seen my folks in a couple of weeks and they had started guilt tripping me on going for a visit. So, there I was in a 25 seater Kariobangi matatu blaring some Kikuyu music on Jogoo Road. At the City Stadium stage, a blurry guy sat down next to me and I didn’t pay much attention. I was engrossed in IM-ing some barely legal female on Mig33. Whatever happened to that by the way? Only when I put my phone away did I notice that the blurry dude was one of my former primary school classmates, Otis.
Life looked like it had played a number on him. His eyes looked miles away. Pleasantries aside, i tried chatting him up to find out what he had been up to. He had always been a chatty guy, but that day, my questions were met with one word responses. I kept wondering why he was wearing a wind breaker yet it was sweltering hot. Beads of sweat trickled down his temples and he couldn’t make eye contact. He probably had a long day, I thought. Then, something weird happened.
As the mat turned off Jogoo Road, he turned to me and said: " @Prometheus, I need your bag. Follow my lead and you’ll get out of this okay…" The music went off. Lights in the cabin went on. Before I could respond to Otis, he had stood up and whipped out what seemed to be a metal bar. He grabbed my bag which was half empty and stood up. There were two other guys standing in the mat. One by the door, holding down the kange and brandishing a knife, and one at the back. The one at the back looked much older.
“Hii story ni fupi. Kaa uko na simu toa haraka tumalizane.” Otis grabbed me by the collar and told me to start collecting the phones. “Huyu mjanjes ndio atazichukua.” I was stunned. Couldn’t move for a minute until the guy at the back came to inquire what the hell was holding Otis up. The gun in his hand gave me all the motivation I needed to get up. I relunctantly opened my bag and followed Otis to the back of the matatu.
“Mguys, phones na wallets!! Wacha vibeti hizo ni za mbele!” One by one we worked through the remaining 20 or so seats picking up the loot. This would have been easy enough if there were no people in the matatu who knew me. I could have sworn I saw some of my mother’s friends from her church. Once we were done, Otis led me to the door and the driver was given a command to slow down. Otis and I alighted and the matatu sped off. I caught a glimpse of the older thug going through a ladies bag for valuables…
“Hii ni noma gani tena Otis?” My hands were shaking as he grabbed my bag and gave me a set of instructions.
“Fanya hivi, kuna police post pale kwa shopping centre. Enda useme ulikuwa kwa mat ime-jackiwa. Singekuwcha kwa hiyo mat coz najua huyo Roba anakuanga hot head. Lakini sidhani utakuwa na noma. Lazima ulete phone yako ndio wasifikirie ulikuwa na sisi…”
With that, he took my phone and all I could think about was my Mig33 girl from Ngumo who I had been planning on munching the next week. He let me keep my wallet and my cards as he disappeared into the street. I did as he had said and started walking towards the police post. First thing I did as I got to the shopping centre was look for a simu ya jamii. I called my folks and blubbered where I was and what had happened. They had to come over as I knew this was going to be a long night for me…
…To be continued…