Having lost my dad shortly after sitting my K.C.P.E exams, I went to live with my mother who had been separated from dad years before. It was a bitter sweet experience. I had this joy of finally having a mother figure but the pain of losing my dear dad overwhelmed me often. It was not easy adjusting to this stranger that i had to call mum, but I did my best to be the best daughter I could be. As the days passed I prayed that when the selections for secondary schools came, I’d be selected to go to a boarding school, then at least I wouldn’t be much of a bother to mum. Because from her attitude I could tell that my presence was a thorn in her side.
After the results were out I borrowed fare to go to my former school to collect my results. She did give me the money albeit grudgingly. I got my result slip and though not very pleased with my performance, I was not disappointed either. After all most of my evenings when I should have been studying for my exams, I had been busy taking care of my ailing father. I had had to grow up fast, taking care of myself, dad and the home. I got back to mum’s and this is how the conversation went;
Me: Mum nimepita exams! Nimepata 472marks, si nitapata shule poa?
Mum: Kwoguo? (Kwa hivyo?)
We! I left her presence very fast.
About a week later, on a fine Sunday morning, I got up early to do my chores and get ready for church, I had to pray! For a good school, a boarding school. Chores done, bath taken, Sunday best on, I sat down to have some breakfast. Mungu wangu! She didn’t even wait for me to finish my tea. She came out of the bedroom with a bag, sat down and looked me straight in the eye and told me I’d be leaving her house that day. “Maliza hio chai haraka sana kuna mama anakuja akupeleke kazi”
Sema kuchanganyikiwa, Jesu!!! By the end of that day, I was in another stranger’s home, a mboch and sleeping on a thin mattress on a cold floor. I wept for myself, for my father, my daddy…
Masaibu ya mboch loading soon.
