We hugged bye at the parking lot and she drove away. That night I slept more than a baby.
That Sunday marked the new beginning in my life. After the Sunday sermon I felt a reformed
man. When I woke up that morning I switched on my phone. 8 callers had tried reaching me. Mercy, Khadija, Matilda and my wife Rita were among them. Mercy had sent me two Bible verse
texts: one of Lamentations 3:22-23 and another of Proverbs 13:20-25.
I took my King James Version Bible and read them. Matilda too had texted to confirm if I arrived well. What however shocked me is Ritas text, ‘Dad, Call me back urgently’. For those of you wondering why she calls me Dad, be reminded ukipea dem ball ur class also grows. Huwezi kua na mtoy na uitwe Beb.
bought 500 from MPESA and called her. “Dad morning? Am coming to town, kindly let’s meet in
there at 9am.Kam na nguo za kuchange’ Rita said and hanged up. I felt something is wrong. I
quickly called Mercy, Matilda and Khadija respectively and we spoke. My mind was not at peace at all. I felt something is terribly wrong somewhere.
I tried to figure out what it could be but the more I thought about it the more I became anxious. I woke up ate chapatis that Mercy had prepared the day before. I took a shower and left. At exactly 0912, Rita
was in town. We met at our usual place: National archives. Rita looked exhausted from the look
on her eyes. We hugged and kissed, the way we do every time we meet. We spoke about the
condition of her sick Aunt, mum , her sister and general family.
Though her Aunt was still in pains, as she confirmed it was not the reason for the distress call. “Dad, Betty got involved in an accident this morning?” Rita said. ‘What happened? I inquired. ‘A miraa van rammed into them and seriously injured them. She is now in Nkubu mission hospital’ the news of Bettys crush hurt me. For you who don’t remember Betty, her full name is Beatrice Biyaki. She is the niece to Rita. That also means she is my niece, better still my daughter. She was joining Meru University as a first year. Rita took the passenger seat and me the steering. I cruised our black Harrier through Thika road at the speed of light.
I bet you now know why I am calling it our harrier. Rita is my
wife, what is mine is ours and hers too. For those of you who have driven a Harrier 240G, you
know how that car manoeuvres the road. Of all the cars I have driven, Porsche Cayenne included, it’s the only one than can race a 2019 Kawasaki ZX -6R or even a Yamaha YZF-R3 and still beat
them. Those are the only two good bikes I respect on the road. Watu wa boxer 150 na TVS kaeni
kando kwanza. Our harrier can’t even be compared to a Porsche Cayenne, the Car Mercy’s
father drives. In short wacha harrier iitwe harrier. It’s as good as the person who bought it. Whois
she again? Rita Conrad. In less than three hours we were in Meru.
We proceeded to Maua hospital to check on Betty. When I parked I locked the door and called Mercy. I informed her what had happened. She was my confidant so I had to keep her posted. She also did the same. Like that day she told me of an incident that had happened in the ward. A patient had delivered
an underweight kid. I asked her what they do in such circumstances and she explained to me
the whole process. I joked to her my wish to go to a labour ward with her one day. ‘Why do you
want to be in labour ward?’ she asked.
I knew the answer she expected and I answered it so. Which man, on earth or in heaven, gay or straight, wouldn’t wish to be in a room full of women?
Women that are ready to spread legs apart and bring life to this earth. The doctors at Maua
denied us access to see our daughter Betty. In their words, she was in a critical condition at ICU
( Hio C stands for Conrad). They requested us to come the next day. The most tragic part of it
all is, she was among the 5 survivors from the crush. On our way out I got a call from CI Matildah. (CI is abbreviation for Chief inspector or Conrads
inspector: whichever you like). ‘Wee my dear nakuja Echo Papa nikupate wapi?’ she requested.‘Eko
Papa nI,,,,,,,,?(EP 30)