Half a Day in My Brother´s Life

by Feb 7, 2021Observations0 comments

The mosquitos had been buzzing around my head the whole night! I have light sleep which means that any light noise would wake me up. My siblings had said their good nights and disappeared underneath the duvets. They would literally completely cover themselves. I was unable to understand how anyone could sleep like that. I had tried it severally but the results were that I ended up throwing the duvet from my head and gasping for air as if I had been holding my breath underwater.

I had presented my head on a silver platter and the mosquitos had had a feast the whole night. I finally opened my eyes from the little sleep with mosquito bites on every free pace of my face and tired from shushing them off and turning from one side of the bed to the other.

I kicked the duvet away and half asleep walked to the door where I usually took a look out the door. I saw the usual. The sun was already shining, the cock was crowing, the compound was as always greener than the sorroundings and the gate was locked.

Photo by Mutia Rahmah on Unsplash

I opened the door and pushed it to the end to let in fresh air. I then tied the curtains to the left and did the same for the other windows. I then went to the kitchen and put tea water on the gas cooker. I took the gate key and the chicken house key, put on my blue crocks and walked out.

After feeding the chicken with corn, greens and tomatoes, (tomatoes were the harvest of the season and the chicken were having their share) I cleaned and re-filled their water bucket and collecting the one egg that was laid, I walked back to the house.

By this time, the tee water was already boiling so I added the tea leaves, rosmarine from the garden and milk. After about fifteen minutes, breakfast was ready and I served it on the dining table.

I then put on some water in the electric kettel and went to sweep the compound. I took a shower and was ready for the day. My brother Kay finished up and we took the long dusty walk to the bus stop. On my back I had my back pack with a few personal belongs.
My Initial plan was to visit my uncle who lives in Mwitu. Mwitu was a place near Kasarani. My brother had a delivery to make and so we alighted at Cabanas and walked for fifteen minutes to his place.

We entered a narrow gate and there was sudden darkness, The architect had not thought of integrating sunlight in the building and as a result, I could barely make of the light blue doors that were situated on each side of the corridor. I closely followed behind Kay who did not seem bothered by the wet and dark corridor.
After a while, my eyes got used to the darkness and I could see the the source of the wetness. The leaking big black tank of water which was very familiar and almost on every roof top in that area.

We climbed the stairs to the second floor which was even narrower and walked straight to the last house. At least there was some light here, I thought to myself. He put his hand in the opening and opened the door from the inside. I asked why the padlocks were not on the outside and he said that it was due to security reasons.

Photo by Joël de Vriend on Unsplash

I entered and stood by the doorway. Kevo, his roommate smiled, greeted me and cleared a space on the bed for me to sit. I watched as Kay filled the bottles with the degreaser that he was to deliver. Kevo on the other hand, was smiling really big while I gave him the “what are you smiling at” look. Kay then told him that I was his sister. Aaah! he answered, I now see the resemblence. He had thought that I was the girlfriend that my brother was hiding from him.

After he was done, we left and I asked him to look for a new place since his mum would ask him to move back home if she ever paid him a visit. We walked past the many tiny shops and vibandas filled with clothes, fruits, vegetables or any other thing that one needed. We took a mini bus and headed towards the city center.

On arrival, Kay walked steadily through the streets while I did my best to keep up. The city was as full with people as usual. He kept looking back to check if I was still there. I quickly learned that the traffic lights meant nothing and the rule was “survival for the fittest”. I guess this is where mathematics comes in. We had to approximate the distance and the speed of the oncoming car divided by our speed and width of the road. The probability calculation had to be done at a higher rate and had to be precise for lifes sake.

We kept crossing more roads and taking more corners till we arrived at River Road. River Road is more of a place than an actual road. I would rather describe it as the backbone of businesses in Nairobi and its surroundings. It is the place where you get anything and everything and all that at a fair price.

Stay close and carry your backpack on the front he said and walked straight to a specific shop. It dint even look like a shop. There were grids everywhere probably due to security reasons and a few plastic caps displayed on them. He asked for a green and white plastic sprayer caps. The lady at the counter who seemed totally disinterested said she only had white ones. We walked to the second shop which looked more serious and were told the same story.

Kay then paid for two of the sprayers, removed the bottles he had filled earlier and replaced the caps. After he was done, we walked all the way across town to Jumia which was near Jeevanjee gardens, repeating the probability calculation procedure at every road crossing.

Jumia, as I had learned earlier, was an online shop that acted more or less like Amazon. Put simply, the sellers would use the plattform to present their goods and the buyers would use the plattform to purchase the goods. To deliver the goods, the seller would pre-package the goods, pick a number and wait to be called. He would then present the goods to the Jumia staff who would check that the online picture corresponded to the delivered product.

While waiting, Kay expressed his concerns that the cap on the online picture was green and since green was out of stock in all shops, he had used a white one. as the big sister, I reassured him that the content was the most important part and a sensible client wont return it only because the cap is white instead of green. He still looked nervous as he walked up to the Jumia staff. After about a five minutes discussion, he was sent back on allegations that the colour of the cap was different. He came and sat down near me and I could feel his frustration sorrounding him. I was already exhausted from the running around town and dint want to accept that it was all for nothing. As I sat there unable to help him,

Photo by Hian Oliveira on Unsplash

I said a short prayer “Lord, I am actually very tired from walking all over town looking for the green cap that is not in stock. Please grant him favour with the Jumia staff to accept the delivery with the white cap so I can have some lunch and rest my feet. Amen”

Kay stood up and went to pick a new number. His company (Kelafriq) was called up and he presented the delivery at a counter where they were accepted. He came over and we walked out quickly before they could change their mind and call us back. We headed straight to his favorite restaurant to have some lunch and I wispered a “thank you”

By Nessa.

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