It had been a boring day, so boring actually that Lisa had gone back to bed a little past noon even after waking up just a few hours earlier. Cleaning the single roomed house she lived in with her mum and her younger sister did not take too long, and preparing a meal for lunch was out of the question, left-over vegetables and a small piece of ugali from last night was all there was in the tiny house. They lived on the third floor of a six storey building, located in the center of the sprawling Kiamaiko estate just on the outskirts of Nairobi city. There were a lot of such buildings around. No design, just tall ugly functional structures that added zero aesthetic value to the surrounding, specifically built to accommodate as many low-income tenants as possible.
Her mother did household work for the rich, for a small fee of course, in the nearby Ngumo estate suburbs, but that did little to cater for anything more than the subtle amounts of food they had to go by with on a daily basis. She would leave the house slightly past dawn, make the daily long walk down to Ngumo estate, and when she arrived, she would perch herself down at the main entrance of the lavish estate with fellow women who did the same work as her and look out for potential clients as they engaged in pointless banter to pass time; who married who, who’s wife was pregnant, who stole what from whom, who was not seen in church last Sunday….
As she lay quietly on the thin mattress placed on the furthest corner of the small room, Lisa could not help herself but wonder why life had been so ruthless to her and her family. Her dad had abandoned them a few years earlier. Lisa did not miss him. He was a full-time drunkard, coming home late at night smelling of cheap liquor, and other foul things, shouting obscenities at everyone he met on his way home from one of the many dilapidated drinking dens he frequented. Most of the time he showed up lacking one of his ever tattered shoes, or was otherwise filthy from falling into a dirty puddle which he obviously could not see in his drunken stupor. He was gone now, and Lisa thought it was best for everyone.
Lisa missed school. Life had taken a very boring turn ever since she cleared her standard eight exams a few months back. Yes, she had passed well, but she feared that that was as far as it would go. High school now seemed to be a far off place only residing in her deepest fantasies, a sad and lonely castle in the sky that shimmered away with every passing day.
It was in the month of May now into the New Year, schools reopened a week ago for the second term of the academic year but she was yet to commence her high school education. Every minute seemed to drag by and the walls of their tiny home seemed to close in on her and her big dreams. Every hour spent in the small cold room seemed to kill a tiny part of her as she pictured her age mates -those who were lucky enough to afford it, that is- in classes and schools all over the country getting dose after dose of education everyday.
Of course, she could get married and continue life as though nothing was amiss, but the thought of relying on a man for every little thing she would need in her life was not particularly appeasing. She wanted to study, and to study hard at that, so she could buy a big black shinny car, like the ones she saw in town the few times she had gone there with her mother. And a big house too, oh yes, a big house with a big compound and a big gate with an askari to guard it day and night and keep burglars at bay. A wry smile spread across her face, as it always did, whenever she imagined how it would feel to have it all.
A knock on their metallic door snapped her out of her reverie; she got up and made for the door, knocking over a rickety old lamp in the process. She hastily picked it up and replaced it then opened the door.
“Good afternoon, Lisa”
“Good afternoon, Pastor Ken,” said Lisa, shaking the pastor’s hand politely, bowing slightly in the process.
Pastor Ken was the local reverend; he had a medium-sized church with quite a good following located just a few meters from their home, a little past the butchery where the neighborhood lunatic, known by the locals simply as Opiyo, sat and for the whole day argued with people only he could see.
Pastor Ken was impeccably dressed, as usual. Today he wore a black suit, with a white shirt lined with thin blue stripes, thoroughly ironed; there wasn’t a single crease on it, with a matching navy blue tie. With his bible in one hand, Pastor Ken confidently made his way in and took one of the two wooden chairs that sat opposite each other in the room. Lisa picked a glass, filled it with water and placed it on a stool in front of the reverend. She wished there was tea, or maybe some juice. She took the opposite seat and sat there quietly, slightly embarrassed.
“Is your mom around, Lisa?”
Lisa found this question a bit odd, the reverend being good friends with her mother ought to have known that she would be out working at this time of day.
“No Sir, she is not in at the moment, she is out working at Ngumo estate, she will be back in the evening as usual” Lisa said gingerly.
“What about your sister? Wairimu? Where is she?”
“Her name is Wanjiru, and she is out playing with the other girls, she is never in the house that one,” Lisa retorted, smiling this time.
The reverend noticing his slip up, smiled back, putting on display an array of very well taken care of white teeth. He lightly cleared his throat then continued,
“I have been thinking about what you asked me after the service last Sunday at church,”
Lisa felt her intestines tighten, she looked at the reverend straight in the eye, unable to utter a single word, listening silently, the silence seemed to last a lifetime, then he continued,
“You are a young beautiful girl and it’s very sad to see you sit at home doing nothing as your friends are at school learning everyday. Also, very many girls and boys your age have come to me asking for assistance, just as you did last Sunday. But since I have known your mother for a very long time, and I have also noticed how serious you are with matters of the church and you seem to be very well-disciplined, I am willing to help you.”
The knot in Lisa’s stomach loosened a bit, the tension she was feeling a second ago was replaced by a joy she had not felt in a long time. Her eyes welled up in tears but she did not cry, she continued to stare at the reverend, utterly speechless.
“I will cater for your fees, and you can tell your mother that when she comes back in the evening, but only if you promise to work hard and produce good results in your exams,” the pastor said in a serious tone, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“Do you promise to do all that and so much more?” he asked, taking a heavy gulp from the glass.
“Yes Pastor Ken, I promise, I will work very hard in school and I promise I will bring back good results in my exams,” she said in a shaky voice, almost overwhelmed with emotion now as a small tear slowly made its way down her innocent face.
“That is good to hear, and always remember to pray and read your bible and you will always succeed in everything you set out to do,” Lisa nodded her tears in absolute free-flow now.
The reverend got up, and took a step across the room and made towards the door, then turned back and looked at Lisa who still sat meekly on her seat, all feeling in her legs long gone. He stretched a big hand towards her; Lisa took it and shook it. The reverend did not let go. Lisa looked up, and the reverend looked down at her, still clutching her small hand. He pulled her up and then took a step closer towards her; Lisa could smell his cologne now, she now realized how tall he really was, he towered over her like a great lion ready to tear to shreds a tiny helpless gazelle calf with a broken leg. The immense joy she was feeling just a blink before was now a ghostly blur. Fear and horror engulfed every cell in her body. And yet, as the reverend slowly placed a heavy hand on one of her small delicate breasts, she could not fight back. She could not scream. She would not fight back. She would not scream.
A month later, Lisa stood outside the gate of Tumaini Girls High School with her mum, neatly dressed in a well-ironed grey skirt, a white blouse and a sky blue sweater with a black tie. The socks and shinny black shoes were new too. She was carrying a bag full of new books and in one hand she carried an envelope containing a bank slip for fees payment for the whole year. They walked through the huge black school gates and were greeted by an askari carrying a scary-looking rungu who guided them towards the office blocks.
Her mother could hardly hide her jubilation, her smile was permanently etched on her slightly wrinkled face now. Lisa thought she still looked beautiful. She kept thanking and heaping praises on the reverend after every minute or so.
Lisa vowed to work as hard as she could, that black shinny car and that big house always on the back of her mind. She would buy one for her mum also, a big house that is, and employ people to work for her and wash her clothes, and cook for her too, then she would never have to toil another day in her life.
After being cleared, they walked together to the school gates and after a few words of encouragement from her mother, Lisa waved her goodbye and walked back towards the classrooms, hoping days would go slow or she would not have to close school and go back home for the holidays because on the back of her mind, she definitely knew, that the reverend would be waiting.
