Another call comes through, Mr. Onkwani again. I
wondered what would be bothering him now.
“Hello”
“Maina, fanya hivi, rudi tukutane hapa Galleria,
nimekumbuka kuna kitu gari haikuwa imecheckiwa na sio vizuri uende na gari
ikusumbue.” “Kuja tuangalie”
“Sawa, wacha nigeuke.”
I figured whatever was in store at Rongai would wait.
In fact, by the time we were done with the check, the traffic would have
reduced. So I waited for the oncoming traffic to reduce and made an illegal U
turn right there. The drive to Galleria was shorter since the traffic was not
as heavy as it was towards Rongai. I almost missed that exit to Galleria. It
was my first time and still under confident. I found a parking spot dimmed the
lights and sat for a while. Feeling great of course. You would think I had
conquered the world. After about five minutes, I called Onkwani. ‘Yes Please’ had totally taken me away
and I kind of forgot about the rest of the world. The lot was empty, so I would
be easy to spot. He said he would be with me in 5 minutes.
He arrived in the company
of another guy in less than the five minutes as he had said. I never left the
driver’s seat. He walked over to the driver’s side and he asked me to step
outside. This I did without protest. He said the wheels needed alignment and
balancing since he had not done that after the last wheel change. I told him
that it was actually a good idea that he was around Galleria since we could do it right there. He said that would not
work since he had his preferred garage. I think it should have started ‘smelling’
rats at this point. I said fine. So he asked if it was okay we be driven by his
friend who I never took note of his name. I stepped out of the vehicle and sat
back right. I expected him to sit at the front seat but he did not. He walked
around the car and sat on the back left seat. Onkwani looked at me with a face
full of concern or was it adult mischief? I expected him to ask a question but
he took his time. By this time I had loosened my tie and one could see my vest
since I had undone the top buttons of my shirt. I was already safe in the
comfort of ‘my car’.
“Hiyo ni station gani unaskiza?”
“Sio station, ni kitabu naskiza.”
“Haiya! Siku hizi zinakuja hivo?”
“Eeee, unasoma tu ukifanya shughuli zako.”
“Unapenda kusoma sana?”
“Books are good,” I said.
“Ndio maana wewe ni mjanja hivo, sindio?”
“Ati?” I had not understood what his last statement
meant. No. I acted stupid…
“I do not understand what you mean by that Ujanja
term.”
“Let me tell you something Maina, we have been in this
Nairobi for a very long time, & we can tell when people are trying to get
smart. We came here to find an honest penny but some people just don’t want to
see you get it.”
I give him a clueless face. We have not left Galleria yet.
“I called your referrals and they have given me
conflicting information. The only thing that sounded true was that you live
around Umoja and that you are not
married. Ile kitu sielewi ni, wewe ulikuwa askari ama wewe ni askari?”
Ahaa!! This explains the call I received from that
lady friend of mine about marriage and all. The only thing that rung in my mind
was that she hang up on me. I let out a giggle that did not come out so well.
So Onkwani was at me again.
“Mbona unanidandanya!?”
“Where and how have I lied to you?”
“Haya sasa niambie vizuri, wewe ni nani na unafanya
nini.”
“As I said before, I am a student pilot at Wilson and
that is what I do.”
“Mbona unataka Gari?”
“I have business to take care of and I needed a car to
take care of it safely.”
“A student, business… which business is this?”
“Do I have to tell you that Mr Onkwani? Why not tell
me what this interrogation is all about? If you have second thoughts about
giving me your car, you can return my money and I will find another car hire
company and we can both go our different ways!”
“Nooo, I am not interrogating you. I just want to know
your intentions. You know, something tells me you are not genuine.” One of your
friends say they are not sure what you really do. They know you are a student
at Wilson but they do not know which job you do. Not even one mention about
being an askari…”
“Ngoja kwanza, I was not a police officer by the way.
I was a military officer with the Air Force. Askari is a general term. Ama kama
ulikuwa unataka nitumie jeshi. Sawa, nilikuwa jeshi na nilitoka.”
“That is one of the things I don’t understand Maina…
In my village, young men and women are crying for jobs, why would leave such a
lucrative job?”
Directing my voice to the driver. “Excuse, ebu nitolee
hio simu.” Amy Poehler’s voice was
suddenly silenced. I gave Onkwani a stern look and asked him.
“Is this about the car or are we now going to discuss
my career?”
“I just need to understand something, why did such a
young man leave a job so good. I also wanted to join the Military but I was
never picked, eh. So why leave when so young?”
“People are different Mr Onkwani. We get jobs because
of different reasons. Mine was different from yours. Now can we move on because
I have a feeling this is not about wheel alignment.”
“Sawa basi, Mimi, kusema ukweli, I think you wanted to
steal my car. Nimejisemea pangu.”
I let a laugh so loud the guy at the front seat turned
around to give me a good look.
“You are not serious James, are you?”
“I am. Unajua nyinyi vijana wa siku hizi ni wajanja
sana! Ama aje nani (referring to his friend at the front) so nimeona, nikuje
niendelee na vetting nijue kama ni ukweli.”
“Wait, James, you saw my documents right? I gave them
to you and you gave them a good look, if I am as smart as you claim I am, why
would I pull a stupid move as use my own documents to hire a car and then run
off with it. Gari yako ina tracking sindio? Na nimekulipa? Na nilikuonyesha
shule yangu? Nini sasa!?”
“Mr Maina I am not saying you are a car thief, I am
just saying you are a suspect. & as I said some of us came from very humble
backgrounds and we came to Nairobi to make an honest living. So when someone
tries to make us fools, we feel very bad and actually we feel insulted…”
“Wait! Wait! Wait! So you are referring to me in this
claim? Do you realize that as you speak you are insulting me?”
“Sasa, wewe niskize Maina, I did not insult you, I am
saying it like it is.”
“So what do you want?”
“Mimi sasa, I am an honest person, and I don’t like
spoiling my business. Sitoshi kudhibitisha kama mambo unasema ni ya ukweli ama
ni uongo. So, I just want us to go to a police station because I don’t believe
you one bit. Otherwise hii ni attempted robbery.”
I laughed again. By now he was used. I had dealt with
such characters before or their equivalent. But this is the real world and I
had a real situation, or so I thought. Some people are just thick in the head
naturally. It is almost contagious. So here I was a car theft suspect. The car
that was here in the first place.
“Okay then, let us go to wherever it is you feel they
will authenticate my documents.”
“Naniii, twende Karen.” (Referring to the Driver)
Suspicious note two. The nearest police station was
Langata. I do not know why he chose Karen. But the innocent spirit was flowing
all over. Again, I am not the kind to be intimidated by the Police. Unless in
another life. I told him I was okay with whatever he decided as long as he was
comfortable. I fastened my seat belt and settled on my seat comfortably ready
for the ride to Karen.
“Ati umekuwa
jeshi miaka ngapi?”
“Sita!”
“Wewe ni kijana mdogo bana, mbona unanidanganya?”
“Ni mimi nilikuwa Jeshi ama ni wewe sasa?” “Kama
unajua si uwache basi kuuliza!”
I was already getting pissed. Since I could not use my
earphones – which would have been rude, I accessed Kindle and picked up from
where I had left off with The
Mystery of Malaysian Airlines 370 by Sylvia Wrigley. I had found it while
browsing aviation books on Amazon. I shut out the world around me and embarked
on my read. I cannot remember if he spoke to me again but time surely flew and
in no time, we were at Karen shopping center. I set up my bookmark and braced
for the upcoming encounter.
“Sasa
Maina, Hio story unaniambia, utapeana hapa.” “Hawa wana uwezo wa kutuambia kama
ni ukweli ama ni uongo.”
This
he said while we were pulling up at an empty parking lot next to the reception
at the police station. I later noted the slot was for the OCS. Then we walked
to the occurrence desk where an officer with an oversize sweater was reading an
article from a piece of a newspaper.
“Jambo!
Habari ya leo?” Went Onkwani.
“Muzuri
bwana, Iko nini?”
“Sasa
afande, hapa iko maneno. Huyu kijana tumepatana leo, Alikuwa anataka gari, car
hire. Mimi nikampea na roho safi, sasa, shida iko kwamba documents zake
siziamini…”
“Ngoja,
kidogo… unataka kusema ameunda makaratasi ama?” “Kwa sababu huereweki, bwana!”
said the officer.
“Documents
nimeziona lakini kwa ile kujaribu kudhibitisha, kuna maneno kadhaa haiingiani!”
“Kwa hivyo nikaona ni vizuri mnidhibitishie hio maneno nisije nikapeana gari,
ipotee…” “Na ndio maana nimekuja kwenu.”
“Ohhh,
nimekuerewa sasa.” “Ebu muingie hapo kwa ofisi mningojee nisikirize hio maneno
yenu vizuuri.”
We
were directed to an inner office with a desk at one corner three seats and a
bench. We sat there silently as we waited for officer whoever. He did take his
time. Maybe he was consulting because when they came, they were two of them.
One sat on one of the seats, I had taken my position on the bench already and
the other one sat on the table.
The
new guy was already barking!
“Naona
magaidi wameanza kuingia mapema leo Ndung’u?”
“Sasa
niambie shida yenu.” Said the guy we met at the reception.
Onkwani
was the first to speak. His attempt to disguise a squeak in his voice with a
fake bass and an accent free flow of words was just failing badly! He just
dragged and slurred through his words.
“Sasa,
kama nilivyosema, mimi nina biashara ya car hire. We had a contract with this
guy and gave him my car. But after second thoughts, kuna kitu iliniambia…
documents za huyu jamaa haziingiani, mara alikuwa askari, mara ni pilot… mara
ni mwanafunzi… mara hana kazi… Na bado anasema gari ni ya kufanya biashara
Fulani. Sasa mimi nashangaa, biashara gani na mtu hana kazi ama mahali pa kutoa
pesa? Kitu ndani yangu ikaniambia, pengine, hii ni gari yangu inataka kuibwa.
Haya! Kupigia watu alinipea simu zao, nao wananipea story tofauti. Ndio nikashuku
Zaidi. So I called the guy… aaand asked him to meet me I needed to do something
to the car that I had not done. Ndio tukapatana, nikamwambia tukuje hapa
tuhakikishe.”
Ndung’u
the officer was the first to respond. “Kwa ufupi unatuabia huyu ni suspect ya
wizi, sidio? Na arikuwa anajaribu kuiba gari ama sikuerewei?”
“Kitu
kama hio…”
“Basi
sijui hapa story mingi ni za nini!” “Ingiza huyu mtu kwa OB na uchukue
statement ya mwenye gari” “Hii ni kazi rahisi sana, koti itaamua hio maneno
ingine”
Well,
a booking in the OB for me meant, a night in the cells. Well done fate, well
done! It was now approaching 10 pm.
To be continued...
To be continued...
Hi. Same Old Drama, Different Day. This blog is about me and others, nature, life, blah blah and why everything I like is great even the hurting - still great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, Well. . . You are probably right..
Maliza story...
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