Settling down turned into a nap. I
was still pissed. Even after the nap that I had hoped would calm me down, it
did not work. 'What was I going to do now?' I checked within myself for any
traces of aggression that would make me pull a stupid move. I took a shower,
dressed up, and made myself a cup of coffee. An overdose actually - Like four
sachets. I needed to think, or to calm down. I then settled in front of my computer
and hit Google. I searched for the car hire company again. This time I was
keen. I had a pen and a paper. I took down the important details. The office,
more contacts, and the location of all the other offices they claimed to occupy around the city and its environs, from the website. I picked my phone ready for the most important call of the
day.
I
took a deep breath as I looked at the contact in front of my eyes... I dialed.
“Hello,
this is Chris.”
“Ahh
sema Maina,"
“Mzuri…”
“Niambie
Ndugu yangu...” I could feel my blood boiling. He had the guts to call me
Ndugu!? Really? Really!!!?
“Saasa,
nilitoka jana. Na OCs alisema tuongee udrop hizo charges.”
“Ohhh.
Hivo ndivo alisema?”
“Eeeh.
So ndio nataka kujua kama unaweza patikana leo nikuje Karen tuongee hii maneno.”
“Me,
I don’t have a problem Mr. Maina, Hiyo ni sawa wewe kuja tuonane.”
“Sawa
sawa. Nitakupigia nikifika.”
I
folded my paper and started my journey. I was lost in thought the whole way.
The only thought I remember was, wondering how Karen, a “Posh” neighborhood would
have the oldest, most uncomfortable and top on the list of poorly maintained City Hoppa buses plying the route... They deserved better. It
rained that morning and part of the afternoon and I was not spared. The
conductor did not even care besides a resigned “hio inakuwanga hivo”. I was
already in a bad mood, so it would not get any worse I figured. I don't even
know why I wasn't carrying a book to drown my thoughts away on this day. I got
to Karen and dialed Onkwani. He was offline. NO! WAY!!! Please No!!! I was not
going to give up. I had my list of addresses. I decided to try the first one and
the closest one on my list and the one that was listed as the main address.
This was a third floor office in a building within the shopping center. The
challenge with this plan was that he had not given the exact office name. Moreover,
the address had no office number attached to it.
Luck
was on my side though. Immediately after hitting the second floor landing, I
met some people walking downstairs. I wanted to ask them but I figured they
just might be clients like I was, and had no idea about the tenants of those
offices. After the first group of people had passed, I met two ladies, and a guy
near the landing of the third floor. The gent was holding a clipboard. He
seemed to be enjoying the company of the ladies, and whatever they were
discussing which was definitely not last night’s match and not the duties of
the day. This was good for me. I supposed. I needed to use that mood of his. His
attitude would be good to use. I said hi and asked him if he would help me find
Mr. Onkwanis office. He acted clueless for some time and then he consulted the
ladies who giggled before telling him. Some buildings have this strict policy
about disclosing information to unidentified people. Here I was. I did not even
introduce myself and they already gave it up. They were not sure themselves. Therefore,
they suggested he checks the list attached to the clipboard in his hands.
Happens the papers had all the tenants in the office block. Voila! His office
was in the list and I got the number. I thanked them and walked in the direction
that they pointed to me.
Of
all the offices on that floor, his office was the only one that did not have a
name on the door. Weird and suspicious, I thought to myself. To make matters
worse, when I knocked on the door, it was not answered. However, since it was a
working day, I knew there would be someone inside. Therefore, I knocked
again... And again... And again. Then I waited. I saw a shadow shift at the
bottom of the door. Ahaa! Someone was coming to open. A minute later, a
lady's face peeped through the partly opened door. A few inches actually. Where
I never even got to see the rest of her body. She asked what I wanted and I
said I was to meet Onkwani who had since switched his phone off.
"Ilikuwa
biashara gani?"
“Ya
gari tu.”
“Oh.
Basi hayuko...”
“Atarudi
saa ngapi?”
“Sijui
sasa.”
“Sawa
basi nitakuja kumwangalia baadae…”
I
tried his phone again and it was off. Damn! This guy!!!
I
walked along the corridor slowly, part of me wanted to go back and tell the
woman to let me into the office. I had a feeling the man was hiding from me. Being
as exposed as I was, plus the few milligrams of pervert in me, I started imagining
the things that would be happening inside that office. ‘Why did it take too
long?’ ‘Why did the lady not open wide enough or invite me in?’ ‘They need
clients, right?’ ‘Or were they…?’ ‘Or was I running mad?’ I let it be, and
walked down the stairs towards the ground floor. I did not know how to buy time
on this side of town. I did not have friends who I would hang out with neither
did I know a pocket friendly restaurant, hotel, or cafe where I would buy a cup of tea for Ksh
30/- and drink it for ages, until the guy decided to pick his phone... another
option was to wait at the police station’s waiting area. This was surely a bad
idea. Worst actually. Talk of a goat walking into a hyena’s den. On the ground
floor of the building, a notice board had advertisements. I got carried away by
the numerous real estate adverts that dotted the board. 80% of the adverts focused
on houses for rent and sale as well as plots and land tracts for sale and long-term
lease. There were also a few service lenders and someone had summarized his resume
into a notice and posted it there. Hope they got a job.
 |
| Credits: www.a4architect.com |
It
was almost 4 o’clock. A thought crossed my mind to try his other office but it
was too late. Again, the cloud cover was not friendly enough. It would rain and
from the days that I was here, this had to fall and I was not dressed for that occasion.
I had novels in my phone but it could not sustain the power and I was waiting
for the entrepreneur who was not showing up. I decided to give him up to half
past the hour. If he would not have gotten back, I would be taking my bus to
town. I was on one end of a notorious road – Ngong Road, it was almost raining
and I would have to get to town and pick another bus for several other notorious
roads – Haille Sellasie, Ladhies, and Jogoo Road that meant I would undergo
through all that torture for nothing and get home almost at midnight. This was
frustrating.
I
looked outside again. Actually, all this time I was looking outside but was not
concentrating. Sports cars, top of the range SUVs, and speed Bikes passed by
the busy streets. Within that time, I saw a bevy of girls walk in the direction
of Nakumatt and then return and settle at the couches at the Big Square. They then
went ahead to enjoy a time filled with laughter, selfies, sharing from shake mugs
and ice cream bowls. ‘I could do with some fun right about now’ I thought to
myself. Besides me, couples came in had their late lunch, snacks or early
supper and left. My soda was flat and warm by this time, but I still pretended to sip
on. This was my leverage, and rent to be in this place for as long as I wanted.
I was not going to finish it until that call came through. I did not even
notice the clock hit 4.30pm. A few minutes after my target time, I woke up in a
huff, almost hitting my head to the ceiling, left the fast food restaurant and
headed for the buses. I was so angry I almost got hit by a car while crossing Langata
Road.
I
was dealing with a very useless man! He really wanted to crucify me!
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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..
Omg this guy is getting into my nerves too
ReplyDeleteI know!!!!
DeleteHe is such a pain!
you have put down my mind, its really disturbing any sane living human in this country
ReplyDeleteHello,
DeleteThanks for reading Samuel.