Today I want to thank someone whom I have never mentioned or thanked, someone I believe deserves some acknowledgement for what she did! I remember after my Mummy passed on, my Dad came and took us from our house (We used to live in Eldoret with Mom and him in Nairobi.) So one month after we laid Mom to rest, Dad came for us na sisi haoooo tukakuja na yeye Nairobi. We used to live maisha ingine ya ubachelor haki. (My Dad, my three other siblings and I. The rest were in boarding) Asubuhi we would take soda na snacks for breakfast then anatuwachia pesa ya kukula chips lunch time. Jioni he would come back from work na chips na kuku! Na by the way we had a domestic manager, but bado tulikuwa tunakula tu kwa hoteli. Weekends tunapelekwa kwa relative tunarudishwa sunday usiku. It was fun though, hahaha. So after several months, siku moja nikakuja kuamshwa asubuhi na my younger siz ati Beryl, Beryl, kuja uone nyanya amekuja kutuvisit. Mimi huyooo, mbio ilioje, kuruka from bed nikamfuata mbio nikaone nyanya. Kufika kitchen namuuliza nyanya ako wapi. Then she points at vitu mooob kwa kitchen. Sisi hao, tukaanza kuchokora vitu kwa jikoni. Si maembe, unga ya kusiaga, mahindi, mhogo, wimbi, samaki, njugu, mapera, yaani kila kitu yenye inaweza kutoka ushago ilikuwa imeletwa. Sasa shida ni, we were not seeing whoever had brought all that. We just woke up in the morning and found them kwa kitchen and we assumed ni nyanya amevisit. Who else would carry all that stuff from home kama sio nyanya ama mama yangu? Since mummy hakuwa, we knew it was nyanya. Wacha tuanze kutafuta mwenye ameleta, whoever it was hakuwa kwa bedroom ya boys wala yetu! So the only remaining bedroom was my Dad’s, no one was brave enough to go and check there! So tukaamua tu wacha tungoje tuone ni nani. Shida ni, viatu za huyo mletaji zilikuwa kwa mlango na zilikuwa za mwanamke! Sema kupambana na fikira!! So since it was a weekend, tukajitayarisha ati fadhe aamke kama tuko ready tupelekwe kwa relative tukae huko. After kujitayarisha tukakaa kwa sittingroom sisi haoo, tunawatch cartoon network. Punde si punde tukaskia simu ikilia. Hizo siku zilikuwa landline. Like usual, we all ran to the phone and I was lucky enough to get there first. Me…………. Hallo? Caller……….Hallo. Habari yako? Me………..Mzuri. Caller…………Nyalego yuko? (My mom was Nyalego) Me………… (My eyes opening wide) Huh? Nani? Caller………..Nataka kuongea na Nyalego. Me…………. Nyalego alikufa. Immediately my sisters start moving away from me in shock! Who the hell could be calling to ask for my mother almost a year after she had passed on yawa? I quickly realized I could be talking to a ghost, so I hang up and ran towards my sisters in fear. Just then my father walked out of his room asking who had called. Him………..Nimeskia simu ikilia, ilikuwa nani? Me……….Sijui. Him………..Nani ameshika simu? My sisters in unison…………Ni Beryl. Him………….Beryl, nani amepiga simu? Me…………Alikuwa anataka Mummy nikamuambia mummy alikufa. Him……..Amekuambia anataka kuongea na nani? Me………Nyalego. Him……..Beryl uko sure …….(before he finishes, the phone rings again) We all cuddle at a corner waiting for him to receive the phone. He goes, picks the phone, talks to the person in Luhya (Which we don’t understand) then hangs up. My sister Rose was the first to break the silence. Rose………….Daddy. Nyanya ako wapi? Dad………….Nyanya? Ako ushago. Kwanini? Rose………. Basi nani ameleta hizo chakula mingi kwa jikoni? Dad……… (Looks at us and smiles) Kaeni hapo chini niwaambie. We all sit down ready to listen to him. We sit on one couch and he sits right opposite facing us. Dad………Nimewaletea mummy, si munajua (He did not even finish his sentence) We looked at each other in shock, then remembered the caller wanted to talk to our mother. The previous night, we had just seen a Nigerian movie called ‘Hour of Grace’ where Patience Ozokwor had come back to life after being buried and was living with his son though his son could not see him, she was a ghost. We added one plus one together na without even alerting each other, we took off screaming, we all rushed to the balcony and jumped out of the house (Tulikuwa tunaishi ground floor) Who the hell wants to see someone we buried months ago? So the caller knew Mom was back!! Our Dad came running after us and got hold of Rose and Anne as they tried to get to the gate. Mimi naye naniii, I don’t think twice when it comes to ghosts, Kemboi kando, nilikuwa naelekea shopping center sasa with the watchman in hot pursuit! Hata karibu nigongwe na gari vaye! Sa hizo nascream nikisema “Sitaki kuona muuuuuumyyyy”. Our watchman, I remember him too well, alikuwa anaitwa Prezzo coz his real name was Kenyatta, may he rest in peace, he managed to get hold of me tukaanza safari ya kurudi kwa nyumba. I am not a Catholic and I have never been one but usitake kujua vile I recited the rosary all the way back to the house. Naongeleshwa ni mimi niko tu za “Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus When we got to the house, I joined Anne and Rose who were now sitting right opposite Dad and some other woman in her night gown. Wololoreeeee!! Rose and Anne were just staring, not talking. Prezzo left and there we were now. My Dad, the woman and us. I looked at the woman and wondered how much my Mom had changed! I could not even recognize my own mother! I was confused I swear, and by the way I was still reciting the rosary, mumbling words! Then my Dad broke the silence and apologized for ambushing us with the news. The woman was actually not our real mother as we had thought. She was going to be our ‘new’ mother though. We managed to calm down after a lengthy talk with our Dad. But trust me it took us more than a month to move anywhere near her, we still thought she was a ghost. At night we would lock our bedroom with the key, squeeze in one bed and hug our Bibles ready to fight any intruder! Luckily my Dad understood and gave us all the time we needed to accept her. So today, I want to thank one of the greatest women South of Sahara and North of Limpopo for loving my Dad and standing by him when he was down. For putting back a smile on his face after my mother’s death robbed him of happiness! The woman who accepted us and helped in bringing us up as if we were her own flesh and blood! This woman who made my Dad behave like a teen in love all over again! I say this because I could see it in my father’s eyes! The once gloomy face was lit up by her presence, what more could I want for my Dad than pure happiness? Although she passed on three years later, I give it all to one Florence Ambasa mrembo kutoka Bunyore for not snapping at me coz seriously, I pushed her to the edge during her first year but she held on!! Rest in peace Aunty (As we used to call you) Oooh, before I forget, the caller who wanted Nyalego was actually an uncle who was looking for another Nyalego and not my Mom!
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:35:46 +0000
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