~~Makena~~
These days when I pick up a tennis ball, it is for the wrong reasons.
I imagine the ball is the toad-faced evil man who assaulted me, and so I smash it against the wall time and time again. I hurt him before he hurts me until sweat runs down my temples.
I don’t realise someone is watching me and seeing something totally different.
Her name is Rachael. She is studying to be a clinical officer, and she is the tennis champion at Trenton.
“You have the gift you know,” She says as she approaches me the first time.
“Oh, I am just playing around. no big deal.”
She laughs. “Okay, then. Would you mind playing with me?”
Before I know it, we have our first match, and ten minutes later, my arms are sore, and I am out of breath.
But I want to do it again. We play every evening, and a crowd gathers around to cheer. In the first week, she beats me every day. So far, I have won zero games against her. Still, I want to keep playing.
“There is a tournament in Kasarani Stadium next week. I am competing. I’d like you to come, maybe learn a thing or two.”
“Which day?” I ask. I have many continuous assessment tests next week, and I don’t want to miss out on any.
“Saturday.”
“I’m in.”
This will be exciting. I never thought myself to be the sporty type. Back in high school, I did not play any games. But tennis is proving to be fun.
“Makena,” Joseph calls after me as I leave the school grounds that evening.
I no longer live inside the hostels. Wanja and I looked for an apartment outside school, in Kasarani, in a place we believe to be more safe and secure.
My routine is I get to the house and immediately get ready for work at Club Risqué, then come back in the morning and take a short nap before going to class.
“Hi.”
“How are you, how are classes?” He asks.
Sometimes we go a whole day without seeing each other. Other times he walks me to the bus station as I wait for the Kasarani matatus.
It has been six weeks since the incidence.
Right now, we are walking to the bus station, and he is telling me that he scored well in all his continuous assessment tests.
He tells me that his cousin Bosco called with good news.
His wife, Gaswiti, gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl and they named her Makena, after me, the engineer.
That brightens my day. I tell Joseph that we must visit them when we go home for the holidays.
“Sasa Joseph?” A shy girl greets him. She always said a timid hi to Joseph whenever we bump into her.
“I think she likes you,” I tell Joseph.
“No, we are in the Christian Union together that’s all,” He says.
We are almost near the bus stop when someone grabs my arm. I turn around, and my books drop to the ground. It’s the evil man from that night.
“How is school…is anyone bothering you?” He asks me. I do not say a word. I forget how to speak, and I’m trembling inside.
Joseph stands between us, and the man lets my arm go. “I have no quarrel. We were the ones who protected them during the elections time. We are still protecting them”
“Oh, in that case, I thank you,” Joseph says. Joseph picks up my books from the ground and walks me to the bus.
“You look shaken,” he says. “Sorry, he reminded you of that time.”
I pick my books and quickly get on the bus. I leave a puzzled Joseph standing there.
That night I never sleep. I sweat under the blanket, shaking in terror. I sit up and lean against the wall.
“We are still protecting them,” He had said.
Was he following me around?
Does he want to hurt me again? I am so scared that I wish to move out of this planet to a faraway place where he will never find me.
“Are you well?” Wanja asks me. I just hug my knees and rock back and forth.
She wakes from her twin bed and puts the lights on. She stares at me and then gives me some water to drink. I want to, but I cannot take it. My hands were trembling.
“How long has she been like this?” Dr Finley asked Wanja.
It has been a whole day, and I have not said a word. I do not want to move from my bed either in case that man finds me. I have not gone to class or to work.
“A whole day,” Wanja says.
I want to say something, but my throat feels heavy with the man’s penis. Now I can’t breathe.
“What might have triggered it?” The doctor asked.
“Our friend Joseph told me that they ran into a strange man by the bus stop. I think he is the guy.”
Then I see Daniel lean down and peer into my eyes. I am excited to see him, but I’m frozen. I can barely move and fold into myself. My voice cannot be heard, no matter how much I scream. I am choking on the man’s penis. It blocks my airway, and I cannot breathe.
The doctor gives me another injection, and I pass out.
The week passes, and the next week I take Rachael to Kasarani Stadium for the tournament.
The tournament goes well, and she wins. I am overjoyed for her. Later in the evening, we walk. It is around six pm, I am afraid of ever walking alone again. When we get to the apartments, I find Daniel and Ahmed waiting for me near the gate.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I hug Rachael goodbye.
Daniel is leaning outside his Cayenne. He opens the door for me when I get closer. Ahmed stays outside surveying the area for any threat.
“You are crazy,” I tell Daniel when he tells me of his devious plan. “You want me to run into him again? And?”
I don’t want to see that man ever again.
“Listen to me, you cannot tiptoe everywhere you go…he needs to be stopped.” Daniel grids his jaw. I hope he is not planning to kill him. From the expression in his eyes, it looks like it.
“Can I at least think about it?”
“Yes.” He takes my hand and kisses it.
The next Monday he takes me to see Detective Rotich, who is head of the investigation. He shows me a picture, and I confirm that he is the man who sexually assaulted me.
The detective says they have been trying to catch him for years, for robbery with violence, and theft among other crimes.
His name is Elius Kibicho, and three of his gang members have already been caught, and they have been sentenced to life.
The other two were dead. One had been shot dead, and the other fell to mob justice.
“He is the only one remaining. we have been unable to nab him, but since he is following you this is our chance,” Detective Rotich says. “All we need is for you to walk around and we will monitor your movement, and we hope to get him and make him pay for everything.”
Sergeant Wekesa here will be with you together with Sergeant Murimi and Sergeant Nyaboke. They will be in civilian clothes to avoid attracting any attention. We just need you to keep to your routine. Can you do that?”
I looked at Daniel, who encourages me with a nod. “Y-Yes.”
Daniel takes me home after the meeting. When we get to the gates, he pulls me to his chest where I always feel safe. “It will be fine.”
I wish he can hold me all night, but that will never happen. He is having a baby with Lynn, plus there was our crazy family history to consider.
The next week I resumed my routine as usual. Detective Rotich advises that I should walk an hour late from school every evening.
I am frightened of walking alone. What if the police never show up on time?
Nothing happens on the first day, and the second day.
On the third day, I am walking when someone grabs my arm. It isn’t Kibicho, just a street kid. Panic immobilises me.
The next day I do not expect to meet him. I am walking with my head down as I listened to music when suddenly he is standing in front of me. He has on a sinister smile.
I wonder what he wants from me.
“How are you?” He asks.
I am rooted to the ground unable to move.
“I took so much risk to find you,” He says.
I start shaking, and I feel myself grow faint.
Where are the police? They said the moment he talked to me they would be on to him.
People pass us, and I want to scream for help, but the words are stuck in my throat.
He takes my hand. It’s stiff like a dried branch. “I wanted to talk to you about some things.” He smiles. At this point, I’m sure the police are not going to show up, and he is going to hurt me again. My body starts going into shock.
Then I see Daniel. I have never been so relieved in my life. He lands a punch on Kibicho, and the man falls to the ground, surprised. Everyone is now watching.
Daniel rains blow-after-blow on him until Sergeant Wekesa and Sergeant Murimi pull him away from the man.
Sergeant Wekesa holds him and urges him to calm down. Sergeant Murimi put a bloodied Kibicho in cuffs, and they take him away.
I am still standing there. Daniel takes my hand and my bag and steers me from the crowd to his car. While inside, we hug for a long time, and we both do not want to let go. He kisses me and holds me until my shock subsides.
“You are safe now,” He assures me.
That night I sleep well. Something I have not done in a long while.
We meet Detective Rotich in his office, and he assures me not to worry. “We have an airtight case against him. He is going to Kamiti Maximum prison after this. They will give him a life sentence.”
Afterwards, Daniel takes me home. “I am sorry for what he did to you.”
I don’t know how I am going to live with what he had done to me. But knowing Kibicho is behind bars is a huge relieve for me.
“And I am sorry for what he did- my father,” I say.
Daniel stops the car. “Makena.”
“No, Daniel, listen to me. I am sorry for what he did, I am sorry that he took your father from you.”
“We have both been through a lot, baby.” He leans closer, and our foreheads touched. “I have been thinking about us.”
This is crazy. I even tell him the truth about my mother’s affair with his father, but it does not deter him. He keeps insisting on us to get back together.
“We talked about this, Daniel. Lynn needs you. You have to be a father to that baby.”
Lynn asked him to choose between his baby and me.
It’s selfish for us to be together.
I will love Daniel from afar and let the child grow up with the father like I wish I had.