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Showing posts from August, 2023

Take me back.

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              A couple of months back, nilikuwa nimeenda place fulani shughuli na one of my boyz, Tommy, tulikuwa Whistling Moran I think. Tulifika mapema, tumetulia tunangoja tu clients wafike. I always arrive early for business, a skill I unknowingly picked up from my old man. Tommy alikuwa anataka kushika one or two beers to kill time before clients wafike, lakini nikamsho zii, business first, atashika a couple of beers after tumemalizana na clients.  Tulikuwa tunataka tu kufine tune some details kwa contract fulani tulipata ya kuweka some serious coins in our pockets with the clients ndio tusichomeke. After they arrive, tunaanza kuiron out some details with the clients, it takes a while, going back and forth, and right before I reach my breaking point to snap and maybe flip the table on them like I have see it done in the movies, the clients compromises, and agree to some of the changes we want in the contract.  Satisfied, we bid the clie...

Class 4, in a school somewhere.

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  Mr. Gakuha always got into class before me after lunch once. Nothing new. That guy kept time, He was never a minute late. Like all humans who are bound by their habits, Mr. Gakuha was no exception. He used to sit on a student's desk at the farthest corner of the class, closely watching guys and girls who used to enter the class one by one like during the time of Safina.   The Safina of Noah,  not this one of Jimmy Wanjigi . I used to feel like Tripple H after eating a plate of rice and beans. For those who have no idea who Triple H is, I feel sorry for you, I really do. you missed out when WWE was WWE Now back to what I was saying. So I walked in with my shirt's buttons opened up to my múkonyo. Múkonyo is a belly button.  I think as a language, Kikuyu needs to change because it doesn't sound like the name of something on a human body.  That shirt was not tucked in and my tie was tied around my head like I was Tarzan. Isitoshe, I had a bottle of water in my rig...

How I almost became a father.

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In the words of Kamande wa Kioi, before you die, you see many things. It doesn't sound wise when you say it in English. The queen's language waters it down very much. Try saying it in Kikuyu. Sagely!  Now, in 2015, Ochi and I were roommates in Kariobangi South by circumstance. I was fresh from campus and jobless and he was starting a business in Nairobi. So, naturally, we were broke, you see how it was by circumstance, don't you?  We got a bedsitter hapo tu Kwa Mbao. Kwa Mbao is a stage in Kariobangi South, it has the best Mutura East in of Eastlands. Hayaa, Ochi, one Sato told me that he had been invited for a bash in Kahawa West. We decided to go. You know what is written, that where two or three are gathered, there is a fellowship and at times a swallowship. That day, we knew we wouldn't cook. We got to the bash. Kumbe it wasn't bash bash. It was bash of gùchogia mwana. Look for a Kikuyu for that translation. Haya, we were ushered in and offered seats. Mimi, with...

Ilinirambaa aisee!

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    The first time I bought a skirt, I did not intend to buy a skirt. Lakini, I bought  skirts and crop tops. I did not even have a girlfriend. Or at least a girlfriend that could fit those sizes. Sasa, I was coming from Gwa Kairu, a place somewhere in Ruiru. We had a project there. This was the intervening period between college and the banking job. So, as you might have correctly guessed, I was an internal designer. Let me explain, interior designers know what they are paid to do. Some have even gone to school to learn their craft. Then there is us, internal designers, we are not the same. Us we rely on the mercy of God to complete projects.  In Kikuyu we say, “tuturagio ni kuiyumia.” Remember Fred Gumo?  His slogan?  Kaa ngumu.  That is how we did our jobs.  Baas, we got to Githurai, hapo kwa roundabout. I think when Angel Gabriel finally blows the tarumbeta, he will be near Githurai. It is there that he is sure many people will hear it at the...

Simiyu.

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Eeeeeeeei, umewahi kuwa kwa situation serious, but unacheka tu ju situation iko na humor kiplan? Hio ndio situation nilikuwa, mbavu zikiwa zinauma ju ya kucheka. Alafu kitu inaifanya funny zaidi, ni huyu msee hacheki akikusho story. Jameni, huyu kwani alikuwa anataka niende kwa baba ju kidogo nilikuwa na wheeze ju ya kusahau kupumua? Hold up,  wacha tuanze story vizuri sasa. Nilikuwa nimechill pale mtaani, siku ilikuwa refu ajab, job plus kudeal na corporate office politics ina drain msee kuliko hii serikali ya zakayo. Anyway, nimechill tu kwa kiti, najaribu kushikilia my virtual social life na kuchat pale X aka Twitter na green app. The next thing nastukia ni simu inalia na iko kwa floor. Najua tu phone ilislip kwa mkono venye nilianza kudoze. Nachukua phone kucheki, ni nani huyu ananivutia simu saa kumi na moja ya asubuhi ikiwa imebakisha dakika ishirini. Kuangalia tu simu hivi, kumbe ni arif wangu fulani anaitwa Simiyu ananivutia. Nashangaa ni nini mbaya inaweza kuwa ime happen ...