CHANE; THE DESOLATE.

His mind slid back to that particular evening. “Old man moon” sat down all alone with his back against the tree bark. Next to his foot was a bottle of one of his favorite beverages, the “vowel drink” as he called it since it caused garrulousness. But, to Chane’s utter shock, the bottle was still sealed. Old man moon aimlessly twirled the bottle on the ground, his mind deep in thought with a slight scowl on his face. “Mzee, did you forget how to open the bottle, or did you invent a new way of getting drunk wirelessly without the vowel Drink?” old man moon smiled slightly at Chane’s comment and exhaled a deep sigh as he sat next to him. Something was off that evening, Chane noticed that his aged pal was quieter than usual. Finally, he turned to him and said, “You need to understand this as a handsome young man, beautiful women are paradise to the eye but purgatory to the wallet. But, that will all depend on how you will act after looking at them.”

That old slobber had warned him, he just hadn’t understood what he meant. But now, with his thoughts as his only companion in this lonely prison cell, the words of old man moon started to make sense. He began to connect the dots that led him to this enclosed smelly prison box. You see, Chane was at home, listening to music on the radio. Rap music had the best beats for doing laundry in the shortest time possible. He had the whole house to himself, his mother and siblings had gone to pay a visit to their maternal grandparents. Chane, being the eldest, took the responsibility of staying home to guard the property. Being the only one at home and on such a sunny day, it was merely obvious to do the laundry in the most comfortable attire he could get. He rested his grey polo shirt on the bench and got busy in the basins with just a pair of black shorts that reached just below his knees.

Several minutes later as Chane recited his favorite rap and hanged the wet laundry over the hang lines, they showed up. Amina and Nala. In all honesty, Amina and Chane weren’t the closest of friends, and the other girl, he had no idea where she came from but strangely, Amina had showed up to merely “pay a visit”. “Habari mpenzi wangu!” Amina saluted cheerfully. Nala also greeted in a more meek tone, to which Chane responed. “We’ve come to pay you a visit, kwani you’re so lost, eh!” Amina added as she strolled past Chane towards the door of the house to let herself and her friend in. he quickly grabbed slid his shirt over his torso that was glistening with sweat and followed his uninvited guests into the living room. As far as he could remember, the conversation between him and Amina flowed more or less easily with Nala chipping in here and there, and for a guy left home alone, he honestly tried to provide a sensible meal and beverages for his lady friends that visited abruptly. At around 8 in the evening, Amina excused herself to take a phone call. After what seemed like eternity, both Chane and Nala realized that Amina wasn’t to return anytime soon. It was already quite late. There was no way he was letting this lady go home alone and the thugs of Kibera were not kind to men that were better looking than them. He had learnt that lesson properly but that’s a story for another day. Chane advised Nala to head to Zuri’s room, borrow some clothes for changing and take a shower. Chane escorted Nala to the bathroom behind the house and stayed guard to ensure she didn’t feel scared. Suddenly, Nala came running out of the bathroom with just her blouse reaching just below her fairly pronounced behind and suds covering her legs and held onto Chane from behind with trembling hands. A strong wind had blown the mango tree causing it to drag its leaves over the iron sheets of the bathroom which startled Nala!

The rest of the details were blurred in his mind. The next thing Chane could recall was hearing his bedroom door being opened gently, very gently. A very meek voice almost drowned out by the sound of pouring rain raging against the sheets outside calling him. “Chane, I’m scared, can I sleep beside you?” He almost laughed out loud. This lady is almost above 22 years as he could guess, what’s so scary about his sister’s room! He silently rolled his eyes and hummed back a response allowing her to sleep on his bed. A few minutes later, Chane felt wide awake and highly alert. There was just something about the warmth and softness of her body pressed to his back that strangely awoke his member. He forced his eyes shut and focused hard on the rain but his defiant mind brought images of her fingers running wild all over his body. Was it his mind and or was it actually happening? The details again got vague thereon but still glimpses of their bodies in throes of passion and the soft moans of her voice as she whispered his name in pleasure littered his mind like a plague. At least Chane was sure, he got up very early in the morning, went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea for Nala, but when he returned to where she had laid together with him through the cold night, it was empty. She had rushed back to Zuri’s room to pick her belongings and quickly rushed past Chane while mumbling some excuse as she left the house. Confounded, Chane merely shrugged at the open door through which Nala had left and consumed the cup of tea he was holding.

About one hour later after Nala’s departure, two police officers came to his home and brutally dragged him down to the police station accusing him of raping a girl. Those are the events that led to this six-day-tribulation on his back against the cold floor of the prison cell. His door suddenly swung open and in came a police officer who dragged him to the warden’s office. The fat short pumpkin of a man seated behind the table turned to Chane and said, “I hope the cold cement has cooled down that misbehaving pistol you carry around between your legs. Now sit down and make a statement of what happened.” No sooner had Chane taken a seat than the door to warden’s office opened and in she came. Their eyes locked. A wave of relief and regret washed over Chane as he stared back at his mother but her next statement shocked the daylights out of him…

To be continued…

Written by: Melissa L. Takuwa

Aka: mellow.