THIRTEEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD

We were a family; my father, mother, brother and I.

Dad and mum set out to start a family together. Married at a young age, they lived happily and were financially stable. By their fifth wedding anniversary God blessed them with two wonderful children, Susan and Drew.

Dad, the first born in his family, was the stronghold in his new family. 5’7 foot tall, dark skinned and slender: the tall, dark and handsome guy most girls want to have in their lives. He was loving, kind and link between the extended and immediate family. Dad loved his family very much and treated his two girls; mum and me, like princesses and his son like a king. My brother Drew seems to be a daily reminder of him. I always think of it as God’s way of showing us that dad is still with us.

Family outings were the best. We enjoyed taking photographs, eating out and simply having fun. Dad and I would go shopping, in fact there is this one time he bought me red leather shoes with fine black detail on the side. I loved them so much I wore them almost every day.

Mum on the other hand is the last born in her family.Beautiful, of medium height and fair skinned. She is slow to anger, funny, very talkative, patient, loving and our strength whenever life gets tough for us. She loves to sing at all times, be it whenhappy or sad. “Susan, niweke pale kawimbo kangu”.Munduiririby Carol Wanjiru.Since Dad passed on thirteen years ago, she has been our mum and dad and also our strength.

When dad passed on, my brother and I were too young to understand it all. I was eight and he was four years old.  Mum explained it to us that dad had gone to heaven and when we would go there, we would see him again. I wept that night and on the day of his funeral service, and I still do at times.  We still have pictures of him hanged on the wall. A reminder that his family has not forgotten him and that he is still with us. 

As I am busy putting my thoughts together, I remember when my brother, decided to pee on the stove. When dad got wind of it and the beating he received! I still laugh at him whenever we go down memory lane.

Thirteen years down the road and I am happy to say that we are all doing fine. Mum is still working and providing the best life for us. Drew is now in his final year of high school, studying hard. When Dad left he was just about to start school. How time flies. As for me, I am about to finish my undergraduate degree and start working.  Despite all this, sometimes I wonder if life would be any different if you were here, especially during the hard times. 

There was this one night I really wished you were there. I remember it like it was yesterday. 9 pm, I went to sleep. 10pm, “Fungua!” Mum heard an authoritative voice say. At first she thought it was my cousin, but on peeping outside she saw six men. She quickly woke me up and opened the door fearfully. Four wereneighbourswhile the other two, police officers. One was armed. “Tumekuja kukupeleka ndani,” one of the neighbours’ said. His tree next to our ‘shamba’ had been bent and he blamed us for it. The neighbors’ had now come to seek justice for the tree.  Despite them looking down on me because of my size, I confronted them over the issue.Mum on other hand, was too angry and put them in their place while also avoiding arrest. They were the ones on the wrong. They had been cutting down the crops in mum’s shamba but we had notreported them. On realizing that they had come to threaten us,the police officers requested the four men to leave. 11.30 pm, they left leaving us very shocked. From the incident I realized mum was one tough cookie. “Do not let anyone intimidate you” Mum always tellsus whenever we talk about that night.

We are family, my mother, brother and me.

*names have been changed