I HATE YOU VALENTINE IV

“Kat! Pack your things and leave!” He said. There was anguish in his voice. She didn’t think she had heard him well. She had already gone on her knees to plead with him. No words came out though, only more tears. Tears of guilt. She had her hands locked at the back of her head as one who had seen sorrow with her naked eyes. All she could say amidst her weeping was the word sorry – repeatedly like a broken record. Indeed, she was a broken one and for sure she had even broken her own record.
(Read the previous episode here.)
“When the first streak of daylight shows, I don’t want to see you here. You are a disgrace to this house now.” Eli said in an effort to make himself clear. His face that was crying a river a while ago was now a stone face. It now looked like a dry stony river bed. The tears he had shed, for those few minutes he let his manly guard down – had washed almost every residue of sympathy and affection he had for Kat.
“You are just as good as every other girl on the streets out there. You don’t deserve my mercy. This is the end of us Kat. Better go finish your sleep and wake up in time to leave before my patience runs out like the tears in me.”
At 6 in the morning, poor Kat had to face the door she had enjoyed opening and walking into like paradise for about a month now. With her bag bearing her belongings on one hand and a bag of pain and sorrow on the other, she dragged herself out. Of course, the air was colder than usual. She could not remember the directions. She had no money. The army of confusion overthrew the government of common sense forcing them out through her ears. She was no different than a child who had just been abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Being broke had never been so real to her until that day she didn’t have enough fare to buy at least half the journey to Kakamega.
As she stood at the bus stage in town trying to crack some options, she must have given all the ladies a speech in her head. She must have said in her speech that although they may love a man very much, a man who does everything for them; they should invest in their own upkeep. They will never know when the ghost of misfortune will possess their relationship and throw it on the path of a speeding train or hit its head on a tree until it bleeds to death. She must have said to them, this time with tears flowing down her chubby cheeks, the kind that can do abujubuju – that she was ashamed that she had beaten the norm that men are the ones who are unfaithful in a relationship. Not all men are dogs. There are men who love for real and Eli so far was that kind of a mjango.

It was only a matter of time and I would take back my speech!

“Hello?
Jeff?
Sasa?
I ran into some shit in Nairobi…
And I don’t have enough fare to get me to Kakamega…
Can I please stop by your place for the time being? I’m sure I’ll have found more money before long…
I’ll explain when I get there…
Okay thanks, I’ll call you when I get to Nakuru.”
Jeff is a mjango almost as old as Eli. He was working too and lived in Nakuru. He was the only one he could think of to help her. She needed a place she could recollect everything that had just happened. If you have ever been through a breakup mjango, you do know the disbelief that follows after. It’s like someone who was stinking rich yesterday and today, he is no better than a peasant. The fall in ranks is just what human beings take time to absorb. It’s called acceptance. It’s a shitty process. The opposite of that is denial. Denial happens because for quite a long time now, you had never imagined life without that person in the picture. What you used to do together now you have to do alone if at all you have to do it. Everything you told them as a secret is no different from releasing a paper into the wind. It may land in a public place where everybody can see it or a bush never to be found. Lucky you if it lands in the bush. Woe unto you if among those secrets are nudes.
Kat told Jeff what had happened, though not entirely. And like the man he should be, he offered a listening ear and a place to rest. What Kat realized much later was that telling Jeff about her break up opened the highway for him to drive his moves through. You see what men are good at? Taking advantage of every opportunity they see. It may not be much but they tell themselves that it might be something worth exploring. They believe in luck. In other words, they are gamblers. Most of them may not know it, but they do what the good book says: Cast your bread upon many waters. They tell themselves that they never know, someday it can also flood in the desert. So they buy many deserts and gamble with them all. He did a pretty good job at trying to win her affection by the way. But it was evident that he was a lion who had just spotted a wounded deer. That one is easy to chase. Young lady, if you know you’re a wounded deer, stay away from the lions’ territory. The lions there don’t have to kill you before they eat you. But they will surely eat you.

****

That was the worst birthday of my entire life.

She sat in her bedroom and stared at a pair of rubber shoes. They were brand new. They were shoes she had bought for Eli before her last visit. He loved them but shit happened before he could wear them. He told her to pack them too along with her other things. I’d call that a man who knows how to do away with baggage before he realizes it is a burden. Kat spent most of her time weeping. Since that Saturday night she arrived from Nakuru to the Sunday morning of her birthday. Mjango as you pray against misfortunes when you do pray, pray that your break up doesn’t happen just before your birthday or worse, on your birthday. If that happens, the anniversary of your break up will always be your birthday.
 

Dosi has ruined my life. But who am I kidding, I’ve destroyed my own relationship. I know I will never get another like Eli. Then why do I need to look for another? I will fight for him even if it costs me my life.

 
This was their chat on WhatsApp on the next Tuesday night.
Kat: Hey.
Eli: Hi.
Kat: How are you?
Eli: Fine. What do you want?
Kat: Just for you to listen to me.
Eli: What do you have to say that is so important? Everything is all said and done.
Kat: Well, everything might have been said but not everything might have been done. I would like to make it up to you.
Eli: And how do you plan on doing that?
Kat: By meeting to talk.
Eli: Heh. That won’t happen.
Kat: Eli, please. Just this once. Let’s just meet and talk. I even didn’t have a chance to explain myself. Just let’s meet and give me a chance to try to make things right. We cannot solve this over the phone with over 300KM between us.
Eli: I’ll think about it.
 
WhatsApp chat on Wednesday night.
Kat: Hi. Have you thought about it yet?
Eli: Not really.
Kat: Eli. You know I’m sorry. I’m a total f*ck up, I know! But I’m deeply sorry for what I did. It was stupid, naïve and selfish. And there is no justification for what I did with Dosi and especially what I said. The truth is, I even don’t know why I said and did all that. I really can’t tell what got into me. But what I can tell is that I truly love you. And I cannot show it if you don’t give me a chance to. So please Eli, give me just this chance to redeem myself. To redeem what we had. What I had and still have for you is special. And it would kill me to live knowing that I didn’t try to make it up to you.
Eli: Okay fine. So when?
Kat: As early as possible. By Friday morning I can be in Nairobi.
Eli: Okay then. You come but we will meet and talk from town.
Kat: Thank you. That’s good enough.
 

****

If I could seduce him into being calm after being furious with me, maybe then that is the same key to unlock his affection for me again.

 
The destination was Nairobi and this time at her own expense. She was on a mission to salvage the broken pieces of her relationship. There is nobody as dangerous as a woman on a mission. She will stop at nothing, bend to any angle, stretch to whatever length and jump at any height to get what she wants. At the same time, she knows she doesn’t have to do so much because well, the weakness of a man has always been a woman.
They had agreed to meet at Java House along Agh Khan Walk. You bet she ensured she had dressed to the best of her wardrobe, done her make up perfectly and well, had the greatest of cleavages too. If I was asked, I’d say the size of that cleavage was the representation of the size of her humility.
“Why did you make a fool of me?” Eli asked.
“I didn’t mean to Eli. I was just stupid and naïve. That shouldn’t have happened. And I’m very sorry.”
He was generous enough to buy lunch by the way. To her, it was a good sign.
“I know you are hurt. You have every reason to dislike me. Though words escape me, all I can say is please give me a chance to prove that I do love you maybe more than I will ever love myself.”
“You sure you can do that?”
“Yes, for you,” Kat said.
“I still don’t think things will ever be the same. But we’ll see.”

****

It worked!

She was sure that he was into it too. As soon as he shut the door of his house, he turned and was met by a kiss that paralyzed the Luo in him for the better part of their time there. He was like any other mjango who could not resist a perfect kiss. In fact, he was among the few men who knew the taste of the perfect kiss. Mjango here can give you an idea of what the perfect kiss is all about. Maybe this will help boys and girls who don’t have to kiss – not to kiss at all and ladies and gentlemen who have to kiss – to kiss perfectly!
The perfect kiss is triggered by chemistry. Period! If you two share a chemistry that is out of this world, then your kiss is highly likely to be the perfect one. It doesn’t go without saying that the greatest of sensuality occurs where there is chemistry. Just like the actual Chemistry, there are some elements that react powerfully when brought together (I was terrible at Chemistry so I even don’t know the right terms to use.) And there’re other elements that react mildly together and others do not react at all. Same applies to people, if your chemistry is half-wit mjango, then forget about the perfect kiss.
The perfect kiss can be felt through the spine. Sanity and conscience leave the brain and hold a dance party along the spine. What is left in the brain is the sub conscience that records it all and plays it back for you whenever you call for it or not. When you commemorate that kiss, you can almost feel exactly how you felt, but not entirely. That way you’re left yearning for another session with the same lips and this time, you promise yourself that you will make sure your conscience is active. But no matter how much you try, the dance floor is opened again indefinitely! The more the action on the spine dance floor, the more the heart races and the more the blood boils. It boils all the way to the right places mjango. Every nerve in your body becomes sensitive like the tail of a cat. Your sub conscience takes note of every single touch. When your blood boils to a certain degree, none of you can control what happens next. It lights a fire that neither carbonated water nor an extinguisher can put out. Whether covered by the blanket or not, it still burns like wild fire. If all that doesn’t happen to you when your lips touch, you can forget about calling it the one and only perfect kiss; the beginning and the end of all sensual escapades.
Another sensual escapade of the two had begun. He was hurt, but there was no denying that his heart still beats for her. And she? She had her soul arrested and she loved it that way.

Yes, Eli had arrested my soul! Only he has the keys to unlock the cuffs he put on me.

The sensual treat worked, but not for long. Regardless, I could not undo these cuffs. And I don’t think I will ever want to, no matter what he did to me even after I had proved I can dive in the sky for him without a parachute on my back.

She left for her aunt’s place later that evening and travelled back to campus on the following morning. Kat went back happier than she came. She had promised herself that she would do nothing to hurt him ever again. All she would ever do is love him, maybe the only real Valentine she will ever have.
 

****

He takes a look through the window of his office. The building he works in is in Upper Hill. It has a view of the better part of the city. He could see that there was traffic and it was not different from an army of snails. The sun is bidding the city goodbye yet again and if one is keen enough, they can hear it assuring that it would be back again. He takes a seat on his desk and rubs his forehead. He would like to join his friends in a bar in Westlands but the traffic demotivates him. He, however, assures himself that he would not miss, it was Friday for Heaven’s sake.
He swings with his chair for lack of a better thing to do and just then, he hears his phone beeping. He doesn’t anticipate who could be texting him at the time. But what he does hope is that it wouldn’t be a text that would ruin his day that was just beginning to end well. The latter came true according to his reaction.
He read the text, clicked, slept the phone into his pocket, grabbed his jacket and left.
The text read:

You do not have time for me nowadays. All you say is you’re ever busy with work and that I should be patient. I’m your girlfriend for God’s sake! Your lover for that matter. I deserve your attention. And I can sense you’re not giving your best. I miss you because you know I haven’t seen you for the longest time. You don’t show that you have missed me at all. You don’t give me attention! And for your information, that’s all a girl ever wants. You’re making me feel useless like I am not a part of your life anymore. What do you want me to do, surely? Why are you doing this to me?

Stay tuned for the season finale next week, mjango!