SHE’S MY CALL GIRL- full episode.

We sat on my inherited, creaking, metallic bed.
I was confused and nervous, I didn’t know how to start. We had dated with Sheila for roughly two months but nothing had ever happened between us intimately.
Today was the day. I had promised myself.
She sat there fidgeting with her fingers and occasionally tapping her feet on the floor.
I was scrolling through my phone, I’d once in a while look up and hold her hand, caress her thigh over her tight jeans. My caress would be stopped by a gentle slap on my arm.

I finally gathered enough courage, I closed my eyes and moved in to kiss her.
Just before my lips met with hers, she stopped me. “Stop it Joe!” She shouted.
“This is us, here, now. We had a future…… I… I had plans for us. For you. But you had to go ogling at that slut. Everyone knows she’s a hooker. I don’t like the way you look at her and I will not start competing with a whore for your attention!” She was almost bursting with anger.
The whole accusation caught me by surprise.
” What are you talking about Sheila? “
” That whore Maureen, the slender one. The one with boobs the size of melons. I wonder what you see in her”.
I knew Maureen, I just didn’t know her name was Maureen. I had fantasized about her a few times but only when I was alone.
“Who’s Maureen?” I had to be sure.
“Don’t play dumb with me. Your neighbour. One half of the duo whores who live in the next house”. She wasn’t mincing her words.
“Keep your voice down, she’s in she can hear you”.
We couldn’t keep secrets. Our tin walled and roofed houses broadcasted everything.
“Ooh, you even know her schedule. You are a useless, cheating piece of shit Joe Zoezi!” she shouted and stormed out of my house.
I tried to run after her but my erection became my obstruction.
That’s how we broke up with my girlfriend because of Maureen.

Part 2

Eight months earlier I had set my feet on the big city, naive and eager to learn.

After the vehicle came to a halt at the busy tearoom stage. My hopes were renewed, I had made the right decision, after all, this is the same city that de la rue set up a money minting or manufacturing company.
I had put not only my mouth but my whole body where I deemed the money to be.
My few clothes well folded into my gunny bag and my certificates safely tucked at the bottom of the gunny bag.
This same gunny bag I had been using for ages to ferry coffee beans from my grandfather’s plantation and to the milling factory.
I walked towards the driver with a slow and somehow boastful gait. I couldn’t risk anyone noticing that I was new to the big city.
“OTC iko pande gani?” I asked him.
He pointed me towards the direction and blurted something inaudible before he was whisked away by other drivers and they went away laughing and squeaking like adolescents.

A few metres from where I stood was a shoe shiner. I couldn’t risk the red ochre soil on my gumboots giving me up to the folks in this big city that I’m from the village.
He worked on my gumboots meticulously. All the while he complaining about the government and the high cost of living. Something I came to learn that we must do as natives of the big city.
I picked up a few Sheng words here and there and I was good to go. I hung my gunny bag on my back and proceeded towards OTC whistling.

Before I got to the Junction of Luthuli Avenue and River Road there was some kind of ruckus. People came running past me, some carrying gunny bags just like mine and others with carton boxes. I couldn’t let mad men in the city bother me. I wasn’t moved.
I had heard how they sit, plan and execute a robbery once they notice you are new to the big city.
My cousin had told me tales of how they run past you, then you panic and run following them like a lamb to the slaughter , thinking you are evading danger only to follow them to their dens where they strip you off of all your valuables.

Part 3

In a minute, I was jacked up from the back and thrown into a city council van.
I pleaded, I wailed, I explained but they would hear none of it.
We made rounds across the city, picking up other unlucky passengers like myself. Others were alighting and creating space for new ones.
At around 1800hrs, we were taken to city hall.

Luck was on my side. The one taking our names was my neighbor back in the village. Jimmy
Jimmy was about ten years my senior. I called him by his family name and hurriedly introduced myself.
He laughed out loud. “Welcome to the big city Zoezi. Kaa pale kando.” He pointed to a corner with the tip of his pen.
I slowly walked towards the dimly lit corner , my clothes safely on my back in my gunny bag. I stood there watching as he took the names of those who had been arrested.
Occasionally I would get bored and find myself trimming my finger nails using my teeth. It’s a habit I hadn’t been able to drop despite the numerous slaps from my late grandfather.
At around 1915 hrs, Jimmy was done.
He beckoned me using his car keys. I followed him.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“I was going to my cousin’s house. He asked me to come, he has found a suitable job for me.” I answered excited.
“Here, you can call him, he’ll explain it better”. I handed him a folded paper with my cousin’s phone number written on. It was my lifeline, if I lost this paper then I would be doomed. I only had enough money to cater for my transportation from the village to the city, not a coin more.
He smiled coyly as he took the folded paper, I guess amazed by my naivete.

Part 4

He didn’t call, he just continued crisscrossing the streets and I followed him religiously.
We came to a parking lot which is opposite international life house.
He chest bumped the watchman at the entrance. The watchman nearly fell, they both let out a hearty laugh. “Omwami nilikwambia maneno ya bibi wengi uache. Wanakumaliza nguvu”. Jimmy joked and handed a crisp new two hundred note to the watchman.
He walked past the meticulous arrangement of parked cars. I followed.
After the second row, he stopped and tapped on a silver Grey Toyota corolla.
“This is my baby, baby, this is Joe Zoezi”. The crazy introduction came to an end. I felt safe, this car couldn’t run me over, it already knew me now.
He opened the driver’s door and got in then opened the passenger’s door from the inside.
“Get in”.
I got in, my gunny bag safely on my lap.
“Put it in the back”. He pointed towards my half full gunny bag.
I tossed it at the back seat.
He reeved up the car and we left.
At times I would steal glances at my clothes at the back, then look outside the windows amazed by the tall sky scrappers and finally smile at the sight of so man cars snaking their way on the busy road.
Jimmy never said a word, I guess he wanted everything to sink in without his interference. I was visibly amazed.
After about an hours drive, he brought the car to a halt almost kissing the tail lights of a Toyota harrier that was parked in front of it.
“Tumefika”.
Part 5

I alighted and took my gunny bag. This place was different, no sky scrappers and there were not many vehicles here. There were houses made of rusty tin and others made of paper and mud.
I followed him into a corridor of tin houses, he knocked on the third house violently. “Vaa nguo tumekuja”. He smiled at me.
They could hear rumbling and thing dropping here and there, then the door was ajar.
A well endowed lady came out, sneered at us then she left.
My cousin Brian, came out shirtless and sweating profusely.
He was visibly disgusted by our sight or by the tasteless joke that Jimmy had made. He didn’t even welcome us in.
“pole, sikujua”. Jimmy apologized and left.
“Kijana, nyumbani wako salama?” Brian asked as he ushered me in.
“Wako salama ata mjomba amenituma salamu”.
There was a metallic bed on one corner of the small shanty, a small stool near the head of the bed and two sufurias on top of a stove plus a few dirty cups and plates heaped onto the top sufuria and a carton box at the edge of the bed full of clothes.
I sat on the bed, the smell of their adultery emanating from the bed sheets to fill the house.
“Huyo ni bibi yangu, hiyo harrier mmepata hapo nje ni yake. Anaitwa Beatrice”. He smiled.
“Si ni mzee sana”. I was half asking and aso trying to keep the conversation going.
“Ati!!, ng’ombe hazeekangi maini”. He laughed hysterically.
He had a point, no matter how aged a cow is, the liver still remains soft. I understood him well.

Part 6

We talked almost the whole night, he mostly listened to me talking about my dreams and aspirations.
At the break of dawn, my cousin woke me up.
“Twende kazi”. He ordered.
I followed him out, i wanted to ask for breakfast but I figured it would be childish since he himself hadn’t had any.
We were on our way through the shanties at times hoping raw human waste and drunkards lying on the paths.
It was hard to keep up with him, I had to constantly jog just to match his steps. It was as if we were participants in a human migration race.
Behind us and ahead of us, if you had an aerial view, you couldn’t count the many heads moving up and down with every step. It was a river of humans.
We took a forty five minutes walk to get to a construction site.
“My girlfriend’s sister who lives in France owns this. You will work here for some time before I get you another place”. My cousin boastfully pointed into the ongoing construction.
I was used to hard work back in the village, this would be a walk in the park.
My cousin showed me around and finally paired me up with one of the senior guys at the construction site. I became Otieno’s errand boy. He would send me to fetch him his work tools, fetch uji from mama uji, deliver notes to his girlfriends and generally entertain him.
Otieno was great company, more of a teacher.
At around 1000hrs, the black Toyota harrier pulled over at the parking lot of the construction site.
My cousin threw me the keys to his shanty, he then got into the passengers seat. After a while they switched seats, Beatrice took the Co driver’s seat, Brian got on to the drivers seat and they drove off.
“Ukikula mdos, wewe ni mdos tu. Sasa wewe ni kijana ya mdos”. Otieno joked in his heavy accent.

Part 7

Evening came and Otieno assisted me to locate our shanty.
Brian came in later at night. He promised me to pay me the coming Saturday.
This became a habit. Beatrice would come at midday to pick Brian and they would leave. Brian would later come home at night drink as a fish. He would engage me in drunk talk sometimes overrating his bedroom prowess.
Being fresh from the village, where everyone knows everyone, I took my time when Brian was away to know my neighbors.
Some were friendly, some were outrageously rude.
I also took my time to spy on a lady neighbor by peeping through a hole on the tin wall separating our houses, as she dressed every evening waiting for her husband. The construction lasted for about one month then I had nothing to do.

Luckily I had made a few friends and I could do odd jobs once in a while.
I would be a tout at night and a garbage collector by day.
I had numerous encounters with Maureen and Jane, my neighbors, as they were heading out every night until I got curious to know what they do.
Maureen was friendly, she was cute, she had the physique of a goddess but unfortunately she was a call girl.

In time I adapted to living in the big city, I learnt how to blame everything on the government, then the government would blame the opposition, the opposition would blame the church and finally the church would blame the devil. The devil didn’t have an advocate, he’s hated by all so the buck stopped on him.

Part 8

Brian was used to going out with Beatrice but he would always come back late at night, he would never spend a night out but they say everything has a beginning.

Brian didn’t come home for the third night in a row. I had to do something, I was worried.
I had to borrow a phone to call him. I weighed my options between our immediate neighbors.

On the right side, there lived a couple. A young woman married to a man in his mid thirties.
The woman must have been a nympho and the man a beast if the kicks and ecstatic wailing and moaning each night were anything to go by.
The man would let out ghostly laughs while the woman would be shouting, “hapo babie, hapo babie, haki babie unaniuaa…….” They caused us numerous sleepless nights and painful erections. The man would leave very early in the morning leaving the woman alone.
We would peep through a hole on the tin wall separating the two houses. Many times, the lady would slide her fingers in her juicy woman hood.
She would rub her clit violently, rocking her body to the beats of her nearing orgasm and arching her back. Then in a few final thrusts she would expertly bring herself to orgasm shouting all the holy names she knew.
She wasn’t the best option to report my missing cousin to.
Part 9

Adjacent to our house lived a mum and her son plus her numerous boyfriends who would visit often. Each at his own time almost as if they had a time table. Not even once did two men meet in her house. I was fond of her ever happy son. Each time her mum was busy copulating with one of her boyfriend’s, they could lock the small boy outside. The boy would knock incessantly at my door, I’d open and find him innocently staring up at me, snorting the slimy mucus hanging from his nose.
His mother would be busy wailing from the shafting she was receiving from one of her boyfriends.
I would welcome him in and give him whatever left over I had.
I struck this lady from the list.

Then there was the caretaker. He was always stoned. He was a walking weed plantation, sometimes he could have violent seizures and outbursts. He wasn’t a man I would want to be associated with.
My last option was my neighbors to the left side. They were two young ladies, one in her late teens or early twenties. Maureen, she was a looker. Numerous times I’d find myself ogling at her round boobs. They looked heavy for her petite stature. Then there was Jane, Maureen’s older cousin. She was more serious, at times she would be ordering Maureen around.
At the back of my mind I had settled for them, they were more friendly and we used to joke alot.
I tiptoed to their door and gave it a soft knock. My fingers were closed, I said a silent prayer hoping that Maureen would be the one to open.

Part 10My prayer was answered. The door was opened and there stood Maureen. She had a white top which generously revealed her cleavage. Her nipples

Pressing against the garment. Her boobs had such soft skin, I thought to myself as I stood there speechless.
“I know they are really nice Joe. I get a lot of compliments for them.
Now how can I help you?” she interrupted my imaginations which were getting wild and more racy.
“I…. I… Sorry. You know my.” I tried to explain.
“Haki no wonder you don’t have a girlfriend Joe.” she laughed off and patted my shoulder in an assuring way.
The pat gave me courage.
“Can I borrow your phone please, my cousin is missing”. It finally came out.
I just stood there and watched her sway her shapely booty and disappear inside the shanty.
She came back and handed me the phone.
I hurriedly dialed my cousin’s number. He disconnected and called back.
I quickly picked.
“Brian, uko sawa, uko wapi?”

Brian : Usijali, tuko honeymoon na my Beatrice. You can have the house as inheritance, you know I’m your father in this city. He laughed.

Me : Asante sana. Asante Mungu abariki ndoa yenu.

Brian : Naona bado ocha iko ndani yako kwa umbali. Tomorrow I’ll bring you a phone tukiongea.

He disconnected.
All this while Maureen just stood there watching me. The expression on her face was that of pity and admiration.

Part 12

I locked the door behind me and started reading a magazine just to keep me busy. After a few minutes, I heard a soft knock on the door, I opened and found my neighbor’s son on the door. He extended his hand holding his broken wooden toy car.
I welcomed him in and we got down to fixing the toy car. After it was done he left.
I went back to reading my magazine but before I could flip another page, I heard another knock on the door. I knew he had broken it again.
I opened the door expecting the jovial boy but I was taken aback to find Maureen at the door.
“Hi”. I started the conversation.
“Hi, I was wondering whether you have had any breakfast. I can invite you for brunch”. She said.
“My mum warned me against taking food from strangers.” I joked.
“It’s the least I can do, I know you are all alone and I can’t forget how you always offer us free rides on your rickety Matatu every evening we meet”. She laughed out loud.
She left and came back holding a cup of tea on one hand and a plate of chapati on the other.
I gladly accepted them.
“Leta sahani yangu”. She stretched her hand.
The plate was dirty, the one she had given me the previous night.
“Nitakuletea”. I assured her.
She nodded her head and left.
My estimation put me about three years senior in age to Maureen and about two or three years junior to Jane.

Part 13

Our respectful interaction went on for a few weeks. I stopped lusting after Maureen and instead I started to notice her kind heart, her beautiful eyes, the way she would drop her head in submission every time Jane raised her voice to her and the way she curved her upper lip when she was angry.
I began to like the little things but once in a while I’d have a nasty wet dream where she dominantly featured.

One afternoon, I had come from having a shower, with only a towel covering my nethers, my dirty clothes on one hand and a blue plastic basin on the other hand. I found her sitting outside her house, I saluted her with a nod.
“Umeng’ara kweli Joe”. She asked.
“Nimeboeka kukaa kwa bafu pekee yangu nikaona nitoke”. I smiled at her.

I got into my shanty, securely locked the door, dropped the towel and started wiping the excess water from my body.
I was humming to a famous song “pride and joy” by Beenie man.
https://youtu.be/1GKHGUUUfPY

My solo choir was interrupted by a voice from the neighboring house.

“paka hiyo matako mafuta Joe. Imeparara sana”. My neighbors were nosy and naughty. I could distinctly pick Maureen’s voice from Jane’s.
It didn’t bother me. I never
imagined she would be peeping through a hole and she could actually see me. I thought peeping through holes was a specialty for the males alone.
“Joe hiyo nyoka yote na huna manzi. Tena una vaa ngotha ya yellow” she laughed hysterically.
This stopped me hot on my tracks.
She could actually see me.
“Ata huna haya Maureen. Lambwa kisogo na shetani”. I retorted as I turned around and lowered my boxers and held my manhood on my palm.
“shika, ama nikuwekee kwa sahani?” I couldn’t let her get into my nerves.
I had learnt the ugly side of the streets and the accompanying language from the short stints that I got to work as a Matatu tout.

She laughed hysterically.
“Siku moja tu, siku moja Joe, siku yenye si leo.” She sounded cunningly sure of herself.
Our friendship had just graduated to another level, a level of obscenities and speaking out our mind.
I dressed up and left.

Part 14

At around 19:30hrs, I came back. I didn’t put on the lights. I wanted to locate where Maureen had been peeping from.
It didn’t take long. I saw rays of light coming from two holes on the wall. For sure karma is a bitch. I had been busy peeping to see my next door neighbor naked and watch as she masturbated while Maureen had been peeping at me. I sat down on the bed and rested my face on my palms.
“I’ll beat you at your own game”. I whispered to myself.
I rose up and switched on the lights.
It was as if the lights was the sign that Maureen was waiting for.
I heard Jane shout, “Peana sahani zote. Ata sufuria mpeleke!”
I heard a knock on my door, on opening I found Maureen standing there with a steaming bowl of food.
“Here…. Kesho asubuhi nitachukua hizo sahani”.
I took the food and thanked her.
“Be careful please.” I meant it.
She left.

At around 21:30hrs, I heard them leave the house lock their door from the outside.
I knew they wouldn’t be back anytime soon, they would come back the next day in the morning.
I drilled another hole at the corner of the wall separating out two houses. I couldn’t risk Jane knowing that I peep on them, she was Hitler reincarnated in a female body. Perhaps she was hardened by the streets and the tough life, she was never polite or nice to anyone.
Now I could peep anytime I wanted.

Part 15

I met Sheila when I went to collect the garbage fee from her parent’s house.
She was a caramel beauty.
I had her younger sister yelling out her name, “Sheila…! Mtu wa takataka. Na leo ni msafi”.
Sheila and I lived in different financial worlds, the only thing we shared was the planet earth. They were on top of the food chain, we were below the chain.
“Mum’s not at home”. She dismissed me.
“Would you mind taking my number and kindly give me a call once she returns”. I humbly requested.
“You can speak in English??” She was visibly amazed.
“Yeah, my sister….. She’s Sheila too. At times she gets amazed at my diction and the fact that it never got me a job as a cabinet secretary”. I joked.
“What!!, You have a sister whose my namesake. How weirdly great is that?” She was open to more details.
“Take my number please”.
She flipped the cover off her phone as I dictated my number.
“Catch you later, Sheila’s bro”. She smiled.
‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.’ I thought to myself.
‘Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’. My thoughts were wild and bordering the scriptures.
“Father, I seek Sheila. Make me find her”. I whispered to myself as I took the stairs.
I went on collecting garbage fee in the neighborhood. It was an affluent neighborhood not like our shanties.
After a few houses, I got a call from a new number.

Part 16

Hallo, how may I help you?

Hi Joe, it’s sheila. I have just called mum and she asked me to pay you. Can you come back?

I’ll be there in a jiffy.

I disconnected excited. I turned around, my mental compass set on Sheila’s house. I walked fast at times jogging. I wanted to see her again.
I counted exactly eighteen stairs from the ground floor to her house at the first floor.
I found her outside leaning on the wall, one hand in her burgungy and hot pink checked shorts pocket revealing her caramel thighs and the other hand scrolling the phone and earphones on.
She had a white crop top which showed a generous mound of her cleavage and her arms. The top was cut just above her navel. Her clothing just left enough for my lustful imagination to go wild.
“Hey Joe, that was fast. You must love money a lot.” She started the conversation.
“Not really money, I was dying to see you again”. I didn’t have time to process that. It just came out.
“Really, tell me more.” The gave me a stare.
“You remind me of my sister. Your name I mean”. I lied. I couldn’t tell her that just the thought of her makes me horny.
“I would like to meet her one day”. She sounded convinced.
“Here. Keep the change”. She handed me a two hundred shillings note. I was to take one hundred and fifty and give her a the balance.
“Thank you. You are so kind”. I wanted more than her money.
“So……. Is there anything else… Or?” She clearly thought I was daft and I needed some pushing.
I just wasn’t confident enough.
I reluctantly took the stairs.
I should have said more.

Part 17.

I went to the house head hung low but the thought of peeping through the hole on the wall and the probability of catching Maureen nude renewed my hopes.

I took a few cups of a very potent local brew that evening. I had to muster the courage to talk to Sheila.
I was tipsy when I called her.
I can’t recall how the call went or what I told her but it was efficacious. The following morning I was woken up by her love message.
From one tipsy evening, our love tale had begun. The tale of Joe and Sheila.
It was difficult at first to show her where I lived. I thought she would judge me. After much coercion from her, I had no choice but to take her to my shanty.
She was excited, probably the sight of humans living like rats thrilled her.

Maureen and I were getting closer, we were friends now not only neighbours. I cared about her, she was like a younger sister whom I never had.
Most of the time we would be together in my house, chatting away about anything and everything.
She was the first one I told when I got a girlfriend. She coached me on how to treat Sheila.
She was happy for me.
She was more open, she talked about what she does, although sometimes I got jealous and other times I wished there was a way I could help her establish a better business.
We were inseparable, it was like she could read my mind and I could read hers. Sheila never liked her but she never said it out loud, she would just sneer and frown at her anytime they met. I didn’t let it bother me, I have always known women to be emotional and sometimes hate someone for no reason.
Although we were friends with Maureen, I still enjoyed watching her secretly getting dressed or undressing. It’s a habit that I just couldn’t drop.

Part 18. The Breakup.

One dull day, Sheila came unannounced, she didn’t call and I hadn’t locked the door. I wasn’t expecting her.
I was busy admiring Maureen as she was applying lotion on her sexy, petite body.
I didn’t notice Sheila standing behind me.
“Move over, it’s my turn.” She gave me a slight push.
I stood there confused. I wished the world would split and swallow me.
She bent and peeped. The next thing was a slap on my cheek and another one before she banged the door and left.
I ran after her and caught up with her. I apologized and explained. At last I managed to calm her down. I promised to be a better man and she promised to forget about the not so pleasant ordeal.
Peeping had been ingrained in me, I stopped for a few days then went back to it. Watching Maureen naked was some sort of therapy for me, it calmed my nerves. Once in a while I would be unlucky and find Jane naked but I didn’t let it dampen my moods or deter me from future peeping.

Sheila visited me the next day.
She found me outside and blind folded me from behind using the palms of her hands.
“Acha ufala Moh”. I thought it was Maureen.
“Who is Moh? ” she asked. Her voice made me freeze. When the devil is on your case, he never takes any breaks.
I had to think fast.
“it’s a sexy way of calling a cow.” I giggled.
“So I’m a cow now?” she raised her brows.
“Come on dear, aren’t you tired of fighting? Come on in”. I ushered her in.
She came in and sat on my creaking, metallic bed.
Today is the day. I promised myself.
Make up sex would be great. I thought.
She sat there fidgeting with her fingers and occasionally tapping her feet on the floor.
“So, what have you been up to?” she asked.
“Nothing much, just missing you”. I had to be as romantic as I possibly could.
I sat on the bed next to her.
“About yesterday..” I started.
“Shhhh.. What happened happened, let’s not dwell on the past.” she put her palm on my lips to hush me.
I removed my phone from my pocket and started scrolling then I put it down.

I finally gathered enough courage, I closed my eyes and moved in to kiss her.
Just before my lips met with hers, she stopped me. “Stop it Joe!” She shouted.
“This is us, here, now. We had a future…… I… I had plans for us. For you. But you had to go ogling at that slut. Everyone knows she’s a hooker. I don’t like the way you look at her and I will not start competing with a whore for your attention!” She was almost bursting with anger.
The whole accusation caught me by surprise.
” What are you talking about Sheila. I thought you said we forget the past? “
” I have thought things through. I’m not a toddler you know? Moh is Maureen. Never call me again you useless piece of trash”. She stormed out and left.
I wanted to run after her but my erection deterred my movement.

I just sat there on my bed. Imagining, what we could have been doing had she let me kiss her.
“Unaskia bwanako ameachwa juu yako”. Jane told Maureen in a low tone.

Part 19Unfortunately you couldn't keep secrets in this kind of houses.

The caretaker could shout from the seventh house saying how the occupants of house number one hadn’t paid rent. It’s like the sounds got amplified by the tin walls.

Maureen didn’t respond to Jane’s mockery.

Maureen kept her distance from me for a few days but she kept on bringing me food . It was as if we were on a break. She would just say hi. She blamed herself for the breakup between me and Sheila.
I missed her older self, I wanted to talk to her, joke with her and play games but I couldn’t, she was aloof.

It was as if we were on a never ending winter until one night
I received a call at around 23:00hrs. It was Maureen on the other end.
Maureen : Hi Joe, please…. Help us please. We have been arrested and we don’t have any money.

Where have you been taken.

Maureen : We are heading to central police station. Kindly send me a thousand I will refund you.
I did not hesitate. I sent her the money, not because she had promised to pay me back but because a part of me really cared for her.

Early next morning, I heard a knock on my door.
I was half awake, half asleep. I dragged myself out of bed and went to the door.
I opened and found Maureen standing there, a thousand shillings note on her hand and a packet of milk on the other hand.
“Come in”. I was still sleepy.
She didn’t hesitate, she just walked in and sat on the bed.
“Where’s Jane?” I inquired.
“I left her in town, she won’t be coming today. She had an over the night client.” She explained.
“I came to give you your money”. She stretched her hand holding a thousand shillings note towards me.
“Keep it. Friends help each other out”. I needed it but couldn’t take it. She had been a good friend, feeding me and expecting nothing in return.
“Acha niende nipike chai nikuje”. She rose and left.
I easily drifted away to slumber land I didn’t even bother to lock the door.

Part 20

Maureen woke me up.
“You mean nilitoka ukalala? Amka ukajenge nchi”. I woke up to find her holding a cup of tea.

I took the tea and we started talking.
“What happened yesterday. Why would the police arrest you? Kwani kuna kitu yao mnatumia?” I started.
“I guess we were just unlucky”. She bowed her head.
“I think it’s a sign, a sign for you to leave that life. I mean no offense but why can’t you just get another job or a man to marry you”. I asked Maureen. I was upset.
“A man is not everything Joe and a form two dropout won’t get a well paying job. There’s alot you don’t understand “. She answered.
“Make me understand, we huambia watu wenu nini? Do u ever look at yourself in the mirror and see how pretty you are? You are kind, you have a good heart, you are funny but you are also a witch… Do you still peep at me when I’m dressing?” I asked.
She gave me a gentle push.
” Kwenda huko. I only did it once. ” She started fidgeting with her fingers.
” I’m waiting to hear the long story. Why did you drop out of school”. I was relentless.
“I’m an only child to my late dad and my heartless mother. My dad passed on when I was in form two. He had a brain tumor but he died or cardiac arrest. He had been in Nairobi hospital for about two months and one week. The first month everything was fine and we hoped that he would be treated and come home but his health deteriorated on the second month.
He had accused mum of cheating on numerous occasions before he was hospitalized. He even knew the man that he claimed that mum was cheating on him with. He’s called Alex Mwachiro.
On the evening that my dad passed on, my mum had taken Alex Mwachiro to see him.
They must have done something that upset him intentionally to cause him pain.
It didn’t cause him pain, instead he had a heart attack. The doctors tried to resuscitate him but they failed.
That was the beginning of my woes.
Jane is not my real cousin. She is an orphan that dad had been helping. She was at first year in college when dad passed on so she had to drop out too.
Mum had on countless times accused dad of having a second wife secretly. She meant Jane. I knew all about Jane and I knew they had nothing going on. Jane’s mother had died while giving birth to her. Jane’s dad and my dad were best of friends, they worked in the same company up until the time when Jane’s dad passed on through a road accident. My dad took up the responsibility of catering for Jane secretly although he later told me everything. He was my best friend.
After dad’s burial, mum only took two months and invited Alex Mwachiro to move in with us.
At first he was a humble guy but I could never get myself to address him as dad.
My mum was constantly abusing alcohol. I had to drop out of school for lack of fees.
Alex kept on promising me that he would take me back but the time never came.
One night………. sigh
One night….. My mum was silly drunk. Alex raped me. I….. I was stupid. My hormones were raging…. I was always skimpily dressed… It was……. It…. “.
She started sobbing.
I hugged her and started consoling her.

Part 21. THINGS HAVE A WAY OF GETTING WORSE..

” I never told anyone……. I missed my periods for two months…. I had to tell mum. She chased me away and called me a whore…. She told me that she knew I always wanted Alex for myself. I had nowhere to go. I remembered Jane. I traced her came to her.
She helped me get an abortion. I wanted nothing to do with that monster that was in me…….
Jane was already used to the business….. She introduced me…. I had hoped to get enough money to go back to school but….. Enough of me. Now you know why I do what I do. Can we talk about something else..? ” She was uncomfortable and weak.

That evening she came to my house.
” Jane’s phone has been off since yesterday “. She was concerned.

It was unlike her to switch off her phone.
We tried it time and again but it had been switched off.
” Maybe that client paid her enough for three days and I’m here worrying about nothing”. Maureen joked.
“I need to start thinking about my life and my future as you suggested. I can’t do this forever you know. My nights have been jinxed for the last couple of weeks. I need a break of a week to figure myself out”. She knew she could confide in me.
“Don’t worry, everything will work out”. I consoled her.

MY CALL GIRL

By the next day Jane’s phone was still off. Maureen was worried. We resolved to give it one more day. The day dragged slowly, by the third day, we had to do something.
We went out lookin for her. We started at police stations, they suggested we go to search for her in hospitals and morgues.
We went to all the hospitals we could think of, big and small, even mental institutions. She was nowhere to be found.
On the fifth day in the evening, we received a call from Central Police Station, we were informed the a female who fit Jane’s description had been taken to city mortuary the previous day.
She had been found in a thicket along Langata road with stab wounds on her neck.
We hurried to city mortuary. When we got the pass to go confirm, Maureen couldn’t move, she just froze. I had to go in alone. I found Jane’s body lying cold with stab wounds on her neck and her wrists.
It was evident that she struggled trying to defend herself from her killers.
I filled the mortuary forms before I went to give Maureen the dreadful news.
When Maureen saw me, she lost consciousness.
I rushed to her, I was assisted by one of the attendants.
She was assisted and she came too.

We went home to start burial arrangements.
Beatrice and Brian gave us the needed financial support and the call girls came together to give one of their own a decent send off.
We got a burial spot at Langata cemetery.

We were like her only relatives plus a few other call girls.
Tears fell freely on the fateful burial date, it was now evident that we would never see her again.
We tried to find justice but no one seemed to be willing to assist us in investigating the murder of a call girl. We didn’t have the money to buy justice for our friend. We left it to the hands of the creator. He judges the just and unjust, the vile and the honest, the brave and the cowards. We figured he will be the judge for the virgins and the prostitutes.

In time we learn to accept the fact and move on.

We sat together in my house. It was full thanks to Jane’s and Maureen’s belongings. We moved in together out of convenience.
Our stoner caretaker couldn’t wait for Maureen to heal and mourn in peace. He kicked her out for failure to pay rent on time.
She sat there staring into the blank air, I would rub her back once in a while assuring her

“I’d have committed suicide if this life was mine alone but I know there’s an idiot who will starve to death if I do.” She said amid sobs and a forced smile.
I rubbed her shoulder.
“Seriously Joe, promise me you will be okay. Get a good girlfriend, someone who will take good care of you. I have to go”. She wiped the tears with the back of her hand and rose to leave.
I held her hand.
“Let me go!” She could no longer face me.
“Fight it all you can but it’s in your heart.” I told her.
“That’s absurd. Now let me go. You are hurting my arm”. She shouted.
I let her go. She came back and sat on the bed.
“Honestly Joe, I’m a prostitute, that’s all I know. I don’t trust any man since my step father did what he did. But you stupid idiot……. You… You son of a woman. You…. I don’t know what’s happening to me and it’s all your fault. Why can’t you just make things simple, be heartless and violent like other men…. Just… Just”. I couldn’t let her finish her rant.
I moved in and kissed her. It was like I did it from impulse, I didn’t plan it.
“You know, I read somewhere…. I read that, a kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words get superfluous”. I assured her.
“This is us, here, now. We have a future. Fate has plans for us. How long will you fight this? Let’s face a new tomorrow together, let us hope, strive, thrive, rise each time we fall… Let’s do all this together. I don’t know what love is but I know I care about you. You are the first one I think of when I see something crazy, something funny, something inspiring. You inspire me Maureen. I don’t want to loose you, save me as I save you. How long will we fight this? I don’t want anyone else. I know everything about you and you are the one I want. U got that experience you know. Be my call girl, mine alone”. I looked straight into her eyes.
She moved closer and started kissing me passionately……………

She was a call girl, she finally became my call girl.

The end for now. Thank you for giving me audience.