Work is love made visible,
and if you cannot work with love but only with distaste;
It is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
Khalil Gibrain
TMI
Word of the day:
Scripturient (adj.): Having a consuming passion to write
Listening to: Young, Wild & Free by For King & Country
I had no intention of leaving the house yesterday. I woke up and washed my clothes which in this case happened to be: my blue smurfs pajama pants, two pairs of black stocking, an orange tee-shirt and one floral bedsheet.
I knew the day had more in store for me, but I was stuck in a zone where I kept replaying the lyrics of Despacito…yes, catchy tune and all but there’s that part that goes something like “pasito a pasito suave suavecito,” that kept coming out of my lips like a chant! So, I took some tea, had a bath and changed into my all time fave; a grey tee-shirt and jeans and a pair of red ngomas and headed out to town. I also took my backpack along with some essentials:
So, I make my first stop at The Darling store downtown and ask for some short braids. A lady writes down my order on a piece of paper, takes my money and hands it over to the cashier. While I’m standing there, someone taps my knee…I turn to my left and see this lady, she smiles. I smile back.
“Didn’t you see me when you got here?” She asks.
Are you a billboard? I shake my head and reply, ” I am sorry I did not, my mind’s miles away. How are you?”
“I am fine, seems like it took a tap to get your attention.”
“Seems so.” She starts to say something and then the cashier calls out my order and I take the braids off the counter and stuff them into my bag and leave. James is waiting for me outside. He is basking on the motorbike a.k.a Bajaj Boxer…spotting a NASA t-shirt and cap. When he sees me, he takes his position and we head out to the market.
I pay him his due and he takes off as I walk into the market scouting for two things: eggs and sweet bananas. You can never buy just two things at the market because vendors know how to advertise their goods in such a way that they reel you in with their chants and before you know it, you’ve bought two pairs of stockings that you are never going to wear! The first guy is busy shouting “Boyfriend na soo, kau boyfriend kae gi mia, weri gi ati oh lunch, ati oh sweetie, kau boyfriend gi mia, nyathi ma nyako nyakandisre.” (Buy a boyfriend jacket at a hundred shillings, forget the lunch or sweetie , and buy a boyfriend jacket because a girl’s gotta look good)
I look through a few jackets before getting distracted by a lady selling bags right behind him. I switch lanes and check out the bags. I spot a navy blue backpack and ask the lady how much it costs. She looks at me and then lifts up a brown leather handbag and says “How about this one? This is the kind of bag for you, that one has been taken already.”
“Thanks, I just liked the backpack. I could try some other day.”
“No, wait…listen look through this pile of handbags you might find something you like. A lady should always have a handbag you know.”
I took a step back and smiled and walked away. I don’t know what she had to say as I left but the man beside her was loud enough for me to hear, “why do you always have to make someone buy what you want? You should have sold that bag, now she left unhappy and we haven’t made a sale.” Maybe I looked unhappy to them. I have been told that not only do I wear my heart on my sleeve but I wear my expressions on my face. It must have been her conviction that a lady should always have a handbag that made me take a step back. It could also be that she wanted to reserve the navy blue backpack to sell at a higher price because it wasn’t singled out when I spotted it.
As I got back home, I poured myself a cup of tea and joined my sister in watching afrosinema.
T.M.I
Currently reading: Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
Listening to: 7/27 by Fifth Harmony
Drinking: Coffee (my first cup of the day)
Writing: Ushanga (5 pages down…a whole lot to go!)
There is a Malian proverb that goes, “You will never drown where you always take a bath.”
I am looking forward to reading some awesome books that I bought from Nakumatt’s #BooksFirst yesterday. I’m dreading their shut down because my life and my bookshelves have been kept ablaze with the books I bought from their store. For August, I am looking at these four titles:
I’ll write you a story; a good story.
I’ll throw in similes; as sweet as honey, a dark as night, as proud as a peacock and watch you become as gentle as a lamb.
I’ll paint your days dark and color your nights yellow.
I’ll write you a story, yeah, you bet I will. When you hold your phone closer to your face in the matatu, or scroll down your computer screen…you’ll know that it is about you.
Your laugh, smile…how you cross your arms above your chest, how you look at me when I am not looking at you. How you have been trying to decipher me.
I’ll write you not one, but two stories and watch you shed your worries. Is this real? Are you for real? What are your plans?
I’ll write you a story, because I’d rather write than utter,
For I fear I might falter and stutter,
But…but…but, here’s the deal, I’ll write and you’ll read.
You’ll read and these words would sink in,
You’ll read and these words will get you thinking that maybe, just maybe I’m talking to you.
You’ll read and a part of me will be shaken, shaken like a salt shaker,ready for some seasoning.
Smile.
You look great. I love your hair.
Smile.
Thanks.
I love your shoes.
Thanks.
Smile.
Wish you’d have a worn black, it’d tone down the colors.
Have you ever thought of having a nice weave?
Is it not a chore combing your hair everyday?
Wait, and have you tried some facial cream?
I know this great soap that helps with rashes.
I also don’t take lots of dairy, it messes up with your face you know!
How can you eat fries every day and not have a pot?
What? Ati you weigh 53kgs? Do you workout?
How come you don’t have a guy?
Don’t you get lonely, like what do you do for fun?
Wait, how come you like motorbikes and X-Men? Guys are into such stuff, I never thought a chick could dig that stuff!
Do you write using a ruler or something? How come your handwriting is so neat?
…
…
Smile.
Walk away…slow steady steps away from the dark to the unknown…slow, steady steps.
Give an eraser time to delete the pencil work before they catch up to the ink.
Nancy knows why Gina never smiles. She’s got that car loan to pay.
She also knows why Helen is gaining weight; she says Helen is about to launch baby number three. Why? To keep her husband of course.
What about Pam? Have you heard from her? Yeah, I did like a while ago…she nods, sips her juice, connects to the Wi-Fi and smiles…”you won’t believe me when I tell you?”
She throws back the weave that’s clouding her vision of me and grins.
“Don’t you want to know?”
“No.”
“Why did you ask then?”
“I asked about you in the beginning. You told me about Gina, Helen and Pam. How are things going on with you?”
“Great! I just managed to clear my exams last week and I was appraised for a promotion at work. But, enough about me, I have to tell you about Pam because trust me, you won’t believe a word I tell you, aki dunia hii?”
Glass cannot be ignored, not even when the light strikes it at an angle. Nancy knows what should be done when your man is not acting right. She knows whom to call when things don’t seem okay. She knows who needs a wake up call and who needs to straighten out their life.
It is how she says it that brings memories back to life. She’s never been in any of the situations that Gina, Helen and Pam are in. She’s always the observer; the light that illuminates the glass. When she reached out to cover my hand with her own, I knew two things to be true; there was something she was hiding and she was trying to tell me by speaking of her friends.
“What is it Nancy? Tell me what is really happening with you.”
“Hey, I have been talking for the past five minutes, didn’t you hear a word I said?”
“No, I am sorry I did not.”
“What is going on with you?”
Glass cannot be ignored indeed, for when it cuts, it slices the skin in a neat line, leaving traces of red. I sipped my coffee and reached out for a pen.
She smiled and then leaned back into the seat. When I lifted my head to hand her the note, I saw the waitress smiling at me. “Are you okay Miss? Would you like something else?”
“Um…no, I mean, yes…yes, I am okay, thanks.”
“No problem.” She smiled and walked back to the counter. I looked at my note and reached out for my coffee. I wondered how I was engrossed in a conversation with the one who never came.
Start on Monday,
Travel on Tuesday,
Weather a storm on Wednesday,
Thrive on Thursday,
Flirt on Friday,
Settle down on Saturday…so that come Sunday, your actions are like the words on the back cover of a book…tantalizing a reader to delve within so as to discover who you are.
I am glad that June‘s here because for some weird reason, I always seem to come up with better book ideas and plots in the month of June. At first I thought it was the change in weather and drinking lots of tea, but now I know there’s something about making it halfway through a year that inspires me to write.
It’s also been a while since I posted anything about my favorite things.
nilichoandika 