He handed me the cd.
"thank you."
"that will be thirteen."
And I was thinking something must be wrong. My pops had called me a while ago. Found out I was at city centre, he hates city centre by the way, and now that he doesn't have a driver he took advantage of my being in town. Children obey your parents, so that you may live long. I do that, but mostly I do it cause I love him. So there I was heading up the stairs in some building in town... Urgh. I hate town. I got the package. It was a cd. In a shop.
Knowing my pops. He pays the electricity bill for half a year in advance. Buys stationery for his office for two years in advance, all at once. Which costs a small car, that he has not bought me. I expected he has no pending bills around, everything is paid in advance. What I didn't know was I am now all grown up.
"that will be thirteen..."
I wanted to return it, call my pops tell him I couldn't pick his package but I thought it would be embarrassing to do that. The problem with people is that they don't ask. If you pour red wine around the private parts of your white dress everyone who walks by assumes you had your periods carelessly. Dirty! They don't ask what happened! They just jump into conclusions and judge you. There were people around, I had been handed a cd from a shop and I was leaving without paying. The other customers in the shop just looked and judged, they did not ask what happened? Why am I just picking things from the shop without paying? They were jumping to their own conclusion. So I got my wallet out.
I handed him one thousand three hundred bob.
He didn't pick it up.
"thirteen thousand... Not thirteen hundred."
See what yes-dad-no-questions-asked had brought on me. He doesn't tell me their is a bill collecting the package. Software CDs are not cheap, especially when you are a student and your pops thinks it is okay to not give you prior notice.
Thank God for mpesa. I just drained my account like that, knowing very well I will not be refunded. Once bitten twice shy. I am no longer picking packages for people.
"babe, am done picking the package... Where are you?"
"sarova. Stanley..."
"where again?"
"Stanley..."
"have you parked close there?"
"no am inside."
Oh shit. Now baby is running bills. I felt like I would die. I was walking with a tiny paper bag that had wiped my account clean. Stupid small paper bag. Stupid cd. Idiot software. But it's okay, visa. It couldn't be that bad. But the Stanley. I just walked there reluctantly.
My eyes searched the place. Then found her at the corner of the room. I caught her smile. She caught mine. Our eyes met. If we were at some other place I would have run using the shortest route to hug her. The shortest route at a dining area is on top of chairs, on top of tables, through people, stepping on people's food, toppling over tables, breaking cups and glasses, only to jump at her from the skies in a hug and kiss. That is how I would have done it. But the people around having coffee looked like the serious kind. No, they weren't jokers, the suing type aren't, yes really. And the guards, oh the guards, as polite as they were looked like they could easily become raging bulls. In fact one of the guards looked like he had two horns like a raging bull has. Sorry, that was his eyes. They were raging. Ready to kill.
I didn't use the shortest route as much as I had missed her. I didn't run over people's cakes cause... You know the guard. I went round and round the human and chair traffic, until I hugged my baby.
"I ordered something Bobby... I hope you dont mind."
"No it's okay... Was actually hungry." I lied.
"you look lovely babe." I said.
"thank you."
"You see those earrings you wear, that's me."
She chocked off her coffee. "what??"
"you see that dress you wear, that's me!"
"what the hell Bobby?"
She was trying to wipe the coffee she spilled...
"you see what you are wiping, that is me."
She wiped harder, her mouth open but I guess she was too shocked to speak.
"am the man, you heard me. Babe. Am the man, am it..."
"Seriously?I don't even know what to tell you Bobby. I don't."
"so you want to say you didn't wear those earrings for me?"
"Seriously Bobby, you think women dress up for men?? What cetury do you think this is?"
My eyes started at the door. Some girl in a short dress walked in. Her eyes followed mine.
"You want to tell me she isn't wearing that short skirt for us men?"
"No, she is wearing it too look good for herself..."
The waiter came. Babe sent her back. Apparently she had asked for white forest, and they had brought black forest. And at that very moment I was happy. I thought we were having lunch and a bottle of something. I felt something massage my leg, the area around my pocket, i think it was my wallet. I think it was happy. You?
The white forest there is nuts. Oh my. It is as nuts as the heated swimming pool my pal always asked me to visit upstairs there. Oh. What a work of beauty.
She took a piece. My eyes wondered to her camera on the table. I love the way her white dress held her breast. And I thought, designers must be wonderful. As in they know exactly where a woman boob starts and ends. So that the upper part is left to the open. To drive men nuts. My eyes wondered to her eyes, oh her eyes are beautiful. There she was eating cake so innocent at how sexy she looks. And some white from the cake was spilled on her lips. Oh she looked sexy.
"Do you want to take a picture of this?"
"what???" I startled.
"do you want to take a picture of this, you know as a souvenir when am gone."
She looked at me. She was puzzled.
"I mean the cake..."
Oh
"you have something white on your lip."
She wiped it off. By the time my eyes were actually seeing and not looking... By the time my mind was back... She was returning the bill. We were waiting for change. I exhaled a big one.
We were standing at the car port. (can't wait for our new house, it will have one of those thanks to those stupid thieves). They all looked the same, dressed in red blazers, wearing black pants with red lines on the side. Each one of them was as busy as bees, driving into the car port and handing owners their cars and their car keys. I guess I will never know where they park our cars.
It was raining. Everyone was leaving, so we stood out there waiting for princess's car. Anticipating to the left, every time a black SUV approached our hearts flew off to the skies, then down to hell when it came closer and found out that it was not her's.
I was holding that large brown bag that looks like the bags you have gifts wrapped in. I gave them that. They have style. Take away feels like... Dancing on the clouds. Only that, I noticed the bag had been dripping right on my shoes for a while. Fawn colored shoes, with a dark patch of coffee.
"babe..."
"oh shoot, sorry..."
"let me wipe it."
"no, it's okay, it's raining anyways..."
"let's just walk back in and wait for the car from there, these guys are taking a while..."
We walked in. Sat on one of the green leather seats. The lighting is perfect. The wall art I will steal when I have Double-O-seven gadgetry.
My eyes went on her lap. I loved the way that loose dress turned skin tight when she sat. So smooth, like her skin. White and creamy. I let my eyes have that candy.
"Bobby, can I take a photo?"
"what???"
"Something you can take as a souvenir?"
She took a photo of the Christmas tree. I was afraid she had read my mind. That she had seen me look at my lap.
We finally got the car keys. They had parked it right on the road. But who cares, they call the shots. She drove me to Odion Cinema to board a Mololine shuttle back home. She kissed me and let me touch her legs. She must have read my mind. Bye.
The year ends today, and I want to ask you why you are single. Yes, one day you will be married, and you will have someone who will care for you, buy you coffee when you are sent to get softwares unexpectedly. (I still don't know how to ask for a refund btw) Why are you single? Why do you have to wait to get married so that you can have someone dress up for you? Start dating, and not just for sex, for all the other reasons. We all need a little love. And if you don't have sex, we look up to you and your straight morals, and if you don't date and don't have sex, it's no reason not to have love in your life this new year. Make friends that escort you to the bus station. Especially when you find that everyone neglected the car you drive and it has three punctures and the car keys can't be found.
Everyone wants to be loved. Don't go to the bus stop alone, don't carry those bags alone. Be loved this new year. And love those that love you with sugar, spice and everything nice. Can i be that person? Do you want me to love you with sugar spice and everything nice?
