11PM at Ndondo’s home.
“Aslay, just because I’m in form 3 doesn’t mean I’m a child. I know how to make you happy. I’ve done it before. I know all the styles and I know safe days as well. Why do you university students think high schoolers don’t know anything? I’m not a baby unless you make me your baby. Now tell me what you’re wearing tonight because I’m in a sexy night dress. Can I send you a photo?”
Silence followed by soft laughter.
“No. My mum and sister are sleeping. They went to bed at 830PM. We have all the time to express ourselves. When are you coming back? We have to make us official? I’m okay, I bet you are too. No need for protection because I don’t like it. P2 is okay. After all, you’re a nursing student so you know how to take care of yourself. I’m okay by you.”
This is what Akwanyi heard from her sister’s phone call at 11PM. Wanga thought her sister was asleep so she was expressing herself freely to a man who was focused on devouring her.
Akwanyi woke up and headed straight to her sister’s bedroom, frantically knocking on the door, shouting that she should open it before she breaks in. The sister was quiet all along.
This commotion woke up their mother, Ndondo, and she immediately started shouting at Akwanyi on denying them peace in their house. Akwanyi told her mother what she heard but Wanga quickly interrupted and told her mother that Akwanyi was lying because she was asleep and probably Akwanyi was dreaming. As expected, the mother sided with Wanga. Sensing defeat, Akwanyi went to her bedroom heartbroken.
The next morning at 8AM.
“I knew you’d turn out to be evil like your father. Just because you bought your sister a phone doesn’t mean you’ll accuse her of everything. I’ve decided to hand back the phone to you and get her a new one when I sell maize. I live with Wanga and she can’t do what you’re accusing her of doing. You’ve always been like your father. Very mean and evil. I made a mistake letting your father raise you. We know this tactic is to escape from helping your sister join college. If you don’t want to pay school fees, tell us instead of accusing your sister of such evil acts. You behave like your evil father. Your father destroyed my life and you want to destroy your sister’s as well.”
“Mum, I know what I heard. If I didn’t want my sister to have a good life, I wouldn’t have paid her school fees. As much as you always say my father is evil, I’m glad he raised me well and provided to his best.”
Let me take you back to 28 years ago when Akwanyi was born.
Ndondo met Imran when she was employed as a tailor. She was 19 and Imran was 22.
Ndondo got pregnant at 19 and delivered at 20. When she delivered, Imran’s family paid a courtesy call to her family and requested to raise Akwanyi because they were more financially capable and they wanted to give her the best life in a good environment. Mama Akwanyi’s parents agreed because they had nothing to their name and they didn’t want their granddaughter to taste the poverty that they had. Since Imran’s homestead was only an hour’s drive away, they visited as much as possible.
The arrival of the baby marked the end of their short relationship. Imran married a woman who has been an excellent mother to Akwanyi and they had two more children while her biological mother married a poor man, had Wanga but died years later.
Akwanyi grew up surrounded by love, went to the best private schools and university, had everything at her disposal but discipline was still paramount. Despite everything, she still respected everyone and loved her biological mother and sister dearly. Once she was stable, she went ahead to educate her sister, build her mother a house and care for them to the best of her ability.
Her mother has never appreciated Imran’s contribution in Akwanyi’s life. She has been living a life of complains for 28 years.
“Your father ruined my life. If not for him, I would be very far in life.
Your father is evil. He wished me bad.
Your father and stepmother are very mean and that’s why you’re mean like them.
Your father pretends to be a good man but ruins women’s lives.
Your father is a terrible man. I’m waiting for Karma to deal with him.
I had a bright future before I met him, he ruined everything. I couldn’t pick myself up again.
If not for your father, I would have been a millionaire. He gave me depression which made me stagnate in life.
Everything I lack in life is because of your father. He made sure to make me pregnant early so he could ruin my life. God will punish your father.”
These remarks made Akwanyi mad at first, but she understood her mother’s bitterness and embraced her fully. However, she still finds it easier having a good conversation with her stepmother than biological mother because her mother always finds fault in everything. According to her mother, Wanga is 100% perfect while Akwanyi isn’t because she was raised by her “evil” father.
True to her mother’s word, Wanga got a new phone after they sold maize. Wanga was always scoring a D and below despite Akwanyi paying fees on time and ensuring she lacked nothing. Whenever she complained, the mother would tell her that she was stressing her sister and that’s why she wasn’t performing well. She would go ahead and say that a D can still get a good spot in a polytechnic.
Akwanyi went silent. She let them have their way. Whenever she visited, she would notice her sister spending hours on the phone smiling sheepishly while her books remained untouched.
One night at 8PM, Wanga let out a loud scream from her room. She had blood all over her bed and she claimed that she didn’t know what was wrong. Since Akwanyi had a car, they rushed her to the nearest hospital only for the doctor to confirm that it was an abortion gone wrong. She was in form four at that time.
Since Akwanyi is smart, she suspected it wasn’t the first time her sister was doing it. The phone call on that day kept ringing. She called the nurse aside, and told her to extract as much information as possible on the number of abortions her sister had done so they could know how to handle her. According to how Wanga opened up to the nurse, it wasn’t the first abortion.
“Mum, you always say my father is evil. I want to show you people what being evil is. I wish to be like my father today. If Wanga can’t confess to the number of abortions she’s had, and when she started sleeping with men, I’ll let her die on this hospital bed. I have two more siblings and I won’t have anything to lose. Unless you have money to pay, tell Wanga to talk or die.”
When the mother noted that Akwanyi was serious and she wasn’t willing to lose her daughter, she commanded Wanga to talk.
“This is my third abortion. All the pregnancies have been by different men. I don’t sleep with them for money because you give us enough, it’s just the normal relationships I get into and find myself pregnant. I use traditional medicine I get from Tyra to extract the babies. Two were eliminated last year while this is the only one I’ve done this year. I’m truly sorry. Don’t leave me here.”
She was treated, discharged, sat her KCSE in two months and scored a D-. Akwanyi had to keep her promise of taking her for a short course until her mother’s phone call made her question their sanity.
“Take your sister to a good college in Mombasa or Nairobi. Make sure you enroll her in a course that pays well and will keep her busy so she can stay away from men. If she’s busy with her studies, she won’t find time for men. Make sure you rent her a beautiful house in a good place because hostels are crowded and other students might influence her negatively. Give her enough shopping and pocket money as well so she can stay away from men who provide. Don’t forget to make the house as comfortable as possible so she doesn’t wish to own the luxury others have.”
Akwanyi took her to a college in Kisumu and rented a hostel for her. It’s been one year of them being in a cold war with her.
