LEOPARD: THE ENEMY WITHIN

Questions

I had joined my family two weeks after they left France. We were down at our rural home at the heart of Kenya. Life here was different. There was a farm to till, cows to milk and  relatives to welcome. The communal way of life was refreshing. Neighbours were cordial and inquisitive.

Mornings were ushered in by singing birds, weaver birds going on and on you had to wake up. The air was clean and fresh. The soil smelled lovely. I woke up with a smile every day. But phone reception, there was barely any as the home was on a slope.        

I got to the kitchen just as Evans came in with a can of milk. He had milked two cows and while Eric took the rest of the milk to the dairy plant nearby, Evans brought that for tea. He was in black overalls and white gum boots. I heat up two litres and kept the rest in the refrigerator for later.

Within no time, tea was ready, as were the sweet potatoes I had just boiled. I quickly made eggs as per everyone’s preference and set the breakfast table.

“You should milk the cows tomorrow. Or are you too pretty?” Evans asked right after I prayed.

“I am too pretty,” I said, pursed my lips as everyone laughed.

“What are you making for breakfast tomorrow?” Mom asked, sipped her tea.

“Mandazi. Dad loves mandazi,” I said, looked at Dad.

“Yes I love those. And vegetables from the garden for dinner, with some fried goat meat,” he said.           

I did the washing up while Dad and his sons repaired the cow shed. Then I went to the farm with Mom to get the vegetables Dad wanted for dinner. We got a lot, enough to last a couple of days.

We had a week left and would be back to work. Mom talked, asked if I was sure I wanted to marry a white man saying a big aspect of my culture would be abandoned.

Maybe. But I didn’t think of Benjamin as white and maybe it was not a good thing. I thought of him as a man that warmed my heart, someone I loved talking to and working with. Bit by bit he had stolen my heart even as he was away at work. We made effort to talk and meet as soon as was practically possible.       

Right after I made dinner, I left home with Eric for the city. We would go out and be back home. My parents wouldn’t protest as they knew Eric’s favourite pastime was to monitor me. He did every time I even suspected he had a chip planted on me to track my moves.

But we grabbed a cab and were in the city within the hour. He had his childhood friends he wanted to catch up with while I wanted to drink and dance. I knew I would be back in the field soon enough and there would be no dance.        

Eric took me to an uptown club. I looked around and smiled as we went in, his hand solidly pulling mine like I was a kid. But I let him. Either that or I would send him flying through the air and he would report me to Dad who would in turn ground me. Maybe not but last time I put down Eric, I was grounded. I was still in high school. So I let him lead me and soon enough, we joined a group of five men. They cheered when they saw him.

“My guy! You have a beautiful chick …”

“Call me chick again and I will shove that bottle up where the sun doesn’t shine,” I said, looked at the guy in the eye.

“Guys, meet my sister Elsa. I swear I will not defend you if she attacks or she will beat both our asses. So tread with caution,” Eric said, laughed.        

I went to the dance floor. There was music by a popular Kenyan boy band. I raised my hands and danced. I was in a pair of blue jeans and a crop top as I had been reminded I was no longer open to dating.