A Day in the Dark

Chapter 2

Isaac shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the counter. "No one. Did you get the food?"

My eyes lit up. "Yeah. And it smells amazing. The restaurant was so cute, you should've come with me."

Isaac gave me a tight smile and sat down on a stool in front of the counter, opening the containers. The room was instantly filled with the smell of smoked meat and I couldn't help salivating. I watched Isaac take a mshkaki skewer and bite into one of the pieces of tender meat. He chewed and swallowed then turned to face me and smiled, his eyes wide with wonder.

"These are amazing! They're definitely better than mum's, that's for sure. Let's just hope they work with my stomach." Isaac said, taking another bite from his skewer.

I nodded and dipped my own skewer into the little pot of sauce the waiter had provided. The mshikaki was delicious, juicy and slightly spicy. Perfect. The taste was extraordinary. We spent the next few minutes in silence, just enjoying the flavours exploding in our mouths.

"It's been a while since we ate such amazing food," Isaac said between chewing.

I kept my gaze focused on the food, "Yeah. We haven't had a proper meal in a long time."

With both of us working, Isaac and I rarely enjoyed freshly cooked meals. Even during the weekends, work would overtake everything.

"Do you remember trying that coconut water at Woolies?" I asked, leaning forward.

After we had gotten engaged, Isaac had wanted to show me just how good coconut water could be. The only problem was that he had tasted Kenya's water and not the one that sat on a shelf at Woolworths.

"Yeah, it was absolutely disgusting," Isaac chuckled, his soft laughter echoing in my ears.

"Do you think we could get some coconut water tomorrow? I really want to try some good water."

Isaac grinned at me. "There's so many street vendors. We can go as soon as were done checking out the orphanages."

"Right," I forced myself to swallow my food. "The orphanages."

Isaac and I had decided to go looking through orphanages first. Asha had been very young, so it was highly likely that she had wound up in an orphanage.

"We'll start with the closest one. And don't worry, we'll take it easy," Isaac mumbled, his mouth full.

"Yeah, easy."

***

The next day, Isaac and I spent the first half of the day going to the closest orphanages we could find. And the caretakers at each one gave us the negative when we asked about Asha Juma. They even had photos of some of the orphans and I couldn't see young Asha in any of them. Isaac had done a quick search online and found a small orphanage just on the edge of Nairobi city. I had suggested we check that place out. We also decided to take a matatu instead of a taxi to fully experience Kenyan life. The matatu was like a regular Toyota mini bus, except the exterior was completely repainted with beautiful wildlife. Isaac and I were sitting at the front, next to the driver. Two passengers were usually able to sit next to the driver so Isaac had chosen to sit in the middle while I got the window seat.

Looking outside the window, I took a deep breath. Nairobi was a mixture of modern and historical buildings. There would be a couple of intricately designed sky scrapers in one area and right next to them would be an old, almost rusty little building that sold shoes and toys. The streets were crowded and bustling with noise. Loud cars zipping down the roads and the sounds of people yelling could be heard. The atmosphere felt so lively. The air smelt of gas, it was heavily polluted. The atmosphere and environment definitely weren't something I was used to but I was enjoying it.