SIMPLE SERAH

~Wishful Thinking~

||ASAHD||

We are at my dad's club, Catchers, celebrating Mwas's birthday. He is a fellow dancer at Boabab Conservatoire and a friend as well. The loud afro-beats playing are hitting a nerve. The stuffy air composed of the smell of alcohol, sweat, mixed perfumes, cigarettes, and shisha chokes both my throat and nostrils. It's been almost two months since I've been to a club partying, hence the reaction. Regardless, I'm enjoying myself.

Half of the group is tipsy if not drunk. We have been toasting to shots for the last half hour. Mwas is already drunk because we overfed him alcohol. He's lying on his back in one corner of our booth. My sister, Blue, on the other hand, seems fine unless she is faking it. She is sitting between dancers Flora and Georgina who are busy smoking shisha. She doesn't do it or rather we don't smoke it. It doesn't settle well with us but passive smoke anyway. It's hypocritical but we don't give a damn. Murray, everyone's favorite, is busy hauling a girl's ass beside our booth wanting her to wine for him. The girl seems to be having zero problems with that because she gladly obliges, much to Murray's delight.

"Anyone with an exciting plan for the two weeks we'll be off?" Gabriel, our favorite choreographer asks us in a sober tone.

It sounds like he is not yet to be drunk or even tipsy. Quite the tanker he is. The studio gave us an impromptu two weeks break earlier. Our director said that we needed one before we embark on our coast dance tour for a week. He says that the tour is going to be hectic than the previous ones we have had. It's been two or three months--can't even remember--since we had an official break like this.

It is great to have one for relaxation but at the same time, it's not advisable for a busy body. Once the body registers that it's no longer working under its normal routine it tends to shut down. It's a coping mechanism that helps the body recover any energy lost during a pressing or tight schedule. For instance, I'm only giving myself today. Tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be battling to do some tasks. The registration of excess leisure time is already going on in my mind.

"I have nothing planned. I didn't expect the break to make any plans. I might just have to go visit my grandmother until it's over," Murray says as he takes a seat on the booth.

His girl for the night is in toe. She takes a seat beside him and does her best to keep him entertained. Lucky him. Tonight he will get laid. Blue is presumably getting high from the alcohol. She is smiling like a fool as she watches Murray's girl. It makes me chuckle but at the same time concerned. The last thing I want is for her to get too drunk to the point of passing out.

"I'll just sit at home and write," Frida, Blue's best friend says in a bored and tipsy tone.

We may have other careers by our sides, but dance is key. The craft is boldly embedded into our bones and blood through passion and hard work.

"Well, I have to go train my junior dancers for their upcoming festivals at EAMS. Apart from that, I don't think have a plan," I chime in sounding a little tipsy. A few more shots and I will be wasted. It's time to slow down.

"Since no one seems to have a plan that's solid, how about we plan something?" Gabriel suggests and we nod in agreement.

"Before that, do you guys remember the project we didn't shoot last month because we didn't have everything we needed?" Flora asks in a surprisingly sober tone.

The project required a tea farm if not a plantation, a tea collection center, and a factory. The concept behind it was inspired by her childhood life in Kericho. She seeks to narrate the story of a young single mother whose sole income comes from tea plucking in plantations. Every day she has to struggle her way into getting her child everything she needs regardless of the several obstacles she is facing. It's a great piece that she wants to tell through dance and music.