Unthinkable (BWWM)

Chapter 1: Lifestyle.

The early birds chirped, as the sun was rising up. The Kamba villagers began preparing for their day: Mothers prepared breakfast for the family; Fathers equipped their necessary attire for their work and the children were sent by their parents to fetch water, milk or any morning chores that they regularly had on a daily basis. I suppose this is where the saying, "... the early bird catches the worm," comes from.

Naomi

The sun had not risen, which signified that we had to hurry completing our morning chores, so when the sun touched our lands, it would bless our morning deeds and aid our day to begin. If we do not perform these morning tasks, bad deeds would occur to us during the day or in the future. That was one of our traditional beliefs. The Kamba tribe members always teach their children that everything in life has a meaning.

"Wake up Naomi. Your sisters will be helping you today to fetch water. I placed 6 drums of water for you all by the doorway." Mother said, as she adjusted the leso, a light-materialized pure cotton cloth, that she tied around her waist. I groaned as my usual morning acknowledgement, full of exhaustion but I forced myself to awake.

"Oh, I will be at the market until 2 o' clock . If you need me, make sure to just pass by there," mother assured me as she heads out of the bedroom and out of the hut on her way to the market. She harvested fresh fruits and vegetables that were ready to sell. This was her way of income since women here are usually housewives and stay-in mothers and our fathers are supposed to be the head of the family but through the struggle we were facing, my mother decided to do her best in helping my father care for their thirteen blessings of children that they had together. My father didn't have a choice to object, so both of my parents decided to be partners in crime with this, overall, they are one. Father is an amazing farmer and a hard working carpenter, he would go above and beyond to make as much money to provide food at the table for all of us. If needed, he would go farming for days and would bring back plenty of stories of his adventures when he returns. Money came in sometimes but other times, it would be difficult for him to face us and let us know that we should manage. That would mean that some of us would have to sleep hungry or we would all share the little that we had for dinner. This was a constant reminder of why I had to work hard. I always looked up to my parents and how strong they were, especially my father. It is because of my father that the bond in our family is strong.

I went to the living area in the side of our hut to find five of my sisters, Asmina, Miriam, Isa a twin of my brother Issa, Fide and Mwende preparing to go outside while they also wrapped lesos around themselves and getting ready to carry the empty drums of water.

"Good morning sleepy head," jokes Asmina.

"Ha! I have every right to be a sleepy head. I'm the one who stayed up late cleaning after all of you." I justified, the girls shut their mouths from laughter.

"Well sheesh, I was just joking. But it was your turn last night. It's thirteen of us to have a turn to clean after dinner. Mine is tonight," Asmina said.

"Oh it's your turn? Thank God! I thought it was my turn, I was about to tell mother that I'm not feeling well." Isa said plainly jesting as she always does. All the other girls complain and laugh in sync while we all head out.

I could finally see the sun at this point, beginning to peak as we went down the hill and up another hill and then down to the village well. The line to the river was obviously long while people were waiting for their turn to fetch water as they gossiped, played and some brought some snacks to munch on. I saw my best friend, Nkomo who got to the line a few minutes before and I could tell, she gave up hope of the line moving any time soon.