ALPHAN THE PRESIDENT

CHAPTER 5

Bi so nyanya mzuri uko wapi....

Toka nikuone........

Mapenzi ulio nayo...

Toka nikuone...

Mjukuu amefika.....

Toka nikuone.....

Bi so my sweet granny where are you....

Come out I see you

Your love....

Come out to be seen

Your grand son is here

Come out to be seen

Alphan stood at the entrance singing and singing. There was no response from his granny he waited for long but bi so didn't show up. Now all was not well, tension covered his wits and he stood there transfixed to the ground. Maybe she was sleeping he thought but she never slept during the day, maybe she had gone to fetch water, but aunt sari was always around. All questions in his mind lacked answers of why granny never showed up. He wouldn't want to think maybe she was sick again.

Alphan was taken from his world of thoughts by a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was aunt sari who seemed sad. The sun was biding the world bye the thing it does daily whenever it is tired of giving people light. She had to tell him the truth. Her sad face brought the worst thought in his mind. Was she dead?? He asked himself. Just before he got an answer to that she said she had been taken to the hospital by her son who lives in kenya for further treatment. She wouldn't have made it to wait for him to come from school since her son had a busy schedule and didn't have enough time for all that. Tears now flowed afresh again from his eye sockets. Was bi sos llove for him reducing, did she care anymore about him, did the call he made few months ago reached kenya, was aunt sari saying the truth, how will life be without bi so many questions ran down his mind with no answers.

According to him when he left home that day bi so was doing fine and her health was not life threatening. She was able to walk and smile and even able to narrate her ever new stories. He sluggishly made his way into the hut to confirm what he had been told. And of course she was not there.

Where she always relaxes when doing nothing there was only her mat which she had made before her husband died. Bi so was all that she had. She was his father and mother. Life was now unfair to him. It was now at its peak of troubles, it had taken away the only source of happiness he had, it gave him no reason to live. He cried freshly again when he thinks he will miss her love and sweet stories.

All this time aunt sari was looking at him saying nothing she then breathed in deeply and said

"derrick kuvunjika kwa mwiko si mwisho wa kupika ugali"

[derrick the breaking of a cooking stick is not the end of cooking]

"she left a message and asked me to take care of you"

"why did she had to leave at least I could have gone with her"

He had no other option other than to give in but to accept all that had happened. He had to live with aunt sari. Although he had always wished to see the son from kenya, he couldn't and his dream now remained a dream.

Since his childhood he had always thought her mother and aunt sari were the only daughters of bi so and her mother was the eldest. Aunt sari confirmed to him that she had two daughters and two sons and the son who had come for bi so was the eldest.

This opened his mind he discovered how first born have a great responsibility in the society. He saw how the society disadvantaged and advantaged many through the traditions. he saw how much was expected from his as the first son of his other. How much his siblings expected from him and how much the society demanded from him. He had a great responsibility in his hands.

Aunt sari was always a fast decision maker. She has never thought twice about anything in her life. This was her character since childhood. This was the main reason she was married at the age of thirteen. She used to go to school during that period of colonialism where the class was under a tree and a teacher was a white. There were many lessons in a day under that tree. That is two hours each lesson and with different students. 8:00am-10:00am,12:00 noon-2:00pm and lastly 3:00pm-5:00pm. She loved the evening lessons, since her laziness never allowed her to go home early and help bi so to do her daily evening chores. She never understood anything in class though she loved hearing the white shout A.....B.......C............D............E........ All day.

At adolescence sarisas figure was impressing, her voice became softer and her hips protruded from her figurative body to prove that they existed. She never failed them down since she changed her walking style to that of a cat and was able to swing them all around wherever she went. Boys would notice this and all would run to her with all the vocabulary from their lessons, one would talk of her hips, others talk of her lips, others of her voice but she gave no ear to any of them. Her mom's words hit in her head wheneve she was tempted to accept their talk. Her mother had always advised against boys. She told her boys were dangerous and due to her strictness she wouldn't dare misbehave.

"hello beautiful girl "

A voice came out from a nearby tree as sarisa was going home one single evening after her lessons. She never responded to the greeting but she made her steps and moving her body the way she knew best confirming to whoever was calling her that she was blessed. After making few steps she remembered that boys were dangerous and whoever was calling was a man. With her stupidity she said to herself that If boys were bad then men were the opposite. She stopped only to realize it was the chief of the village calling unto her. She couldn't keep moving since it was the village chief calling and chiefs are always respected she had to look ashamed and face down and ask for forgiveness according to the traditions.

The chief was an old man and generally immoral, no wonder he had such many wives, he had a dozens of wives back at his homestead and tens of children. And now he was interested in a school girl with how his tongue was out like a hyena waiting to feast.

"would you please mind being my wife?"

Those were the next words that came out from his mouth. To her it sounded like a request but in real sense it was a command since a no from her would even cause her death. She was now worried to such proposal from the eldest man in the village. She then gathered courage and composed herself

"but you are already old, you have many wives, am in school, am not ready to be married, my mother doesn't know about this and......"

She was now confused had she disrespected an elder or how comes she is talking to an elder in such a manner. She was stopped by a gentle smile from the old womanizer.

"don't worry about anything, I will make you my first wife, I will give your mother many cows, I just want to have your beautiful face beside me in my short life that is remaining, I will love you soo much forget about the other concubines in my homestead......"

With a million promises she was now drawing the African map to the ground and rubbing it redrawing again and again, the old man knew he had already gotten a new catch and his net was now heavy. He spiced everything by giving her more praises.

It was growing dark and she had to excuse herself to go home. The chief had no obligation other than just to let her go. Bi so was doing her duties when sarisa reached home very happy. She knew that the happiness was abnormal and must have been caused by a boy who had told her daughter that he loved her. With an excuse that she came home let she disciplined her well.

That night sarisa didn't sleep at bi sos homestead. She packed all her belongings and ran away to the chiefs homestead. And thus she became the chiefs youngest wife. She proved to biso that she could get shelter anywhere else.

The chief died few years later leaving sarisa with seven children. the eldest wife was left with the responsibility to divide the chiefs properties. She didn't consider sarisa as a legal wife since no ceremony was held to prove her as a member of the family according to traditions. From all the promises she got from the chief she got a burden of seven children.

East or west home is best and mothers love cannot be compared to anything else. Bi so accepted her daughter back to her home though she gave her a piece of land further away from her hut since according to traditions she was not allowed to live with her child with grand children.

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