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Epilogue

Mama Wairimu

The sun is up in the sky. It feels like she has been walking for hours. She is dehydrated. She hasn't had something to drink or eat for over twenty four hours now. People in the ghetto shun her. She wants to eat but she doesn't want to work.

She seats down and remembers. Yes, her son was in charge of a big company, yes they had a house but she sold everything to fight her son's case. She lost everything and her son is still behind bars. "Help me with your phone." she calls at no one in particular. She wants to call her daughter Olivia but her mind went soft and the other daughter wants nothing to do with her.

She catches her breath. The sun is going down now. It's dusk, it is beautiful in other parts of the world but not where she is. Here where there is mud when it's not even raining. Here where the air is always repugnant with the smell of smoke and sewage and struggle.

She walks to a downtown inn famed for carnal pleasure. There women strip and have sex for the amusement of revelers and get a pennies worth. After a chat with the owner she finds herself removing her blouse and then her dirty bra. The crowd cheers.

On the table below her is a woman. She has seen her before but she can't make out who she is. She is missing her front teeth. The woman looks at her with a smile, its Helena her husband's paramour, next to her is her daughter Monica. She almost vomits at what her life has become.

Another woman comes in from backstage. She is unrecognizable. Everything in her look sagged. Mzee didn't pick her calls. She became the subject of ridicule in public. She sunk into depression trying to keep up with a lifestyle she could no longer afford and now she is down on her lack. The people in the crowded pub cheer with angst as Diana climbs to the podium and starts swinging on the poll while stripping. After her Monica and Helena will be next.

Fred

'Life imprisonment' that phrase still doesn't fit in his head. He had thought of running away. He had even thought of taking his own life but he doesn't have it in him. He has realized that he lived in a world that babied him but there is no one to baby him in Kamiti prison. Not even Josh and his cohorts who are serving a life sentence with him.

He has wondered why his mom stopped visiting, not even one of his sister has stopped by. It is getting difficult. The prison he can manage but it wants other things of him. He has heard whispers that he is as soft as a girl and it must be nice to share his bed. rumors are also swirling that the prison alpha wants him as his girlfriend.

He tried to struggle but he overpowered him. He took him from behind in the bathroom and kept thrusting and till blood filled up the floor together with soap and water. His upper body was not only well build but his manly parts too. That was the night he thought of ending it all but he is a coward.

There are perks to having the toughest guy in the prison as your lover. A bottomless supply of crack. He numbs himself with it. Sometimes it flashes before him. The life he threw to the dogs and when it does a sharp pain rushes through his person and tears blind his eyes.

END