Two Years of Wonder - A Memoir

Chapter 6: Tabitha & Her Mother

Tabitha lived in a world of magic. Other children went to school. Tabitha did not. She would explore Kibera's back alleys with other children. Sometimes her mother would send Tabitha away to go play with her friend Flo. This happened most often when men came to visit her mother. If Flo was not around, Tabitha would go to Dorris' house. Dorris lived down in the same alleyway as the boy with the crippled legs. This boy moved about on his hands and knees. His skin was gray because he did not bathe. His family fed him out of a dish on the ground like a dog and they did not allow him beyond the doorway of their house because he was cursed.

As a rule, when she was alone, Tabitha did not venture too far down back alleyways. But the one day she did she rounded a corner and came upon the crippled boy pulling himself along the ground. Tabitha screamed; so did the boy. Then Tabitha ran in the opposite direction. She was afraid his curse would spread to her and her legs would become twisted as well.

Living in the slum could be dangerous. Tabitha knew she had to be inside by dark every evening because there were men on the streets that drank, as well as ghosts. The ghosts were often the ghosts of people who died in their houses or of people killed on the train tracks.

Tabitha remembered the last man that had been run over by the train. The train whistle had been blown particularly long that morning. But apparently the man still had not heard the train coming—he may have been sleeping deeply because he had been drinking local brew.

It was Flo that had come to get Tabitha and they ran up to the tracks together where there were dozens of people gathered. The man's body parts were scattered over several feet, so the crowd of people was long and spread down along the train tracks. His chest and head were still in the place he had been laying, but his arms and his legs were farther down. His hand had gone the farthest. Flo counted thirteen ties between his body and his hand. It was good Flo counted because Tabitha did not know her numbers.

At one point a street boy reached between the legs of the people gathered and stole the dead man's hand. Tabitha and Flo knew why he had done this—street boys would do anything for money, even work for witch doctors. If a witch doctor was given this hand, he could bury it and then the ghost of the man would come back to find it. Then the witch doctor could enslave the ghost and make him kill the people he did not like. As long as the ghost never found his hand, he would be bound in servitude; however, if he did find his hand he would surely kill the witch doctor.

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While Tabitha lived in a world of magic, exploring the maze of roadways, walkways, and alleyways of Kibera slum and all the wonders and terrors offered there, her mother spent more of her time at home. She remained in bed until late almost every morning. It was up to Tabitha, most days, to mix ugali or make tea. Some of her mother's men friends still came by and when they came, Tabitha would go and play. Tabitha noticed that while there seemed to be many men that came to their house, few women ever did except for Tabitha's auntie. Besides her, when women came by they sometimes would scowl and some even spit at their door.

Eventually Tabitha and her mother moved to live with Tabitha's auntie. Her mother said this would be easier since she was often tired and Auntie could cook their food. Tabitha liked her auntie, she was a big woman with breasts that were bigger than mangoes that hung down to her waist. But Tabitha was afraid that she would send her and her mother away after the first night they slept in her house because her mother coughed until early morning.

Auntie proved to be very kind, however, and took care of Tabitha's mom. Auntie owned a hotel where they made mandazis, and chipatis and hard boiled eggs. When Tabitha visited her shop, Auntie would always give her a little something to eat, which made her happy.

Now that they lived with Auntie it was a longer walk to Flo's house and Dorris' house. As a result Tabitha only saw them on Sundays, after church—Auntie made her go to church every Sunday. Her mother would come if she was feeling well enough.

It was after they had begun living with Auntie that Tabitha's skin began to turn white. It started on her head and spread to her hand. Auntie did not know what it was and neither did mother. It did not hurt so mother told her not to worry. Tabitha was afraid, though. She feared that her skin would turn gray and that the crippled boy's curse was spreading to her.

In time some of her mother's friends began visiting again, even at Auntie's home. But there were also new men that came to visit. One of them, Herbert, would bring a radio with him and sometimes he would play it loudly so Tabitha could dance.

But the women in Auntie's neighborhood hated Tabitha's mother even more than at their old house. They would walk by her and call her "malaya," a word Tabitha did not know, but it sounded like "mbaya" which meant bad, so she knew malaya could not be much better.

Tabitha asked one of the older boys that lived nearby her what malaya meant. He told her it meant to "make family," which Tabitha did not understand because the house was small, only one room, and their family had not grown at all. She remembered her mother had had a baby a few years before, but he had died and they no longer talked about him at all.

The boy and his friends offered to show Tabitha what it meant, but she could tell by their giggling that it would be a joke at her expense.

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One afternoon Tabitha came home to find Auntie in the house. It seemed like she had arrived in a hurry because she was still wearing the apron and hair net that she wore when she was frying mandazis. She was very angry and was screaming at Tabitha's mother in Kiswahili, using the word malaya herself, but when she saw Tabitha she became sad and switched to Kizungu.

After that no more men came to the house. Tabitha's mother spent more time sitting outside in the sun with Auntie's Bible on her lap. The next Sunday she came to church with Auntie and Tabitha, although she was very weak and coughed throughout the service. She did not come the next week, however. Tabitha would find her on her knees more often, praying to God. Sometimes she would make Tabitha pray with her, even though Tabitha did not particularly like praying for as long as her mother did.

There was not as much food now and the whiteness on Tabitha's head and arm had spread to both arms. Now the first arm had gotten fat and hurt. Tabitha's mother not only was coughing now but she had to go to the toilet very often. Sometimes they would run out of newspaper for the toilet because her mother was using so much. Auntie became worried. One morning she took a few crumpled bills from her change purse and told Tabitha's mother to take herself and Tabitha to see the doctor.