SO WHAT?

Since I began this spot, part of my new years resolution is to activate it and keep it running.
I have two spots, 'whitetomatoe' and 'blacktomatoe'.
In blacktomatoe, I intend to share on the black side of my HIV status. Yes. I am HIV+ and have been for twelve years now. I discovered my status in August 1999.
I remember the that Indian Doctor told me straight in my face,

" YOU HAVE AIDS. JUST GO HOME, EAT WELL. EXERCISE AND AVOID DRINKING, AND YOU SHALL MAKE IT EVEN FIVE OR SIX YEARS MORE"

I smiled and said thank you but the moment I stepped out that door, I could no longer feel my feet. I felt like I was floating in the air. Just moving but not walking. Everything around me went DEAD SILENT. Tears rolling down my cheeks, yet I was laughing. Laughing at myself.

It all began with a plate of fries worth KSH.35 (less than a doller).
I had been kicked out of home by my Step folks and lived in the servants quaters. Food was upon me yet I had barely lived out of school. I struggled to pay my college fees by selling sandwiches. I barely made it.

My step mother had a cafe just outside the compound. I went and ordered for a plate of fries and munched like I had not seen food for days. I hadn't anyway. Just porridge and water. I ate so hungrily like it was a last me. Once stuffed, I stood up to walk out when one of the workers stopped me violently.

" Mama said ONLY her children are allowed free fries so you better pay up. I shall not agree to be deducted from my salary"

Angrily, I pushed him out of my way and told him to go and report me to the police for all I care. And the guy took to his heels and reported me to my mother!
Next thing I knew, I was kicked out of the quarters and my clothes thrown out.

HOMELESS! With nowhere to go and no one to turn to, I seeked shelter from a friend. Julliet (not real name) was a soft spoken, kind and understanding friend. She was in my college too. She couldn't think of a better idea than to ask her boyfriend who lived in a 1 bed roomed apartment, to accommodate me. This was because Julliet lived with her parents thus couldn't take me in herself. In fact her parents disliked me for untold reasons.

Romeo on the other hand (not real name), gladly took me in. He never talked much. On the days when Julliet wasn't with us, he'd eat whatever I cooked, complement it and go to sleep. In the morning, we would both leave the house almost at the same time as I went to college and him to work. He would drop me off as he kisses his Julliet before setting off to work.

For about a month, everything sailed smoothly.I washed our clothes but on weekend Julliet came over and we did general cleaning together. She would also be the one cooking and pampering her man while I cleaned up after her cooking. Romeo would sometimes take us out for a few drinks, or sometimes to the movies. On Sundays we would go out all day sometimes picnic and sometimes dance. Other times, I would let them go while I remained in the house just to have some time alone.

Even when they really tried to get my mind off things, sometimes I would just drift away into thoughts. Thoughts about how unfair my life was since my biological mother died of cancer when I was only 5yrs. She had just been married to this man for 3 years before she left us....

(To be continued)...............