Saturday, January 29, 2011
THE BOMB SHELL!
Come afternoon and I was up and ready to go back to the hospital. I had cleaned up and cooked a light meal with love. I loved Romeo so much, that I just wanted him to come back home to me.
I wasn’t used to sleeping alone anymore. I was addicted to his love. I neatly packed the lunch and set off. Just as I crossed passed the gate, I heard a car hooting. Sly, he was really apologetic for his misbehavior earlier on and begged me not to tell Romeo. I wasn’t going to do something that stupid anyway; the poor guy was in a hospital! So I asked him to forget about it as it was also erased in my memory. We reconciled and he drove me to hospital again.
By the time we got there, I was so surprised to find his family camped there as well. His elder sister, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins’! I wondered how they got informed but later learnt that Sly did it. He never went to sleep after the incidence; instead he went to alert Romeos family. And an inquiry session began. They asked me so many questions as if to suggest I was responsible for his admission in that place. I never allowed it to aggravate my moods though. I answered all their questions and slowly slid from vicinity. I just didn’t understand why the sudden change of attitude from his family.
I waited outside until they were done pampering him with sympathy. When they were out of sight, I sneaked back into the wards knowing that time was up, just to kiss by baby hallo. Upon arriving by his bed, he told me that he was feeling very tired and asked me to leave. Even before I could respond, another lady walked passed me as though to shove me out of the way and went ahead to peck him on his forehead!! JULLIET!! I was too startled to know what to think. Handy Sly held me by my elbow and guided me away from there. I didn’t understand what was going on.
‘Ever since this guy just walked through that door yesterday afternoon, everything seems to not add up’ I thought out loud. My good friend Sly asked me to not think about it but instead go home and give him time to recover. I was very humble in those days. I never liked to cross anyone’s path. Sly made a lot of sense at this juncture that even though I had endless questions unanswered, I knew that Romeo will come home and explain it all to me. I was that patient.
Four days later, I went back to the hospital to see how the love of my life was getting on, HE WAS GONE! He had been discharged on the same day early in the morning. He wasn’t in hospital and neither was he in our house. I didn’t know where his brother resided but I knew his sister’s luxurious residence in the outskirts of the city. She was married to a famous Kenyan Cricket Player. They lived a very fine life; Porsche cars, home and a beautiful daughter. She was also expectant at the time. It was quite a distance to this home but I gathered courage and went there.
By this time, after all that had happened, all that I wanted was ANSWERS. I had left too many stones unturned. My job interview could wait just a little longer. For some reason, good or bad, my heart felt unbalanced. Something was missing somewhere and I had to get answers.
I rang the bell at the gate and the house keeper warmly received me.
“mama yuko?” I frantically asked meaning is mama in? She ushered me past the living room into the kitchen where I met Anita(not real name).
I told her all that had happened and asked if she could explain what was going on and where Romeo was. She didn’t give me much of an answer. She only informed me that her brother had gone to stay at his aunt’s house and that he was never going to come back home unless we talked first.
‘Talk?’ I thought silently, ‘Talk how when he’s avoiding me?’
I went the aunt’s house and arrived by dusk. I was well received there too. Aunt Rachel had a very beautiful home as well. It was spacious enough to accommodate her four children, herself, her house keeper, my Romeo and still have space for two more guests. I spent some time with the aunt before she showed me to his room.
He looked so much better. He was all recovered and walking around the compound. My walking into his room somewhat vanished his generous handsome smile. And he was now wearing a professional frown. I call it so because it was a frown like that of a projects manager who prepares for a presentation but for one reason or another, he forgot his notes at home. That kind of frown crossed over Romeo’s face but that didn’t stop me from passionately hugging him.
“I missed you so much baby!” I said as I tightly squeezed him to my chest. To my surprise, he hugged me so tight, like a person who is not ready to let go. I couldn’t hold back a tear but I tried to keep up a firm voice and finally ask him the question,
“Just what happened sweetie?” So anxious was I to listen to what he had to say that I scooted over to his bed and crossed my legs in a meditation position, ready to hear him out. This time I had a gentle smile on my face.
“Did you start working yet?” He asked coldly. I knew straight away that he was looking for a way to brew an argument but I wasn’t going to let him. So I gave him a gentle peck on the lips not withstanding that I had watched his ex girlfriend kiss him on his forehead. I let bygones be bygones and avoided that topic by all means.
He shrugged his shoulders as though he didn’t want to talk about it but I was already decided that the day was not going to end without me getting my answers.
“Baby I have all night to listen, I just promise you that I am not leaving this place without answers” I began talking in persuasion as I softly stroked his hands.
I was going to continue sweet talking when he suddenly interrupted me callously;
“I have AIDS!”
I wasn’t used to sleeping alone anymore. I was addicted to his love. I neatly packed the lunch and set off. Just as I crossed passed the gate, I heard a car hooting. Sly, he was really apologetic for his misbehavior earlier on and begged me not to tell Romeo. I wasn’t going to do something that stupid anyway; the poor guy was in a hospital! So I asked him to forget about it as it was also erased in my memory. We reconciled and he drove me to hospital again.
By the time we got there, I was so surprised to find his family camped there as well. His elder sister, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins’! I wondered how they got informed but later learnt that Sly did it. He never went to sleep after the incidence; instead he went to alert Romeos family. And an inquiry session began. They asked me so many questions as if to suggest I was responsible for his admission in that place. I never allowed it to aggravate my moods though. I answered all their questions and slowly slid from vicinity. I just didn’t understand why the sudden change of attitude from his family.
I waited outside until they were done pampering him with sympathy. When they were out of sight, I sneaked back into the wards knowing that time was up, just to kiss by baby hallo. Upon arriving by his bed, he told me that he was feeling very tired and asked me to leave. Even before I could respond, another lady walked passed me as though to shove me out of the way and went ahead to peck him on his forehead!! JULLIET!! I was too startled to know what to think. Handy Sly held me by my elbow and guided me away from there. I didn’t understand what was going on.
‘Ever since this guy just walked through that door yesterday afternoon, everything seems to not add up’ I thought out loud. My good friend Sly asked me to not think about it but instead go home and give him time to recover. I was very humble in those days. I never liked to cross anyone’s path. Sly made a lot of sense at this juncture that even though I had endless questions unanswered, I knew that Romeo will come home and explain it all to me. I was that patient.
Four days later, I went back to the hospital to see how the love of my life was getting on, HE WAS GONE! He had been discharged on the same day early in the morning. He wasn’t in hospital and neither was he in our house. I didn’t know where his brother resided but I knew his sister’s luxurious residence in the outskirts of the city. She was married to a famous Kenyan Cricket Player. They lived a very fine life; Porsche cars, home and a beautiful daughter. She was also expectant at the time. It was quite a distance to this home but I gathered courage and went there.
By this time, after all that had happened, all that I wanted was ANSWERS. I had left too many stones unturned. My job interview could wait just a little longer. For some reason, good or bad, my heart felt unbalanced. Something was missing somewhere and I had to get answers.
I rang the bell at the gate and the house keeper warmly received me.
“mama yuko?” I frantically asked meaning is mama in? She ushered me past the living room into the kitchen where I met Anita(not real name).
I told her all that had happened and asked if she could explain what was going on and where Romeo was. She didn’t give me much of an answer. She only informed me that her brother had gone to stay at his aunt’s house and that he was never going to come back home unless we talked first.
‘Talk?’ I thought silently, ‘Talk how when he’s avoiding me?’
I went the aunt’s house and arrived by dusk. I was well received there too. Aunt Rachel had a very beautiful home as well. It was spacious enough to accommodate her four children, herself, her house keeper, my Romeo and still have space for two more guests. I spent some time with the aunt before she showed me to his room.
He looked so much better. He was all recovered and walking around the compound. My walking into his room somewhat vanished his generous handsome smile. And he was now wearing a professional frown. I call it so because it was a frown like that of a projects manager who prepares for a presentation but for one reason or another, he forgot his notes at home. That kind of frown crossed over Romeo’s face but that didn’t stop me from passionately hugging him.
“I missed you so much baby!” I said as I tightly squeezed him to my chest. To my surprise, he hugged me so tight, like a person who is not ready to let go. I couldn’t hold back a tear but I tried to keep up a firm voice and finally ask him the question,
“Just what happened sweetie?” So anxious was I to listen to what he had to say that I scooted over to his bed and crossed my legs in a meditation position, ready to hear him out. This time I had a gentle smile on my face.
“Did you start working yet?” He asked coldly. I knew straight away that he was looking for a way to brew an argument but I wasn’t going to let him. So I gave him a gentle peck on the lips not withstanding that I had watched his ex girlfriend kiss him on his forehead. I let bygones be bygones and avoided that topic by all means.
He shrugged his shoulders as though he didn’t want to talk about it but I was already decided that the day was not going to end without me getting my answers.
“Baby I have all night to listen, I just promise you that I am not leaving this place without answers” I began talking in persuasion as I softly stroked his hands.
I was going to continue sweet talking when he suddenly interrupted me callously;
“I have AIDS!”
Friday, January 28, 2011
INTO THE WARDS.
The hospital was not a pleasant sight. Especially in the I.C.U. department. I had never seen so much blood all at once, bruises and injuries beyond description.
In fact I remember this young girl who was brought in bleeding thick clots of blood from her private parts. She wailed hysterically until she sedated before being rushed to the theater.
That was the ONLY patient I noticed being attended to urgently. The rest of us just watched each other helplessly. A man on a stretcher just a few feet from Romeo, had been ran over by a car. I couldn’t tell his waist from his chest. Everything seemed jumbled up.
Romeo by now was calm. Whatever it was that they injected him, seemed to work well. He was no longer coughing and panting. His queasiness had ceased too.
Close to 4a.m. but I was afraid to even blink. I was too shaken by the flow of events since my man walked into our humble home. The word ‘Traumatized’ would fit in well to describe how I felt. Plus a little of fatigue but that didn’t even register.
And by close to 5am, we were gestured to an inner part of the hospitals. In here was a complete opposite of all that we had been watching all night. In here was total peace and quiet. I later realized that we were taking the elevators up to a ward. Before he could be taken into the ward, we again had to go through what to me seemed like a repetition on procedure. Signing forms all over again. At one point I remember asking Sly if we could just go home and forget about everything. It all began to feel like a dream that I needed to get up from, a nightmare. He responded to my obstinacy with a cold look that suggested I shut up. And I did exactly that.
Romeo was now sound asleep. I on the other hand was now unruffled. Having a sense of calmness, I began to slowly doze of. In the middle of my snoozing, I heard Sly and a lady whispering in mother tongue,
“Weh! Kou ti kwega! Matiumaga! Ucio no Ngai!” meaning, ‘that place is not good. It is only God’
I jerked from the slumber just to find myself on a hard bench. They had taken him away! Not knowing whom to ask or what to ask, I began running round in confusion. Sly held me down assuring me that everything was alright. I asked to see Romeo and was taken into the ward.
He was lying helplessly on a mattress on the ground. All the beds were full with two patients on each bed. The bed that Romeo was to sleep, had in it a patient who was just skin and bones, coughing in pain and groaning. Sly thought it better for him to have his mattress stretched on the ground until a patient was discharged or passed on.
In the pungency of needles and medicine, I had to leave my sweetheart a lay on that floor. I broke out in tears again. My heart was in distress, as I watched him hopelessly before the nurse ordered us to leave the premises
This marked the beginning of anguish.
***************************************************************************************************
.We quietly drove back home, not uttering one word. It had been a very long day for me yes, but still, I didn’t see myself sleeping on our big bed all alone. Hence I asked Sly to stay over with me. At least until I fell asleep. After a warm cup of coffee and a snack, we lay on the couch. I tucked myself in his arms for security. The world didn’t feel like a safe place for me anymore. Sly meekly complied and squeezed me a tight hug of assurance. He was ever our very good friend.
At least until I felt a hard bulge in my behind. He was as hard as a rock! Slowly trying to slide his big hands under my blouse, he rubbed himself against me. I jumped off the couch in hysteria! I could not believe that happened!
‘MEN!!!’ I thought to myself ‘they never cease to take advantage, no matter what the situation. I only wanted him to scare away the horror, not to slip things in me!’
In disgust I ran to the room and locked myself. He came knocking on the door with a rhyme of apologies. I was too embarrassed to retort. So I asked him to shut the door behind him when he leaves the house. That was a clear sign that I didn’t want anything to do with him ever again. Later when I come to think of it, its like he expected me to somehow pay for all the favors’ he had for me the previous night. Having taken time out to do almost everything while I only cried like a baby all night, all the way till admission of Romeo then bringing me back home, what better way to thank him? But NO! Not with all the love I had for my man. The idea was disgustingly unthinkable! I locked the door behind him and ran back to our room to cry it all out. I recaptured all that happened and concluded that the devil was only trying me. I was not going to let him have the last laugh. I was going to fight him back instead.
With all these thoughts and imaginations racing trough my mind, I drifted into sleep.
In fact I remember this young girl who was brought in bleeding thick clots of blood from her private parts. She wailed hysterically until she sedated before being rushed to the theater.
That was the ONLY patient I noticed being attended to urgently. The rest of us just watched each other helplessly. A man on a stretcher just a few feet from Romeo, had been ran over by a car. I couldn’t tell his waist from his chest. Everything seemed jumbled up.
Romeo by now was calm. Whatever it was that they injected him, seemed to work well. He was no longer coughing and panting. His queasiness had ceased too.
Close to 4a.m. but I was afraid to even blink. I was too shaken by the flow of events since my man walked into our humble home. The word ‘Traumatized’ would fit in well to describe how I felt. Plus a little of fatigue but that didn’t even register.
And by close to 5am, we were gestured to an inner part of the hospitals. In here was a complete opposite of all that we had been watching all night. In here was total peace and quiet. I later realized that we were taking the elevators up to a ward. Before he could be taken into the ward, we again had to go through what to me seemed like a repetition on procedure. Signing forms all over again. At one point I remember asking Sly if we could just go home and forget about everything. It all began to feel like a dream that I needed to get up from, a nightmare. He responded to my obstinacy with a cold look that suggested I shut up. And I did exactly that.
Romeo was now sound asleep. I on the other hand was now unruffled. Having a sense of calmness, I began to slowly doze of. In the middle of my snoozing, I heard Sly and a lady whispering in mother tongue,
“Weh! Kou ti kwega! Matiumaga! Ucio no Ngai!” meaning, ‘that place is not good. It is only God’
I jerked from the slumber just to find myself on a hard bench. They had taken him away! Not knowing whom to ask or what to ask, I began running round in confusion. Sly held me down assuring me that everything was alright. I asked to see Romeo and was taken into the ward.
He was lying helplessly on a mattress on the ground. All the beds were full with two patients on each bed. The bed that Romeo was to sleep, had in it a patient who was just skin and bones, coughing in pain and groaning. Sly thought it better for him to have his mattress stretched on the ground until a patient was discharged or passed on.
In the pungency of needles and medicine, I had to leave my sweetheart a lay on that floor. I broke out in tears again. My heart was in distress, as I watched him hopelessly before the nurse ordered us to leave the premises
This marked the beginning of anguish.
***************************************************************************************************
.We quietly drove back home, not uttering one word. It had been a very long day for me yes, but still, I didn’t see myself sleeping on our big bed all alone. Hence I asked Sly to stay over with me. At least until I fell asleep. After a warm cup of coffee and a snack, we lay on the couch. I tucked myself in his arms for security. The world didn’t feel like a safe place for me anymore. Sly meekly complied and squeezed me a tight hug of assurance. He was ever our very good friend.
At least until I felt a hard bulge in my behind. He was as hard as a rock! Slowly trying to slide his big hands under my blouse, he rubbed himself against me. I jumped off the couch in hysteria! I could not believe that happened!
‘MEN!!!’ I thought to myself ‘they never cease to take advantage, no matter what the situation. I only wanted him to scare away the horror, not to slip things in me!’
In disgust I ran to the room and locked myself. He came knocking on the door with a rhyme of apologies. I was too embarrassed to retort. So I asked him to shut the door behind him when he leaves the house. That was a clear sign that I didn’t want anything to do with him ever again. Later when I come to think of it, its like he expected me to somehow pay for all the favors’ he had for me the previous night. Having taken time out to do almost everything while I only cried like a baby all night, all the way till admission of Romeo then bringing me back home, what better way to thank him? But NO! Not with all the love I had for my man. The idea was disgustingly unthinkable! I locked the door behind him and ran back to our room to cry it all out. I recaptured all that happened and concluded that the devil was only trying me. I was not going to let him have the last laugh. I was going to fight him back instead.
With all these thoughts and imaginations racing trough my mind, I drifted into sleep.
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