My good friend

I have had a multitude of experiences as a commuter on the Kenyan roads. Some pleasant and others downright ugly. But there is one memory that stands up way above the rest. It was a routine morning. I boarded a matatu as usual and everything was going along fine until it was time to pay fare.

I looked in my hand bag for my wallet and could not find it. I was rendered speechless. I madly ransacked inside for awhile and could not find anything. I literally emptied everything on my lap to no avail. Not even spare change that I had failed to place inside my wallet.

I realized then that I must have left my wallet behind at home when I switched bags just before I left. Panic set in. I knew if the tout came and asked me for the cash and I didn’t have any, there would be hell to pay. I eyed him coming towards me warily. I knew I had to do something before he got any closer. I could already imagine the insults that would be thrown at me before I was ungraciously thrown out of the vehicle.

While I was still contemplating what to do, the person seated next to me patted me on the shoulder and said he would pay for me. For the second time that morning, I was shell shocked. I had not bothered to look at him before but now I took a good look at him.

“I noticed you are having problems locating your wallet. Let me pay for you” he said.

I knew this was the only option I got and it would be stupid to refuse it. So I graciously accepted his offer and a disaster was averted. Just in the nick of time if I may add ; The tout had just reached my side.

Nevertheless,  I still had the second part of my journey to take to get to work and I didn’t even have a single shilling. I wondered if it would be polite to “borrow” some more money from my newly found friend. I knew I had to do something before we got to town where I would be stranded.

Since we had struck up conversation, I kept looking for a chance to ask if it was possible for him to lend me some more money. Before I gathered enough courage to do it, he was already offering saying he knew I would be stranded without any cash. I couldn’t believe it. He was someone who barely knew me yet he was going the extra mile to help out. Of course I questioned his motives, but I was too relieved to raise any objections. 

When we alighted, he shook my hand, bid me farewell and turned to walk away. I was not going to let him go just like that. I called him back and asked for his number, told him I would call him in the evening and pay him back. He said he didn’t want me to pay him back, that it was his good deed for the day-this with a cheeky grin. 

And that is how I met my very good friend Adam. I‘ll tell you more about him in my next post.