Page 61 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 34
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handshake, but she turned aside and
raised her arm to protect her modesty.
Her pretty arms were decorated with
a beautiful floral design. She was a
Muslim lady with light skin in a hijab
dress that emitted a strong fragrant
“idi” smell. Let me call her the “Hijab
lady”. The fragrant smell found me
By Wanyama Ogutu coughing repeatedly while shielding
Nairobi, Kenya my nose and mouth.
Finally, one cough escaped with the
took a front seat next to the driver on a bus utterance: “Nifungulie dirisha!” (open
plying to Mandera county in Nairobi’s’ River the window). She turned her black
I Road street. The bus was painted brownish hijab tightly protectinig herself from
with a golden Swahili design around the windows this stranger. “Mfungulie dada!”
and written in capital stylistic letter LAMU (lady opens the window) the driver
TAMU EXPRESS. I dreamed of meeting the Al- interrupted. She slightly opened the
Shabaab militia along the way to Lamu Island, window with agitated gestures. By this
catching a glimpse of the vegetation in Machakos, time the bus was rumbling, and the
the hills of Kitui, and the arid of Garissa. conductor was edging closer to inquire
about the travelers’ tickets.
The driver of Lamu Tamu Express was a cool
man resting in his driver’s chamber. He wore He tapped my shoulder and I flashed
an Islamic cap with an intricate rhythm design out mine from my pocket. The hijab
featuring floral patterns and arch shapes of Koran lady had hidden her ticket inside the
calligraphy. He was a light-skinned and well-built black hijab, and she was trying to
man. He had a blue eye with a distinctive red access it with difficulty. The ticket was
spot on his face. From time to time, he pressed stuck somewhere beneath our seats.
the horn and the accelerator created a loud noise She tried to remove it but failed and
to alert passengers that we were running late. I turned to me helplessly. The conductor
looked at him with an excited smile and waved was becoming impatient and groaned
my hand to signal that we should just start our loudly, “Ninja wapi ticket!” (show me
journey. He did not reciprocate my gesture. the ticket, Ninja) I quickly gathered
Instead, he plucked leaves, picked groundnuts my composure and came to her aid. I
with two figures, and tossed them in his mouth. lowered my head beneath the seat and
pulled out a small bag. She quickly
I turned to the lady sitting next to me near the grabbed the bag and produced the
bus window and stretched my hand for a warm ticket. “Ndiyo hii tikiti, (Here it is!).
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