I proudly own a green T-shirt. In fact, I have had one green T-shirt my whole life. I must confess, I was born at a very early age(insert smile)..so that shows how special my green T-shirt is. I Mr. Priced it from my first salary immediately after high school (my mum gave it the look that seemed to say,the minute I have my one eye off it and she'll have it donated. Teenagers!) And so it was a commandment to protect it from the evil mojojojo. I'm not the type of person who wakes up to try matching clothes, a worrying habit nonetheless. I wear the first thing my eyes land on. And I must say the run has not disappointed..YET! But its not about it being my only ngleen tsat(jude! That jokes on you boy). Its because it comes attached with a special array of feelings. Believe me not, it was the first topic of conversation with a friend I fell in love with. If my memory serves me right it was the second time I wore it( meaning it still was not washed). It broke the ice. Here's the roll, She said " Hi! I really like you T-shirt"
"Me too(noooo of course I didn't say that) Thanks. Its just.."( I wanted to say its new, but somehow it felt shady..so I swallowed a huge one and smiled back)
" Oh sorry, where are my manners, I'm Chemu"
"I'm Bill..umm Chemu,sure heard a lot about you from Roy(twas a LIE!!).so.." I said with a wide smile. Something about this girl was just hmm. It was a just so tranquil moment. Still vivid in my memory. All this while we chatted as we waited for the watchman to open the gate to a friend's place who had invited us over.
"By the way, I wouldn't mind having your number." She said as she prised her phone from her bag. She spoke with so much ease I thought this was a prank. Ashton Kutcher come out!!
"0724617598 " I mumbled in between my breath. We exchanged numbers and I saved her as 'Chemu' on my phone. As much as I have the memory of an elephant(note the irony) I still remembered her name. Heck it was only ten minutes. Well, as I later came to learn after one year, this woman saved me as 'Roy's friend'. And she never changed it. I was shocked. Chemutai! Woman had to earn her forgiveness by doing an extra banana ride(and what an aptly timed venue Lunar park was for such a shocker). The gods must have smiled down at me. No one likes banana rides at Lunar park. But we parked there with a whole load of jolly good friends just for a day to hang out on ice creams, high screams and multiple head aches from the dizzying. Yes I made her do an extra banana just to earn my forgiveness.haha I'm evil( no I'm not). It was all in a light note. Well save for Sheila, who now I must quote " whoever made this thhhhiiingg went straight to hell" she was saying this amid tears. And no, not tears of joy. Hahaha!! Poor Sheila. Chemu had no much fuss. Nada! Let alone for her glass-breaking screams and funny face expression. After the ride of course we still were friends(aww moment).
I had just let her off the hook before she was at it again.
" Eli, wow! I like your pants." She complemented my pal.
And so I turned to her and gave her THE LOOK. You know, the look!
"Chemu did you really like my t-shirt, or is this a case of a failed attempt at revising your pick-up lines?" I told her pointing at the banana.
" Noooo, Bildooo..what now!"
Of course she couldn't remember. I did. I knew she liked the T-shirt. She liked a lot of things. She loved everyone. And she could not help it.
I remember Roy and I randomly bumping at her in the city and the next minute we would be at her place. Bummer! !Like a ritual she would show us her family portraits along the wall. Then we would all dive into the kitchen. Of course Roy my boy would 'rarua' the kuku like the real lunje he is. I preffered to be modest. Don't look at me like that.
"Bildo can I add?" I remember her saying.
"Ahh no thanks, in fact I think I won't finish what I already have. Might check up for stomach surgery after this."
"Please, stop pretending..no you're not getting away with that" she said enthusiastically with her eyes squinched, like she always did.
And she would just lump everything on my plate. Of course I wondered whether I had lost my voice or something. Did she actually hear me mumble something? But that was Chemu. Always giving more.
So many memories still linger. Some still remain classified personal but one day the world will know. Not by words. No.
Ofcourse the long distance when I flew away had a loud silence between us. And when she jotted on my facebook wall. It felt special. We chatted up seven posts between us(I think). What I didn't know she was chatting from her hospital bed(I just let go a tear.true story). She never mentioned it! She still had that positive kick in her. That positive energy reverberated from her. I could feel it more than ten thousand kilometers away. In fact I kept deleting other stuff from my wall so that every time I logged in I could see what she had wrote.( A habit I still carry).
Two weeks down the line I got a message from a friend telling us to pray for her. She was hospitalized. My heart bled. But Inside me I knew it would be alright. Really! We once had a conversation with her on how hospitals now-a-days are just money minting.
"Bildo imagine I once was taken from school with this really bad stomach ache. I could hardly stand up. Then this doctors at karen hosp just kept doing a million unnecessary tests.for a whole day!!! I was in agony. I could not swallow a thing coz of the pain. Then far late in the evening the doc calls us in, shows us some x-ray and tells me and my mum ati I'm pregnant" she said. " My mum was in TOTAL shock..and I just looked at the doc knowing it was a lie. I mean how!! I looked at my mum on the way home and told her, I'm not going to force you not to believe that doc, mum you may not trust me but trust the way you brought me up" Those last words were like a fist to the heart. How true they were. Of course in the end the doctors had misdiagnosed.
Chemu passed on. She went to be with the good Lord. She left without a goodbye. January 17th. I read about it at the break of dawn the same day.
I felt all my energies get sapped. A man has to learn to cry. And I cried. I had to. I don't think I ever cried as far as my memory serves me. I didn't even go to class. She deserved a lot more than my tears. The whole world didn't mean a thing to me. And you see thing is, Chemu was the first person close to me to lose in such a cruel way. So it really did hurt. And that is where I got ushered in this world. With the good coming in equal measure with the bad. Now I was experiencing life as my Rwandan friend likes to call it. Now I encountered the dim realities. Like a coin has two sides to it. I celebrated her life. Like a thousand of her friends. No one can be loved like Chemu. Who doesn't know her, or at least heard of her. Her story will live for generations, I give you my word for that.
And I am wearing that green T-shirt. I carried it. How could I leave it at the mercy of my mother. I look at it and smile. I think Chemu. No other person has ever told me they like it, because it is special. Its not for everyone to like it. You can go like an update, like your girl, like your country, like your fancy hairstyle, go like a mango..but you can't like my green T-shirt. Only Chemu did. And funny how I still insist on wearing it despite me over growing it.
Every time I make very nice food. I usually take a few minutes and just stare at it. Seriously! I do. And I'm like Billy my boy aint I proud of you!! I stare at it for at least two minutes. These are the times I wish I had those frequent guests(apart from the nigerian). Times I wish they would enter and stagger backwards in shock. Times they would pull down their sunglasses because their eyes can't take it no more, and they would go like whoooaaa! "Bill my man, what's the number of that chef" they would say while pulling out their phones ready to dial. Times like this I would pull a serviette and tell them to wipe of the sweat, offer then a seat as they are terribly trembling. Times they would labourously breathe and say "bill man, dyu have a first aid kit. Man that food is the shit(okay wrong word!)" of course no friggin visitor comes. How unfortunate. So I'm forced to act those parts.haha.
Funny how every single time I make a good(balanced diet) meal I think of Chemu. I see her staring at me from heaven. I'm sure she would have joined me given the chance. Weird as it sounds that's just the way it is. Can never forget her. If her phone is still there, I will go look for Roy's friend. I will look for me.
In the mean-time the only way I can still see her is through my mouth-watering, delicious, sun-glasses-wearing food....err and t-shirt( I swear from the heart of my bottom that I actually felt my t-shirt pinch me to add that part).
