Kill me Quick, a high
school intrinsic read written by Meja Mwangi visualized boys who in their search
for a life travelled to the capital and found it tough. They engaged in crime,
lived on streets, were hardly loved and each rising day their lives risked
fate- death. Such is the case of Robinson, a village boy who decided to leave
for the city.
When gods fail, don't we cast them away and create new ones?
Robinson, a grade 7
leaver, lacked family and educational support when his mother died and father
left the city due to illness. A conflict between his father and uncles poroused
the family knit. At school, disappointments from fellow learners and teachers
couldn’t be explained by any dear person. He made up his mind to kiss education
bye.
Lack of means to afford
food and clothing was a challenge. He recalls having difficulty to find a shaving
coin. Teachers disliked long hair. At a young age, he had engaged in theft
activities. He had a conviction to change by running away.
He says that it all
quickly happened when he came across Ksh 300 on the road. Kangemi, Nairobi was
his destination. When he asked Eldoret Bus operators to assist him, five years
ago, they agreed on condition that he does not sit. He recalls standing and squatting
for the 8 hour journey. It is possible for the traffic men are known to be
corrupt.
It would be his first day
in the streets as he dint know the door to any friend or relative. Relieved
that the rural misdoings and memories were far away, he cared little of where
to live and what to eat. He pointed to the first boy he met then and his ‘brother’
now. They have quarreled and fought with time but similar needs keep them
together. At the end of the day, from plastic and scrape metal collection, they
gather in accessible church compounds to sleep on verandas hoping the police or
neighbourhood won’t ambush them.
Lures of stealing have
been with him. He speaks fearing that the act is death risking for people easily
stone suspected harmful urchins. He recounts that the money gained has been
used to buy glue and Miraa among other addictives. His company exposed him to
clever ways of operating on the roads and paths. He however resents the life.
Homesick he is that he
prefers to go back and tell his father that he is a carpenter. He hopes his
father and grandmother are alive as he is. His father was a carpenter. He
however has no any carpentry skills but at 19, he thinks that it isn’t yet late
to gain skills for life. It will help him be clean and have a hope for the
freedom he ran to isn’t yet what he was after.
After the talk, he walked
southwards to his belonging-anywhere. I went northwards, somewhere, worried.
Helpless.
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| Pic Source; wehaitians.com |
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