It was happening. The thing Shanice dreaded the most. Now that it was actually here, she realized that all her agonising had done nothing to prepare her for her worst nightmare. Stranded in Nairobi’s CBD.
Her sister, Lucy, had promised to meet her at the bus stop when she arrived. That had been 2 hours ago. Lucy’s phone was off and all the network service provider could tell Shanice is ‘the number you have dialled has been switched off’. Nairobi may be her home city, but Shanice had lived an extremely sheltered life. This was only her second venture into the busy city centre. She never came without the comforting presence of the older and wiser Lucy. So it was quite fitting that the one day she had agreed to make the trip on her own, her sister would be AWOL.
Panicking, Shanice started walking, just to give herself something to do. Stories she had heard of people being robbed in broad daylight danced around her mind. She tried to remember some streetwise tips but all her frazzled brain could produce was a frightening tale about conmen.
Just as suddenly as she had begun walking, Shanice stopped. Was that man following her? Heart racing, she slowly turned off the sidewalk and went towards the building closest to her. She put the building’s exterior wall to her back and slowly scanned the milling crowd.
“You were imagining things!” Shanice chided herself. There was no man following her. Most people around her were walking briskly, focused on their destination. Those who were stationary, gazed into the air, their thoughts far from themselves. No one was paying attention to a scared teenage girl tightly clutching her borrowed handbag.
Shanice took in a shaky breath and let it out slowly, calming her frantic heart. She just needed to figure out what her next move was. Wait for Lucy a little longer or give up and go back home?
Before she could properly weigh her options, Shanice felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart jumped against her rib cage, then started up its frenzied pace again. She whirled around in a flurry of scarf and braided hair.
“Woah, Shanice?”
Shanice blinked. The person knew her name. Maybe they were not attacking her after all. She pulled her focus onto the bemused face before her. It looked familiar…
“Hera?” said Shanice.
“Hey!” Hera pulled Shanice into a hug, before breaking away and giving her a huge smile. “Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you from over there and I wasn’t sure it was you until I got here. It’s so good to see you! What are you doing here?”
Shanice smiled, relief flooding her for the second time that day. Hera’s excitement was infectious and worked wonders on her nerves.
“It’s so good to see you too!” said Shanice with equal enthusiasm. “I was supposed to be going shopping with my sister but she ditched me. What about you? I thought you lived in Mombasa?”
“I do.” Hera adjusted the backpack Shanice had not noticed before. “I came to surprise my mother. She works here, in Nairobi.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” said Shanice.
“Well, we only had about a week to get to know each other when we met. And it’s not like the camp activities took up our whole day or anything,” Hera said, rolling her eyes.
Shanice giggled. All her previous fear was forgotten. Instead, she was filled with warm memories of the holiday camp where she had met Hera. Looking her over, Shanice concluded that Hera seemed more at home in Nairobi than she did. She wished she had the self-assurance Hera clearly possessed.
“So? Are you still going to wait for your sister or should we go somewhere?” said Hera, her eyes twinkling mischievously. When Shanice hesitated, Hera added, “I’ll buy you something to drink.”
Shanice thought for a fraction of a second then nodded.
“Yes!” Hera grabbed her hand and dragged her along. Shanice eventually matched her steps and they walked down the street, reminiscing on all the antics they had gotten up to at the camp. They had met about 3 months before, at a holiday church camp in Hera’s hometown, Mombasa. Shanice still remembered how relaxed the week had been. Everybody at the camp had bonded so quickly and so strongly, that the week had felt more like a blissful month.
“We’re going in here,” said Hera, stopping at an open door. She walked into the café and sat down at a booth, taking the seat with a clear view of the door. Shanice followed, a little slower.
The tantalizing smell of food reminded her she had not eaten that day, not wanting to risk being late for Lucy. Some good that had done her.
“You never did tell me how you ended up at that camp,” Hera began. “I think you were the only person there who didn’t go to LBC.”
“Oh ya,” said Shanice, settling into her seat. “A friend of mine goes to the sister church here in Nairobi and she kept telling me how it was such a cool camp and that I need to come. So I went with her. I was really glad I did. I got to meet cool people like you.”
“I know! I’m glad you came, too!” Here beamed at me, then she rummaged through her backpack. “Emu, give me your number. I never got a chance to get it on the last day.” She handed a mobile to Shanice who started typing in her number. Just as she was about to tap ‘Save’, the phone vibrated.
“It says ‘mom’,” Shanice said, handing the phone back.
“Hi Mom,” Hera answered the phone in a singsong voice. “I’m at a café. No, not far from Hilton. It’s called Sandy’s. No, Sandy’s. Sa – ndy. Yes. Yes. Okay. No, I’m with a friend. Okay. Okay. See you!”
She put the phone on the table and announced. “My Mom’s on her way.”
“Oh.” Shanice did not particularly like meeting people’s parents. She never knew what to say around them and they made her extremely nervous. But as it did not look like she had a say in the matter, she decided her efforts would be put to better use preparing herself to meet this authority figure.
“Wait,” said Shanice as Hera moved to put her phone away. “I didn’t get the chance to save my number.”
Hera handed her phone back. Then she leaned in and gave Shanice a look. “So, tell me, what happened with that guy?”
Shanice laughed. She busied herself with saving her number before answering. “I don’t know what guy you’re talking about.”
“Ah, acha zako! You forget that it was me you were with when he came to say hi?”
“Okay, okay,” Shanice laughed again. A silly smile stretched across her face and refused to leave. “Imagine nothing happened.”
“No,” Hera said. “There’s no way nothing happened. The way he kept staring at you? You want to tell me nothing happened?”
Shanice shook her head. “We exchanged numbers and stuff… even chatted for a while. But when I couldn’t meet up with him or show up for a date, he stopped texting.” The smile started to fade away.
“Aww, sweetie.” Hera stretched a hand across the table and patted Shanice’s arm. “I’m sorry. But how come you couldn’t meet up with him?”
“My mom’s really strict. She says I can’t date until I’m 18.”
“Really? Gosh, that’s strict! I’m glad mine isn’t like that.” Hera picked up the menu and began scanning it. “What would you like to have? I can buy you something as long as it’s below 300 bob.”
Shanice picked up her own menu. It took her less than a minute to pick out what she wanted.
“A café mocha.” She could always order a snack later, if she was still feeling hungry.
“Cool. I think I might try that. Never had it before. Then we can share a plate of chips, yeah?”
Shanice nodded, her heart warming with gratitude. Hera switched from scanning the menu to scanning the room. “Let me see if I can…catch that cute waiter’s eye.”
Shanice gaped at her.
“What? Have you seen him? He’ll definitely distract you from feeling bad about nani. He’s so h – oh! My mom’s here!” Hera half-stood in her chair and waved excitedly.
Shanice took a calming breath and arranged herself into the humble child she was good at playing. Hera threw herself into her mother’s arms once she drew near their table. Shanice began to turn in her chair just as Hera’s mother spoke.
“Hello sweetie. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Nairobi?”
Shanice froze. She knew that voice. She had never heard it in that tone before but she definitely knew that voice. Telling herself that she must be mistaken, she looked up into Hera’s mother’s face.
“Mom?” said Shanice.
