Had Sam known that a little thing as a samosa would cause him much discomfort, embarrassment, and a missed opportunity to make a move he wanted to, he would have pocketed his a hundred shillings and chilled in the seat he had booked in that matatu. But because this was not the first time Sam took samosas, and every other time things just went well, he ate two and headed to the matatu where the journey to an interview in Nakuru awaited.
As he was entering the matatu and taking his seat by the window at the back seat, a damsel entered and the matatu started. It seemed that the two had been the last ones to enter and once they were in, it was take off.
The lady who had entered and sat next to him had been talking on the phone, and one thing that Sam noticed was her voice. There was something about her voice that got his attention. He wanted to stare at her and see who had the beautiful voice that his soul could not resist but it felt weird to start peeking and staring at people right just after getting into the vehicle. He figured out that the journey was relatively longer so there was no need to rush.
He decided to be focused and put all his energy into what needed to be done during this trip. He was scrolling through his phone, chatting up his friend who had helped him in preparing for the interview session. He had to be busy, or at least appear to be.
The lady seemed to be talking to a lady friend because Sam could not help but eavesdrop. From what he could gather, this lady had gotten a job offer in Nakuru and was looking for a place to stay as she planned to settle fully. Occasionally, she’d mention the name Sharon amidst her sentences. Since it occurred to Sam that the conversation was not going to end anytime soon, he decided to check on the final preparations of his interview over the phone.
Thirty minutes into the journey, he felt something very strange happening in his stomach. He felt a rumble, that after a few seconds became endless and noisy. It was very uncomfortable because it was loud, if the lady next to him had not been on the phone, she could have heard the noises.
He started wondering what the issue could be. Funny enough, in his bid to establish what the issue could be, the samosas he had eaten just before boarding the car did not come to mind. He thought about it a lot and just hoped that the discomfort won’t last long.
Before he could finish hoping, the rumbles became a lesser issue to worry about because the pain started. It was a sharp pain that he very well knew from a moment in the past when he had gotten a runny stomach. He had to slouch, holding his stomach with his two hands.
He knew that he had to tell the driver to stop the car because whatever came next couldn’t wait for a minute. He knew that a bit of delay would lead to an embarrassing situation that he could not afford at that moment. He had an interview to attend to and a damsel to make a move on.
The matatu stopped and when his legs touched the ground, he sprinted to the nearest thicket he could see. How timely this unexpected mess had happened when there was a thicket that he could go to the bushes.
Well, that might be good but the issue was that time was not on his side. The hustle of looking for a toilet could have created a nasty experience. Thanks to the timeliness of the whole issue, after a few minutes he emerged. He was eased and hopeful that he won’t have to make such a call again.
In the matatu, everyone looked concerned. They gave him pitiful looks, an indication that they knew what was going on. The lady had finished making the long phone call and as he sat down, he knew his earlier plan of talking to this lady would have to wait because of how he felt. Only rest could help.
At this time, he was sweating profusely and he had to remove his cardigan. It was too uncomfortable to even think of the interview ahead because how would he show up in that state? He thought of how the whole journey would be if it was less than an hour and he had started having all these troubles. He hoped that the runny stomach would not come again because he could handle the sweating and the weakness but stopping the matatu now and then would be horrible.
He pushed himself to finalize a certain question he thought might be asked in the interview so that he could have a rough idea of how to answer it coherently. This, he did well to the end. It seems his body decided to allow him to finalize his preparation.
The sweating subsided and the pain in the stomach disappeared too. He wore his sweater because it was a bit chilly. This cold was probably the one reason that motivated him to take those samosas in the first place. The 7:00 a.m. cold of Eldoret can pull you toward a hot steamy trolly of smokies and other street foods and when you are a lover of samosas, you won’t mind having two for the road.
He decided it was time to make a move on this lady because his stomach had settled like nothing happened. He was quiet, and from the corner of his eye, Sam could see that she was browsing the internet through several social media platforms and at some point getting to WhatsApp to reply to some messages. The same thing he’d do when travelling if not making a phone call.
“Hi,” Sam started the conversation.
“Hey,” the same sweet voice he had heard replied to his greeting.
This left him elated and he wanted to speak some more with her.
“I am Sam,” he said with a shy smile. After saying these words, he felt stupid. He wondered how much of a cliche that statement had been. Everyone started their conversations that way. Couldn’t he have picked something that could capture her attention?
Oops, too late. The lady with a voice that had captured Sam’s soul was already responding to his statement.
“Nice to travel with you Sam,” she replied.
As he was thinking of what next to say, he felt the sharp pain again. His stomach was not going to give him ample time to talk to this lady. He knew whatever he did next determined whether he would finish the journey with dignity, or several humans would have this day to remember for the rest of their lives for having travelled with a man who shit his pants. He told the driver to stop, who cooperated immediately because he did not finish three minutes before coming to a halt.
This time around, he sprinted faster than the first time with his focus on where he would relieve himself. Luckily, it was in a thicket, yet again. He finished his business and knew that hoping won’t be on the list of things he would be doing anymore. He needed to get to a pharmacy as soon as possible. He knew that much as he needed medication, he was in dire need of another job and could not afford to miss that interview.
He entered the matatu and now he had to request the lady for them to exchange seats just in case he needed to make another stop. People could not keep to themselves but share their pity verbally. In the process of sharing, another passenger asked him something about the samosas.
“Ama ni zile samosa ulikula hapo nje?” (is it the samosas you ate out there?”) Then it hit him that it actually could be the samosas. Then the people in the matatu talked about their experiences with street food. Everyone shared how they had eaten a certain snack and had stomach problems.
He had to request a stop at the next shopping centre to get to a pharmacy because he could not imagine another incident of sprinting around. The driver agreed and told him that he’d stop at a certain shopping centre.
He wondered how he’d make the move he wanted to make. He pictured how this lady viewed him in her mind. Probably, he had made nicknames for him already. “The sprinter, the guy with the runny stomach, the samosa eater” He laughed but decided to give it a shot.
“I wanted to talk to you, but then…” He trailed off looking for the perfect words but the lady cut him short.
“The sprinting happened…,” This hit Sam by surprise but elicited some laughter within him.
They both laughed.
“You never told me your name.”
“I am Nelly.”
“Nice to meet you, Nelly.” She had said.
A few minutes later, after talking to Nelly, the matatu came to a stop. It had stopped at a small urban area. The driver told him that if he crossed the tarmac, he’d get a pharmacy. People were willing to wait as he made his way to the pharmacy. At least, the remaining minutes to Nakuru would give time for the medication to work, he’d therefore arrive at the interview feeling much better.
After like ten minutes at the pharmacy, he came back. As he entered the Matatu, he noticed that Nelly was missing. As the Matatu started, he couldn’t help but ask why they are leaving without one passenger.
“Na mwenye alikuwa ameketi hapa?” He asked. (What about the woman who was seated here?”)
“Ameshuka,” the passenger sitting in front of him said. (she has left the vehicle and gone.)
This reply made him feel bad. He peeked out of the window trying to locate her. He so much wanted to get her number because the thought of losing a chance to get to know her did not sit well with him.
However, it seemed that she had alighted immediately after he had crossed the tarmac. She was nowhere to be seen. As he was still peeking, a guy seated at the far end saw his stretched-out neck in a bid to see outside the Matatu. He was a bit older than Sam but not as old as his father’s age. Old enough to make a joke about Sam’s situation.
He turned back to Sam and asked, “You did not get her phone number?”
Sam could not contain himself. “Bana!” (loosely transacted to “dude!”).
“She’s long gone. That should have been the first thing you did.” The guy was giving him advice that he did not need right now.
“Man, I didn’t know this was her destination.” Sam shook his head regretfully.
“Next time,” the man replied.
Just like that, he knew he had missed a chance to take down Nelly’s number. He thought they had clicked and he wouldn’t have minded getting to know her better. But the samosas did their thing and now he was both embarrassed and out of a pretty girl’s number. He had learnt his lesson. He would never eat samosas when he was travelling. Who knows what might happen the next time?
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