Being a 28-year-old single mother living in Nairobi made my love life so difficult. Granted, securing a good man in my early twenties was also tough but not as much. The difference was that once I told a man about my son, he would always find an excuse to leave. For that reason, I gave up on dating apps.
Since meeting a man the traditional way was also a long shot, I let things be. There’s a famous quote that says, “Love finds you when you’re not looking”. Surprisingly, that’s how I ended up in a relationship with Leshan.
My cousin and best friend, Mariah, decided to take me out on a Saturday night. Like most people who like to party, she left me at a table and went to the dance floor. I decided to take photos and videos of her to keep myself busy. All was going well until a drunk man approached the table and tried to get me to dance with him.
He couldn’t take no for an answer, which made the situation worse. After declining three times, he grabbed my arm forcefully. Just as he was about to drag me to the dance floor, Leshan showed up out of nowhere and asked him to let go of me. The man looked at him for a second, released my arm and walked away with an agitated look.
Leshan confirmed if I was okay and offered to sit with me to avoid other predators. We drank and talked for a long while which was very unlike me. Not only was he charming, but also a good conversationalist. Around midnight, Mariah was completely drunk which meant it was time to leave. Leshan offered to help me get her home. As he was leaving, I asked for his number which was very surprising to me. He grabbed my phone, saved his number and smiled at me before leaving.
A few days later, I felt the urge to call him but didn’t want to come off as desperate. To my surprise, we ended up bumping into each other at a restaurant near where I worked. We had a small conversation as we waited for our food, and he ended up asking for my number before we left.
Leshan and I built our relationship slowly and beautifully. He was the first 40-year-old I had met who didn’t seem to rush through life. He had this belief that when the time is right things fall into place naturally. Another quality I admired about him was that he loved spending time with my son. As the months went on, I slowly fell in love with Leshan. So much so that I was convinced that we were destined for each other.
Every moment we spent together was magical and somehow, I started to imagine our future life together. I didn’t realize that my bubble would end up being destroyed so soon. After spending one year together, Leshan started to develop symptoms of kidney failure so we started the dialysis process.
Watching him go through the treatment was heartbreaking in as much as he was trying his best to be strong. With time, he also started to change. There were days he would be completely moody and wouldn’t talk to me as much. Although I stood by him through his treatment, I felt like it was not enough.
So, I made an appointment with his doctor and inquired about the kidney donation process and eligibility. I have never been an impulsive decision-maker maker but at that moment all I could think of was Leshan.
“I’d like to get tested,” I blurted.
“Are you sure about this? I think maybe you should go home and take some time to think this over,” He said.
“No, I’m sure about my decision,” I replied.
He handed me a questionnaire to fill out and informed me that I would be called and advised further. Later that evening, I thought about sharing the news with Leshan but decided to wait. The following week, I got a call from the hospital informing me that I would be able to start the testing process.
Undergoing the tests ended up being tedious. I hated being in the hospital and having to go through different tests felt like torture. After a few weeks, all my tests were complete, and the doctor confirmed to me that I was a match. The minute those words left his mouth things started to feel more real. We had a lengthy conversation about the potential risks, and I made my decision.
Later that night, I broke the news to Leshan and for the first time in a long time I saw him smiling. That moment made me feel hopeful again because it meant that we had a future. A couple of days later, we went to the hospital and booked the date for surgery.
You never know how fast days can go until you have a major event happening in your life. We went about our normal lives and before we knew it, surgery day had arrived. I felt nervous but hoped that all would go well for the sake of my son and Leshan.
The surgery took 4 hours and ended up being successful. Leshan and stayed in the hospital post-surgery just so they could monitor how we were doing. After being discharged, his family offered to take care of him for the first few weeks of his recovery. Two months later, we slowly adjusted to our normal lives.
I also went back to envisioning my fairytale life but again my bubble burst. Towards the end of the year, Leshan went to a bachelor party in Diani. He had informed me that he would be back on Sunday since they left on Friday. So, I decided to spend the weekend at home enjoying my own company since my son was staying with his father. On Saturday night, as I was watching a movie, I heard someone knock on the door.
To my surprise, it was Leshan. I jumped to hug him hoping he would tell me that he had come home early because he missed me. Instead, he gave me a gentle pat on the back. I let go and from his facial expression, I could tell that something was wrong.
“What happened?” I asked worriedly.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just did and I woke up and knew that I had to come back and see you,” He blabbered.
Those words alone were enough for me to guess what he was talking about.
“I can’t deal with this right now,” I replied as I tried to hold back my tears.
“We can talk about this, please give me a chance to explain,” He replied.
“Please Leshan just leave. I need time to process this.”
The next couple of days I thought deeply about the situation. I wanted to believe that it was a mistake, but I just couldn’t. After the surgery, Leshan would not go past one drink which meant that it was not a drunken mistake. To make matters worse, I couldn’t tell if the guilt he felt was because he had done something wrong or because he felt like he owed me loyalty. So, I called him and asked if we could meet up and talk.
I hoped that if he told me the truth, we could find a way to move past what had happened. Instead, he lied to me about the number of drinks he had taken to make it seem like it was a mistake.
“Leshan, you stopped overdrinking a long time ago. Why would you feel the need to lie to me?” I asked.
He was silent for a while and then he started sobbing. I had never seen him cry at all.
“I honestly don’t know why I ended up doing it. You’ve been so kind and supportive to me, and I just couldn’t tell you the truth,” He replied.
Seeing him cry broke my heart, but not as much as the fact that he felt like he owed me so he couldn’t tell me the truth. So, once again I made an impulsive decision and decided to let go of my relationship. Staying with him meant I would never know if he still loved me, or if he felt like our relationship had to remain solid because of the transplant.
Moving on was hard especially because every person I shared this story with made me feel bad. You know how Kenyans are always so quick to say, “If it was me, he would have returned my kidney or paid me for being a donor?”. I knew Leshan would not refuse to pay me if I asked, but I decided to do it out of love and at least he would remain alive because of it.
This story was inspired by a story shared on TikTok
If you liked this story, check out
A Girl’s Night Out With Her Friend Turned Into A Nightmare For Florence And Her Family
She Went Abroad For A Better Life But It Ended Being A Nightmare
Our Love Burned Hot And I Was So Happy. I Did Not Know I Was Being Set Up For A Con
