{"id":94,"date":"2020-03-23T20:57:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T20:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flashbyte.co.ke\/joel_flash\/?p=94"},"modified":"2020-04-16T07:50:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-16T07:50:22","slug":"the-past-present-the-future-all-staring-at-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flashbyte.co.ke\/joel_flash\/?p=94","title":{"rendered":"THE PAST, PRESENT & THE FUTURE ALL STARING AT ME."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Intro:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your definition of normal? In my 31 years of existence on the good Lord’s earth I have come to the conclusion that normal varies. That you can be very good friends with someone and not really know their story. You may have an idea but not really the raw details, the<\/em> <\/strong>edgy facts that keep them awake at night. Her story starts off like this\u2026.<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I was born in Bungoma, My Mum was in Form 3 when she had me, as a result that marked the end of her education. I was named after my grandfather. I was born in 1991 but to date I am not sure the date because of all the mystery that shrouded my birth. My Identification card says I was born in 1993\u2026\u2026 I quickly interject as I need perspective as to why<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong> I never really had a birth certificate up and until it was time for me to do my KCSE, that\u2019s when we had to forge one. She smiles shyly as if to gauge if I am really ready for the rest of it! You and I celebrate our birthdays every year and never really give much thought to it, that there is a fellow young person walking the streets who doesn\u2019t know the very day they were born.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My grandmother took care of me till she passed on, left me in the care of my Grandpa and his second wife. Bounced between the care of an Uncle and an Aunt here and there till my Mum got married to a guy I grew up knowing that\u2019s my biological father. As is the story of most an average household, money was tight, but in ours it was crazy tight, especially coupled by the fact that my step dad earned very little and had a wandering eye to top it off. So bad it got, that we would sometimes go without food. The universe is not entirely cruel, he finally got a promotion at work, and he now had slightly more disposable income to cover us and his other Mipango wa kando. I honestly wonder to myself how much that dude was taking home at this particular moment, I mean enough for a 5 year old to notice that we are good now haha.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He later bought a parcel of land and constructed a house for my Mum, something I appreciate him for, despite his many failings. There was this man, we knew him as the Photoman. Back in the day Photographers were called Photoman and it wasn\u2019t always a revered profession as it is in these Instagram days<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em>He would have these long protracted stories with my mother, and that never struck me as odd then till when I came to later learn that he was my biological dad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things got better, my step dad bought another parcel of land in a relatively better address and we moved. This was short lived however, when my mother was heavy with our last born, only boy, she was very sickly, 3 month after delivery she passed away, my kid bro died too and my step Dad followed 2 years later. They all succumbed to what I would later come to learn was HIV. Now I am not sure if she (my Mum) was confused or what exactly. There was this family that was family friends with my grandparents, she had introduced me to them before her demise and would frequently take me to them and I remember her saying \u201cndio huyu mtoto wenu nme waletea<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/em> \u2026.I think at some point my mother had a relationship with the brother to this woman. Personally, I think she just wanted me to have a better life or something( that family was relatively better off), because prior to her passing she had told the sister to this man she was seeing that, in the event of her death, they take care of me. Another dying wish was that my step dad pays dowry before he takes custody of my step sisters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Uncles and Aunties (maternal) were not pleased with her proclamation that I go live with the family friends. True to the wishes of my dead mother, the lady came and took me to her place forcefully. The stay started off well, however in a household of so many I would find myself doing all the chores, I was a nanny, grounds-person and chef at the same time! If anything went wrong I would be whipped using electric cables. At some point an Aunt to my mother caused chaos, telling off my Uncles and Aunties as to why they would allow me to be with folks I had no blood relation to. My hosts would forcefully fight back, feeding my young mind with all sorts of melodrama about my mother’s family. I remember us once going to the area chief for me to choose sides. Being young and impressionable I of course chose my adopters. An Uncle went ahead to say, that let her be, if she has decided to live with them so be it, when she wants back, we will gladly have her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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