"Be quick," he encouraged. He walked too fast which made me wonder how he could manage that because of his size. I tried keeping up with his pace to no avail. He walked in long quick strides which amazed me. He had to stop at some point to wait for me. When I could no longer keep up with his pace, he held my hand and led me like a child.
When we reached the outskirts of the city, he guided me to a certain middle-class hotel where we got in and ordered one kilo of roasted meat with ugali. One kilo for only two people! I wondered but decided to keep quiet about it. It had been a long time since I ate roasted meat and so I decided to make the most out of it.
Minutes flew inexorably and the meat was half eaten. One hour passed, and we washed our hands, our stomachs full and the plates on the table empty! Half a kilo was ordered to be taken home. As we were still sitting, our bill was brought totaling a sum of one thousand five hundred shillings. He paid at the touch of a button on his phone. He then requested that we take a rest where we were sitting. When the waiter was hesitant, he offered to double the sum that we had just paid! The waiter excused himself to the hotel management to inquire about it. Against my expectation, the hotel management took the money offered and we were allowed to take a moment to rest. As we sat, the "he" I've been speaking about, which for now I believe you've known him, began the story.
"Do you normally do exercise?" Uncle Jack inquired looking at me. This time, his phone was away as he talked to me.
"I normally do," I replied defensively, "I often go bike riding using the bike we left at home."
"Why did you walk slowly then?"
"I can say…" I hesitated before continuing, "I'm not used to walking quickly. I'm only used to bike riding and it's my hobby. Maybe one day we should try my hobby and see who wins." We both laughed. Our attention was then carried when we saw a swimming pool behind us. The clear blue water swayed with small water currents moving from end to end. I was about to ask him whether he knew how to swim when he read my mind.
"Do you know how to swim? I have a swimming pool at home. Did you see it?"
"Yes, I know. In our village, I'm the fastest." I replied proudly, "I saw the swimming pool and was even preparing one of these days to swim. I'm only afraid that the water is too cold."
"It is always like that. Are you afraid of cold water?" He replied laughing, "You must be kidding, right?"
"No, I'm not. I'm not used to cold water." I replied ending the conversation. Time was moving. He took his phone, went aside, and called someone. A car then came to pick us up and took us home. We alighted at the gate and when Jean opened, I gave him his meat. He thanked us and we left for the house.
At the house, I switched on the television for my usual shows. He became busy on his phone once again. I got bored and went to the fridge, and took a bottle of juice. I poured it into a wine glass and diluted it with a glass of water. He did not see me doing so. I then sat down and drank a few sips before I ran upstairs to see whether I would get a book to read or a game to play. I almost wondered whether there was a gym room in the big house and wished to ask him about it. I moved into the rooms once again, this time more carefully looking at the things that were there. In one room, I saw a collection of English novels from outstanding writers like Chinua Achebe and some Swahili ones too from Said A. Mohammed.
I was thrilled. I had gotten something to keep me busy for the next few days. I moved from room to room inspecting every item. Some rooms had two beds and big wardrobes. However, the wardrobes were empty but the beds were well made and the sheets clean! My mind instantly became alert and remembered the task that I had assigned myself. When I could not find anything strange in the rooms, (apart from the way the beds were well made yet the wardrobes were empty) I moved to the next room.
The room looked like an office with a table and a chair beside it. A laptop was on the table and some envelopes were behind it. I was tempted to pick one envelope and see whatever was inside. However, I refrained. Beside it was a pedestal fan and a bed too stood at one of the corners. The floor was carpeted like the rest of the rooms. My curiosity took me to the next room. Coincidentally, it was the room where I had heard the bang the other day. The door was ajar. I pushed it gently but it didn't open. I pushed it harder. It still couldn't open. I wondered what was inside that made it not open. Was the bang I heard concerned in any chance with why it wasn't opening? Was it (the bang) concerned with the riches of this man?
As I stood there, another question arose. Why was Uncle Jack living alone in such a big house? With all the riches, why had he not married? I could not understand the meaning of all that. As I stood there, I heard him just right behind me coming upstairs. I quickly left the room and went towards the staircase and pretended to have come from the room where I picked up the books which I held in my hand.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.
"I… am…" I stammered, "going to… read…"
"Where did you get those books from?"
"There… in that room…" I replied pointing in the direction of the room.
"And where did you come from, there?" He asked, pointing in the direction of the room where I had heard the bang the other day. I looked at him shyly and defenseless. "Did you get inside the room?" He asked, somehow worried. I did not answer for a while. He came close to me and insisted that I tell him the truth.
"See, please tell me if you got inside. It's important to me and my future!" He pleaded. That made me wonder. Why did he have to stress so much about it? What was in there that was so important that I wasn't supposed to see? Why did he talk of his future? Did that mean that his future was in that room? How could a person's future be secured in a room? I still looked at him with wide, unfrightened eyes. I did not fear him anymore. My mind opened up so many pages of questions that sought answers. Perhaps, this was the perfect time to ask him. I thought. I was still holding the books in my hand. One glance at them was enough to tell me to go downstairs and leave him unanswered. I ran downstairs quickly and went to my seat, switched the television which was still on, and sat down.
"I should wait and see his behavior, now that he is not sure that I got inside his secret room." I thought to myself. I opened the first page of the English novel I had and began reading. He interrupted me when I had barely read a page. I saw his eyes turn watery as he said every word to sooth me to tell him the truth. I had made up my mind. I needed to see the aftermath of all the riches.
"You have refused to talk!" he pleaded, "That room contains things that you're not supposed to see. That's why the door is difficult to open, although one of the conditions is that it is kept open always for fresh air and the like." He emphasized. I nearly concluded my assumptions. I was almost affirming the words that I had heard at home from the villagers to be true. What things could restrict other people from seeing them? How could they be so private that they could harm his future when seen by other people? I was still silent. I turned to the next page of my novel and continued reading.
"See, I can't get inside that room until I get your confirmation." He continued. "I have to be sure whether you got into that room and whether you touched anything there so that when getting in, I get in with the caution it deserves."
"Why is that room so important?" I closed my novel and asked him earnestly, eyeing him sharply. The look on my face demanded a lot of explanation. "What is in there that is so important to you that it can't be seen by anyone else?"
"You won't understand!" he replied, "Just tell me the truth because I can't let you go back to your parents without knowing whether you did it or not."
"Do you want to know the truth?" I asked.
"Yes, I do. Tell me."
"Then buy me the latest phone, and I will tell you."
"That's not an issue. He took his phone, dialed a number, and called someone. After talking for a few seconds, he hung up the phone.
"Go to the gate and pick up your new phone. And remember to come back here and tell me whether you got into the room." He shouted rather annoyedly.
"How? That was so quick!" I muttered to myself as I rose to the door. I thought of picking up my bike, collecting the phone at the gate, and disappearing back home. Yes. Uncle Jack's place was too boring for me to live in. I missed my home friends. I missed the laughter of my two younger siblings. I missed the bike ridings that we had during the weekends with my neighboring friends. I had missed happiness, joy, and exercise
I ran back to the window and peeped to see whether he was in the room. Fortunately, he wasn't. I picked up my bike from the packing area and was off towards the gate. I greeted Jean once more and lied to him that my uncle had sent me to the market. Jean took a lot of time to believe that. He stated that Uncle Jack liked to order foodstuffs from online stores or would rather eat at the hotels.
"Well, I have changed him then," I said when he could not believe me.
"Today is only the second day since you came. How can you claim that you've changed him?" He asked while opening the gate for me and there he was. A delivery guy holding a parcel stood and asked to confirm whether I was the one sent by Jack to pick up the parcel ordered. When I confirmed it with him, he gave me a parcel wrapped nicely like a gift which I received with gratitude. I was so happy. Jean just looked at me surprised. A few minutes after the delivery guy had left, I decided to clear the surprise in Jean's mind by concluding the initial conversation.
"I'm a big game changer." I stated prophetically, "Wherever I go, they follow my footprints."
"All the best. Be careful on the road." He said as he closed the gate behind me. And so I left.