Tribulations of Mark: Part 2

Continued from Part 1

Mark gasped and his eyes opened wider in befuddlement. “They left for where?” He vomited the words.

“I don’t know.” Esther’s colleague said. “A little later, “who knows it is members day, time for Nairobians to enjoy their hard-earned money.”

At that moment, Mark felt as if his heart was sliced into two pieces by a sharp sword. The relatively tall man without much weight walked away from the two women weird thoughts dancing in his already provoked mind.

His brown eyes were not seeing anything at the moment. He kept on walking bumping into people, being shoved by others. Occasionally he ruffled his short kinky hair. And surprisingly his usually brown face had darkened due to anger and much thought.

Darkness had by now won the battle with light. The remaining streaks of light were hurriedly disappearing.

Sickly street lights were beginning to sprout with no particular pattern. The gibbous moon slightly visible from the east was a misty shadow.

There were too many people on the pavements and streets. Mark diverted and entered a dimly lit alley trying to avoid the congested streets. He was just moving not knowing where he was heading to.

As he walked along the obscure alley, his phone rang and he retrieved it with terrifying speed hoping it was a call from his wife. It wasn’t. “Hello.” He called trying to control his seething anger.

“Ha… Hallow…” A drunken voice of his friend croaked in his ear unaware of how broken his English was.

Gennaro, Mark’s friend, was an alcoholic. He liked the bottle very much in such a way that he had to partake in it every day. To him, it had become like a ritual. Without it, he could not be able to work.

The beer was his fuel. The two happened to be in the same high school seven years ago and that is where they developed a firm friendship.

Mark after completing high school went to Makerere University in Uganda to pursue a degree in Bachelor of Science in Education.

After completing his degree he went back to his mother country to be employed by the government as a secondary school teacher.

His friend joined a private college and did a course in Auto Mechanic. He had his own large modern garage in Ngara and he was faring well.

Though they were rarely together, the two would occasionally meet or call each other and chat, and that was of course when Gennaro was sober.

When the two were together, Mark tried to counsel his friend about his excessive drinking.

Now it was obvious that Gennaro was drunk especially being a Friday. “My … my friend where are …you?”

“I am in town,” Mark replied curtly ready to disconnect him at any moment.

Gennaro belched loudly over the phone. “Things are not good.”

Mark was about to press the red cancel button. He had already slowed his pace. “Where are you and what is wrong?” He barked fear and desperation beginning to take control of him.

After waiting for what seemed an eternity his friend spoke. “I am at Porcupines Inn and if am not drunk I can figure out someone like your wife also enjoying the bottle.”

Mark felt a sharp pain cut through his heart and at the same moment, he felt his left hand which was holding his mobile phone go numb.

Then he saw his mobile phone flying in the air and in a split second a tall man leapt in the air like a well-trained world cup goalkeeper, his long hands fully stretched going for the flying mobile phone.

As his astride feet touched down, he bolted like Usain St. Leo Bolt (Lightning Bolt). The pain on Mark’s hand was so intense that he crouched down on his knees holding his injured elbow.

He tried in vain to shout “Thief! Thief!” No sound came out. He felt his head swerve and his deep-set brown eyes started seeing dancing images and stars. He was on the verge of fainting.

When the pain lessened he lifted himself, he looked around and what he saw was knots of amused people all around him staring at him as if he was a street magician.

No one from the crowd that had formed was offering help. They were just talking agitatedly describing what had just happened.

Mark stunned by the turn of events moved out of the crowd and at first he did not know where he was going. Then he suddenly remembered Porcupines Inn.

He hastened his steps and walked away from the ungrateful people who he would be justified if he just called them thieves too.

Porcupines Inn was a famous club thus even teetotalers like Mark knew where it was situated, along River road very close to Ronald Ngara junction.

Click here to go to part 3.