A Whispers from London: Do not be too quick to trust strangers
I was seven years when my brother and I heard a knock at the door. Since it was approaching 10.00 pm at night, we were surprised at who that person could visit us at that time.
Upon opening the door, we found that the person knocking the door was a young man, possibly in his late teens. His name was David. He was dark, tall and barefooted (just like anybody else in the whole village!). Before we allowed him in, we asked him who he was and where he had come from. He told us that he had come from Rift Valley after their father set their only home on fire and then went to God knew where. Now that they had no home and they did not have the means of going to school, his other two brothers and he decided to go separate ways to look for greener pastures.
He told us that he had been walking all the way from Nakuru for four days. On each night-time, he would seek accommodation from strangers. His destination was to be Murang’a where, as he put it, he had relatives who would possibly get him some menial jobs to support himself. As he narrated his problems, he would shed tears. As a family, we were also touched so we let him in and gave him some food.
Since he was my elder brother’s age, they had a lot to talk about. After one hour of staying with him, we had already liked him. He had a great sense of humour which really made our night. He had a way of putting drama and suspense in his stories such that we wanted to hear him tell us more and more. How we wished he was one of us!
When time came for us to sleep, we agreed that my elder brother would share the bed with him. Since I was a little kid and I liked stories, I requested my brother that I also share the bed with them, and he agreed. I was to sleep in the middle with my brother being on the right while David was on the left. We did not care what time we slept since the following day was a Saturday and we were not going to school. David had his style of telling jokes that were relevant to me which made me like him more. At around 1 am, both Dave and my brother fell asleep.
No sooner had we fallen asleep than Dave started snoring heavily. Despite the heavy snoring, my brother was not disturbed for he slept soundly. After about forty-five minutes, I also pretended to snore to mirror my new-found hero Dave.
Somewhere in the middle of the night when my brother was fast asleep and I had long stopped pretending that I was snoring, I felt some movements in the bed. It was David who was slowly creeping out of the bed. Still in darkness, I saw his ‘figure’ move up and down the room as slowly as he could. Since he was already my hero, I did not mind him going anywhere.
In about five minutes, walking in slow calculated steps, I heard him open the front door slowly and carefully then went outside. In my young mind, I was worried that someone might harm him when alone. In the bed, I waited and waited for my hero to return. Ten minutes had gone, and he had not come back, I started getting worried.
Suddenly, I woke my brother up and whispered to him that David had gone out and it was long since he had been away. At first, he did not understand what I was saying but he finally came to his senses and was alert. He asked me to follow him outside and we stood by the door. For whatever reason, he had left the door wide open at that hour of the night. On looking outside, the night was deadly quiet and dark.
My brother told me to keep quiet even if he came back. I did as he told me. Just when we were tired of waiting, we saw some movements in the maize garden outside and out came two men walking as if they were on tip toes and were heading to our direction. We noticed that one of them was Dave and another man. As they entered inside, they walked slowly and methodically.
Once they were inside, my brother pulled me outside in a split second and we closed the door from outside. We then asked Dave what he was doing and who he was with and what his mission was. He swore by gods of the mountains and valleys that the person with him was just a friend he had met at that hour. I told him that I had heard him even when he left the bed thirty minutes before.
We woke up the neighbours to keep watch and then went to call the sub chief. After being beaten mercilessly by the sub chief, they all agreed that their mission was to steal our cows. The plan was to tie us with ropes and to intimidate us with dire consequences if we woke up. They each had a knife stacked somewhere in their trousers.
In the morning, the two thieves were taken to Police station where we came to know that they were wanted criminals who had done worse things than planning to steal cows.
Any time I remember that incident, I see the hand of God. Supposing I went on sleeping like my brother was? Only God knows what the two people wanted to do with us. Were they on a mission to kill or were they witches in disguise?
Here is the point. Do not be too quick to trust strangers because they could be anything. Human being are turncoats, so beware of who you are rubbing shoulders with. Take time to know that house girl who you are entrusting with your kid. Even if she sings ‘Golden Bells’ songs one after the other and can speak in tongues, take her with a pinch of salt.
This is material world so be incredibly careful with any business transactions that you make with anybody especially if you live in diaspora and the other person is in your home country. My friend Michael and I know of someone who had entrusted somebody to build a house for somebody in diaspora. Many times, the person from diaspora would call the other person who would first greet the person in the mighty name of Jesus. After greetings, the person in Kenya would ask the one in diaspora to bow his head for both to pray for the project. The prayers were not ordinary prayers but prayers that could flatten Mount Kenya in seconds. After the project was over, the one from diaspora was disappointed that the project was below standards and did not in any way conform to Health and safety standards. Another thing was that the price of land and the materials had been overpriced several times. Never mind the person entrusted with the project was speaking in tongues and could even jump over fences when praying to rebuke the devil in the strongest terms possible. In any financial transaction, try very much not to let your emotions come before reasoning.
Men from diaspora, God be with you. Many people write to me to inform me of how they fell in love with girls through the social media. The girl in question will post nice edited pictures that would give Angels in Heaven a run for their money. The girls would tell the poor man from diaspora that she has never been in a real relationship and that she considers herself lucky to have the man from diaspora. Meanwhile, the diaspora man has been sending her money to make the relationship flourish. The girl in return will tell the guy that she cannot wait for the day he will arrive in Kenya. She swears by the gods of hills and valleys that the moon and the stars would come to standstill from the way she will demonstrate the anger of her love to the man from abroad. The truth of the matter is that the girl who pretends to be a virgin has seen the inside of a maternity more times than her own mother. When the guy arrives, she will change her phone so the poor gentleman will spend his holiday alone, minus several hundred thousands of shillings..
Let us suppose the same lover agrees to meet you when you go to Kenya. She will meet you with ten friends or so (Remember you are from diaspora where money falls like manna from Heaven!). After partying the whole night, the bill to pay will amount to about one hundred thousand, enough money to put as deposit for an eighth of a plot. If you plan to meet again for you to show her ‘wrestling’ moves, watch out because she could plan with thugs to come and interrupt when ‘wrestling’ is on the high noon and they will demand hundreds of thousands of shillings as ‘Settlement’ instead of taking you to police station and charge you with taking someone’s wife. Not even that, you do not know each other, and she could be HIV positive and would want to pass it to you so that she does not die alone.
Never put trust on strangers because they could be wolves in sheep’s clothing. Whenever you are helping a stranger, listen to how you feel inside. We call it gut feeling. If the feeling ‘says’ NO, respect it because its communicating something.
How do you avoid problems associated with social media? Just know that your friends in social media are not real friends. Let the social media friends know that you are married or in a relationship. In this way, you will avoid many problems. Over to you.
By Man ManKambugua E-mail: manmankambugua@gmail.com
Source-Misterseed.com
