It has been a great day since I have managed to cover all the tasks I set out to, coupled by those allotted to me by my immediate boss – Joan Mbugua (Project Manager). She can be a workaholic, so I must keep up if am to be relevant at all. Back to the day, I am just about wrapping up on my desk on Thursday, June 26, 2012. It’s 4:39pm and I get a call from Li-Roy Levine Ger’s mother. No greetings, small talks or pleasantries. “Have you left work? What time are you leaving? On leaving, please rush to the house since Li-Roy aint feeling too well!’’ “Ok,” is my answer to all the questions.
I hurriedly unplug my external mouse piece – it’s more strategic for me as opposed to the in-built one on my laptop. I unplug the power cable, close on the worksheets on the screen and stretch to the left side of my seat and pull over my laptop back, swing open the flip cover and unzip it then turn back to shut down the laptop. “What’s happened?” Joan asks. I mumble some response but I doubt if she actually made heads or tail of the jist of it.
Packed up an all but I have to await Albert. He’s on his way back from Westlands. This is real jittery for me. Normally I can’t trust Li-Roy’s own mother on this. I have to be there. It’s policy for me. I can’t work with second hand information on this. Maybe something else. So I pace around outside the office making frantic calls to those I think could rush to my house and pick him up to meet up with them at Gertrude’s Hospital, Nairobi West Branch. My sister’s at Work – Safaricom, Westlands. So she aint much help.
Pacing back and forth, I get a call from a lady friend who had been called up by Li-Roy’s mum and as we spoke, she was headed to my house to pick him up. On disconnecting, I call up my house help and requested her to dress him up in readiness.
He is back from Westlands. Today I can use his kind of driving. But I seldom get what I want and that is the case today too since not everyone is done at the office. Alongside my colleagues who are ready, we await those who are yet to finalize. Sooner rather than later, they are done and we are off.
We are in Westlands in a jiffy and I hop into one of the public utilities to the Central Business District – CBD!
We are there in three-quarters of an hour. Normally it takes ten minutes to cover the same distance but today, the driver had to be wise and take a detour to Thika Road. His reason? Evading traffic. I ask myself, “Nairobi is described by traffic snarl-ups probably much more than India. Was this really necessary? I need a personal car.” This ain’t happening today. I get to town around half past 6pm and quickly weave through the human traffic that makes up the CBD – all the while making calls. Today is the day that my defenses are down so for phone snatchers and pickpockets who did not practice their trade on me this day, they probably never will.
It’s 7.17pm and I get to Gertrude’s and I see Li-Roy from outside as I stride in. No time for security frisks and small talks. I whizz through. Funny, he is laughing at me and jumping all over. He still nine months old, not walking but in a hurry to. So what did the doc say? He has a throat infection! That’s it? What of the fever? Where is it coming from? “The throat infections,” Terry responds with a gesture as to say, “did we really have to run over like this?” Terry is Li-Roy’s mum. Going on, the doc reiterates that his weight is becoming unbecoming. “He is 10.7kgs and increasing at a fast rate. What do you give him?” “Lots of Fillet fish, yoghurt, cereals,” his mother rejoins. “Yes,” the doctor indicates that that ain’t too good. “Ok Doctor, we’ll watch on that,” as I give him a hand shake. Back to my normal self. I pay up at the counter, pick the drugs and we walk on out of the utility.
