Still a
Lovely
Day
Translation of native words at the bottom of the page.
I was yanked out of my dreams this morning to the agonizing chill of a missing blanket and the disorienting sound of my mother ranting. Now as odd as it may seem this was typically how my day started. I could never understand how people got up before dawn willingly and consistently. Mother disliked this particular trait of mine. I quickly ate the sweet potatoes and sour milk that she prepared for breakfast and followed her to the shamba where we weeded till the sun came up. She then left me with the same words she told me every day before going to the market.
“Ochwodho, feed the chicken and release them. Then tether the goats and cows. And if you let the goats eat my maize again I will pinch those elephant ears of yours. Do you hear me?”
“Yes Mama”
“I’ll be back with supper in the evening” She said and swayed down the narrow path towards the market.
I was feeling quite happy with myself as I tethered the last goat. Amigo our largest he-goat was eyeing the maize plantation despite the large calliandra bush beside him.
Despite the start of my day everything was going considerably well. “Don’t spoil things for me Amigo.” I admonished him then bent down to check my knot on the tethering pin. Satisfied with my skills I strolled up to mother’s outside kitchen looking forward to devouring the breakfast leftovers but the utensils had been cleaned and neatly tucked away.
“Anyiko!”
“Yoooo”
“Anyiko!!”
Anyiko my nine year old sister entered the mud hut carrying the last born, Anyango, on her back.
“What is it Ochwodho?”
“What is this?”
“What is what?”
“Why are the dishes there?
“I washed them”
“Where is my breakfast?”
“In your stomach! Where else could it be?
“Anyiko, after all the work I have done since before the sun came up you could not think of leaving me even half a sweet potato?”
“After eating three-quarters of the food you still expected me to leave you anything?”
She was right. I had eaten quite a lot of the sweet potatoes and was hoping no one would notice but still I was so hungry.
“Do you know how hungry I get working in the shamba while you sleep”
“Then maybe you should cook lunch”
With that she left the kitchen still carrying Anyango. I sighed with exasperation and turned to light the firewood.
An hour later lunch was ready. Ugali with fried omena. I called Anyiko who decided she would eat later.
“Ehe! You’re still full of sweet potatoes?”
“Nkt! Now that you’re done cooking and I’m done feeding Anyango you can watch her as I fetch water from the river. Remember I still have homework to do before Mama gets home!”
“Then go”
Anyiko stuck out her tongue, laughed and placed Anyango on the floor. As soon as she left the kitchen Anyango crawled to the door and started crying.
“Anyango, you can’t go with her”
Anyango completely ignored me and continued crying so I opened the door and let her crawl onto the veranda as I served the food. After all how far could she go? I served half the food onto a metal plate and covered it. Then I uncovered the plate and scooped out a bit of omena and, out of guilt, put it back. I served myself the other half, pinched a bit of my ugali and scooped the last bit of omena from the sufuria into my mouth. Gmmm! That was good. things were still going well for me today. Suddenly there was a scream! Anyango! Plate still in hand I ran outside to find she had had fallen off the single veranda step onto the grass below. I put down my plate and picked her up to soothe her.
“Ling’ aling’a nyar mamana ling’ aling’a
Ling’ aling’a nyar mamana ling’ aling’a
(Quiet down daughter of my mother, quiet down)
Ling’ aling’a nyar Asembona ling’ aling’a
Ling’ aling’a nyar Asembona ling’ aling’a
(Quiet down daughter of Asembo, quiet down)”
I sang to soothe her. Good thing Anyango calmed down shortly after. I placed her down and turned to find the dog taking off with my ugali in it’s mouth having lapped up the last of my omena! My omena! My prized fried omena!!!
I was left with two options. One, go hungry. Two, eat half my sister’s food. The former was torture but the latter would lead me to another form of torture. My mother’s belt! I scratched my head and rubbed my face. The sun was high now. It was noon and everyone was eating. Everyone except me! Wait! Everyone except me!! I picked Anyango up and dashed off towards our neighbour’s house. As I ran down the narrow path all I could hear was my mother’s voice ringing in my ears;
“I don’t want you sneaking off to eat in the neighbours’ houses. Especially Mama Omollo’ s house. If I find out you leave this house to eat in other people’s houses you will go without food for three days. Do you hear me Ochwodho?”
To which I always replied
“Yes Mama.”
I never did and today I wasn’t going to. I was simply going to talk to my best friend, Omollo, about homework and just happen to be invited in for lunch. It would, of course, be impolite to say no. So I ran to their house with a hopeful heart and expectant stomach.
I was delighted to see as I entered the compound, that there was no one outside. Perfect! That meant they were inside eating or about to eat. I went straight to their outside kitchen. The door was open but there was a curtain hanging at the entrance so I stood outside and called.
“Hodi”
“Donj” Said a woman’s voice from inside. Omollo’s mother.
I pushed the curtain aside slightly and entered the small kitchen where Omollo’s mother sat with her two younger sons and I was immediately hit by a most delightful smell. Freshly cooked ugali and.....what was that? Obambo! Dried smoked fish cooked into a delicious stew! I was salivating!
“Ochwodho, you have come?”
“Yes Min Omollo, I am looking for Omollo. Is he in?”
“He went to town with his father and should be back soon. I’ll let him know you came looking for him”
Now this was a slight complication. Omollo’s mother had a reputation of being not so generous with her food. Had they been eating when I came in it would have been a different story. But I could see the ugali still covered in it’s sufuria and none of the obambo served out and by the look on Mama Omollo’s face I knew she intended to keep it that way till I left. Change of strategy.
“I can’t find my mathematics text book and Mama says I should not go back without it. Can I wait for him?”
“Yes you can” Mama Omollo said reluctantly. Yes!!! Mission accomplished! I was definitely ready to eat but no food was served. Five minutes, ten, fifteen.... her sons were now visibly staring at the sufuria of ugali but still no food was served.
“Ochwodho!”
What was this now
“Ochwodho where are you?” My sister’s voice vibrated from afar
“Ochwodho isn’t that your sister calling you?” Omollo’s mother said with a smile.
I wanted to kill her as I ran back up to our compound to find out why she had to ruin my life at every turn.
“What is it now Anyiko?”
“Where have you been? She asked while chewing a mouthful of food.
“What is it Anyiko?!”
“Amigo is eating Mama’s maize”
“Why didn’t you remove him”
“Have you seen how big that goat is. How do you expect me to......”
I didn’t wait for her to finish I just shoved Anyango onto her arms and ran to the shamba. I pulled Amigo out of the shamba tied him to a tree and ran back to assess the damage. He had felled four maize stalks and half eaten two of them. I quickly yanked them out and carried them. Better missing maize stalks than half eaten ones. I ran past a befuddled Anyiko yelling as I went,
“Do not tell Mama a word of this and I will fetch water for you for two days!”
I ran back down and threw the maize stalks to Mama Omollo’s cows at the entrance to their compound and bolted down. I still had a chance. She would have had to warm the food before serving it. I was praying I still had a chance. I stopped just outside the kitchen to catch my breath and called as calmly as I could.
“Hodi”
“Donj” Omollo’s mother responded
I pushed the curtain open and entered to find them sitting on a reed mat eating from the same bowl and tray. Omollo’s mother was not amused to see me but managed to somewhat mask it with a smile.
“You’re back?”
“Yes Min Omollo. I’ll just wait here if it’s okay.”
I sat on a three legged stool beside the door and stared awkwardly away.
“Please join us” She reluctantly said
“I’m okay, thank you”
“No, I insist”
“Okay, maybe just a little”
Yes!! I did not hesitate a second longer. I joined them and hogged down as much as I could. The two boys quickly realized that my ‘just a little’ had turned out to be not so little. They picked up their pace and soon after there was nothing other than some of the tougher fish bones left. I offered to help Omollo’s mother wash the dishes as I bought time to figure out how to leave. Fowl looks were being thrown at me from every direction. ‘This is the time Anyiko should come looking for me.’ I thought to myself.
Thankfully as I stacked the last of the clean utensils I heard Omollo calling out to his mother. I quickly wiped my hands on my shorts and ran out to him.
“Hello Omollo”
“Ee Ochwodho, you are here” he responded with a broad smile
“Yes I wanted to find out if you know where my mathematics text book is”
“It’s under your bed with your other books”
“Are you sure? I’ve checked there”
“Yes I’m sure. I saw you put it there yesterday”
“Okay. I’ll go and check again”
With that I said my hasty goodbyes and strolled back home noticing on my way out that the cows had done a good job of finishing the maize stalks. Anyiko was sitting on the veranda step playing with Anyango.
“Just so you know you’re fetching water for three days and not two” Anyiko said as I sat next to them. I sighed and said nothing.
“So where have you been eating?”
“What do you mean I have not been eating anywhere”
“Then why do you smell like obambo?”
I had been caught. There was no denying it.
“There was a situation with my food and the dog. I went to Mama Omollo’s”
“Is that why I found a plate on the veranda?” She asked laughing.
I laughed with her. I had completely forgotten about the plate.
“And you went to Mama Omollo who was probably cursing you as you ate. Have you no shame?”
“Shame for who? Shame for what. You can be ashamed on my behalf if you want. I feel nothing but full.”
As far as I was concerned things were still going considerably well for me.
1. shamba - garden
2. omena – silver cyprinid fish
3. hodi - hello
4. donj - enter
5. min Omollo – mother of Omollo