Thread by @CSakwah

A year ago, just a few days after the curfew was enforced, I found myself on the road past curfew time. I was walking from Ruaka town. There were no boda bodas. Just as I was about to branch off Limuru road towards my place, I saw a police Landcruiser moving towards me.

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My first thoughts were to run towards my place. I quickly shed off that idea. It was a bad idea. My place was like 500M off the road. I would have been arrested by the time I got to my house. Therefore, I decided to hide in the nearby bush, a small thicket just off the road.

Limuru Road used to have some of those bushes before its expansion. I lay low, motionless. A minute later, the cruiser pulled by the thicket. Had they seen me? I wondered. At that time, those who flouted the COVID rules were being temporarily detained at KMTC and KU for 2 weeks.

I could not imagine myself going through the horrifying experience shared by those who had been detained in those camps. Getting arrested at that time was not an option. Especially because I had left a girl in my room to rush to Ruaka town.

She was the reason why I left my house past curfew to rush to Ruaka town. She insisted on us using protection. Chemists were allowed to operate beyond the curfew time which prompted me to leave my house. Her visit wasn't planned and I did have the tools for that sort of work.

I lay still, breathless. A minute and a half later, I heard one of them say, 'hiyo jangili alikimbia tuachane na yeye!' And so they drove off. When the cruiser sound disappeared yonder, I crawled from my hiding. On the edge of the thicket, I set off running as faster as I could.

But just a few seconds of running, I heard footsteps running behind me as well. I increased my pace, and so did the person running after me. It was on; Usain Bolt Vs Blake. He took every corner that I took. He did not ask me to stop. Definitely not police. Maybe he was a thug.

I couldn't allow him to rob me of the condoms that I had in my pocket, that was the only thing I had. Or maybe I could have used the condoms to protect myself against his attack. Each second, he seemed to close the gap. I found the gate of my apartment already locked.

I knocked on it, as the man closed down on me. I could barely tell his face. My knocks turned into bangs of horror. When he was close enough, he branched off the road towards the gate of the next apartment. I turned to face him, he was one of the tenants from the next building.

I was really disappointed. Especially after he said that he was running to catch up with me because he was too scared to run alone in the darkness. I burned a lot of calories running for nothing when I could have preserved them for other activities of greater importance.

I am shamelessly plugging my hustle here. I am a budding author with two titles under my name. All crime-romance. If you fancy giving a Kenyan author a chance, kindly grab one or two.
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