Chapter 6
Nancy avoided to be associated with prostitutes. She never went out to look for money unless it was necessary. She would however select her victims intelligently such that with each catch, she would get good money.
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When her clothes arrived, they all fitted her perfectly. Nancy was perfect in picking designer clothes for herself and her daughter.
Her daughter was so happy and thanked her mum so much for the gifts.
“Work hard in school and I will buy for you even more.” Nancy told the little girl as she kept trying various dresses. Nancy would take photos of her and she would also do the same. Mother and daughter tried all the dresses as if they were gearing for a fashion show.
The sexy photos Nancy took for herself, she did not hesitate to post them online on various accounts she had from Facebook, Okcupid, tagged, etc. and on Facebook she even had 3 user accounts. Within minutes, her photos were full of likes and comments from randy men who were lusting for her. She went through the comment without replying to any. According to her, she was achieving her intended purpose, to attract as many men as possible in order to make them an easy prey.
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The following weekend, Nancy decided to take her daughter out. She loved being by the beach. This time she opted to go to silver sands in Malindi. She wore a pair of white shorts and light grey T shirt that hugged her tightly. Her daughter also wore the same too.
Nancy took a matatu with her daughter and instead of holding her, she got a seat for her daughter and paid for it. On her way, she made several selfies, posted them online with captions like: Living life to the full, God is great, etc.
She then chatted a lot on social media, flirting with as many men as she could manage.
Nancy even managed to convince a few men to ‘buy lunch’ for her.
Nancy even posted a photo of her, an older photo with caption, “Let me see who is a gentleman by buying me some lunch…”
Several men replied to the photo but some went straight to her inbox. Those who went to her inbox are the ones she concentrated on. Most even did not bother commenting on her photo. She kept them busy with flirty chats until they were enchanted.
By the time Nancy got to Malindi, 5 men had sent her money for ‘lunch’. The least amount sent was 200. She however thanked the man too and made him feel loved and appreciated while the most amount sent to her was Kshs 3,500 by a man calling himself “Engineer Kapalaga”. In total, she managed to get 9,400.
As soon as they got to Malindi, they got into a hotel and ate some mataha and meat stew.
“Eat fast, we are going for a beach walk.” Nancy told her daughter who was eating as if she was not in a hurry.
“Mum, I am not hungry.” Lydia said.
Nancy looked at her daughter and asked her, “And why did you make me order so much food?”
“You made the order; you did not ask if I am hungry.” Lydia said.
“Ok, you win.” Nancy said and concentrated on her food, “But next time tell me if you are not hungry. There are so many children sleeping hungry daily and here you are wasting food.”
They finished eating and Nancy decided they should walk all the way to the beach. On her way, she saw a street family seated with her three dirty children. She had a plate in front of her where people would drop coins as they passed.
When Nancy got to the woman, she asked her, “Can I drop anything else rather than coin?”
The woman replied, “Even food, we will appreciate.”
However, Nancy did not mean food. She got into her handbag, dished out a note of Kshs 500 and gave to the woman.
“My daughter, thank you so much, may the good God bless you with even more.” The woman told Nancy.
“Please, buy good food for them today, also wash them, it is not good for them to appear like this.” Nancy told the woman.
“I will, I promise.” The woman said feeling very grateful. She tied the money with her lesso safely as Nancy and her daughter kept walking.
Nancy and her daughter finally got to the sandy beach. There were very few people around. The gentle noise of waves crushing on the shore was so soothing. Nancy stretched herself and dropped her handbag on the sand and said, “Oh! what a wonderful feeling of fresh air!”
Lydia also did as her mother.
“Come on, take me a photo please, I told you whenever you go with me you are my photographer.” Nancy told Lydia. The little girl reached for her mother’s handbag and took out the smartphone. She knew the pattern to unlock. She unlocked the phone, got to the camera and began taking her mother several photos as her mother made various poses.
Nancy also picked the phone and took her daughter numerous photos.
“Come on, help me make a small sand mountain.” Nancy told Lydia. Mother and daughter made a sand mountain of about one and a half feet tall.
Lydia wanted to sit on the small sand mountain when her mother quickly picked her and told her, “Wait, it was not meant for that…”
“What is it for?” Lydia asked.
“You will know.” Nancy said. She slowly and carefully placed her smartphone on the sand. She set the camera to selfie mode with auto activation when you wave to the camera.
“Now, come squat with me here.” Nancy told Lydia. The little girl followed.
Nancy waved at her phone. It began to do a counter of three seconds giving them time to set themselves how they wanted.
The two took several photos before an old Italian couple who were passing stopped to look at them.
“Wow! how cute!” the old woman said, “can we help you take a few photos?”
“Oh! yea, please do.” Nancy said. She picked the phone and handed it to the woman. Her husband, who was in his early 70’s stood there smiling and just watching as his wife took Nancy and her daughter as many photos as possible.
“Thank you, that is enough for today.” Nancy told the Italian woman.
“Pleasure, we are just walking around with my sweetheart enjoying the sandy beach. Kenya is such a beautiful country.” The Italian woman said.
“Yes, and very peaceful with lovely people.” Nancy told the old woman.
“Ok, we leave you to enjoy, let us walk around.” The old Italian woman said. As she was talking, her husband was squatting in the sand making random patterns on the sand with his finger.
“Ok, enjoy your walk.” Nancy told them as they waved to go. However, as the woman picked her pace, her husband turned around and pointed for Nancy the exact spot where he had squatted, then made a calling sign discreetly.
Nancy did not immediately understand what the old man meant. She however walked to where the old man was and noticed that he had written something. When she squatted, she got the message clearly: There was a mobile phone number, followed by: call me please.
Nancy smiled. She got her phone, wrote the number and then carefully rubbed the number that had been written on the sand. She simply saved it: Italian man, Malindi.
The two, mother and daughter continued walking along the beach, sometimes running inside the water, chasing one another, screaming at one another, throwing sand onto each other, etc. until they were exhausted.
When they got a place to sit, Nancy gave her daughter a bottle of mineral water that was in her handbag.
“Mum, is that the end of the world?” Lydia asked and pointed out into the sea.
“Why?” Nancy asked.
“I cannot see beyond there.” Lydia said.
“No, it is not the end of the world. If you would go up that far, you will keep seeing the same until you go around the world.” Nancy explained. Lydia however seemed so puzzled.
Nancy drew on the sand a sphere.
“This is how the world looks like, it is round, so, you can never go to its end, you will keep coming back to the same place you began.” Nancy explained to her daughter.
“Ok, I wish to go there.” Lydia said and pointed at the horizon.
“Unless we get a boat, come on, let us go, we might get a boat along the way.” Nancy told her daughter. However, she never wanted to get a boat but just wanted to walk away from the beach as the sun was setting and she did not want to be late to get to Mtwapa.
