Neighbour diaries

Well, I went on holiday last week. No, I didn’t leave the country, but since you asked, let me explain. For most Africans, “going on holiday means going to the village”. here is really no difference between a holiday and a trip. If I could afford going on holiday out of the country, I wouldn’t still be staying with my mother, would I? The reason I am staying with her is because I cannot afford to live on my own, at least not for the time being. That is another story for another time. And yeah, I get really irritated when people, especially girls ask me why I am still staying with my mother at this age. So, I went on holiday, for the very reason that these other people who have money go on holiday; to relax, and get the stress off my head. For the past few days, I had been feeling really strung out. I wanted to take a breather from these girls stressing me, plus that new chic at work I had jokingly flirted with and now she thought we had a full-fledged relationship going on. I need to breathe fresh air; I needed to be away from girls for a while. And, what better place to go than my grandfather’s house, where the closest thing to an attractive female was some lady that worked in the shamba? So, off I went to visit my grandparents and get my much needed fresh air, and a chance to think my life through without those girls so close to cloud my thinking. They live so close to the Ugandan border that it is almost being in Uganda. They even speak Ugandan languages there. There are usually Ugandans visiting or just passing through. That’s how I met Jojo. For starters, it wasn’t clear she wasn’t Rwandese. She actually looked Rwandese, but we all know how looks deceive. When I got to ask her, she told me she was actually just visiting relatives. She’d come from Uganda. The first day I saw her, I ignored her. I didn’t think I was even going to see her again. And I was here to escape from female company, so it wouldn’t really make sense from me to run away from trouble, and go and start looking for more trouble here. But the very next morning, I saw her again, same place. So, I asked her if she stayed around, just out of curiosity. That’s when I learnt about where she came from. Reminding myself what had brought me here, where network was even scarce, I walked away from her. But when I went back home after a walk, I found her there, deep in conversation with my grandfather! My first thought was that she had followed me intentionally. But that sounded absurd even to me. Then, maybe she was my relative. But before I could think any further, he called me over and introduced me to her. Well, I didn’t tell him that we had met earlier, and neither did she. Then he told me; “Shem, this is the kind of girl you shouldn’t let just go by. If I was your age, I would get this girl and never let her leave!” I looked at him without saying anything because that was the last thing I expected from him. Then he added, “I have just told her about you, let me leave you two young people to talk.” And he walked away. Clearly, I couldn’t run away from my problems. Wherever I went, they seemed to be following me. I sat down where he had been seated and not knowing what to say to Jojo, I kept quiet. But, obviously, she wasn’t as confused as I was; she asked me, “Shem, what kind of woman do you like?” Ends