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The fire that burned our hearts



 

‘Please help him…help him out!’

To date these words still ring in my ear.

 

‘That food is not going to cook itself!’ My mum shouted out to any one of her child who was within earshot. The trick was always to hope you were the only one of your siblings who heard it so that you can tell the others the task was assigned to them under the false pretence that it came directly from mum. My elder sister, Lauren, was the queen bee of doing that!

 

But for today it was a case of all hands-on deck situation in the kitchen. Visiting that day were our godmother, mom’s friend, our maternal Aunties and Lauren’s friend. It was going to be ladies' night and we always aimed to impress with our prowess in cooking. With my sisters Lauren and Paula we each automatically took the role of our speciality in the kitchen. Lauren was the meat queen, Paula was the pastry queen and I was the worldwide exquisite cuisine, of which for that day I was making Indian naans and baked potatoes. With the right song on, cooking started, and blasting the speakers was Afro-fusion music. I particularly enjoyed the song Location by Burna Boy…singing alongside to only one part of the song that I know :

 

'If you send me the location

Then I'll be right there

Let me come, come check you, my baby

No time, no.'


With all the food cooked, ladies' night was ready to happen! The ladies' night was a prelude to Lauren's‘ Ayie’ ceremony that is customary to our Luo tradition in which my sister’s fiance came together with his family to ask for permission from the womenfolk to marry her. The ceremony was set to happen the following day and we were all excited about it, plus for me, it is one of those few times I make my mum very happy by wearing a dress. My dreadlocks hairstyle took some time for her to understand it is just a hairstyle but not an indication that I have joined the weed-smoking gang. So all set I decided to head out and play basketball with Briana who had come to help us with the preparation for the event.

 

 ‘Lucia is your neighbour burning food in the house?’ Briana asked me in the middle of the game while pointing out the smoke coming out of our neighbours’ house. I looked out to the house and then immediately it hit me that there was too much smoke for just burnt food, so immediately I dropped the ball and rushed into the house and shouted, ‘Nyumba ya Meja iko na moto! (Meja's house is on fire!) .’ We all ran towards Meja's house and started calling out to him and all members of his family. No response!

 

From then on everything happened so fast, Paula threw a stone to break the window, Lauren and I got water from their tanks and we started pouring it into the house. Mum kept calling out to him while also helping to pour water into the house. ‘Tafadhali mtusaidie, msisimame tu hapo! (Please help us, don’t just stand there!)’ Lauren shouted out to the group of people who were gathering and just looking without helping. Two men then joined in to help, they started breaking down the door and managed. When the door fell down we had a cry coming out from the house, lying face down was our neighbour Meja’s body, he was writhing in pain, and the other family members didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. ‘Please help him…help him out!’ Lauren echoed this word out directing it to the men who managed to break the door.

‘His skin is coming out’ said one of the men who tried to drag him out by his foot. By that time someone had already called in the police and when they arrived on site they managed to rush him to the hospital. We then heard he was pronounced dead on arrival having suffered major burns.

 

‘We did all we could to try and save him!’That is what we told ourselves as we went back home saddened by his fate and heartbroken for his family. It was indeed the fire that burned our hearts!


To be continued.

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