flashback friday........

                       by tony maina

One day, my friend Kanyi and I went out to grab one and two beers in some dingy Pub in Kasarani. Kanyi had just received his payment from an academic writing account, and he thought we should hit the road and have some booze.

He littered our table with lots of beers. At the next table, there was a burly man wearing shorts and open shoes. He was rugged. Next to him was a very petite girl, and very beautiful.

On their table, they were taking cheap keg, AKA Jug Daniels. It was easy to observe that the lady did not enjoy taking Keg, like the built guy. I suspected she was only there because the man had abs, which he was flaunting, and probably he was good at sex. Kanyi kept on wondering what the lady saw in the man. He believed that such a refined lady belonged to our table, where we took Heineken.

She was well-dressed. She was well-manicured and easy on the eyes. There was an elegance about her aura and poise that gave her an out-of-place demeanor. She just didn’t seem like the type of girl to ravel at a dingy pub somewhere in Hantus, Kasarani, and especially not in the company of the man.

The more we took our Heineken, the more I realized that Kanyi was checking out the lady. At one point, I saw him lift his hand to sermon the waiteress.

We still had around three bottles on out table. I assumed he was probably calling for Nyama Choma. He whispered something into the ears of the waitress, with his hands resting above her waist. The waitress left for the counter. A minute later, I saw her emerge from the counter with a bottle of the real Jack Daniel's and two whisky glasses dancing on the tray.

She took the alcohol to their table. She placed the bottle on the lady’s side. Outrightly, the man became uneasy. He started looking around and asking the waitress questions. The waitress paused, stood and pointed her finger at our table.

Immediately, without wasting time, without further ado, I rose to my feet, excused myself and walked towards the washroom. On my way, I said, 'shida ya kunywa beer ni kukojoajoa kila saa.' I left Kanyi while he was lifting his glass in the air to salute the lady and exchange cheers. When I came back, it was Kanyi who was being lifted in the air by the burly guy.

I stood at the door of the washroom and there and then, I felt pressed again despite having just relieved myself a minute earlier. You can’t blame me, it was the work of the 6 Heineken beers that I had taken. When I came back from the washroom for the second time, the burly man was being bundled out of the pub by two bouncers. Still, he was fighting to break free to inflict more pain on Kanyi’s head.

The lady was trying to calm him down. Eventually, she managed to, and they walked out of the pub. Meanwhile, only then did I walk back to our table with a bucket full of ‘kwani what has happened bro?’ questions. Kanyi was quiet. He was nursing his pain.

I opened the bottle of the Jack Daniel's and half-filled one of the glasses, and said, ‘that guy is a coward. Why did he have to wait until I excused myself to use the washroom before attacking you?Ningemuona vita, my guy. You know I got your back, my guy. That guy is a coward. He had to run away before I came back."

That was the end of Kanyi and alcohol. There is an annoying habit that is currently cropping up among raveling men. A habit where a man, perhaps loaded, buys your girl alcohol in your presence. It is very demeaning. It kills the ego and pride of the man who is in the company of the lady.