A Small-Town Girl

The pride of a woman is to get married.

Lucy Akinyi mulled over her grandma’s favourite statement as she plopped on her seat, fatigued after finishing her share of the morning chores.

“My daughter, it is three months in this hell hole. You should get back to Nairobi. There aren’t any opportunities for you in this town. You are wasting your time here,” her mother, Nyakisumo, walked into the house with an aluminium tea kettle in hand. She placed it on the table and sat down, the seat squeaking under her heavy weight.

Akinyi groaned inwards, dreading and hating this conversation in equal measure. It was like this every morning. Was home no longer a haven?

She’d returned home after everything in her life had fallen apart. David ended their six-year relationship on the day she thought he would finally propose to her. Pain radiated in her chest when she remembered the break-up.

Afterwards came the tragedy with Kadogo, and then Akinyi was sacked from her job. Misery came in pairs, indeed. Hence, she’d escaped to her hometown to lick her wounds and patch her life together.