The courage to shower

A SERIES ........😍

 It was 4 o’clock! Oh! How time flies!

She had been staring at nothing in particular from her bedroom window; the kitchen had a better view but she was instead trapped in nothingness to appreciate this. Or perhaps, it was the aroma of the lemon grass and honey infused candle that she had acquired from her trip to Mauritius, which consumed her in the room.

Her mug of chamomile tea was half way full, barely done. “Uuuurhgh why do people obsess with herbal tea", she thought as she made an entry into the kitchen heading straight towards the sink.

She was still in her pajamas and her hair was folded the same way as the previous night. She needed to change for the Daughters of Valor bible meeting. The mere thought of that gave her some chills; no actually, it was the thought of shading the pajama skins and her comfortable slip- ons that bogged her down.

Being a newlywed, she felt like she had so many things to keep up with. All these talks on how to and when to were just driving her bonkers. 
Mrs. Leshan was particularly irritating because every time they meet, her hug was always convoyed with

“Did you do what we agreed on the last time we talked?” 

Agreed was a strong word she always thought. Why couldn’t she say suggest? Or proposed? You can discard a suggestion or reject a proposal but an agreement; there are few trash bins for agreements.

“Yes Mrs. Leshan, I am adding cardamom to the tea and making sure I have fresh rosemary in my kitchen every day,” she would explain with an involuntary grin.

“Good girl, your marriage is set up for success!”  She would retort, her smile widening in her deeply set wrinkled face. Mrs. Leshan was one of those archaic ladies that had a fix for everything and she added spice to every boiling issue.

“Ladies if your child has a sour throat, make sure you use garlic, ginger and honey.”

Like seriously, the last thing anyone wants is to hold a baby with bad breath,  but we are in agreement, carry on.

“If he does not come home early, add some garlic to that soup, men like garlic.” 

If only she knew that Richard was not a tea person, or even a morning person, she would keep her cardamom and flavored tea recommendations to some brewing pot somewhere besides her household.

But now, what was important was gathering the bravery to get into the shower. She slothfully removed her pajamas as though they were the only clothes she owned; she reached out to her phone to dial Kate’s number. She needed some kick to her step.  

Kate better be coming she thought while the phone rang. 

“Hello, Kate?"

“Hello Lisa, Sema!”

“Are you coming tonight for Dov?”

“Sure thing, do I have a choice? I would rather be there than have those nasty follow-ups of why I did not come, is everything okay?”

“Okay sawa, see you then, save me a seat next to you will you?”

“I have to pass by the supermarket first, my son needs another set of crayons, and He has been having them for dessert lately, gottta leave bye,  see you”

“Ha ha sawa, Okay see you” ......

Ha-ha! Kate was always so comical, and unfiltered. She wasn’t the most charming in the room but she sure did live her life unscripted and that was why Lisa was so drawn to her.

Anyways, looking back at how they got into friendship was such a cool incidence, so cool.  She was constantly the quiet one at the Dov meetings but this one time Mrs. Leshan and a troop of women were discussing about Eve, Eve from the Garden of Eden. 

When she was asked what she thought from the readings of Genesis 3, and Kate  went ahead to verbalize how she thought that Eve was a bold woman. Bold enough to hold a conversation with the serpent, bold enough to eat from the forbidden tree and bold enough to lead a man.

Of course Mrs. Kibet sharply interjected to ask where she was basing her opinion off from. 

She politely said that those were solely her opinions and interpretation from the extracts they had read. The elderly women nodded in disbelief and asked   if anyone else agreed with her sentiments but none was bold enough to arise because Kate’s opinion had raised more eyebrows than a local facial therapist.

 The way the DOV meetings operated was that, there was a tribunal of elderly women who spoke to be heard and their counsel was final.  You had to be in agreement. 

 That day, Lisa was not brave enough to say that she agreed with Kate, because she did. She liked how audacious and unmoved she was. She brought some tension in room because after that, the women talked in personal tales and instances on how boldness lead to sin and Kate’s point of view was unfitting. 

During the breaking bread session, Lisa gathered the nerve to approach Kate in confidence that she had loved her version of Eve and she connected to her interpretation.

“Hello, I really liked what you were saying about Eve earlier on”, Lisa whispered behind her as they were queuing to get some snacks to break the round table tension.

Kate on the other side did not seem thrilled, as she was adding some bacon on her plate.

“Listen my dear, she turned to face Lisa, the next time you have something to say raise your voice, and I am not a huge fan of private corridor affirmations”. 

Lisa was petrified at her brutal honesty, yet there was some warmness in her tone that assured her that she was authentic and uncut.

“Ok- okay, Kate, I will ….. Next time” , She managed to faintly answer.

 There was no need to do any introductions because the name tags spoke in volume for everyone in the room. 

As Lisa was leaving, she felt a tap on her shoulder, before she could glance over, it was Kate.

She felt a strange fire in her belly, like fear, after her exchange at the serving station; tension was the last meal she wanted served. She was full already with honesty as it is.

“My dear, you do not want to leave with that tag, Mrs. Kibet will track you down to your home address for it, Kate chuckled faintly.

Lisa Chuckled back, as if to quench the fire of fear and tension of the night.

“Thanks”, Lisa managed to say as she hurriedly pressed in the crowd of women having small talk about babies, career, soup recipes and house help shenanigans on her way towards Mrs. Kibet’s admin table.

As Lisa was finding her car keys at the parking lot, she finally stopped to take a breather! She looked at the expanse of the skies and the twinkling little stars that oozed perfection. 

Motionless, she smiled as she thought to herself, Kate seemed different unlike the rest of the women at Dov, she was glad their paths had crossed tonight. 

A knock on her door interrupted her reminisce stupor. It was her home manager, Emily. “Madam, ninatoka, nimemaliza”, she excused herself. 

Lisa realized that it was almost 6 O’clock and her throwback session had taken up much time.

Oh how time flies!

“Sawa, Emily, Unaweza enda, asante,” She shouted as she quickly zoomed off to the shower. 

Just the right motivation to shower, a dash of lateness!
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