He watched her in awe.
Today she was dozing in class. He knew that if their strict lecturer saw her, he would kick Mueni out of class. Nevertheless, he enjoyed watching her angelic face as she slept. He wondered what it would be like to have her wake up next to him. Even though her thick neck was now failing to hold her neck upright, she looked peaceful. Jackson Bwindo imagined that she must have a very comfy bed. Probably made of pure mahogany and held together by silver screws. She was without doubt, from a very wealthy family. He wondered whether she would either laugh or snort when she found out that his own father made beds for a living. And that that was the family business passed down his generation from his grandfather. What would she think if she found out that, he was being groomed to be a carpenter too? That he had only come to the university because his former principal thought it was prestigious.
Today she was dozing in class. He knew that if their strict lecturer saw her, he would kick Mueni out of class. Nevertheless, he enjoyed watching her angelic face as she slept. He wondered what it would be like to have her wake up next to him. Even though her thick neck was now failing to hold her neck upright, she looked peaceful. Jackson Bwindo imagined that she must have a very comfy bed. Probably made of pure mahogany and held together by silver screws. She was without doubt, from a very wealthy family. He wondered whether she would either laugh or snort when she found out that his own father made beds for a living. And that that was the family business passed down his generation from his grandfather. What would she think if she found out that, he was being groomed to be a carpenter too? That he had only come to the university because his former principal thought it was prestigious.
Bwindo pulled out his sketchbook where he had made several sketches of the kind of beds he would be making once he left Nairobi. He had been to many furniture stores and seen the kind of furniture rich people were accustomed to. Now he wanted to be not just the mere village carpenter his father and grandfather were, but to make such posh pieces. He wondered whether she would like them. He looked at her again and began to imagine that she must have slept on a thick mattress covered with very soft silk and/or cotton, the kind he only saw in advertisements and on display in supermarkets. But if she did (and he was sure she did) enjoy such luxurious comfort why she was so sleepy at barely eight o’clock in the morning? He wondered aloud whether she hadn’t slept at all the previous night. His friends, customarily seated beside him in the wide and dimly lit lecture hall, heard him and jeeringly began to offer suggestions. Maybe she had been out partying all night like the spoilt rich kind she most obviously was. Or maybe she had been busy pleasing some rich and arrogant boyfriend. Alternatively, could she have been up all night gossiping and making fun of her classmates and lecturers.
Bwindo wanted to think that she’d been studying till late. But exams were still a whole two months away. He decided that she must have been watching movies all night, as he often did. That gave him satisfaction, but only momentarily, for in no time his mind was up again asking what kind of movies she watched. What did she like? Maybe he should ask her. He began to play their conversation in his mind.
The snotty professor must have made a joke. It might have been funny because many people laughed. Sometimes you couldn’t tell whether people were laughing at a funny joke or at the person who cracked an unfunny joke. Mueni hadn’t heard it, but neither had he. Bwindo was excessively busy fantasizing. Now he returned to stare at her and was amazed at how pretty she was when she blushed. She had been startled awake by the loud somehow rude laughter and her cheeks almost turned red in embarrassment.They would have if her skin were any lighter.
Bwindo found her very aesthetically pleasing.
In fact, he only attended every lecture (and punctually so) just so he would watch her walk in. Her skin complexion was a deep brown that both amazed and baffled him. It was even and flawless on her face and neck as well as on her hands and legs. She was not black like him. She was overly confident in her radiant deep brown African skin. Bwindo had always been disgusted at the girls from his village who bleached their faces to appear lighter and fairer. He always laughed at how they forgot to bleach the rest of their bodies. Mueni was not as light skinned as the rest of her friends who usually wore very tiny clothes to display it. Her dressing was always very descent and classy. Bwindo was proud of her. He adored her, even though he knew clearly that the chances of her ever being his were as huge as a mustard seed. He did not mind. After all a mustard seed is not that tiny. If faith that size is sufficient to move a mountain, then he had hope, immense hope.
Bwindo found her very aesthetically pleasing.
In fact, he only attended every lecture (and punctually so) just so he would watch her walk in. Her skin complexion was a deep brown that both amazed and baffled him. It was even and flawless on her face and neck as well as on her hands and legs. She was not black like him. She was overly confident in her radiant deep brown African skin. Bwindo had always been disgusted at the girls from his village who bleached their faces to appear lighter and fairer. He always laughed at how they forgot to bleach the rest of their bodies. Mueni was not as light skinned as the rest of her friends who usually wore very tiny clothes to display it. Her dressing was always very descent and classy. Bwindo was proud of her. He adored her, even though he knew clearly that the chances of her ever being his were as huge as a mustard seed. He did not mind. After all a mustard seed is not that tiny. If faith that size is sufficient to move a mountain, then he had hope, immense hope.
He smiled in his heart and decided to concentrate for the remaining part of that lecture. He couldn’t. So he got up, tucking his note book into his back pocket and his pen in his hair behind his ear and headed out of the lecture hall. The lecturer professor sarcastically asked whether he had learned enough already. He ignored him and walked on.
Once outside he debated whether to go to sleep in his hostel room or to eat a pre-lunch at the cafeteria. He wasn’t sleepy and he was impecunious. He usually watched movies but he had pawned off his DVD player over the weekend. He knew the computer lab would be filled up by now. There was little Jackson Bwindo could do to entertain himself .So he reluctantly walked towards the library, deciding he would read newspapers for a while.
Once outside he debated whether to go to sleep in his hostel room or to eat a pre-lunch at the cafeteria. He wasn’t sleepy and he was impecunious. He usually watched movies but he had pawned off his DVD player over the weekend. He knew the computer lab would be filled up by now. There was little Jackson Bwindo could do to entertain himself .So he reluctantly walked towards the library, deciding he would read newspapers for a while.
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