Right to Decline Medical Assistance.

Defense is her thing. She even played as a defender in primary school football. As a guard in high school basketball, she did the same times without number. But that is not the line of defense in this scenario. Defense in terms of justice is. Seeing that no one is treated unfairly. Throwing herself into the lions claws to save a soul or two.

At times she dives into the deep end of the pool that is defense without tangible facts. Facts necessary to win the ‘case’. The blame for this she can only pin on her deficiency of knowledge in the field of law. And this she blames on her mother who was totally against her pursuing law at the university just cause she did not have tall relatives or that kinda thing. Anyways,it is what it is. Life goes on.

“What the hell is going on here?”She asked one of the persons in the crowd.”Why are they doing nothing to help the man in black?” “They claim they can’t force him into the ambulance. Apparently he has refused or so they say.”

By the mention of this she was getting agitated already.”What do you mean he has refused, the poor man can’t even communicate for crying out loud. These guys are joking.” And with this she headed to talk to one of the men.

She: Hi. I would like to inquire on why exactly you guys are doing nothing to help this man.

Man in Red 1: Hi. The man has refused to get into the ambulance.

She: What do you mean he has refused, the guy can’t even verbalize a word.

Man in Red 1: He has refused. We can’t force him into the ambulance. He was resisting.

She: I’m not saying you force him in. But you can’t say he has refused. I’m damn sure he has not said “No”. That is the only time you can say he refused treatment. My friend, this guy has been here since 11 Am. Now the society has noted he needs help, has called you guys but you guys just wanna sit in the vehicle. Seriously. (Now the guy was ignoring her and responding to some other gent instead. A gent mark you that was drunk and making no sense at all~Gender stereotype is real).

Drunk Guy: Just take his temperature, if it’s within the normal ranges you guys can go.

She:(To the drunk guy) What are you saying? What do you mean take his temp. and just leave? This man needs medical help. He’s obviously not well.

Man in Red 1: It just could be alcohol withdrawals.

She: Or not! Could also be a neurological problem that’s making him this stiff,while you guys are here claiming he’s resisting. (By this time the mans left hand was extended forward making a right-angle with his upper body. Then he maintained that position).

The guy was now claiming that they would be asked questions when they take him to the hospital. Questions they would not be able to answer and by so doing land themselves in trouble. That no treatment would be offered till they were answered.

She: That is ethically wrong and I don”t see that happening. The first priority of medics is to save life, the other issues will follow later. As the society what we also want is his life saved. ( The heat was now rising, the crowd was now becoming mad. Lashing insult at the two guys seated in the ambulance. Things were getting out of hand yet they two still claimed the guy had refused and they could not force him).

Red man 2:( After making calls to their superiors explaining the situation on the ground) (To her) Young lady, were you with this man the whole day. This could be alcohol. And you can’t say neurological problem, has he developed it acutely? Please if you don’t know what you saying get out of my sight.

She: (Getting mad) You also can’t exclusively say it’s alcohol withdrawals and leave it at that. What if it is not? Hence the need for him to be checked up to rule out any serious imminent dangers. (She heads to Red Man 1 as Red Man 2 decides to completely ignore her).

She: At least take his vitals, if they are within normal ranges you guys can take your leave.

Red Man 1: Miss, we can’t force him into the ambulance. (This was now becoming an irritating song)

She: (Totally pissed) What the hell. A thermometer is portable. So is the BP machine. The two ain’t drilled onto the ambulance!

(The entire place was now chaotic. The crowd was out of control. And the two still insisted that the man in black had refused and that was that. Feeling totally helpless, she retreated to talk to the man in black).

She: Please try communicate so that we can help you. I’ll ask you a few questions. Nod to mean Yes and shake your head to mean No. Can they check your temperature?

Man in Black: (Shakes head).

She: Can they check your Blood pressure? Can they take you to the hospital?

Man in Black: (Shakes head for both questions).

(She slowly retreats from him satisfied, this she understood. She knew he had the right to decline medication and nothing can be done beyond that. She wished she had talked to him first before arguing all this while aimlessly. She walked to the ambulance).

She:(To Man in Red 1) You guys can go, he has refused everything.

(She left the crowd behind her and the whole commotion and headed for her avocados. She began packing to wrap up for the day. Immediately the ambulance screeched past her, made a right turn and disappeared into the dark. Was now few minutes to 10 O’clock, the latest she has ever closed. Her buccal muscles were fatigued from all the talking. Her throat was totally dry. Her heart was also tachycardic. She needed to calm down and stabilize her vitals).

The next day she went for her morning run minutes past 5 Am. She passed by the barber shop to see whether the man in black was still on the bench. He was not there. “What happened to him?” She wondered as she run past the spot.

With soothing music in her ears, she ran. She recalled how it all went down that previous night.

Seated by her Kisii Golden Avocados, she noticed a mini-crowd form some few meters on her left, right in front of some barber shop. She ignored it for a while but her curiosity got the best of her. Leaving her neighbor (who sells sports shoes next to her) to watch her avocados, she headed for the crowd.

“What’s not happening her,” she asked an elderly lady with a baby on her back.

“Not so sure my dear but seems like the man over there is unwell. Apparently he’s been here since morning around 11 Am. We suspecting corona might be the issue.” She uttered a thank you to the lady for the information and smiled sarcastically internally on the mention of corona.

“Why must everything be associated with corona virus? The poor guy might just be suffering from some other illness totally unrelated to corona virus.” She thought to herself.

The dark-skinned, medium height man in a well-fitting black suit sat on a bench. He did not look good. He was profusely sweating, head bowed, lips dry and cracked up. She went and tried talking to him. He was not moving neither was he communicating. She gave up and went back to her avocados.

Good thing, some good Samaritans among the crowd had gotten some identification from his pocket and were making the necessary calls. Standing by the avocados waiting for customers, the medic in her took over.

“That guy is not doing well. The crowd around him is suffocating him. He’s definitely dehydrated. The first management action that will be done for him when he gets to a health center is re-hydration. I might as well commence the same from here.” She thought to herself. Immediately she left her avocados yet again and went to purchase some mineral water for the man in black.

She sequestrated herself through the crowd that had now grown in numbers and got to the man in black. He still did not want to communicate. All the same he managed to open his buccal cavity and gradually drink the water 3/4 way with her help. He could not move any of his limbs. A call was made for an ambulance. Confident that he was re-hydrated enough to wait for the ambulance she went to her designation.

The crowd perpetually increased in number till it could not no more. With time, the numbers began dwindling. By 8:30 Pm, the crowd had disappeared. The barber shop was being closed. She herself had just 30 minutes to her closure.

“Oh,No! This man is gonna end up sleeping out here?” She sadly thought to herself. “Wish there was extra space at home to host him for the night. But where the hell is the ambulance that was called for ages ago?” She angrily thought to herself. “The need for working services in this country is just immense!”

Few minutes to 9 Pm, sirens were heard from a far off distance and the ambulance came into sight. She smiled, better late than never they say. It made a left turn and headed to the man’s direction. Stopped for a while in front of him then drove ahead to make a U-turn back to the same spot. In a split second, the place was crowded again. It’s as though the ambulance summoned them from their houses.

Believing everything to be under control. She focused on her avocados. Out to make the last sales of the day before curfew kicks in. But time went by and she wasn’t seeing any progress at the site of the man in black. In fact the two gents each in a red t-shirt were actually comfortably seated in the ambulance.”What the hell!” She thought. She just could not stand there idly. Once again she left her avocados and headed for the man in black . This time round targeting the men in red.

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Is She the Victim or the Accused?

It’s the only crime in which the Victim becomes the Accused. And that too by all and sundry. Fingers all pointed at her for a crime committed against her;

>Men lashing out to her for being ‘too easy/loose’.

>Fellow women criticizing her for not being too careful.

>Young girls being given her as the bad example of how not to behave.

>Babies that loathe the ladies that sire the babies.

Wait a minute guys. Let’s all take a chill pill. A step back, to reevaluate the issue at hand. We are wounding our dear women!

<Forgetting it is hard, but recollecting it is even worse!

She needs healing. And that too,fast. As fast as it can be prescribed for. Note, healing does not equate to non-existent of damages done. It’s rather to put a stop to them having dominion over her life. In other words, setting her free!

>Rather than bombard her with lectures on being super duper careful, our men should be taught NOT TO RAPE!

>Rather than criticizing women left right center, men should be criticized for harassing women!

Sexual activity via force or threat of force is WRONG on every level! Rape ain’t sex but VIOLENCE! Yes means only one thing ~ She gives consent.

“NO” means NO! HAPANA!

When she says “STOP” it means NO!

When she says “DON’T” it means NO!

When she says “LEAVE ME ALONE” it means NO!

When she says “I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT” it means NO!

When she says “I’M NOT READY” it means NO!

When she says “GET AWAY FROM ME” it means NO!

When she TURNS AWAY it means NO!

When she PUSHES YOU AWAY it means NO!

When she is CRYING it means NO!

When she is SCREAMING it means NO!

When she is PASSED OUT it means NO!

When she is DRUNK it means NO!

When she is DRUGGED it means NO!

(If she can’t say NO, she can’t say YES!)

YES MEANS BOTH PARTIES’ NEEDS, WANTS AND DESIRES ARE MET!

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Wedding Shenanigans.

Weddings. Happy occasions. Everyone looking forward to them. Many a times to see the gorgeous bride. To see her march down the aisle as the queen she is (well, at least for the day). Or rather to see the gown. Anyways, everyone has their agenda for the day. But for the majority it’s the fooood without a doubt.

In her two decade life, she managed to be a bridesmaid in one wedding. Oh was she looking forward to the D-day. To finally wear heels. Ones she had bought prior to the occasion and never to be worn again thereafter. Reason being, she’s horrible in them. Horrible in the sense that tripping is the order of the day when she’s in them.

The day was superb. For her, the bride in the magnificent gown was the icing on the cake. Not forgetting the handsome groom, the two were the epitome of perfection. Everything was just magical.

“But really, what’s the essence of it all?” She’d wonder. Wed today, all happy and jolly. Then the marriage becomes a fiasco. She just can’t seem to wrap her fingers around what the end game for the whole matter is.

The 9th of August was the wedding day to her friend’s sister. She received an invitation and promised to be in-attendance without a second thought. On the D-day, the friend passed by to remind her of the same. Preparing to get a shower, she promised the friend she’d certainly be there. No sooner had the friend left that contrary thoughts commenced to flood her mind. Her mum was actually already at the venue.

“There is no way you going to attend that wedding missy.”

“Why would you even do that?”

“Your mommy is kinda into this thing, if you attend you might encourage her that one day you would similarly like to walk down the aisle.”

“You better sit down and bury yourself in your books. The only gown you gonna adorn in the nigh future is your graduation gown!”

She couldn’t stand the ‘noisy’ speakers from the same occasion. Neither could she bear the ecstatic screams that welcomed the bride. Lacking earphones, she borrowed some from a good neighbor in attempts to keep away all the ‘noise’.

Anyways, not to be a party pooper,she loves the joy and serenity that surrounds the same. But then again, she doesn’t get the bigger picture of the whole occasion. And in that spirit, she loathes them.

The Poor,Laughingstock of the Rich.

She woke up and tried reaching for her phone around the pillow. On checking it, the battery was running low. She lazily pulled herself out of the bed and headed for the bulb’s switch. Oh no!No lights.

Thinking it to be the usual scenario, she was certain the power would be back by the time she was done selling her Kisii golden avocados. She poured herself a cup of soya and drank it with two slices of bread with avocado sandwiched in between. All preparations done, she headed to her usual spot by the roadside.

On arrival, she noticed a crowd gathered all staring to the east. Doing the same, she saw a team from Kenya Power and Lighting Company(KPLC). With several heavy trucks plus one with some heavy machine, they were pulling out all electricity poles.

Apparently they were removing all possible means for those at the slums to ‘steal’ power from the rich who pay for it. After finishing with the east, they shifted to the south in attempts to sweep it clean of all electrical poles.

“This explains the lights out,” she thought to herself.

After neatly and systematically arranging the avocados, she realized she had forgotten the price labels. She had to go back home and fetch them. This she did in a jiffy. On her way back, she met two pretty young girls. From the look of things, they most definitely were in high school.

“Leo hawa watu wa mabati wamepata dawa yao!” They said jovially amid giggles.~today these poor people have received what they deserve!

“Yeah, walikuwa wamezoea vibaya!” the other girl retorted as they both happily headed their way.~yeah,they had gotten too comfortable.

Her heart dropped as she stood there watching them disappear to their great apartment. She could not believe her ears. These young girls were happy at the misfortune of their fellow beings.

Sadly and demoralized she headed for her avocados and placed the labels at their rightful places. Standing there, she heard several similar comments from passers by. Apparently they (the rich who pay for electricity via electrical meters) were very happy that their counterparts were going to be in pitch darkness while their side of the town was well lit.

“If these people who live next to us are this ecstatic at our misfortune, how do we expect the politicians, who are on a whole new level in terms of wealth, to understand the struggles we face down here?” She dejectedly thought to herself.

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LGBTQ+

She had seen the initials before but could only figure out the L and G part. The rest she always said she would search but it always evaded her mind till it could no more. So for those like her who had no clue~ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Question or Queer, Plus.

As she stood selling her Kisii golden avocados by the roadside her friend, say XYZ came by with another friend of his say ABC. Introductions were done and they got into the nitty-gritty of knowing each other. She found ABC to be a very interesting character. Apart from him promising to pen her a love song, there is this little detail about him that sparked a curiosity in her. ABC loathes universities. He prefers colleges or no higher education at all~story for another day.

So what prompted her to finally sit and search?

XYZ: (to ABC) Si yule ni ule boy anajifanya dem? ~Ain’t that the boy that pretends to be a lady?

ABC: Oh yeah,ni yeye. ~ Oh yeah,it’s him/her.

She: (Surprised) What do you mean a guy who pretends to be a lady.

XYZ: There he is,look,by the grocery vendor.

She: (Looking at the vendor only to see the back of a medium height character dressed in a cream shirt and pair of trousers. From the shape of the body she could only think the character to be a lady.) I don’t see any guy!

ABC: Oh yeah, that’s because he acts like a lady. He’s coming, look. Or even listen to her voice. (She /he turns to leave the vendor with some other lady).

She:(You, of course, know where she had to look first in the quest to confirm their allegations. And yeah, they seemed to be in place though small).

XYZ:(Nudging her and kinda whispering) Look. (As the two headed past them).

She:(Looks at him/her shyly fearing to be noticed by him/her.Tuns her neck to get a better look).

XYZ:(Disgusted) Look at how he moves his butt! Who does that?

She:(In his/her defense) C’mon guys,what prove do you have that he/she is not a lady? She/he looks as lady as one can possibly get. Shape, features and even voice, she/he got them all.

ABC/XYZ:(Irritated and disgusted) Trust us,we know.

She: Oh yeah? How?

XYZ: So there is this friend of ours, UVW. Alimkatia akaingia box.~was interested in her and sexually vibed her. So they went to his place. On undressing, UVW found that there were two similar reproductive parts in the room.

She:(I don’t know about you but she could not help it,she broke down laughing at the mention of UV W’s discovery!) Haahhahhaahah. Wait a minute, how old is your friend, is he a student? Why is he having sex?

XYZ: Ni mkubwa.~ old enough. Don’t know, last I checked he was in high school.

She: (Cautioning the two.) Hope you know that’s very wrong. Sex is an activity for the married.

XYZ: Yeah.(Getting back to UVW). Aliamka akampa mabare.~stood up and made sure his palms heavily landed on his/her cheeks),

She: (Feeling sorry for him/her) Oh no! That’s ugly.

XYZ: Ugly ni wewe, hata mimi naeza muekelea vibaya sana akijaribu kunikujia.~Nonsense, I would also do the same, she/he better not cross my path.

She: Seriously, why would you do that. Yeah, I know this is not as common here in Africa, specifically Kenya but you just can’t go about assaulting anyone who identifies with the LGBTQ Community!

XYZ: Manze mimi hii story inanibore, tuongelelee risto ingine.~Please, this whole issue irritates me, can we please talk about something else? Niko na game kesho, si ukam uniwatch?~ I have a game morrow, why not come watch me?

She:(Thinking about the proposal. A customer approaches her Kisii golden avocados. Moves to attend to him).

XYZ:(Saying his goodbyes) Le us go this way and check on the shoes for the match that we left at a cobbler.

She:(To ABC) Next we meet I want that love song.

She/ABC:(Smiling at each other as both ABC and XYZ take their leave.) Sema customer.~attending to the customer.

After closing up, few minutes past 9 PM she gets home and searches more about LGBTQ+.

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Loony Emotions.

She sat busy buried and totally lost in whatever it is she was doing on her laptop.

“Will you prepare supper?” Asked her mum as she walked in.

“This seems like a trap question,”she thought.

“It is not like I have the luxury of saying no.” She thought and came to the conclusion not to answer the query. And to confirm her suspicion, her mum perpetuated and asked her to buy tomatoes and prepare fish for supper.

“These African mum of ours!” She wondered and smiled. She then picked a blue carrier bag and headed for the road. On making a right turn away from home, she saw someone.

Someone she did not expect to see but was elated at seeing. With a red mask, white shirt, and black pair of trousers, he slouched with his head bowed. She stood right in front of him and stretched her fist to say hi now that handshaking is illegal thanks to Covid-19. He looked up and reciprocated.

“What are you doing here,ain’t you supposed to be at work?” She asked.

“Looking for my mum,have you seen her?” He asked.

“Nah, but you might find her by the tailor’s place,” she answered as she exited to go fulfil the errand at hand. It was getting pretty late.

“Damn, he smells nice!” She thought and immediately felt her heart do some aerobics. She immediately brushed off the stupidity and headed her way. As she picked tomatoes, thoughts crossed her mind that he must not be fine. He usually is very jovial but that was not the case when she saw him. She was kind of worried for him.

“I hope I meet him again,”she thought as she headed back home.

“Or not, what the hell! What are all these?” She furiously thought to herself. As she made the left turn to head home, he was the first thing or rather a person that met her eyes.

“Okay universe, what’s not happening?” She questioned. She then grabbed his arm by the biceps and unapologetically (…after all it’s said there is no Sorry in friendship, unless I made this up…) pulled him away from the conversation he was having.

“Do you know how to cook?”She asked.

“Yeah,can cook anything,”he answered.

“Come cook us fish and ugali,” she said as they headed towards her home. She does not know how her hand left the biceps but it felt like their hands were almost touching. Or maybe they did. She liked his perfume up close. Stupid her would have commented and told him his odor was amazing. But thank heavens that came down and sealed her lips.

As she crossed the ditch to head home,she turned to see him make a U-turn.

“Some other day, don’t want mum to kill me (…Oh dear African mums…),” he said as he turned away. She nodded with a smile sitting on her face and got into the house.

“What was that you were feeling you loony lass? You better put your messed up house in order. WHAT WAS THAAAAAT?STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!”

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Almost Quarantined at Night,

Two thousand Kenyan shillings per day in a quarantine center. Apparently that’s the price rate for ‘quarantination’ in our dear country. So where exactly will that cash be outsourced from in this hard economic times,you’d wonder!

After her supper; a piece of ugali,some sukuma wiki and omena (what she thought to be fish lets in English), she stepped out. This was minutes past 10 O’clock. Due to poor network coverage in the house, she headed to the balcony in search for the same. As the old adage goes if Mohammed does not go to the mountain,the mountain shall come to Mohammed. Wait a minute, is it Mohammed or Moses? Anyways, you get the point.

As she hang by the rails scanning the streets, she could see both genders and age groups scattered all about going through their businesses.

“I guess the curfew rule isn’t as seriously upheld in this part of the country,”she thought to herself.

Standing there feeling the cool breeze, she felt her taste buds crave bananas . Usually a vendor sells the same just opposite the building. Owing to the curfew (9 O’clock),he had already called it quits for the day. You never miss the water till the well runs dry, her taste buds now yearned for the bananas even the more.

Her Kisii taste buds having decided that bananas must be eaten this night come what may, she opted to walk to the roadside to find some. Down the flight of stairs she went.No sooner had she landed outside that she saw a car’s headlights far ahead of her. The vehicle was kind of speeding.

“Must be some alcoholics rushing home trying to avoid the long arm of the law,”she thought.

Within a split second,the car was at a stone throw away.The passenger on the drivers sit rolled down his window. His eyes were bloodshot red. This confirmed her earlier thoughts “alcoholics”.

“Unaenda wapi msichana na hata huna mask?” He asked.

“He must be trying to use this curfew issue to scare me away,”she figured as she stood there without even flinching.

“There is no way I’m going to fall victim to this silly prank.”

The guy was now opening the car door threatening to step out. As much as she did not want to fall victim to the ‘prank’, she commenced to feel a bit scared.

“Nauliza unaenda wai saa hii bila hata mask?” He retorted as he stepped out.

The scared little kid in her 20 year old body took over. Her flight and fight mechanism kicked in. Slowly but surely she began stepping backwards as though moon-walking. Cold sweat was already trickling down her spine. At the same time she felt as though she was in an oven.

As he took his few steps out of the car,she simultaneously turned giving him her back. The miguu niponye theory got practicality there and then. The speed at which she flang that gate open and ran up the flight of stairs only the CCTV cameras can bear witness

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