A Departure From The Normal

It was not your usual kind of date, what I experienced that day. Hmmm…let me just tell you the story. You will decide on an adjective for it yourself.

We met on Monday. Tuesday, he asked me to join him on a boat cruise to a certain Island. Considering we had just met, I said no. The following day, a Wednesday, he asked me to meet him at someplace in Entebbe. I said yes. Why? Because first, I’m not going to marry myself -and neither will you marry me dear reader. Two, I’m not getting any younger. Three, a new love casts out the old; I’m certain all of you are sick of me whining about my ex… it’s close to two years for crying out loud! -About time I moved on. And lastly, because the Bible tells me to enjoy my youth. It’s lovely going out and doing fun activities, -especially if someone else is paying.

With all that in mind, I went to meet Andrew. He asked me to meet him at a certain spot at 1:00pm.
Me: 1:00pm is alright. But I think I will be there anytime between that and 1:30pm.
Andrew: No, do 1:00pm, that way we can have lunch first.

That’s how I ended up with plans out of the blue. I took a taxi. At exactly 1:30pm, he called. I told him my location. By 1:32pm, I got out at the agreed spot and called to notify him that I had reached. Within minutes, he was there on a boda to pick me up. Should I mention that he smelt of strong cheap deodorant? No? Okay, I won’t.

Andrew took me to out for lunch. Nah, it wasn’t at Javas or anything close to it. We went to one of those temporary wooden shelters where the saucepans of food are right infront of you. It’s obvious Andrew was well-known there by the cook. We sat on a bench. The lady asked for our orders; I asked for Matooke and g.nuts with fish. Andrew had posho, rice and beans with pieces of meat. We watched as the lady served us and brought our plates. I prayed and we ate. Later, they brought for us juice in recycled water bottles. I took a few sips and saved the rest for later. Andrew paid and we left the same way we had come, on a boda.

Andrew drove me to our next spot. It was a slummish area by the lake with several congested wooden and tin single-room houses. Many of them were falling apart. He parked his bike and grabbed a house key from one of the shops.
“Welcome to the ghetto,” Andrew said as he offered me a chair in one of the most depressing, single-roomed houses I had ever seen. Everything in that place looked like he had picked them from the garbage pit; ‘tattered’ would be the most accurate adjective.

I had taken in nearly the whole place as I entered and there was nothing fancy. I tried not to look around as we sat and chatted a bit. Besides, there was nothing to see. Plus it would have been rude. As we talked, I noticed that my hands were pale.

Me: Could you please help me with some vaseline? The liquid soap really did a number on my hands.

Andrew got up and fidgeted with his hands in a ‘kikapu’ -(a bag often used by locals when traveling). Predictably, he found none. However, he offered me some swimming cream; Andrew is a certified swimming coach. I tried to read first but there were no instructions for use, nor an expiry date. I just used it anyway -and hoped I wouldn’t die. It worked wonderfully.

He told me a bit more about himself and asked me several questions about my work, parents and health status. I answered all his questions honestly.

I told him I wanted to leave. He told me to stay at least until 4pm. To pass the time, he took me to a bar that was not so far from his place. Not to drink guys, but to play pool. Like at most sports, I sucked at pool, and would be lying if I told you otherwise. Imagine, I was so bad that I had three tutors, and yet, that did not help my situation in the least. Andrew on the other hand was phenomenal. Later, I decided to just sit and watch. I figured that watching was way more satisfactory. I asked a few questions about the game and was content with just learning the rules of the game. Until that day, I had never played or bothered myself with learning.

At some point, one of the men came and sat next to me and tried to chat me up. But Andrew was at my side in a heartbeat. Good, I liked the fact that he was possessive. He knew he was in possession of a great treasure. And he treated me as such.

End of Part One.

Disclaimer: The names that feature in this story are fictitious. They were made up to protect the identity and privacy of those involved.

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