Do Your Worst

No one said life after graduation would be easy. Matter of fact, I didn’t expect it to. I thought I would write about my experience at least a year later….but here we are, eight months down the road. Yesterday, I received one of those nightmarish calls from my landlord’s employee, “Muzeeyi has said he wants you out of the house on Sunday, and that you don’t have to pay him for this month”.

What a blow!

Just a little background: I had a privileged life growing up. Everything I needed, I got. I received the very best of what life has to offer. To this day, I don’t know the feeling of being chased for not having school fees. Speaking of school, I finished campus last year and graduated in December with a second class upper; 4.15 CGPA. At that time, I had two jobs, two businesses, and a promising investment I made for my future. Financially, I knew I would be sorted for awhile. I was not rich, but the money coming in was enough for me to support myself and not beg or borrow.

Needless to mention, things fell apart along the way. I am not going to get into details of what happened, (but maybe another time), however, just know I remained with only one source of income. It was a part-time job. When this happened in May this year, I used my little savings to top up on my little income and pay the bills, keep food on the table and buy monthly supplies and necessities. No matter how long my list of needs, paying rent was always top priority- until this month.

I often buy food in bulk. That way, even when I am broke, (which is often the case nowadays after paying my rent); I know that at least I have what to eat. In July, I survived on only twenty thousand shillings. When August began, my food was out of stock. I had to choose between paying my rent and buying food. I chose food. I couldn’t risk thirty one days without food. I also paid the minor bills like water, electricity and trash. In addition, I bought some supplies that were out of stock and used part of the remaining money to go for job interviews. The only way out of my financial crisis was getting a second job, and I knew that fully well.

Unlike many people who always pay at the end of the month, I always pay my rent a month in advance, before the 6th of every month. This time round, I requested my landlord to pay at the end of the month. He insisted on a date, so I told him 25th, since it’s usually the time we get paid at work. By 19th I was already getting calls from his men. I told them to wait. Yesterday was 25th. They called again. I told them I had not yet received a transaction alert from my bank. That’s when the two men told me that their boss had told me I had upto Sunday to leave.

It’s not like I have ever failed to pay them before. So I really don’t get why the landlord is turning my world topsy-turvy. I mean, why all this hullabaloo when there are people elsewhere who take months without paying their rent? Meanwhile, they’re chasing me out, for not paying rent for a month that has not even ended. What irony! Damn, growing up is a bloody booby trap.

The worst thing that could possibly ever happen to me already did when the love of my life married someone else. At this point, nothing moves me; I wouldn’t care even if the universe tilted upside down and caught fire. This landlord and his men can do their worst, I genuinely don’t care. God knows I have done everything I know how to do, and that I’m NOT just refusing to pay them out of spite. I have been walking from work to cut costs, -and it’s not near. I have also not plaited my hair in more than three months. I just wash it myself and oil it. My gas gamed mid-month and I have not yet re-fillled it. Why would I live such a life if I had piles of cash stashed away somewhere? Why am I being treated like a felon?

It’s hard to believe that at some point, my only worry in the world was being blueticked. How the tables have turned! Amidst the chaos, I know it could be worse, so I am glad that it isn’t. I just told them that I will move out eleven days from now, on September 6th. That’s when my August rent will expire, and I have assured them that I will indeed pay for August. They can either take that deal or drag me to court. My mind is set.

It’s a blessing that I am far away at the moment. I won’t be back in Kampala until next week on Monday. I have just decided to breathe and relax, faute de mieux. There’s nothing I can do about it anyways. I can’t split the skies and make money rain down. Neither can I rob a bank. Anyway, if you know anyone (female), staying around town, and is willing to share a room and we split the rent till I’m up on my feet, kindly drop me a comment below.

The End.

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