George seemed respectful and educated- unlike the disrespectful men that she was used to seeing since her family had moved into the new neighborhood. They were surrounded by drunkard neighbors, all of whom lacked respect and were always talking about sex. Rita’s pride would not allow her to stoop so low as to be “caught dead” socializing with them. This was not the case with George; he was soft spoken, always sober and avoided discussing a subject if Rita was not comfortable with it.
Rita’s family had been reduced to abject poverty and forced to move from a maisonette into a mud house in the slum area after her father, Mr. Odhiambo, lost his job. Rita was struggling to go on with her education since her parents could not pay her school fees any longer. Sometimes she would be sent home for the debt, but she would sneak back into class a few days later. It was pointless waiting for the money at home- they did not even have enough to feed the family of six children and two parents. Being the first born of the Odhiambo family, she set a good example by performing fairly well in class despite her hardships.
George had just moved in to the neighbourhood. He met Rita on her way to the shop one day. He seemed interested in her and asked her out. On that wonderful June afternoon, Rita got to go on her first date- to a cinema. “Ooh! How romantic and styled up this guy is,” was all that naive Rita could think. After all, every girl in her class had a story to tell about her boyfriend, and she was feeling kind of left out. Almost immediately, they were talking freely. Soon Rita was spending most of her time with George when she was not at school.
The girl had a split personality: she was very confident in school and took part in public speaking and debating contests, but when it came to socializing with people she wasn’t used to, especially members of the opposite sex, she would shy off. With George it was different. She would pass by his house each morning on her way to school, and in the evenings she would go to him to share the day’s miseries and joys. This was a sure distraction from her fears and worries about her future and her education. George seemed to be a very good listener too.
One day, he dropped the bombshell: he asked her for sex. She was not ready for such a commitment, yet she almost felt obliged to give in. This was someone who had always been there when she needed a listening ear. The request had come as a surprise to her and she had reacted impulsively by walking out on him. Amid confusion that evening, on her sofa-bed, she tried drafting a letter to apologise and to explain to “Romeo” why she thought it an inappropriate time to engage in such an activity.
While writing, she was also reasoning within herself: this was the only person who had shown her the love that she desired. He had bought her all sorts of gifts and was the first man to confess to her that he loved her. Every time she tried to put her thoughts in black and white, she ended up tearing the paper- this was just not coming out right, and she wasn’t prepared to share it with anyone in her family. So, she decided to take the bull by its horns and confront him with the issue.
The next day was a Sunday. She went to church as usual, in the company of her sister Gladys. On her way back home she passed by George’s house to discuss the matter. Rita found herself trying to defend herself against the accusations which the sly gentleman was heaping on her. Among the accusations were that she was inconsiderate and that she had not acted like a grown up by walking away. Rita felt she had to make things right, so she just apologised and things went back to normal.
My grandmother has often told me that, “If you want to catch a chicken, throw small pieces of bait at it till it’s in a place from which it cannot escape, then catch it.” George made this very calculation accurately. Now the prey had been trapped. The two discussed sex. Rita gave her reason for not wanting to have it as wanting to maintain her virginity and avoid pregnancy. George, however, had many convincing points as to why they should have sex. He claimed that he wanted to confirm that he could “perform” before he married her, among other arguments.
That evening, Miss Rita Odhiambo “became a woman”. Before the act, she remembered what had become common in the advert world- the condom. So she told him to use one. The problem was that she didn’t know how to use it. During the act, George removed the sheath and continued with his job. Afterwards, he told her he had removed it and that, “Whatever is in me, is in you and whatever is in you is in me.” The daft girl did not get the point, but she also did not want to appear stupid so she let it go without explanation.
Life after the loss of her virginity was normal for the girl. She continued to top some of her classes and to receive awards. Her parents continued to think of their daughter as the same angel, all normal. However, something unusual happened two weeks later. Rita noticed that she had an abnormal vaginal itch but she stayed mum about it. After all, she could not just go telling her mother or anyone that she was already enjoying the forbidden fruit.
She went to George’s habitually, and it had become natural to give in to his requests whenever they came: so they went on with their business. It was George who finally broached the question, “Do you also feel something funny?” That’s when Rita explained how she felt and asked him to take her to hospital. He was the only person she could rely on because she would much rather have died than let her parents know her secret. George shared some over the counter antibiotics with her and assured her that the problem was caused by the “expired” condom they had tried using.
In August, when the KCSE candidates were doing their mock exams, the young woman became so ill that she could not even go to school. The itch had turned into a burning sensation and she had a fever that left her clothes wet. “Romeo”, on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. She stayed at home for a week. Her mother was the one that took her to hospital. She told the doctor about all of her symptoms save for the vaginal problem; so she was given medication for the symptoms she mentioned. She started recuperating after taking part of the dosage.
As soon as she could walk, she went to check on the man who had pledged his undying love for her. She instead found the landlord and three other gentlemen, who had come to confiscate George’s belongings since he had not paid rent for two months. It turned out that George was actually an imposter. He’d said that he worked in a restaurant in town, yet, in the real sense, he had no job. Where he had gone to, God knew best. So she just greeted the occupants of the house and left.
Soon the news spread like a bush-fire, of Rita’s affair with a conman. All this information reached Mr. Odhiambo, who did not take it lightly, thanks to his trustworthy friend the landlord. He was told that Rita had been planning to elope with the loser. So after a nasty lecture to his daughter, he ordered her to keep away from the man because he would infect her with AIDS. That was the most that she had heard her parents speak to her about sex. But wasn’t this a little too late?
Rita decided to turn over a new leaf and to concentrate on her studies. She went and sat for the few exams that remained and did fairly well, considering that she had missed some of the prior ones. A teacher invited Rita to live with her in her house while studying and sitting for her final exams, so that she could get an environment conducive for reading. She was determined to right her wrongs and work extra hard now that her distraction had moved out of the picture.
That only lasted a short time. George went to visit her at school when she was revising for the exams. He did not lack in convincing tactics, and soon they were together again. She would go to visiting him dressed in her school uniform. Everyone who saw them together raised their eyebrows; in fact some of George’s relatives asked him openly what he was doing with a school girl.
George’s cousin called her to his house and warned her to be careful with his cousin and never allow herself to be deceived. There were signals shouting everywhere for Rita to read them, but she still had the itch which she desperately wanted to get rid of. If this was the only way she could convince him to take her to hospital, she was willing to do it. Before she sat for her exams, she had already received her birthday gift- she had had sex on her birthday- but she would only realise this later.
The duo went to hospital after Rita had sat for the exams, and had been persistent on the subject. This was four months from the day she started experiencing the symptoms. They were given the necessary treatment for the Sexually Transmitted Infection and sent to the counsellor. George left to go to work because he apparently did not need counseling. Rita however decided to finish the whole affair so as to become free again.
The counsellors noticed that Rita had missed her menses for a month but that she had not undergone the pregnancy test, so they sent her back to the doctor. Her nightmare was confirmed, she was actually pregnant. The doctor, sensing her state of bewilderment, sent her back to the counseling room.
Rita was obviously shaken by the thought of how her father would react to the news. All she wanted to do was to get rid of the pregnancy. After about an hour of counseling, she was less agitated and the counselors managed to convince her to take an HIV test. She then went home to wait for the results. She was however told to think about her options on keeping the baby and that abortion was illegal in Kenya. That was the longest week of her life.
It was a Wednesday morning in December when Rita’s life took a turn that could never be reversed. She entered the counselling room feeling very confident. After all, she was just going to confirm what she knew to be negative. Didn't she look healthy enough? Had she not been a good girl who had kept her virginity until seventeen years of age? HIV was simply not for people of her calibre. This feeling did not last long, the counselor asked her if she was ready for her results, she smiled confidently and asked for them.
When the results were presented to Rita, all she could see on the paper was the big stamp- HIV positive. It must have been a bad mistake or just a bad dream. Then after five minutes, she realized that she was wide awake- she cried all the tears she could, till her eyes burned with dryness. Why was life so unfair? She went home still fighting off her tears.
She made up her mind to keep her baby but not tell a single soul about her pregnancy or her newly acquired status. It would be unfair to deny an innocent baby the right to life, yet she wanted to have a long life. This was what she told the doctor. George abandoned her, saying that he was not sure that he was responsible for the pregnancy- the only way to prove it would be when the baby had been born. So she decided to go it alone. Her KCSE results came, and she had done pretty well, but what was there to live for when everyday she was nearing her grave? She started attending the psycho social support group at the clinic to learn a few tricks on living positively.
She tried to keep her secret for as long as possible, but a swelling belly is not something that can stay under wraps for long. At seven months, her mother asked her why she was gaining so much weight; she had to tell her this part of her secret, though she was still scared of her father’s reaction. Fortunately, her father did not do anything to her; he did not even ask her about it. Rita was determined not to burden her parents with the consequences of her actions; so she found a hairdressing job in order to get ready for the responsibility that awaited her.
It was a fine working day, and the young mother-to-be went to work as usual. She however felt something funny on her abdomen; but, as was usual, she kept it to herself. That evening, her labour pains worsened. She could not reach the hospital on time. So she gave birth to baby Gift outside in the cold, when she was being taken to hospital. Without the proper information and the courage to face the questions that would be raised by people, especially her mother, she took to breastfeeding the bouncing baby boy.
Rita was the most hardworking mother that ever was, and she made sure she provided everything that her son needed. There was a very strong bond between her and her son- a reason for her to live. Unfortunately, her son stared developing complications and hospital became their second home. After five months, the flame that had lit young Rita’s life was extinguished. Baby Gift succumbed to pneumonia. The mixed feeding- breastfeeding together with solid feeding- had caused the baby to be infected with the virus, causing different opportunistic infections. After crying for hours, she decided to leave a message for George that her son had died. He did not how up at the burial.
The last time that Rita saw the man, she was at work trying to put the horrible past behind her, still mourning the death of her Gift. He told her that she had killed the baby and that she was supposed to be happy as she had no more burdens to bear. What caught the grief-stricken lady’s attention were not the inconsiderate words that the bastard was uttering, but the fact that he was in the company of a schoolgirl, probably younger than she was. How many more would have to pass through what she had been through?
« return.