Rain on Me

I love the rains and no matter what people say they sprout romance, that feeling that warms the soul and gives us hope.

Nairobi is usually a mess when it rains and especially on weekday evenings. There’s a spontaneous rise in fares when the first drop hits ground. Everyone’s then switches to high gear and the pace is quicker and speech runs like lyrics to a rap song. Common sense takes the back seat and suddenly there’s no way out of the city as all drivers head home and the clog takes the shape of an octopus. The view of the streams of cars with head lights on from high ground creates a picture of the tentacles swaying in all directions and the hooting from irate drivers creates a symphony best left unheard. 

Everyone is allergic to it; the girls say rain ruins their hair, the boys say it ruins their swag but what they don’t see is the invisible hand of love that keeps huddling them into cafés for hot coffee. It’s the birth of romance. 

Husbands run home early and the wives will be seen buying groceries in a rush to beat the ensuing traffic jams. Come night the city streets will be empty with the reflections of the city lights on wet puddles making it look like Vegas. 

For the cool headed, this is bliss and the ambiance just right for relaxation. There’s no hurry to go home and leather padding on the L seat at the café offers a soft landing for the now tired behind. A cup of coffee will run a whole half hour minding the pocket that has now been encroached by the new county government. Conversations run deep as people chatter over nothings and something trying to appear ahead of the game at hustling while occasionally catching a glance out through the now opaque glass windows to see if the traffic has cleared.  

Smooth jazz music takes the edge away as sighs release the day’s fatigue and worries seem miles away only to be collected at the way out starting with the current fare home or the question if there’s enough gas on our tanks to take us home. The only thing that makes hearts glad is that they’ve spent time with their loved ones in this God created romantic setting.

Stepping out onto the streets is like stepping into a war zone for you realize that you were not the only one with the genius thoughts of waiting for traffic to ease up. You are now met with a new flood of care free pedestrians as they stream into the streets from evening classes and coffee shops.  Although sheltered, they will still walk along the pavements with umbrellas wide open and you have to keep on ducking to avoid being the target of these half blind pedestrians at the same time minding the open sewer holes that can swallow a man whole. You’ll also have to take care as pickpockets take advantage of the confusion and find their way into your meagre earnings. 

By now the traffic is flowing freely and there’s an influx of buses and the fares have come down drastically. The touts are almost begging the commuters who are in no hurry and seem unmoved and are in defiance following the abuses that were being lashed out a few hours back. You can hear the chatter of young couples as goodbyes fill the newly freshened air and with pecks and hugs they part and slowly the streets are emptied save for the nocturnal beings for whom the day has just began.