Rebecca was the only woman in the panel. Tabutany had been around. But Pabonya had made sure that she kept herself busy cooking for the guest. He had sent clear instruction to her not to make any attempt of showing her face in the meeting. Rebecca was invited to give an opinion and suggest recommendations. All a long she had sat and listened without a word."I want to thank you all for your concern,” she began. “You, no doubt had more important duties to attend but you chose to be here. And I know it is because of the love for the family, left under my hands by my late husband and for the love you have for my first-born son, Tesot. It is evident that you are doing this with a lot of goodwill and intention. On my own behalf and on behalf of my family I say Thank you very much.” With that she paused a moment."About Becky," she continued her eyelashes lowering as she considered what she was about to say. “I don't know what to say.” She could not hold back her tears. She never had
Becky sat under the shed of a tree outside the kitchen house of her parent's home. In her right hand was a knife and in her left was a half-peeled potato. Several months had passed since the separation. Stressful and unpleasant months. Deep within her resided an intense longing. A mother’s longing for her only begotten son. His brother Jephta, who was home for the August holiday, was watching from the sitting room of the other house while he took his 10 o’clock tea. He observed that nearly three minutes had passed since Becky stopped peeling the potato in her hand. She just sat motionless her gaze fixed at some point in the space in front of her. He was certain that this gloomy mood stemmed from the bitterness she was experiencing thinking about the loss separation had brought upon her. He wished he could help her get over it but had not figured out how. He set the nearly empty cup on the table and stepped out of the house. Footsteps interrupted Becky’s maudlin thoughts and she sna
While visiting with her parents in Sagawaita years later, Becky made a trip to the local market in Mulot. Here she met Chepkorir. At first she didn't believe it was her. But on looking closely, her doubts were cleared. She ploughed her way through the crowd to get to her and when she got close, she tapped gently on her shoulders. Chepkorir turned around and looking at her, she blocked her gaping mouth and gasped in a display of utter shock."Oh Becky, is that you?""It is me my dear. I saw you exiting the shop up there and I could not resist the urge to talk to you.""It has been such a long time. How has it been with you?""It has been tough; am always worrying about my son.""Your son is fine. He is in class five now. And was transferred to a boarding school.""Boarding school?""Yeah! Kararan Academy. He has been there for a year now. And your husband got a new wife."Becky frowned at her last statement it was like she had thrust a sharp knife that cut through her chest to
Early in the morning in the village of Sagawaita, Alec Sigilai sat thoughtfully in the sitting room of his two bed-room house awaiting his breakfast. Her daughter Becky was the subject of his thoughts. She was probably facing it rough. She had related to him her experience at visiting her son. And he had seen so much sadness in her eyes. He had noted with concern that this was the most challenging time of her life. He imagined how hard she could be trying to adjust to her new circumstances without showing any physical sign: a difficult unofficial divorce, a disgraced wife of an army officer, whose heartbreak wound, was still very fresh.She was still very young and was probably missing her husband and kid. Yes, very young. She married her off soon after high school, without taking her to college. What a disastrous mistake he had made? How could he, who was once a teacher, fail to facilitate intellectual development of her own daughter? It was because of the distraction that came w
Three weeks later, the letter arrived. With Sara’s help Becky had secured an admission to the medical training college, Kericho campus.She soon started classes in her new school. She had an easy time adjusting to being a student. The lecturers and classmates were all jovial. She reached out to her friend Sara a few weeks after fully settling in a rented room in town. She briefed her of her progress and thanked her for the guidance she had offered. She had come to classify her as one of her best friends. Sara promised to make time during one of the weekends to check on her.A month later, on a Friday evening after classes, Becky was on her way to her room when a matatu pulled over right ahead of her to drop a passenger – a tall broad shouldered man in a brown leather jacket. As the vehicle left, Becky drew closer to him. She cast a glance at him and withdrew it almost immediately. This man looks familiar, she thought. But she took no trouble trying to recall where she had seen
Becky missed her periods. She waited. Nothing happened. First day, second day, still nothing happened. She got worried. Could she be pregnant? She visited a doctor for a test. The results came positive. She had conceived. Her feelings were of mixed emotions. On one hand she wanted to celebrate on the other the guilt was eating on her heart. She was still someone's wife. The hope of a reunion with her husband was still alive. But it would now be difficult. Tesot would never accept a child void of his genes. She went back to her room promising herself that Koech would never know about this fact. She wouldn't want to have any strings attached. He too might take the child away. And for that reason, she would avoid him like a plague. She would be the sole custodian of this child. Koech telephoned her many times but she didn’t pick any of the calls. Neither did she replied to his text messages. What is wrong with Becky? Koech wondered. This was odd. He tried to look for her in vain.
The following year Becky gave birth to a beautiful girl. The mirror image with which she resembled her father was fascinating. Anyone who knew him would instantly within seeing the little girl that she was Koech's offspring. Though there was also a part of her that resembled Becky.She loved the little angel. She reminded her how her life became better the moment she met her father. She felt the compulsion to pass the good news to him. She had to make a phone call. She didn't need to refer to her phone book, for his phone number was still within her fingertips."Hello, Becky!” His nice voice reverberated through her phone's earpiece."Hello! How are you? ""I am fine. So long since I heard from you. ""Yeah," Her short answer did not match Koech's expectations."Are you alright?""I'm OK. Are you ready for some good news?"“Yes I am.”“You have become a father!” "Seriously?" "A baby girl. And guess what? She looks exactly like you." Koech could not fail to register the
Becky walked in quick steps. It was getting dark. She had spent the whole day studying in preparation for her end of semester exams which were scheduled to be held the following day. She was doing quite well in her studies. This was her second year at the Kenya Medical Training College(KMTC) Kericho campus. There would be a third and a final year. She had deferred her studies by a year when she was pregnant. Now she was back and ready to go. Her kid, Claudia Chepkorir, a beautiful little girl was growing so well. She had hired a maid; a girl from her village who due to financial challenges could not continue her studies. She helped Becky take care of her child while Becky was in class. In return, she paid her fifteen hundred shillings a month. The father of the baby had agreed to cater for this cost. She got to her apartment and got herself out of the uniforms. Yes uniforms. At KMTC, unlike many other colleges in the country, students wore uniforms to school. She was handed the baby
Becky's daughter blossomed into a beautiful girl. She was such a brilliant kid who filled her heart with more hope. Hope that she would grow up to become somebody in the future. She posted good grades in school. When she got to form four. She used to tell her mother that she wanted to do her undergraduate course overseas. She had always dreamed of going to the US.The mother was troubled by this request. She feared for her daughter. She hated the idea of her daughter going through the same experience she had gone through.She remembered the other girls she had met in Belgium lured into sex trafficking by the promise of a quality education abroad. Her daughter could end up being another victim.But was she not now an ambassador in the campaign against sex trafficking? Did she not have links all over the world? Had her story not spread all over the world making her a celebrity?Her name itself would protect her daughter. She needed to suppress her fear. Her daughter would be well. S
Becky earned a lot from the government job she had landed. Having built a house for her mother with the money she had earned during her stay in Belgium. She now needed to concentrate on educating her two children Claudia and Baraka. But Baraka still had a year or two before he could enroll in a nursery school.She inquired about Kiplimo. Her mother told her that the last time she heard about Kiplimo was when the boy was having a farewell party at her father’s house before joining Moi University for his undergraduate degree course. Becky missed him so much and thought about going to Moi University to look for him. But her schedule was so tight that the little time she got during the weekends was barely enough for his mother and her two kids.One weekend, a woman from the neighborhood came visiting and requested for a loan from Becky. Her name was Zeddy. She needed a thousand shillings. Becky gave her without question and she returned the money within two weeks.A month later she cam
The case was taken up by Interpol. Mr. Owen was arrested and tried in Belgium. Dennis was not spared. He was deported to Kenya and was arrested at the airport.Becky was taken to the Kenyan embassy in Belgium where she received a queenly receptionKenya had recently enacted a counter-trafficking in persons act. And criminal proceedings were instituted against Dennis so that he became among the first to be found on its wrong side. Becky appeared in court to testify against him. She was not even sure whether she was being fair. The man had come to her aid in her darkest moments; when she thought she had lost it all.But then again he did her wrong by taking advantage of her situation for his own benefit; by selling her to Mr. Owen. It was okay for him to face justice. He pushed Becky into crossing boundaries she never imagined she would cross and pocketed a lot of money in the process.Becky could not wait to go home. The case had been adjourned. It would come up again in three mont
After the meal, Tom led Becky to a room he had booked. It was just a simple single room with a bed and a couch. Becky sat on the couch while Tom took the bed."I hope you are comfortable."“Yeah, am good.”"You are probably wondering what it is I want to talk to you about. I am an investigative journalist working with CNN," he said fishing out a document and handing it over to Becky to verify that he wasn't lying about his identity. Becky grabbed the document and took a moment to study it. Then she gave it back."We have information concerning what is going on in the place I found you and I am on a fact finding mission to establish the truth."Becky thought about it. She was not sure whether it was safe. She had come to learn that those people in there were bad. They were capable of doing anything to protect their reputation.Tom saw that Becky was hesitant. "Are you afraid of something?""Yeah. If I tell you anything I will risk my life in the process.""I will protect you
With the knowledge of the injustices that were being perpetrated against them, Becky kept cooperating with her molesters, just as the other girls were doing. She kept paying her debt, faithfully and diligently and sharing the proceeds of her work with her mother and her kids while keeping her painful emotions bottled up within herself. She sought friendship from among the other girls at the place of work, sharing their part of the story. And it was the same thing; confiscated passport, debt and sexual slavery. What broke her heart was the troubling realization of the age of the majority of the colleague girls. She was among the few adults who could be counted as having full responsibility for their actions. But the others were just kids who were being clearly defiled and abused. And the network kept extending and getting deeply rooted and diverse, with the booming sex industry. It got to a point where they were being advertised on the internet. Sometimes pictures of their naked bodi
Becky had served five men by the time her shift came to an end. Two of them had paid fifty Euros while three paid forty.She was supposed to wrap it up by 5:30 am. It was now ten minutes past time. She left the room and mounted up the stairs to the shower rooms. After washing, she then slid back into her red dress and came to the bar. She had to clear with Rosa before proceeding home.Other girls were waiting to be cleared too. She was shown into a seat by a waiter who informed her that she would be served after the African girl in a blue dress. Meanwhile, an energy drink was placed on her table.She took stock of the other girls in the room. They were fifteen of them. Most of them were white. There were four Africans and she was the fifth one. Perhaps she was the oldest among them they all looked so young and innocent.Rosa had moved from her usual seat to the counter. The girls walked up to her in turns and paid their dues just as the other customers paid for their drinks.When
She didn’t want to do it. But Dennis would cut off her support. She had been completely dependent on his charity. He had been sending money to her mother ever since she came to stay with him. He would also send her away from his house. “Mr. Owen informed me that his offer still stands but if he doesn’t get your feedback by the end of tomorrow he will give it away,” Dennis said casually. Mr. Owen was the white man who wanted to recruit Becky. “You should have just let me know that you were Introducing me into prostitution,” Becky said struggling without success to hold back tears. “How would I have known?” “You knew. You discussed me in details. You told him that I was beautiful and best suited for the job.” “I thought, it was a hotel management job, a beautiful woman like you will make a good waitress in a hotel, a club, or a restaurant.” “Can’t you get any other job for me?” “Without a passport, I can’t.” “How will I do this without a passport?” “Mr. Owen has a way ab
Nancy described how she came home that day and found her husband lying unconscious in Becky's room; how she took the husband to a hospital; that he was admitted and treated and was discharged after one week in a stable condition. “Becky was not there when I came,” Nancy said. “At first I thought she had an ill intention to kill my husband but the motive behind her act had puzzled me. When my husband was discharged, I tried finding out from him what really happened on that day and he had refused to say a word about it. For that reason, I have come to think that perhaps Becky was not in the wrong. But what troubles me is the reason behind her running away.” “So you don’t know her whereabouts?” “I don’t. She left all her belongings in my house.” “I am looking for her. Her family is looking for her.” “I have no idea where she is. Perhaps you need to take her belongings so that when you find her it will be possible to take her home because even her passport is in my house.” Den
Whatever the case may be, she was not ready for any. She had come here to make it big in life. And that she had to achieve by whatever means.She crouched down close to Henry to check on him. Blood was oozing heavily from the injured part at high pressure like water in a punctured pipe. A pool of it had already formed on the floor around his head.She stood up and reached for her towel in the wardrobe. She tied it around his head covering the wounded area. She was hoping it was going to help stop the bleeding. She checked his pulse and a renewed hope developed within her as she felt the rhythm of his throbbing heart.She took her phone and texted Nancy, telling her to come home Henry was injured. But she could not wait for her to arrive. Having done what she could do to save his life, only one more thought remained in her mind: to get as far away from the homestead as she could. She didn't know how to face Nancy and explain the series of events that led to Henry lying unconscious a