This vision filled me with a kind of warmth I had never known before. It was the promise of something new, something beautiful waiting just around the corner. It was what kept me going, kept my steps steady through the dark and unfamiliar streets of Nairobi. It made the dingy hotel room feel a little less lonely, made the hunger and exhaustion easier to bear. It was the thought that, after all of this, there would be a moment where everything would fall into place, where the journey would be worth every sacrifice, every sleepless night.
And as I lay on that lumpy bed, the image of Nadia was as real to me as the flickering light above. Tomorrow, I would finally be with her. The long road would end with us standing together, and that thought alone filled me with a hope that pushed away every shadow of the night.
As sleep began to take over, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking about me too, just as excited about our meeting as I was. The excitement helped push aside the discomfort of the lumpy mattress and the cold drafts slipping through the window. For now, I let myself believe that this risk, this gamble, would be worth it. I closed my eyes, the last sounds I heard being the distant hum of the city and the rumble of a matatu pulling away, carrying its passengers off into the night. Just from the sound for sure I knew that matatu was “Unbwogable” from Embakasi because I grew up in Fedha Estate.
I slept.