By James Mwangi
A muscular and a notorious mugger in his late 30s has infuriated villagers by ‘inheriting’ a widow, her daughter and daughter-in-law.
Interestingly Ng’ang’a’s wife left him last year because of his terrible eating habits, alcoholism, tarnished name and meanness. When she bolted, he attempted to commit suicide.
“Imagine he used to eat most of the food in the house, leaving the child hungry. That is why his wife left him,” said an old friend.
However, it is his ‘new home’ and the manner in which he gained access that has raised moral and legal questions that have left both young and old trying to draw the line between reality and illusion.
Bull
The widow is a mother of three; a first-born son nicknamed ‘Bull’ (deceased) and two daughters. The son, who is Ng’ang’a’s age-mate, passed away last year in controversial circumstances, leaving behind a young widow. One of her daughters lives in Nairobi while the other is a single mother of two in the village.
Kikuyu adage goes, kihii gikuru no ta ithe (the eldest son is like the father), so Bull, in the absence of his father, became the hoarse voice in the homestead. Apparently, he was the fierce sentry watching out for mischievous louts plotting to ‘pluck apples’ in the home.
However, late last year, the brawny Bull sipped a little more than he should have. That night, on his way home, he apparently hit a tree ‘head-on’ and passed away instantly, or so the rumour mills said. Many other possible death causes flew from all directions but he was buried without a breakthrough, assuming someone bothered to investigate.??
Same pot
But now, fresh rumours doing the rounds are that Ng’ang’a silenced him to get unlimited access to his mother, sister and wife. And truly the trio is drinking from same pot.
Village grapevine has it that he was among the people last spotted with Bull on the fateful night and that he allegedly crashed Bull’s head on a tree to create the impression of a fatal man-tree collision, after which he slipped out of the village for Nairobi.
In Nairobi he stayed, word goes, till this April, when he left a ‘well paying casual job’ in Industrial Area and, armed with a ‘bulging wallet’, retreated back to the village to harvest what he had sown.
“It is an abomination. Can’t that money-minded woman see that she is sleeping with her son?” wondered a neighbour. “I look forward to the day the women in that home will collide over him. It will be a drama of all times.”
Recently, his mother threatened to strip nude when she learnt about her son’s scandalous trio of related lovers. But an unperturbed Ng’ang’a swaggered through a dense crowd of spectators and melted into a coffee plantation.
Residents told Crazy Monday that he has become a nocturnal denizen, dropping by night to fulfill his conjugal obligations before slinking off at the crack of the dawn. Rumours even have it that the old woman could be pregnant. While most villagers are incensed, some say they should be left alone.
“They are consenting adults. Let them do as they wish,” one woman wryly observed.
