THE MYSTERY LIFE OF AMANDA and other stories

1.The Mystery Of Amanda

Amanda  was  born  and  raised  in the outskirts of Nairobi where  she  lived  with  her  mom Betty,her  dad George  and  Kennedy  her little  brother.Despite the  fact that she was the firstborn,she  knew that George  her  dad was not her  biological  dad but  that  came  to reality  years  later.

  At the  time  she  was  7 she was  taken  to a primary school  near  her  home  place  and  joined  Grade   One.Life in school  at that  time  was  fun  and  full  of  happiness.She got  whatever  she asked  for  and  her  parents  never  disappointed  her.As time went by she  started  to  notice  that  her  dad was changing and  the  fun  she  had  when  he was around was vanishing in thin  air.Her dad became so violent and he barely cared for them.Her mom had to hustle for their well being and survival since her dad had forgotten all about them and you would wander what made h.im to start treating them like that.Every now and then she and her brother would be sent home for school fees which made Amanda who by that time was in grade six feel  bad leaving other kids in class learning to go home for school fees.Anytime she asked her dad for money she would be referred to her mom who had
nowhere to get the money from.
Sometimes she would miss school to help her mom burn some charcoal for them to sell and get some money to feed on and pay for their school fees.

Things got worse with time and nothing was changing.She would wake up on them quarrelling early in the morning and to her their was no reason or an explanation for that.She once heard it all one morning.That was after she was sent by her mom to borrow some salt from one of the neighbors."Why are you so demanding anytime you come home drunk,"asked her mom with pale face."Shouldn't I be demanding or aren't I the owner of this house?Aren't I the man here huh?"he barked to her with red eyes fuming with fury."You always wakes the kids up with your shouting and all you do is beat me up in there presence.What  man does that.They can't even concentrate in class......."Before she could finish talking  a  heavy blow landed on her face followed with punches and kicks.All she could do was to stare at the monster tearing her mom into pieces and nothing she could do.She screamed and her granny(her dad's mother)came rushing to the scene to see what was happening."What's happening here and why are both of you fighting this morning?"she asked in a confused expression.Since she favored her son mostly, all she could say was that Betty  was all to blame and was responsible for having uncultured behavior by talking back to her husband in that manner. That hurt Amanda deeply as she pitifully watched her mom wipe out tears with the back of her hands."If you only knew it's the demon you call your son who started it"she cursed glaring at her grandmother.She knew that her mom and the grandmother were not the well-to-do but never expected to see that reaction and hatred for her mother.She walk-ran to the house,picked her school bag and hugged her mom goodbye.She looked at her mom in the eyes and whispered to herself,"I must do something".

Later that same day she talked to her guidance and counseling teacher about the whole thing and she offered to help Amanda and her family which was drilling apart.After a section meeting with Miss Linah that evening,George offered to drop her at her place before heading to town for some business matter with his friend.That day he came home early which was unusual to Amanda and her mom who were used to him coming home late at night."Knock!Knock!Knock!Open this f****ng door goddamn it or I'll break it",he commanded.Amanda's mom was shaking because she knew what was awaiting her at that  time her husband of the night especially if her husband came back home drunk.
"I'll get the  door,"said Amanda rushing to open the door.She hadn't even opened her little mouth to say ho to his father when he kicked th door wide open crushing Amanda to the wal who was holding the doorknob."You thought by calling that idiot here she was gonna help?"by saying that he unleashed the demon inside him and beat Amanda's  mom to pulp.Amanda couldn't bear it anymore and had to think of something to do.She  l  out of the house straight  to where her grandmother kept firewood.She picked a long log of wood and hurriedly went back to her house and found her dad doing his beating as usual.With anger she lifted the log and landed it on his back.George turned back and looked at Amanda who was firmly staring back at his dad as if she was saying "try another stupid action and let's see what will happen to you"
Without any other word,he rose up and walked straight to the kitchen.He was sober by the time he came from the kitchen.After that he changed on his clothes,took a cold bath and retired to bed."Atleast I did something",she concluded happily