Black Coffee (Tara's Dream)|Dearest Diary, - Book 1 (unedited)

VIII

"Where are you taking me David?" I asked as I stepped into the white Toyota Prado that David drove.

"It's a surprise." he said grinning. Who would have thought that nice and humble David had this side to himself? It was like something had changed in him or between us since we had had that conversation the previous day. He seemed more confident and radiant, more than he was before.

"I don't like surprises." I told him, grumbling softly as I put on my safety belt.

"I am sorry. I wish I could explain but some things are better seen than told. You have to see it for yourself to understand."

"Fine." I ground out despite being somewhat excited though anxious at the same time. We pulled out of the curb outside my gate and David drove us out of the estate and towards the Australian High Commission. I was made aware that the road was called Chiromo drive, probably due to the fact that it connected the University of Nairobi, Chiromo campus and its Chiromo mortury to the main highway that was Uhuru highway. David took a left turn and we were suddenly headed towards Westlands. There was minimal traffic it being a Sunday morning and all, mostly because most people did not have head towards town as they usually did on weekdays for work. Before long, we'd taken the Westlands roundabout and had started heading towards town. David took another left turn and we left the highway and entered the CBD before coming to a stop in front of a multi-storeyed building that had singing and music wafting from the windows that were above us. Now that I thought about it, I realised that we'd passed several buildings like it and that the town was filled with music and much singing, as the voices of preachers went on preaching through their public address systems.

Unlike the other times we'd been to town, we did not park in a curb even though there was enough parking space for that. David told me that the building had its own parking space and after going through a rigorous security check up, we were finally let in by the security personnel.  We drove through the massive grey gates to the compound beyond and I look around amazed at the place. He had been right, there was enough space to park more than fifty cars in the place.

"What is this place?" I asked David as we stepped out of the vehicle.

"You'll see." he told me smiling. I waited as he locked the car doors and when he was done, he came over to me carrying a thick leather bound book in his hands.

"Is that a Bible?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. He nodded his head and began to lead me towards a set of stairs that seemed to be lead up into the building. We pass another security check before we were finally allowed into the building and I realised that it was a church. My suspicions were confirmed the moment I stepped in and I turned to face David with a hard frown etched on my face. "Why did you bring me here?" I whispered malevolently.

"You'll see." he told me yet again and walked ahead of me to take a seat near the front. I was not sure what to do or if I liked anything about it. I wanted to protest, but I held myself back and took the seat that was beside him, my eyes roaming as they continued to take in my surroundings. The building was massive and as I had observed there was an equally massive podium that was decorated with flowers and drapes hanging from the ceiling to the floor. Several massive television screens and air conditioning systems hanged from the roof and they, together with a combination of ceiling fans and overhead lighting lamps, extend all the way to the far back. I also noticed that the seats in that floor alone were over a thousand and filling up fast. As I continued to observe, David decided to play guide and explain to me what I was seeing. "Those are the ushers." He said pointing to a bunch of ladies and gentlemen moving around in their yellow and blue outfits.

"Do they always wear that?" I asked curiously.

"No, they change but will always coordinate it so that it's always easy to recognise them from afar." Again, I nodded my head in agreement. "And that is the praise and worship team." he said pointing to a group of men and women that were at the front tinkering with the music instruments and microphones as if preparing for something.