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“You guys are not serious. The roof?”

“Yes” In unison. There was an unmistakable look of determination on all their faces.

He was grateful to have such friends. But it seemed like such a long shot, almost impossible. The crowd was massive. There was no way to get to the door, leave alone through it, to get to him.

“So, are we doing this or not?” One asked

“Of course we are. We’re already here, aren’t we?” Another responded. He took a handkerchief from right- side pocket of his beige shorts and wiped the beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead. Then, he took a deep breath. He was staring at the roof, as if trying to figure out how they were going to get there.

He lowered his voice, “It’s okay. It’s never that serious. I’ve been like this a while and…”

“Nonsense!” He was cut off.

“We’re going. We’ll get there, somehow”

“Are you sure?” His voice was a little shaky. He couldn’t figure out if it was caused by excitement, that was starting to build up or disappointment, that he thought was coming his way, eventually.

“Yeah. You have to walk. It’s December”

When I was younger (he he), December used to be THAT month. The month that you’d wake up with the intention to go buy breakfast and somehow end up in a random town like Naivasha. You, your crocs, black sweatpants, the red t-shirt that’s faded around the neck area, three eggs,two tomatoes, an onion that you were going to use to make an omelette, all in that red net that your mama mboga will put them in, and the lone packet of milk. The most likely scenario is that you would end up drunk. Whatever happened to the breakfast, well, ingredients, nobody knows. Nobody talked about them after. Maybe it’s a case of whatever happens in Naivasha, stays in Naivasha. Including groceries.

Interestingly, this has never happened to me. I’ve never ended up in Naivasha, or any town, randomly. I like plans. I would have said I live a boring life, but my cousins Angie and Wangechi disagree. (I can’t keep introducing people every time I talk about them. Surely, by now you know Wangechi is my cousin. Well, meet Angie, who is also my cousin ) About a week ago, we were somewhere in the heart of Muran’ga, under a simple shed with a red oxide floor next to a granary in surprisingly good condition. (If you don’t know what a granary is, you’re too young for this. Ha ha. I’m kidding, but seriously, google it) and I made this statement. They vehemently disagreed (Okay, it wasn’t vehement. They’re sweethearts, these two). Their points were pretty valid, though. Maybe my life is not boring, but sometimes it takes the lens of someone else’s eye to see clearly (This statement sounds wise, sindio? Ni miaka 😅 ).I do a couple of things by myself, maybe that’s why I think it’s boring. I still haven’t done the one thing I want to do the most – a solo trip or vacation. Where to? I don’t know. When? I also don’t know. How? Look. Don’t ask me questions,it’ll happen when it happens. (So much for Little Miss Planner, huh?)

So December seems like the perfect time to get healed; just in time to piga sherehe. What am I talking about? The opening dialogue. I imagine the conversation must’ve gone something like that. The Good Book says a group of men were carrying a paralyzed man (Luke 5: 18-20). They wanted to put him in front of Jesus so he could be healed (obviously). But the crowd was so big, there was no way to get to The Lord, so what did they do? Carry him up to the roof of the house, remove the tiles and lower him to Jesus. Imagine. I’ll be honest, if I was Jesus, I would have been very impressed by that effort. Not only would I have healed, as he did, and because it’s December, every bottle of water they’d have touched would’ve turned into the best wine. Or whatever their drink of choice would have been. Yes, even tea would have been fine.

I tend to think these men were all friends. You see how on a Friday afternoon, or the whole of December, you’ll whip out your phone and text “Uko?” That type. They probably heard Jesus was in the area and used whatever means of communication they had back then to find out, ako?. Then they quickly bundled their boy on a bed and went out to find Jesus, determined to see him walk. I also saw a meme about this story and the caption was ‘When Jesus is in town and your friends help you walk again’. It was funny because said meme had someone falling from some high-ish point as three friends watched. Not high enough to cause broken bones or bleeding though but high enough to be a fall. Have you ever witnessed a sack of sukuma wiki being thrown off the roof of a Satima Sacco matatu? Or those old Tulaga buses that had a lorry’s head? At Kangemi? You haven’t? Ask someone who has. They’re usually in a sack and it’s quite literally, just dropped. Or pushed to the side until it falls over. It’s not like it will break so who cares? You’re lucky if the recipient of the parcel is at the scene or they’ve sent a rider. The fall might be broken, or less brutal. They’ll support it until maybe half the length of the vehicle THEN drop it. I reckon half a fall is better than the full fall, no? Your vegetables go through a lot before landing on your plate.

Max also saw that meme and he inspired this post.Who is Max? A friend of mine, we met at a gig (when I wasn’t being boring) through another friend. Rooftop of the Junction Mall, very loud music, a couple of popular DJs mixing, a lot of dancing and singing along because the theme must have been 90’s & 2000s music. I sing along to a lot of those songs, ask Max. Ah!Angie and Wangechi were there too (No wonder they refuse to agree that I lead a boring life). He thought the meme was funny but also a very inspirational story about faith and friendship. Great friends who bomoa a roof. Merciful friends whose faith and resolve are strong enough to get you to Christ by whatever way. Friends who probably said “Majamaa line haisongi… tubomoe hii roof tushukishe bro” (These are all Max’s words, by the way. I loved them so much, I decided you must see them too)

Friends he probably tried to talk to out of all that getting on the roof craziness but “Zii. Hii shughuli tunaeza!”

He told me to write about it. I told him that the thought had crossed my mind, but I was not particularly enthused. I feel like I was done writing this year.

He said, don’t be like that.

I said, I only have one post left before the year ends and it is not about the roof gang (I don’t want to give you spoilers, but you can guess what it’s about. I’m 100% sure nobody will get it right except me and the person it’s about because he already knows. Go on. Try)

He said, just write.

I said, you may have convinced me.

He said, I’m taking off the roof (he he)

I said, let’s see how this goes and here we are.

Max said to give the friends nice names. I had four already; Brayo, Denno, Kevo and Jaymo. I don’t know if in the census of nice names, these will counted. I was also supposed to give a back story on how the starring got disabled. But I don’t know if I have it in me. Maybe I’ll circle back to this story some day, maybe I won’t. Who knows?

So, what are you doing this December? Are you indoors and boring like me (he he. For real) ? Will you be working the whole time? Will you be spending it alone, as always? Send that ‘uko?‘ text anyways. And you. Stop asking what the plans are, just show up. Who knows, you may end up on a roof, or a floor, or carrying someone, or being carried or experiencing Jesus. Whatever it is, I hope you enjoy.