My Diary-How I fell to con-men
(artistes/players)
What a week, I was not in the
reading mood, I switched off the alarm once it was time to wake up and I
continued sleeping. It started off with water shortage and so I wasn’t able to
wash my clothes on Monday as I usually do. This forced me to recycle since I
had no otherwise. On Monday I sat for a CAT that didn’t go well since we were
tested only on the part that I had left out while reading. It felt bad but I
could do nothing about it.
Tuesday was not a very bad day
since nothing major happened and I don’t remember anything at all except
attending my lectures and hanging out with my pals. On Wednesday I was almost
knocked down by a vehicle. In fact it is not almost but I was knocked just that
the driver braked down suddenly and there was just minimal contact on my body.
I was walking from Buxton and all that time I was absent minded, wasn’t
thinking about the road since I was walking on the pedestrians’ lane. Suddenly
it came to a point where I was crossing the road, I never looked for any oncoming
traffic, and in fact I was concentrated on someone I saw on the side of the
road standing waiting for whatever I never knew. Then suddenly I felt
screeching of brakes and something sweeping me off at my knees, it was a Prado
and I never bothered to check the plate since I was not hurt. I never saw anyone
at the scene, I was scared and blank. I walked all the way home and had a night
of my life, no nightmares no nothing just sleeping like a kid in dry diapers.
The next day all was well except
for the dull day. I woke up at 8.am and it was already late for my first
lesson. I stayed at home reading P.D.E till afternoon. Something good happened
during that time and I think it is the only good thing that I can place in that
week rather than being healthy and alive. I won’t go to details but if you want
to know you can come to me on personal terms. I took lunch and then took off to
Campus for my afternoon P.D.E class. The class was complex but I remained in
class till the end of the lesson. I learnt less but at least I collected notes
which will help me catch up later and perfect myself before the CATs and the
exam too. After class I went and then hanged out with friends and went home
tired after a long day. That was my last
learning day or can I call it school day since my classes end on Thursday
evening and so my weekend was on.
On Friday I woke up early and washed my dirty
load of clothes. I cleaned up my place and felt that it was presentable to me
and am sure to almost everyone else the place looked perfect. I then sat down
and concentrated on my latest downloaded TV series, I watched for a whole day
and the only time I went out was when I was going for lunch. In the evening I
felt humbled when she texted me asking me where I was. It was a great surprise
and I think that that was not even in the list of my least expected things. She
wasn’t texting me, and if she did, they were replies to my texts and they
weren’t friendly at all, it was like I was a murderer, an outcast in the
society. I told her where I was and she asked me whether I was going to campus
and I told her yes even though I had not planned to go. She told me to take her some painkillers, I
even thought that she was in pain so I stopped watching and left hurriedly to
campus which is a fifteen minutes’ walk from my residence. I got the
painkillers and in a short while I was in campus, I found her just after
shower, she looked wow and I even lacked words. This girl is magnificent, I
even felt like it was a dream. She was happy and that made me feel happy too.
In fact I felt at ease for once after a longtime since things turned upside
down. She was grateful that I did her the favor but I also felt more grateful.
I felt cool music playing in my ears al I walked home. I felt the angels walk
by me and cover me as I walked all the way home. That was a good day. In fact
it was a perfect day for me.
Saturday 6/15/2013 was a nightmare
I don’t even want to remember even a bit of it. The day started well, I woke up
late and left for campus to utilize the free Wi-Fi provided in the compound. It
is not free as you may think because each student parts with Ksh.2000 per
semester paying for the bandwidth and the maintenance of the facilities.
Although everything is not well with it, it is better than none. They have over
regulated what you can access and yet only a small percentage of the students
own laptops and smartphones or even tablets to access the Wi-Fi. I tried
searching for ideas to write my Engineering Design proposal but I found none. I
went on to do irrelevant things that can’t help me in my education or even in
my life. I then left to buy a gas cylinder since I was thinking of starting to
do my own cooking instead of buying food. Buying food was becoming expensive
and monotonous since the variety is not large enough. I left with about
slightly above Ksh.5000 in my pockets. I knew that after buying the gas I would
be left with about Ksh.800. I was confident that all was well when I left. I
boarded a matatu (public service vehicle 14 seater). When I arrived I had all
my cash in hand or let me say in my safest pocket where I thought no one would
take it away from me unless with enough violence that I could not handle on my
own. When I reached the other side of the highway, I saw a small tent and
curiosity took the best of me and I went and stood there to just watch and see
what was going on. I wasn’t even planning to participate in whatever they were
doing since I felt already that it was con business and these were just people
taking advantage of innocent citizens and fooling them that they would win
money. I was given a ticket and out of my foolishness I went on and took it. I
didn’t wonder why I was just given instead of selecting for myself. My heart
was beating fast but I still wanted to make the move maybe to prove myself
wrong. The tent was old and it had several old Sony® merchandise such as a TV,
an old music player, another old music system and a radio too, here was also a
thermos flask there. They guy who gave me the card asked me for fifty shillings
and I told him that I didn’t have and he asked for anything and I gave him a
Ksh.20 coin that was in my pocket. He then opened the card and told me that I
had won the music player worth Ksh.15, 000. I wasn’t excited at all, in fact I
was tense and my heart was even beating faster. When I arrived at that place
another guy came and he won a thermos and he was given the cash for the flask
and he left. In fact several times there cme guys who jus won cash using this
flask. I didn’t want to go on but they asked me my name and they started
writing the receipt for me. They wrote Ksh.4500 VAT and the price of the player
on the receipt. He then asked me to pay Ksh.300 for what I don’t remember he
called it. He (the dark-bald unfriendly guy) asked for the money again and
since I felt that I had cash I gave him a Ksh.1000 note from my pocket. I
wasn’t given the change and they continued with their business when I was
hesitant to raise more money. They were asking me to raise the VAT so that I
would be given the full amount as a whole. I was sure that I had been conned
but I still went on. The dark guy told me to leave the tent if I didn’t have
money to raise for the VAT and that I
had been fined so they wouldn’t give me my balance of Ksh.700. There was
another guy who was a Kikuyu and he started talking to me in Kikuyu and he
started to convince the dark bald guy to give me my cash back. I thought he was
on my side but it was all part of his job to make me feel secure that we were
tribesmen. I never knew that he was the one to make me give even more money. I
left the tent not sure of what I wanted to do. The guys who were selling me the
gas were calling me and I had given up and was even going to get it but there
was another girl in the crowd too who told me that she would help me raise that
amount that they were asking. I wondered how perfect timing it was. She was
also a kikuyu. I asked her why she cared and she told me that she didn’t care
but she just wanted me to take the money with me. I asked her what the
conditions were if I got the money and she told me there were no conditions and
I should just win the money and then we will know what next after that. I swear
I knew that she was one of them and continued getting deeper in the trap. I
gave an additional Ksh.3000 and the girl or let me say young woman added me her
Ksh.1000. My heart was beating even faster than ever. Imagine I put in that
entire amount to save the Ksh.1000 and that’s how I lost all the cash that I
had in my pockets. We (I and the strange young woman) were taken for a swearing
ceremony as the dark guy took the vows to declare that we had won the music
player. We repeated every word after him as he recorded with his camera phone
which I am not even sure that they were recording anything or it was just foul
play to play with my mind which they had already managed to do. After the
swearing was done I turned the card and it was already mutilated and the number
1800 on the back had been edited to be 1809 and as the guy was asking if that
was the cars he was holding the tail for 9 which was not a 9 originally but
just a mutilated 0. I entered the tent in anger and pushed them around and they
were too many for me and I left. I didn’t want to create a scene especially
since it is on a busy road and next is the market place. Before I left several
people won cash through the flask and I think I saw one of them who came back
and won it again. Everything is staged and it can make one blind of what’s
going on. I left with just Ksh.1000 in my pocket out of Ksh.5000. This happened
within a short while and I was back to rags and even in debt. I felt ashamed of
myself. The day passed fast, I did nothing major but I am determined to bring
those guys down. I don’t know who will help me. I know that he police are
involved in a way in this con business because these guys are not afraid of no
one and they are doing it in broad daylight in a very public place. I am not
fighting them to get my money back but I want to just protect someone like me
who might enter the same trap and lose everything. But I would also want to have my money back.
That was my Saturday of doom. I slept late that day and I saw nothing to smile
about. I become a lesson. I don’t think I can trust a stranger not even a
fellow tribesman. Man’s greatest enemy is man himself and the enemy of a Kikuyu
is a Kikuyu. Tribe is nothing since it’s not a family but just a group of
selfish people with their self-interests at heart.
On Sunday I woke up in a good mood
and I was able to study a bit in the morning hours and then I started writing
this. I was unable to go to church but I prayed in my heart. I spent the
morning typing and then I went to the police station to write a statement and
all did not go well since I never wrote the statement for the reason that the
crime never happened in their area and so I was told that I could only record
my statement at Nyali police station. I felt dejected and went back home to
rest since I was already tired.That was my week. i think i experienced a lot and learnt a lot too.
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