What Does It Mean To Be Kind Anyway?

Shortlisted For The Wakini Kuria Prize For Children’s Literature in 2021

Mama looked so pretty that day. No one would have suspected that we had slept hungry the previous day. Daddy didn’t come home again but mama didn’t seem too broken down by this that day. When I went out to play with my trains on the grass, mama picked them up and said, “I’m sorry love, but we’re going to have to sell that.” But it’s okay if it will make mama stop looking so sad every day.

Kevin came to play with my trains but made a sad face when I told him that mama took the toys away. “We have to sell them to buy bread,” I said. He slanted his head to the side, then after a minute of silence, he said that the reason he came to play with my toys is because his mama did the same thing to his toys. Where were our daddies? Maybe they went to play together like how I and Kevin play together and got lost somewhere on the way back. We rushed to mama to tell her to go look for daddy just in case and she placed a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose and said that he’ll come back any day now. It is work that had kept him delayed in the city.

When mama walked away, Kevin fumbled with his fingers and walked over to the fridge. I told him that it does not work anymore otherwise we would already have sold it too just like we did the TV.  He told me a secret and made me promise not to tell anyone else. He said that when he was coming back from Karanja’s house, our neighbor, Mrs Wanjala, had laid out some beans to dry in the sun. He looked around and when he saw that he was alone on the street, he crossed over to her house, emptied the basket of beans into his backpack and run home as fast as he could without looking back. He asked me to help him cook the beans but I don’t know how to cook anything just yet. Mama says that fire is bad and I don’t want to get burnt. She showed me a nasty scar on her arm and said that fire is what melted her skin like that. I told Kevin about the scar and his face drooped. I would love some beans too. 

He was afraid to tell his mamma what he had done so I told him to tell mine because my mama rarely gets mad. Still, he was afraid, so I suggested that we write a letter. It said, ‘Mama Kaari, I took Mrs. Wanjala’s beans from her garden. I had not eaten anything that day though mama had promised that we would have a meal in the evening. But, sometimes mama says things and then I wait for them to happen and they don’t happen. I thought Kaari knows how to cook beans because she is a girl so I brought them to her, but she doesn’t. I am sorry for taking Mrs. Wanjala’s beans without her permission. I won’t steal again. Please don’t be mad and don’t tell my mum. Pretty please with ice-cream on top and chocolate too if you want. –Kevin who is very sorry.’

The letter made mama cry and I felt sad to see her like that again but she was not mad. We went over to Kevin’s house and told his mother everything, then carried the beans and walked over to Mrs. Wanjala’s house. I wish I had an apple to give to Kevin. I know how it feels to sleep hungry. But our mamas are trying their best before our daddies get back.

Kevin and I played in Mrs. Wanjala’s huge sitting room which was the size of our whole house! While we were playing, Mrs. Wanjala brought over some spaghetti and meatballs and said that there’s more food if we did not feel full. Of course we didn’t. Who knew when we’d eat as much food as this again? We agreed with Kevin to eat as much as we could until we ended up falling asleep on the floor with food still on our plates. When we were leaving, we said a big thank you to Mrs. Wanjala for her kindness and our mamas hugged her tightly for a while before we left. All of their eyes were red. Kevin apologized again like he did when we first arrived, but at least he was not crying when we left like how he did all through as we walked over to Mrs. Wanjala’s house.

The following day, Mrs. Wanjala called us over for dinner again. Since then, we all ate at her place until we started going to school again.

Daddy is still in the city working really hard like mama tells me. Mrs. Wanjala hired mama at her grocery shop and Kevin’s mum also found some work in a coffee plantation. These days, we eat three meals a day and sometimes I even get to have a snack at four o’clock. We still go to Mrs. Wanjala’s house on Saturdays to play with her dog as our mamas chat.

I wonder, if Kevin had never stolen those beans, would we have had the luck we have now? If Mrs. Wanjala had not forgiven but instead rebuked us, if she had not offered us some food instead of chasing us away, would we still be friendly neighbors?

When I saw Tanasha –the new girl at school- seated during tea break at the corner by herself, I introduced myself to her and shared the brown bread mama had packed for me that day. It had jam, my favorite thing in the whole world! I didn’t ask her why her mama hadn’t packed her something for break before the school’s lunch. Maybe her mama was still looking for some work and her daddy was also in the city.

Mama said I should be like Mrs. Wanjala and when I gave Tanasha half of my bread, and saw her smile as she bit into the jam, I knew what Mrs. Wanjala knew about the kind act of sharing and I wanted Tanasha to know it too.

This story can be found with other stories in the book ‘Life In No Order’ available for purchase on Amazon and Nuria bookstore in Kenya.

FIND YOUR NEXT READ