Kipilefti

It’s Sunday, our one day off. Mama takes me with her to the duka (small neighborhood shop) to buy food for lunch. She stops to chat with many people on the way and ascertains the whereabouts of Evitha, who has gone out to play. At the duka I chat with the man working there in Kiswinglish; he gives me a tiny ripe mango.

We walk home, carrying the basket of fruits and vegetables between us as the women here do. As we near the house we see Evitha; mama tells her to come get money to buy a sweet so she toddles towards us on her tiny legs. When she gets to us she takes the money but also grabs my hand and insists on coming back to the door of the house, where she and mama have the cutest conversation that consists of mama making a suggestion and Evitha saying “haya”, which means “okay”. Eventually she decides to leave and so she toddles off towards the duka to buy a sweet. We wave goodbye.