Thought tide

My girl was in tears. Kilograms to grams. Kilometres to metres. Litres to millilitres. In her maths test, these conversions turned into a monster. She’s sharp in maths-that one she got from me (not bragging). But this time, the results came in below expectations. She was inconsolable. On my end of the phone, I listened to my baby shed tears. And I had to remind her sometimes an A can look like a D. Don’t get me wrong, I was disappointed by the result too. But first, we needed to go through the emotions. My questions started spilling: Why the big drop? Don’t you like the teacher? Did the leg injury, which happened just a week before end-term exams, affect your concentration? Am I too busy to support you with schoolwork? Are you going to school so early that by class time you’re already tired from beating stories with your friends? I know her potential. So I let her cry, assuring her I wouldn’t hang up, that I was on the other end. She needed to cry. She need...

Lying awake in bed after my morning alarm… lazy, hoping time would move backwards. It’s Friday, and my body aches. I’m just fatigued. Now I’m in a mathree, cramped like luggage. As usual, the windows are just for decoration — no one uses them anymore. Okay. Let’s just breathe on each other like the oxygen inside has been specially conserved for this journey. And honestly, what’s with people playing their stuff on loudspeaker in a quiet public space? Ever heard of ear pods, headphones, earphones... or just something?🤷🏾‍♀️ Exactly a week ago, after work, a colleague gave me a lift. We got talking about nothing and everything. And when I say everything, I mean the kind of conversations you really want to have, but never quite find the right person or the right moment for. You know... the unsaids. But first, pause. I can’t pass my candy lady at the stage without stopping. Even going three days without buying from her loads me with a weird kind of guilt. “Leo umechelewa, na unakaa ...