Becky sat under the shed of a tree outside the kitchen house of her parent's home. In her right hand was a knife and in her left was a half-peeled potato. Several months had passed since the separation. Stressful and unpleasant months. Deep within her resided an intense longing. A mother’s longing for her only begotten son. His brother Jephta, who was home for the August holiday, was watching from the sitting room of the other house while he took his 10 o’clock tea. He observed that nearly three minutes had passed since Becky stopped peeling the potato in her hand. She just sat motionless her gaze fixed at some point in the space in front of her. He was certain that this gloomy mood stemmed from the bitterness she was experiencing thinking about the loss separation had brought upon her. He wished he could help her get over it but had not figured out how. He set the nearly empty cup on the table and stepped out of the house. Footsteps interrupted Becky’s maudlin thoughts and she sna

Early in the morning in the village of Sagawaita, Alec Sigilai sat thoughtfully in the sitting room of his two bed-room house awaiting his breakfast. Her daughter Becky was the subject of his thoughts. She was probably facing it rough. She had related to him her experience at visiting her son. And he had seen so much sadness in her eyes. He had noted with concern that this was the most challenging time of her life. He imagined how hard she could be trying to adjust to her new circumstances without showing any physical sign: a difficult unofficial divorce, a disgraced wife of an army officer, whose heartbreak wound, was still very fresh.She was still very young and was probably missing her husband and kid. Yes, very young. She married her off soon after high school, without taking her to college. What a disastrous mistake he had made? How could he, who was once a teacher, fail to facilitate intellectual development of her own daughter? It was because of the distraction that came w

Becky missed her periods. She waited. Nothing happened. First day, second day, still nothing happened. She got worried. Could she be pregnant? She visited a doctor for a test. The results came positive. She had conceived. Her feelings were of mixed emotions. On one hand she wanted to celebrate on the other the guilt was eating on her heart. She was still someone's wife. The hope of a reunion with her husband was still alive. But it would now be difficult. Tesot would never accept a child void of his genes. She went back to her room promising herself that Koech would never know about this fact. She wouldn't want to have any strings attached. He too might take the child away. And for that reason, she would avoid him like a plague. She would be the sole custodian of this child. Koech telephoned her many times but she didn’t pick any of the calls. Neither did she replied to his text messages. What is wrong with Becky? Koech wondered. This was odd. He tried to look for her in vain.

Becky walked in quick steps. It was getting dark. She had spent the whole day studying in preparation for her end of semester exams which were scheduled to be held the following day. She was doing quite well in her studies. This was her second year at the Kenya Medical Training College(KMTC) Kericho campus. There would be a third and a final year. She had deferred her studies by a year when she was pregnant. Now she was back and ready to go. Her kid, Claudia Chepkorir, a beautiful little girl was growing so well. She had hired a maid; a girl from her village who due to financial challenges could not continue her studies. She helped Becky take care of her child while Becky was in class. In return, she paid her fifteen hundred shillings a month. The father of the baby had agreed to cater for this cost. She got to her apartment and got herself out of the uniforms. Yes uniforms. At KMTC, unlike many other colleges in the country, students wore uniforms to school. She was handed the baby

Koech tried talking to Becky. He intended to convince her to be his wife. He hoped to take her home and introduce her to her parents. But Becky continually rejected this offer. And she had a reason for that. She had not officially divorced Tesot.“Why can’t you follow up with him?” Koech had asked in sheer desperation. “How can you be bound while he is free? I doubt if your love for me is true because you should have get him to sign the papers by now.”But she did not listen to him. And Koech in protest, found another woman to marry. His affection for Becky faded away and so did his financial support, exposing Becky to the reality of her true circumstances. All her life she had been totally dependent on men. Her father had always availed all her needs from the time of her birth to the time she got married. As house wife, though she worked hard in the farm, the main breadwinner was her husband and the land on which she cultivated belonged to him. After separation, her father had agai