Saved by a Bullet.

After my three hour detention I was pissed and tired. The scramble for matatus and the hiked fares worsened my foul mood. Luckily I got a matatu and let an old woman probably in her mid fifties enter before me. We sat behind the driver. The matatu took off but five minutes later we were in a snail moving jam. The music playing was not too loud just what I needed.

The matatu however on reaching the Muthaiga Primary School roundabout swerved from the road into a murram one.

“Which route is this?” I asked after knocking my head with the Matatu rail and the woman next to me.

“It is a short cut”, the conductor spoke in a queer tone. After a five minutes speedy drive, the matatu came to a sudden halt.

“Where is this place? Why are we here?” A voice echoed from the back.

“EVERYBODY OUT!!”

A man with bloodshot eyes, a big skull and an equally large mouth barked. His thin figure suggested malnutrition and I figured given the opportunity I would put him down. This silly thought was shattered the moment he took out a shot gun to reinforce his words. Turns out the genuine commuters were seven.
Good Lord, this is officially my worst day. Other thugs emerged from the bush armed with slashes and guns.

“What are all those for?” a man asked after seeing the weapons.

“Empty your pockets and you old man, all that you withdrew from the M-PESA” a short skinny bow legged man fumbled as he snatched my bag.

The conductor came towards me. He frisked my jeans, intentionally pinching my butt and hips. He fished out my phone. We had to undress too. We shivered and forced to lie down on the uneven rocks which escalated the cold. The old woman next to me refused to release her purse.

“No…I will not give out my pouch! Woi! Woi!” She
screamed. Her screams faded away by slaps from four guys. On the other
hand our clothes were packed in a sack. In the middle of God knows
where, naked. The sight was an eyesore. The old woman twitched from the
beating. Her khanga was torn exposing her brown thighs now speckled by
purple and black bruises. She moaned.

The conductor looked at me and winked. I sensed a sinister motive in his glare on me. Then, he slowly walked towards me and grabbed me by the hair. He gripped harder as he pulled me away.

“NO! DONT TOUCH ME!!!!” I screamed, kicking and pushing the conductor aside. He smiled back despite my pleas that he stopped. His cold hands tore my pants while a gun was pointed to my chest.

“THIS IS MY MOTHERS ID, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS??”A tough and stone faced man bellowed in shock. Apparently, he was the leader.

“Relax, it’s that old woman” the driver responded unmoved.
The leader, RK, rushed towards the now unconscious woman.
“Turn on the matatu, we need to take her to hospital” he said as he searched for a pulse.
“Peter!”
The conductor who by now had frayed my bra looked up after seconds of
hesitation and retorted.

“WHAT?”

“IT IS MY MOTHER, PLEASE…” RK pleaded lifting his mother as he headed to the vehicle.
“Seems you forgotten the Mawingu code man-NO MERCY, NO FAMILY” he sarcastically retorted angrily as he pinned me further on the ground.

Infuriated RK took out his gun.

BANG!!

*end*