JAMES FALLS IN LOVE

 Chapter Four: James Falls in Love

City life was catching up with James Ploti faster than reality could explain. The son of Kirinyaga was in trouble.

His first assignment after completing training was to man a kindergarten next to Museum Hill in Nairobi at night. It sounded simple. A quiet compound, a small gate, a torch, and long hours of watching over an empty school. But Nairobi at night was not the peaceful Nairobi James had imagined.

On his second night at work, robbers attacked the neighbours to the kindergarten. By morning, two security guards lay dead. James saw death with his own eyes. The young man from the slopes of Mt Kenya froze.

That night, fear entered his heart and refused to leave.

On the morning of the third day, James did not trek the long distance from Museum Hill to Umoja Three, where he had secured a single room. Instead, he walked to the G4S headquarters in Embakasi and begged the supervisor to reconsider his posting.

He was dead scared. He had come to Nairobi to build a future, not to lose his life guarding a dark compound.

Luckily, at the headquarters he met Mr Irandu. After listening patiently to James’s concerns, Mr Irandu made a few calls. Within a short time, James was reassigned to daytime duty at a city hotel along Monrovia Street, next to Parkside Hotel.

That was the beginning of a new chapter in his life.

A Guard Who Was Not Kawaida

At the hotel, James wore the navy blue and white uniform of a security guard. But it did not take long for the staff to realise that this young man from Kirinyaga was not a kawaida askari.

Most of the hotel staff did not know how to use computers very well. James did. When printers broke down, he fixed them. When computers developed problems, he solved them. He typed at super speed, handled security systems, and quietly became the man everyone called when technology failed.

Beyond the uniform, James had a gift: he could talk to people.

The hotel received guests from across the globe. There were dignitaries on short official visits, business travellers rushing between meetings, and tourists discovering Kenya for the first time. James understood early that every guest was not just a visitor; every guest was a connection.

Within a few months, he had built a network that stretched far beyond Nairobi.

Business Begins to Grow

James registered a ticketing agency. Travellers heading to Arusha, Tanzania, often passed through the hotel before proceeding to the bus park. James saw an opportunity and seized it. He sold tickets, earned an extra coin, and slowly began to send shopping upcountry to support his family.

He also connected with tours and travel companies. When tourists staying at the hotel wanted short safaris, James negotiated deals for them. More cash started flowing.

For the first time since leaving Kirinyaga, James was not only surviving. He was building.

But Nairobi had more than business waiting for him. It had love.

Love Comes and Goes

During this period, James met a lady who had visited Kenya with her family from the Netherlands. Things moved quickly. Within no time, the two love birds were already in town, enjoying the excitement of a new relationship.

But their love did not last long.

In a short span of time, the lady had to travel back to Europe, with no hopes of returning to Kenya again. James was heartbroken. Love had evaporated as fast as it had landed.

During that heartbreak season, James met another love bird from the slopes of Mt Kenya, and they started dating.

The Night Life Temptation

All this time, James was a church boy. He had never experienced the Nairobi night life.

One day, Wambu, a daughter of the mountain, invited James to a nightclub to experience how Nairobi operated at night. What began as one night invitation slowly escalated into weekend nights out.

Soon, James could no longer manage both church life and night life. One had to be sacrificed.

He made a difficult decision: he resigned from the security job to concentrate on his small business while still looking for an ICT job.

Trouble After Trouble

At that time, business was slow. James enrolled at a catering college to study baking and cooking. It seemed there was good money in that line of business.

Just as he was about to graduate, a company introducing satellite television services in Kenya offered him an opportunity. James joined with hope. But barely six months into operation, the company was declared bankrupt.

Aissh. Trouble after trouble for James. What next now?

Then James remembered that he had an uncle living in Mombasa.

That was the next destination.

Within a week, he had made his plans. Travel was set. Nairobi had given him lessons, love, losses, networks, and survival skills. Now, the son of Kirinyaga was heading to the Coast.

From Mombasa to a Dilemma

Watch out for Chapter Five.