beba beba. the matatu menace

BEBA BEBA   S. K . Kyenze

Beba beba beba beba!

The rowdy touts belch loudly

Vroom! Vroom! The engine revs loudly

Bang! Bang! The tout spanks its mammoth ribs

Suddenly, another matatu is spotted approaching

Trailed by a cloud of dust the driver speeds off

The makanga bolts after it, clutches the door-

Then, whistling loudly monkeys into the matatu

The passengers gasp!

The driver, insanely shifts gears,

Clutch, gear, accelerator…

The tout opens the door wide open,

Swinging wildly, he kicks the matatus belly

The driver swerves to overtake

An oncoming SUV hoots, headlights on

He slams on Breaks! Tires screech

“Jeeesus!”A woman screams!  Stench of burning rubber!

“Driver, please drive carefully, stop this road rage.”

Tears dripping, she placates.

one hand on the wheel,

he reaches for the glove compartment,

rummages inside and fishes out a bottle of brandy,

The young man seated next to him frowns,

“you are not taking that, are you?”

Blood shot eyes singe the speaker

Lowering the car window,

He spits a gob of miraa

Smash! It lands on the car behind, he smiles

Irritated, the young man snatches the brandy

Woosh, he missiles it out of the window

The passengers ululate

Seething in anger, teeth clenched, he drives silently,

The tout is dumb struck, the passengers are jovial,

“Congratulations young man, no drunk driving!” an old man shouts

The matatu rattles along the road,

Zebra crossing ahead, he speeds along

Suddenly, An old man slowly crossing the road

Brakes, screeching, screaming,

The matatu swerves and halts

Passengers jolted forward

Safety belts tighten,

Whew! Close shave

He hurriedly speeds off- running a red light,

Passengers grumble, shaking their heads

He breaks the speed limit,

Someone opens a window and vomits

Road check! A police officer flags down the matatu

The tout ejects off the matatu and sprints along,

A crumble fifty shilling note exchanges hands.

Fed up passengers shout, pandemonium, hell breaks loose

The police officer is bundled into the matatu.

Citizen arrest!

Reclaiming their roads, one day at a time

4/6/2017