Free The Dream Chasers by Claudette Oduor

on the bus and send it to me. I need to cry on it.”
    â€œCry into the river so the fishes can swim. Don’t waste your tears on the ground.”
    â€œMuchai should have gone for a blood transplant, Mama. He should have gotten rid of his Kikuyu blood and gotten a pint of new Luo blood. Maybe they would have spared his life then.”
    I walked up the hill once again, to the place where the Njokas’ rural home used to be. I found someone sitting on the rubble, his head buried in his hands. He looked up at my approaching footsteps.
    â€œLulu?” It was Muchai.

[Thirteen]
    â€œI'VE BEEN HERE FOR HOURS , waiting. I thought you’d gone back to Nairobi by now.”
    â€œMuchai?” I whispered in disbelief. “They told me you were dead.”
    â€œThey didn’t know who you were. You could have been sent by the attackers to finish us off.” Muchai skipped over the rubble.
    â€œI really believed them,” I said, and my voice shook in the tears floating in my throat. “Why didn’t you go back home?”
    â€œLook at this place, Lulu. Mom didn’t want to leave it, and I couldn’t leave her. She’s sourcing for funds to rebuild.”
    â€œWhat happened?” I croaked.
    â€œThey almost got us. They threw petrol bombs through the windows. The house started burning. Mom and I escaped only with the clothes on our backs. We snuck out through the back and hid in the fields until dark. The men you saw earlier used to work for us as farmhands. They hid us in their house for weeks.”
    â€œCome, come here.” I held my arms out.
    â€œ Shh ! Don’t cry.” Muchai pulled me into an embrace. He kissed my forehead, brought his lips to mine. “Didn’t I tell you I’d see you again?”
    We walked down the hill hand in hand.
    â€œThere’s this poem, Muchai, by Housman:
    The time you won your town the race
    We chaired you through the marketplace;
    Man and boy stood cheering by,
    And home we brought you shoulder-high.
    Today, the road all runners come,
    Shoulder-high we bring you home,
    And set you at your threshold down,
    Townsman of a stiller town. ”
    Muchai put his arm around me.
    â€œ Smart lad, to slip betimes away
    From fields where glory does not stay
    And early though the laurel grows
    It withers quicker than the rose. ”

Glossary
    Alaa : an exclamation of surprise
    Asi : an exclamation of annoyance
    Barbie : a pampered child
    Bodaboda : motorcycle or bicycle
    Buibui : a loose, floor-length gown and head covering favoured by Muslim women
    Daktari : doctor
    Dhania : coriander leaves
    Githeri : a mixture of maize and beans
    Jiko : brazier
    Kienyeji : traditional
    Kikuyu : a member of a people of central and southern Kenya
    Kumbe : (in speech) it turned out that; (as exclamation) so!
    Lesso : a rectangle of pure cotton cloth with a border all around it, printed in bold designs and bright colours (also known as kanga )
    Luo : a member of a people living chiefly east of Lake Victoria in Kenya
    Mandazi : an East African fried bread quite similar to doughnuts
    Mahamri : a spiced fried bread found at the coast of East Africa
    Mawee : an exclamation of surprise
    Mbuzi : coconut grater
    Mchicha : spinach
    Mchongoano : ridicule
    Misala : mats for prayers
    Mugithi : a traditional Kikuyu song danced to in a forward-moving queue
    Mwiko : cooking stick
    Ndee : idle or in an idle manner
    Nyawawa : zombie
    Nywee : onomatopoeic expression emphasising how smoothly something went
    Panga : machete
    Puh : an exclamation of annoyance
    Shamba : farm
    Sturungi : strong tea
    Sufuria : cooking pan
    Tch : an exclamation of surprise
    Uji : porridge
    Unga : flour
    Uuwi : an exclamation for screaming
    Walahi : I swear

Acknowledgements
    My friends , for they—rather kindly—took me back when the solitary fits wore off. My family, for tolerating me when I couldn’t even tolerate myself. And, finally, CAN-DO! for their patience, which I