THE GIRLS OF HALL 13

They laughed and danced along corridors

And when my father asked me about love I quickly quoted 1st Corinthians 13 just as he taught me. I loved these girls. The girls of hall 13. I loved them the way scripture wanted me to.

A love that is pure,

A love that is gentle,

A love that is kind,

A love that knows no end

(I hope it never will).

I met most of them in first year

All shone with innocence on their faces

And the elegance in their voices

I thought of them so highly, I still do

I remember how we allowed ourselves to be just girls.

We jumped around the corridors and knocked on people's doors and ran away to hide.

We laughed on so many occasions. We laughed even when we shouldn't have.

At night we'd tell stories of our highschool days. The genius that we were back then.

We talked of lecturers that fascinated us and the small rants in between of girls in class that were super annoying.

We ranked girls in terms of who was the most prettiest.

Years later we realized beauty lies in behaviour and conduct.

We talked of boys who were super cunning in all possible ways.

We cried when we had to and comforted each other like siblings do. We mourned the loss of people and we mourned at the state of our economy. We lamented about the anguish in our souls that was too hard to fully express. We cried at the state of our beings and others worried about their mental health. We found ways to be each others therapists way before we knew of peer counsellors in school.

We were crippled with fear sometimes. We thought of our parents who held so much belief in our studies.

We were so afraid of failing that we never did.

In turn we took to having discussions on nights and days when we felt the need to.

We were afraid of a future not promised.

We shared our dreams and aspirations. Shee,for instance wants to live like Emily in Paris.

They called me professor Bett

And we'd make fun of it when I didn't know the answer to anything. "professor kwani hujui" "professor kwani haukua keen darasani"

We'd get each other gifts as a remembrance incase one day we'd be separated and we'd have memories to hold on to.

We knew of each others likes and dislikes.

We have fought. We've had fights amongst ourselves and fights with the custodians too.

This one time the custodian called us out on a Friday while going out because of our outfits. We refused to change. She asked if we'd show up like that before our parents and one of us said even her mum dresses that way.

The custodian let go of us after an hour of some lecture.

We shared a corridor to our rooms and had each others' keys. We trusted each other so much in a way that you shouldn't trust even your government or family.

We have shared buckets, lipgloss, mirrors, snacks,notes, rooms, outfits and so much more.

With these girls it was different. An epiphany of having a girl friendships. Girlhood they called it.

We shared tiktok videos and stole each others lingos.

We learnt of different ways other than those we were taught at home.

In not so long, our dear girls knew of men more than some others. It's no secret that some spent time in Mamlaka and others had plans with their people during the weekends.

Others like me went home on weekends or watched movies instead.

We devised ways of kutoskia vibaya 😂.

Some showed off how much tolerance they had with the bottle.

And it was fun seeing how people lost themselves in the booze. I have never been to Molly's but stories found themselves to me.

I want to claim I have been an escort to places like that.

I had my favourites of these girls

How each of them had a strength

I loved the one who quoted verses in all situations I cried about

I knew which one to go to for advice

I knew which one fancied my poetry and storytelling the most

Which one for stories

Another one for just vibes

I loved them differently

All in a different kind of special (i know I sound like a Luo man addressing one of his side chicks who knows the others exist)

I have watched as we transformed from girls to women

Girls to ladies

All shaped by midlife crisis I presume

Some ended up being so enthusiastic about leadership,

State of the nation, feminism,

Others about content creation,

Some have sworn to die on the hill of career,

And others have resolved to looking for a rich man to marry.

We have stories

Held dear to our hearts

The girls of hall 13.

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For context, Hall 13 is a hostel at the university of Nairobi.

To my dear readers, I'm currently reading 'tomorrow I become a woman' by Aiwanose Odafen. Totally recommend

Adiós