Nick stops in the town of Mtito Andei on his way to Mombasa and visits a local bar. He is approached by a woman who offers him a "type" of girl for the night. He chooses a young girl named Mueni. Rather than sleeping with her, Nick learns about Mueni's difficult life and convinces her to quit her job. Nick helps Mueni get training and a job as a waitress in Mombasa. He also helps her brothers find jobs, allowing Mueni to support herself through decent work rather than her previous circumstances.

1. A night with a twilight girl
By Kenneth Juror | Kenya
Mtito Anderi town in Makueni County is a must-stop for most people traveling from Nairobi to
Mombasa. It is a transit town and a mid-point between the capital city of Kenya and the second
city, Mombasa.
Mtito Andei according to the local people it means a forest of vultures. Some residents say it
means marabou stork.
Nick had boarded a bus to Mombasa for vacation but decided to alight at this town. Most bus
companies stop here to allow passengers either empty their bowels, fill them, stretch their bodies
or quench thirst. Bus drivers and their crew are often treated to free food and beverages.
After the usual stop at this town he halted his journey to the coastal city so as to sample it. On the
right side of the road on your way to Mombasa, there is an OilLibya petrol station from where
Nick heard booming music coming from what seemed like a bar or a discotheque. He decided to
go to where the music came from; as he walked he bought airtime so that he could inform his
host of change of plans and that they should not expect him, more over to assure them not to
worry just in case they did.
It was some few minutes past midnight. The town was literally getting up from the day’s slumber
quite literally.
Choices…
He went in and sat at a corner so as to “acquaint” himself with the restaurant. It had a
raised area which acted as its dance floor, above the dance floor there was the DJ stand/ cubicle,
on the left there was a sign leading one to the washrooms.
A waitress came and took his order of Tusker baridi (cold Tusker) he took two at amazing speed.
A lady who looked like she was in her 40’s or late 30’s approached Nick. She asked whether she
could take a seat after greeting him. “Do you want to be helped?” Nick did not understand what
she meant but did not express shock; she asked him what type he wanted. Nick got curious on
what was meant by “type”, the lady pointed to the direction of a girl seated alone on the bar stool
at the counter. It was then that it dawned on him that he was being offered a girl of the night with
the cliché “type”.
He requested the lady if he could sample them himself. The lady who we shall call boss agreed
but after an exchange of Sh300 as “viewing fees”. He was taken towards the washroom then took
a right turn just behind the DJ’s cubicle.

2. Voila! There they were, he looked around but chose a chocolate, medium-bosomed one who also
had round medium derriere. She was a little bit younger as compared to the rest who had seen
tougher days. She was still natural!
Pay more
This young lady was his pick who happened to cost an arm and a leg because she was younger.
They settled for Sh2,500 for the girl for the night with the boss. The boss left as the girl occupied
the boss’ seat. She was called Mueni once they exchanged pleasantries. She was shy although
better looking in a well-lit place than the dark areas they were being “kept”.
They continued drinking up to around 1:30am. They left the bar for the lodgings that punctuated
the small dusty town, they chose one and in they went one after the other. She sat on the bed then
removed her shoes which had a slant. The slant and the ground made an acute angle.
“Do you live here?” Nick asked. She became so wild and told him not to waste her time with
such a question; he had no authority to ask her anything apart from what he had paid for. Nick
tried asserting that he had “bought” her for the night amid her shouting interjections. After the
confrontation she went straight for his belt saying “kama wewe ni mwanaume kamili mbona
ulikuja hapa? Mbona ulinitaka? hebu toa hiyo kitu yako?” (if you are man enough why did you
come here? after all why did you choose me? Can you get out your organ out?) He stopped her
then put her on the bed as she was on a kneeling position.
He opened up on who he was, where he had come from and why he was there. He then excused
himself and went outside the room. Upon his return he had bought more drinks put in black
polythene bag.
Mueni asked him what he wanted. “Who is that lady I paid?” she said that was “our mother” who
acts like our broker. She goes from village to village looking for girls who were not attending
school, she would then agree with parents to be remitting some amount of money on weekly
basis depending on the work done. “In my case my mother is a widow; my father was run over
by a trailer some kilometers from Mtito Andei in which police said it was a hit-and-run case”.
She dropped out of school the previous year in form two, 16years of age yet she had a national
identity card indicating her age as 21. She has sold her body for the last six months; she narrated
this as tears flowed freely from her tiny eyes that had seen the world’s cruelty at a tender age.
She has six brothers and two sisters, one of his brothers was shot dead at Salama area along the
Mombasa-Nairobi highway after he tried his hands in carjacking.
Money
Nick cajoled her tapping her back slowly as they talked. He gave her Sh 3,000 and asked her
whether she would willingly quit the trade for school. She said she would quit but vehemently
refused to go back to school. She wanted a job.

3. Nick removed his shirt and trousers as Mueni got her’s off too. He explained to her that he was
not interested in sleeping with her so it was not important to get into bed in her birthday suit.
He was not a vulture who wanted to gnaw her innocence; the town is a vulture town just as the
name, men and women are vultures too.
“I have never met a man like you” she said as she got herself in bed. Why do you do this for me?
She asked as she got to a sitting position, “why?” she insisted looking straight into Nick’s eyes.
He requested her to calm down, to get a rest as he would explain everything the following day.
Day break
“Nick, Nick..wewe (you) wake up” it is 6:24am. She had already taken a shower. Nick went in
for a shower as well and asked her to give up her “job” as he would help her look for a job in the
hotel industry.
After that Nick left for Mombasa after getting her phone number as well as her mother’s.
He knew some influential people in Mombasa who would probably help Mueni; during his stay
he kept in touch with her.
Two weeks thereafter, Nick sent her some money for transport to Mombasa all this while Mueni
had stopped being a night girl. On her arrival she went to the salon at least to look impressive
because the following day she was scheduled to attend an interview for a waitress job in one of
the hotels that Nick’s friend owned.
It was a small oral interview which led to her training the following week.
He left the city as his holiday was over, as he did, Mueni’s two brothers got jobs at the Kenya
Ports Authority as a loader and technician which was through Nick’s influence.
Mueni on the other hand already had a one bed roomed house in Mikindani, she indeed had quit
her previous “job” and earns a decent living.
The poor are cured by work, the rich by the doctor Polish proverb