How I survived the wrath of passengers after a tout pushed a passenger out of a moving matatu

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By Felix Desouza

I have never suffered sleep deprivation but I have recently found myself sleeping late. In recent times, I have grappled with long nights. Often, I think about the risks I am exposing myself to by working as a tout in town.

For a long time, I thought I would not be influenced but my first day in the Air Force, the most famous matatu in this town, got me thinking otherwise. As my routine is, I woke up and left Lucy in bed. This time, she had not passed out. She probably was awake the greater part of the night as I was.

She gave a half smile, wished me a good day, and for a change asked me to be careful. I wished she did not add the last bit. Soon I was at the station. Julius, the driver, already had the engine running. He had a lot of energy in him despite having very little rest. He could notice I was struggling to stay awake. He called me close so that he could share a secret with me.

I leant towards him paying attention. He handed me a small paper bag which had some leaves in it. It was a pack of miraa. Julius told me there was no other way to stay awake. I could see the disappointment on his face when I turned down the offer. I was just about to ask Julius about Kilosh, the previous Airforce conductor. But Julius dismissed me to my station, in this case, the matatu door. Julius is not approachable when in such a mood.

I was sure I will have a long day ahead for turning down his pack of miraa. At noon, we had made more trips than any other matatu in our route. Julius was a fast driver. All this time, we had not said a single word to each other. Along the way, Julius picked up two touts so that he could have someone to converse with and share his drugs with. One of the touts was drunk.

He was stationed at the door of the already crowded matatu, still calling for more passengers. There was nothing much I could do about this situation because Julius was in command. Later, the matatu stopped to pick up a lady passenger. Before boarding the matatu, I heard the lady ask whether there was a vacant seat inside the matatu.

One of the touts promised a seat and the lady agreed to be a passenger. Before long, Air Force had left the stage and the lady started complaining that one of the touts had cheated her. A confrontation ensued as the driver sped off probably unaware of what was happening inside the matatu. The lady got angry with the touts and even started abusing the crew. Some passengers supported her. I tried to save the situation by being courteous to the lady and the passengers.

This only affirmed her resolve and she even became more confrontational. At this point, I thought it was wise to involve Julius but even before I could get to the drivers cabin, I heard s c r e a m s coming from behind me. One of the touts had pushed the lady out of the vehicle. A moment of By Felix Desouza madness gripped the vehicle as some passengers went for the tout. Julius slowed sown and then pulled over.

The tout jumped out of the vehicle trying to escape but the passengers caught up with him. They beat him up as others went to rescue the lady. I was really shaken about the incident. A good Samaritan volunteered to take the lady to hospital. Luckily, she was fine but had injuries on her head and arms. We had to report the incident to the police.

The police came to the scene and the vehicle was towed to the police station. A few hour later, were back on the road. I had no idea about how that happened. All I remember is Julius bragging how untouchable he is. Lucy was surprised and worried to see me home early that day.

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