Laughter instead of tears
As I watched Natalie chase several street boys away from her car with an umbrella I couldn’t stop from laughing. She was screaming about the fact that she “JUST” washed her car, the car that they were all hanging and kissing on. She had warned them to get away or she would "beat" them, apparently they didn’t take her seriously. I must say, neither did I for that matter. This was until she whipped herself out of her broken-down car and hurled herself at the disrespectful boys who were hollering at us….
You see, the night started with a group of us wanting to share a meal with Miss Emily Daw before she headed back to the States. Our plan was to go out and eat at Emily’s favorite Indian restaurant. As four of us sat at the bottom of a hill, on our way to town, we listened to Natalie’s car rumble as if it wasn’t getting sufficient amounts of gas. We were stuck. We couldn’t move forward, we didn’t know what to do…..
Revving the engine seemed to help. So we brought the RPM’s up and were able to speed our way up the hill to the main road. Laughing the entire way as we speedily zipped over the potholes, scaring everyone else on the road…..
After stopping for gas we eventually got to the restaurant, ate and had great conversations. As we were leaving, hoping the car would make it home we had no idea the night that was to come.
Oh, the car was able to start alright, however we weren’t able to move even a centimeter before we stalled out. This is when the street boys started collecting around the car. The growing amount of street boys begging for money and making comments was not what broke Natalie. The frustration and worry of her car not working, the gradual increase of rudeness by the boys were only minor frustrations. However, once the boys started kissing on the windows, oh yes, that was what eventually broke Natalie. She was screaming at the boys to get off her car, she had just washed it! She continued to warn them, if they did not leave her car alone she would beat them. The four of us just started laughing. We did not believe Natalie’s threats, because that’s just what we thought they were, threats.
Much to our disbelief however, Natalie was not bluffing. She catapulted out of her car, umbrella in hand, running after the street boys trying to get them away from her newly washed car. The rest of us left in the car could not help but to burst out in uncontrollable laughter. While Natalie dealt with the annoying street kids we were all laughing about the situation.
Even as we were attached to our friend’s truck, being pulled by a tow-strap around Mbale town, we couldn’t stop from laughing.
Oh what a night.
It was an interesting and entertaining night. To defend myself, the reason that I was concerned about my newly washed car was because early the next morning I was participating in a wedding of a Ugandan friend and my car needed to look "smart" but I knew I would not have time to have it washed again before the wedding. And the situation with the street boys was portrayed by a "newby" in Mbale and not as grave as it sounded.You see, the night started with a group of us wanting to share a meal with Miss Emily Daw before she headed back to the States. Our plan was to go out and eat at Emily’s favorite Indian restaurant. As four of us sat at the bottom of a hill, on our way to town, we listened to Natalie’s car rumble as if it wasn’t getting sufficient amounts of gas. We were stuck. We couldn’t move forward, we didn’t know what to do…..
Revving the engine seemed to help. So we brought the RPM’s up and were able to speed our way up the hill to the main road. Laughing the entire way as we speedily zipped over the potholes, scaring everyone else on the road…..
After stopping for gas we eventually got to the restaurant, ate and had great conversations. As we were leaving, hoping the car would make it home we had no idea the night that was to come.
Oh, the car was able to start alright, however we weren’t able to move even a centimeter before we stalled out. This is when the street boys started collecting around the car. The growing amount of street boys begging for money and making comments was not what broke Natalie. The frustration and worry of her car not working, the gradual increase of rudeness by the boys were only minor frustrations. However, once the boys started kissing on the windows, oh yes, that was what eventually broke Natalie. She was screaming at the boys to get off her car, she had just washed it! She continued to warn them, if they did not leave her car alone she would beat them. The four of us just started laughing. We did not believe Natalie’s threats, because that’s just what we thought they were, threats.
Much to our disbelief however, Natalie was not bluffing. She catapulted out of her car, umbrella in hand, running after the street boys trying to get them away from her newly washed car. The rest of us left in the car could not help but to burst out in uncontrollable laughter. While Natalie dealt with the annoying street kids we were all laughing about the situation.
Even as we were attached to our friend’s truck, being pulled by a tow-strap around Mbale town, we couldn’t stop from laughing.
Oh what a night.
And, my car is now very fine. Our mechanic friend replaced the plugs and my car was delivered to my house before I even had time to call and check on it.
1 comment:
I am dying laughing at that post Nat. Amazing and a GREAT story!
Post a Comment