Have you ever thought of what it takes to be a man? Well, what it really takes apart from having the biological equipment and stuff?

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A man must hustle. You go out looking for money every day. You don't want your wife and children to starve. So you get out of the house at 4am. Sometimes Mama Boi wants you to stay longer. But a man understands that that too must be sacrificed. He leaves his good bed for the family. 

[/KiberaKwetu]

And while out there the man keeps walking. It doesn't matter the distance of the walk. He keeps walking for the family. All their dreams are on his shoulders. Mama Boi can sell groceries at the plot gate but that does not convince him to stay home. Being man means that you walk out there for the daily bread of the family. 

But sometimes the man comes home from the hustle and finds that all his sweat did not count. 

[NaijaGists]

After walking from Industrial Area to Kibera, the welcome at home is not good. He is told that the 50 bob he is bringing is too little. That he should give 500 bob like Janet's husband. The man is never given the opportunity to say that this is all he could find. That he cannot become a thief like Janet's husband because that will be risking the family. What if he is arrested and imprisoned for life?

The next day the man laaves very early because he was not fed.

And manze mjengo ni ngumu. Today the man-child will try to work harder for the family. Unfortunately, by 4pm he will throw away his tools and throw himself on the ground. Dead. 

[/AmaruDay]

Sometimes you will tell your boss you need a little money. The boss will say it is still 8th. Wait for the end-month. And then you will fold your lips and try to understand what he is saying. 

[/Standard]

Later as you walk home, police are chasing hawkers in town. They arrest you and say you are a hawker. You try to show them your dirty fingers and say you are from mjengo. 

[/AssociatedPress]

They tell you if you don't have 1k your ass is cooked. You left the phone at home and you don't have the money so you stay in the cells till morning. 

Then they will release the man. The man now walks home polepole at the edge of the road feeling lonely, and very sure that Mama Boi will pick another quarrel over where he spent his night. 

[/NatJaw]

To go home, or not to go home, is the question. 

Mwanaume ni kujikaza. 

More creative works by the writer are found HERE.