HIS NAME WAS BRUCE......PART 3

It had been an uneventful week for Becky. The Boss had been out of the University for the better part of the week. As the weekend approached, she was not sure what she was going to do. Bruce had also gone out of town with the boys for, as he called it, a ‘men only’ vacation. It was way past 5pm on this Friday evening but she was still seated on her desk doing nothing in particular. She had watched as one by one her colleagues left the office to celebrate the end of the week. She particularly did not feel like going to her house that evening. Her phone rang.

“Becky, this is Leleti. How are you? Where are you?”

“Hello Leleti. I am still in the office. What’s up?”

“Care to join us this weekend? My girls and I have a sleepover at one of my girl’s apartments. We will Netflix and chill.”

“The whole weekend?”

“Yes. It will be fun. Trust me.”

“What do I need to bring?”

“Just you and may be some few cloths.”

“Okay. Where does your girl stay?”

“Milimani. I will come pick you up from your house say at 6pm?”

“Uuuhmm….how about you pick me up at the exit of All-in-One Supermarket?”

“That is even better. See you then.” Leleti said and hung up.

Becky looked at her watch. It was 5:45pm. She quickly turned off her computer, gathered her belongings, switched off the lights and bounded down the stairs. She only had a few minutes to pack and pass via the supermarket to buy a thing or two for the sleepover.

Leleti did not lie when she said the sleepover was going to be fun. Becky had immediately hit it off with Leleti when they met during a medical camp. They had been placed in the same working group. They were the ones in charge of registering and taking details of every person who came in search for medical services. Leleti had a warm personality about her. She was lovable and easy to talk to. Her smile was constantly plastered on her lips even when they faced difficult people. She spoke to them with so much humility and compassion. Becky felt she was the complete opposite of Leleti. Whereas she was soft and pliable, she was firm and solid in her approach to issues. These differences worked to endear them rather than tear them apart.

She was having so much fun with the four other ladies she met in the apartment. Laura, Mary, Ruth and Pam were extremely fun to be with. She blended with them as though they had known each other for a very long time. They drank, ate, watched movies and gossiped. They would take turns to cook and clean after themselves. They had dozed off this particular Saturday evening after watching an emotional movie. She was amused to see Laura shed tears out of mere acting of a make-believe story. She had observed that among the four ladies, Laura was timid. She was easily carried away by emotions. Ruth was a fierce feminist who seemed to hate everything about men. Several times she had asked them to ‘stay Taliban’ when dealing with men otherwise they risked being ‘embarrassed by the male gender’. Becky wondered whether there was a story behind Ruth’s dislike of men.

“I always tell you people. Stay Taliban. Don’t invest your emotions in these sons of Pharaoh.”

“What did they do to you, Ruth? It is not wise to lump all people together and judge them,” Leleti tried to reason with her.

“That may be true but for this male gender, I have enough reason to lump all of them together. They can embarrass you unprovoked.”

“Ruth, what happened to you? You were never like this,” Mary said.

“Leave her alone. She is nursing a heartbreak,” Pam responded.

“Am I lying though? I mean look at Bruce.” Ruth said.

Becky was amused by the conversation the girls were having. Her ears were pricked when she heard Bruce’s name being mentioned.

“What about Bruce?” Becky asked.