Forbidden

By Pauline Akatsa

Jason loathes the idea of moving to Africa. All he can think about is it has wild animals and cannibals. However, he has no choice. His father, who is a missionary doctor, has accepted a post in Kikuyu, Kenya. When he and his father arrive at Kikuyu, he instantly loves the place more than he likes to admit. With his outgoing personality, Jason soon makes a lot of new friends from the neighborhood and school. In one of his father’s church’s celebrations, he meets Paulina through his friend, Philip. Her exquisite beauty and grace captivate him. Paulina has been open about her attraction to him. Unfortunately, Paulina is duty-bound to follow an age-old custom that forbids her to engage in a romantic relationship with someone outside her culture. Is their love strong enough to weather the storms? Is Paulina telling the truth about her other friendships? Is there more to James Mathenge than Paulina lets on? Follow Jason and Paulina as they fight for a love that is true but yet…forbidden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664153349

Pauline Akatsa

Pauline Akatsa is a graduate of Kenya Utalii College. Her love and passion for romance stories begun when she was very young; this blossomed into a passion for writing. She was greatly influenced by African writers such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiongo in her childhood and Teenage years. Pauline’s astitute style of story telling adds an unusual flavor to the Romantic genre. Pauline currently resides in Houston TX with her husband and four sons. This is her first novel

Book preview

Forbidden

Pauline Akatsa

Copyright © 2021 by Pauline Akatsa.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/18/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

825421

Contents

Foreword

Onset

Kikuyu

Paulina

Differences

Friendly Advice

Confrontation

Obscure

Plain

Beginning

Sabbatical

Epics

Reckoning

Journey

Crossroads

Foreboding

Hiatus

Stirring

Boston

Plunge

Ascent

Sweet Memories

Honeymoon

Foreword

This book is a must read to every young person.

Pauline has extraordinarily captured the story of two young people, falling in-love, from different cultural backgrounds, with great wit and humor. Many times, while reading this book, I had to stop, as it reads like pages plucked from my own life.

It’s a great story that captures the essence of love: Love is never tired of waiting, love is Kind: Love has not envy: Love has no high opinion of itself: Love is not proud: Love’s ways are ever fair: It takes no thought for itself: It is not quickly angered: It takes no account of being wronged: It takes no pleasure in wrong doing but has joy in what is true. Love has the power of undergoing all things, hoping all things, overcoming all things. 1St Corinthians 13

JINNA MUTUNE

Film Director/ Producer.

"

To he who is pure…all things are pure"

Onset

The first thing he noticed when he got off the plane was the heat; it hit him like a ton of bricks. Ooof! He thought his lungs would explode. And the sun was bright, too bright such that his eyes were hurting. He reached for the sun glasses in his shirt pocket. They disembarked the plane and walked down the stairs and across the jet way to the airport building a couple of yards away. It was Thursday, January 3rd, 1985. When they had left Edina on Tuesday- the weather there was cold- it was winter. But here the heat was smoldering. His father had mentioned something about the African January sun.

What am I doing here? Jason thought again for the hundredth time. Jason was a striking sixteen-year-old with broad shoulders, golden-brown hair and green–chartreuse eyes that deepened whenever he was upset. He was tall for his age and looked more like a jock; this was partly due to the fact that he had recently started working-out. His mother often teased him about his newly acquired muscle, she lovingly called him my muscle man. Jason’s thoughts lingered on his mum and he smiled, then as he remembered why he was here, his apprehension returned, well there is no turning back now," he thought. Actually, there never had been any ‘turning back’ for him; it was not like he was given a choice. Dr Greene, his father was a missionary and had taken this new post in answer to prayer. Jason was not at all sure why, but this move had taken its toll on his already shaky faith.

Why here? I mean of all the godforsaken places on earth, why did his father have to move his entire family to Africa? He shook his head as he had done many times since they started the journey. Jason and his father followed the throng of passengers across the jet way into the airport building; it felt good to get out of the heat and into the cool Terminal building. It had been an uneventful flight. The food had not been that bad really, and his dad, who had a knack for making friends easily, had connected with the lady sitting next to them. So, the two of them had exchanged stories about missionary work. This had left Jason alone with his thoughts to ponder on what this move meant for him, the eight hours from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and another seven hours into Nairobi was a lot of time for Jason to ponder.

Passports please, the Immigration officer said in an accent that Jason could not place.

Dr. John Green gave the immigration officer a wary smile and handed him their passports. Becky, Jason’s mother and his little sister, Sarah would be joining them in a couple of months. Mother had stayed behind to allow Sarah to complete her third-grade semester at the Elementary School, and to finalize the sale of their house in Edina. Jason wished his mother were here though as she always seemed to exude such an aura of peace and serenity.

What is the nature of your visit here? Jason heard the immigration officer ask.

I’m here as a Missionary in Kikuyu, Dr. Greene replied.

Welcome to Kenya! The officer said in his interesting accent, as he stamped both their passports. Then they went through customs and soon they were heading out the automatic doors into the heat outside. Jason could see the grass outside, it looked pretty much like any normal grass- green- however the flags were not star spangled, they were red, green and black.

Well, Jason, said Dr. Greene, waking Jason from his day dream, here we are, this is it. How do you feel?

Jason was not sure how to respond, should he lie and say he felt great? But he knew his dad could always tell when he was lying, so he just shrugged and mumbled.

O-kay… I guess.

Don’t worry son, it’ll all work out. God has a plan for us… you’ll see.

Jason wished he could echo his father’s optimism, and the way he always seemed to have such faith in God. But for a sixteen soon-to-be seventeen-year-old teenage boy - moving halfway across the world to a place he did not know was not his idea of ok! But he didn’t say anything. His thoughts lingered to the day his dad told him about the impending move.

Son, as you know your mother and I have been praying about God’s will for us now that I have completed my doctorate degree in Christian education. We have finally decided and should be moving soon.

That did not sound good. Jason just like any other teenage boy did not like change.

Moving? Where to Dad?

To a place that is mostly sunny, has a lot of natural beauty, but also very different.

Is it in the continental U.S? He ventured.

No son, a little further than that.

Ok Dad, why don’t you just tell me? I don’t think I can guess. He was not too happy about the thought of moving.

We are moving to Kenya.

Kenia, where’s that? Jason asked frowning.

It’s on the East coast of Africa. And it’s pronounced K.e.y.n.i.a.

AFRICA!! Why Africa Dad? Jason was surprised, among the many continents he had thought about, this had not been one of them.

Because that’s where God is leading us son.

But Dad, Jason said argumentatively. "Isn’t that considered the Dark Continent? I mean what about the wild animals? Don’t the people live on trees and what about all the killings and stuff?"

Well, Jason there is more to Africa than most people are aware of, a lot of that stuff to do with wild animals is not really true. And the Africans don’t live on trees! And who told you about killings?

I heard one of my friends talking about it, he called it … Jason paused. What was that word again? Um… oh yeah genocide! He said that they were all killing each other and stuff.

You see son that’s one of the reasons why I believe God prompted us to move there. I believe there is a lot of misconception about that part of the world. And I would like to use the knowledge that God has given me to educate some of the people, so that they will be able to reach out to their own to share the good news and the love of God. Anyway, Kenya is a peaceful country. He paused contemplating then continued, even though it does have its share of problems just like any other country. We have killings right here in Edina too… don’t we? Human beings are pretty much the same wherever you go.

Well I don’t want to go to Africa! If we move anywhere why can’t we go to Australia? Jason had a kind of fascination with Australia. Maybe it was the whole idea of it being the land downunder.

Africa is where we are going, and obviously you and your sister are coming with us. Dr. Greene paused and looked at his son intently then he said, Here’s what I suggest, why don’t you read and research as much as you can about Kenya? Who knows maybe in time as you get to know the country you might grow to like it? The people are very warm…

I wish I was eighteen and could get to choose, this is so unfair, Jason murmured quietly complaining. But he also knew there was no point arguing with his dad once his mind was made up.

Give it a chance you might like it. Dr. Greene said but he had a troubled look on his face.

I really doubt that. Jason mumbled.

What did you say?

Nothing, Dad.

And so here they were, after months of flurried and hurried-so it seemed to Jason- preparations they were finally here. His dad made several trips down to finalize the arrangements and get them situated into a house. He even showed them pictures of their new home and it looked pretty impressive. But for Jason there could be no place like Edina, that’s where his life was, all his friends, and now his entire life was about to change. He was already missing his room, his friends, and what was he going to do about this nagging fear that just did not let up?

When they came through the double doors outside there was a gentleman holding up a sign that read, Dr. Greene Party.

That’s us. His father said and soon they were in a Range Rover cruising towards Kikuyu.

Jason hardly remembered the introductions. The gentleman driving the Range Rover was Ben and he had a last name that sounded like get there, Githieya. He was their assigned guide/driver for the next couple of weeks to help them get settled and acclimated.

Jason was not paying much attention to the banter between his dad and Ben. He was looking out the window and was amazed at how similar this looked to Edina. Of course, there were major differences like driving on the right side of the road. But the grass looked the same, the flowers, the trees; they even had a traffic jam to boot! Jason could see some of the homes, they looked different from what he was accustomed to. The windows and doors had burglar bars on them, and he overheard Ben tell his dad, that’s for security purposes. He made a mental note to find out exactly what that meant later.

Soon, they were driving through the streets of Nairobi. Nairobi, as Jason soon found out, is the safari capital of Africa. Nairobi is a cosmopolitan city complete with sky scrapers, the business centers and different stores though they were not as big as the ones in Minneapolis. The city also had the assorted races, tribes and origins which were all a part of its make-up. But soon they were leaving the sky scrapers driving towards Kikuyu. Jason was surprised by how similar the city looked to Minneapolis with the exception that it was smaller in size. While he had looked at the photos his dad brought home, seeing it for himself was different –

Hhmm… maybe this place is not so bad after all, he thought. Despite himself, Jason must’ve dozed off because the next thing he heard was his dad’s booming voice.

We are here!

He awoke with a start and the first impression of his new home will stay with him forever. Though Jason had never really been into all that poetry stuff, this scene affected him in ways he could not express. This scene looked like something out of a post card. He noticed the scenery first. It was lush and green; the acacia trees formed a canopy that led to the walkway. In the opening, Jason could see beautifully sculptured flower beds filled with red and white roses, yellow and red carnations, sunflowers, and he could make out daisies and lilacs. The entire area had the greenest grass Jason had ever seen. The lawn was newly cut and well kempt, the hedge was an inch high and again neatly cut it, it had shapes of several animals, and he could make out elephant shapes. The walkway was lined with the most beautiful looking hedge he has ever seen, the soil seemed to be peeking out from under the grass and Jason could see it was brick red. The air was crisp and fresh; he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, now that smelled so good!

Then he saw the house, it was a two storey building, nestled against the clear blue skies. The house was made entirely of grayish-blue brick; the roof had reddish-gray slate and tiles. The door was curved out of oak, and it had the most exquisite carvings, they looked like intertwined twigs.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and a large woman stepped into the sun to greet us. She was dressed in what looked like a nurse’s uniform. She had the most charming smile; her teeth were white and even like a dentist had spent hours working on them. She had a roundish face, warm brown eyes; her skin was a lovely chocolate brown and smooth.

Karibu, Bwana Greene! she beamed as she shook Dr. Greene’s hand.

Ahsante. Dr. Greene said. As I was wondering what that meant the lady suddenly gave me a bear hug.

Karibu Chason, she said warmly to me. I frowned slightly wondering at the name and the accent.

Um… thank you, I stammered. My dad laughed.

That evening we ate our first meal in Greene Manor as I now called it. It was a simple yet delicious meal that Mama Sammy, that’s what our Nanny (well…Sarah’s nanny) preferred to be called, had prepared. It was beef stew cooked to perfection, with some brown rice and mixed vegetables. The fruit salad was fresh. But I already missed the sloppy Joes, and the Lasagna that mum usually made. Mama Sammy served tea after dinner, but this was not the usual iced tea that I was used to, it was steaming hot!

Ok, who drank hot tea? Jason wondered. Apparently, they did so in these parts. Jason shook his head for the umpteenth time thinking, HOT tea?..ugh!. That and she kept referring to me as Chason! Ok so now I had a new home and a new name. I wonder what else will be new. Jason mused.

After dinner, his dad made a phone call to Edina to let mum know that we arrived safely. After a brief chat with my mother, I was left to my own devices to unwind, unpack or do whatever it was that sixteen -almost-seventeen-year-old boys do in a new place. Dad went to bed early, he wanted to rest so that he would be fresh the next morning to meet with the director at the church and discuss the next steps. My room was large –bigger than my room back home.

Wait, I would have to start thinking of this place as home pretty soon. Thought Jason. There was a mosquito net hanging over the bed, and as I found out soon enough the net was to keep those pesky little mosquitoes out. It did not take me long to unpack. Soon, I was listening to my favorite music on my walkman, and then I sat down to compose a letter to Eric, my best bud in Edina. Because of the immense time difference, it was already early morning in Edina, this time difference thing was intriguing to me.

Kikuyu

He awoke to the sound of a cock crowing. Jason could not recall ever hearing that that sound in real life before. He sat up on the bed a little confused. It took him several minutes to acclimatize himself with the room. He frowned. This looks different. And I thought I was in geometry class? Then it all came flooding back to him, this was Kikuyu, his new home! He got off the bed and as soon as his feet touched the floor, he quickly recoiled, THAT’S COLD!!

He reached for his house slippers. This will not do Jason. The floor is too cold; in his haste Jason forgot what side the area rug was located. Note to self – from now on, get off on the right side of the bed!

The air felt briskly cold, like the wintery air in Edina. He looked at his alarm clock it was 6:30AM. Too early! This is not a school day, right? Wasn’t today Saturday? He frowned in concentration, he seemed to remember arriving on a Thursday but somehow Friday was a blur. At dinner on Friday, his father had said something about jetlag and that Jason slept most of the day Friday, but Jason did not seem to have much recollection of that.

But today must be Saturday. Having finally convinced himself that indeed it was Saturday, he plopped back on his bed and just lay there gazing up at the ceiling. I wonder what this new place holds for me. Will I make any good friends? Jason did not really cherish the thought of starting over but what choice did he have?

That first Saturday morning Jason took a walk to familiarize himself with the area. The air was briskly cold. Kikuyu was what can be called an upland and hillside landscape, consisting of hillsides, knolls, ridges and spurs. It was generally covered in scrub vegetation but also had various small farms where the local people grew mostly white corn, arrow root, tomatoes, long leaf onions and sweet potatoes. Several homesteads also kept goats, chicken and cows. There were the occasional slopes in sheltered gullies and ravines, where permanent streams tumble down the hillsides.

This area contained few human features apart from the homes, footpaths or power lines. Most of the smaller roads were gravel roads; there was only one main marram road that led to Nairobi. The area reminded Jason of grandpa and grandma Greene’s farmland two hours Southwest of Minneapolis. The local people were very friendly and while Jason did not know any of them, they said hello to him as he walked past them on the path.

On Monday morning, Dr. Greene drove Jason to his new school - Akimbo Boys High school. It was an all boy’s school, apparently in these parts you either went to an all-boy’s high school or an all-girl’s high school. Apart from its highly reputed rich history, the quality of its education and its consistent levels of academic excellence; the school curriculum included a variety of extracurricular activities which included: drama, choir, as well as clubs: through its Debate, Wildlife, Environmental, Young Farmers’ Club, Writers’ Club-which also served as the Journalism Club; and Scientific Clubs. School leadership through the prefect’s body. The school had an active community services program through the Social Welfare Society, Sunday School teaching, and visits to hospitals. The drama and choir productions consistently won regional as well as national honors.

At Akimbo students learn the importance of physical fitness through school-wide cross-country runs, as well as the value of teamwork and good sportsmanship in both individual and team sports. Team choices within the school include: basketball, rugby, soccer, track and field, hockey, volleyball, handball, swimming, and lawn tennis.

The school’s dictum, Excellence for all, Excellence from all, said it all. It was the beginning of the school year and I was joining form three-that would be eleventh grade back in Edina.

Jason was clad in the school uniform, another major difference from the High Schools back home. The uniform consisted of a gray blazer jacket that had the school seal which was a Lion, a white shirt, dark navy-blue pants and a striped tie.

His dad had said that he looked, Really handsome, Jason!

Jason was apprehensive as they neared the school. Dr. Greene had insisted on coming with Jason so that he could speak to the school Principal. The school was huge, it had several building blocks, most were two story. I could see four buildings that formed a quadrangle around a campus green. In the center of that green is the original building of the Musa Gitau Hall Academy that was the original name of the school. We drove to what looked like the Administrative building and I read the sign – RESERVED HEADMASTER. I wondered what a headmaster was and learned later - that was the title given to the Principal. We parked in an open spot, actually there were many open spots and I was to learn later that most of the students walked to school.

The Principal, Mr. Silas Omondi welcomed both my Dad and I.

Welcome Dr. Greene, Jason… he said shaking our hands. I’m glad you are joining our school; your grades are quite impressive young man. Please have a seat, he said motioning to the two seats on the other side of his huge desk.

The next thing I knew, I was walking down the hallway to my new class.

My first day was a blurry of activities; I felt overwhelmed by it all. All the boys looked pretty much the same with the same blazer and dark pants, just like a normal high school except that there were no girls in sight, and that was a strange sight for me. I noticed there were a few other white boys in the school, which suited me fine because I was not the only one. As I breathed in the fresh spring scent a blast of nostalgia hit –

Oh, how I loved spring time in Edina! Jason thought. But this was not Edina, it was thousands of miles away. Actually, it was more than nine thousand miles away!

During recess my neighbor turned and smiled, he had the warmest eyes I’d ever seen.

Hi there, Jason, my name is Philip Omondi, I am the class prefect.

Philip was a handsome, medium build boy just about my height, with wavy dark hair; his face had the first signs of facial hair which made it look like he was spotting a mustache. He must’ve noticed the confused look on my face because he proceeded to explain.

Oh, we all know who you are, one - your coming was anticipated from the time my dad told us that a certain Dr. Greene had accepted the missionary position over at the church. And two - we don’t have an overwhelming majority of white boys in this school. He paused. in case you haven’t already noticed. He added with a twinkle in his eyes. So, how do you like your new home?

Er-it’s okay. Jason gave Philip a sheepish look. Actually, it’s more than okay, it’s better than I thought it would be.

Ahhh, another American who thought we lived on trees…

Well, that’s uh-not exactly-er… Jason stammered, wondering how to put it so as not to offend this friendly boy.

It’s okay, most people are ignorant about Africa until they get here, so don’t sweat it. Philip said chuckling and Jason laughed. He could already tell that they would become really good friends.

The rest of the day went by without much of a hitch. Lunch time was an interesting time of day and once again Jason could not help comparing the two high schools. Back in Edina they had separate lunch periods for different groups but here everyone had lunch at the same time. As soon as the lunch period bell sounded, everyone made a beeline for the lunch hall - that would be cafeteria back in Edina. The teachers had their lunch in the teacher’s lounge and according to Philip, theirs consistent of a very different choice of menu options and very unique from the students. Some of the prefects had special school privileges and would at times get to sample the teacher’s menu. It was amazing how prestigious being a class prefect really was; this was probably what could be compared to a hall monitor. But one of the most sought after, coveted, and prestigious position was the school captain position. Next to the school principal, the school captain was considered the most important personality in school. He was treated with honor and respect, he did not carry his own textbooks but rather had a junior doing it, and freshmen were not allowed near him - he was a true celebrity in the real sense of the word!

Soon, Jason’s schedule was predictable, he got up at 6:00AM, had breakfast with his dad in the dining room downstairs. Dr. Greene had purchased an old Toyota Corolla from one of Ben’s friends and surprised Jason on his seventeenth birthday. So, Jason had taken to driving himself to school. He normally stopped by Philips’ house, and then they would go and pick-up Alan Watonga. Alan was an enigma. Even though his father was one of the wealthiest men in the region, Alan preferred to walk to school, and did not want his father to send the family chauffeur to drop him or pick him up. But when Jason started driving to school, Alan told his father that he would ride to school with the Pastor’s son. The three boys became good friends.

However, Philip and Jason had become best friends. They discovered they had a lot in common. They both had a relationship with Christ, they hailed from Christian homes, they had similar ideals regarding relationships with the opposite sex, and they were both straight A students. So, they did most of their studying together. They did not particularly like sports either. Philip had taken to schooling his American friend on the different tribes and cultures found in Kenya, and Jason had agreed to share all that he could about the American lifestyle.

During recess, when they were not goofing off, the two friends usually spent time exchanging stories about their different backgrounds. But lately, they had also taken to talking about what they wanted to do after they graduated high school. Philip had plans to attend Harvard University in Boston, his grades would get him in easy. Jason, whose grades were at par with his friend’s, was torn between attending an Ivy League School with his new-found buddy or returning to Minneapolis. Sometimes, Jason wished he was more like Philip, who always seemed to know what he wanted. Philip, Principal Omondi’s son was also a natural born leader – so it was no surprise that he was slotted to become the School Captain the following year. Philip had complained that, that was partly due to the fact that he was the Principal’s son, but Jason knew it was more than that. The boy had charisma. Principal Omondi had grown fond of Jason. According to Philip his father usually said of Jason, imitating his father,

"that boy has a very good head on his shoulders and that young man will go places."

Dr. Greene was also glad that Jason spent time with Philip; he felt Philip was a good influence on his son.

*    *    *    *

That semester Jason discovered several things, one - he enjoyed nature and hiking, and two - boys would be boys no matter what continent they hailed from! He also discovered that there were other Missionary families living in their area; there was Kevin Smith and his wife Mary, they had one daughter Stacy Smith a pretty sixteen-year-old brunette. Stacy was quiet but she enjoyed hiking and hanging out with Jason and Philip. Then there were George Boone with his wife Amy; they had two thirteen-year-old twin boys Bruce and Mike. The two Boone boys were both outdoors men, they enjoyed a challenge and had taken to hanging out with Jason and his friends over the weekend whenever they could.

The teenagers had undertaken to discover as much as they could about Kikuyu and the surrounding environs, this they did with gusto. Teenagers without a care in the world. Sunday’s schedule was also pretty mundane. Jason went to church with Dr. Greene, and he had volunteered to teach Sunday school. Philip had joined the Worship Team at Dominion Center and they soon discovered that he was an extraordinary worship leader.

When Jason asked him why he joined the team, Philip said,

The youth team is vibrant and growing, I believe this is where God wants me.

But Jason also knew that there was another reason – Millie - a vivacious, pretty girl whose family had recently returned from Canada and moved to the town and was now attending the