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 is left with no choice. His father is a missionary doctor and 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, he makes a lot of 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 captivates him. Paulina has been open about her attraction to him. Unfortunately, Paulina is duty-bound to follow an age-old custom which forbids her to engage in a romantic relationship with someone outside her culture. Is their love strong enough to weather the storms? Is Paulina being truthful about her other friendships? Follow Jason and Paulina as they fight for a love that is true but yet forbidden.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781664193413

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 © 2010 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: 09/01/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

565109

Contents

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 the book I had to stop as it read like pages plucked from my life.

It’s a great story that captures the essence of love: Love is never tired of waiting, love is Kind: Love has no envy: Love has no high opinion of itself, love has no pride, Love’s ways are ever fair, It takes no thought for itself: it is not quickly angered, it takes no account of evil, it takes no pleasure in wrong doing but has joy in what is true. Love has the power of undergoing all things, having faith in all things, hoping 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 were about to explode. And the sun was bright; too bright his eyes were hurting. He reached for the sun glasses in his shirt pocket. They disembarked the plane and had to walk 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 left Edina on Tuesday, the Weather was cold—it was winter. But here the heat was smoldering. His Father said something about the African January sun, but Jason could not recall what it was.

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 when 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 Jason there is no turning back now, he thought. Actually there never had been any turning back for him; it was not as though 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 begun 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 a pretty uneventful flight, the food had not been that bad really, and his Dad, who had a knack for making friends easily, connected with the Lady sitting next to them. So the two had exchanged stories about Missionary work, and this 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 that was a lot of time for Jason to ponder.

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

His Father gave the immigration officer a wary smile and handed him their passports. Becky his mother and 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, Dr Greene said, 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

Ok 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 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 US? he ventured

No son a little further than that

Ok Dad, why don’t you tell me I don’t think I can guess

We are moving to Kenya

Kenia, where’s that? he asked frowning

It’s on the East coast of Africa, and its pronounced K.e.y.n.i.a

AFRICA!! Why Africa Dad? Jason was surprised, among the many continents he had considered, this was not among them

Because that is 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, a lot of that stuff to do with wild animals is not really true. The Africans don’t live on Trees! Dr Greene frowned and who told you about killings?

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

You see son that is one of the reasons why I believe God prompted us to move there. There are a lot of misconceptions about that part of the world and I would like to use the knowledge that God has given me to educate 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, Jason protested if we have to move anywhere why can’t we go to Australia? Jason had a kind of fascination with Australia

Dr Greene looked at his son for a brief moment then he said Africa is where we are going, and obviously you and your sister are coming with us, he paused and looked at his son intently then 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 complained quietly. 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 known as Ben and 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. 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 difference like driving on the right side of the road, but I mean the grass looked the same, the flowers, the trees, they even had a traffic jam to boot!. Jason could see some of the homes, the houses looked different from what he was accustomed to, the windows and doors had 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 was the safari capital of Africa. Nairobi 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—

Hhmmm maybe this place is not so bad after all, he thought. In spite of 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 in to 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 an assortment of flowers such as roses, carnations, sunflowers, daisy’s, and lilac’s. The entire area had the greenest grass Jason had ever seen. The lawn was newly cut and well kempt. The hedge was probably up to Jason’s waist and again neatly cut. Intermittently there were shapes of animals. He recognized the elephant shapes. The walkway was lined with the same beautiful looking hedge and seemed to be beckoning Jason, 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 smelt good!

Then he saw the house, it was a two storey building, nestled against the clear blue skies, Set under a grove of shady trees. The house was made entirely of grayish-blue brick, with a carved oak door, the roof had reddish-gray slate and tiles, this house had a pleasant feel to it. As I stared at this scene the door was flung open and a large woman stepped into the sun to greet us. She was dressed in what looked like a nurses uniform, she had the most charming smile, her teeth were white and even like a Dentist spent hours 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 My Dad’s hand

Asante, he replied, as I was wondering what that meant the lady suddenly gave me a bear hug

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

Ahhh 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 preferred to be called—had prepared. 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 Mother 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, HOT tea!?.Ugh! 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 but he also had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach: Jason was not relishing the thought of being in a new place.

After dinner Dad made a phone call to Edina to let Mum know that we arrived safely, after I talked to her, 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 and discuss the next steps for the Church.

My room was large—bigger than my room back home, hhmm . . . I would have to start thinking of this place as home pretty soon. There was a single bed in the middle of the room, one study desk to the left and a chair, a wardrobe armoire; a nightstand; and an area rug. 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. 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.

After the letter was finished Jason stood up and looked around him, the place was eerily quiet. He walked to the window, opened the curtains and looked outside. The night was dark, apart from the flower beds closest to his window Jason could not make out the other shapes outside. He opened the window; the flowers from the garden brought a sweet scent into his room. The nighttime sounds were really strange; there was the orchestral sound of crickets joined in a buzz by thousands of other insects. There was the sound of some frogs calling out, and many other strange animal sounds that he could not make out. Wow! Talk about different; his Dad had not been exaggerating! This place was totally different from what Jason was accustomed to. One stark difference was the missing siren sounds that he was accustomed to hearing now and then in Edina, here there was certain stillness, a certain peaceful quiet that was almost eerie to Jason.

Wonder if I will ever get used to this? he thought as he closed the window and prepared to go to sleep.

It took him a long time to fall asleep that night, partly because Jason could never fall asleep in a strange bed or place. As he lay in the darkness he begun to recount the many nights he spent in his bed back in Edina wondering what this new life held for him. His Mother encouraged him on many occasions that things would work out but Jason was still not too sure. It’s true the house was impressive and the scenery had taken his breath away but he had no friends here, he did not know anyone and he was beginning to feel the twinge of loneliness. He fell into a listless sleep and soon he was dreaming he was back in Edina during Geometry class and he was goofing off with Eric as was their norm.

Kikuyu

He awoke to the sound of a cock crowing. Jason had never heard that sound before. He sat up on the bed a little confused. It took him several minutes to orient 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 searched 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 chilly 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 Thursday but somehow Friday was a blur, at dinner on Friday his father had commented something about jet lag 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 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, banana, 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 and the occasional thick forest. 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 Murram road that led to Nairobi. The area reminded Jason of Grandpa and Granma Greene’s Farmland two hours Southwest of Minneapolis. The local people were very friendly and whilst Jason did not know any of them they said hello to him as he walked past them on the path. His Father was right yet again the Kenyans are very friendly

*    *    *    *

On Monday morning Dad drove me to my new School, Akimbo Boys High school. It was a boy’s High School. Apparently in these parts the High Schools were divided into the different genders so if you were a boy you went to a boys 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 include: drama, choir, publications such as the School Magazine; school leadership through the prefects" body; community service through the Social Welfare Society, Debate Club, Wildlife Club, Young Farmer’s Club, Writer’s Club-which also serves as the Journalism Club; Scientific Club. The drama and choir productions consistently win 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. Choices within the school include: rugby, soccer, track and field, hockey, volleyball, swimming, and lawn tennis.

The school’s dictum was

Excellence for all, excellence from all.

It was the beginning of the School year and I was joining Form Three—that would be eleventh Grade back in Edina. I was clad in the School Uniform another major difference from the High Schools back home. The uniform consists of a gray blazer jacket with the school seal on the right side pocket, the seal was a Lion, a white shirt, dark navy blue pants and a striped tie, and my Dad said I looked

Really handsome Jason

I was apprehensive as we neared the School. Dad had insisted on coming with me so that he could meet the School Principal. The school was huge, it had several building blocks, most were two storey’s. 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 it is 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 was Mr. Silas Omondi.

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! But this was not Edina, it was thousands of miles away, and this was not spring, it was the middle of the really hot January Season.

During recess my neighbor turned and smiled, he had the warmest eyes Jason had ever seen,

Hi there, Jason, my name is Phillip Omondi 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 Father 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 If you have not already noticed he added with a twinkle in his eyes

So, how do you like your new home? Philip asked

Er, It’s ok; actually it’s more than ok, its better than I thought it would be

Mhhh, another American who thought we lived on trees

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

Its ok, most people are ignorant about Africa until they come here, so don’t sweat it Philip said chuckling and Jason laughed. He could tell they would be great 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: back in Edina they had separate lunch periods for different groups but here everyone ate lunch at the same time. As soon as the lunch period bell was rung everyone made a beeline for the Lunch Hall: that would be cafeteria back in Edina. Jason also noticed that the Teachers did not have their lunches with the Students: they had theirs in the Teacher’s lounge and according to Philip they had a different menu from the Students. It was amazing how prestigious being a class prefect really was; this was probably what could be compared to a Hall Monitor. Prefects from the higher grades had special school privileges and would at times get to have what the Teachers