Bob had been in Africa for several months. Travelling by land in Africa is hard and takes it out of you in spades; he was tired and jaded. And Bob was also fucking horny. He hadn't had a sniff of a woman for over two months and had almost forgotten how good the feel and taste of a woman's pussy is. It was something that he would have to rectify post haste.
A few days later, Bob was in Mtwapa, about ten klicks north of Mombasa. He had been to Mombasa before and had no interest in staying there, so, arriving at the airport early in the morning, he jumped into a taxi and asked the driver to take him to Mtwapa. Although Bob had not been there before, he knew this small town was close to Bamburi Beach. He had considered staying at the beach but decided against it. He preferred the hustle and bustle of an authentic African township.
He asked the taxi driver to drop him near the Catholic Church. He had heard that renting a fully furnished apartment around this area was possible for little money. He was travelling light with a rucksack and another small bag where he kept his camera, etc. His money and passport were safely strapped to his leg.
When he got to the church, he paid for the taxi and started to look around. Within five minutes, he had found what he wanted. The first apartment he checked out was too small and gloomy for Bob's liking, so he declined. The security guy at the gate told him there was a new block of apartments yards away down the same track. He walked a short distance and found the compound with the new building.
He knocked, and the guard opened the gate and went to fetch the Italian owner after Bob explained what he was looking for. Yes, the Italian told him he had a two-bedroom apartment, and if he liked it and wanted to stay, he would lock the second bedroom and give him a special price for a stay of one week, which is the time he had in Kenya. The price he quoted was cheap. Bob inspected the flat, which was large and airy, and took it at once, paying the Italian the full week's rent in advance.
Bob had not had much shut-eye over the previous twenty-four hours, so he got his head down for a few hours.
He awoke in the early afternoon. After his nap, Bob felt rested, refreshed and ready to explore. And hungry. He asked the gateman where the best café was in Mtwapa. The man recommended a place only five minutes away, and Bob walked there and quickly found it. He ordered some food and a Tusker beer to wash it down. The food was excellent, and the beer was like nectar. He was one happy dude. It was good to be alive. All he wanted now was some nice pussy, and everything would be perfect.
Bob made his way down to the main road that bisects Mtwapa. It was also the main Mombasa to Malindi highway, so there was a constant stream of vehicles travelling in both directions. Bob decided to use a matatu, Kenya's most ubiquitous form of transportation. They are just minibuses and squeeze in as many passengers as possible. So, using one gets you up close and personal with local Kenyans. They are not very safe, usually driven at speed by kamikaze maniacs, but they are a lot of fun. And they are dirt cheap.
Bob climbed aboard one that didn't look overloaded and asked to be dropped at Bamburi. The trip took only about fifteen minutes. The highway is a short distance from the beach, so Bob had a rather dusty walk down a track to get there. But minutes later, he emerged onto the long strip of golden sands, Bamburi Beach.
He thought, 'Hello, Bamburi, it's good to see you again.' He had last visited Bamburi a few years before when he had spent a lazy week just drinking, eating and playing with African girls. It was paradise soon to be turned into hell by a terrorist attack, and for several years, travel to the beaches of Mombasa was a risky business.
Bob started walking down the beach. He was immediately the target of hordes of beach vendors. They were trying to sell him everything under the sun, from drugs to beer, snacks to their sisters (which might be interesting!) and everything else in between. Bob spouted the usual mantra like a prayer.
'Jambo. No, thank-you.'
'Jambo. Maybe later.'
At this point, he saw the girl splashing around in the surf.
Dressed simply in denim cutoffs and a yellow and silver sleeveless top, which tightly hugged her body and showed off an hourglass figure for which most women would die, she carried nothing else but her sandals.
She smiled at him, and he smiled back. He now could see her teeth were pearly white but quite crooked. Her skin was very dark and gleamed with good health.
‘Jambo. Where are you going?'
'Jambo,' she replied, 'I go with you'.
Bob could hardly believe his ears. He had been on the beach for five minutes and propositioned already. He knew that Bamburi Beach attracted many girls from far and wide looking to hook up with tourists, and he had been propositioned many times during his last visit.
He asked her name, Mary, and told her he was Bob. She said that she was a hair stylist in Mtwapa (all of the independent working girls in Kenya seem to be hairdressers), and it was her day off. He asked if he might take her photo, and she posed for some pictures.
He asked her how old she was, and she replied twenty, which looked about right. He asked her if she wanted to have fun with him in his apartment, and she said yes, no problem. He then asked her how much she wanted, and she replied that it was up to him, but when Bob pressed her for a figure, she returned with a derisory figure. She was not a pro.
The Bamburi Beach Hotel was nearby, and they got a taxi back to Bob's place. On arrival at the compound, Mary had to leave her ID with the gateman, who also acted as security.
Then they were in the room. Bob had asked the gateman to send a boy for beer and crisps (chips), and until it arrived, Bob kept his hands to himself because he knew there would be no stopping once he started lovemaking with Mary.
Bob discovered that Mary was a nice kid in his idle chit-chat with Mary, both in the taxi and in the room. Her story was sad. She came from a village near Malindi. Her father was a fisherman and was away at sea much of the time. Her natural mother had died when Mary was two, so she had little recall of her. Father had remarried, and she and the stepmother didn't get on.
She had brought three children to the marriage, and they got priority in most things. She and her younger brother, Luke, were often mistreated. Although she loved her father and brother, the stepmother insisted that at sixteen, she should leave the family home, live with an auntie in Mombasa, and get work there.
She had worked as a chambermaid in a hotel until she was nineteen when a hotel guest assaulted her. The hotel owner had taken the guest's word over hers and sacked her. She dared not approach the police as they have a bad reputation for brutality, and she was afraid she might suffer again, so the crime went unpunished.