Reek of Steel

Juma is a young father of two living with his family in a poor residential area of Eldoret town. He works as a conductor in a public service vehicle. His wife and children have just left to go and live in their rural home. One morning he is woken up by the ringing of his mobile phone. The caller is a lady who says they met the previous evening at a dance hall. Rather than say he cannot remember he keeps up the conversation as though he does. He learns his name and the fact that she is a student in a day secondary school in the town. From that point he starts to look for every time he can, without telling her that he cannot recall her at all. This sets the stage for an odd relationship, sustained by phone only. They do not actually meet, but keep planning to. They relationship however does seem to grow, overshadowing Juma's family and marriage in a way that is mildly funny, and also symptomatic of what is ironical and farcical in the modern urban setting, where institutions that should be strong and constant, like marriage and education, are suggested to be decaying and reeking; and society itself in need of redemption.