(Late afternoon. Kimende market again. Quieter than before. Gichuka Waithera walks through slowly. No campaign posters. No slogans. No ambition. Just observation. People notice him awkwardly.)
Woman: That is Gichuka Waithera.
Man: The one who lost.
Woman: The one who told the truth.
(Nyina wa Wanja approaches carefully.)
Nyina wa Wanja: You came back my son.
Gichuka Waithera: No. I am on the way to see my aunt.
Nyina wa Wanja: I thought you are back and most politicians disappear after elections. Because they never belonged from the beginning.
Gichuka Waithera: I am not campaigning anymore. But I can listen and watch what is going on.
(Pause.)
Kamau: We failed you.
Gichuka Waithera: No. You cuddled hunger more than ideas. That is human.
Kamau: Still…you were right.
Gichuka Waithera: Being right is politically useless if people cannot emotionally afford your truth.
(Silence.)
Nyina wa Wanja: Do you hate Lari people now?
Gichuka Waithera: No. I understand them better. Poverty changes decision-making. A starving man does not debate philosophy. He negotiates about food first.
Elder: Then what hope remains?
(Long silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: Suffering. Memory resurrection. Habit change. And changing bulls that have ever mounted Lari.
(The others listen quietly.)
Kamau: But people are tired. Gichuka Waithera: Yes. And tired people become dangerous to bad leadership. Because eventually they stop believing improvement is possible.
Woman: That is Gichuka Waithera.
Man: The one who lost.
Woman: The one who told the truth.
(Nyina wa Wanja approaches carefully.)
Nyina wa Wanja: You came back my son.
Gichuka Waithera: No. I am on the way to see my aunt.
Nyina wa Wanja: I thought you are back and most politicians disappear after elections. Because they never belonged from the beginning.
Gichuka Waithera: I am not campaigning anymore. But I can listen and watch what is going on.
(Pause.)
Kamau: We failed you.
Gichuka Waithera: No. You cuddled hunger more than ideas. That is human.
Kamau: Still…you were right.
Gichuka Waithera: Being right is politically useless if people cannot emotionally afford your truth.
(Silence.)
Nyina wa Wanja: Do you hate Lari people now?
Gichuka Waithera: No. I understand them better. Poverty changes decision-making. A starving man does not debate philosophy. He negotiates about food first.
Elder: Then what hope remains?
(Long silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: Suffering. Memory resurrection. Habit change. And changing bulls that have ever mounted Lari.
(The others listen quietly.)
Kamau: But people are tired. Gichuka Waithera: Yes. And tired people become dangerous to bad leadership. Because eventually they stop believing improvement is possible.
