Today I am facing an economic problem. More like a banking dilemma. I have heard banks that issue credit cards are in a sort of Catch-22 situation. You see, there are those customers who pay their credit card bills on time, and then there are the others who go past their limits and are late to pay. The former are charged high interest, penalty fees, and other amounts banks are fond of. The defaulters and overspenders rake in the profits, while the disciplined customers provide stability. When the economic times are good, the banks will prefer the defaulters, but when the times are bad, they wonder how to chase the defaulters away in a polite manner.
Like I mentioned before, almost every girl on the street has a husband—the regular customer who only asks for that particular girl. I have several of them, which is nothing odd. My husbands fall into two general categories. There are those who are mature, cool, and undramatic men. Then there are the others—rough, unpredictable, full-of-life men who treat girls like well, prostitutes. The cool guys are the gentlemen among the Johns, but then they are sort of boring. Almost everything about them is as routine as their visits. Even their pay is fixed and rarely gives a bonus. But these men provide security.
On the other hand, the rough character regulars seem to act by the moment. Sometimes they time their visits, sometimes they don’t. Its like they just sit in a bar watching football and then miss me. So they get into their cars and come looking for me. These are the men who are as likely to take me to a dingy downtown hotel as they are to take me to a four-star hotel. They are also the ones who will pick me past midnight and take me to a drinking spree in Naivasha, where they proudly introduce themselves to their friends as poko wangu (my prostitute), or using some other funky name that hints at my trade. Their sex is rough and very experimental. These are the men who are most likely not to pay me or underpay. But they are also the ones who are most likely to pay me much more than usual and occasionally throw me a gift, never mind the not-so-sweet words and actions that accompany it.
Like some sort of bank, I need both of these customers. And overtime I have played my cards well so that I really don’t have to choose between the two. But today I have to make a decision. Earlier in the week, one of the cool guys picked me and later fixed a date with me for today. Then yesterday one of the roughs passed by and said he wants to show me the world today. Despite their shortcomings, I need to keep both of them.
At the face of it, it might seem an easy choice, apparently because many believe we don’t have a work ethic. So I just go with one and then give a silly excuse to the other. Yet girls want to bring each other down here. So if I go with one of the men, then the other comes and asks for me, the girls will tell. And don’t believe what men say; even in the comments here, they actually get their egos hurt when a prostitute slights them. So the man I ignore won’t be happy. He will just pick me up one more time to satisfy his ego, then never see me again. In times like these, every man counts.
Anyway, I will see what to do. It looks like it will rain today, and hopefully one of them won’t turn up. Luckily, I no longer have a business telephone number. To all who answered my questions, thank you so much. I really appreciate. I will be replying and commenting on them soon. Do have a lovely weekend.
