My experience with a Mombasa cat

If you are Kenyan or you've been to Kenya a number of times and know about our culture, then you probably know what we think about cats.. not just any cat but one from Mombasa or one owned by an Arab or Somali..

So last night around 11:30 pm, just as the norm, I was busy watching a certain series on Zee World, then I heard a cat meow.

Curious as always, I check to see where the sound is coming from. I see a black and white kitten. Seems like it wanted to go out but couldn't because the main entrance was locked.

So I try to be a good Samaritan by opening the door for the kitten to go out.. but most especially for myself because I really don't like cats especially if they are from the coast, or are owned by Arabs and Somali.

Turns out the cat had other plans because the minute I opened the door, it hid behind the sofa in the hallway.

So I try to get it out by throwing a bone at it with hopes that it will get scared and run out, but that didn't happen. Instead the cat just made a sound that suggested it was ready to attack at any time. So I decide to choose my own life and let the cat be.

But just as I close the door, someone else comes out of their room with a broom, ready to do what seemed to have been impossible for me, get the cat out.

She opens the door, pulls the sofa and tries to scare the cat out using the broom.. baaaad idea!!

That little thing turned wild and started making those weird sounds cats make at night then ran back into the house, not outside.. but inside the freaking house!!

Then.. ding ding ding.!! I remember, we are in Mombasa.. oh my the freaking stereotype about coast cats. I turn to the other person who was trying to chase it out with the broom.. abort mission!! Abort mission!!

She ignores me, goes after the cat with the broom.. It's midnight already, we've been trying to get this kitten for a whole 30 minutes. The cat is hiding behind another chair, and it's maaad.!!

I am afraid to get into the house because whenever I try stepping into the house the kitten glares at me and gives a scary sound. We decide to call for backup. So it is three people vs a kitten.

Or better yet one person (a guy who was smoking outside) dealing with the kitten while the two of us (my neighbour and I) hide.

He manages to get the cat out using the same broom, and in my head all I am thinking is "what if the cat spoke?".. yeah.. I know.. It's crazy, right?

That cats in Mombasa can sometimes speak because they might be humans who have abilities to turn into cats.. or they are gene.. or something evil.. Don't make that face, I did not come up with this stereotype.