BLOOD ON THE FLAG
Chapter 1: The Day Achieng Died
The teargas didn't sting as much as the silence that followed the bullet.Achieng wasn't supposed to die that day.She had tied her afro in a red scarf, her eyes burning with a kind of fire I still can't describe. She stood in the front line, gripping a cardboard sign that read.
"We are not our parents. We will not be quiet
The crowd had gathered along the streets of Nairobi. Pots banged, whistles blew, and voices—young and angry—rose into the Nairobi sky. We chanted names of the fallen. We sang like mourning bird
And then came the trucks.The riot police didn't warn us. They never do.One canister hissed. Two exploded. Three boys fell.Achieng didn't run.
She raised her sign higher, even as her hands shook.
She was yelling something I'll never forget.
"Msiwahi tuogopa! Haki si favor—ni haki
And then the gunfire cracked the sky open
I don't remember the sound. I only remember the way her knees bent. The way her red scarf unraveled in the win.
Someone screamed.Someone else dropped the flag.
I ran like my voice was trapped in my ribs
I ran because if I didn't, I'd be lying next to her now.That night, the flag was folded neatly on the news. No blood. No name. No face
But I remember.I remember everything.
Leave a comment if Achieng's story shook you?
Next: Chapter 2 – The March That Burned the Sky