Simon and Sandra had met about two months prior in the least likely of places: a supermarket parking lot. It was one of those chaotic but deeply romantic stories.

They had both been shopping one evening at a Supermarket in Entebbe.

After paying for his groceries, Simon was the first to move out of the supermarket heading toward his car.

Simon was tall. He always joked about how his fall back career was basketball as a point guard, although he had never played the sport ever. An IT Specialist, he had a fairly light complexion, and always had a watch on his wrist.

He was the kind of guy who believed he would carry all his shopping bags in one go, no need for a trolley or an attendant to carry for him. In those moments, he always pictured himself as a main actor of an action movie with the bags being his treasure from a tough quest.

He walked out of the supermarket with four bags in one hand and three in another with no sign of effort on his face.

However, as he approached where he had parked, he realized he’d left his lights on. For a number of weeks, his car battery had been giving him trouble on and off, so when he saw the lights, he was certain the car wouldn’t start.

He got to the car, but the remote control wouldn’t work. As he struggled to use the physical key with his hands entirely full, one bag slipped. Even in this moment, the Ninja didn’t want to set the bags down! It was the bag that had fruits. A pineapple and 5 oranges.

It hit the pavement, and the oranges rolled out. It was like they were in an Olympics race, the pace at which they rolled!

He managed to put the rest of his groceries into the car and just as he suspected, the engine wouldn’t start! At least he had jumper cables in the boot, so now it was time to look around for a good Samaritan that would help jump start the car.  

First, he would hunt for the oranges. He got the first, the second, the third, and the fourth. The last one, however, had gone quite the distance going all the way to almost the supermarket entrance.

As he started walking toward it, in that exact moment, Sandra emerged from the supermarket.

As he looked upon her, he was slain by her beauty.  

Sandra was dark-skinned, tall, and slender; the maroon dress she wore accentuated her beauty perfectly. Her hair was natural and held back in a puff, and she wore a Uganda bracelet on her wrist. Her eyes portrayed such calmness, and unlike Simon, she only had a small shopping bag.

She walked to the point where the orange was, reached down and picked it up. What Simon didn’t know was that she had watched his entire debacle unfold as she was paying for her bushera.

“I think this is yours,” she said with a smooth voice.

“Ummm… yes, it is. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, um…. that’s okay. Aaaah ….. I’m Simon, by the way.” Trying hard to keep the conversation going.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sandra.”

“Sandra. That’s a beautiful name!”

She smiled.

“So, do you shop here often?” Simon asked, desperate to keep her there.

“Yeah, I’m here quite a lot. I really like bushera and I love the one here.”

“Aaah, I see! How come I’ve never seen you here? I also shop here a lot!”

“Well,” she laughed, “I guess we have your orange to thank for finally helping us meet.”

Simon’s smile widened at her use of the word “us.” 

That encounter, born of a dead battery and a rolling orange, had blossomed into love over the weeks that followed. Sandra would later admit she was incredibly thankful she had needed to restock her bushera that day.

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There is something enchanting about love in its infancy; it doesn’t know the word “no.”

In reality, Simon never really liked the zoo nor animals. He had never been there since an incident many years ago during a primary school trip. A stubborn monkey had jumped from a branch, landing on his shoulders and taken off with his lunch sandwich.

Inasmuch as the teacher gave him another one, that was the day he had decided, if the zoo was the animal’s home, he was never going back—after all, he wasn’t an animal!

But the enrapturing nature of young love had taken over.

How could he say no to his princess?

“Okay, my princess,” he had typed back. “If the zoo is what you like, the zoo it is! 🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼”

“Thank you, sweetheart! ❤️❤️❤️ I know we’re going to have a wonderful time!”

I’m a grown man now, he assured himself after the chat. I’m not afraid of animals anymore.

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The day finally arrived. They got to the zoo at about two o’clock on a Saturday.

“Oh, darling, look at those adorable monkeys!” Sandra said, pointing toward them.

“Ha… ha… ha,” Simon attempted a laugh. It sounded more like a mechanical cough.

As Sandra ran toward the monkeys, Simon remembered the monkey incident from his school trip years ago.

“Babe, monkeys are just the best! So friendly!” Sandra exclaimed, her eyes bright with excitement. “So, the big surprise for you today is that we are in time to see the crocodiles feeding!”

Banange nze! Simon said under his breath.

The mere thought of crocodiles was scary for him, now he was going to see them feed? He started sweating as he watched the handlers carrying buckets of raw meat toward the enclosure. His hands began to gently shiver. The body oftentimes lets you down in moments like these.

“Babe, let’s go over to the front, that is the best spot to catch the action!” Sandra said, pulling at his arm.

He swallowed hard, his throat feeling as dry as an actual desert!

Hoooo! Leero Mpedde! Simon said to himself.

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© An original Lapatutu Story.

This adventure continues next Wednesday. Subscribe to find out whether Simon will ‘survive’ this moment. But what we can say now is, tusabile ninja waffe!