Summary

As it gets dark, Warĩĩnga begins to worry that there will be no matatũ or bus on its way to Ilmorog. Suddenly, a driver named Mwaũra pulls up in an old, decrepit matatũ that he calls the “Matatũ Matata Matamu Model T Ford, claiming to be going to Ilmorog. The narrator describes Mwaũra as a person who “worshipped at the shrine of the god of money” (32), though he does not have any himself. It is suggested that Mwaũra once killed a man over a dispute of five shillings.

Mwaũra drives around looking for other passengers and picks up a man in blue overalls. A young man with a briefcase also rushes to join them. Warĩĩnga sees from the label his briefcase that his name is Mr Gatuĩria, and that he works in the African Studies...