Two by Two
The (Memory) Check
⬗ /9th September, 2026
One evening Evelyn asked me to drive downtown for a dozen eggs. „I need them urgently. Get them at the little store. You know which I mean.“ I knew which she meant. We had discovered this tiny shop recently. It was located among many other stores strung out along the main street in Lindi. We liked going there because of their eggs: they were fresh, good and tasty.
So I parked my car by the roadside next to the store and crossed the drainage ditch. I queued because several customers were already waiting. Two policewomen were among them. I greeted them and we had a brief, friendly small talk. After a while we had all got what we came for. We parted, wishing each other a good and peaceful night.
The next morning I had some work to do in Mnazi-Mmoja, a little town which was a twenty-minute drive from Lindi and located at the junction of the roads to Mtwara by the sea and Songea in the southern highlands. Some time ago they had set up a permanent police checkpoint a few kilometers before the town. In Lindi Region police officers were friendly and in most cases they let passenger cars and motorcycles pass. Lorries and coaches, however, were carefully checked.
On my way home I drove behind a lorry which was stopped at that checkpoint. I had to wait because there was no way for me to pass. Finally it drove on and I intended to follow, but the police officer waved me to stop. Slowly she came up to my car. As I rolled down my window, I wondered what I might have done wrong - but nothing came to my mind.
„Mambo?“ she greeted me, looking straight into my face with a big smile.
„P-p-poa!“ I stammered.
„Well...“ she said slowly, still smiling at me.
I felt increasingly uneasy and pulled out my driving licence. But she didn’t want to see it.
„Mzee!“ I heard a touch of amused disappointment in her voice, as she addressed me politely.
„I only wanted to see if you remembered me.“
I looked at her with an utterly puzzled face.
She laughed. „Last night. At the little shop. We were talking. Remember?“
How embarrassing! In the flash of a moment the scene came back to my mind.
Before I could reply, she said, „Usafiri salama! - Drive safe!“ and gave me the sign to go on.
In the mirror I saw her face, still smiling, and her white-gloved hands waving me goodbye.
Alexander Breitenbach
"Poa!" = the appropriate answer, meaning "Cool!"
"Mzee" = Kiswahili, the polite address for an older, respectable person.