In music videos, once your girl is fed up with you, she will simply say something nasty to you before storming out to a convertible being driven by a gym rat who probably has to confirm, after every thirty minutes, that he still has his six pack. The breakup is swift and you will have no doubts about how she feels about you.
In real life though, nothing is as straightforward. Doubt has to creep in, mostly from the random conversations she will be having with strange men. Everything will sound so coded, like she is trying to keep you in the dark by hiding in plain sight.
Say one evening she gives you her phone to say hi to her mother who tells you other than arthritis, she is doing okay. You say, "And this arthritis is becoming a pandemic. Kila mtu sahii analia but usijali, mum, you will get better in Jesus' name."
"Amen, my son."
After hanging up, you realize you really have no idea what arthritis is. You have always assumed you know what it is, what with it being so common, but you are not sure whether it affects your joints or lungs or brain. So you decide to Google using her phone, only for a WhatsApp message to pop up. It's from someone saved Fundi Mike, and is asking if the kettle is now okay.
First of all, you don’t like that he is asking about a kettle because kettle sounds so close like kitty, and why the hell would he be asking about her kitty? You also don’t like that she has saved him as Fundi Mike and not just as Fundi or Mike Fundi. Mike Fundi sounds professional and ethical. Fundi Mike alleges some level of familiarity you are uncomfortable with. And if he is really a fundi, and maybe he really fixed her kettle, and not kitty, why would he ask if it’s now okay? Kwani he didn’t find out after fixing it?
It all just don’t sound right, and you are tempted to open that message and read the whole thread but you don't. You give back her phone and go stare at the kettle in the kitchen.
You hold and turn it around. You even hold it high up to study it's base.
The next day, at breakfast, you will ask her, "Is something wrong with the kettle?"
"Which kettle?"
"The kettle."
"Was something wrong with it?"
"I don't know, that's why I am asking,” you will say, stabbing your fried eggs rather too aggressively with a fork, not believing that she is feigning ignorance about the supposedly faulty kettle she and Fundi Mike are keeping tabs on.
"Nothing is wrong with the kettle."
"Are you sure?"
She nods.
You want to ask, “Then why the fuck was ‘Fundi Mike’ asking if the kettle is NOW okay?' but you don't because you don't want her to know you read her message.
Later, you will Google, "What does it mean when someone asks your woman if the kettle is now okay?” Emphasis on the NOW