Chapter 66
Jacob took up his first appointment with a lot of zeal and initiative. The orientation week came and went, and Jacob now knew most of the staff members at the company offices.
He was always an early bird at work. He usually reported at work at half past seven in the morning and left very late in the evening.
This really impressed his bosses at work; but some of his colleagues reportedly believed that their new colleague was thirsty for promotion.
Then, one day, as Jacob was going through the company files in his office, he came across some brochures. A particular one appeared quite colourful. He looked at it closely. It was a brochure of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of the United Kingdom.
He browsed through it and understood that it was a professional examination body for administrators and company secretaries.
What a stroke of luck!
He knew his dreams were now coming true when he remembered his mother's words: one day, you would be great. He was not destined to remain just a clerk, he told himself.
As he went through the contents, Jacob knew he qualified to register as a student member. If he qualified as an associate or fellow member of the institute, he told himself he would have better prospects for promotion or even look for a job elsewhere.
He would register as a student, he decided, for the chartered examinations. Satisfied, he went on with his duties for the day as he checked the files for the staff, registered for members of the company, share register and others that had been assigned to him.
In the afternoon, he went to Jenny's office and began talking to her. "Jenny, I'm staying in a hotel but would like to move out. Where do you think I can get a cheap house?"
"What kind of house would you like, an apartment or bungalow?"
"Hey, Jenny that's quite a tall order. I've just begun working and haven't even earned my first month's salary. I'd just like a single self contained room."
"Those are difficult to get unless you go through the agents. But there are the Swahili houses for people who are just beginning to work. If you don't mind sharing facilities like bathrooms, lavatory, and kitchens, then you can easily get such houses on the mainland either at Changamwe, Likoni, or Kisauni." Jenny suggested.
"Thank you, Jenny. At least now I've an idea."
Her friendliness appealed to him. But he realized he needed to be cautious because he had overheard some staff members saying Jenny and Katerega were lovers.
Jenny, so the story went, had been employed in the company after her "A" level exams due to Katerega's influence, and she had been trained as a professional secretary by the company. Katerega was still a bachelor, and it was hoped they would marry in due course; this was despite Jenny's love for gifts from men and travelling.
What he would try to avoid is any conflict at work over a woman. He respected Katerega, his boss who appeared co-operative, helpful, generous, kind, and quite experienced in managing the staff at work.
Stories also went round the company that he was quite a well travelled and educated man having attended universities in South Africa but his distracters claimed he was snobbish and a person who loved worldly pleasures and pursuits which made him delay to get married.
Whatever the case, Katerega's problem at work was actually maintaining a balancing act of harmonizing employees' interest with those of the owners or shareholders of the company. It was also about gaining experience that would enable him to realize his dream of establishing his own import and export business.
Jacob checked out of the Splendid after a week and went to rent a cheap room at Khamis Estate in Changamwe. It was a small room in a house supplied with electricity and water. There were four other tenants who lived in the house, which belonged to a Muslim woman.
While he lived at Khamis estate, he remembered his task of trying to look for his father. There were neighbouring estates of Chaani, Magongo, Portreitz, and Mikindani, where he hoped to begin his search.
Hence, he would take a walk in the evenings after work or during weekends to try and search for his father.
The search took him as far as the slums of Soweto in Magongo estate, where he would ask people he met on the way if they knew of one Alfredo Karahani living in the estate. But luck never smiled at him.
He would also ask the children who played in the gutters, but the search always proved fruitless. It went on like that for many weeks in the ghettoes of Mombasa.
As time moved on, Jacob relaxed his search. He realized he could not hope to find his father in such a way, and for a moment, he started losing hope of ever tracing his father.
May be he had even moved on to another town, he told himself. Who knows? Perhaps they had even passed each other along the streets since he never knew his father's appearance.
After all, everyone had given him the same response: "I don't know him!"
The words had almost become like a sickening phrase in his ears. As the year moved to its conclusion, Jacob applied for registration as a student of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.
He knew the examinations of the institute would take him three or four years to complete, but it all depended on his determination as a student who was thirsty for promotion and greener pastures.
And surely, he began reading seriously for the chartered examinations after he bought himself the relevant texts and materials. He also went for evening classes in a commercial college which offered tuition for the chartered exams in town.
In June of the following year, Jacob sat for the first stage of the pre-professional examinations. When the results came out, he had passed.
He was quite overjoyed and invited Jenny for lunch at a nearby restaurant to tell him the good news. Lunch consisted of smoked salmon, stew, rice, and meat. They also had cold deserts in the form of ice cream.
"Jenny, I have passed the ICSA exams which I did in June," he told her as they ate their lunch in the restaurant. "Look, here are the results!"
He put down his fork, and his hand reached for the result slip in his shirt pocket. He passed it over to her as she sat opposite him.
"Wow! That's great! Congratulations. You must have a razor-sharp mind." She said as she praised him.
"I feel good, Jenny. I will proceed to the next stage."
"Please do so. Meanwhile, you should reveal your new qualifications to Mr. Katerega and the other senior managers of the company. Don't just keep quiet."
"That's good advice, Jenny."
He just did what Jenny told him. When Jacob showed the result slip to Katerega, the man was surprised but full of praise.
"You're quite a determined and hard-working young man. I'm sure with such determination, you will reach far," he said and paused briefly. "Our company always requires young men and women who are quite as focused as you are. I'll recommend you for promotion. Meanwhile, just submit the receipts you have paid for your registration charges, examinations, and even the textbooks you bought, and the company will refund you," the boss suggested.
True to his word, Jacob was promoted two months later to an administrative manager and began enjoying a quadrupled salary of fifteen thousand shillings exclusive of the allowances. That good performance in the chartered exams and subsequent promotion motivated him to continue reading for the second stage.
As Jacob was sure his salary had increased, he thought he needed a car.
"Excuse me, sir," He asked Mr. Katerega one afternoon when he took some files to his office, "What are the requirements for one to apply for a car loan?"
"Oh, so you want a car now?" Katerega appeared surprised. "It's true as one of the managers you also need a car."
"You're so kind and understanding, sir."
"At least you're one of the few who says that. Not everyone views me the way you do," Katerega observed.
Then he went on, "Coming back to what we were saying, you're entitled to a car loan like other managers. Just apply. Jenny can give you the application forms for the loan. I will again give my recommendation. I applied for a car loan when I was new like you, and that was how I bought my green Citroen."
"Thanks so much."
Jacob left Katerega's office, and on his way out, he paused at Jenny's desk. "Jenny, the boss says you should give me the application forms for a car loan."
She smiled. "You are aiming high, Jacob. That's nice."
Her hand reached inside the drawer and fished out the form. Then she gave it to Jacob.
"Thanks Jenny. Be seeing you!"
He applied for the car loan almost immediately. Then he returned it to Katerega, who recommended it and passed it over to the chief executive.
Meanwhile, Jacob went for driving lessons at Automobile Association, which offered an international driving license.
A month after his application, the board of directors approved his application, and a white Renault was bought for him. Jacob was now excited when he realized he would no longer have to rise very early to scramble for seats in the buses or cabs.
His continued studies saw him passing the pre-professional stage. He was still thirsty for professional qualifications and sat for part one of the professional exams. Like always, he passed and was promoted to Deputy Company Secretary.
His burning desire or ambition was to rise to the post of Company Secretary. With such ambition burning in his heart, Jacob went on reading for the professional exams of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators.
So busy was he in studying for those examinations that the task of trying to locate his father escaped his mind. Like the python crushing its victim before devouring, the professional examinations swallowed him.