Synopsis
Lusala (22) is a young man who lives and works in two very separate parts of Nairobi. He
occupies his days working in a garage in lower-class Nairobi. Every evening, he joins the
city’s working class masses making their journeys home, except he goes to the other
Nairobi; upmarket neighbourhood, and the palatial home of his adoptive family. His
uncle and aunt, Onesmus and Beatrice (late 40’s), adopted him twelve years ago from
rural Kenya, and raised him together with their daughter Joma (17).
When Lusala and Joma’s unabashed sibling affection raises concerns with Beatrice, she
imposes on her husband to make Lusala move out and start life on his own. Onesmus
relents, and despite his apparent anxieties, so does Lusala. With his uncle’s help, and
with Joma’s moral support, Lusala moves into a flat closer to his garage workplace.
As Lusala settles in, he attempts to fit in with his mechanic colleagues and shrug off his
anxiety and dejection, but his troubles take a stronger hold of him.
Days later, Lusala’s youngest sister Bakhita, who has been away in boarding school, runs
away and unexpectedly shows up at his flat. When he takes her in and opts to return her
to Onesmus and Beatrice’s house, she begs him to let her stay. He begrudgingly agrees,
telling her she can hide out in his flat for a while.
Word reaches Onesmus that Bakhita has returned to stay with Lusala, and he and the
family approach Lusala at the garage to speak with him about it.
The resulting confrontation reveals that Lusala’s mental state is fragile and in peril, and
despite his family’s best intentions, one bigger, more ominous confrontation lies ahead.