Mariam returned to the studio shortly before noon, with the archive photographs on her phone and the retrieval reference in her file. Kendi had arranged three fabrics on the table: copper, cream, and deep green. Beside them was a lighting sample the supplier had left with them for one day.
“Babu has asked about the deposit again,” Kendi said.
“We will answer him after we finish the calculations.”
“I have finished them. If we buy at today's price, the margin is very small.”
Mariam took a blank sheet and wrote three columns: **Must Have**, **Can Wait**, **We Can Make.**
Kendi looked at her doubtfully. “This is a four-hundred-guest wedding, not the neighbor's birthday.”
“I know. That is why we cannot sit and wait for a loan that is still blocked.”
They sorted through the order. Fabric for four hundred chairs was essential. The aisle lights and the front backdrop were essential for the sample. Special ribbons for the back tables could wait. Extra lights along the side of the venue could be taken after the second installment. Under *we can make*, Kendi wrote down two frames they could repaint instead of buying new ones.
“The client chose a gold finish,” Kendi said.
“We have paint spray in that color.”
“Old spray.”
“We will test it on the sample.”
Kendi sat down and opened the cost spreadsheet. Mariam knew the figures before they appeared: the new fabric price, transport from River Road, labor payments, and then the emergency reserve. They cut the unnecessary items, but there was still a gap in the supplier's deposit.
“Can you take money from the household reserve?” Kendi asked.
Mariam thought about rent, her younger sibling's school fees, and her mother's medicine. “I can take part of it, not all.”
“That is risky.”
“The risk is already here.”
She called Babu. The older man answered after the phone rang twice.
“Madam Mariam, I haven't released the order, but other people are asking for that fabric.”
“I will pay forty percent today. I will take only the essential rolls. The rest after the sample.”
“Forty percent is not enough.”
“The price has gone up, and I am still carrying the whole order. If you put everything aside for me, you will lock up your stock without moving it.”
Babu gave a short laugh. “You have learned to talk like a supplier.”
“I have been in business for ten years.”
“And ten years makes you believe I will wait for you?”
“It makes you know I will not disappear.”
“Tomorrow at eleven.”
“I will send forty percent today. I will clear the rest after the sample.”
“Don't bring me a cheque.”
“Mobile transfer.”
“And if the sample is delayed?”
“You will hear before it is late, not after.”
Babu was silent. “Send it today. I will hold two rolls of copper and cream.”
Mariam put the phone down. Kendi exhaled.
“Will we find the forty percent?”
“We will sell the hotel-curtain stock.”
“Former clients want a very large discount.”
“Better a discount than stock sitting unused.”
They photographed the curtains and posted them on the business status. Kendi called two hotels and a photographer who had bought their drapes before. An hour later, a former client asked to see them. Mariam prepared a price below the previous year's price, but it would still bring in quick cash.
At the same time, Asha sent a message: *Can we come and see the sample on Friday? My mother wants to know whether the chair color will match the venue.*
Mariam replied: *Yes. We will have a sample of the essential décor. I will send the new layout this evening.*
Kendi looked at her. “Don't tell her the new layout has been reduced.”
“It has not been reduced. It is staged.”
“To the client, the difference is small.”
“To the business, it is the difference between continuing and not continuing.”
Mariam prepared two layouts. The first showed the sample arranged at the venue: twelve chairs, two tables, aisle lights, and a backdrop. The second showed the full event after the second installment. She made clear which parts would be done on the wedding day, without saying that the first money was coming from the household reserve.
When the client saw it, she replied that she would accept the sample if the color was right. That gave Mariam an opening, not money. First she had to buy the materials.
Kendi sold three curtains to a former client. The client sent half the deposit and promised to collect them the next day. Mariam took part of the remaining household reserve, and they sent the amount to Babu. When the receipt arrived, Kendi printed it and pinned it to the board.
Mariam did not celebrate. She knew that forty percent was only the beginning.
Around midday, Jonas's message arrived: *The legacy search is still in progress. Send the archive request number when you get the certified copy.*
Mariam replied that she was still waiting for the physical batch page. Then she opened the CRB report and wrote beneath the borrower code: **NO DISBURSEMENT ACCOUNT.**
Kendi read the words. “Do you still think Halima did it?”
“I still don't know.”
“Her statement helped you.”
“It helped me see what she did, not everything that happened afterward.”
Kendi did not press the question. She knew Mariam well enough to understand that uncertainty tormented her more than a debt itself.
In the evening, Babu confirmed that the two rolls were being held. But he added new conditions: the third roll would be priced at the next day's rate, and delivery would not begin until the balance was paid. Mariam wrote the conditions into the spreadsheet.
“The main supplier says tomorrow is the final extension,” Kendi said.
“We will pay.”
“With what money?”
Mariam looked at the photograph of the bank report on her phone. The debt figure on the loan line looked like a wall. Beside it was a photograph of Babu's receipt. One was blocking her. The other had allowed her to continue for one day.
“We will look for another small order,” she said.
“Don't take another job when we are already on a deadline.”
“It isn't a new job. It is selling stock that has been sitting.”
Kendi opened the status again. Another client had asked about the drapes. She had not come to save Mariam; she had bought something she needed. Mariam received the payment by M-Pesa, paid two casual workers, and put the rest toward the supplier payment.
When night fell, they closed the studio with the backdrop sample propped against the wall. Mariam took the archive file and locked it in a drawer separate from the business file.
“Why are you keeping it apart?” Kendi asked.
“Because I don't want the debt to decide how we buy.”
“But it is what brought us here.”
“Yes. That is why we must follow it without letting it drive every decision.”
Kendi locked the door. As they walked down the stairs, Mariam's phone rang. It was Babu.
“Madam, I have received the payment.”
“Good.”
“The extension for the balance is final. Tomorrow at eleven, I must know.”
“I will give you an answer.”
“Don't give me a banker's answer.”
Mariam looked at Kendi, then said, “I will give you a businesswoman's answer.”
When she ended the call, Kendi laughed softly. “That is the answer I wanted.”
Mariam looked at the River Road night. They had saved the order by accepting a higher price, selling stock, and reducing their margin. There was no loan to protect them. There was no cushion for mistakes.
Tomorrow the main supplier would decide whether continuing was worth anything.
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