Like I always and proudly say, I grew up in the village. I’m a village boy. So I was in class 3/4 hapo. I’m growing up fast and notoriety is growing even faster. I was naughty alone, but with my brother, the level always escalated to unimaginable levels. You see the Maramoja advert, the “My brother and I love a good challenge”? That’s a censored version of how we did our stuff together.
Anyway. So this day we are going home from school and there’s a river we cross along the way. Mucheru was “written work” kwa kina Linus Njigu and he used to take cows for a drink at the river, karura. He used to take two cows, very docile ones, a mother cow and it’s calf, both brown. So we used to ride the mother cow like a horse. Mucheru couldn’t let us ride the calf. So we rode on the big one in turns, me first, then Mwangi.
Then this day Mucheru brings three cows, our two usual friends and another black mother cow. That meant each of us had his own horse that day. I love trying new things, so the black horse became mine by default. So I got on the horse like Jon Snow, like a boss. I guess i pressed the wrong button.
My frien,
the new horse got wild! It sped off with me on it’s back with it’s tail up and jumping up and down in circles. I couldn’t jump off. The more I waited for it to slow down so I could jump off, the faster and more furious it got. I was at that point where you see the color of your hospital bed. The horse finally managed to throw me off and landed me in a thicket. Mucheru was a little scared but my brother, wapi! What matters is that the secret has been safe throughout my childhood. My parents were strict “practisers” of Proverbs 13:24.
I tried that severally. LaterI learned when the front legs Hit the ground and the Hind legs are in the air is the safest time to jump.
Young cows/bulls where more nasty even with such timing some could still land a kick. The worst was a donkey when it chooses to react. Their kicks are powerful and the ass knows a thing or two about timming and aimimg.
I remember, when I was young me being first born, and my brother 2nd born we used to ride our sheep, we had 3 red massai sheep (As father used to say, “mburi igiri shia maathai ndune”), I used to ride the.male and my brother the female. …
It was a simple process, sit on the sheep, use the tail as the accelerator the more you pull the more it runs. Use the ears, or horn buds on head, or rope on neck as steering wheel since sheep are kinda blind on hot pursuit speed. Always stop when it sleeps due to tire.
One fatefull day Father came home early just after getting from our grazing grounds, we was with our small bro 3rd born who was just about.two years old so alikuwa anajua kuongea kiasi. We warned him not to say of our activities. Just as father came near us, we heard, “Daddy, tukuhaishaga mburii”, meaning “Daddy, we were riding the sheep.” On hearing that, the only thing my father saw from his first two sons was dust and only returned when he had gone to drink at the joint. After successfully avoiding him for a week, he finally caught up with us and instilled discipline. Sometimes he used to make you think he has forgotten, then one day out of the blue, belt ndio itakuamsha. Maan my old man, made sure to beat you psychologically and physically but after the physical you were done. Mama would give you a physical immediately but you will never hear the end of it.