During the early 80s i was in class 6. We used to walk a total of 8 km to mumias township primary school and jioni 8 km back . So in total we used to do 16-18km depending on if we had to deal with some horny fellow school girls on the way home . So kila siku (me. my younger brother and my cousin) as walked past another neighbor at 5am in the morning while heading to school , his son who could whisper to their 2 dogs @Bingwa Scrotum and @captain obvious “saaaaaa, saaaaa, saaaaaa!!!” Manze the moment we heard this whisper ndio tunajua milango za gereza and jahanamu zimefunguliwa spontaneously . The two dogs; captain and bingwa could come straight to us , flamboyantly showing us the canines that was ready to munch our gluteus maximus on the slightest chance if we didn’t run faster. Manze tungekimbia like there is no tomorrow. One time one of the dogs got hold of my short ikararua and i had to be in school with a torn short the whole day. Kumbuka wearing underwear was a luxury and privilege to some of us .Hata my primary school crush Praxedis dumped me because of that . Nilichekwa na kila mtu… i’m in pain right now when i remember that .
This went on despite us telling our parents the misery that we were going through every morning. They proposed we change the route to school but there was no other shorter route than that. So my cousin came up with the idea that since that bully (Wesonga) knows that we pass there everyday at 5am we change the timing and make it past there at 4am… This worked out well mpaka i got tired of waking up 3am in the morning . Years went by . Some days we were lucky the dogs were sleeping, some other days they were gone for mating seasons and other days which was 80% of the time tulikuwa tunateswa na hizi mbwa mbili.
I survived the ordeal of 2 years of constant harassment na hizi mbwa. So nilipita poa my primary and i went to a prestigious school in western called Kamusinga boys. So when i was in form 2 , Wesonga hadn’t forgotten the malice and bully antics he was accustomed to. When schools close, i used to wake up to go help my dad supervise cane harvesting. Wesonga spotted me jioni moja when coming back. As usual akaambia hizo mbwa “saaaaaa saaaaaa” maze nilikimbizwa hadi i fell down and bled so bad… till today I have those marks on my knees. I went and told my cousin and brother that Wesonga hasn’t changed yet. Then we launched a plan:
After careful research we realised he got a job at mumias sugar company. He leaves home at 6am and returns at 7pm jioni. We also discovered that he had a bike with a brand name “phoenix”( kwa wale from western know this was the best bike ever made after discovery of penicillin). So we planned the attack: my brother was to go to the shopping center and whistle to us when the terrorist was coming kwa hiyo shinyalu road . Mimi and my cousin on the other hand would tie a long wire from one tree on the right handside of the road and tie the other knot on the other tree on the left side of the road. This was a very lethal weapon that could even drop down an elephant no matter how big the elephant was.
Faithfully at 7pm that fateful day my brother whistled. We could see the subject (Wesonga) cruising na phoenix yake at an alarming speed of 60km per hour since ilikuwa mteremko. Mara moja tukakaza wire making it tight since the other side was already tightened on the tree . Na wesonga came straight into the dragnet without knowing . Tulisikia "eeehee ehheee bindu shinaaa eeehhh Mungu saidia " then we heard kabooooomm !! na kamshuto kidogo kiasi.Next thing tuliona dust going up in the sky, The elephant came tumbling down with a thud. Immediately we laughed loud till he could hear us since we were hiding in the nearby bush. I could tell from the mourning that the man was in pain. We ran home happy people. Kesho yake tulisikia we had broken femur and twisted his ankle beyond repair. Na pia “saaaaa saaaa” ilikuwa imefika kikomo.I think the village celebrated our heroic stunt but in silence…
It’s been 34 years and wesonga is still there in the village limping. I feel proud that we stood up to him but at the same time the guilt in me is wearing me down everytime he meets me and gives me a firm handshake while limping, yet he doesnt know im the one of the architects who gave him that life changing surgery
Bad of you…he could have died …but he also did not care if the dogs lunged/bit at a chunk of your leg at the time so you would be limping too. Don’t beat yourself way too much. Childhood is childhood. Tuletee heka zingine!
#9
Hapo bookers nilikuwa nakamua fine chic fulani alikuwa anaishi managerial in 2008. She used to tell me the old man was a senior guy at MUSCO. The day I knew she was the IT manager’s wife, hiyo Mumias sijawahi onekana TENA. Hapo ndio nilijua maana ya jina ‘mzee wangu’. The guy was my drinking partner and the way alikuwa anajisifu kwa pub fulani ilikuwa INAITWA 70’S or something like that…
I once had a dog that kept chewing my shoes at night. I crashed some glass panes, placed it inside ugali na nikapaka ovacado juu. That was an effective solution
dog mtu ama a real dog? unakaa wale wenye wanaeza tumia suicide vest without blinking.maybe the creature was just playing with you,i am not being ‘holier than thou’ as nmewahi huwa paka na big stone after kula mayai ya kuku zangu but hii yako?!