WELCOME LIFE IN HIGH SCHOOL - KERUGOYA BOYS HIGH SCHOOL.

(Today marks the second day of the West Gate Mall attack and no breakthrough yet, the Lord reigns though) Back to my story......

In the year 2000, it was time to report to form one. I cannot remember very well how it was like Mum and I shopping for goodies so that I can join form one. What is very memorable is the day that she escorted me from home to school which was a 'walking distance' or the pocket power of my family could not afford me a cab to carry my metal box and all the goodies to school. I guess mum carried them using a rope like a bunch of firewood as was traditionally done when women were leaving the forest on a firewood gathering mission.

I was so Tiny and along the way, people were mocking me that my box was ‘taller’ than I was and true to their word, I could barely lift it from the ground. The best I did was to carry a small twenty litre bucket as mum shouldered all  the other burden, all in the name of giving an ‘innocent’ son a decent escort to join a secondary school which was envied by many village folk, that I must say.

We were ushered at the school entrance where there was a check list activity so as to confirm that one had purchased all the items that were required of us . In the midst of the financial constraints that was the order of the day in my family, I was blessed to have been bought for all the required items and as soon as this was confirmed, it was time to bid mum goodbye and one gentle man, Mureithi whose mother was my mum’s friend took over ‘parenthood’ as long as I was in the environs of the school. Goodbye mummie, welcome secondary school life…….!

Mureithi helped me carry the box and mattress to Aberdare Dormitory where along the way, I came face to face with the reality. Bullying / ‘Monolization’ was live here and a few pinches, punches and naughty words were hurled towards me en route Aberdare dormitory. I was in panic mode and was already wondering why things had changed so fast. Mum was nowhere to be seen. Only very tall and bearded bullies awaiting us along the road but thanks Goodness, my god parent was in control, at least for the time being.

Days passed, I was bullied a.k.a monolized, as well as others. We were woken up at night and forced to wash uniforms belonging to form threes and fours. We washed their dishes, wiped and polished their shoes, spread their beds and even fetched water for them. Not forgetting being forced to  do the impossibilities like 'fetch darkness in a bucket', show them physically what was making one laugh incase you were caught doing so after the bullies set us traps by grinning hence appearing to be laughing only to change mood so fast and put on what was popularly known as ‘stone' to mean stone face. Rugby players, hockey players as well as other sportsmen forced us to wash their sports clothes and not to forget the stinking socks that we would be forced to sniff like sniffer dogs!

Over the weekends and specifically on Sundays, things were so bad as there were no classes taking place full day. Things were too bad that we the form ones had to come up with a counter strategy, get Saved! This was informed by the fact that we Catholics had to attend the Catholic Association mass, CA at the chapel but sadly we were bullied right as the mass was going on! This made most of the form ones to Join the protestant group by the name CU, to mean Christian Union as here, there was no bullying and the prayers never ended as fast as was the case in the Catholic Chapel. This had us a perfect place to hide from bullying as well as ‘act’ saved for our safety and hence i  got saved.

First term passed , welcome second term. Things were taking a different shape and slowly, we could dodge these bullies and at times bully them too. Case in point is when they sent us to fetch hot water from a central place called Gakuni. This was done in a way that they took time to discover. The mission started when the seniors put sugar and cocoa in a cap and sent us to the hot water point so as to make what we referred to as Mkorogo. We would make it, drink a half of it, fill the remaining bit with urine and then take it to them. Disgusting as it was, it was payback time! 

What we were doing was soon discovered and before we could hand over the mixture, we were supposed to take a big sip to confirm that all was well! Lucky enough, second term in the midist of the struggles was gone and welcome third term. By now, I  and a bunch of my friends by the names King’ori, Morris, Peter, Bernard and Karani had grown horns and even had a name Home Boyz. We did most things together and I must appreciate most of the things were positive. Thanks good ness, third term was gone without any major and ugly incidences to report.but i guess i had back slided and 'seven demons' were now haunting me......!

Hell broke loose in the year 2001 after joining form Two. I and a bunch of boys started drinking beer at the opening day where we would carry packed richot (black and white sachets) and Kibuga Wine to school and drink ourselves to a point that we were tipsy but not too drunk  to be noticed. This was the third time I had taken beer the first being at Aunt Immaculate’s home where my cousins Paul, Anthony and Samson made me drink a local brew that made me vomit all night long such that I spent the following day by the riverside washing the beddings. This was the worst experience ever as i was also suffering from hangover, a beast that i had never encountered previously. The second time to take beer was with a friend, Peter, the man who I previously said was my class mate in class four and is a successful business man as at now and Christopher who was a son to our Councilor by the name Mr Gitari.  Chris was our sponsor and is the dude who bought us several bottles of Pilsner at a local bar known by then as Mumbu Bar.

I was some how lucky that I was never caught drunk but tragedy would strike one day during morning cleaning time when  I was caught red handed by the deputy principal Mr Karari speaking in my mother tongue which was never allowed in school. This resulted to two weeks suspension and was required to buy two books, Think Big and Gifted Hands. Mum was so mad at me as she could not afford the two books plus the remaining school fees balance at the same time. Luckily, an uncle of mine by the name Mr Kinuthia ( may his soul rest in peace) gave us Two thousand shillings which was welcome in aiding me get to school after the two weeks ban which I did.

The un believable took place later. I would for the first time smoke Marijuana as I met a couple of friends smoking and had to puff twice out of curiosity. Luckily, I did not  get high as I just puffed in and out but this group would be my new friends who we would later be involved in planning for unsuccessful strike and dimming of lights to discontinue learning and force the administration to send us home. This failed and fast, we hatched a new plot! This was that we were to contribute money to buy petrol and torch down a store that was packed with mattresses and other items. In this group was Mashaa, miano, Kabao, Gichira me and others who are not included here. We successfully bought the petrol and one night, we torched the store down hoping that this time round, the whole school would be sent home and closed indefinately.

 

To our shock, we were later to be nabbed after the management failed to close down the school but decided to undertake investigations with the help of detectives. What I can remember was a day after the torching down of the store, I was sleeping in Aberdare dormitory and someone, who was a cop, accompanied by Mr Warui, the head teacher nick named Mtiki called out my name! I realized that all was not well and dared not to raise my head. The dormitory captain, Mr Kiama was asked to locate my bed and soon, I was frog marched to a waiting van only to find myself in a police van and later we were locked up in Kerugoya Police cells with all my comrades.

We would in the morning be taken to different rooms to write statements and here, I was tortured like never before. I guess mum had never inflicted so much pain on my body in all the times that I had wronged her hence had to cough out all I knew on the whole stupid and un godly act of torching the store. My relatives were notified that I was locked in and to their shock and dismay, they came in numbers only for me to be called out and meet them weeping for one of theirs who by now was a state guest at this early age instead of being in school learning.

Our parents were called in and had like two days discussing the way forward at the police station. We would later be released after spending days behind bars and let to go home. Later, My brothers and sisters told me that when I got home, they noticed an unusual stench of someone who had not taken shower for ages some meters away. Yes! That was me. Life in the cells was bad. We never showered, we slept on the floor, the place was so un hygienic and to make the matters worse, we were bundled together in the same cells with all manner of fellow criminals, drunkards and jail birds.

At home, i was told to wait outside as water was warmed, taken to the bathroom and the bed bug infested me had  to take shower, throw away the lice infested clothes and with much love like the prodigal son, I  was served with a delicacy like someone who had done no wrong. Later, it was time to sleep! At least in a comfortable environment, on a bed, free from congestion, rice and bugs and also had a blanket for the night……..!