TBT

Back in the days when we were kids, life was fun since child until responsibilities caught up unto us. We enjoyed every minute of life we lived cause most of the times was play time. Hide and seek, marbles, catching birds, racing with tires, teasing the girls, family games where the boy leader would play as the father and the leader of the girls would play as the mother. I guess match making started way early than we thought. The rest of the players would take different characters and there was also the dog of the family. Stupidity sometimes is funny. I remember when we wanted to live like street children cause no one told them anything. Little did we know how hard it was for them to get food or even they never slept on a comfortable bed.

School was fun only during breaks and lunches. We couldn’t wait to finish eating so as to go the field and play until the bell rang. If the teacher never showed up, we would make noise all through. Boys talking about how last night’s wrestling was. The likes of John Cena, Curt Angle, Booker T, Shawn Michael, Rikishi, Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Cain, Rey Mysterio were the legends of our days. Who can even forget the famous The Rock and his famous saying,” If you smelllllllllll, what the Rock, is, cooking”. And Chuck Norris the guy who solved all crimes. Rex the police dog. Girls would talk about soaps and their favourite characters. I remember the song that used to hit our eyes by then, Manyake- (can’t remember), John Raha- Wakimbizi, Furahiday- Nonini feat Nameless, Githurai- Mr.Lenny feat Mr.Googs and Vinnie Banton, Hallo Hallo- (can’t remember), Kwaheri- Juacali feat Sana, Man-u vs Arsenal- (can’t remember), Manzi amejibeba- Flexx, Nibebe- Nyota Ndogo feat Nonini, Number yako- Flexx, Unbwogable- Gidigidi Majimaji, Watu na Viatu- Nyota Ndogo, You- Big Pin feat Sana, Nyundo- Flexx feat Juacali, Hey Baby- Marya feat Colonel Mustapha, Usimpe Roho Yako- Wyre, Nyashinski, Abbas Kubaff, Nameless and Juacali, Compe- Bamboo, Under 18- Jimw@t, and other famous musicians the likes of Wahu, Pilipili, Czars, Amani, Longombas, Krupt, and the legendary Esir.

It was not all fun and games all the time. If you did something wrong, you would try to do everything just for your parents not to find out. Come home early, clean the house, wash the utensils, stay in the house, anything that would please them. But finally at the end of the day they would still find out and the beating that night would be severe. At times our parents would be merciless and the beating would be so ruthless. Maybe you lived on the ground floor and your friend on the sixth floor would hear your screams and your begging for your mum to stop and how you would never repeat the mistake again. She would beat you up and after she is done she would threaten you to stop crying or she gets back to the beating.

Who can even forget the cupboard full of visitor’s utensils. It was never opened until the visitors came to visit. That’s when you would see some of the plates and wonder when did your mum buy them. Some looked even older than us. When visitors came over we all knew food would be in plenty. You would go to all your friends and make sure they all knew there are chapos at home. They would hang around like vultures waiting for a chance to have a taste of the food. When the visitors left one of them would be last at the door and there were this words that made you feel like you were in cloud nine,” John, nmeachia mama yako elfu moja akununulie chenye unataka (John, I have given your mum a thousand-shilling note to buy you anything you want)”. That’s when you knew the toy that you have been wanting to have is a metre away from you. Two days later you would ask your mum for the money only for your heart to be broken after she says she paid school fees with it and maybe she never leaves balances at school. That day you become so sad at your mum and start crying and she would sooth you with sweet names and have you sleeping on her lap. By now you are so blinded by sadness to notice your tears are falling on her new dress and yet it is mid-month. I mean, how stupid were we. But thanks to all that we made it to where we are.

It wouldn’t hurt to share…