Memory Lane
Back to when in class one, I was the shortes guy yet the second fastest in our class. Damn I was swift. Age comes with laziness & I wonder what happened. Or maybe I became fat (hehe). A time when my mother would cane me every single day of my school life. I remember once when my mother chased me out. Her exact words were, "Get out and never come back to this house. I never want to see you again" (translate to kikuyu). Weirdly enough I did go, & never looked back. It felt like freedom handed to me by force. Who was I to give it back. I envied the street urchin life. No one to tell you what to do, no limits to your movement & you can sleep just anywhere. Stupid of me, I did go, but to my neighbours house whereby my dad later brought me back home. My mom's reason for chasing me away was of my dirty clothes. I was a kid, & to execerbate I was a boy, don't expect me to be clean.
Then were the days I really knew what pain was from being caned. My mother knew not to spare any offence we did. I wasn't a mum child. I wasn't raised by mother alone, but by the whole community. My mother had given any stranger the right to cane me if I was found on the wrong. No specific weapon that was used. Anything that my mother got hold off, had the audacity to hit me with it. Be it a cooking stick, belt or a random stick. Being a firstborn, made the matters worse. If my brother dared do wrong in my presence, that was booked beating. To my mother, I was an assistant parent. Show the guy what is right & what is wrong. My ass really did get the hard times of my child hood life. It was so much that I believed this woman hated me. All in all, she had her good times. Incase I got caned for something I did not do, she sincerely apologised for her mistake. I gave her that. Well, spare the rod & spoil the child. Thias has made me learn to appreciate the beatings I got. Who knows who I would have turned into.
Back to the time I never asked my dad for anything. I feared that man to death. Not even a single candy did I ask my dad to buy me. If I ever wanted anything, my brother was the mediator. I could simply ask him to go say he wanted this & that. And knowing a parent's weak point, there was no way he could buy it for him alone. It had to come in pairs. Benefits was when my brother never wanted it. All was for me. The more the merrier. It got to a point that my father noticed this & he approached me saying I should learn to ask things for myself. Same old me never changed, the mediator had to do his work.
Back were the days I had my first crush on a neighbour. Take a seat & see how stupid I was. Sandra was this beautiful lady that lived a walk away from where we resided. Call it limerence, call it crush or in this case single chemistry. You see, she lived with her aunt. Someone would literally go to church to see a lady. Or even walk to the shop twice & change the route home just to have a view of a lady. I am someone. I was really not into church but I knew her aunt was strict on them with matters relating to religion, and that made me strict too, well not on religion, bt on attendance. You get the picture. Sandra was like, put it this way, I was the "ee" in "Bee" & she was the "B". Without the "B" the word "Bee" is useless, but without the "ee" & still would make sense in pronunciation. Yes, she was that meaningful to me.
My only problem was one, I never knew how to approach her. She never even recognised me. While she was my world back then. The day I got a chance to talk to her was at a wedding. This was when owning a camera phone was like owning an Iphone or Black Berry today. Luckily enough, my mother had one. I took this chance to approach her. This is clearly not going where you are thinking. I confidently took my mother's phone & asked Sandra to take a snap of me with the boys in our wedding attire. Sandra did take a photo, but not what I asked for. You see, she took a photo of me walking towards the boys, but never with the boys. Upon giving me back the phone to see the pics, she walked away. Leave alone the the wrong pics she took but also the quality. Yes I understand the qualities back then were worse but she overcooked already overcooked food, you feel me. Astonishingly, I never deleted the photos. I was happy I made a convo with her. It might be a five word convo but I got a reply, so it still counts. Today I have no clue where Sandra resides, or even I would recognise her, but what still lingers in my mind is one thing, did she walk away cause she was embarrassed of the pics she took or she never wanted to be seen with the man of her dreams back then,?
It wouldn't hurt to share...
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