Fond Memories

This day stands out in my memory. I trudge down a prominent highway of my Lakeside City in the crisp of the morning and I bump into him, almost unannounced. 

"Hey you genius boy, what was your name again? You have grown into a full man - so fast!" He is still soft spoken. 

And before I gather myself, he has thrown in two or five more lines, "Why did you come back from the US so fast... or was it Switzerland? Or did they deport you? You know they do that a lot.... bla, blesh, blab..." People hardly change, I wonder.

I grin all this time. I feel like backing off but I decide to man up. So I intentionally prolong the hand shake as I back-peddle towards this restaurant to my back left.

We choose a corner table for two and a coffee crash ensues amid other really interesting catch ups that make me miss High School. My principal was a jovial, well comported fellow with noble and comely ideas. But I also remember his spanks and smacks that could pair up into day-mare for form four students who wouldn't toe the line. Yes, he was  a Geographer, I remember - a subject in whose A earned me a waiver of all my fee balances and express clearance! This is why I appreciate such people...

.... but that wasn't about all in high school. Now that I met my former principal in the city, more fond memories came my way: Fort Jesus, the old form one block,Tom Mboya the notorious dormitory, the really hilarious happenings at the School Assembly, et cetera. One would  readily dismiss these as relics of the past, but pardon me if thou wilt for the memories are way too fond!

You know, Usenge High School is one of these well endowed schools of Nyanza, located in Usenge Beach along the shores of Lake Victoria. Fast forward, this specific day, the form four students decide not to use tap water as is custom. On the contrary, we march out of the main gate. Lawless. Careless. Once out, we sprint down the slope and in a matter of minutes we are at Wath Goye the nearest lake shore. We're game, we hardly come by such opportunities - common knowledge, so we just want to make the most out of it. We dive, swim, swam and do all manner of high-schoolic stuff... nude or half of it, whatever. We don't realize we have overspent our time, we don't realize the dusk is creeping in, just the same way we do not realize the school captain is making good use of his digital camera at the shore: zooming, focusing and capturing... (trouble), and the rest could well be history.

So as I meditate, I keep wondering which segment of my memory hid this eventful piece, thanks to meeting the former principal, but I decide to blog about it lest I lose it indefinitely. Smile if you care to:)

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