Class trouble that strated from the rugby pitch

One of the most controversial incidents of 1980 took place in a third form maths class with sodium. There was actually a scuffle between him and Big Jim (BJ) that some like to refer to as a fight. But the whole thing actually started on a rugby pitch and so that’s the right place to start this tale.

It was virtually impossible to beat Mumia on Ridge One which they considered their home ground being only a heart beat away from the house of men. And so before a game against Mumia in the inter-house Junior rugby 7-a-side that year I helped give a pep talk that got us Kirk guys really psyched up and ready to attempt the impossible. Still the game went predictably with Mumia taking an early lead even as we fought back ferociously and somehow held the score down.

Then some of the Mumia players did what you never EVER do to a ref. The truth is that Sodium was not very conversant with rugby rules but you still do not make careless comments out of anger. Mumia with a comfortable lead that they just needed to hang onto made that fatal mistake. Sodium lost it and promptly gave us a totally unwarranted penalty about 25 yards out. Mumia kept on grumbling and without hesitating he moved the penalty to about 5 yards from the Mumia try line. To be fair to Mumia it was actually supposed to be an indirect free kick but Sodium did not indicate whether it was direct or indirect, which I deviously took advantage of (my sincere albeit belated apology goes out to Mumia).

BJ and his ferocious brother stood right in front of me and those who knew the terrible twins will know what I am not exaggerating when I say that this was an impenetrable wall that probably only a tank would have had a chance of going through. And so charging over the line was out of question. I would be lying if I said that as I held the ball to take the kick I felt confident.

It was the dying minutes of the game and so I decided to take a huge risk. I tapped the ball and swung my arms as if I was going to make a long pass. To my utter relief Big Jim and his bro moved in the direction of my hands and I went over the line for a try which Sodium awarded. I believe the conversion went over but what I am certain about is that we won that game very narrowly.

Livid is a weak word to describe what our Mumia opponents felt as the final whistle was blown immediately after the conversion.

The next day in the Maths class Big Jim was still fuming over what he must have felt (quite rightly) was a victory stolen from them. When Sodium walked into the class it did not take him long to realize it. He asked BJ to stand up and get out of his class which he refused. And that was when he completely lost it and attempted to push him out. Now BJ was extra-ordinarily strong. We went on to play rugby with him at many levels and I saw him many times do things to people who were twice his weight that you and I wouldn’t even manage with people much lighter. And so Sodium’s best efforts yielded zero. It would have been funny if the possible consequences of what was happening were not so grave. A few guys who were close to BJ intervened and tried to persuade him to obey. He did not budge. Sodium threw what was supposed to be a punch but BJ easily intercepted it and held his hand. Luckily BJ suddenly opted to walk out in disgust and Sodium followed him out of a shell shocked class.

I don’t quite remember how the matter was settled, but to Sodium’s credit BJ was not even suspended although such a case would have warranted an expulsion.

And it all began on a rugby pitch.

I am grateful that I got to know BJ fairly well in the years that followed and discovered to my shock the soft side of him. I know if he were to read this he would have looked at me with that mock threatening look I still see and said something Like; “You, Jaha, I’ll beat you.” I miss him like so many people who will read this thread do. RIP BJ.

My plot fails

From left to right: the late Foxy Kimani, Okello Aliker and yours truly. This was probably 1979 when we were in second form.

By 1980 I had already seen two seasons of rugby at Lenana and was determined to wear the maroon kit ASAP. The previous year I had played for senior colts and so in 1980 I was supposed to start training with the first 30.

I plotted my move early before even the term started and decided that the only way I could do it with such major stars as Madara and Steak Ondiek amongst others on the back line was to switch to the scrum. I was big enough and I felt that I could learn quickly.

Davies had left the previous year and Owuor “sodium” had taken over as rugby master. However with his limited knowledge of rugby the student officials took charge of training. Head of School Andy Mwenesi was handling the pack and Madara was with the backs. And so at the first practice I headed over to the forwards. Mwenesi took one look at me and said; “You’re not a forward, go join the backs.”

I did not have the courage to defy the head of school and so I meekly trotted back to the backs and my fate as a regular second XV player. In retrospect it seems that I had already stood out as a back in house matches and at that level a rookie trying to learn how to be a forward was unacceptable.

But even if I was not in the 1st XV I quickly learnt that there were other advantages of training with the very best in the school. One day during that second term, Mwenesi walked into our third form class to find us making a racket. There was pin drop silence the minute he walked in and our hearts stopped beating.

Mwenesi, like a number of head boys before him was greatly feared and respected. The crash hall would empty in seconds the minute he was sighted around the music school coming up school from Mumia. Everybody knew he was no nonsense, although we heard he was pretty popular and a regular guy before he was made head boy.

He started to walk away and from a minute we thought that it was all over. And then the dreaded words came out of his mouth.

“School pres comm tomorrow morning.”

The rest of the day and the next morning were all spoilt because naturally we could think of nothing else but terror at the tower. Our rabble days were over but it was certainly not the end of trouble at Lenana.

There was no door to get into the school pres comm. On the third floor of the administration block. But the procedure those days was that you knocked with your head on the wall until you were told to come in. Since we were a whole class only one person knocked and we were all ordered to get in. We then knelt down and waited for school prefects to finish their tea and the famous “triangles”. So that thye could deal with us. The waiting alone was pure torture. If you are going to be hanged isn’t it better thye get t over with quickly instead of keeping you waiting?

As I was kneeling, Mwenesi walked over to me still holding his tea mug. “You Kavila, go away,” he barked. I quickly got up, not believing my luck and got the hell out of tower. Behind my back I heard him tell one other guy from Mumia who was not a rugby player to also go away.

I believe the rest of the guys were put on working parties and a few unlucky ones who had dirty socks or something received a few slaps.

I really began to love this game of rugby which already seemed to get me out of tight spots off the pitch.