It all started on Fosdicks 1 in a house soccer match against Mumia. I can’t even remember who won that game but most of it consisted of personal clashes between myself and BJ’s twin bro Dave (RIP) in what turned out to be more of a rugby game than a soccer one. Now D (bless his soul) gained a reputation for bullying fellow first formers when we were still in first form and for some reason he did not like me. The truth is that nobody could dare challenge him because even if you managed to win the fight (which was unlikely) there was his twin bro, BJ always hanging around in the shadows who could easily come in and give you a proper beating. And so I always ignored his jeers. To make matters worse he was a known member of the herbalists’ society and in those days I naively feared members of that club because of all the stories I had heard about the super human strength they would gain and the crazy wildness they were capable of.
I guess the whole effect of this was that D always saw me as easy prey.
That soccer match was refereed by Mr Ngure (not sure, you guys will correct me if I am wrong but he taught economics and had a very distinct Kikuyu accent). Naturally he saw what was going on and awarded numerous fouls going both ways during that stormy game.
When the game ended D continued taunting me relentlessly. I ignored him and started walking back to the house. Some of the guys around started laughing as they watched this drama with interest. He said a lot of things which I ignored. He kept talking and then suddenly touched a raw nerve deep inside me. He said something about my late mother. You guys who have been following this know the history and I probably had a lot of pent up emotions about this subject in particular.
The next thing that happened was that I found myself on top of D pinning him to the ground. I saw nothing but red. That scuffle could not have lasted a minute and some level headed guys managed to pull us apart. Knowing what I know now I dread the kind of damage that D would have managed to inflict on me, knowing pressure points in the body and all from his karate background. But I guess my advantage is that I took him totally by surprise.
Mr Ngure came over and asked what was happening. Somebody told him and he grabbed both D and I by the hand and took us to the Deputy headmaster. I don’t remember whether it was at his house in the school or he had been reffing another soccer game. I guess I can’t remember because I was still in a very emotional state. But what I remember is that we were given an appointment to see Okech the next day in his office on the upper floor of the crash hall.
As we waited for him outside his office with D, I had plenty of regrets over the incident. This was just not me. What the heck had come over me? But at least I could see that one good thing had come out of it. D now had respect for me. But I had gained it at great cost.
“You boysh[sic] have been fighting.” Okech said looking at us sternly. “Why were you fighting?”
I didn’t know what to say and neither did D. He was caned first. He braced himself after the first one but the second was too much and he stood up holding his back side. I stared in apprehension knowing I was next. When it was my turn I couldn’t even take the first one.
“Bend over Kavila, I am not finished.”
By the time he was done with the three. The searing pain had reached the top of my head and I felt like my backside was on fire. I had never been caned like that in my entire life.
“If I see you here again, you will have to go home.” Were Okech’s parting words.
Secretly I had one very huge regret over this incident. In 1980 I had already started plotting to be head of school one day. According to me I had now tainted my clean record irreversibly and was out of the running. It haunted me for many days and forced me to look deep into myself wondering what the heck had come over me to lose my head in such a reckless manner. I couldn’t stop kicking myself for the rest of that third term for this huge blunder I had made. To me even the respect and the fact that D now left me alone was no consolation.