SCHOOL OF KNOCKS.

Kakamega Primary 2011...I'm entering upper primary in a public school with over 1500 pupils... Wow.... This was also during the initiation era.... So you we're either the predator or the prey. I heard rumors about pupils from one hood(let me call it "downtown") getting jumped and beat to pulp at this school. Thought it was all crap. Here's the story; 

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Back then, I honestly can say my age was 12 ....But my brain was 20.I was getting head from random naughty teen-age girls(because I was from some fancy ass school and some posh hood in some City. City life you know😅)I was screaming Tommy Lee lyrics you could think I was from some town in Jamaica and I honestly thought I was untouchable. We all have our Crews as kids which makes it even worse. 

First week of public school. I'm hoping with my crew at the fences at the corner end of the school(this spot was only for the most lit people in the school and who weren't us definitely) and the "uptown kids" show up. They interrupt our football game for their initiation speech. "All you downtown folks will each get your day. Once your day comes, just let it happen. "We laugh. They keep hooping. This guys are ONE year older than me. They are tripping if they think I'm scared of some 13 year olds. The next day, I'm in the hallway heading to class and my boy comes running down the hall screaming

"THEY GOT IVAN!".........I may have peed just a little bit. I keep my cool and try to decipher the words through his panic. So I ask him what exactly happened.... "Ivan kept showing them his middle finger while making faces and the uptowners jumped on him with metal planks they stole from the workshop where the old desks and lockers are stored. "....Hold on.... METAL PLANKS!?.... People exaggerate sometimes.... So I head to class... 

I'm hearing whispers for the rest of the day. And Ivan apparently went home so I can't even verify this story. The day ends and I head home. I'm not completely sold yet. So I'm not stressing. The next day, the crew meets to discuss..... Ivan shows up in the morning and he's limping holding his side. ....We're all just waiting for him to speak. He looks at us with fear in his eyes and says..... "Don't let them get you.... ".....Now..... You see now... NOW IM A BELEIVER... this Uptowners are on some bullshit. For the entire day, I start switching up my routine. Sitting with different people at lunch... Walking around teachers a lot after class to ask fake questions. I didn't even play ball that day. I was able to make it through the day without seeing the uptown lads. It was silent.....too silent. The end of the day bell rings and I head out through the front gate to make sure that I'm safe because no one can grab me infront of the staffroom and the offices. I get outside and already there's a crown of kids. They got another member of my crew. People start helping him up and I look down the street and I see the downtown kids laughing. 

At this point, my confidence comes back.... I start telling myself... These guys got caught slipping... I'm much smarter than this.... And if it comes down to a foot race, they ain't seeing me. I catch my bike and ride home with this new mentality. I get to school early the next day. Get everything I need from everywhere, places like the canteen and library and wait in my class for the bell to ring. This is how we're going to play this.... I will arrive early.... Leave early.... If I do this for an entire month, they will give up. I start giving myself that evil laugh from cartoons. 

My bestfriend Terrell and I are the "cool dudes"/"athletes" of my crew.... So we make a plan to stick together since we both know we can outrun these chumps. I inform him of where we'll meet as soon as the bell rings and we'd be off this. He meets me there...... The bell rings and we take my office route again towards the front doors. Before we walk through, I see the uptowners standing on the hill out front. THESE NIGGAS ACTUALLY HAVE METAL PLANKS IN THEIRE HANDS!...... I feel my chest squeez. Look at Terrell. We gotta use the side gate and make a run for it. We head towards the side doors. All is clear. We take 3 quick breaths. And push through the side gate towards the motorbike stage across the street. They see us. They are fast. We start wearing through traffic. There is no vehicle heading towards our route(downtown) here. We can't wait at the bus station too. OWEN THINK... The FILLING STATION..... The Filling station behind the bus station has a restroom on the outside with a door. I run inside and I keep the door open just long enough for Terrell to get in. I slam it and Lock it. The uptowners keep kicking the door. I think I may have held Terrell. 

The kicking stops.... Nah.... We're waiting an hour. I've seen enough horror movies in my life to know they didn't just LEAVE... Just over an hour goes by. I slowly peak through the smallest crack in the door. They're gone. We tap each other and walk home. 

Now this is the part of the story that reminds me I still haven't learned shit since I was 12.Women truthfully can turn any man to a fool...... ANYMAN.... I carry out my envision plan and make it through another day unseen. But the girl I've been crushing on is outside.... On the hill.... All saftey measures have left the chat.... I head to the hill and she sees me. She smiles. I act brand new. And I join her with her girls. I don't even remember what we were talking about.... Genuinely who cares?... I'm an idiot.... GO HOME... I hear yelling.... But I'm in a convo. The yelling gets louder... Truthfully it was probably as loud the first time. But I was occupied clearly. I can make out the voice now. It sounds like..... IT SOUNDS LIKE TERRELL...... 

The uptowners had just got Terrell and he Came out to the front to warn me. "OWEEENNNNNN THEY A-........ " I take a metal Rod to the back of my head.........I go down. Complete blackout.

It felt like everybody wore new Tougheese that day..... HOW MANY OF Y'ALL ARE HERE!? ......I couldn't hear anything. The headteacher comes out and everyone scatters. I'm curled up looking cold. Then I find the pride to pull myself together and I stand up. I tell the head teacher I'm fine. And I limp to the motorbike stage and take a bike home. 

Everybody's got gangster stories. Teen-agers in senior primary school in my rural county(Kakamega)  were really about that life..... I was humbled.... But I respected it. So my crew and I decided to keep the tradition going the coming year, but with a few tweaks because everyone needs to get their ass whooped atleast once in their life. But that never got to happen because the ass whooping I got traumatized my mum till I was shipped off to a boarding school after tasting only 3 months in a public school. But an ass whooping is like chicken pox... Gets definitely much worse when you're older. 

                   THE END