''i was bribed with a loaf of bread and avocado'' things high school drama could make us do in Chesamisi

on
By 7am the school driver Musa 
would be at the "airport "
Going for trips was the ultimate thing during our days. By 7am the school driver Musa would be at the "airport " ready to ferry us to our destination. His driving prowess was legendary and his shrill voice was something else but that's a story for another day. On the Eve of the trip captains, chairmen and all those in-charge of various teams would congregate at the labs in the cover of darkness and prepare the list. That was when scores would be settled,enemies would face "kichungi" a traumatizing thing.(imagine dressing up for a trip,stealing a new shirt,borrowing Cologne and carrying a bag full of letters only to be told that you are not on the list. You would have to take that walk of shame to class for preps or the hall for principal's talk or worse still for the Sunday service. Those were the moments when the school nurse would have to co operate. ) One day as the drama team readied itself for the Nationals in Kisumu I was preparing the list. Chopping it down from 45 members to 15 was no mean task. As we sat in the biology lab to undertake this crucial task I faced what Ababu must be going through now. An over ambitious form 1 would drop by with a loaf of bread and Avocado,a serious form 2 would volunteer to do my laundry. A form 3 would promise me a sister from the nearby school, a form 4 would offer a bottle of vodka, others would bank on friendship, some would offer to do my assignments and assign their pieces of meat to my plate during dinner ....
form 1 would drop by with Avocado
After being bribed here and there and trying to balance the list to favor the deserving, the undeserving, the holy and the crooks my 15man list was ready. The chairman Milemba would join me with his list and after serious deliberation balanced the two lists to come up with the final list that was submitted to the patron Mr Shitubi 1 hour before he was due to make it public. The air was pregnant with excitement as he made his way to the hall with his trademark smile. After a short speech he started reading the list. All went well until he reached number 10. The list changed,he had altered it from number 10-15. The problem is we had placed our corrupt friends from that point. We were doomed.... what followed can only be narrated after dusk.