THEM DAYS

INCEPTION

Who else fancies childhood? I was born and raised in Dagoretti district, trust me my childhood was epic. I envy it so much. I was born from a humble background. When growing up, our childhood was really different as it is now. We didn't know what PlayStation was. We were welcomed by those a little bit older than us into "cha mama na baba". Trust me it was hectic because we were their servants. We would construct a tent like structure and cover it with broken umbrellas. Getting into it though came with those older than us transiting into more advanced childhood games hence bidding us goodbye and electing the "Chief". But that was not assured if you were small compared to others. You would still play the baby role and if you somehow wronged the chief you'd be the dogs guarding the "statehouse". The chief was the nobleman and he had so much power. For instance if you were a bit stronger than the other kids he would elect you as his bodyguard. The bodyguard had an opportunity to set foot in the statehouse and he had a wife and kids. To be honest I switched from the baby and dog role not once, not twice. Ooh my!! Zack was my chief then and I had my best friend by the name Sam. He was from a "rich family" not that rich though. Rich at that time meant a family with a television set, able to buy unique toys that astonished us as village children, wear clothes that were on trend or cook dishes that were rare like Chapatti which we only ate on December. Sam was the deciding factor whether or not we'll play the dog role. If for instance Zack found us eating kashata or Chapatti and we refused to share with him, then we'd really enjoy the dog role. When we met to play Cha mama na Baba he'd really beat us with pata pata slippers for not barking loudly. Zack was well-built than us and was from the Western part of Kenya. He'd even opt to command us to serve as sits. It reached to a point when I told Sam that we need to address to the "matter". "Sam ni fair kweli chenye tunafanyiwa kila siku. Hapana but atatoka tu na pia sisi tutaongoza. Sam was always positive. Aaai tunateseka hadi lini? Mimi naona tufanye Sandra rafiki yetu ndio tuwe watoto wake time ya cha Baba na mama. Zack anaskizanga Sandra sana. Sam smiled, na si wewe ni mjanja. Lakini tutafanya aje ndio akue rafiki yetu? Si tutashare na yeye chochote tulicho nacho kila wakati. Hapo ni ukweli."