Contrarian
Lister
If a sociologist was to classify the kikuyu into social strata,at the very bottom of the pyramid is the uncircumcised boy, a kihii, so despised that he traditionally shared his sleeping quarters with goats in the kitchen. In case you are curious, the senior bachelor occupies the next strata, but this is not about him so I digress.
Growing up, this dynamic was a weight around our neck , you were considered a nuisance to be borne until you 'became a man',we couldn't wait to get rid of the foreskin and get some respeck in this place. In fact, the quickest way to start a fight was to call another kipii a kipii, ironic I know. A bruised ego would demand swift restitution leading to a proper dusting which always seemed to end when one party drew blood, with the drawee(?) being declared a unanimous winner by the assembled IEBC of observers ( pay attention to this detail,it will be important to the story).
In late 90's and early 2000's , Nyeri and Kirinyaga had the highest performing 'academies' in this country, period. Any
responsible parent therefore shipped their kids to these two locales to give them a leg up in life. The following events took place in the year 2002, yours truly was in class 7, Nyeri district.
Actually let's go back to towards the end of the year 2001, class 6. In this melting pot of ipiis was a special category, the meru, while the kikuyu boy had to bear his burden into teenage years, after KCPE,the meru could face the knife way earlier,and among us boys that carried a lot of juice. They used to urinate on the toilet while the rest of us were relegated to the urinal, and even used a bathroom while we showered in a common ablution area,I wanted a share of that rarefied air and so i hatched my plot.
Plan was simple, come the next year (2001)claim to have visited relatives on the other side of the mountain over Dec holz and moved up social strata then. For evidence? Trick question, everyone knows a circumcised man doesn't show his penis to non peers,so they have to go on my word.
For a while this worked perfectly, I moved up in status( apparently packing boys in an enclosed setting really brought up the pack mentality with everyone jockeying to move up) ; nobody dare mess with me during chobo us even if I caught handball, people held on to my counsel like nuggets of wisdom; the life , until one day.
I can't remember what the argument started about, we were playing juala football, tempers rose,words were exchanged and the taboo was broken; I was called a kipii. Restitutions had to be made, that meant beating the offender to near death to salvage my ego but here's the thing,I was more bookish than sporty,he was like 4th bodi, I was an unranked fighter,there was no way this would end in my favour(punching above my weight class,I know, but as I said I had moved up in status). But my honour had been injured and needed to be restored, a rock and a hard place.
Kaa mbaya mbaya, I launched my attack hoping to catch him my surprise and draw first blood (remember the detail), luck was not on my side that day, anyway I rained blows and kicks hoping to score more points, I was giving a good account of my self until I attempted stone cold stunner, makosa. That thing doesn't work, I found myself on the ground with my heavier opponent on top, I wasn't going anywhere, he proceeded to clobber me a good one, there was no redemption. A well placed blow to my nose brought the blood flowing like he just struck oil. Fight over.
The humiliation was total, I couldn't bear to lose my new found status,so when I got to my feet, I collected a sizable rock and unleashed the ICBM with all my strength. Bullseye, right on the head, the kid goes down, bleeding, everyone is horrified, there's so much blood, I believe I had killed him. Someone rushes to get sister matron (did I mention that this was a Catholic boys school run by nuns), I make myself scarse.
Long story short, the kid requires about 16 stitches, he is taken to mathari hospital, parents of involved parties are informed and summoned. Once the Crux of the matter is laid out,my dad turns to me and asks , "when did you become circumcised?". A lengthy lecture ensues on why such should not weigh on our minds leading to such disastrous consequences. The word kihii is banned and everyone is relegated to common ablutions( didn't win me any fans here).
Although the other parents wanted me expelled,my academic record was deemed to valuable to raising school meanscore in my year (meanscore was everything then, adverts carried that shit along with no of kids with 400 marks and above attracting hopeful parents).
That December, in class 7, my parents decided I undergo the cut,one year early, so it wasn't all for nothing
.
Growing up, this dynamic was a weight around our neck , you were considered a nuisance to be borne until you 'became a man',we couldn't wait to get rid of the foreskin and get some respeck in this place. In fact, the quickest way to start a fight was to call another kipii a kipii, ironic I know. A bruised ego would demand swift restitution leading to a proper dusting which always seemed to end when one party drew blood, with the drawee(?) being declared a unanimous winner by the assembled IEBC of observers ( pay attention to this detail,it will be important to the story).
In late 90's and early 2000's , Nyeri and Kirinyaga had the highest performing 'academies' in this country, period. Any
responsible parent therefore shipped their kids to these two locales to give them a leg up in life. The following events took place in the year 2002, yours truly was in class 7, Nyeri district.
Actually let's go back to towards the end of the year 2001, class 6. In this melting pot of ipiis was a special category, the meru, while the kikuyu boy had to bear his burden into teenage years, after KCPE,the meru could face the knife way earlier,and among us boys that carried a lot of juice. They used to urinate on the toilet while the rest of us were relegated to the urinal, and even used a bathroom while we showered in a common ablution area,I wanted a share of that rarefied air and so i hatched my plot.
Plan was simple, come the next year (2001)claim to have visited relatives on the other side of the mountain over Dec holz and moved up social strata then. For evidence? Trick question, everyone knows a circumcised man doesn't show his penis to non peers,so they have to go on my word.
For a while this worked perfectly, I moved up in status( apparently packing boys in an enclosed setting really brought up the pack mentality with everyone jockeying to move up) ; nobody dare mess with me during chobo us even if I caught handball, people held on to my counsel like nuggets of wisdom; the life , until one day.
I can't remember what the argument started about, we were playing juala football, tempers rose,words were exchanged and the taboo was broken; I was called a kipii. Restitutions had to be made, that meant beating the offender to near death to salvage my ego but here's the thing,I was more bookish than sporty,he was like 4th bodi, I was an unranked fighter,there was no way this would end in my favour(punching above my weight class,I know, but as I said I had moved up in status). But my honour had been injured and needed to be restored, a rock and a hard place.
Kaa mbaya mbaya, I launched my attack hoping to catch him my surprise and draw first blood (remember the detail), luck was not on my side that day, anyway I rained blows and kicks hoping to score more points, I was giving a good account of my self until I attempted stone cold stunner, makosa. That thing doesn't work, I found myself on the ground with my heavier opponent on top, I wasn't going anywhere, he proceeded to clobber me a good one, there was no redemption. A well placed blow to my nose brought the blood flowing like he just struck oil. Fight over.
The humiliation was total, I couldn't bear to lose my new found status,so when I got to my feet, I collected a sizable rock and unleashed the ICBM with all my strength. Bullseye, right on the head, the kid goes down, bleeding, everyone is horrified, there's so much blood, I believe I had killed him. Someone rushes to get sister matron (did I mention that this was a Catholic boys school run by nuns), I make myself scarse.
Long story short, the kid requires about 16 stitches, he is taken to mathari hospital, parents of involved parties are informed and summoned. Once the Crux of the matter is laid out,my dad turns to me and asks , "when did you become circumcised?". A lengthy lecture ensues on why such should not weigh on our minds leading to such disastrous consequences. The word kihii is banned and everyone is relegated to common ablutions( didn't win me any fans here).
Although the other parents wanted me expelled,my academic record was deemed to valuable to raising school meanscore in my year (meanscore was everything then, adverts carried that shit along with no of kids with 400 marks and above attracting hopeful parents).
That December, in class 7, my parents decided I undergo the cut,one year early, so it wasn't all for nothing
.
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