Unveiled

Chapter One: El comienzo

 My name is Eugene Kundu Sirengo. Yeah, I know, my middle name has always brought up an issue or two but I cannot complain because it was all manageable and easy to handle. I was born either in the year 1996 or 1997 on 3rd March. Weird, right? My mum has always told me that I was born in 1997, which I choose not to believe because most of the people I associated with were the born 96 crew. I couldn't take being younger so everyone knew I was their age mate. Sometimes it was so much intense to be with people who mistreated others because they were older than them for only a month or two. What if they came to realize that they were way older than me by not just a month or two, but a year and some months. So, let's work with 3rd March 1996, Thank you

Everyone I know of was born in a certain village. I came to realize just some few years ago that some people were actually born in town. It has never occurred to me that someone could be born in town, just like that. Anyway, I was born in Bungoma County, Nalondo division and North-Bukusu location. This tells you of my ethnic origin. I am a Luhya, Bukusu man from a village called Khachonge. (Chonga means to sharpen, and the name of the village was just an indication that anyone that comes around will be sharpened or life will align them to a certain level. It however grew to mean something else as early pregnancies came to take over some decades later.) I am the 5th born in a family of five. My position in the family came along with so many privileges and this led to various experiences that turned my life around.

Our firstborn child; 'Simakulu', is called Christabel Nanjala. Every name given to a child in our land heavily depended on the season that people were living in at that time. 'Nanjala' was born during a difficult time where putting leaves of Sukuma wiki and ugali on the table (a small circle literally) was a big deal, it was a time of famine. 'Simakulu' is what we call the eldest child of a certain family, for our case it was a baby girl. I could write a lot about her childhood but I came 10 years later after she was born. The second born is a boy, he was named Samuel Maelo, taking the middle name that resembled our dad's last name; Maelo. I don't know what that meant but basically it must mean that he was born at a time where a lot of slaughtering of cattle and some other domestic animals was prevalent. 'Lisielo' is what we call a skin of an animal. Edwin Juma is the third born. All my life I have never seen a guy so silent and so rough than him. He's worse than a snake in its hole and has lived to pass through a lot of experiences because of his status. Then came a bouncy baby girl, this must have been around 1992, she was named Sepherine Nang'unda. Well, I don't know what her second name means. Eugene Kundu came along the last to roll up the family of five. Kundu means 'something big' in a layman's language. However, I came to realize later on that this name is only given to someone who was born after their elder sibling whom they followed closely died. It was a sister, she died at a very small age. Of course, I was told about her. Our dad's name is Felix Sirengo Maelo and our Mother's name is Florence Machuma Wasilwa. This was a combination of native bukusu love birds that brought the whole family into existence. Am proud of you mum.

I could write a lot about my family and their ways of life ever since I started seeing them, but am not in a position to publish what they might not be comfortable with. As much as I know, they played a role into making me who I am today. I couldn't thank them more.

(Allow me to introduce my origin) My dad was a local brew consumer when I was born. He was by then a deputy headmaster of a certain school around the vicinity (Maloho Primary School). He was this humble and silent man in the morning before he left for work but came home charged with whatever he was consuming. My mum was the usual victim. Most of the time I witnessed her get some two or three 'guidance' blows to align her manners about treating her husband. It was both painful and awful to her, having her kids witness her husband administering discipline must have been the worst experience of her life. By that time, I was too small to help and my elder brothers and sisters were the big cowards around. Once or twice I saw my brother, Samuel trying to argue with dad and he almost got his head hit with those table chairs we owned. Picking a confrontation with dad was something unthinkable because that era, the man was the 'real' head of the family. At my time of birth, mum was chased away with accusations that I was not my father's kid. She had to stay incommunicado at her brothers' place where they gave her good care and allowed us to stay for some few days. Later on, dad tracked his calendar and was heavily convinced that I was his offspring. DNA testing was something we did not know at that time. But still, I trust my mum so much, she couldn't have failed to tell me if I was my dad's kid or not.

I believe dads condition at that time had destabilized his thinking a little and presumed that he did nothing on purpose. We came to be very good friends later on.

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Angela was my first girlfriend. She was a girl from the neighbors' house and was my age mate. I hadn't started school yet. Since my dad was a teacher and we owned a black and white TV that served the whole village during world cup matches, I had very few lines that I needed to drive into Angela to convince her that I could take care of her. Once or twice I could do away with three shillings from mum's purse and surprise Angela with 'Patco' and other valuables that only a teacher's child could afford by that time. The TV programs my sister Sepherine loved following had some erotic content that must have catapulted me into getting a girlfriend that early. I had a lot of challenges teaching Angela how to kiss. Actually, the hardest of them all was convincing her that eating each other's mouth was a sign of love. I struggled and made very commendable steps. Later on, she could pull me around trees and bushes to 'eat my mouth'. I miss you Angela. Before I went to school, I asked Angela out for a day out. Not necessarily out to some resort or hotel, but just a day with her. I found out that apart from kissing, these TV people also had some other business between the sheets and I wanted to find out. To my surprise, I learned that I had something that Angela did not have. It was fun playing around with each other's 'disability' which I later came to realize was a big trouble to mankind.

She was not comfortable doing all that I was teaching her but as much as she wanted to be with the teacher's kid as a friend, she had no options. All we did with her was our secret and none of us was to yap it around other people lest we mess up everything.

One day Angela's big sister Susan came home unexpected. I was at their place with my girlfriend. Having kissed all time after eating those steamed maize Angela brought from her grandma, we were so idle and decided to try out a new trick of my findings. This was scary to her as I requested her to remove her clothes (she had no underwear on, so literally the dress). She was not sure about that but trusted me and just pulled up her dress, revealing her belly and the forbidden fruit underneath. I had no idea what to do to her now that I had already thrown away my short. I looked at my then very small 'friend' whom I always covered with a 'samosa' to avoid being circumcised by those big men who found it fun cutting peoples' foreskins. I remembered the people on TV were naked, but I couldn't tell what they did between the sheets.

Angela couldn't think of anything, she just stood there holding her dress up waiting for my instruction. Then boom, Susan came without any alert. 'Angela!!!!!?'.......'Dadi?!!!'. 'Dadi' was my name by then. It was the hardest moment of my life. I didn't know whether I should run away naked or go and pick up my short. My small mind advised me to just run away because Susan was so much annoyed. Was it that bad? It was still early morning, around 10 in the morning. Mum was having tea with her friend Consalata, our other neighbor and also family member.

I bumped into the kitchen confused and ran direct to my mum claiming that someone wants to beat me up. She wasn't so much concerned. She asked me to find a pair of shorts in the sack in the store of our 'big house' as she continued to talk with her visitor. I was just about to step out when I saw Susan lashing her legs with a very threatening speed and mood towards our kitchen. I couldn't take it, doing the simple math, I had to jump through the rear window to avoid chances of meeting up Susan before I could reach the store. I ran away into the Napier grass plantation just next to our kitchen. Susan narrated the story to mum and at some point, I heard mum laugh out so hard that I was convinced that she pretty much appreciated that she gave birth to a man. I spent some more minutes in the plantation and resolved to crawling back into the house to hear out the verdict.

Susan was still lamenting and cursing the act as if it was the biggest sin someone could ever commit. Mum however promised her that she will take care of me and she left. I wonder what happed to Angela. Poor girl, we never talked again, up to this date 2018. That night mum serviced my behinds with those split firewood sticks and served me with excess food (Excess food was the worst punishment we received). I struggled finishing up the food, crying all along and promising myself to varnish and run away to unknown places. How could she treat me this bad? Wasn't I her kid? Am I just any kid to her? Is she my real mum? All those questions and still, I chose not to run away after that terrible punishment.