The sad story of six cornered men

By Tony MIt is 2.25pm, mid week, as I write this piece - and the office is filled with post-fed personnel, some of whom are yawning, others cracking jokes and a few nibbling at toothpicks.
I never go for lunch. Instead, I spend the hour catching up with the daily papers — and teasing ‘friends’ on Facebook. Neither am I Adiema Maviala, so enough of the ‘maziwa lala’ lunchtime stories and onto a story that caught my eye.
‘Tough Call on Ocampo Six’. Apparently, the ICC sent a letter to the Kenyan Embassy in Amsterdam to give to the Attorney General to give to Police Commish Matt Iteere to deliver to the six. It reminded me of when one was in serious trouble in high school and the school director would pass a ‘summonses’ to the teacher in charge of staffroom that week, to give to one’s class teacher, who passed it to the class prefect, who took you to the principal’s office (the Hague, only we called it ‘Kremlin’ then).
And so it comes to pass, I am inspired thus: Once upon a time in a secondary school called Kihinya High, where most of the students were high because they were used to drinking beer for breakfast, smoked bhang for lunch — and sneaked out in the evenings to partake of other psycho-tropic substances, there were two gangs — the Bloods, and the Creeps.
Got the moneyThe Creeps were led by the head-boy, Mjeuri, whose mother was married to the headmaster — so he was an untouchable in Kihinya High. Indeed, it was his blood ties with the school principal that had gotten him appointed to that most high position.
The second Creep was a big and mighty fellow called ‘Lia,’ who had repeated each year at least four times, and so was suspected to be closer to 30 than 20. But since secondary school education was free, who cared? ‘Lia’ even had dreams of impregnating the Chemistry teacher, Miss Leah, on TP from KU, and maybe eight years his junior.
The reason for his fearsome nickname was that once he touched you, this big boy, you had to lia (cry)!
The last cog in this gallery of rogues was a rich young fellow called Mojo, whose behind was much pecked by everyone because Mojo had it made. He not only had money, but always dressed very fashionably, his dilettante and delinquent ways making a strong impression on those other teenagers.
Mojo had a great music system, as well as the latest music DvDs in his room. He always had biscuits, juice for his visitors! And, boy, if you got broke , Mojo was always good for a loan. Sometimes he even forgot who still hadn’t paid him back and loaned them some more cash.
One midget"Money ain’t a problem, finishing it is," he often bragged.
The Bloods, on the other side of the equation, were led by a soft-spoken chap with the decidedly British name, Gaylord. Gay, as he was commonly called, was tough as nails. In fact, he was the games captain, although every team he’d ever led from Form One — the cross-country, hockey, wrestling and lately, football — came to ruin. Gay had an almost uncanny genius for leading teams, doomed to failure.
Beneath Gaylord in the Bloods’ hierarchy, but burning with energy and ambition, and determined to bring the Creeps’ domination of Kihinya High to an end was a rabble (First Former) we’ll call Mono.
Mono, ironically, was a fervent member of the Christian Union — but the Dominion of the Creeps was his real obsession. Then there was his sidekick, Aggrey, an angry midget of a boy who echoed everything Gay and Mono said.
As schools got ready to close for the December holidays, Mono made his move, and soon all the Bloods and Creeps were engaged in a terrible one-night affray that left a student dead, as the rest of the school fled — and dormitories were burnt.
Now the Director of Education, in Nairobi, wants to see ‘our’ boys. Should he?