You probably don’t remember me, but we were friends once. Yes, all the way from school.
I remember you in primary, you were the kind who liked to go kick a ball around the field and I, well, I was always more comfortable with my nose buried in a book. Different lives they seemed then, different friends, but when we had to make our way home, we were always together, braving the quiet streets of Jinja town together and always seeking out some kind of adventure... we buried an owl once together, remember? Gave it a funeral and everything, my Mum went crazy when I got home late and covered in dirt, but oh was it worth it!!
I remember when we sat across from each other and you forced me to study, forced me cuz you knew that I would never do so on my own, and then our futures were both so bright... I remember you used to talk to me about a girl... I teased you about her... a lot, you were crazy about her, crazy enough to start spouting bad poetry, oh yes it was technically horrible, but it had heart behind it, and guess who had to read it, who had to try and shape it, give it rhythm and rhyme without losing the heart, just complementing it so that instead of trying shambling along the ground like a marabou with a broken wing it would take flight and soar like a hawk... come to think of it, my efforts probably weren’t that good then either, but still, it was fun to try...
You always had more confidence than I did, dragged me out of my corner during the school dances cuz I too had to find someone of my own you said, someone who would light me up the way she lit you up... even when she hurt you she was still your precious princess...
What happened to that boy, do you know? Cuz yes, we were boys then, footloose and fancy free, the world before us for the taking, you and me, side by side, and of course her, by your side, always by your side...
The real world happened. People change... yes, I know people change, we grew, from the kids who used to poke fun at the girls to the teenagers who were fascinated by them, you finally got the girl, and I, well, you always had me.
All good things come to an end they say, people change. I knew you once, I’m not sure I do anymore... you got the girl, yes, but since when was she not enough for you? Since when did “my precious sweetheart” change to “that stupid bitch”? We change, yes, we grow, but how is it growth when a romantic letter a day changes to a barely coherent demand for food and sex when you stumble home at 3:00 am after “a night out with the boys”? The boys? What boys? Those lecherous con artistes who hang with you just because of the car you drive and the apparent size of your wallet? Apparent yes, see, I might not write out your poems anymore, but I still do your accounts, I know how heavily you borrow just to keep that car running, how much you count on the next big break, but when oh miracle of miracle it comes, yes, when they do pick you despite the alcohol on your breath, your eyes red from the latest drug to hit the streets, you come to me barging into my office to demand for your money cuz you have something important to spend it on... I know of them you know, they come to me sometimes when you’re through with them, lost, scared, you don’t even have the decency to seek out a bona fide sex worker, no, you must prey on other men’s daughters, some of them even younger than your own...
Do you even know you have children? Two beautiful girls and a boy who used to look up to you, right up till the moment you started beating his mother cuz the food she served you at 3:00 am was cold, his mother, your precious princess, that stupid bitch...
I love her you know, I could have made her happy... but you, you could have made her happier, and so... I stayed with you for their sake, for her and her children, yes, her children. They’re gone now, you’ll find out soon enough I guess; if you’re sober enough to recognise the green corsa you bought for her before you even owned a bicycle in the wreckage they just...
No...
Your precious princess, yes, that stupid bitch, she finally got the guts to leave you, to take her children and run where your corrupting influence would never reach.
And then this happens...
I remember you in primary, you were the kind who liked to go kick a ball around the field and I, well, I was always more comfortable with my nose buried in a book. Different lives they seemed then, different friends, but when we had to make our way home, we were always together, braving the quiet streets of Jinja town together and always seeking out some kind of adventure... we buried an owl once together, remember? Gave it a funeral and everything, my Mum went crazy when I got home late and covered in dirt, but oh was it worth it!!
I remember when we sat across from each other and you forced me to study, forced me cuz you knew that I would never do so on my own, and then our futures were both so bright... I remember you used to talk to me about a girl... I teased you about her... a lot, you were crazy about her, crazy enough to start spouting bad poetry, oh yes it was technically horrible, but it had heart behind it, and guess who had to read it, who had to try and shape it, give it rhythm and rhyme without losing the heart, just complementing it so that instead of trying shambling along the ground like a marabou with a broken wing it would take flight and soar like a hawk... come to think of it, my efforts probably weren’t that good then either, but still, it was fun to try...
You always had more confidence than I did, dragged me out of my corner during the school dances cuz I too had to find someone of my own you said, someone who would light me up the way she lit you up... even when she hurt you she was still your precious princess...
What happened to that boy, do you know? Cuz yes, we were boys then, footloose and fancy free, the world before us for the taking, you and me, side by side, and of course her, by your side, always by your side...
The real world happened. People change... yes, I know people change, we grew, from the kids who used to poke fun at the girls to the teenagers who were fascinated by them, you finally got the girl, and I, well, you always had me.
All good things come to an end they say, people change. I knew you once, I’m not sure I do anymore... you got the girl, yes, but since when was she not enough for you? Since when did “my precious sweetheart” change to “that stupid bitch”? We change, yes, we grow, but how is it growth when a romantic letter a day changes to a barely coherent demand for food and sex when you stumble home at 3:00 am after “a night out with the boys”? The boys? What boys? Those lecherous con artistes who hang with you just because of the car you drive and the apparent size of your wallet? Apparent yes, see, I might not write out your poems anymore, but I still do your accounts, I know how heavily you borrow just to keep that car running, how much you count on the next big break, but when oh miracle of miracle it comes, yes, when they do pick you despite the alcohol on your breath, your eyes red from the latest drug to hit the streets, you come to me barging into my office to demand for your money cuz you have something important to spend it on... I know of them you know, they come to me sometimes when you’re through with them, lost, scared, you don’t even have the decency to seek out a bona fide sex worker, no, you must prey on other men’s daughters, some of them even younger than your own...
Do you even know you have children? Two beautiful girls and a boy who used to look up to you, right up till the moment you started beating his mother cuz the food she served you at 3:00 am was cold, his mother, your precious princess, that stupid bitch...
I love her you know, I could have made her happy... but you, you could have made her happier, and so... I stayed with you for their sake, for her and her children, yes, her children. They’re gone now, you’ll find out soon enough I guess; if you’re sober enough to recognise the green corsa you bought for her before you even owned a bicycle in the wreckage they just...
No...
Your precious princess, yes, that stupid bitch, she finally got the guts to leave you, to take her children and run where your corrupting influence would never reach.
And then this happens...
