DAY SOMEONE MADE US DONATE FREE WATER TO SERETUNIN RESIDENTS:
Maybe you have met him in person or came across his pics somewhere or further still, have heard legends being told about him. But if you have no idea who I am talking about, then probably you never went to the great Ebe!
Maybe you have met him in person or came across his pics somewhere or further still, have heard legends being told about him. But if you have no idea who I am talking about, then probably you never went to the great Ebe!
He was far from being a Kalenjin but he would shout Kalenjin
obscenities all the way from the Basketball court, through the rocket
dormitory, past the D.H. and romantically hug his girl just outside the canteen. More often than not, he would roar in the
boy's dormitory in the morning and the majority of us would freak out and the entire
hall would go grave silent. And if you ask around you will be told that he was
a man of few words but when he spoke, even the wind would pause to listen.
He was a great figure in Ebe with a good heart and moreso was
friendly and down to earth…Those who have heard of or interacted with this folk
know that Francis Ali Kadi was a man of big balls and is the guy one would
yearn to befriend.
2004 was the year when Murenoni was in Form One. It happened
that there were ongoing games in Seretunin and all students were given the
liberty to go and cheer our basketball team. Sasa, it happened that the team had
successfully sailed through the group stages and were due to play Sacho High
School in the semi-finals.
As the likes of Kur, Tom, Jemo, and our man Kadi were warming up
for the big match, I got word that my small sister was waiting for me back in
Ebe. (Apparently, it was a visiting day that Saturday). I chose to keep her
waiting and cheered my team on.
The game went on well but unfortunately, we lost by a whisker of
baskets. I never even knew basketball rules but when I noticed the sombre mood
that was evident on the players’ faces, I knew all was not well.
I think it was out of emotions or something close to that when I
saw Kadi charge towards a crowd celebrating Sacho’s win. Believe it or not, the
whole of Seretunin was silent when he insulted the fellows with unprintable
words and swore to single-handedly deal with them...What was even more scary to
many was the tears flowing freely down his cheeks!
I never saw it coming but I found myself shedding even more
tears than him…(I suppose I cried a dozen jugs). I am however pleased to inform
you that I am not the only one who irrigated the dryland Sere that fateful
day…Most of us did.
I have to admit one thing though. I wept not because we lost the
game. Far from it. I was like a girl who had just witnessed her father cry.
Yes, your guess is right. I cried because I saw Kadi shed tears freely…And the
more he cried, the more I poured down my tiny chin!
Forget even about the fact that later I found out that my small
sister had brought me tea, guavas, and sugarcane.
Anyway, to cut the long story short, Kadi was the type of guys
who my grandmother in Tirimionin says could stand by the roadside to urinate
and women collapse shouting “Kadi Woiyeee!!!”
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