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7
- LANGAA RPCIG
- Chapter
- Additional Information
55 7 he next morning, before the glimmer of dawn had crept through the sky, Sam literary forced himself out of his bed. He rolled off, pushed his covers to the side, and without moving, he planted his feet on the floor. It was cold. On his mind, an image of Judas as a defeated man from the previous night’s fight appeared. It was not a pretty sight, of a man cringing in agony. He smiled triumphantly. That ought to teach him a lesson for stealing other people’s girls. Then, his thoughts wandered off to his schooling, the ending of his academic career. Yes, the converted end of his long-awaited graduation! The Old Man would be mighty glad to know he had got his diploma, the papers to prove his worth. This is how he imagined his graduation day. On his graduation day, he would be the first one to hop out of bed and steal stealthily out of his room to the bathroom before any of the other students awoke. Just for once, he wanted to shower alone, avoiding the usual queue, of countless naked bodies jampacked in one tiny space fighting for a cold shower. He did not want to smell the musty odors of people’s bodies. He did not want to see anyone’s nakedness. He did not want to step in any stagnant soap suds. Naturally, he would take his time in scrubbing and splashing cold water over his body. Once finished, he would walk back to his room and put on his neatly ironed clothes. He would be the first one to get to his seat. He would listen, with deaf ears, to boring speeches that come with graduation, as though he cared about the message. When they called his name to receive his diploma, he would sprint for it. ‘Thank you very much!’ he would say in a bow to his Principal, blocking out all the loud applauds. Before leaving Bumbe, he would visit the Den one final time. He would eat one bowl of Louise’s nyafu nyafu and drink a glass of her changaa. He would be in the company of his future bride, Nekesa. And with one bow, he would vanish from Bumbe, as though he had never existed. He knew the Old Man would not attend his graduation, but after it was all over, he would T 56 return to his grandparents’ home. He knew his grandmother would be happy to see him. So, he hoped when he got there, she would cook for him his special dish—kigangulwa10 with her specialty chicken. That is how he pictured it. Sam stood-up, moved away from his bed and opened the window. Cool air forced its way into the room brushing gently on his exposed body. He ogled outside into the infinite expanse of sky as it slowly plunged itself in its depth. It was a gloomy morning. There was no sun, just a hazy sky. He walked back to his bed and planted his bottom onto it. The bed creaked slightly. He did not seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. He just sat there dazed and diffident. ‘What a day! What a day!’ he thought. Then, out of nowhere, Sam saw a spider crawl on his floor. It was a creepy looking, black, and hairy. The creature moved across the room steadily, methodically, and undisturbed. Its long claw legs stabbing on the floor as though it had no care in the world, but not knowing it could easily lose its life in a blink of an eye. An evil thought crept onto Sam’s mind. He had this desire to stomp it with his foot, squash the little creature into a pottage. He rubbed his hands together in preparation. Just as he was about to exercise his final act of extermination, he became distracted. He heard this eerie noise from the outside. Immediately, he moved his eyes away from the spider. Hopping onto his feet, he walked back to the window and peeked through it. He did not see anything except patches of weed that dotted the Bumbe landscape. There was no sun, at least, not yet. The sky was still grey and hazy. He turned away from the window and walked back to his bed. He dropped his bottom onto his bed like a log. Immediately, he remembered the spider and started looking for it, but it had already crawled out of...