My earliest memory of my grandfather was that he was a military man.
I could remember how he always stood tall and straight. He would always advise. No slouching! No hunch-back posture! Stand straight at all times.
You know growing up with my grandparents was fun, interesting and explorative. I learned early survival mechanisms to stay alive and relevant. Grandma was a laundress. She was a warm and friendly one. Who was brisk and very neat at her job
So, I happened to be their first and only grandson. My parents died on a sea- travel while trying to import goods into our country. There was a great storm at night in their voyage, the ship capsized and that was the end.
Now, I can write these out here plain but that was a very cold and lonely night evergreen in my memory. I was immediately placed into a nearby school in the community and told to stay back after school to have extra lessons. I felt forgotten and unseen.
So, most times Grandma Lewis will hurry briskly to the wash station before the other women got there, so breakfast wasn’t a priority on her list. As early as six she is off.
Well, sometimes she could drop some unleavened bread and cashew nuts for me to eat or take to school. On odd days which was most times, I wake up and dash straight to the stream to have my bath and off to school.
The school was like a dumping grass for my little self. Well sometimes, I could go and jump in through the window to heighten my arrival into the class. Everyone knew me! Samara the brave! Samara the dreadful! My peers will hail and I will give a winsome smile but with some cruel intentions within my mind.
I became vastly independent and a sheer young boy who knew how to get whatever he wanted without permission. So, my classroom experiences were a whole curriculum to be studied on its own. Ah! I made waves of gaining publicity at the back bench of the classroom.
Sometimes the tender and well-nurtured girls and boys will scamper when they have a need to come to the back side of the classroom. You know, the interesting thing about the side of the classroom was the bags. I got to see several types and also to open and explore for my crew at the backside.
Ah! We ate fig rolls, rusks, bourbon creams, nuts, and milk candies. These were the beauties we got to ransack from the bags at the back while the class was ongoing. For this reason, I loved going to school!
Only because before the owners of these items came to the novel knowledge of their dearest belongings. We might have changed sits or jumped out of the window into the woods.
The woods was our zone of pranking, gisting, playing with the crawling creatures, and mimicking our tender classmates. I sure had a tribe, as I mentioned earlier the crew.
Saro was my very good friend in this crime. We always enjoyed this time of refreshing and getting things beyond our family lifestyle. Yes, there were days…
To be Continued.
