(Strange Encounter)

(Strange Encounters)

I often go for evening walks for two reasons. One, it helps to free up my mind. And two, it allows me to come up with a new idea, about something, or just what to write on. So jana jioni, hapo tu along the road, just after kisumu mega city, next to the kachok dumping site, out of nowhere, a guy came and held my hands, he was walking towards me but I didn’t see him coming, till he grabbed me.

“Hey bro, long time.” He said.

I looked at him, and he wasn’t familiar. He was looking young and old at the same time. His face was worn out. His lips red. Charred as though waragi had burned them. Yes, he was smelling alcohol. Before I responded, I tried to assess if we’ve ever met.

“Bro, long time…” He said again, this time firmly shaking my hand.

“Long time bro..” I said, looking at his eyes, whether he was joking or not.

The first thing that crossed my mind, was that, am I going to be mugged? Certainly not, I was at home.

“God has seen you through…??” He said.

Now, I have to admit that I felt more lost and stupid than I had felt earlier. You have to know that I’m not that kind of a person who delves with formalities. Whence he said a thing about GOD, I was like, how do you expect me to respond..?

“Yes….” I said….”do we know each other..?” I asked.

He kept shaking my hands firmly, giving me one of those drunkards sober smiles. And that was really disturbing. Who was this guy? He kept, saying something like,

“Yes, in high school…”

Now, it’s been around 5 years since I left Highschool, and I can still place the faces of everyone that I had back then. I wasn’t a celebrity in high school, so only a few knew me. And this face, I couldn’t place it anywhere.

“Are you sure? ? what High school??”

He gave me a sharp stare, and his smile faded. His face formed a scowl.

” you don’t know the high school that you went to…?”

As if disgusted, or dissapointed, which he was, his grip loosened on my hands, turned around as if he was leaving, head bowed down, just at the time, I clutched on to his hands, and pulled him close. I was curious. I mentioned the name of my former high school. And at that moment, he sprung with some feeling of being at home. Like some loneliness averted him on impulse. He called the name of my high school principal, and he embraced me. I let him clung on to me for a while. Because, I felt like he needed someone he knew, to make him sane or sober again. The feeling of, “we were once one”.

After 3 seconds. He looked me straight in my eyes. And said, “Its been long..”

It was getting late, but before he let me go, he needed a dime. At that moment I had none. He went ahead and told me that some guys had threatened him. I told him they’d do nothing. Then he left. And I went on my way.

And do you know something? I don’t know that guy. I spent the better part of the night, trying to figure out, but I couldn’t figure out who he was. Maybe he didn’t know me too, but if he didn’t, how did he know where I schooled at? Or the name of the principal??

Then again, it got me thinking. …..

Years to come, you’ll be in a different place. Somewhere far from home. Or let’s just say, you’ll have grown old. Everyone around you would have gone. Died maybe. Or relocated. Mostly your friends. Your age group. At this time, you’ll be alone, you’ll have no one to share your memories with. The guys you grew up with, are not around. Facebook and the social media, will have been taken over by new generation of people. You’ll be lost. You’ll be lonely.

And you’ll be walking along these streets, looking for someone to share your memories with. ‘Cause, let’s face it, who are we without memories? What are we without someone to share our memories with? So you might look for some sort of distraction, reach out to the bottle, maybe. Or you’ll just look for anyone who has been in the places you once was in the past. ‘Cause maybe, if you tell them a tale, they’ll relate to it. Just like that guy I met. He wanted to feel at home. So he took a risk, asked me if I went with him the same high school. Even if it was a lie, but at least that was enough to make him sleep soundly.

Ever had such strange encounters, when a stranger looks at you and he sees hope? Or when an old man sees you, and he sees his younger self in you??

****

As written by Phill Ibsen