Visa na mikasa…………..Ata n’kwambiye 2!

Sehemu Ya Pili:

So the story continues.....

That week would have been the toughest and most humiliating to the
Department of Mathematics and Applied Sciences, had we not had the
meeting at the cafeteria. We all decided to write a resolution, (and
this was on the insistence of Albaity) that our department should never
go through such a humiliation again. That we will use all our God given
gifts (meaning the brain matter) and apply all mathematical and physical
 formulas to stop anyone who tries to make us appear like we joined the
Polytechnic “kwa mlango wa nyuma”. We tossed on that. I am not sure
whether there was any glass that was broken, as some members of our
department hit the glasses so hard. Anyway, by the time we ended the
meeting and agreed on the unnumbered resolutions that we made. We also
agreed that if any non-Mathematics and Applied Science person (I have to
 use the word person, as some people of the opposite sex were grinning
and continuously asking us, 'What happened that you got clobbered this
bad?') asks us as to what happened we should all have a uniform answer
to the effect that we were not given enough time to prepare. Having
Albaity on our side had its advantages. If anybody confronts us on the
issue of the game that we lost, we kept telling him or her that we had
no comments, and if they insisted we sent them to Albaity whom we
declared as our spokesman. The days rolled, and Friday was getting
really close. One Ibrahim Baba from Cameroon, who was in The Department
of Building, was used as our spy to check the morale of the other team.
We referred to him as our double agent, as he was feeding us with
logistic data about his team, without himself realizing that he was
doing us a service without pay.

The big day came. Even the lecturers took interest in the game and
announced that they will cancel their evening classes so that they could
 watch the game. Our patron, “ the late Uncle” (May Allah rest his soul
in peace), had completely denied that he was our patron.
" Uncle vipi bwana?" I asked
" Vipi, vipi yaani?" he responded with a confused look.
" Mbona kila jamaa wakikuuliza kama wewe ndiye mzee wa Mathematics and
Applied Science waturuka. Wasema ati hata hutujui. Ati sisi baada ya
kuvuta bangi zetu tuliamua tu kukufanya wewe ndiyo mzee wetu. Maneno
haya nkweli?"
" Said sikiza bwana." he answered scratching his bare chest. He hardly
wore a shirt when he was at his shop.
" Nna biashara hapa naendesha." he continued,
" Nyinyi mwenda niaibisha, na kufungwa mabao kumi na tatu. Mwafanya nini
 uwandani? Utasema mumpakwa hina na wanda. Au mlikuwa muntiya asumini na
 viluwa kitwani hata mwaogopa kutumiya vitwa vyenu kuokoa
hayo mabao.?"

At this time I understood that he had to save his business, otherwise
hardly anyone will come to his shop if he continued to lean towards
Mathematics and Applied Sciences. To be even more realistic, the poorest
 students come from our department.
On the big Friday, we all prayed at the Polytechnic mosque. I don't
know about the others, but as far as I was concerned, I prayed really
hard, that Allah should make our team strong and win at least this game
just to prove a point that we did need some time to prepare.

Talking about preparation. For the whole of that week, we had a daily
meeting. We met at Abdulbasit's room to discuss maneuvers that would
need to be done and put into practice. Abdulbasit's room was chosen for
two reasons. He was the only one who had a short wave radio, and a long
jua kali made external antennae, which gave us the pleasure of getting
and listening to BBC world news and Radio Deuschvelle. The other reason
was because in that room, the other key player Suleman Lenzo was his
roommate. So the agreed upon strategy was that we had to practice
vigorously for that one week. Fayadh claimed that, he always exercised
with Ngome therefore he should be excused. He was granted permission by
the fact that he proved himself on that day of the mother of all
humiliations. For me I didn't have to make any excuse, for everyday
after Asr prayer, Abdulbasit and I go to the lower field and do some
long distance running in the neighborhood of five to eight kilometers.
As for Albaity, it was useless to insist that he has to practice. He
kept reminding everybody in school of his days at Sir Ali primary school
 in Malindi.
' Nyinyi lakini mwanijuwa mimi au mwasikiya tu?' that was how Albaity
always blew his horn to the whole dorm; including some guys from
upcountry who had never heard of Sir Ali. Nevertheless, Albaity
challenged everyone who dared doubt his story to go to Malindi and check
 the records and the school’s annals on the list of Who is Who in Sir
Ali Primary School.
' Ha tuambiye unfanya nini?' I said.
It seemed that I was the one who always dared him to spit his glory.
" Mimi niko kwenye
record Sir Ali nimetoka namba tatu kwenye mashindano ya masafa marefu,
mutananbiya nini nyinyi." He then continued, " Jamaa walikuwa wakiona
shati tu lapeperuka, tena upepo ulikuwa dhidi yangu, lakini mimi niko,
sikubanduka, mpaka nikamaliza." You have to admire him. I mean it is
true that non of us had ever won a medal in any running competition. So I
decided to ask him how many were in the meet. " wafikiri nwangapi?" he
asked. " Sijui, kwani muna house ngapi?" I answered. " Hebu sikizeni
niwaambiye." Ali started scratching his head and laughing nervously, "
Jamaa tuloshindana." He started, and then he suddenly lowered his
voice, "
Ni wanne. Mimi nilikuwa wa mwisho, lakini yule jamaa wa tatu alianguka
basi nikampita, kwani hakuinuka tena. One thing should be understood
though, no matter what, I finished third." " Aaaaaaaaaahh, kwenda
zako."
the people who were attentively listening responded in chorus. Anyway
to shorten Ali's events, he decided that he does not need to practise as
he is eating healthy, and, according to him, 'Siku mukiniona na tumbo kama
kibla cha msikiti wa Shekh Jundani, nipigeni nikikataa kuingiya
uwanjani kufanya mazoezi.' Now back to the big Friday!
After Asr prayers, we had the habit of sitting outside the mosque
sipping our tea. I have never received so many " Good luck guys" the
way I have received them that day. Even when i was a candidate. We were
eagerly waiting for our double agent Ibrahim Baba, to come out of the mosque to
ask him of the situation. If we thought that he may be of some help we
were wrong. He heard the nerve to tell us the players who would play,
including two of his compatriots, who play proffesional soccer back in
Cameroon. The only thing that came out of my mouth was, "How about you,
are you playing?" He said no. This made me happy, at the expense of my
collegues confusion. " Yatuhusu nini sis ateze au asiteze!" blasted
Fayadh, Ibrahim who did not speak kiswahili was at a loss. For a minute
he thought that FAyadh was angry because he said he will not play. " Don't
worry brother, I will be the refferee that is why i am not playing." he
quickly cut FAyadh short. We waited until Ibrahim left, I then said to
Fayadh, " Hawa jamaa lau hawajui namna tuchezavyo majengo, basi leo
watajua cha mtema kuni. Yeyote atakayenipita namvunda maguu." Everyone
was silent. Then from nowhere, Albaity jumped up and announced, " Jamaa
nimeamua sitocheza." Somehow we forgot that we were right outside the
mosque, for everyone who was there just started to throw insult on
Albaity, 'Wewe una wazimu nnini? K!@#$#&@  zako si ungetuambiya na
mapema,
sasa bado dakika chahce gamu kuanza ndiyo wasema ati hutoteza!!" To my
surprise, Albaity was not moved by the barrage of insult thrown on him,
he just responded, " Mimi hii gemu sitoiteza uwanjani, nitaiteza na mimi
niko nje." So w knew that there was nothing that coould be done to make
Albaity play.
We all went to Abdulbasit's room to change and be ready for the
game. From nowhere we saw Ali Albaity cooming towards us with two bed
sheets tied around his sholders. If I can still trust my memory, a pink
bed sheet was tied with a big knot oon his right shoulder, while the
white bed sheet was tied with a big knot on his left one. Now if yoou know
Albaity, he does not walk. He takes big strides with spring tied on his
heel. " Haya bedui huyu naye yuwaja na nini tena?" I asked. Nobody was
able to answer as by then Albaity was already with us. " Haya tupe
ilmu.' Fayadh said. This was a very common statement that FAyadh use to use it
to break the ice, whenever he wanted to converse with someone. Another
thing at the Polytechnic was that whenever we coonversed in kiswahili, many
wabara had difficulty understanding what we say that they have
convinced themselves that we were speaking Arabic.
" Mimi nshawacheki hawa jamaa. Kimwili hatuwawezi. Iliyobakiya ni
kuwatiya hofu kwa mazingaombwe." Albaity started. " You are serious
about this." It was more of a statement from me than a question. Suleiman
Lenzo had a very old black leather bag. Albaity insisted that Lenzo has to
pass that bag to him so that he can start his 'work'. Lenzo who was totally
amused gave him his bag. Albaity then whispered to us that this should
only remain among us. That even our own players who come from
upcountry should not be informed that the whole thing is a hoax. Albaity left
us,and came back a few minutes later with an empty plastic bottle of VIM, on
one hand and few pebbles on the other. He then rushed into the room, and
told us that to inform the curiuos teammates that he is working on some
Uganga to make sure that our team does not get humiliated again. This we did.
Some of the upcountry players were skeptical about his but others
believed in the whole drama. For those who did not believe that Albaity had
powers, had to face Lenzoo who started explaining to them that, it is true
Albaity has such powers which he inherited from his grandfather. " Haya Mganga
sema tufanye nini?' Asked Abdulbasit. " Waambiye maplayer wote
wasiingie uwanjani mpaka niingie mimi. Kisha maplayer wote wajipange nyuma yangu.
Mimi nikionesha ishara wa mkono wa kyliya basi player aliyoko nyuma
yangu aende upande wa kuliya, nikionesha ishara ya mkono wa kushoto, player
aende kushoto." This albaity explained with vigour. Lenzo called all
the players and echoed what Albaity said to us. Now the time has arrived
for us to go to the field. From our flooor, you could see the field. I have
never seen so many people assembled to watch a game at the polytechnic
the way had done. So we called Albaity, and informed him that we are
ready. He therefore came out of the room, dressed like one of the
Asantehenes of Ghana, oor some mzee in the rural. He started to shake
the Vim bottle that produced a sound like one of those shakers used by some
musicians. 'Jipangeni. He ordered. All players obeyed what he said. "
Nifwateni sasa." he coontinued. So we all followed him down the stairs
to the field. On his way to the field, Albaity saw a red chicken that he
was able to catch and put inside the old black leather bag.
When we arrived at the field, all we could hear were shouts and
applauds. Some people were laughing, but to our surprise the team that
we were supposed to play were not. They took the whole thing seriously.
When we reached by the white line. Albaity rose his hand and we all stopped.
He turrned around and said that we should wait, and nobody should move. He
then headed towards the center of the field, bent down picked up some
of  the white dust and threw alittle in all the four direction. At this
time, the whole field was silent. One of the players of the opposite team
went to the officials too complain that how could they allow him ( meaning
Albaity) too practice magic in the school premises. " This was supposed
to be a friendly game, why are these guys taking it so seriously?" said
the complainer. None was paying that much attention to the guy who was
complaining. All eyes were fixed at what Albaity was doing. Some
students who had no interest in soccer and decided to stay in the cafeteria,
came out to see what was going on. If I am not wrong, I think even Uncle
closed his shop as he could not take the suspense anymore. Albaity then pulled
out the live chicken from his black bag and raised ot high. This scared
the mashonde out of the opposing team. While still holding the chicken
high,he turned from one direction to the other as he did with the white
dust. He then threw the chicken up in the air, and turned around and
came towards our direction. At this time we were already in the kich up
time, but somehow these events mesmerised the referee and his linesmen that
they never blew the whistle. Mind you, the referee was no other than our
double agent Ibrahim baba. Albaity then faced his team and announced, " sasa
nifwateni!" To ths we obeyed dutifully. As he headed towards the center
of the field, he came moving his hands in different direction and the
players followed whichever direction the hand indicated. We then formed a
circle and and made a shout that I can't remember what we said. At ths time
Albaity said, ' Kazi yangu sasa imekwisha. Jamaa hawa hawana ngoma.
Tushawafunga musiwe na wasiwasi." He then headed out of the field
without looking back. The most amazing thing happened that, again, scared the
mashonde out of the few sceptical spectators. The live chicken that
Albaity threw in the air, came right back to him. He caught it again
and put it in the bag. The game started, with Lenzo officially being the
goalkeeper. Albaity decided to sit near the goalpost of the opponent
team. This to our amusement, scared the muharo out of the goalkeeper.
Within the first five minutes we were able to score the first goal.
Funny enough the goal we scored was after Albaity ( Who has now put down the
bagi la mganga and was carrying a palm twig) swept the goal area with
his twig. Our lead did not last long. Mind you we were playing the
defending champions. Two or may be three minutes later the building department
equalized. Some late comers who were eager to keep tally of the score
were disappointed to see that after fifteen minutes the score was still one
one, and the fact that they missed the big ceremony performed by the
Mathematic and Applied Science. By this time people literally feared
Albaity, he kept circumambulating the field, and everytime he goes
towards people, they would just jump and run for their life. About few minutes
before the end of the first half, we were able to add another goal and
take the lead again. The opposing goalkeeper, could not take it
anymore.
He called the referee and declared that " Huyu Migaga muswahiri
amemwaka ndawa hata sionangi mupira." His complains were useless, as the referee
from Cameroon couold not understand a word of what he was saying. The
game went on. By half time we were leading two goals to one. To our
disappointment, our fans came to congratulate Albaity rather than us. '
Hee Muisilamu, keep on throwing those verses from the Qoran, to the end
of the game." The players were exhausted. We were seated in a circle, and
Albaity came in the middle. Somehow, Unclereverted into supportiing us
again as he sent few bottles of soda for th players to quench the
thirst.
Albaity kept talking but I doubt if any player was listening. The
second half came and we played with all our strength, but the defending
champions were adamant not to lose the two pints. Thet therefore equalised, by a
penalt that was caused by yours truly. What really happened was I had
decided too erect the Wall of china and that of berlin at the same
time. I declared that anyone who passes me will have to decide to change sports
as I will make sure that that brave person will be scooped from the field.
With Lenzo as a goalkeeper, we all declared that the guys have
equalised even before they kicked the ball. Lucky me. Had it been in the
beggining of the game I am sure I would have been crucified, and my fellow Muslim
brothers would have directed the mob as to where to put the cross. as I
said Lucky me. All the players were exhausted even to to talk. So they
only gave me the evil eye. I must have read Qulhuwallahu and Qulaudhu
birabilfalaq and birabinnas several times so that I come out oof the
game walking. Anyway after the second equalising, they were able to add one
more goal and the game ended with us losing three to two. Albaity who
left the field after the equalising goal, came back without the sheets and
the bag too be tolad that the scores are three two. I knew that all the
blame will fall on me. as a defence, I threw the blame on Albaity, that had
he not left the field, the third goal would not have happened at we woould
have ended the game with a tie.
After Maghrib prayers, Ibrahim baba came to inform us that his
compatriots believed the whole thing that Albaity was dooing, and that
was the reason why they never perfoormed wel in that game. Anyway, Albity
was contemplating to the uganga on a full time base but luckily we were
able to convince him that to forget the whole thing.

NITAENDELEA NA VISA NA MIKASA MINGINE SIKU NYINGINE INSHAALLLAH.
Said Nuweisr
( Ibn SASANSA)