We shouldn’t have
"That’s not funny!"
"But…"
"No buts!" I laughed louder thinking he meant… . Anyway, I should have realized from the beginning that Joe doesn’t warm up to dirty jokes. He had balked when Kate used the other word for excrement. He was on his phone so we thought he probably did that because of something he saw or read on his screen. Things did not get any better when the conversation veered off to romantic escapades we had and ones we saw in movies. I guessed that were it not for the fact that Joe is black, his face would have been red. Regardless, his face darkened. Maybe there are things you do not say before your "saved" friend. You know, the ones who got saved from such things in the first place.
Joe has been my friend for as long as I cannot forget. We went to "jam sessions" together, and pawned household items and books we stole from our classmates' lockers at a pawn shop in Gikosh. We relished being grown-up teenagers and showing off to our peers who were afraid of what their parents might do to them. And despite Joe going to church on Sundays and I to the mosque on Friday evening, we were always at clubs that allowed children our age on Saturdays. And now that I recall it, shame on the club managers who allowed us in _ my childhood could have been better. I have to admit tho' that I sometimes miss those days, only that Joe calls it being a "slave to your flesh" and I don't like being a slave to anybody even if that is me. So the only solace I had was speaking with our other friends about those days, until recently when I noticed how uncomfortable they made Joe feel. But why?
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Christians who are young have a pretty difficult time, I came to realise. Take Joe, for instance, who is at that point in his life where his "flesh" badly wants stuff. He wants to hang out and bang _ and I do not mean a door! He wants to get noticed by Kate, who instead has an eye on Brayo, a guy so handsome that he makes me wanna put a scar on his face if that would make him look a little bit like us. I feel like Joe also on some occasions misses this other world but he is probably finding his better. And to be honest, I miss doing those crazy things we did with him. I just wonder why his God would take him away from me, and from all the fun we had. But maybe I am wrong.
I have to confess that unlike Joe who now is disposed to an equanimity of mind and heart, I on the other hand have to constantly try hard to please. Joe used to do it, but he doesn't anymore. He would jump a storey building if that would get him and I into a rende in Shauri Moyo or Kayole. Mention Kate and he would skydive without a parachute on. That is the friend I miss, but I am never having him back because he gave his life to Jesus.
Maybe I should thank his Lord - so he calls Him - for saving Shauri Moyo from a potential gang lord. I know because Joe would have done anything to please Kate. Or I should thank his Lord for giving us a mentor, for Joe is slated to soon join Gor Mahia Football Club on a three-year contract. Or maybe I should thank Him for making me wanna be like the new Joe, who has a maniacal focus on freeing himself from destitution. Or should I be jealous of him instead?
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Author: You’re welcome.
