"We are going to have to operate on his scrotum." The doctor pronounced, looking deadly serious.
"It was just a minor fall, doctor, it's not even that serious. We thought he was only going to get a few stitches." Uncle Jude said, panic written all over his face.
"One of his testicles is torn and needs to be taken out. I'm afraid
there's no other alternative."
Michel's parents consented to the operation, and the doctor left.
I slid down on the hospital wall and started to sob. How could the holiday I was looking forward to turn sour?
As kids, every holiday we had i.e. away from school was always fun. I'm sure you can guess why. Almost every child wanted a break from school and holidays for Christmas festivities were always a bonus. We always went to visit our grandparents for the holidays and spend Christmas with them.
I remember vividly how much fun we used to have during the Christmas holidays. The extended family will be down from different walks of life. Big aunties, uncles, cousins, spouses, grandparents, kids, and everyone.
It was always exciting and everything was abundant, from food to drinks, endless gifts, and treats for us kids. It was also the time we used to get into a lot of mischief and endless schemings.
Packing my bags for the holidays brought back some unpleasant memories that I thought I had since buried.
I was 10 years old when this particular incident happened. My favorite cousin was Michel, he was the only son of his parents, my uncle, Uncle Jude, my father's younger brother, and his wife, my aunt, Bukemi. Michel was my favorite cousin because he was as mischievous as I was and we were closer in age.
We always were up to one mischief or the other.
I'm a girl and shouldn't be imitating Michel I was told many times, but he was so much fun, anywhere you find Michel, you can be rest assured I'll be close by.
I recall a particular incident when Michel and I went to bathe in the village river, it was a forbidden but we couldn't resist it.
We were seated in front of our grandparent's house, chatting idly when we saw some kids with buckets on their heads going to the river to fetch water.
"What say we follow them to the river?" Michel asked me.
"I'm not down with it, you remember we have been warned to stay away from the river."
"I'm going if you are not going." He declared and went after the children.
"I thought about it briefly and followed suit."
We followed them and imitated them when they bathed with their clothes on after fetching water. I was in the river till my eyes were red, and it was the single most beautiful experience of my childhood.
We reluctantly left the river after several hours and promised each other that we would be back the next day for a fuller experience. The entire household was waiting for us by the time we got home, each face registering a different emotion some surprise, some anger, some frustration, some exhaustion, and some plain incredulity.
The general concession was that we had overstepped and had to be punished.
The gist of it was that we had been gone for too long, and everyone had searched for us in apprehension, fearing that we might have been kidnapped. The only place they didn't think to check was the river.
"Where have you been?" My grandfather thundered with his diminishing voice. He didn't thunder actually, it sounded more like croaking but I think it fed his ego to think his voice still carried authority. He was around 82 years old then.
"It was Michel, Grandpa. I told him we had been warned against going to the river, but he wouldn't listen." I said, throwing Michel under the bus.
"That's your defense? Are you a pig about to be dragged to the slaughter slab?" So, if he had told you to jump into a fire, you'd do it?" That's nonsense and you know it, young lady."
"There's no need for dialogue, pa. They deserve to be punished." My mother said as she fondly called my grandfather, hissing and eyeing us in disgust."
Uncle Jude, my retired army uncle was given the task of making us see the error of our ways. Is it possible for one to have the best and worst day of one's life in a single day? Well, we did or at least, I did. Uncle Jude took the time to spank us one after the other, he made Michel hug the water tank and tied him to it with a very thick rope. Michel could no longer cry for mercy by the time he was done. He went straight to bed and even refused dinner after.
I was treated similarly, only with fewer strokes. My butt was red for days and I could not sit properly for the duration of the holidays.
Everyone forgot, moved on, and life returned to normal.
Michel and I were discussing under a mango tree in front of the house one day when his eyes caught a very big, ripe Mango on the tree.
He had the idea to get it for himself. He then proposed to climb the tree and pluck it since it was at the farthest part of the tree. Seemed like a good idea, he was a very good climber. I agreed to be the lookout in case Uncle Jude or another elder came by. The memory of our discipline at his hands was still fresh in our minds
He climbed the tree and I stood sentry.
He had almost reached the mango and was trying to find a way to maneuver the thin branch of a tree standing between him and the prize, the Mango when I saw Uncle Jude coming out of the house whistling a tune. "Uncle Jude is coming,get down quickly." I whispered urgently.
He panicked and not wanting his efforts to go to waste, he placed his other leg on the thin branch and reached out to take the Mango,it snapped and he fell, only he didn't fall to the ground, he fell and got stuck on another branch of the tree.
I shouted at him to disentangle himself and come down when I noticed water dripping from the tree. Was it the onset of rain perhaps?
The next thing I heard was Michel's cry of agony, a branch of the tree had perforated his light shorts and had punctured his scrotum, making its way to the testicles, thereby causing a fluid-like release from in there.
He howled in agony, and Uncle Jude came running. He was rescued and rushed to the hospital where he was immediately operated on, and the affected testicle was removed as it was ruptured and thankfully, only one of his testicles was affected.
It was a gloomy Christmas celebration after, no one suggested any fun activity, we all just prayed for Michel to get well.
The dominant thought on everyone's mind was, "What if he had died?" We never got to experience the full joy of Christmas, and the significance was lost on all of us. We were just thankful that Michel was alive.
That incident made me grow up into a reflective adult, and before I make any decision, I always weigh the pros and cons. I learned the hard way. That memory gave me a sense of relief of what could have been had the situation taken a more negative turn.
After he was fit to travel, his parents went back home with him and everyone went their separate ways. "I'll keep in touch, Anna." He said to me as he waved in the car with his parents, headed for home.
Michel and I were still in constant communication till we became adults and he even confessed to me a few years ago that he was afraid of getting married because he only had one testicle, what if he was unable to father a child? The doctors had assured him that he could a long time ago, but he was too scared to try.
"You won't know till you try, Michel," I said to him on one of our numerous video calls.
"I know, but I won't feel comfortable if I'm unable to. I wouldn't want to put my innocent wife through the agony of trying and failing to have a child knowing that I'm the problem."
I'm sure you can understand how happy I was when Michel said he would be bringing his fiancee home for this year's Christmas celebrations. He was finally ready to get married, damn the past.
"Way to go, bro," I said to him, smiling over the phone.
No one knows what the future holds, but at least, I'm going home to good news this holiday.