Fool's Paradise

Chapter One

There were days when he felt that life just wasn’t fair. This was a cruel, hard world. Why couldn’t he be like his friends, all carefree and easy? Of course, he knew that they had their own problems but it seemed they mostly concerned transportation or rather the lack of it when a parent withheld the car keys, and the lack of a venue for a little fun with the flavour of the month or week or day. The girls were always buzzing around his friends, but to them he was just part of the furniture, albeit a comfortable and favourite sofa or armchair. What was wrong with him? He was good looking, witty, relatively knowledgeable and dressed well. So why was he alone?

Kaye Morrison stared moodily at his friends. César Kamani, Alex Dramadri and Theo Kamali were involved in an animated conversation about cars.

St Andrew’s College was one of the finest schools in the country. Parents clamoured to enrol their children there because it produced results. Discipline was tight but there were always a few students who got away with various misdemeanours, mainly due to a devious mind or connections amongst the officials in the student government.

The school was set on a beautiful piece of real estate in the eastern region of Uganda that accorded the students a tranquil atmosphere. Another reason for the school’s eminence amongst the students was it’s variety of extra curricular activities and the fact that popularity was not derived from family connections but garnered from individual merit. The impression from outsiders was that the school lacked seriousness. The students and the parents were not concerned with this misconception, for they knew better; a large percent of the students went on to the national university on scholarship while others had good enough grades to get themselves into other prominent universities without a fuss.

It was a scorching Saturday afternoon at the college, where weekends were a time to relax after a hectic week of studies. It was also a time to preen and show off to one another. Underneath the various trees that abounded on the well-tended school compound, boys stood in small groups as they admired the girls that were prancing about. Other boys felt that was a waste of time and decided that it would be more worth their while if they joined the girls and hatched up some mischievous plot for the night; it was dance night.

Kaye and his friends were sitting by the basketball courts where a heated game was in progress. Kaye contemplated a swim in the pool when he saw a hand waving right in front of his face. “What’s up?” Alex asked. Kaye shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing, why?”
“You’ve been very quiet, that’s why. Now, what’s up?”
“Nothing, I was just watching the game.”
“Psh!” César snorted, “You weren’t even looking at the court so how could you have been watching the game? Man, you’re talking to us, we know you like the back of our hands. So, what’s up? Man, talk to us. We’re your peeps, man!”
Kaye smiled, the way César sometimes spoke amused him. There were times he felt that his friend deliberately set out to be a clown. “Listen, you guys it’s nothing really. I’m fine, honest.”
“It’s amazing how this boy can lie through his teeth and sound so convincing,” Theo shook his head in wonderment, “You’re not fooling us, Kaye. We know something’s bothering you and we’re going to bug you until you tell us.”

Kaye sighed and leaned back on the grassy knoll. He knew that his friends would not give up, so he told them what was on his mind. Alex was incredulous, “You guy! You’re not serious! The way babes have been dying for you. How can you even think that they don’t notice you?”
“The thing is byanas think that you’re unapproachable. I know for a fact that Suzanne Aseya has this mad crush on you and wouldn’t mind getting with you but she says that you’re too aloof,” César said.

A little taken aback, Kaye said, “I don’t think I’m unfriendly, if anything I always go out of my way to help whenever I can.” Alex pointed out that the girls were aware of his generosity, but they felt that there he was off limits to any intimacy. It was as if he’d built an invisible wall around him. “We’re about the only people that you allow to come close to you, although you sometimes shut us out too,” Theo added. Kaye chewed on his lip as he digested what he’d just heard. They probably had a point and he would have to make a conscious effort to be more open.

Juliana Kagimba and Laura Kempuga were heading in their direction. Alex nudged César and said with awe, “But you guy, that kyana has a body. You’re lucky to be with her.”
“Who, Laura? Ah, that chick is easy. It’s just that she likes to play games so guys think that she’s hard to get, but she loves to get down.”
“Eh? So if I asked her for some she’d give me?” Kaye laughed at Theo’s expression, the boy looked hungry.

A s the girls joined them, Laura asked what the joke was. Arms akimbo, breasts barely contained in a tank top, she repeated her question. The boys brushed it aside with unintelligible murmurs.

César went into his “G” mode, a kind of posturing he affected when he was feeling on top of the world. He licked his lips and smiled suggestively as he looked her up and down, “So, what’s up?” Laura smiled prettily and replied, “Humph, that’s what I’d like to know. You tell me.” César pulled her to him and held her tight. Laura giggled, “Now I know what’s up! So what are we going to do about it?”
“Walk with me a while and I’ll tell you." César winked at his friends as they walked away. The boys shook their heads and grinned as Juliana rolled her eyes and expressed her reservations. “The way those two are going, they’re going to get themselves into trouble.”
“No,” said Kaye, “César knows what he’s doing.”
“How can you say that when all those two do is have sex? What about the dangers that go along with that?” Juliana wanted to know. Kaye responded with, “Stop being so worried, César’s smart, he can handle whatever’s thrown at him.” Juliana raised a skeptical brow, “It’s not him I’m worried about.”

A few minutes later, César was back. He told Juliana that Laura was calling her. When she was gone, Alex told César, “Juliana likes you,”
“Wapi, you’re just imagining things,” César responded.
“No, for real,” Alex was adamant.
“How come you’re so sure?” Kaye wanted to know.
“It’s the way she’s always looking at César,” Alex said, “And also the way she always seems so disapproving when he’s around Laura. I’m sure it’s because she’s jealous.”
“Guys, stop fantasising okay! Juliana only puts up with me because of Laura.”
“César, I’m telling you, I have this gut feeling…and you know my gut feelings, they’re never wrong.

César made a dismissive gesture and joined Kaye on the grass. Kaye gave him a side-glance and grinned. “So what devious plot have you come up with this time?” César just smirked and lay down, folding his arms behind his head. He thought about the night of the Senior 5 welcome dinner. He had looked good that night and Laura had told him so, which had pleased him immensely. Many of the Senior 5 boys had been clamouring to escort her but it was he that she’d wanted to go to the dinner with. He’d learnt from a classmate that Laura had heard much about him from Juliana, who was a long time friend of hers. When Laura joined the school at the beginning of the term, she’d been instantly attracted to him. Initially, he hadn’t been sure about what she was after, but despite the fact that he now knew she was just after his body, he was still willing to oblige her in order to keep her. He had hopes of turning their liaison into a more serious relationship.

The boys decided to go for a swim in the pool. They fooled around in the water, terrorising the girls, who didn’t mind too much because they had the attention of the most popular boys in the school. The boys were known as The Dudes. The afternoon wore on and The Dudes, tiring of their antics, decided to head back to their dormitory.

All the dormitories were named after major African cities. Nairobi, Dar-es-Salaam, Accra were the junior dorms while Ouagadougou, Cape Town and Lagos accommodated the seniors, with Kampala housing the officials.