The house was quiet, it wasn’t unlike grandma to observe her siesta after the Sunday service. Lucinda had gone to the salon to have her hair done. Kingsley indulged himself in a movie and Henry was in the backyard. Kingsley had observed that Henry had made it a habit to slip into the backyard at the slightest opportunity. On this day, he decided to pry on him through the window. He found Henry in the solitude and shade provided by the mango tree. He was puffing smoke. He held what looked like a cigarette in his hand and he looked so at peace. Kingsley was intrigued by the discovery and the image dawdled in his mind.

Kingsley kept the finding to himself. He wanted to tell Lucinda but he was sure that she would tell Grandma and that would be the end of Henry’s stay in the house. He felt too young to keep a secret but he was willing to try.

Before long, Grandma sensed something was wrong. She noticed Kingsley’s frequent sudden glances at Henry, it was as though a burden was weighing him down. She didn’t want to frighten the little boy with many questions. She touched him on the shoulder and queried,
“Kay, is there something you want to tell me?”
“No, Nothing at all”
Kingsley answered and slipped out of her sight. She wasn’t satisfied with his answer. His words seemed laced with lies but she had to give him time to come forward with a more acceptable truth.
On one of those days, Henry was in the backyard kissing the fire stick. Kingsley was peeping from between the sheets of the curtain. He turned without warning and saw the little boy take cover. Henry knew he had been caught and so he devised a plan. He was going to make Kingsley his accomplice, that way the little boy was bound to keep their secret.
He signalled to him to come from behind the curtains. There was no use hiding. Kingsley walked sheepishly towards Henry and before long he was standing in the same position he had been looking at through the window.
“Would you like to try some?”
Henry asked cunningly
“What is it?”
Kingsley asked innocently
“It’s weed, would you like to try it?”
Kingsley nodded in affirmation, then Henry gave the condition
“You must promise not to tell anybody about this”
“Okay, I promise”
He showed Kingsley how to take a puff then explained that he shouldn’t suck too much in at a time. Then he passed the stick to him. Kingsley received it with shaky hands. He was too inquisitive to turn down the offer, he wanted to know how it felt to have weed inside one’s head. He took the stick to his mouth and took one puff.
His eyes were closed as he puffed, he reopened them as he exhaled but the trees were now in the sky and he was standing on his head. His surrounding gradually became a blur and sounds faded until eventually, he fainted.



… To be continued