Suspicious dog exposes teen lovers’ ‘homework’

By James Mwangi

Routine activity is dull and unchallenging. In fact, a local adage has it that a place that remains inhabited for a long time possesses lice.

Motivated by this piece of wisdom, two primary school lovers from a village in Murang’a County decided to give a ‘facelift’ to their secret romance.

Macharia, a Class Eight Pupil, had been clandestinely dating his classmate, Wanjiru, oblivious of warnings from his mates about the dangers involved.

During weekends, Wanjiru would sneak in to Macharia’s small ‘cube’ barely half a kilometre away through coffee and maize plantations. They would ‘revise’ and ‘compare homework’ behind closed doors and probably discuss their ‘future’ together.

Distance

According to a neighbour, the affair lasted for long because parents perceived it as just the usual school friendship or the church brother and sisterhood. Besides, they played it safe, keeping distance from each other both within and out of school.

“They were very cautious so few suspected something was going on between them. But those who did imagined it was just a harmless and nonsexual childish romance,” he said.

But when the boy was enlisted to participate in a two-week boy scouts’ excursion held in the neighbouring school, the lovebirds agreed to meet on the Sunday evening when the expedition would be closed.

On the D-day, they met as arranged. But for unspecified reasons, the ‘learning’ venue changed. This time round, the girl offered to take him home — her elder brother’s four-roomed house.

Kennel

The taxing issue, however, was how to smuggle him in to the house undetected. ‘Ingeniously’, she freed the dog for Macharia to momentarily hide in the kernel as she planed the next move. She even served him a ‘mountainous’ supper in the kennel but the suscipicious canine barked incessantly.

She bid her time till her brother fell asleep before sneaking him into the house, but as they embarked on the much-awaited homework, their whispering filtered across the walls and woke him up.

When the murmuring got louder, it became clear that a man was inside that room. Alarmed, he stealthily walked to the room and busted the naked lovebirds. Wanjiru managed to slip away, but not before she received two stinging slaps.

Macharia wasn’t so lucky. He was paraded in his birthday suit before the family and flogged thoroughly, punishment that would recur when the matter was brought before his own parents later.

Wanjiru’s angry brother was overhead saying: “I wondered how come my sister was reading aloud in different voices. I also knew something was fishy because the dog kept barking all over the place.”

The scandalous affair has become the talk of the village, meaning the two teens hardly walk without tongues wagging, horrified glances getting cast in their direction not to mention bemused giggles from their age mates and young children.

It is not known whether the affair is over, but it is a safe bet that Macharia will not be hiding in a dog kernel any time soon.