Kavita fastened the buttons on his raincoat and stepped out into the dark, drizzly evening. He walked briskly through the corridor towards the staffroom. He needed to see Mr Makame, the teacher on duty, before the lights-out.
He had eavesdropped on a conversation between two Grade Eight students, Kasheshe and Janja. These two were known throughout the entire school as the school bullies. Kavita had got wind of their malicious plan.
“I can get the key, Kash,” Janja was speaking to Kasheshe in a hushed tone, referring to him by his nickname. “Then, there is nothing we cannot do. Once I access the flash disk from the patron’s desk, we will make adjustments to the spreadsheet with the names of all the voters and the votes they cast. You will be assured of the victory, Kash! You of all people cannot miss being the President of the Junior Clubs Association! Kash never fails!”
“Ha, ha, that is true,” Kasheshe whispered. “You are right, Janja. I am the only person deserving of that office in this school!”
Kavita went on to listen to their wicked plan, how they would set up a fake emergency call. If the worst came to the worst, Janja had planned on how he would raise a false fire alarm. They knew the plan would work perfectly. It was set to be executed at exactly six thirty in the morning of the following day.
The Junior Clubs Association had just held its elections for the new leadership. These were greatly coveted posts, as the bearers of these offices commanded great clout and honour among the students and the teachers. Kasheshe had so badly wanted to win. He had vied against several other contestants. That was why this plan was so important to him.
Kavita panted for breath as he drew closer and closer to the staffroom. From a distance, he could see that the lights were off, and he wondered where Mr Makame might be. The staff room was locked.
As he turned around to begin the walk back to his dormitory, a rough hand hit him on the neck, and wrestled him down. He hit his head hard against the wall, and could already feel the throbbing pain. He tried to free himself, but his efforts were futile.
“We saw you coming this way, parrot. What are you doing here?” One voice asked meanly.
“Did you have something you wanted to tell teacher?” The second voice asked sarcastically.
“You will not get away with this, trust me you will not. You will not get away with this,” Kavita muttered frantically.
“Oh yeah! You bet we will,” one of the other voices spoke.
Kavita winced as they yanked him callously. The next thing he heard was the noisy bolting of the door lock, and the hurried shuffling away of footsteps. He could feel the pins and needles begin to tingle in his feet, and he felt a bit queasy.
Silently, he prayed and hoped someone would find him soon. How long he had been there, he could not tell. The space was too crumpled for him.
“Kavita! Kavita!” Wake up!” A loud rap at the door, and the noisy opening of the door lock followed.
He struggled to open his eyes, but he still felt dazed and groggy.
“We followed you, we saw everything,” a young lady’s voice said.
“Who is this? Where am I? What’s going on?” Kavita seemed to ask all the questions at a go.
“It’s us. Buni and Amara. And some of your friends. We saw everything. We heard everything. Come with us.”
It was about six in the morning when Kavita finally came to. The seventh-grade and eighth-grade students could be heard walking hurriedly to their classrooms. He was recuperating in the school clinic.
Suddenly, there was a scream from the eastern end of the school compound, where the School Club house was. This was the building that hosted the Junior Clubs Association. The scream came a second time, and this time, students changed the direction in which they were running towards their classes, and headed towards the clubhouse.
“Help! Help!” Janja was shouting hysterically. “Kash is dying!”
Meanwhile, Kasheshe was writhing on the ground, his eyes rolled till only the whites on his sclera could be seen. He looked like he was convulsing. Everyone rushed to the scene.
“Help!” Janja shouted again. “Quick! Quick! We need a room for First Aid. Please, I beg, open for us a room we can use. Perhaps the door to the Junior Clubs Association office,” Janja continued as he agitatedly tried to fan Kasheshe with his sweater.
Everyone just stood there watching.
“Well, won’t you do something, all of you?” Janja went on.
Just as Luvumi, the person in charge of the School Club House, stepped forward to go and open the door, Buni and Amara intercepted.
“Stop it, Janja. You and Kasheshe. Stop it right now.” Buni commanded. He too, had contested against Kasheshe. He was a young man of impeccable character.
“Yes. We know everything.” Amara joined in. She too, had contested. She was an ardent young lady in the seventh grade. “And we had already alerted everyone to your plan.”
Janja and Kasheshe impishly tried to carry on with their act, but their plan had failed miserably. As the commotion continued, Mr Makame arrived. Boldly, Buni and Amara briefed him.
Janja and Kasheshe were whisked off to the staffroom to await their punishment.
That morning, during the school parade, everyone spoke in whispers. The murmuring could be heard like the buzzing of bees across the room. The morning had been a rather dramatic one.
The school principal, Mrs Akinu, was going to make the announcement on who had won in the Junior Debate Club election.
The formalities of the school parade went on uneventfully, then it was Mrs Akinu’s long-awaited moment.
“Good morning everyone.”
“This year, the position of the President of the Junior Club Association was closely contested. Also, following the unfolding of events this morning, the teachers have unanimously made a very unique decision, to start an award that will be given each week, and this award will be called The Guardian of Peace. Each week, for the next one year, we will identify which outstanding student has been the Guardian of Peace. This will be our Peace Champion for the week.”
“This year, the President of the Junior Clubs Association is Brian Buni.” The students clapped heartily and the applause filled the room.
“The Vice President of the Junior Clubs Association is Kristal Amara.” The applause continued.
“And for this newly created post, our first Guardian of Peace in the Junior Clubs Association is Sheldon Kavita.”
The students cheered him in absentia.
The head teacher gave her closing remarks. “The smallest, seemingly insignificant action you take, whether good or bad, can change a whole course of events and destiny.”
Kasheshe and Janja waited remorsefully in the staffroom.
Buni and Amara knew they had great work ahead of them.
They had to tell Kavita of the honours accorded him in absentia.
This story emerged as the winner of the 2024 Wakini Kuria Prize for Children’s Literature.
Please click here to view the full list of the winners and to read their stories
