SIENTO NOSTALGIA

Prime movie shops .... and life before people discovered free websites to watch movie from.

When i was in class 7, it so happened that my family and i had to move in with a friend of my mum called Jane. She was a nice middle aged lady who loved her grandchildren so much that she lived with them in her house. The grandkids weren’t kids per se , Steve, the oldest had just finished highschool and Glad was in form 3 by then. My older sister was 3 years out of highschool and my other siblings were in class 2 and 1 respectfully. At first moving into this house was weird, we didn’t know these kids and it it kinda felt like they were some stuck up rich kids who are very much spoiled by their grandma. But with time we got to know each other, since we were kinda the same age group we had a lot of common interests. I for sure had more that common interest in Steve, i had a massive crush on that boy and i’m not even ashamed to say it. He was tall and kinda muscular and lightskin (back then those ninjas used to drive me mad). Unfortunately or fortunately, he only had eyes for my elder sister, and they did eventually date, something i only came to find out after we had moved out … nilikuwa nashuku but najiambia tu na overthink. Those two went rouge in that house, the stories my sister has told me now that i’m old, yoooooh wenaaaaaaa ……. ayam shockeddddd.

But lets get back on track, so within a few weeks we had become soo close with them we used to go everywhere together. My mum used to say tulikuwa tunapenda kufuatana kama makondoo kufanya some mischief somewhere, and true dattt. Wherever Glad was … i was … wherever Steve was… my sister was ( and now we know why * insert rolling eye emoji ) . I can remember so many memories we made together during the four months we were there, sneaking into Glad’s room at night to watch movies and eat the snacks we hid, the board games on sunday after getting ice cream, only the four of us, and making sure nobody else knew… felt like a secret society type of shit , the time i almost fell in the lake laughing about something Steve had said, looking back i don’t think he was ever that funny, *smh in childhood crush chronicles. But out of all these memories only one stuck with me this far, The After 6pm Memories.

Back in 2019, before Corona, not a lot of people knew about free online websites to stream movies with let alone be able to download the movies. Hio ilikuwanga siri only guys wa movieshops walikuwa wamejiwekea. So at around 6 za jioni, almost everybody alikuwa anatokelezea na ka 30 bob kake moja kwa moja hadi kwa their nearest and favourite movieshop. My sister and the rest of the crew ( Glad and Steve ) happened to know one movie shop ya a guy named Jesse … shout out to that guy by the way, the commitment he had to chasing my sister was something else, and he was also a good guy generally. Jesse’s movie shop was itttttt… yaani hio ndio ilikuwa baze ya almost all youths wa hio area… like i said he was a great guy… he very good with people. It wasn’t even an extravagant shop, ilikuwa kacontainer kagreen , all four sides zilikuwa pasted na papers za movies, one corner ilikuwa place ya Jesse kuekelea vitu zake na kuketi, the other one adjacent to him had a very big speaker, ukiingia tu hapo kwa mlango kuna kabench kamoja kacustomers and that was basically it.

Hapo nje , not so far from the entrance kulikuwa na base ya mtura, now when i say this guy had fwineeeeeeeeeeee muturaaaaaaaaa ….. ghaiii i’m not even kidding, kama mutura inakuanga laced that ninja was definitely lacing his cause yoohhh. Damn it was so good … msmsm .. i can almost taste it rn *cries in i don’t know alienda wapi na tulihama hio area ….. arrrrggghhh. This is definitely worse than a heartbreak.

A lot of people who have known me in my grown -up years think i’ve grown to love the nightlife, that nipeer pressure na maisha ya anasa imeniteka huku unifasiti. But honestly i’ve always loved the nightlife, there’s a certain relaxation and aliveness that’s present in the air, yenye haikuangi during the day. The sun has set, people are coming back from their work places, whether they had a bad day or not , they have an aura of relaxation with them cause at the end of the day the day has ended. A few kids here and there, running around in their school uniforms, after being dropped home by the bus, sasa wameendea mandazi ya kukunywa kachai na eraser ndio waanze assigment. Mtu wangu wa mutura ameanza kupika so kuna ka certain smell in the air, warm and inviting, reminding you of what master piece is about to be presented before you in 30 minutes. The street lights are lighting the paths and shops, cyber na movie shops ndio sasa wameweka full blast music, ndio masaa ya macustomers wao kutokelezea. I wish i could paint a picture of how this feels, i don’t think i’m doing a good job explaining this. *laughs in what the helllyyyyyyyyyy

Obviously my crew and i lazima tungetokea hii time. So around 5, tungeanza kuenda kuoga one by one, idk about Steve and my sister, but i think yao ilikuanga one on one, get it ? okay fine i’ll see myself out

At around 6 tulikuwa tunatumwa supper, and whether or not kulikuwa nayo ama hakuna, lazima tungepata excuse ya kutoka, ata heri tufiche royco tuhave kutumwa, and yeah tulikuwa tunabebana soteeeeeeeeee kwenda kwa hio duka. And there i was, the kid of the group, i was spoiled baaaadd. I observed them a lot cause mm sikuanga na story za kuchangia kila time, but it was nice to just observe them. Glad never lacked ball gum, Steve always bought me Bites and my sister would give me her phone and headphone to listen music with. It felt really nice. It’s through observing them that i reaalized you can actually con your parents out of petty cash. For example nani alisema ukitumwa nyama ya 200 lazima ununue ya hio dooh …. nunua ya 150 .. kula hio pesa ingine (pitia kwa peddi ^-^) na akiteta sema hio butchery wameanza kukata nyama kiasi. That’s if the parents ain’t as strict, if they are we nunua tu ya 180 basi. Kesi baadae. Anywayyyy .., first things first ilikuwa kwa Jesse, there we’d meet so many of my sisters friends, like i said kwa Jesse kulikuwa ile baze. They’d all talk nonstop while hush hushing hot mutura, now i know that their low red eyes weren’t because of the moshi but mofos were high. smh. The stories seemed to be so interesting, they laughed a lot and i just watch, not high on weed but high on the energy surrounding the place. Sometimes you just observe and feel things yk. It all seemed to move in slow motion, them laughing care-free over supu and mutura, the background music of Jesse’s playlist, the Led lights lighting up the place, it felt like at this time, time itself would stop and i would fade in the background of this whole scene and bask in the unending energetic youthfulness surrounding the place. Perks of being a wallflower fr. It felt a little bit like this

and this …..

I loved it soo much, i’d never miss a chance to go to Jesse’s, kuna time ata nilipigwa cause i lost track of time while i was in the movie shop na nikachelewa kupeleke skuma za supper, note to self, i had my bike, sikua na bag , na sukuma hazijafungwa. Lemme tell you maina, that was a very stressful night for me , weeeuuh. This was of course long after we’ve moved out of Jane’s place and i was probably in form 1. I grew up still admiring that scenery so bad that after highschool i got employed in a cyber, it was a nice place and i had a nice boss, but it wasn’t the same vibe. People no longer go to movieshops, why stress yourself when you can just watch it on your laptop? movie shops have lost their credibility i fear. But i’m glad i got to experience that era, it was nice one…. very nice.

Looking up at Steve, Glad and my sister back then, that’s what growing up looked like. Now i’m where they were rn , and it’s nothing like that, for one people don’t go to movie shops no more, but it’s not as bad. I have found my own way of getting the same vibe in my own youth-life. And i don’t hate it …. and thats all that matters for now.

As usual …. if you know me …. no you don’t ….

~ciao~