The Journey of two innocent souls

All kids get sick and have health issues as it is a natural process whereby the immune system gets tested and strengthened. I was no exception to this, and I don't remember much until I was in school and it affected my holidays. I would, for some strange reason, get sick or be affected during our July three-week holidays. In grade two my passion for soccer began, and I loved playing it. I was sleeping in the granny flat, and it was built of brick and plastered. I dreamt that I was playing soccer, and I kicked the ball, but I physically kicked the brick wall with my right foot and immediately got up in pain. I knew what I had done and therefore thought that the pain would go away and didn't bother getting anyone up.

I got up the next morning, and my foot was just a little bit sore. I don't really recall whether anyone enquired, but I did have a slight limp. As the days went on, it got worse. I told my mum what had happened, and she applied the traditional medicines as was normal at that time. My foot just kept on swelling and was getting really sore, so much so that I was now avoiding walking on it. Different remedies were applied, but it just kept on swelling. There was a time when I was unable to put the foot down, and it had become really spongy like a ball and looked like it was full of fluid. I tried to see if there was any indication it would burst like a pimple or a boil, but there was none. Finally, I was taken to the hospital and had to have an operation — my first ever. It was an abscess, and the swelling was just fluid. After the operation, I had to stay in the hospital and was put into recovery.

As I was only little, I had no idea of what was going on and what the procedures were. On the bed next to me on my right was an old man who also had been operated on. I don't know what time it was, but I was woken by this man's cries in pain, and he was groaning really loudly. Nurses came and attended to him and left, but he didn't stop. I was scared and covered myself up to my face and just stared into the dimly lit room. This man suddenly sat up in bed and started staring at me with his eyes wide open, and I was shaking with fear. Everybody else was asleep, and just as suddenly as he had gotten up, he fell back into the bed. The nurses came in, and there was a bit of shuffling going on around him, and they all finally left. I peeped, and he was fully covered. A little while passed, and a doctor came in, and I heard him mention that he was dead. I wanted to run out of there, but I was also in pain, and I started crying. The nurse came to me and asked me what was wrong, and I said I wanted to go home as I was scared. I was told that I had to wait till the next morning when I was discharged. When I went back to the hospital about a week later for the dressing to be changed, I looked at my foot, and it looked terrible. There was a hole in between the big toe and the one next to it, and all that was left in between was the skin of my sole. The flesh was gone, and I could see the bones on either side. It took quite a while, but eventually, it all came good and I was a kid again and up to no good — well, not really, I was a good boy.

There were other instances that also kept me from enjoying my July holidays. There were two finger-like protrusions on my left foot, and the memorable one was when I had something in the heel of my right foot. We would play around bare feet and often would get splinters or thorns or anything really as we were kids and played anywhere and everywhere. The left heel was sore and got worse by the day. My big brother got hold of me and decided to look what was in there that was making me keep the heel off the floor. He got a huge needle and decided to dig in and remove it. It was fine until he reached a certain stage, and it hurt, so he got my cousins to hold me down and reached the point where the pus was and it came out. He could not see anything in there and did not find anything. As the pressure had been released, the pain was reduced drastically. I really thought that it would get better, but after a few days, it got sore again, and the original situation was back. I was taken to the doctor, and he was told what had been done up to that point. He decided to cut it open and clean it. He injected a needle into what felt like directly in the sore spot, and I kicked him with the other foot. I'm not sure what he said, but he was not happy as the needle had bent and was still in my foot. I think he slapped my bottom and asked me to stay still as the needle would break if I moved. He continued and did what he had to do, put dressing on the wound and sent me home. Not long had passed, and the leg was back to the sore state. My brother caught me, and like before, I was pinned down onto the table. The difference now was that there was a visible hole in my heel about a centimetre deep, and it looked like a matchstick had been removed from it. He started agitating the heel with his thumbs in a motion trying to squeeze out something. I was in agony, but he just continued on, and suddenly there was this spray from inside the hole. I don't know what it was, but after he washed it out and bandaged it, the heel got better. Our guess was that I had got a piece of glass into my foot, and that is why it was not visible. I also had jaundice at one time, but these were just two of the many times I was out of action and still clearly remember them.

The Luckan family had bought a butcher shop as my uncle Robert was a butcher. It was quite a good business, and I would go on the delivery run on Saturdays. We had so many customers that we would have to make two delivery runs. I remember this one house that had a huge order to be delivered, and one had to walk past one of the other houses to get to the one where we had the delivery for. This first house had a dog and would always make us run every time we passed there. Then one day I was walking with a lot of parcels in my hands, and my chin was on the top, holding it down. I saw this dog running at full speed towards me, and I could not run anywhere, so I just stood there in anticipation. I saw him disappear from my vision as the parcels were obstructing. When I stopped and stood, I worked out more or less where the dog would be and just at the right moment, although I could not see, let out a boot with all my might, and I got him. I heard this loud yelping and saw him run away just as fast as he had come. The butcher business got sold when my uncle was involved in an accident and passed away.

In grade eight we were transferred, and I went on to high school, and that was a huge leap. When I was there, I took part in gymnastics, athletics and soccer. I also played music. I was really well-known. I had also taken up martial arts training, and I was really very physically active and fit. My cousin who was working at that time had a girlfriend, and her sister Precilla was in school with me. She would bring letters that would be concealed in a book and give them to me to give to my cousin, and I would do...