Dennis D. Muhumuza
12 October 2008
It was party time till midnight. Fresh from America, Banjo mixed like Americans. From the old Chaka Chaka tunes to the local ones like Bobi Wine's Bada and Jose Chameleone's Kipepeo. He played all, sending the villagers into frenzy. Dust was just rising from the ground.
With superstar headphones in his ears with a small microphone popping from them, Banjo mixed track after track on Mr Hadlow's laptop and had the villagers staring.
At 11:30 p.m., Banjo dedicated Dolly Parton's Jolene to his mother. Her favourite song! A wide smile went across her lips, Mama Banjo and Papa Banjo took to the dance floor in a dance of waltz. They could have been dancing stars; they did it well; a good cheer surrounded them.
"The next number," Banjo said and looked at Erica: "goes out to...myself!" And with that, he pulled Erica to the dance floor and everyone stopped to look.
Mr Hadlow had been capturing moment after moment on his video camera. Banjo told the villagers it was a film they would watch themselves in. As they jumped in excitement, he excused himself and whispered something in the ear of Nancy, a beautiful high school girl --the belle of the village. She laughed and moved over to where Mr Hadlow was.
"Would you like to dance, sir?" she said.
Mr Hadlow hesitated. Erica appeared and got the video camera from him. "Oh sure, I would like a dance with you, Nancy." Everyone clapped. And the other girls of the village 'died' with envy.
The party was soon over. The villagers found their way home very tired an drunk with dust up their feet. Erica and Mr Hadlow opened their sleeping bags and entered. Banjo sighed with relief because there was no way the mosquitoes would get them.
He was dozing off when a frightened cry interrupted his sleep. It was Erica. She was afraid of the crying owls and the hyenas howling in the near distance.
"These cowardly bazungu," Banjo grumbled as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He was forced to stay by Erica's side telling her wild stories and singing to her like a baby till sleep slowly seized her and took her to dreamland.
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