Jimmy and his Ancestor: JIMMY DIARIES SERIES, #2

By Jorges P. Lopez

Our perception of people when we are young may be quite interesting whether it is how we view family members or neighbours. But again a kid may have mixed feelings - and therefore mixed reactions - to people which we may not necessarily understand. Unless, of course, we see things from his point of view. JIMMY and his ANCESTOR is a humorous narrative about a young boy forced to grapple with the reality of who his grandfather is when he is forced to visit him and live with him during the school holiday as his family goes through a series of incomprehensible changes. Jimmy however has his own kind of fun which is promised by this short novella and the many more in the series. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jorges P. Lopez
• Release date: Nov 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223713715

Jorges P. Lopez

Jorges P. Lopez has been teaching Literature in high schools in Kenya and Communication at The Cooperative University in Nairobi. He has been writing Literary Criticism for more than fifteen years and fiction for just over ten years. He has contributed significantly to the perspective of teaching English as a Second Language in high school and to Communication Skills at the college level. He has developed humorous novellas in the Jimmy Karda Diaries Series for ages 9 to 13 which make it easier for learners of English to learn the language and the St. Maryan Seven Series for ages 13 to 16 which challenge them to improve spoken and written language. His interests in writing also spill into Poetry, Drama and Literary Fiction. He has written literary criticism books on Henrik Ibsen, Margaret Ogola, Bertolt Brecht, John Steinbeck, John Lara, Adipo Sidang' and many others.

Book preview

First Printed in Kenya

Jimmy

And his

Ancestor

––––––––

Illustrated by J Mdukaki Tel: [phone]

Jorges P. Lopez

Of our ancestors

Who are the pacesetters

At times they turn tormentors

For boys who are go-getters

Times, let the little lad

Be his own brand!

For Peter

1

Following my rather heroic entry into my grands village a little earlier, I was rudely woken up abruptly at early dawn one morning by my Grandpop. It must have been a week or so after the Ram Shackle incident.

‘Hey Ho! Jimmy boy! Arise and conquer the world! Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.’

‘Arghhhhhh!’ I groaned when I uncovered my head and the cold hit my face like a runaway wave that had come up against a rugged cliff.

I had been hearing his voice in the background of my sleep and hadn’t been sure whether he was in or out of my dreams until then. I mean, Grandpop’s life is sometimes as unreal as a dream. I sometimes think I’m living a waking nightmare.

I realized immediately what kind of world conquering was waiting for me that morning. Grandpop was in HIGH season. You might want to think of it as his high horse! But let me explain. Grandpop is one of those rare Dr Jekyll-Mr. Hyde characters who are actually real. He lives two VERY different lives. I have come to regard them as his highs and lows because that is how his feelings appear in these two different seasons. In low season, he will be a quiet, mild, grey haired old man with bleary yellow eyes. He wakes up late, takes sorghum porridge, boiled maize-on-the-cob and sweet potatoes then spends the rest of the day loafing it under the leafy mango tree in front of his house. He doesn’t shave. Not his hair or his beard. This is quite disturbing because he is one of those few people who are well blessed with a beard. It grows like the creeping wood sorrel among sweet potato vines after the rains.

Unlike other beards which only favour the chin, his beard spreads out like the tentacles of the octopus. It grows to the fringes of his ears, covers his cheeks and threatens to overgrow his nose while creeping down to the neck. The result is quite fascinating. He looks like somebody had mistaken him for a pot of cooking ugali and poured more white flour on him! You can imagine this whiteness against the background of his perfect ebony skin! With his bored eyes shining out of the dark caves formed by the canopy of his extra-large eyebrows, it becomes difficult for one to remind himself he is looking at a human being. You would be well forgiven if you ran away from him if you met him at dusk in this condition. Everybody would understand.

But then it comes a time when something in his head snaps! It brings out Mr. Hyde. This new guy wakes up at three in the morning, rouses everyone and everything else that breathes. Even the rats and the mice in his compound are scared stiff of him. He then goes out to mess with everyone else’s business. He has a ravenous appetite and is usually as hungry as a wolf. Of course this happens after he has taken some time with his effigy. You wonder what that is I guess. Hear this.

Grandpop’s effigy is a human form that looks like a scarecrow. It is made up of stuffed cotton and foam covered by a carpet lining that doesn’t wear away easily. I understand he had it made immediately he came out of the hospital after the gutter accident. Standing up to his shoulder, people say it originally had the face of the rogue who pushed him down that gutter. He is said to have been a short fellow who only came up to his shoulder. Grandpop’s idea for the effigy, I think, was to have something he could continuously punish in the form of the guy he appears to know very well was his