Life in Gwelo 2

After the disastrous fire we moved to a suburb called Riverside. The day we moved in I wandered out of the yard to a massive boulder in the centre of the road. It had been too big to move so the road had split around it. I was clambering over the granite when a boy about my age appeared and without any preamble said, "I am going to hit you with my belt." This was too much for my tender soul and I fled home sobbing. That was the introduction to the rough neighbourhood. I had to move to the local school (Std 3 or Grade 5). We used to play wild games of "Open Gates" on the big field - the whole school participated. There were whispered stories about what went on with the older pupils in the reed banks next to the school. Altogether quite exciting. We moved to another house in the neighbourhood and I remember having shooting wars with real pellet guns in the nearby bush- once I came home with a pellet sticking out of my leg. I still have a scar there. Perhaps that's why we moved out of the neighbourhood within a year.