A Boy Called Lwazi
Lwazi Nkiwane
Part 1:
Vietnam September 11th 1968:
Somewhere near the borders of Vietnam the young African woman carrying the shelter bags safely to the shed.
While she was walking to the shed she can hear the sounds of the planes coming through the land.
She enters in the shed to see her mother Gogo and told her that she is going to have a baby. She was very cross.
17 years later: Leytonstone-October 1985
My father Charles is looking after me as a baby while Nompilo, my mother is resting.
My father was very happy with a heavenly delight carrying me slowly in his arms.
A month later my father took me to the park, which is very interesting. He push me on the swings, he cuddles me gently on the bench and stays until the evening comes.
Three Years Later:
My mother has confirmed that I was very sick to my father so they took me to the hospital to have a look.
After the doctors look at it one of them said that I got typhoid but it took me several hours to recover so it did eventually.
After that my mother took me to the special needs school in Walthamstow. The school is called Whitfield in McDonald Rd.
When I was there I went to my first class and I enjoyed it. I pull people’s hairs but I was very cross about that.
Later at home I was watching TV and my mother was talking to me if I’m alright. I was fine.
We continue to watch TV, as the night was already dark.
In 1989:
I went to the video shop for the very first time with my mother. The first video that I brought was ‘Three Men and a Baby’.
I was looking at these video titles for 10 minutes and the scenery was wonderful.
These videos were hanging up on the shelf. There’s the man who was working in the video shop.
His name was Phil and he was the close friend of my mother’s.
He was lovely and much pleasant to my mother and me.
Later that year I was moved to Lindsey’s class.
Fiona who was the other teacher and they were lovely, pleasant and sweet.
We had a lovely time in the class – doing these lessons, break times, pulling people’s hairs and playing things including play dough.
The relationship between my father and I was not good. I felt that my father was so cruel and unpleasant to my mother and me.
She decide to leave Leytonstone to go to Chingford with me to live.
In 1990:
My mother was heavily pregnant with the baby. She thought it’s going to be a girl but it turned out to be a boy.
Before that I moved to 44 Lukin Crescent in Chingford with my mother. The house was so nice and the rooms looked so smart. My mother and I loved it.
Before my mother was pregnant Barbara, who was a friend of my mother’s and mine, came in to the house at 44 Lukin Crescent to see her and me.
She is the most important person of my life because she became very close to my mother and me and she is nice and lovely so did as her husband Alf.
Before Christmas Fiona and I went to the theatre for the very first time to see ‘Robin Hood’. I did enjoyed it very much.
I went to school the next day and I told the class about the previous day that I’ve ever enjoyed in the theatre.
Fiona took me to the special residential centre named Cedar Lawn in 92 Leyton Green Road for the first time ever.
I went in and met Dave, Sally, Jill, Pete, Tony, Lucy and much more.
It was so good or sometimes difficult because I’m waiting for my mother to pick me up but sometimes she didn’t come.
One night on December 22nd I was free to go to the hospital (Whipps Cross Hospital) to see my brother Thamusaqa for the very first time as a baby carrying in my mother’s arms.
He was very cute and so sweet. I thought my relationship with my brother is so unsociable but it turn out to be alright.
Two days after my brother was born Barbara and her sister’s son Matthew came in to see my mother, Tamu and me.
We played the games together and we had a great time.
In 1991:
I went to Mike’s class but most regularly I did see three boys – Michael who was tough and a bit OK, Richard who was sweet and lovely and Osarenren who was a bit tricky and stealing people’s earrings.
During that year my mother, Fiona and I went to the cinema for the very first time to see ‘Hook’.
We went inside the building and it had many posters, refreshments, the ticket office and much more.
But two months later I woke up and there’s something wrong.
I got chickenpox all over me. So I was forced to stay at home for a long time. I was very sick for six or seven weeks. I was so weak and my legs were not good enough to walk.
After a lengthy illness bout I came back to school to reunite with my friends Michael, Richard and Osarenren.
In 1992:
I was moved once again to Deirdre’s class but before that I had a birthday party – my 7th at my house.
Pat, Pete, Sarah-Louise, my grandmother Gogo, my mother and my brother Thamusaqa were all there to celebrate. We had a wonderful time.
My time with Deirdre was marvellous. She was kind and always nice to me.
I was making friends with Stacey in the adventure playground during morning break times.
We were running around the playground and playing games over 30 minutes every Tuesday morning.
In 1993:
The entire primary school staff and students went to the cinema for a charity premiere. We saw Disney’s animated version of the timeless children’s classic ‘The Jungle Book’. It was a enjoyable film with few twists that I’ve ever enjoyed.
I was making a quick escape from my house to go to a stranger’s house. On the way there I stop by at the Beefeater restaurant to go to the toilet.
After that I went to my destination which was the stranger’s house. I knock on the door and someone was in there.
A man opened the door and I was allowed to go in and sit on the stairs in the hallway.
45 minutes later the police arrived at the door. The policeman and policewoman came in to check on me if I was alright.
9 minutes later I was back at home with my mother. She was very cross that I went to someone else’s house so I was told off.
One month later after school I came home angrily. I got a knife from the kitchen and I tried to kill Tamu but my mother calmed me down by telling me to take deep breaths.
A year later:
My mother, Fiona, Tamu and I went to Minehead for a holiday.
While we there we went to several places including the karaoke place which I sang Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, Aretha Franklin’s solo Atlantic debut hit ‘Respect’ and Elton John’s 1980’s classic ‘Nikita’.
I went missing from the holiday camp to the cinema on my own and I saw ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ – some bits of it.
The police came to get me and take me back to the holiday camp. My mother was very cross that I went to the cinema on my own.
Around September time I was moved to Bryn’s class and I had a wonderful time with him.
He and the class assistants Delrose and Pat were kind and always nice to me.
In January 1995:
My mother, Fiona, her husband Peter and I went to Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to see the ballet ‘Swan Lake’.
We were sat in a box to watch the ballet. I was very much involved in the live orchestra playing there.
Afterwards we went downstairs. We met the conductor named Anthony Twinker and we were surprised.
I became involved in a musical performance project with the Chinese composer Tan Dun.
Many students and I were rehearsed in the youth centre in Leytonstone playing all sorts of instruments.
On the night of performance at the Royal Albert Hall we sat in a special box to watch the first half of the concert.
Sadly we forced to leave before the second half because there’s been a light power failure.
At the end of that year my mother’s brother Uncle Todd, his wife Londi and their two children came to see her, Tamu and me and we were celebrating the beginning of the New Year.
In 1996:
I went to Fiona and Pete’s old house at 137 Howard Road in Walthamstow for a month because my mother was sick.
I wrote a school play for Bryn’s class. My class and I rehearsed in the classroom and we learnt all the lines properly.
Kurt from Cedar Lawn, Fiona, some staff and students of Trinity School and I went for a school holiday to the holiday camp in Norfolk.
I enjoy all these things with the gang in a holiday camp and for me it was the best holiday trip so far.
When my mother was better I went home to see her and Tamu again after a month’s absence.
In October Todd and his family came back to see us. On that night I was watching ‘Batman Returns’ on TV it was so enjoyable.
The relationship between Tamu and I continued when he played games with me. We fought each other as brothers in a pretending way. He pretended to be a superhero with magical powers and he spat on me which it was not nice.
I sang George Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’ with Oliver’s mother Caroline Chan on acoustic guitar during the Christmas concert in school.
It was so enjoyable for me to sing this timeless classic.
When my mother went back to hospital with a mystery illness in January 1997 Tamu and I were looked after by some Cedar Lawn regular workers and one of the workers Claire’s mother Viv.
On several occasions Tamu and I went to the hospital to see our mother in her room. It was nice when we chattered to her.
Within weeks I enjoyed great company with Fiona. We went to see ‘Evita’ in the cinema it was breath-taking and with a brilliant performance by Madonna.
Also I spend much more time in Cedar Lawn residential centre which I enjoyed. There were a lot ups and downs in Bryn’s class because there were different students from other classes joining us each day.
On February 25th I came home from school so did Tamu and we packed our stuff into our suitcases. I went to the kitchen to get my beloved fish mug and I put it in my suitcase. We carried it to Fiona’s car ready to go to Jennifer’s flat at 53 Blaney Crescent in East Ham.
When we arrived we went in to her flat and we met Jennifer and her son Karl. They were Christians who went to the church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evenings.
Several hours later we were awakened by Jennifer to tell us that our mother had died.
We were very upset when we went to Whipps Cross Hospital. Fiona and Pete were there.
We had a tearjeaking last look at our dearest mother and said goodbye. Tamu cried a lot. I was devastated so was Tamu.
Some days later the four of us-Tamu, Jennifer, Karl and I went to Savacentre to do shopping.
On the way back home Jennifer, Karl and I were walking and Tamu was riding on his bike.
As he was facing down the slope at the end of the bridge I was laughing at him. When he came to the end of the bridge he was going too fast and he did not know how to use the brakes on his bike, he hurt his head very badly.
After we got home he was taken to hospital with a bad head injury. Fiona rushed to be with him at his side. Several doctors checked on him to see if he was OK.
He was sent home in the early hours of the next morning and went to bed.
Two weeks later my family and friends went to my mother’s funeral in Chingford. During the service the black priest talked about the life of my mother. When the biggest moment came I stood up and sang ‘Amazing Grace’ in the front of the mourners.
On several occasions Jennifer, Tamu and I went to someone else’s house to see our beloved sister Thembie. It was nice when we chattered to her and her friend. She was lovely and sensitive to me and Tamu.
My last few months with Bryn and his class turned out to be OK. Although I came face to face with the fellow student Tony Drain who said ‘Bubbles’, ‘Sauce’ and ‘Swimming’ all the time in the classroom and at Cedar Lawn.
During the ten months that Tamu and I spent at Jennifer and Karl’s in East Ham we went to different places such as a church in Stepney Green, Wembley, A theatre trip to London and many more. I ate with my mouth open sometimes so that Jennifer told me off and I was sent to the bedroom and made to stay there for the rest of the evening or for all day.
Some weeks later Fiona, Pete, Tamu and I went on the tube for the very first time as a family to Tottenham Court Road in the West End to do shopping. I went to the soundtracks shop Rare Discs at Great Bloomsbury Street to have a look at LP’s and CD’s. Next we went to Virgin Megastore to buy John Williams’s less than successful score of ‘Stanley & Iris’ CD. On the way back home I was listening to this CD it was a wonderful score and I love John Williams’s film work as composer. He was best remembered for his music in films such as his collaborations with the greatest Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, the ‘Star Wars’ series and the Harry Potter films.
One day when I arrived at Cedar Lawn I spent the day inside with the children and residential workers. We played games, watched TV and things like that.
In the evening when several children went home I stayed indoors with my faithful companion Tony Drain and we ate supper and watched TV.
While we watched TV I sat on the sofa next to Tony and I leant over to him. I was carefully listening to his heartbeat with my head on his chest then I stood back from him and he gave me a hug, it felt good. But the care-worker Joan came into the room to told me and Tony off for doing that.
She thought Tony and I were not doing a good thing listening to his heartbeat and shortly afterwards we cuddled and someone told us off for doing that.
In July I ended my three-year partnership with Bryn by having a party to say goodbye. It was Michael’s last month and Osarenren’s as well in school. The entire school students and staff attended the leaving assembly.
I was very sad to see them go without a word as I bid goodbye to these two boys who I loved a lot.
During the summer holidays Fiona, Pete, Tamu and I went to see Pete’s brother Philip and his wife-to-be Helen at their house in Dorset for their wedding.
I did enjoy sleeping in the tent in the evenings and dancing all night long.
In September I went to Becky Peck’s class. I enjoyed all the exciting things including a trip to the Museum of the Moving Image on London’s South Bank. I loved being in the class with Miss Peck and her class assistants Maureen Johnson, Jackie Collett and Steve Piper.
The another autistic boy Daniel Griffiths was so friendly to me and we talk, going out, sleeping and playing on the computer together.
I did enjoy working with Becky and the team including the students –Keith, Karen, Daniel, Zaid and Manzur. She was nice and she laughs a lot.
As our year with Jennifer and Karl came to an end Fiona came over one night to see Jennifer, Tamu and me about the good news.
The news was that we are going to live with her and Pete.
Back in school I was chosen to play Scrooge in a school production of Charles Dickens’s famous Christmas classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ on stage.
I learnt all the lines of the school play and the show itself received great acclaim on the day of its performance.
On December 18th 1997 when Tamu and I came home our things were packed and we had to carry them down to Fiona’s car and Pete’s small blue car.
When we arrived it was wonderful for us to live in someone else’s home.
In 1998:
I decide to leave Cedar Lawn after eight years. To mark its occasion the regular workers came and said goodbye to me and I went home back to 137 Howard Road.
I was doing very well in Becky Peck’s class. We worked very hard on our school lessons and we even wrote a school stage play called ‘The Playwrights’.
On several occasions I went to the West End with Fiona or Pete for a shopping trip. I went to some shops such as HMV, Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Gap, Liberty, WHSmith and much more. It was a rather enjoyable trip that I ever enjoyed and for me it was the best trip so far in each year.
I became involved in jazz music straight after I listened to a Miles Davis record. I started to listen to Jazz FM shortly after Tamu and I moved to Fiona and Pete’s house at 137 Howard Road in Walthamstow.
One night when I was in Pat’s house I watched ‘Pink Floyd-The Wall’ on video. It was a rather enjoyable film with a musical twist of Pink Floyd’s songs from the greatest rock album ‘The Wall’.
The next morning I woke up and went downstairs to have breakfast. After I had breakfast I pick the bird’s cage up and took it to the garden.
I put it in the pond because I hate this bird and he makes too much noise. As he drowns I went back inside and I watch him from the window.
Few minutes later Pat dressed in a morning gown went to the front room and she saw the empty table. She was shocked that the bird was gone.
She went to the garden and she found the bird drowned in the pond. She was very bad-tempered and horrified as she ran to her daughter Sarah-Louise’s bedroom to tell her that someone had killed the bird.
They ran to the garden to solve the problem but however they broke into tears and cried.
Pat went on to phone Fiona and Pete about the most dangerous thing that I ever did in my life. They came few minutes later to pick me up and take me home.
I was told to go upstairs to my bedroom so that Pete and Fiona came in to my room and they told me what happened to Pat’s bird. They was very cross.
On Tuesday 7th May the school staff was very disappointed about the previous day.
Every Tuesdays in lunchtime Daniel, Oliver, Alison and I work together as a speech and language therapy group. We play games and wrote such stories. We did enjoy working together as a group and we made suggestions for our stories.
Few weeks later a nice young woman who is a newsreporter for BBC Radio 1 came to the common room to interview Oliver and me about the new adventure playground.
On July 18th Fiona and Pete went to hospital so that means Tamu and I were look after by Pat. The three of us went to Ilford for a shopping trip.
In the evening Fiona’s mother Jean came and spends time with me and Tamu while Fiona was away.
The next day we went to the hospital to see our third brother Daniel Oscar. When we see him carrying in his mother Fiona’s arms and Pete were also there to look after her and their baby son.
He was so sweet and cute. Tamu and I were excited about our new sibling.
A week later my relationship with my new family continues to grow stronger and stronger as our third brother was born and we were lucky to have him.
On several occasions I went to Barbara’s house to stay for the night with she and Alf. I did enjoyed all the exciting things including several morning walks and classical concert trips at Walthamstow Town Hall and the church in Chingford.
Occasionally Barbara and Alf came to our house at 137 Howard Road in Walthamstow to see us. Sometimes my new family and I went to their house to see them.
We did enjoyed all the exciting things including several conversations when we ate lunch and several walks in the forest.
Two months later we went to Selborne to Pete’s parents Margaret and Ron and family for a special occasion.
It was Margaret and Ron’s 50th wedding anniversary and we were very happy to be there. I chose not to go outside with the rest of the others for a photo at their house so instead I was listening to classical music indoors.
In December I was chosen to sing Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ for the ‘Whitfield School’s Stars in Their Eyes’ Christmas concert and I dressed up as Freddie Mercury-the band’s lead singer. On the day of its performance I sang every line of the song and the audience was watching me perform this great song. When it finished they clapped and cheered while I was taking a bow.
On Boxing Day Tamu, Fiona, Pete, Daniel Oscar and I went to Jean and her husband Fred’s house at 33 Benyon Court in Reading for a Christmas celebration. We opened up our presents, pull out Christmas crackers, ate Christmas dinner and pudding and we play lots of games.
At the beginning of 1999 I went on the Internet for the first time in school.
I checked on some film music web sites and some entertainment web sites while Daniel Griffiths went on to look at some German TV web sites. It was Oliver and Tony’s last weeks in school so that means the entire secondary school staff and students were held a party to say goodbye to two boys-first it was Tony and in seven weeks later it was Oliver.
At the end of March I was feeling poorly that I might get sick.
Some days later in April Pete and I went to Royal Albert Hall to see John Barry and the English Chamber Orchestra live in concert.
It was a memorable night that everyone enjoyed his music from films including the some famous James Bond themes and much more.
A few days after I went to the concert I went to the doctors and my doctor told me that I got tonsillitis.
So I was forced to stay at home for few days.
At the beginning of May I told Becky and the rest of the teachers and students that I would be leaving Whitfield School before half term.
On my leaving assembly schoolteachers and students past and present payed tribute to me. At the end the secondary school head teacher Andrea Davies presented me with a Record of Achievement book of my work and my career.
On my last day all the classes came in to the common room to say goodbye to me.
When the others went home I was ready to leave my beloved school to go to Fiona’s car for home. I bid goodbye to Becky, Jackie and Alison as I gave a hug. Fiona and I piled in the car and Becky, Jackie and Alison broke into tears and cried as the car drove off into the down slide of the road and disappeared forever into the distance.
June 1999:
I went to Moselle School in Adams Rd, Tottenham and I was settled in Roz and Ann’s class. This class was in the caretaker’s house left next to school. The hallway was wonderful and it has got a poster of Homer Simpson saying ‘D’oh!’ on the wall.
The classroom was amazing and shiny tided. Its drawers, table, desk, books and computer were in this room, bathroom and spare rooms were upstairs and the kitchen was downstairs.
I had a wonderful time with Roz Norton-the former teacher of Whitfield School and her lovely assistant Ann Workman. They were lovely, kind and sweet.
The students Edmund, Nigel, Christopher and Kip were smart and joyful. Edmund was the person that I most admired, he was lovely and good mannered. Nigel was a bit tricky and stole dirty food from the ground and ate it straight away. Christopher was sweet and kind and Kip was a bit sweet and he sang the Pink Panther theme tune and other songs from children’s TV shows.
During my first year at Moselle, I enjoyed making friends with the other students and staff. The person that I loved most was the school headmaster Mr Redpath and he was always kind to me.
These school lessons were very hard but in the end it turn out to be OK when I went to Bob Barclay’s class in September that year.
10th July 1999:
Peter and I went to Wembley to see one of my favourite female singers Celine Dion live at Wembley Stadium.
It was an unforgettable show with her best-known songs played; the video footage of Diana King, Barbra Streisand, The Bee Gees and the ‘Titanic’ movie clips were screened on live television screens and there was a two-song tribute to ‘Saturday Night Fever’.
A week later, my family and I went to the African festival in the heart of London. It was an enjoyable experience with African food and music which we liked.
September 1999:
After a summer break, I went back to school and I was settled once again in Roz and Ann’s class and Bob Barclay’s class.
The students in Mr. Barclay’s class were kind and gentle so was the class assistant Sinead. These students were Susan, Antonia, Juliette, Lee, Eileen, Martin, Brian, Vijay, Naomi, Noel and Kyriacos but not Victor who was having an operation on his legs in the hospital. Other students whom I’ve met in school were also friendly.
Later that month our teacher Roz had to go on a maternity leave until May the following year. Her place was taken over by the another teacher Lorraine Winson and we had an amazing time.
She was handsome and kind to us while Roz was away.
November 1999-January 2000:
In November, I was chosen to appear in a school Christmas production. Some members of my year group, myself and junior students were chosen to sing two songs-a special Christmas carol and R. Kelly’s ‘I Believe I Can Fly’.
On the other side our class including our new student Jonathan was chosen to sing Elvis Presley’s ‘Hound Dog’ for that production. We learnt all the lines of the song.
On the day of its performance in December, we sang every line of the song and the audience was watching us perform this great song. This performance turned out to be a disappointment because of my silly eyes-I couldn’t look at the audience.
The End of Part One
Part 2:
A week after the school concert I was sick again. I was forced to stay at home for the Christmas and New Year season.
On December 31st, I watched the live coverage of new millennium celebrations on TV with my family.
Five minutes before midnight, my family came in to my room.
As the bell struck twelve we watched the fireworks outside the window and on TV. We drank a toast to ourselves to celebrate the new millennium.
Few days later I came face to face with the fellow student Dean Salisbury who said ‘Shit’, ‘Fuck’ and ‘Motherfucker’ in school. On some occasions we were fighting in the year 9 classroom with a snooker cue.
On all occasions we worked hard in P.E. sessions with its teacher Melodie Harrison in the gym hall. She was kind and friendly to us.
While I was in school I became friends with Martin, Brian, Antonia, Noel and Kyriacos.
A month later in February Pete took me to Royal Festival Hall to see Randy Newman live in concert.
It was an enjoyable show and he performed very well on his own, on piano, and with full orchestral backing by The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Later in March 2000 Brian, myself, Dino and some students went to Magic Eye Studios in London for a day.
We were chosen to appear in a Variety Club cinema commercial. We learnt all the lines of the script. During the shooting, I read every line of the script and when the female director Susanna Hayes said ‘Cut!’ I deserved a better performance on screen rather than the stage.
In April I decided to join the video club library in Walthamstow as a member.
The first of my 104 videos that I borrowed was a less than peaceful drama ‘Ironweed’ and I watched it.
Following the great success of my first library video, I went on to borrow loads of video and DVD titles from the library over the next three years.
Some days later Pete came home from work to see us about the good news. The news was that we are expecting a sixth member in our family household in October. We were very excited about that.
My next three months with Roz’s class turned out to be fine. On 22nd-26th May Year 9 and Year 10 went on a week’s holiday trip to Macaroni Woods.
I enjoyed all these things with a group of students and for me it was the best school trip since 1996.
The second month was a bit OK although I still enjoy all the work including maths and English.
The third and final month was surprisingly good and we did something very special. I invited some friends of mine to our house for a barbecue.
We did enjoy all the good food and the party music to fill our happiest mood.
In August we went to Isle of Wight for a two-week summer holiday. We had a wonderful time and Tamu, Pete and I swam in the sea and relaxing on the beach watching the waves coming through the cliffs.
Some days later in September I was moved to Moselle Upper School in Downhills Park Road, Tottenham and I was settled in Jo ‘Miss’ Smith’s class with my year group. I was no longer with Roz.
The classroom not very tidy and its drawers, tables, desk, books and three computers were in the room.
My time with Jo was marvellous. She was very funny and always nice to me so did as the fellow teachers Martin Lawlor, Kitty, Sam, Ruth (who had to leave because she was going to have a baby), Annie and the school headmistress Wendy Mitchell but I always call her ‘Miss Mitchell’.
I became involved in writing short film and feature-length screenplays. My first ever screenplay that I ever wrote was a dark comedy drama ‘A Foreign Field’. This script didn’t make sense so I wrote new dialogue for some scenes.
When it was finished, I tried to send it off but I had to wait until the following year.
On October 23rd Fiona and Pete went to hospital in Hackney so that means Tamu, Daniel and I were looked after by Jean.
Two days later our second sister Katherine was born. We were very happy about our sixth member in the family.
On October 26th Fiona, Pete and our sister came home. We went to see her for the very first time. She was cute and sweet and in later months she called me ‘Wa wa’.
The following month my class went to the school’s main site for music sessions. We were chosen to sing our own song which was about school and books.
On the day of its performance in December we sang every line of the song and the audience was watching us perform our song. This performance turned out to be a success.
2001 was a dismal year for me because I came face to face with foot and mouth crisis and September 11th.
There were a lot ups and downs in Jo’s class because of Lee’s swearing and terrible behaviour. Jo had to tell him off many times for doing that.
On January 22nd we were chosen to take part in a glass project in the factory. On the way there the pole hit me on my head in a college car park. My class was laughing at me but I was a bit hurt.
The rest of the day was fine. We did enjoyed making things in the craft room. It took a week to do the glass. The two men - Harvey and Mick were kind to Jo and us.
In February Tamu’s best friend Ryan’s father and film director Rikki Tarascas, his wife Rose and their two sons came in to see us. They were lovely and nice and we talked to them.
After dinner I came up with a simple idea. I was planning to write a script with Rikki’s help.
Eventually I did write three scripts each in a different draft. The scripts were ‘Waiting In Vain’, the remake of Francis Ford Coppola’s cult horror classic ‘Dementia 13’ and ‘The Richmond Waltz’.
One day after school I came home and I have done a good job of sending party invitations to some of my school friends. However it’s not going to be happen.
Two hours later Fiona came home and she’s expected to have a word with me about sending party invitations to my friends. She told me off for doing that. I was very disappointed but I hadn’t asked it I could have a party.
In April we brought the new red bus specially for us. We all love it and it has got eight seats, a radio, picnic table and much more.
Later that day we went to the pub for Pat’s daughter Sarah-Louise’s 21st birthday party. It was a rather enjoyable event with good few laughs.
At home I was talking to my little sister Katherine sometimes. I said to her ‘Katherine, Katherine would you say my name please?’. She couldn’t speak to me yet.
Later that week I decide to adapt one of the greatest Broadway plays for live television. I chose ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams and it took the end of April, May, June and July to do it.
On June 28th Alison and I went to see Jerry Goldsmith and The London Symphony Orchestra live in concert in Royal Albert Hall. It was a memorable night that everyone enjoyed his music from films including ‘Star Trek: First Contract’, ‘The Blue Max’, ‘Planet of the Apes’ and much more.
At the beginning of July our class (without Lee who had left a week earlier) went to Slindon Holiday Camp for a week. We did enjoyed lots of activities while we were there. On Tuesday evening we went to the cinema to see ‘Shrek’. It was very funny and it has got very exciting bits in this film.
During that week I wrote a script about our trip with few horror twists. This one was called ‘Moselle Big Brother’.
I have started writing e-mails to celebrities and sending my own stuff to them. When they reply to me it said ‘Thanks for your message’.
I became involved in writing the lyrics of songs straight after I looked at songs on album covers and on the internet. So I decide to write as many songs as I can. I wrote 16 songs but there’s no music to add to it. So I try to contract world-famous musicians on e-mail and I send my songs to them.
Over the summer holidays we went to Dorset for two weeks. This holiday was turned out to be OK. We did usual things including seaside trips.
On 5th September I was back in school but this time I was moved to Ruth’s class.
With the same things (its drawers, tables, desk, books and two computers) in this room the room itself was well tided very perfectly.
While I was at school I met a new teacher Angharad Evans and she’s so lovely. The following day we played games as an entire class group and it took all day and all afternoon.
With Jo gone, Astrid was drafted in as a new teacher of Year 11 and she’s very sweet and interested in students talking to her about different subjects.
Five days later tragedy strikes in my head. While I was on the computer I saw the headline news article on the internet and it says ‘Two planes crashed into World Trade Center’.
I was so anxious to get home and watched the horrifying images of the two planes crashed into World Trade Center in New York on TV. I was horrified when it was happened. I saw the World Trade Center building came down to the ground.
The following night after I came home from school Fiona and I had an argument about looking after myself. At the last minute I decided to make the bed by myself.
A week later in September I woke up one morning and I find myself in terrible pain. I can’t sit down on the bed or the chair so Fiona took me to the hospital to sort myself out.
I was forced to stay for a night without food and drink.
The next day I went to the medical center to have a operation on my bottom. It was turned out to be successful. I was brave and well-worked.
On October 25th-Katherine’s 1st birthday we went to Fiona’s mother’s house at 33 Benyon Court in Reading. We stayed for three nights and we had a wonderful time with Jean and her husband Fred. They were charming and marvellous.
Several weeks later in November Fiona, Tamu and I went to the IMAX cinema for a special occasion. We went to see ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. It’s a mind-blowing children’s adventure that we’ve ever enjoyed. Shortly after we saw this film I became involved in Harry Potter and his amazing adventures. I was started to read ‘The Chamber of Secrets’, ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ and ‘The Goblet of Fire’. I did enjoyed reading these three books and we can’t wait for the fifth book.
The following week I was sick yet again but this time we went to Vivien and Tim’s house for three nights from Thursday to Sunday. It was an unforgettable experience that we enjoyed.
We talked each other, played games, went shopping and much more.
On 19th December Year 12 (Edmund, Susan, Martin, Brian, me, Vijay, Naomi, Noel and Kyriacos), 13 and 14 went to London. We had a Christmas dinner in the restaurant which was very nice and we watched the Christmas lights from the window of our school bus. It was a beautiful night.
On 21st December all the classes of Moselle Upper School came in to the common room to say goodbye to Miss Mitchell when she retired. I was very sad because she was a lovely person.
At the end of January 2002 I told Ruth and the rest of the teachers and students that I would be leaving Moselle Upper School on February 7th because Peter has got a new school teaching job in Reading!!!!.
On my leaving assembly the Upper School students and staff and Roz’s class payed tribute to me. At the end the head teacher Martin Doyle presented me with a Record of Achievement book of my work and my career at the school. They were very sad because I was a handsome and mature student.
On Friday 8th February 2002 we moved to 6 Mansfield Road in Reading.
It was a lovely house with a stunning hallway and kitchen and it has got eight rooms, a toilet and a bathroom. We all love this house!.
Later that month I went to my third and final school Addington School at Loddon Bridge Road in Woodley, Berkshire. Fiona and I went to the office for a chat with one of the powerful teachers Jean Lee. She was nice and speaks in a Irish accent.
Her classroom was small and its seven students Gillian, Jemima, Simah, Kam, Stephanie, Sarah and John were seated in their seats waiting for me to come in. After I came in I said hello to them and they introduce themselves. I sat down with them for the rest of the lesson.
At 10.30 am I went to the common room for a break. Sitting next to me there was a black-haired boy who was reading his favourite book ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’. His name was Jamie Wood and he talks fast. He remembers all the characters in these three ‘Lord of the Rings’ books ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, ‘The Two Towers’ and ‘The Return of the King’.
I also met other teachers and students in the school. There were Linda, three Chris’s, two Sue’s, Tim, two Kathy’s, Dick, Steph (who said to each student ‘You are a star’), Matt (music teacher), Barbi, Mary (supply teacher), Liz, Ian, Viv, Barry, the other John, Ola, the dinner ladies Shelley and Jane, Jamie Griffiths, two Alison’s, Maria, Harry, the two Jonathan’s (Watts and Young), Jeremy, David, Lewis, Michael, Amrit, Klara, Kathryn, Lindsey, Jay, Leon, Richard, Graham and of course the headmaster Mr. Burnett.
A week later I was sick yet again in bed at home for a week. The following week I was back in school and I met the another student Andrew Barron in Jean’s class.
He likes Buffy and wrestling.
My time in Jean’s class was amazing and I really loved her glasses.
In April my best friends Oliver, Caroline, Kim and her daughter Megan came to our house to see us. It was nice when we chattered to them.
Two weeks later Maple school department went to Houses of Parliament in London to see our local MP Jane Griffiths. We had a very good time being in the Houses of Parliament.
On 7th June 2002 Fiona and I went to see Petula Clark at The Hexagon. I sang ‘This is My Song’ in French. The show itself was a brilliant hit for the two of us.
Back in school I was chosen to sing one of my songs for ‘Proms in the Playground’. I chose Miles Davis’s ‘Blue in Green’ as a song.
On July 1st-5th Some Maple students, Dick, Ian, Ola and Sue went to Atlantic College in Wales.
We did lots of activities and we had a excellent time. Most of all I took all of the pictures for this trip.
We woke up one night because there was a fire alarm. We were told to go outside and stand in the pouring rain. Few minutes later we went back to our beds.
I sang a Miles Davis tune ‘Blue In Green’ complete with my new lyrics in school some days later. I did scat singing during the instrumental break and I deserved an amazing performance.
My family went to Isle of Wight again for a summer holiday for two weeks. Although it was still a great holiday but I was decided that this holiday will be my regular summer holiday with my family of the past five years.
A week after we returned home I went to Walthamstow to stay with Pat for two nights. It turned out to be fine and we talked and laughed each other.
On the second night Pat, Ron and I went to the theatre in London to see Queen’s musical ‘We Will Rock You’. It was a breathtaking show with great songs and strong special effects.
In September I was moved to Dick’s class in school. These two students Sasha and Rachel were new to this school. With Dick and Steph on their teaching duties the complete list of their students were Lindsey, Richard, Klara, Jamie, me, Graham, Jay, Kam, Leon, Kathryn, Rachel and last but not least Sasha. I loved being in this class with Dick and Steph and they were smart and handsome.
Every Monday afternoon we did media studies with Ola. I can remember all media products such as TV, radio, video, DVD, CD, tape, theatre, cinema and concerts.
Some days later we went to the cinema to see ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. It was very funny and I saw it two times.
As 2002 draws to a close I sang the Christmas blues song ‘There Were The Good Times and Bad Times’ at the Christmas carols concert in school in December.
I sang every line of the song and the audience was watching me perform this special song.
I was doing well in Dick’s class throughout December, January and February. The entire school went to Oak school hall to see the school production of ‘Aladdin’ with its own staff in their leading roles.
This show was an unforgettable experience and we saw some teachers and staff dressed up as the panto characters.
On February 22nd 2003 my family and I packed our stuff into the suitcases and we carried it to our mini-bus ready to go to Pat’s house in 14 Cleveland Park Crescent, Walthamstow.
When we arrived we went in to her house to see her and her dog Sophie. We dressed up as 1970’s funky icons and we posed for a photo.
Minutes later we went to The Rose & Crown in Hoe Street for my 18th birthday party. The room was huge and it was covered with party balloons everywhere. It has got party food and drinks, many tables was covered with party balloons and of course a birthday cake with a film blackboard on top.
My friends were there and the disco music was playing. We danced for over three hours in the 1970’s and 1980’s fashion. My friends were Wendy, Pat (dressed up as Elkie Brooks), Ron, Barbara & Alf, Elaine, Nerva, Delrose, Roz, her daughter Megan and her best friend, David (dressed up as James Bond) and his beautiful wife Jane, Oliver and Caroline, Deirdre and her husband Borut, Maga, Kathryn Crick, Pat’s sister and her husband and Kip, his mother Sadie and his sister Matti.
It was the best night that I’ve ever had in my life and I ate party food and danced all night long. My heartfelt thanks to Pat for organsing my party, my birthday cake and the pub.
After that I went to Barbara’s to stay for a night.
On March 14th Fiona and I went to Ashford College in Kent to have a look. The college was wonderful and I would like to go there sometime.
Two weeks later I went there for a five-day assement. I had a wonderful time there and I did enjoy all the activities.
Day 1:
31 March 2003
Soon after I arrived, I had a computer lesson with the computer class teacher Peter most of the afternoon.
I came back to the house at 4.00pm. I had a cup of tea and a biscuit with Kieran, Lisa and Steven, the other students.
At 5.00pm we had homework for two hours. During the homework Elliott came back to see us.
After that we laid the table and we had dinner of Spanish chicken, rice and salad. I sat on the sofa and listened to Phil Collins’s most recent album ‘Testify’ on the CD player using the headphones.
And then at 9.00pm I had a cup of tea by making it myself.
Day 2:
1 April 2003
After we had breakfast we went to Cecil House for a morning meeting. Before that I was greeted by Dr. Wisbey.
On the way back from the office Linda, Sonny and I had to carry a garden table and legs then we came back and we tided the house.
I cleaned my sink and the toilet in my bathroom.
We came downstairs and I hoovered the lounge then I moped the hallway.
In the afternoon Linda, Steven, Sonny, the new girl student Kerry and I went to the car park and we hid in the corner.
After the hide and seek thing we were caught by the other group and ran back to Cecil House for the results.
We went back to the house and we did homework and we had supper. I had two helpings of shepherds pie with cabbage and carrots.
Day 3:
2 April 2003
We went to Dover and we did football training all morning.
We had lunch. After lunch we did circuit training in the sports centre and we went swimming.
We saw the white cliffs of Dover and we came back to the house and we found Elliott gone because he’s not feeling very well. In the mean time I listened to Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Silver Lining’ CD on the CD player using its headphones but the batteries did run out so I had to go to the shop to buy new batteries and came back. After I came back I put the batteries on and it works.
We had sausage casserole for supper.
Day 4:
3 April 2003
After we had breakfast we went to Cecil House for a short morning meeting because Dr. Wisbey had to go to another meeting.
Linda, Kerry and I walk around the college to look where the fire drill is.
After break we had a computer session with Peter and I wrote two articles ‘Gardening Today’ and business totals.
During lunchtime Lisa, Sonny and I went down the town. Sonny had to go to the bank to collect some money and Lisa and I went to the record shop to buy Toni Braxton’s new CD ‘More Than A Woman’. On the way back we had to stop by the grocery shop to buy hot chocolate for the college.
This afternoon I moped the kitchen floor and I helped Kerry to clean the boys and girls’s toilets then I moped the toilet floor.
After that we went back to the house. At 5.00pm we had homework for two hours.
After that we laid the table and we had dinner of fish, chips and peas.
I sat on the sofa in the front room and on the chair in the dining room and listened to Carly Simon’s ‘The Bedroom Tapes’ CD.
During that CD I sang few songs and danced around the dining and front rooms.
Day 5:
4 April 2003
I packed my suitcase the next morning and carried downstairs.
We had breakfast and I had to finish off my journal. Before I leave, I had to go to Cecil House to have a word with Dr. Wisbey about some activities that I would like to do in college and I told her that I would like to start in September and she agreed.
Back in school a week later the Maple staff and students came in to the common room to say goodbye to Ola when she’s leaving. They were very sad because she’s a lovely person.
With Ola gone, one of the teachers Val Wright was drafted in as the new Head of Faculty. She’s very sweet and interested in students talking to her about different subjects in media studies.
In May Pete’s nephew Tom came to our house to stay for the weekend. The following day he and I went on a shopping trip to West End.
Firstly we went to The Cinema Bookshop to buy a book which was a guide of film crew-cinematographers, production designers, costume designers and film editors. Then we went to McDonalds for a lunch and we had to stop by at HMV to buy a CD and Rare Discs to have a look at soundtrack LP’s.
After that we came home and I listened to Bob James’s ‘Morning, Noon and Night’ CD on my headphones.
My time with Tom was amazing and he was smart and clean-shaven.
Later that week Deborah Fox and the social worker Lydia Stephens came to our house to see me and Fiona. It was nice when we chattered to them and I asked Lydia some questions about babysitting and social trips.
A week later Lydia came back and we talked each other about the plans that we would like to do for the half-term. We chose a cinema trip to Showcase Cinemas to see ‘Hope Springs’ and a West End shopping trip.
Meanwhile there’s been a lots of things to do in school. We’re doing personal statements for Barbi, filling out college forms and more work for OCR.
On 5th June I went to The Reading Concert Hall for a classical concert with Jean.
We went to see The Orchestra of St John’s, Smith Square under its conductor John Lubbock playing Schubert’s Symphony No.5 and other classical works. It was a brilliant performance from the orchestra at its best.
Later that month I told Dick, Steph, Jean, Tim, Linda, Chris, Val, Mr. Burnett, Liz, Ian, Barbi, Matt, John, Barry and the rest of the staff and students that I would be leaving Addington School on 23rd July.
Before Atlantic College I was chosen to sing the cover of one of Lionel Richie’s best-known love songs ‘Easy’ for ‘Proms in the Playground’ at the beginning of July.
I sang every line of the song and the three girls Klara, Lindsey and Rachel were the backing singers in school on 3rd July. I did a vocal guitar solo during the instrumental break and I think it was an amazing performance.
On 7th July some members of our class and Jean’s class went to Atlantic College for a school holiday.
We did lots of activities and we had an excellent time. Most of all I took all of the pictures for this trip.
On my leaving assembly two weeks later the Addington School staff and students payed tribute to me.
At the end Dick and Mr. Burnett presented me with a Record of Achievement book of my work and my career in the school. I did gave a speech to the students and teachers and they were very sad because I was a handsome and mature student.
My last six weeks with Fiona, Pete, Tamu, Daniel and Katherine were very peaceful. On August 1st -15th we went to Isle of Wight again for a two-week holiday and it’s still a great place that we ever went to.
On 23rd August Lydia and I went to London for all-day shopping. We went to GAP to buy a new bag for college then we went to The Cinema Bookshop to buy a book all about the powerful Hollywood mogul David Geffen and we had to stop by at Rare Discs to have a look at soundtrack LPs and CDs.
My time with Lydia was excellent and she’s nice.
Fiona and I went out shopping at the town and at Sainsbury’s Savacentre a week later to buy college stuff including pencil case, new pens and pencils, a diary, CD, video and DVD cases, new portable CD player and new folders.
On my last day at 6 Mansfield Road I packed my suitcase and carried downstairs to the bus ready to go.
I tided and hoovered my room perfectly and I put everything away to their usual places.
I went downstairs to see Fiona, Pete, Tamu, Daniel and Katherine for the last time as a family in a while.
And on September 8th I was ready to leave 6 Mansfield Road. Shortly after I got dressed I went outside to say goodbye to my brother Daniel for a while then I went indoors.
In last few minutes I went to my room for the last time and it made no sound. It’s so quiet and the sun was shining.
At 8.30am I went out of the door and I bid farewell to our beloved house. I piled in our mini-bus and it drove off to our destination-Ashford College in Kent.
Monday 8th September:
Just after 11.00 am on Monday morning Fiona and Vivien took me to the guest house at 15 Canterbury Road in Ashford, Kent.
We took my bags upstairs to Room 3 and unloaded my belongings to the cupboards, book shelf and book drawers.
After that I said goodbye to Fiona and Vivien in tears and I went indoors for prepare to introduce to the other students-old and new.
Although I knew Steven and Chaz very well but there are the new students that I haven’t met before.
So I went on and met Katy, Rose, Karen, Steven Pope, Richard and Mark and they are friendly.
Afterwards we had lunch and we had baked jacket potatoes, mince beef and salad.
At 2.00 in the afternoon we went to the college for a welcome meeting with Linda, Valerie, Mary and of course Dr. Wisbey.
We talked about lots of things including term dates and trips.
After two hours we went back to the guest house for the rest of the day. We had chicken pie and vegetables for dinner and strawberry château for pudding.
Tuesday 9th September:
After breakfast we went to Port Lympne Wildlife Park for a day.
We went to the entrance to paid the tickets and we saw gorillas, tigers, elephants and lions and we went in to the mansion to have a look and we posed for a photo in one of the rooms.
During the trip we had a lunch and we had packed lunch.
After that we went back to the guest house for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I had to move my things downstairs to another bedroom that I didn’t have to share with anyone else.
For dinner we had sausage casserole and dumplings.
Wednesday 10th September:
We went to Dover and we did P.E.
We played football in the first half of the entire day’s lesson in the outdoor field then we had packed lunch and in the afternoon we went to Dover Leisure Centre to play badminton and football and some of us went swimming.
Before we went home some of us had to stop by the café for a drink.
After that we went back to the guest house to have dinner. We had cottage pie and vegetables.
Thursday 11th September:
We catch a train to Hastings and we went to Underwater Life and we looked at fishes, crabs, jellyfish, seahorse, sharks and of course lots of them.
After that we had sausage and chips for lunch.
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