Blade Runner by Oscar Pistorius Read Free Book Online

kindness, but it was the
start of a strong friendship that is still dear to me today.
    I learnt my lesson though. Instead of me playing tricks, the
other kids started playing tricks on me. The first-years shared
dormitories in an army-style set-up – twenty-six boys per
dormitory, with steel beds and steel cupboards all lined up
next to one another. One child was in charge, based on a rota
system, and it was his responsibility to keep things in order
and wake everyone up in the morning.
    Every evening before going to sleep I would take off my
prostheses and stand them up at the foot of my bed, ready to
start my day the following morning. On one occasion I
awoke to agitated shouts and in my drowsy state saw flames
all around. The dormitory representative was shouting that
everybody must evacuate as there was a fire. I lurched for my
prostheses but they were no longer where I had left them. I
looked everywhere and I soon became panic-stricken. I was
almost in tears, terrified that I was going to be left to die,
when suddenly the fire magically disappeared and the boys
came running back in laughing. They duly informed me that
it was all a joke. Their prank had consisted of spraying the
steel cupboards with lighter fuel and then setting fire to it. As
steel does not burn, the initial effect is dramatic but the fuel
is quickly consumed and the fire puts itself out. The boys in
my dormitory thought their exploit was hilarious, and told
me it was their way of extending a warm welcome to me.
    Another favourite trick was to land me in detention for
being late. I had a reputation for being a late sleeper. I
studiously ignored the first and second wake-up calls every
morning, which meant that by the time the third one came I
had to leap out of bed practically already dressed. The hitch
was that my mates would hide my legs and so the time that it
took for me to find them again landed me in detention for
being late. There was no end to the pranks, but as I was the
originator and the victim in equal measure I revelled in them.
Indeed, I think of these games as the inevitable result of
putting 150 boys together in close confinement. These
experiences played a central role in bonding us as a group, and
were also important in making me feel accepted on an equal
footing with any of the other boys. I was a happy boarder.
    For a new pupil, the first few weeks of the school year are
particularly demanding and stressful. One must pass through
the initiation process and become familiar with the school's
routines and traditions. In addition pupils must memorise the
geography of the school and the names of all the buildings
and fields, the names of the teachers and, last but not least,
the names of all their new schoolmates. In my opinion, all
this effort is worthwhile as boarding school is such fun; there
are endless new experiences to be had, as well as the pleasure
of being able to spend every waking moment in the company
of one's friends.
    Sometimes (usually on Fridays) we would sneak out of the
dormitory at night and sit by the swimming pool and chat or
skinny-dip and play water polo, small pleasures that made
for many memorable moments. We even smuggled our
girlfriends into the dormitories. Talk about teamwork! Some
of the boys had to distract the teachers on duty while the
others helped the girls to get in. Saturday nights were the best
fun: we would lock ourselves into one of the rooms and listen
to music, chat, drink a bit and smoke.
    The school colours were green, red and white. Pretoria
Boys' High School boasted a Hall of Fame where it displayed
all the trophies and awards won by the different champions
who had passed through its gates. The awards were of two
types – academic and sporting – and were then graded
according to colour, half-colours going to those who played
for the school's first team for an entire school year, full
colours if you were part of the first team for a two-year
period, and honours if you played your chosen