His lean muscular physique was all thanks to the extracurricular sport he participated in called jujutsu. Jujutsu is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed opponents.

He would announce it infrequently to remind us of him. Did that not prove that he wanted to seem better than average? Ok. He was a great English teacher. Of all things, he chose to teach English.

Ask me why. He chose a subject that was considered dominant besides Mathematics obviously. For a reason. I hope this does my hypothesis justice.

Jokes and all aside. He was a proper educator. On the first day of class, he walked in sure and ready.

“Anyone without a textbook will be banned from the lesson and on Fridays please carry a pen,” he instructed succinctly.

“Am I clear?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. D!” we bellowed.

He smiled, loving the sound of the name that echoed for the entire block to hear. I have fond memories of him breaking down stories, poetries, and text into work that even grade 9s could fathom. He read to us a story I read multiple times prior but was unable to understand.

The story of the boy who told fables to his parents about an unruly boy in class turned out the unruly boy is their son. The boy misbehaved just to be interesting to his parents!

I remember when we read the abandoned bundle poem by Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali, the way he lingered in each line and deconstructed the meaning behind words like smothered, oozing, fangs, velvet, and untrampled. The metaphors and alliteration locked into my memory for the second time. Mrs. Langson had done a great job last year but Mr. V took over entirely. Maybe this was his alternative way to prove himself better.

Unfortunately, most influential men are associated with controversies that reveal their character flaw. What in literature is called a tragedy. Remember Mr. D was my literary piece and most legendary literary work (by Shakespeare) had a character with potential and intriguing qualities. Those characteristics were overridden by this character flaw.

Take Will Smith, how he stood on his two feet to slap a comedian across the face displaying his violence and rage. Take Macbeth, and how he killed to quench his greed for power. Take Shaka Zulu a strong leader who had brutally massacred pregnant women to send a message to mourn his mother’s death.