The world has changed since Evie and I were first thrown together back in the summer of 1954.
Father was in the diplomatic service and served the hon Charles Bainbridge as administrator to the District Commissioner in the Kumbala district in the disputed territories of Africa, disputed in the sense of impending independence.
But I knew little of this, my life revolved around school, where I boarded from thye age of seven, initially near Sevenoaks and later near Windsor in England and Aunt Frieda and Uncle Charles's home in Folkestone where I spent my holidays except for the long summer break when Father and Mother came home for a fort-nights annual leave, flying home to regale me with tales of Lions and Tigers, which I found tedious while failing to even notice whether they flew in a York or DC4 or Constellation, "Oh it was an aeroplane!" Mother insisted as if I might think they flew on the Queen Mary.
But in 1954 it was decided I was mature enough to fly to Africa for the summer break, I would fly out by Comet, the bad news being it would be an RAF Comet with no pressurisation, and unbeknown to me the flight was really arranged to suit the hon Charles Bainbridge's spoiled daughter Evaline May who had insisted she should be allowed to spend time on the veld.
I disliked her on first sight, she sneered at everything, "Oh you're Daddy's man's boy aren't you?" she said when we were introduced, and then she just dismissed me and wandered away.
It never occurred to me that she was any great beauty, yes she was slim, dark haired, long legged almost as tall as I in her fashionable high heels and knee length skirt, and as I later learned she was only a month younger than I, but while I was obsessed with cycling and athletics and the aeroplanes I saw daily flying in and out of Heathrow airport, she was far more mature than I and her interests were more basic as I was shortly to discover.
We flew not from Heathrow but from RAF Brize Norton, and the excitement of jet flight had paled even as we crossed France so I settled down to read, and I took almost no notice of Eve except it did seem curious the amount of attention the dark skinned steward paid her on the final leg of the flight, he alone of the passengers and crew made her face light up in a dazzling smile quite unlike the scowl she reserved for me.
The last few hundred miles we flew in an Avro Anson, an obsolete twin engined light aircraft with eight seats and I said not a single word to Eve throughout, not that that would have been easy with the racket its two tiny radial engines kicked up as they struggled to keep the aircraft aloft with the heat and high altitude robbing it's already meagre power.
There was quite a reception committee as we landed, Eve's parents, the hon Charles and his wife Lavinia took precedence, as indeed did Eve while I was left to quietly dismount and seek out my parents who seemed as annoyed at my presence as I was at being dragged from England to be with them.
My family and I took a definite second or was it third place in the reception held in the "Ball Room" at the District Commissioner's residence that evening, The top table was reserved for the Bainbridges and the Tribal Elders while we sat with the lower orders but above the native staff as protocol demanded.
The "Residence" was one of only a hand full of two storey buildings in the Village. The Ball room was a great barn of a red brick walled iron roofed monstrosity draped for the occasion with what looked like a collection of oversized hearth rugs which had its own entrance off the dusty village high street, or was it a town, a community of what seemed to be a thousand or more residents with a market and a colonial store and garrison building.
Half way through the meal the hon Charles stood to make a brief speech, brief, that is, by his standards.
"Gentlemen, and Ladies," he began, oddly to my ears, "Welcome," I switched off around then and let him drone on, then he said something which made mother shudder.
"Disgusting!" she hissed.
Charles stopped, distracted, "Ah, yes," he exclaimed, "Yes as I said tomorrow we celebrate fertility, in the old tribal way, but Ladies and Gentlemen," he got it the other way round this time, "Now in accordance with the transitional agreement we shall ensure that the partnerships shall be recorded and will."
"Barbaric!" Mother muttered, "Savages!" I just wished she would shut up, the food wasn't too bad, a bit exotic but the "beef" was very palatable.
I noticed the way Eveie smiled at the natives, especially when the fertility was mentioned, had I been more astute and worldly wise I would have recognised her smiles as lust rather than excessive politeness, but actually I was too bored to notice.
The reception just fizzled out around eleven and we went home.
"Barbaric," mother said, "Henry you should have insisted!" she demanded of father.
"But Joyce it's a tradition." he replied limply.
"What is?" I asked.
"Fertility, go to bed Geoffrey!" Mother insisted, and so the next day straight after the noon siesta I accompanied Mother and Father to the "Racecourse" as they laughingly called the reasonably flat piece of grassland with dilapidated wooden fences and a dilapidated wooden stand just outside the village.
I shuffled along totally bored, and barely noticed the young girls lined up beyond the white painted section of wooden rails that denoted the "Finishing straight," bare breasted young girls who had come of age in the last year or so, their black skins glistening in the harsh afternoon light, dressed in stout shoes with simple skirts to protect their modesty.
I couldn't say I was hugely interested in them and I was even less interested in the young local men penned behind a token rope at the other side of the track each wearing stout boots and shorts or were they loin cloths.
"What do you think of that young Geoffrey?" the hon Chares asked me, I hadn't even seen him until he spoke, but I suddenly found Charles and his wife and Eveie right beside me.
"I suppose we must respect their traditions," I muttered, "Sir!"
"Well we couldn't stamp it out so we formalised it!" he said, "Its a wonderful spectacle, the girls get a head start and run and the men chase them fastest men can choose their mates, but now it is agreed that that counts as marriage do you see?" he asked almost proudly as if it was his idea.
"Oh Mummy look!" Eveie suddenly exclaimed.
I looked, a native youth displayed the fact it was indeed a loin cloth as his erection strained.
"Eve, don't be disgusting!" her mother replied.
"It's not fair," she complained.
"You must remember your position, Evaline, please!" her mother continued,
"But he is so beautiful, mummy don't you just want to melt into his arms?" Eveie asked.
"No Evie, one set of rules for blacks one for whites isn't that right Charles!" she asked.
"Ah, yes we have different standards, Eve," Charles said.
"Standards Daddy, what about rules?" Eve asked.
"Well of course we couldn't enshrine it in the legislation," Charles admitted.
"So I could join the other girls?" Eve said with her eyes nearly popping out of her head, "Have the boys chasing after me?"
"Eve, stop this you stupid girl!" her mother replied.
"Why should I," Eve demanded, "You dismissed Tanbou because he kissed me, I'm of age Mummy I don't have to do as you say."
"Eve don't be ridiculous." her mother shouted.
"Evaline, now stop this nonsense!" Charles added, but Eve was already striding towards the girls pen.
