Dr Fixit (4501 - 4510)

 

4501

‘Edem,’ at the cyber cafe’s attendant,

‘shut the system! Those who think it’s a rant

I don’t play with my business reputation

would know today that any right action

I’d need to take to keep it intact, I would.

Planning to rubbish our image won’t do good

to anyone who has such evil in their mind.

Who took the phone, I say this for the last time,

should respect themselves and return it

to its place.’ I closed the windows and quit

 

4502

using the computer before the attendant

logged off the entire system and

quickly I attempted to end my explanation

as our ears were now split in every direction.

‘Not too long ago,’ I said, ‘the masked men

were banned for dread they would maim

innocent spectators as it did happen

when they prowled the streets often,

especially during the masquerade season

or the celebrations at the year-end season.

 

4503

‘The masked men who bore a skull, sham

or not, and his sword-wielding gang did harm

year in, year out innocent bystanders

spilling blood and when as mobsters

the public labelled them, they were banned

in the era the military ruled the land

and so when civilians took power

and thought of how to empower

the treasury, they thought of tourism

and how to promote it so revisionism

4504

‘took the front seat – removed the demon

from banned cults, revived them and like lemon

blended with sugar would be their flavour

and their enticing music everyone would savour.

This is the trick behind the revival

of the end-of-the-year colourful carnival.

It’s culture reformed and given a human face.’

My aide nodded eager to go see another phase

of tradition as the manager’s rant

ended with a young man, I’d grant,

 

4505

in his forties wearing short sleeves,

jeans and slippers; and fresh leaves

on a broken branch looking insignificant

he dangled on his left hand,

strands of young palm fronds on his wrists

he tied and an uncanny thing hides in his fist.

He spoke in a mild tone to his audience

standing around him in utter silence.

We were a medley of suspects and spectators.

‘I’d like to appeal to you, the actors

 

4506

‘and all, that there is nothing frivolous

about my presence here. For the one mischievous

who mistakenly pinched the phone,

they should go back in groups or alone

and return it and be free from embarrassment

they are bound to get if I implement

the ukang, as my pole when invoked

would lead us to where it is and poke

at the exact spot where the phone is kept

on a table or in a hole.’ Eyes leapt

4507

or rather, popped out of their sockets.

My aide’s hand slid into my pockets

without any conscious effort  as translation

I tactfully passed on to my minion.

Crookedmouthit his hand then pulled out

and craned his neck even though we stood about

the buttress of a stool and could clearly view

the native doctor who did further spew

more venom on what the culprit

would get. ‘Who receives the verdict of guilt

 

4508

‘would pay dearly for their delay to confess

and the penalty they alone would face.’

As none came forward to take responsibility,

the man moved straight to the activity,

he put the branch between his lips;

a red bandana with amulets from his fist

he produced and tied around his head.

He asked the dried palm wine pole with his aide

be brought to him and he ordered young men,

strong and willing, to hold to it as they’d remain,

 

4509

he warned, tied to it till the destination

of the phone was reached without cancellation.

The owner of the phone and his cronies,

three in all, willingly grabbed the pole. ‘Phoney,’

a curious guy thought they were all so he

stepped forward and grabbed the pole and me

and my aide, curious as well, stepped forward

and crawled up his boots and headed toward

his belt, passed his chest and reached his shoulder

where we hid under his shirt’s collar.

4510

The native doctor crashed a native hen’s egg,

chanted his abracadabra and ordered every leg

which held the pole to move and the pole

jerked those who held it backwards and in a stroll

moved forward, broke into a run leaving the premises

of the cyber cafe and amidst the hisses

and grunts of vehicles and the human throng,

hauled the young men steadily along

the alleys, the lanes and the sidewalks

of the city’s streets and startling the hordes