EFKA

They were almost arriving Nahou’s house and Nahou was desperate to find out just how he could become successful, how he could leave his space and travel elsewhere to make it better, and bigger.

 

Nahou, it is not the space that matters, it is the mind that matters. For I can assure you that I have seen a million people leave to make it better, but failed because their minds won’t let them. With time you shall understand.”  

 

A little pause as they approached Nahou’s house. The Optimist breaks the silence.

 

“Meantime, be good, and don’t fail to think, do not fail to try things out. Try one thing at a time, and failing once should never put you off, not even 20 times, for if you persist, you shall thrive. I have given you the clues to success. And use our discussions of becoming bare-nude-empty to become successful. You shall grow and you shall know that the simple ideas are the most workable ideas. Remember that success is not something you don’t know already. Everyone knows much about success, but not everyone reacts to the message of success in the same way.” Nahou got close to the house he lived in.

There was a fight next to grandma’s compound. The eager muscle man was at it again, battering his wife, his children screaming for help, and passers-by in contemplation of whether or not to partake in their private madness.

 

“This man is mental. He’s lost it.”

Said a man and in a tone loud enough for Nahou and EFKA to hear as they were now close to the house.

 

“Mental, and ‘he’s lost it’, are not the appropriate references. In short, “e don kolo” “E don kolo” (kraze-) it is left for him to start walking around nude like Ninong.  Another onlooker analysed the man’s act on pounding on his wife.

 

Nahou and EFKA were now close enough to witness the scene. By this time, the man pulled on the woman’s hair, dragged her on the floor using her plaited braids some of which fell off. She screamed so hard that the scream pierced through Nahou’s heart so much so that without a second thought, he ran to the veranda where the man had pulled the woman to disgrace her in public. She was half naked, her clothes torn apart by the man, she was bruised and bleeding. By the time Nahou could reach the man, the man’s daughter came running with a huge stick in her hand, hit her dad so hard on the back that he immediately let go of his wife’s hair. He turned around very swiftly and furiously, too. He saw his daughter staring at him with frightened eyes, a baton in both hands as if she was ready for a fight. Ever heard of the story of David and Goliath? Her dad whose muscles were now visible from the inner wear he wore, groaned “erhhhhhhhhhmmmmm!” in a raging voice, he asked “Na you hit my back?” (Did you hit my back?)

 

“Yes, and I will again if you use those hands of yours on mama one more time. What kind of big man and adult for that matter does not know that a solution in to any problem does not get resolved from fights? What kind of man beats his wife? The woman he spends all his nights with on the same bed, the woman who cooks your every meal, clean your clothes, and looks after your children. Why do you want to disgrace this family? And you are the head.” EFKA had taken charge of the girl’s brain and was now twisting the little girl’s thoughts for she was prepared to engage in a fight with her father. She was just a child concerned for the safety of her mother. She spoke wisdom; the father who had lost his temper and was ready to “kill” her was now seeing reason. He took a deep breathe, looked at the wife who was now up and ready to fall on him if he dared to hit the little girl. Nahou was also standing next to the man. It seemed as though he had not notice the crowd standing in-front of his house watching him display his madness on his wife and almost to his daughter. He was bitter; he turned around and said to the crowd, “wuna comot for here sheeubu them. Wetin concern wuna? ” (get away from here. What’s your business?)

 

“Wandafoot!” shouted mami puff-puff ( a woman who fries dough and cooks beans for sale). “Na we you take call ‘sheumbu’? You di craze di hideam.” (You are mad, but you conceal it).

“Mami puff-puff na you come call me craze di hide? I go show you pepper today.” Responded the muscle man as he hurried towards mami puff-puff. Mami puff-puff’s two protective sons stood in the way of the muscle man. “You must pass through us to show pepper for wa mami” they both said almost simultaneously.

 

Nahou could not stand this chaos, the craze and the uncivilised behaviours. He walked towards the man and said, “takeam easy, mr muscle man takeam nayo. Everything is not power. Sometimes, you need to calm down, to calm down, and think before you react. See your wife, she is crying, your daughter is crying, your boys are watching you. They’d do the same to their wives; the men your daughters will get married will do same to your daughters. What kind of exemplary father are you? If you get angry like most of us do, do not immediately jump on your heels because you’ve got the muscle to silence everyone. Take your time, think. Take a walk or go somewhere quiet, exercise a little and whilst you are at it, think about what gets you annoyed. Is it worth your time? Must you fight to proof a point? You lose respect when you catch a fight with almost everyone. See you and ninong are truly not different.”

 

Meantime, EFKA was over the moon as he listened to Nahou. He could not even belief what came out of the little boy likewise Mr. Muscle Man listened in utter disbelief.

“Nahou, you are on point with this.” Said EFKA who was now in Nahou’s brains. “See for yourself how many people came out to stare at the man beating up his wife with so much fury and angst. They just looked and did nothing. The local journalist took pictures for his newspaper story. The neighbours came out and in most of their brains they can’t wait to spread the news about Mr Muscle man’s fight with his wife.”

 

They’ve just got a live entertainment show, no rubies and cowries spent, who goes to a cinema with all these daily theatrical encounters?

 

That’s a good point; these people are all ‘mental’. Responded Nahou.

 

“Yes Nahou, they’ve just watched a display of concealed madness like ninong’s, but it doesn’t occur to them that Mr Muscle man’s fury and anger against his wife is a display of madness that’s been ticked as normal by society. While Mr. Muscle man can go ahead with battering his wife, ninong who does not inflict any pain on people is being chained because people say he walks around a lot. They want to constrain his movements, but do not want to constrain humans being hurting each other. Humans fight in order to showcase their power, they fight to suppress, to create masters from the powerful and slaves from the weak. They fight to conquer and in all these battles, their madness is validated.”