DR FIXIT (NEW VERSION)

301 my thoughts further there and then. I was glad she heard from the lectern  what the young teacher taught and would be truthful to herself or else a bee would sting her and her scream  for help would be heard right at the stream  at the other side of the clan. Then, she'd know an hideous plan was what all along they had been hatching  but henceforth I was keenly watching. 302 We got to school and Mrs Bearit  was glad to see us back. She hit the table and we sang our hygiene song. Of course, with the song it was wrong not to clean your teeth and tongue. You never kept your nails long as you weren't a vampire. We knew we must hang on the clothes wire  all our washing as they would dry and smell good and we would try  303 cut and comb our hair and keep our feet  out of dust as lice and jiggers were benefits  for all those doing otherwise. Who did those nice things was wise. We sang, clapped, jumped and stamped  the concrete floor. With o...

  291 and whosoever sewed them and their threads. Of all the games, the two ugly trends I joined as a kid were card-throwing and button-kicking. Later in the evening  we'd gone to the stream to wash, swim and fetch water as we got everything within  our reach for school the next day. A new fellow had joined us to play the bubblegum cards. His name was Soulit. Right while having supper, a fist hit 292 (not knocked) - yes, a fist rammed the door like it would bring it down to the floor. Grandma screamed for the person to stop  the pranks, thinking who did that had dropped  his senses somewhere after being drunk but it turned out the person was sunk in despair for his son stole a chunk  of his cash and when the father searched his bunk, all he discovered was this pile of cards the son said were from bubblegum packs  293 but he claimed from others he won them all - I was included. Before grandma's call, I was beside her immediately I heard  the mentio...

 281 'The farmer wielded a machete. Bush baby ignored his pain and clearly  envisioned what his next move should be as Mr Monkey was where he couldn't see but heard him urge him vehemently  to escape as the farmer had no mercy  to show to whoever he would grasp  and for such his punishment would be harsh. So bush baby with his last call-up  of strength, hurled his frame up 282 'a network of creepers at the edge  of the farm and followed the stretch of it to a mammoth tree. Quickly, he slipped to a branch which did ferry his bulk to the tip of a cottonwood tree,  quite massive, that every other tree around were under its massive canopy  and the farmer could only stand and wag his machete  at him, saying: "You're smart and I'm silly, 283 '"I know that's what you're thinking. Go thank your lucky stars, daft stripling. If you think I'd plant and you'd keep reaping, think and think again as the beating  you'd get whenever I catch you or ...

271 'They all were free just like him to change it. Miles after miles of leafage but bit by bit  they were leaping close to the farm  to take that tasty fruit that had charmed bush baby so much he vowed to shun night for day where the warmth of the sun  would always cuddle his back and there was nothing he'd lack. A mile from the border of the farm,  bush baby wished he had a long arm 272 'which he could've stretched to touch the lovely things he'd seen - they were much and monkey didn't even mention a half of them to him. He had a satisfied laugh though quiet to himself. He'd wallow in sheer fun as he'd sip and swallow  all he could. He was truly glad, though his folks might think he was mad, to leave the darkness of night  for day and its brilliant light. 273 'A few yards from the farm, monkey stopped  and if not that he gestured, bush baby almost hopped to go grab a fruit with a golden skin which all along seemed to beckon at him. "We must al...

261 my friendship with other kids and the trust  grandma had of me would wear rust  if suddenly I was found to be loose  of tongue. 'But what exactly is the truth?' I secretly wondered. Why were all the tales not in alignment, weighing on same scales  all the arguments? In Antburg, there was big and small sins. If a bug bit you, you were free to hit that bug real hard. But if someone stole from your hut, 262 which was a big sin, and wouldn't own up, you took such a person to face the gods and immediately the consequences would be known though not all the times. Some ants had grown, it was speculated, wings and could fly quite high  to evade justice. And though hard the clan did try to curtail these tales, they were gaining ground  and prompted some their feet to pound to embrace the new way. The tale was rife  that some fellows could robustly bribe  263 the gods and taken to the shrine, they would escape harm as no grime on them would be found tho...

251 also to him. The race was a ding-dong. There is doom for the flippant tongue. I remembered that little tale and shut  my mouth. After the play, each child to their hut did return and hug his or her sleeping space. Where the kids were many and a common space  would share, they huddled together, limbs crossing. With grandma, I had the freedom sleeping  on a mat on the ground if hot was the room or jumping to the bed if the temperature did zoom  252 to zero as it happened in intense rain and also in the harmattan months. My train of thoughts shifted from the play in the moonlight  and I slept off. The cocks crowed and I opened wide  my eyes to see the shaft of sunlight piercing  through a crack in the roof mats. Stirring,  I looked around and listened attentively. I could perceive my grandma was actively  working in the rear yard. The machete  was hewing something. The branches of an orange tree  253 which stood near the kitchen sh...