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Dr Fixit (181 - 190)

 181 'or maize. If you're hungry, come home and eat. Right here, you're safe - from head to feet.' Of course, other people's things were on farms and private compounds. Government didn't tie charms to their properties. We were free to pick fallen fruits  in the GRA but not stone them - the same rules  applied in schools but to avoid rowdiness, an extra layer of rules (so we wouldn't soil our dress) could be added but out of the sight  of the teachers, we picked and gave them a bite. 182 Then again, some folks offered food and drinks  right at the crossroads to their gods. Only one at the brink of madness would pick them to eat and drink. Yeah, fruits in the village square were free. We'd slink to wait at the bases of ehkom and bush mango trees  during a windy day. As the fruits slipped from the leaves, we would rush for them. Ehkom nuts dried in the sun  tasted like a mixture of milk and sugar  and the bush mango juice was sweeter than Fanta. Agai...
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Dr Fixit (171 - 180)

 171 There was a holler of pity for the tenant. If you trip down an elder, all across the clans, that elder would be up again after the sacrifice  of a cow of which the culprit would pay the price. The best option would've been for the fellow  to allow the elder to punch and bellow while he watched from a safe distance. When the fight was over, elders from the clans  would be summoned to discipline the one who defaulted and if there were damages, a sum 172 quite lump he'd pay and if he'd disdained  the land, various items would be obtained  for sacrifice to cleanse it. But these days, it was unpredictable and really dicey to play with a young man's gramophone  as it could result in dire consequences - a bone in the throat is how I would describe it. But furiously, this elder leapt to his feet  and was telling the tenant: 'Oh, this was your plan. Wait for me. We'd get to see who's the real man!' 173 When the landlord furiously slipped into  hi...
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Dr Fixit (161 - 170)

 161 if any, that was hidden by consulting  their device which could be a wooden carving  of any image representing a god that would squeak  its coded message which they would speak  clearly the interpretation to the audience  seeking intervention in any case. The ambience  of the ahbiah hediong did differ  from the ahbiah hebuck for the later  would administer solutions  to maladies of any dimensions, 162 physical or spiritual, while the former  played the role of a sleuth that could uncover  hidden events in the past, present and future. The second took in patients, the first did not. We looked left and right  and then left (as we were taught) and did stride  across the road to the opposite side  and followed the crescent on the side  of the leisure park as opposite was the wall  of the prison and adjoining was the hall  163 of the Prison Staff Club hosting thespians from time to time. It was the...
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Dr Fixit (151 - 160)

 151 As the elderly couple passed, the rat-drawn cart followed shortly after with uniformed men playing the part  of a police patrol. When the cart trundled past, Bendit dropped his bucket, wheeled round fast, stood at attention, pushed his chest out and placed the back of his hand, palm spread out, right across his forehead. The patrol men acknowledged him. The rest of us waved at them  and they all waved back. The vehicle disappeared  at a bend. We walked on and then appeared  152 at the junction where Library Avenue  bisected Stadium Road and from here we could view  the stadium podium ahead of us and the high-rise  (two storeys actually as the termites stole the star prize  for the tallest edifice ever built under the plants) to the right of us housed books written by army ants  on every topic they tailored to a course from cookery to engineering and of course  the military and politics. But my fascination  was about books ...
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Dr Fixit (141 - 150)

 141 seven formed a week in my generation. The seventh day was sacred but a counter notion  was embedded somewhere in the Holy Book: who had a chicken escaped from the coop  and would not chase on the sacred day? Some quoted this portion to lay a cover on their laxity to observe the non-work dictate every believer is served. But Ahdet, in grandma's days, was the eight  and sacred day and it is widely said  142 who ventured to the wood or farm to work  had themselves to blame. They were sucked  like water through a pipe into the other world and only through sacrifice and the word of an ahbiah hebuck were they brought back. From both faiths, my grandma wasn't slack. She had often quoted me a passage  from the scripture: when faced with the rage  of a foe, change colours like the chameleon  to stay alive. When I'd said the notion  143 with an army ant was unrealistic, she had laughed and said the idea pragmatic  from the concept, ...
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Dr Fixit (131 - 140)

 131 The first person threw five cards up. With gravity they all did drop  dancing in the breeze to the hard surface  of the path. Of course, the entire place - being the GRA - was absolutely quiet  which made me wonder if the core diet  in the big men's quarters was serenity  as noise to the poor areas was elementary. I had a dream that one day I'd slip  to the GRA and live there till I'm tipped  132 and rise to see myself at the other side  as it is inevitable everyone's tide  must ebb. In the card game, the rule  was who had more faces up would pull  the win over who had more down. In three throws, the first bloke had a wide beam for he won twice but the girls did scream, after finishing their mangoes, we moved to the stream  as none of them could be in the playing team. 133 While growing up, gambling was solely a male thing  and its elementary stage seemed to be the thing  the boys were doing here - throwing ...
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Dr Fixit (121 - 130)

 121 we added our own words and message to it. With a made-up lyrics, I jumped on my feet  to such a hit blaring across the neighbourhood  and my happiness was soon I'd know every dude  and dame who composed the beat from the cards  my new friend, Bendit, had with him. Now, I had  a new vision too - I wanted to be big, real big, and to have my face like the stars sit on a card too. The door opened, I threw  my bag and uniform on the bed and withdrew  122 into the kitchen, touching this, opening that  till I found my food and the pot I dragged  near the low stool at the centre and sat  on it to eat. It was ahfang soup and fufu. I tapped my free on the side of the stool  while the other moulded balls of fufu which in the soup I dipped and then swallowed them. Done eating, I washed my hands and utensils for cooking, put my school things properly away  and to the other rear building I let my feet stray  123 to meet the ch...
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