DR FIXIT (NEW VERSION)

 201 We were in a circle, sitting and leaning  on each other's frame as Moonit did her thing. 'Ehkong nkay,' she said. 'Nkay ehkong ahbasee!' we responded. 'Once upon a time, not at sea but on this hard surface we called land, there lived a man,' the tale she began, 'his appellation was Mr Tortoise.' This man again! We'd heard of how in a race, he outpaced the hare. We'd heard of how  he did a tug of war with giants - wow! - 202 and made the two - hippopotamus and elephant - to bow. With lion and him, under the plants  they battled hard to be crowned the king. We'd heard the full narrative as he did sing and develop wings and was the guest of honour in a festival up in the sky and sheer horror,  the birds abandoned him and one to his wife  brought back a message that seared his life. (The sage had repackaged his tales with his own pen and we'd follow his adventures like on a TV pane). 203 After the folktale, we returned to our beds  w...

 191 'the owner to start a fight to showcase  they have such awesome power encased  in their frames. Evil won't stop poking its feet around for trouble.' Mama Moonit asked: 'Who is evil: the tenant or landlord?' 'The ring,' my grandma replied. 'That's absurd,' Mama Moonit cut in. 'We're at the crossroads of what's good and what's evil. To get the power notes from a defaulting tenant, where persuasion  had failed, I'd use force.' With that notion  192 the younger sprightly woman was up. She got up with her pear and corncob. 'The truth is there's a good force and a bad one. When your anger is red-hot, you are torn about what actually is the truth. There's a thin line  drawn between good and evil.' Mama Moonit's spine was now facing grandma. 'Halt. I know you're a very  busy woman. First, take these to your family.,' Mama Moonit turned and took the bowl of corn  and pears. 'Thank you,' ...

 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...

 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...

 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...

 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 ...