Dr Fixit (111 - 120)

 111

If someone was dancing, you would greet,

'Ahsuk ahnek?' 'Unek' means dance. If they eat 

any food, you'd say, 'Ehsuk ehdiah?'

The 'ah' shows the verb is singular 

while the 'eh' shows the verb is plural.

'Ehsuk' or 'ahsuk' means 'you are'

with a question mark. Though the question 

is rhetorical, it could elicit the reaction:

'Hesuk henek' (plural) or 'nsuk nnek'

(singular) after 'ehn' (yes). After the break 

112

with a full stop, you add: 'Ahmehdee!'

That is, welcome. Now, 'Ahmehyong' and 'Ahmehdee'

means 'welcome' but for different situations.

'Ahmehyong' is used to welcome home relations.

Why? Because you'd told them when they left 

you earlier for an event, 'Ka ahdee.' If fate 

agrees with your 'go (and) come (back safely)'

utterance, 'ahmehyong' is ultimately

the word to use in welcoming them back.

'Ahmehdee' with a question mark 

113

means, 'Have you come (so we can deal 

with the issue we had earlier on)?' To go till

the plot for planting, settle the debt you owed,

share a gossip or return the gown you borrowed 

to attend someone's wedding.

'Ahmehdee' or 'ahdee' as a greeting 

welcomes a stranger or an outsider 

to your place. And for the word 'mbakara'

that is common across all our clans 

which qualifies things from our frames to dance

114

and even fruits, 'exotic and charming'

would be the phrase for it. Two things,

pear and avocado, share the same name 

in Antish, 'ehben.' I'd say don't pass any blame 

on the army ants for it's a general thing 

that when you're used to anything 

in life, you tend to lose respect for it 

unless you consciously evoke it, that is,

the noble feeling deep in you. Pear is native 

to our terrain but avocado isn't. So the adhesive 

115

of 'mbakara' we gave to avocado,

hence 'ehben mbakara'. The tag to 

pineapple and palm fruit in Antish 

is the same, 'ahyop'. But to distinguish 

one from the other, 'ahyop mbakara' is the tag

specially assigned to pineapple as a brag 

to its exoticness. A plain name hangs 

to the one native to all our clans.

Of course, in Antburg, grandparents 

have great esteem for their grandkids hence

116

the 'mbakara' tag is on all of their lips 

when chatting. Something somewhere was amiss.

A farmer back from farm would say,

'Ahduk?' to the one on the way 

to their farm. 'Duk' means 'go in (or) enter'.

'Ehn. Ahmehyong,' would be the answer 

from the other farmer. But two farmers 

passing each other as they return to their shelters 

would exchange the greeting, 'Ahmehyong.'

'Yong' means 'go (back, away).' You run along 

117

(a child or pet) to go with someone 

who doesn't seek your company is prone

to a furious reception of 'Yong!'

when they turn to face you with a prong 

of a finger pointing to the distance 

behind you. Like a dog, you'd stay there and dance.

Now, our little conversation took place 

in grandma's kiosk which did face 

the street. To the right was a welder's shop.

He welded pieces of iron to create a tank top.

118

Across the hedge in the next compound 

a gramophone wired to a soundbox did pound 

one hit tune after another from popular acts

in Antburg and also from foreign parts

like Hopperland, Birdom and Cricketia.

They wore attire made from nylon, raffia,

cotton and leather. Some were skimpy 

and tight-fitting, some flowing and baggy.

Some danced shaking their heads like a loon

while others slid their feet like one walking on the moon.

119

Along the street, bikes and pushcarts

and the rat-drawn ones rolled on the tarred paths 

to deliver the passengers and goods

in and around all of our neighbourhoods.

I took the keys from Big Mama and strolled 

behind the kiosk after being told 

what to do in the kitchen and in which pot 

I'd find my food. All along, my thought

dwelt on the cards from the bubble gum 

and the artistes and who played the drum,

120

flute, gong and even some instruments 

looking quite exotic in our environment.

From the soundbox in the music shop

in the next compound the attendant dropped 

the hits one after the other and to the song 

quite familiar, I mouthed the words though wrong 

as the lyrics weren't in Antish 

but music beat being universal, we relished

the songs though the original message was lost 

but then, with a great beat it was a must