The wall Gecko (Agụụlọ) was leaning against a wall and heard the owner
saying that Lion (Agụ) devoured a man: He shook his tail and said,
"Yes! That is the feature of us in the Agụ (Lion) family. We are agile."
It is christmas. Nwafor could not manage because of pride. Hubris goes
to the fore of his agony. He went about telling his adversaries,
flibbertigibbets, enamoured ones, well-wishers and hypocrites that he
was going to celebrate more than everybody. He strove to actualize and
accrue the actuality, but life was void of aqua. He yearned for an
alternative. Oh! Life is an ant infected stake.
Any man who brings home an ant infected wood
into his domain beckons lizards. Nwafor went to mr. Oyita to borrow
some feather to complement his. Oyita is a man who strengthens himself
from the weakness of another man. He had fed on the flesh of one
brother Anyukwu, who wanted to fly his matrimonial ceremony.
He lent him the sum of Twenty thousand naira with the arrears of Forty
thousand naira. After the marriage, brother Anyukwu and his wife
traveled to work for money to pay back. It took him two years to fill
the gap. His wife died in the process.
When Nwafor met Oyita, he requested for his goat in kind. Nwafor, who
is a devil incarnate heeded to it with a masked mind. He told him that
he would do it but not in kind. He told him that it would be in a
subsidized rate. He told him that his goat was Twenty-five thousand
naira, but he would subsidize it to Twenty thousand naira. He told him
that he should refund when his body and soul are together. Nwafor
accepted the gesture. He also went to mr. Alo and Nwakpụ and borrowed
a huge amount of money. All lent to him as he demanded.
Ndiofoke Amagu is a village where Christmas is well celebrated to
commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. All sang to Ndiechi
(ukwuakpurata) to stagger the humour of the swagger. The male and
female folks drank themselves to stupor. They strolled to mr. Nwafor's
alma mater. This is because you can learn much there more than the
so-called university.
When the gangbusters lumbered in, they were welcomed by mr. Nwafor
with a laurasia-full offers. They were entertained as those in heaven
were done. They hailed and confirmed him the best commemorator of the
year. The news escalated to Oroña, Abina, Item, Ọhatekwe, and many
other villages. Mr. Nwafor was known in all the nearby villages as a
hand-wetted man.
After the crest of the game, the denouement is attained. The Christmas
had came and gone. It was time for Nwafor to authenticate his
hand-wettedness. After two weeks, Oyita sent for him.
He told him that he needed his money. This made mr. Nwafor to toil
without minding the scorching of the sun. He was drenched by the rain
overnights. It is always better to cut your clothes to your fit. He
toiled and paid for the goat. He told his wife to reduce the menu of
the nights. He had to pause the secondhand of the clock to avoid the
suddenness of the dusk. He cut off his nose and levelled his face.
If one is not comfortable with his condition, the panacea is always
the almighty Dr. Death. Nwafor made himself a scapegoat. He sent for
his son who was in Lagos to return. As his son was returning, behold,
he had an accident and died. When madam Nwafor heard what happened,
she freed the ghost. Every member of the nuclear family was not able
to feed. The younger ones started suffering from kwashiorkor. Many
died from beriberi. Mr. Nwafor did not know what to do. He hung
himself.
After the dead of mr. Nwafor, mr. Alo and Nwakpụ had no other
alternative than to hide on the mound of chicks. The fate of the
children of Mr. Nwafor was not less than that of a cockroach in the
midst of the lizards. They were alive for the mercy of the men. They
arrested them for the deterent of — may be because their father was
owing them. They imprisoned all of them.
In the prison, Nkemuka, the first son of nwafor started lamenting "Oh!
My God, see what the birth of Jesus christ has caused us. If he has
not been born, we would not had fallen a victim of christmas. Now, we
are the victims of christmas."
The incidence made everybody in Ndiofoke to call spade its name and
not shovel. The affluence of man is not measured through his
spendings. They are now wise, especially when it is not the killing of
horses, goats and fowl.
STORY BY: NWIGBOJI FRANKLIN
