The wall gecko (Aguulo) was leaning against a wall and heard the owner saying that Lion (Agu) devoured a man. He shook and nodded his head and said, “yes! That is the feature of we in the Agụ (Lion) family. We are always agile”.
It was on christmas day. Nwafọ 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 stake into his domain beckons lizards.
Nwafọ went to Mr. Oyita to borrow some feather from him to complement his.
Oyita is a man who strengthens himself from the weakness of another man. He had fed on flesh of one brother Anyukwu who wanted to fly his matrimonial ceremony.
He lent brother Anyukwu 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 them two years to fill the gap. Brother Anyukwu’s wife died in the process.
When Nwafọ met oyita, he requested for his goat in kind. Oyita who was devil’s incarnate heeded to it in masked mind. He told him that he would do it but not in kind. He further told him that it would be on subsidized rate. He added that his goat was twenty-five thousand naira but he would subsidize it to twenty thousand naira. He finally told him that he should refund when his body and soul were together.
Nwafọ 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 because they knew he was not going to utilize the money appropriately.
Ndiofoke Amagu is a village where christmas is well celebrated to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. All sang to Ndiechi (ukwuakpụrata) to stagger the humour of the swagger. The male and female folks drank themselves to stupor. They strolled to Mr. Nwafọ’s alma mater. . . So to say. This was because you could learn much there more than the so-called universities.
When the gangbusters lumbered in, they were welcomed by Mr. Nwafọ with laurasiaful offers. They were entertained as those in heaven are done. They hailed and confirmed him the best commemorator of the year.
The news escalated to the nooks and crannies of Oroña, Abina, Item, ọhatekwe and many other villages. Mr. Nwafọ was known in all the nearby villages as a hand-wetted man.
After the crest of games, the denouement is attained. The christmas had came and gone. It was time for Nwafọ to authenticate his hand-wettedness.
After two weeks, Oyita sent for him.
When Mr. Nwafọ met Oyita, he told him that he needed his money. This made him to toil without minding the scorching sun. He was drenched by the rain overnights.
It is always better to cut your clothes to your fit.
Mr. Nwafọ 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 leveled his face.
If one is not comfortable with his condition, the panacea is always the almighty Dr. Dead.
Nwafọ made himself a scapegoat. He sent for his son who was in Lagos to return.
As Uchenna was returning, behold, he had a fatal accident and died instantly.
When madam Nwafọ heard what happened, she freed the ghost. Every member of the nuclear family was unable to feed. The younger ones started suffering from kwashiorkor.
While many died from beriberi.
Mr. Nwafọ did not know what to do: He hung himself.
Following the death of Mr. Nwafọ, Mr. Alo and Nwakpụ had no other alternative than to hide under the mound of chicks.
The fate of Mr. Nwafọ’s children was not less than that of a cockroach in the midst of lizards. They were alive for the mercy of the men.
They arrested them as a deterent to . . . May be because their father indebted them. They imprisoned all of them.
In the prison, Nkemuka, first survived Nwafọ’s son started lamenting, “Oh! My God, see what the birth of Jesus Christ has cost us. If he has not been born, we would not had fallen victims of christmas. Now, we are the christmas victims”.
The incidence made everybody in Ndiofoke to call spade its name and not shovel.
The affluence of a man is not measured through his spendings. A wise man stung by bees is scared by the ooze of houseflies. Men who do not know their stands fly their agonies.
They are now wise, especially when it is not the killing of horses, goats and fowls.
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My people, we should note that christmas is an annual celebration.
Let’s celebrate well so that we can live to celebrate again.
Those who started the race first are not always those who win the race.
I remain Nwigboji Franklin Opefi.
