Beneath The Gloss

Book 1:

I want to live thick

You won't believe what he told me. And he said to me: "Ezugwu, you are very wise. I can't believe you did that." I didn't understand this was a mockery until he continued: "How could you have done that? The woman that all the villagers despise, you went to-- to show mercy. You want to show us you are more sympathetic than anyone else.

"But I don't see any reason this woman should be neglected. True. She one time committed adultery but she had repented. It is already past." I said, looking downcast.

"It is already past. What are you saying? This is unforgivable. Let her suffer the repercussion. The community has pronounced her deed evil. She should even be thankful she wasn't ostracized." Akpaka maintained, his eyes red with anger. He almost punched me.

Before I knew it my name was on the lips of all the villagers. What did I do? I helped a woman carry her heavy loads to her home. People rebuked me. My name lingered on the viral lips of almost all the villagers. I broke out. I felt like leaving this world in an instant.

You will never believe what happened next. I didn't eat for some days. I lost my appetite. I only found consolation in tears, huddling under the succour of sorrow. This happened when I was a youth.

Now, my son. I appreciate you have come to your father for counsel on how to live a thick and fulfilled life. Let me tell you: it is a world filled with all kinds of humans, namely the haters, jealous, envious, wicked, unkind, inhumane, wasteful, riotous and wild. Son, I can go on and on to list them, however, that may not be as relevant as what I am about to tell you.

Ugo, you are my only son and to succeed me and hold the kind of reputation I enjoy, you must, without hesitation, do all that I shall prescribe for you and this, I believe will lead you richly in this decaying world.

Do you consider your haters or critics? I mean, do you think about them? If you do, son, you will never live a happy life. Have you not asked me why I was always happy over and over? I have not told you ever since because I sensed you merely asked to know what made me happy. You weren't as serious as you are right now. But today, son, I will tell you because I have seen in your heart, a troubled soul, that if not guided will decay and die. This counsel before you will mean so much to you because you have come to seek it compelled by experience. You had no experience the other time you came to ask me to show you the secret of my happiness and so if I had told you, it may not have meant big to you as now you have come out of personal experience.

Ugochi, you said you have a detractor, hater, who pokes at you here and there. Whatever you do, he criticizes and whatever you say, he attacks. Good, welcome to a new experience that will shape your understanding. Son, did you know that when you were a child, you challenged your peers that attacked you? You challenged them to a duel. I can remember vividly, in those duels, you always won and went home feeling on top of the world and sometimes walking like the proud king who had just slaughtered his enemies on the battlefield. That time, you supposed your fellows should not in any way challenge what you said or did because you thought they shouldn't — because you thought we are all entitled to our opinions. Even as tender as you were, son, you understood everybody ought to hold their opinions strictly and shouldn't be lambasted or despised because of them. Hence, you fought whoever disagreed with you rudely. Even though I understand you did it because of your sincere antipathy for intimidation in those years, I must say, if you continue like that in adulthood, you will die prematurely.

Son, in those years, you beat your peers that insulted you, probably because you thought you were stronger than them and could correct them through your strong fists. Beating them, in your understanding, would serve as a deterrent to others who had contemplated doing the same or whose habits spoke contempt. There, you won, won and won. You made yourself king among your equals--simply because you were stronger and needed to use your strength to fight what you did not like in human behavior.