Back in the Day

The sound of a Chinese movie filtered out of the room, distracting Oka as he tried to pay undivided attention to the now furious man standing in front of him. He looked up and wondered how the man could breath judging from all the hair that grew out of his nose. He knew about facial hair and pubic hair, but he did not know the name of hairs that grow out of the nose.

Mum, what's the name of the hair that grows out of noses? he made a mental note to ask his mum who had since grown tired of his questions.

He never really understand how hair grew there. For more than three months, he had been applying a series of things on his jaw so he could sprout some beard hairs. Apart from impressing girls, another reason he wanted a beard was simple; he desired to jump queues in the neighbourhood barbershop. Men with beards usually just barged in, apologise to others awaiting their turn, and ask for a few minutes just to shave their beards. Since most of the boys waiting for a haircut had no beards, having beards, to him was a sufficient indication of being an adult and adults did not have to wait.
"Just a shave," they would say, rubbing their jaw slowly.

The beardless boys would often pretend not to have noticed that the man just arrived because if you dare speak up, you will earn yourself a hard knock on the head for your audacity.

"Daydreaming again?" the hard tap on the head brought him back to reality. The man whose nose hairs he'd been admiring thrust the machete into his tiny hand and pointed to a nearby bush.

"Oka, if you want to join them in the house to watch the movie, you better get moving and get enough grass to feed the goat till the next morning. Don't go daydreaming while cutting the grass; I just had that machete sharpened. I won't be responsible for any injuries you may incur due to your carelessness."

Oka nodded so fast that a male Agama lizard would have been envious, then he headed into the pasture.

"And do watch out for snakes. Dankwa, my cousin, just killed one the other day." Babaki's parting shot did not go down well with Oka for he had a phobia for snakes. But like most seven-year-olds growing up at the time in their remote village, he had a tremendous love for Chinese martial arts movies. Oka quietly walked towards the bush while weighing his options. Returning without the grass to feed Babaki's goats was not an option. As each step his barefoot legs took felt like he was standing on a snake, he focused his mind on being part of the conversation when that particular martial art movie is narrated in school on top a tree.

"Wow, he has killed him!" The boys, crowded in the tiny sitting room of Babaki, shouted in unison.

That cemented his resolve. He forgot all about snakes and hurriedly walked towards the bush to begin cutting the goat's feed. His mind could not stop wrestling with who had been killed.

As he cut the grass in the scorching sun, he wondered why his father never bought a coloured TV and a VHS video player. All they had was an old black-and-white National TV that is as old as time. The TV showed images in black-and-white colours only, and the TV itself was coloured black and white. Oka's father could afford those, but against every plea from him and his mother, he vehemently refused to buy a coloured TV, neither did he agree to buy a video player. Hence, any evening of the father's travel to the next city, Oka would sneak out and walk the three kilometres to the Babaki's house to enjoy an hour or two of movies before hurrying back home. Because if he happened to be watching the video and the father somehow got home and found out he snuck out, he would be able to use a chair for the next one week from the pain he would have received from "Doctor Do Good", an affectionate name for the evil cane.

Watching movies at the Babaki house was not free even though he wanted the kids to believe that it was; there was the unwritten rule that the kids that came to watch movies pay. But since they did not have money, they must pay by running different errands for him. He has a small thatched house next to his home where he keeps seven goats. His preferred payment was making every kid that wanted to be part of his "Cinema", as he called his crowded sitting room, to go and cut grazing materials for the goats. If the goats are well-fed, there were always other jobs like doing dishes, sweeping his home, scrubbing his floor. Babaki always had errands for his ever teaming group of 7 to 8-year-olds without TVs in their house, who came looking for the next best place to watch a movie.

Oka managed to cut enough grass for the day and hurriedly walked towards the direction of the house. As soon as he dropped the grass in the goat's pen, he sprinted to the direction of the cinema. He met a group of young boys coming out in droves from the house. Babaki met him halfway.

"Sorry, Oka. You did not cut the grass fast enough. Today's show is over. Tomorrow is another day," He said grinning.

Oka could see that Babaki was not sorry. Infantile anger welled up to his heart. A look at other 7-year olds who are beaming from ear-to-ear broke his little heart. They were all talking at once, each trying to outdo the other in demonstrating how the "actor", the protagonist killed the "boss", the villain. Oka turned around as tears welled up in his eyes. One day, he swore, I shall make money and buy the biggest TV Babaki has ever seen.

---

Years passed, and Oka returned to his hometown with his family to visit his aged mother. He asked her about Babaki, but she could not recall any person by that name. It took Oka a while to realise that the name was not his real name and his mother could not have known him by his nickname. When he was done with his visit, he drove out of the village, but on a second thought, he decided to check out the man. There was a row of shops where Babaki's house used to be. Back in the day, he worked in the bank and was full of potential. The bank had downsized and right-sized many times. Perhaps one of those processes left him worse than it met him. Oka wondered what had become of him. Did he marry? Did he have his own children?

---

"Please Daddy, tell him to allow me to watch the cartoon," Shouted Simon.

Patrick started crying, "But daddy it was my turn. I want to watch real movies with real people and not the cartoon," replied the elder brother.

As usual, Simon and Patrick, Oka's two sons were bickering in the back on what movies they should watch while their father drove. Their bickering always bothered their mother, and she could not understand why their father found it amusing. The SUV was pleasantly cold in the humid, hot sun.

"Hey, kids, be quiet," Linda, Oka's wife instructed her children so she could hear herself speak.

"Why are we parked here, darling?" Linda asked.

"Oh, nothing," Oka said smiling wryly. He engaged the gear and the big engine of the Range Rover hummed, and the vehicle glided away.

Oka never did find out why his father refused to buy a decent television, but he did not care anymore. He did not think he turned out so badly and he owed it partly to his father and, for that he was grateful.

Authored by @greenrun