There was this man I knew from long past. At the item was almost in his prime; childless he lived with his wife on the outskirts of the town. He liked Tej! He’d really adored that drink which called for quite classic skills to come out with good brew. In most places sugar replaced honey which should have been the most important ingredient. That is me someone who doesn’t have any claim to talk about the issue, except about one incident so bizarrely funny.
It was a Saturday, by some design of fate, my favorite day of the week. That Saturday all of a sudden I craved for Tej, something I’ve never tested. Late afternoon I invade some traditional restaurant known for its Tej. I downed a Birile and a half over almost three hours. Nothing happened! I mean all the time I returned home threw myself on the bed still fully dressed and sleep took over. Of course the advantage of going to bed fully dressed is that the next morning you don’t have to go through all that dressing ritual, Ha!
Sunday was like any other Sunday. Monday morning, groomed to kill, so I must have thought to go to the office with another young lady. The moment I go through the door and she saw me something shocked her so bad, she shouted, “Are you all right?”
What the hell does she mean! Maybe she had one Birile of Tej for breakfast!
“Yes I am all right? Why are you asking?”
“Have you seen your face in the mirror?”
Yes, it must be the morning Tej. I’ve spent the good part of the hour in front of the mirror with the aftershave and all that stuff and now that is the impression I deserved? Being asked if I’ve seen my face! I was lost in some maze of confusion when she comes to my rescue. “Take a look at your face.”
That’s what I did. I went to the rest rooms, faced the mirror and, No! No! That couldn’t be me! The face I was looking at wasn’t mine! It was so white it was as if pressed my face into a sack of flour. How could this have happened? Of course, it was the Tej. But that was Saturday and this was Monday. That Saturday passed as my first and last experience with the Tej!
I was telling you about the gentleman who liked the Tej. He usually returns home close to midnight and his wife goes into overdrive. He usually stays mute. But, when he feels like staying out overnight usually on eves he had developed this ruse of answering her in kind. And she says “Why did you come home? “Why don’t you spend the night with whom you’ve been drinking?” Without any additional word he darts out and spends the night elsewhere!
As the WWE guys say; “Don’t Try this at Home!” Ha!
Happy New Year!
The Ethiopian Herald September 11/2022