(Short Story)
“A good name is better than a fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth,” King Solomon
One Sunday afternoon I headed to a nearby barbershop located at the crossroad of Olympia to get my hair cut short. It is a three-by-four room with a French window at the front. One feels not discomfort to sit long in the sunlit room as it is good for a live show, for vehicles shuttle the two way roads whose pedestrian walks are often thronged by passersby and standers-by some of which are taxi drivers, vendors and shoeshine boys.
That day my barber Roza failed to arrive in time though, via a phone, I assured in advance her coming.
Sat on a Sofa, after leafing through different newspapers laid out on the table and after reading different titles, I put down the papers back in place.
Another barber who was waiting for a client was sat beside me. He goes by Seid. Soon we began discussing things. As Seid lived in that area for half a century no person in the vicinity is stranger to him. From force of habit he was quick in laying bare imperfections of passersby whom he names inside out. He had a circular face erected on a wide shoulder devoid of a neck bridge. Foams are seen at both extremes of his lips whenever he talks. He likes talking touching the listener to grab attention.
“Do you see that fiend on the other side of the road?” pointing a finger he stared at me.
“Which one?” I casted curious eyes to where he pointed a finger.
“Do you mean the thin and tall man?”
“Yes, the one that looks like a bark pelted from a long tree and that comically walks by some magical means!”
“I know him. We are on bowing terms. He is one of the frequenters of churches. What do you want to tell me about him?”
“Sure, he seems one who lives in congruence with religious beliefs. But an official in the Wereda Land Management Administration Unit he tacitly takes bribes.”
“How?”
“He knows how to tighten or loosen the bolts creating bureaucratic red tape thanks to the long list of rules and regulations.”
“Is it to hide his filthy hands he puts on spiritual gloves on them?”
“Innocent civil servants live by the sweat of their brow, while the deceitful ones, who often project a pitiful face fatten by the day sucking the blood of the haves and have-nots alike,” Seid touched me on my arm laughing.
“The labyrinth of rules and regulations create a hotbed for corruption. To avoid hectic bureaucracy clients may resort to greasing palms. Cutting bureaucratic processes short is mandatory,” I punched the arm of the sofa unconsciously.
“For the maintenance of one’s fence, roof, and house or for the expansion of rooms on one’s premise free from any foul play, applicants will be forced to go through a long process full of hustles or they will be denied their rights. That is systematically forcing the applicant to grease service giver’s palms to take the hustle out of the intended task,” Seid once more touched me on the arm.
“On the flip side, such officials also take bribe to turn wrongful acts right,” I eyed him and added
“I see the candle of government service burns on both sides. Against such backdrop, the corrupt blemish the government’s image. The tragedy begs for the combing out measures of lechers.”
A minute of silence took place.
“My barber Roza said she would arrive shortly but I waited for her more than 45 minutes,” I pulled out my wristwatch from the sleeve of my left arm.
“Do not worry she will come soon. Whenever her client-turned concubines give her a call she is on her toes. She clears away in a jiffy as if she has a pair of wings,” ha ha he laughed.
Roza is a middle-aged woman with iron ball eyes, hooked nose, curvy hips and slender waist.
“Is she not married? I did see a ring on her middle finger,” I posed a question of ethicality with my eyes.
“Her stout husband is a timid gentleman, who discharges his husbandry and paternal duty well catering to all the demands of his wife and children,” he paused for a while and continued “But she is a woman whose belly lies in doors, while her bottom outdoors.”
“Which is what?”
“Is it for dinning purpose she goes home befouling her body elsewhere!” he laughed once more.
“I never thought she was that type of person. Once she told me about her blissful marriage.”
“You mean her theatrical marital bliss.”
Giving me such food for thought he made me to spend an hour in the barber shop.
“What you claim seems true, otherwise, she couldn’t have waited that long,” I said dismayed by her being late in reporting to duty.
“What about your client what happened to him?” I passed a message of you are idle too.
“He will come. Though he lives in a hell hall, he is a man of inflated ego. Like a peacock he likes to show off. He gives exorbitant tips. I offer him preferential treatment. As if a business tycoon, he is open fisted. But often he is sure to give a negative feedback at the end. He derives satisfaction from humiliating the humble and subordinates,” he expressed a feeling of ‘I do not give a dam whether he comes or not’ swinging his right arm.
“How do you respond when he provokes you?” I expressed curiosity.
“Once we did quarrel. I disrupted giving him service under different pretexts but as Roza finds his verbal lashing insufferable he was forced to implore for my service persistently demanding for it,”
At that point Roza arrived heavily breathing.
“Sorry for letting you wait a bit longer. There was jamming. I had to comfort my neighbor who was smote by grief,”
She prepared the chair for me and said “Do hop on!”
At that point Seid winked at me via the big glass hang on the wall in front of me.
“Shall I shave your mustache too?” Roza touched my chin with soft fingers.
“Yes!” I said.
Fifteen minutes later she brushed my neck and took a gown that resembles the one a waiter puts on.
When I got up to leave, a little girl with tattered clothes and a fluid that drips out from her nose came into the room and begged me to buy her a chewing gum. I bought three sticks and handed out to Roza and Seid each. The little girl said “Thank you!” when I divided mine in to two parts and gave her the bigger portion. She ran out quickly.
“What a pitiful soul! She should have gone to school than fending for herself,” I saw her off with my eyes.
“That lady with a long dress standing by the butchery is her mother. Going to bars late at night to sell peanut and fried beans she recklessly hatches too many children whom she makes vendors,”
Making haste to add another acerbic remark Seid pointing his finger and touching my arm said,
“Look at the meatball that rolls on the asphalt ducking his head nonstop like fence lizards which do pushups.”
“What about him?”
“He is a newspaper journalist who calls himself an investigative one. Once, we wanted to expose the corrupt practices of a service rendering organization nearby.”
“Did you approach him?”
“Yes, he took a list of complaints from victims to challenge the head at the main office. The head, on his part, was asking tangible evidences,”
“Did he come up with the report?”
“No, despite the pile and pile of evidences he got from us he put a hold on the investigation amidst heightened expectation on our side.”
“What a shameful thing!” my tone betrayed vexation and regret.
“Presumably, he back pedaled taking bribe from the official who feared he will be deposed from his position if exposed,”
“If a steward turns a thief disastrous becomes the outcome,” I said.
“Must you bend his ears with mishmash,”Roza frowned on Seid.
Looking at my hair she posed
“How is it?”
“Nice you put me on the right side of 40,” I laughed.
Roza bowed bending from her waist putting her right arm on her chest. Paying 100 birr and a 10 birr tip when I was about to leave
Handing out the 100 birr note to Seid loudly Roza said
“Seid, I got your ex-wife today. She said it has been three months since you gave her alimony for the upkeep of your children. Go give her 100 birr she badly needs. You will pay me back later,” she looked him with denigrating eyes. He felt a bit ashamed for I heard what people say about him too. He took the money with a confused feeling of shame and ease.
The saying when a person points a belittling finger at others three fingers point at him/her bubbled up to the surface of my mind emanating from the back of it.
Outside I was disturbed terrified that the lashing tongues of Seid will not spare me true to the Amharic proverb “When the image of your friend is tarnished, be sure that next is your turn,”
Caring for one’s name and leaving positive- impacting legacy are salient tasks expected from mankind as per the proverb put at the prelude of this story.
BY ALEM HAILU G/KRISTOS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2023
