CHAPTER SIX

We stepped into the inn and it was very dark, a few lights that reeked off obscenity were found here and there, prostitutes hung out with scrawny men across the tables and chairs. Drunken promises were made and the air was frowsty, I held my nostrils together but the doctor seemed to savour the atmosphere, the doctor and I sat on two stools at a table and he beckoned on the barman.

My good man, the doctor called out waving at him

Sir, the man said turning around. His beard was unkempt, his arms were strong and he had large negroid lips and nose, his eyes were crimson and he looked a foot taller than everyone else in the room, his voice was deep and confident.

Get me vodka for my friend and I, the doctor told the man motioning to himself and I.

I won't have vodka, I intercepted. I'd rather have lemon juice

Just juice? The doctor asked taken aback.

Yes sir just juice, I don't drink alcohol

Teetotaller, the doctor said smiling

The barman looked amused and brought our orders.

We took our drinks in silence and once again, my mind flitted to the debauchery going on around me. In the 21 years of my existence in the city, I'd never been exposed to the immoral side of it. I'd always felt this kind of life existed in the Americas and Asia. Presently, a lass with elfin features had walked up to the doctor talking in the most improvised lecherous tone I'd ever heard in my life and the doctor was obviously enjoying her antics.

Before long, the lady and the doctor were kissing eagerly and groping their bodies, it was disturbing. I looked fixedly at the rows and columns of drinks arranged on a shelf behind the barman, the drinks were exortic and one could tell from the eccentric designs on the seemingly antiquated bottles. Someone tapped me on the shoulders and it was the doctor, he was already standing on his feet and smiling, I smiled too.

Are you scared of women or sex? He asked

I am not scared of women. I don't like them, I answered.

There has to be a reason, he quipped.

Sir, there is no particular reason. In my younger days, I wanted to be a priest. I told him

And so why didn't you become a priest? He asked.

Everything changed, my life changed. A lot of papal sins pervaded the church, I couldn't possibly be part of mortal sins in the church, I was never made for that, I emphasized.

The doctor heaved a sigh and sat again, his voice was nostalgic now; when I was a boy, I never knew I'd either be a doctor or an officer of the law. My father was a member of the papal guard in Rome and due to the intricacies and delicateness of his job, we rarely saw him. One day, he came home and never went back to Rome. Nobody asked him why he left his job. We were glad he was with us. He later joined the Navy and was killed. My mother took to the streets to fend for my little sister and I, I was well past 20 years old then, I left school and worked in a bar while my mother had male customers who came to her at night, he stopped talking and wiped a tear that cascaded down his scraggy face.

I am very sorry sir, I offered to console him.

He shook his head dolefully and continued; there was a night one of my mother's customers beat my mother up, it was a merciless battery. Many a time, she had stopped me from beating up her savage clients. This time, I was fed up, I lifted the veil that separated my room from my mother's room and saw her naked, bruised and absolutely humiliated yet unabashed. The man was ugly and had a heavy jowl, a towel was loosely tied around his loins and his shoulders drooped, I lunged at him and sent him sprawling to the floor, I stepped on his jaw severally and his dentures escaped his blooded mouth, my mother shrieked more out of panic than pain. I was undeterred, I lifted his limp body and twisted his neck, that was how I killed my first man, I buried him that same night at a nondescript location. In those days, it was very risky to tote a dead body undetected across the streets in a dark, still, chilly and impregnable darkness but I did it.

He paused his story once more, this time he wasn't crying, a sense of self-assurance and confidence overwhelmed him. I still gave him my undivided attention.

He continued, I later met one Dr.Sowerberry, he was a medical doctor, he took me in as his son and tutored me in Physics and other sciences. I took the requisite exams and studied medicine. God bless Dr.Sowerberry, he said

God bless him, I concurred.

Today, I'm a doctor and an officer of the law. I've been exposed to a lot of sex, drugs and murder but I have found some kind of fulfilment, fulfilment founded on an assurance that I've lived a good life, helped the sick, maintained law and order and eliminated criminals. I've also acquired wealth and I'm glad, he concluded smiling.

I don't count your achievements as fulfilment, I objected.

How then do I achieve fulfilment? He asked deliberately contorting his brow.

There is so much penury in this city, have you wondered why there is so much crime in this city? Have you ever wondered why pirates are all over the sea? Have you ever wondered why the city's finest ladies indulge in prostitution?

No, I've never wondered why, he said leaning his elbows on the table.

You've never wondered why because you've never cared about others. You've been selfish these years. You are only bothered about squashing these criminals and letting them die by the hangman's noose. The problem of this country is it's government and it's capitalists. Economic ravishers and saboteurs. You will agree with me despite the wealth owned by these capitalists, the peasants are underpaid and they live from hand to mouth. Obviously, they have to supplement their meagre sources of income and get back at their employers hence the pirates rob the capitalists on the high sea. The capitalists must be toppled, I don't know how but I know it will happen one day.

Do you believe in God? He asked

No I don't, I answered.

Who will topple the capitalists? He asked more curious.

There's a supervening force that guides this world, evil cannot prevail for all time. That force will lead to the downfall of the capitalists, I explained.

There's never going to be an end to the rule of capitalists, they make the laws, they are the law, they will continuously be in power. Don't be stupid enough to conceive the idea that the proletariat will rise one day and overthrow the capitalists.

Regardless of these things you say, I don't think you are right. Every cloud has a silver lining, This country will breathe fresh air one day, I added.

The doctor guffawed, he was sloshed.

Let's go to bed, I have female company, you can take the next room to mine.

That's not a problem sir, I said rising

So no women for you? He asked still unsure

None for me sir, I answered smiling