Buzz bar

On arrival at the Buzz bar, Ken's appearance was quite charming and so, he was warmly received with a gentle reverence. Flashily dressed in his usual gold-shining black suit, his gaudy attire was tantamount to that worn by most successful people during their weddings. It was his club-going attire.

He hit the place more than the buzzing sound of the music being played in the background, which had seized everybody's senses leaving them with only two options, 'shake the body and fill the mouth with liquor'. 

All men who were busy dancing with beautiful ladies gave up on recognizing his presence.

It was said Ken was the most handsome rich man in the area and so, no one had the authority to dance with the most beautiful ladies in his presence. They were all his queens, and so he was the king. Even the poor able-bodied men feared the upshot of bribery in courts of law and they always kept their tails short.

"I am now… now… now glad to say, the room is complete!"

A lady loudly uttered as she hastily advanced. That was enough to inform other men that the man had arrived and so they had to step aside. She was getting closer to Ken.

But, when Ken dashed into the dance ground, a brown prettily looking lady with glittering eyes and a dimple-accompanied smile approached him like a shot, swaying lively in a manner that attracted every man's attention. She moved in on, and the former was dumbfounded.

The displaced men watched their interesting moves in rage, though ostentatiously wearing some smiles on their faces and assuming they were watching a performance on the stage. Meanwhile, the exhausted ones bowed their heads to assuage their deprived dance desires. 

"Oh …! My queen, where have you always been? Can you imagine your pace is such a snappy one and your face can enkindle a candle? Could you be my queen forever even after here?" He asked in adoration.

She was very amused and proud. She pulled out her tongue and licked her lips while blinking constantly and glancing in almost all directions for all people to approve of her joy. Ken was single and he had never proposed to any lady. Maybe by luck, she had won his heart.

"Yes, I agree! And I am ready to march with you to your place after here," she replied.

Other ladies and men were thrown into total disappointment. Almost every man would wish to have her for their wife but because they were poor, they had to keep to their levels otherwise they would still be disappointed even after taking such a beautiful person to their homes. The rich would come with their money, coax her, and take her away. It would therefore be a disgrace to them. Nevertheless, her undisputed beauty could add more value to their homes and even the compound.

The grimace that hit their faces from nowhere forced them to move out of the place quietly. Fewer men than ladies moved. Could the latter be less temperamental?

"King is for the whole territory!"

Ken boasted about although his rough voice only augured infuriation and no peace as he saw very many other beautiful but timid ladies shy away.

"Come on, please! I do not discriminate. All ladies have a probability of one for getting married to me. Peace, love, kindness, honesty, and faithfulness are the reflection of me. So, take your beer in harmony with others!" He encouraged them. The other lady remained faint-hearted and stuck on him though.

Ladies started flooding near him like bees on a flower with sweet-smelling nectar and he immediately seized control of the place as the king. Even the distant ladies in dark corners who could not have seen him perceived his presence through their nostrils. The perfume he used couldn't be more classic.

A bar attendant was standing by, carrying a crate of beer and welcoming every newly selected lady with a bottle of beer.

"Only give out a bottle if I recommend it," Ken said from time to time.

Whoever was a man, whether able-bodied or not had no option but to dance with ladies he had neglected as ugly or to ask for beer through calling him 'King'.

When you call him 'king', you receive a bottle of beer that was his fame that day. Everyone came around calling him 'king, king, king' and finally, he became impoverished.

Ken, on realizing that his pocket was nearly emptying, had to evade the ladies skillfully and sequester himself for his abode. So, he requested the ladies who had skirted him to render him a little time on the pretext that he would move and ease himself.

"Oh, dear Queens, could we call this the first episode of our dance for today?" He said, smiling and touching every lady's cheek. "Yes let it be called so, my bladder demands a relief. I shall be back soon but make sure you continue practicing so that by the time I come back your waists are even more flexible," he added.

"Practicing with whom? Just hurry and be back. We are waiting!" A lady replied. Consequently, they all considered his request though one insisted on accompanying but he refused.

"Pave way for the King!" Another lady uttered.

All men who sat close to Ken's path all rose on their feet and waved to him who walked majestically like a king before them.

On coming out into darkness, his senses were no more. Hardly could he remember the direction of his residence. The environment was dark and seemed insecure. His afterthought was to move back to the dancehall but that would be self-betrayal.

"Safety, safety, Safety! Where are you? Come on, please come on and protect he who leaves no trouble where he finds no trouble. For he is peaceful. We move!" Speaking to himself, he started staggering along the road that led to no one's home.

After walking a reasonable distance, every object that met his eyes resembled his house. Though some appeared smaller, they were real images of his house.

When he chanced upon an anthill, it was his real house. No one can tell whether he was transforming into an ant, an insect that moves over very long distances but does not forget its habitat. He tried to climb it but, he slid and fell off. So, he decided to find a comfort zone for himself so long as it was adjacent to his domicile.

"My house you are always safe for me because I invested well in you. I love you and I don't always forget you no matter whatever distances I travel away from you." He loudly and proudly said before he could take a rest.Early morning the next day, as many patients passed by heading to Lagoro Health Center IV, they were surprised to find a person lying helplessly in a garden just a few meters from the main road with half his body enclosed in a clump of rolled dry grass like a python, but roaring like a lion trying to protect its cub.

Many people proceeded unmoved as it was seen as normal for the drunkards of the area. But, when two men moved closer to vet the person and his situation, they were shocked to realize it was their nurse.

One of the two was his beer-and-party friend and the other, was a known wrestler and a member of the same residence with him. His name was Don.

"Sigh! Ken! Ken! Nurse! No… no… no!" The man wondered, calling out to him loudly. "This must be a ghost in Ken's image. I can't believe he is the one that I know!"

"Are you serious? You can't believe he is the one?" Don did not hesitate to approve if his statement was rooted.

"Yes!" he replied with unmeasurable confidence, appearing to be even more serious and realistic about the matter. He was so determined and unshaken by the fact that Don was so tall and able-bodied. He trusted his own two natural wheels more than the man's stability, but he was blank about him also being a wrestler.

"I can't believe my ears!" Don wondered in astonishment. "Are you okay?" His eyes turned red and his face too reddened.

"Yes! I stand by my words. He is not the one. That is a ghost!" He stamped on the ground and gazed at Don. The latter was taken aback by his behaviour. Why would he behave such strangely?

The man's diverging opinion blew Don's stack. He felt like ruining him in no minute with a punch. He gaped his mouth in vexation, but his teeth remained stuck on one another. Then tears flowed out of his eyes. His temper became quenched immediately. How much pain would he inflict on the man if he were to punch him?

The man did not give a damn about what he saw and instead insulted Don, "Cry if you feel like it. That's why we are welcoming tears to solve our problems!"

Don's rage had been quenched and he responded in a low soothing voice, "You are blessed. If it were not for laws, by now people would be grieving in pain your decease. Nevertheless, there is no doubt! He is the Ken, the nurse, and the one you know." Raising his voice, "Stop that pretense, or else you are informing me that you are a fellow ghost trying to mask the truth! Are you drunk?"

"No!"

"Did you attend the Buzz bar party yesterday?"

"No!"

But he was there, and among the displaced men who gave up and painfully watched what was transpiring.

"Are you his relative?"

"No!"

"Are you his friend?"

"No!"

"Are you a fellow ghost?"

"No!"

"Are you mad?"

"No!"

"No, no, no...! Are you 'No'?

"No!"

"No sense! Clod, shut up your dirty mouth! How did you get to know him?"

Silence took over. The man gazed quietly at Don without blinking.

Pointing at the man with his long fingers, Don said in a low tone, "Listen! It is now very clear why he harasses patients at the facility."

His voice peaked suddenly, "Answer me 'Number one!' whenever I propose or else you will also taste the hot soup that Ken is now swimming in!"

"Drinking?"

"Number one!"

"Harassing patients?"

"Number one!"

"Partying?"

The man kept silent then. He was Ken's close friend who always took a lot of beer bought by Ken during partying. The day before they were together but because he was displaced much earlier, he quit earlier. So, he felt like by answering the question as prompted, he would be betraying himself too.

"Partying?" Don repeated with a more intense voice.

The man took off and fled like a rebel caught off guard, leaving behind a good amount of dust. Don closed his eyes out of the blue, to protect his delicate cold eyes from the dust. He was to some extent convinced that his life was in danger, the man could be a ghost. Was he a car to raise such an amount of dust?

The man's terrorizing escape startled many pedestrians frightened that they could easily think a rebel might have launched an attack in the area.

But on seeing Don from over a distance, they gained a conviction that their security was assured. So, they moved closer to the scene to see what was transpiring. What if the situation was to run out of hand?