A Legend of the Dead

Chapter Five

35 A Legend of the Dead: Sequel to The Crown of Thorns Chapter Five Quem oderint dii, hunc pedagogem fecerunt. (Anonymous) T HE SOWA Government Primary School in Ngeungale of which Kevin Bekongncho was a coheadmaster ran a two shift system. Every other week one headmaster, a set of teachers and pupils attended classes from 7.30 am to 12 noon. Another headmaster took over with another set of teachers and pupils thereafter. Beckongncho had been on duty in the afternoons of the previous week. It was now Wednesday and he had had his afternoons free since Monday. On that sunny Wednesday he lay resting in his bedroom. It must have been around 2 pm when he heard the noise of a vehicle drive up to his compound and halt. He had not quite fallen asleep. He heard his dog bark several times round the house and as he sat up in bed he heard his small son tell his mother: “Mammy, soja de cam plenty for has.” Mrs. Beckongncho was dressed simply in a loin cloth which she wrapped over her breasts. Sowa could get very hot in the privacy of their homes. The woman went through the narrow corridor to meet the visitors in front of the house. They were not soldiers but policemen, three policemen. When she called the yelling dog and held it by the strap round its neck, the three men climbed down from the deep blue Jeep. “You go tie the dog-eh, madam,” one shouted carelessly. “Okey sa,” the woman answered. One of the windows of Beckongncho’s room overlooked the main road, so that when he pulled the curtain slightly he saw the visitors. At first he had thought the vehicle might belong to the parents of one of his pupils who visited him from time to time. When his wife, answering to the demand went to tie the dog behind the house, he noticed the three men walk assertively to the veranda. They were all carrying guns. 36 Linus T. Asong “Welcome sir,” Mrs Beckongncho said as soon as she came back. The man did not care about the greeting. “Where is Mr. Kevin Beckongncho?” he barked. His face remained cast in a mould of anger. “Come in sir. Sit down,” she implored. Two of the men walked through the veranda and stood at the open door. The woman went into one of the rooms presumably, according to them, to fetch her husband. That permitted them to look into the house. What they saw awed and impressed them. The roads in Hausa Quarters where Beckongncho lived were untarred and could become very dusty during the dry season. There was nothing anybody could ever do to keep out the dust from entering cupboards, bookshelves, wardrobes and even boxes. It was even said, though by way of an exaggeration, that a man once opened a tin of sardine in that quarter but could not eat it because of the amount of dust that had found its way into it. Yet, dusty as the whole environment was wont to be, there was not a single visible speck of dust either on the brown Formica top of the tables or the armchairs. There was a brown plastic carpet that ran from wall to wall. In the centre of the room was laid a large multi-coloured rug, probably purchased from Northern Nigeria, or from some Muslim who may have brought it back from a pilgrimage to Mecca. The portion of the carpet that was not covered by the rug and which showed between the armchairs in the centre and under the dining table at the far corner looked polished, as though someone had been hired to clean it every five minutes. Flowers hung from pots at various corners of the ceiling. The policemen lifted their eyes to the walls. The polished brownness of the wood around a massive wall-clock bespoke the same commitment to neatness. Above the clock in very bold lettering was carved the adage: CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS And indeed it was really next to godliness because on the wall opposite the clock hung two pictures of Christ, one with Him on the cross and the other with Him tending his flock. *** 37 A Legend of the Dead: Sequel to The Crown of Thorns Beckongncho was a God-fearing man, who no longer went to church. This needs to...