26/12/2023
24th December always reminds me of an unfortunate adventure i undertook in my early days in Nkar. It concerned entering a night club. By Irinson TaaNkar
It is this day back in the mid 80s while i was still in class five primary school that i first entered a dance hall. It was a night club at kingside, Nkar , called Kibáng(or a lake). To enter, you had to pay 25frs or prove that you would buy a drink once inside.
A top orange cost 100frs at the time. I had gone famous in the village for making a Christmas gun that could be "fired" using just one stick of safety match. My younger cousin Shushey Woyu Gideon was not yet interested in dancing but really wanted my gun. I sold it to him at 125frs. Tom had 150frs from his deals with harvesting coffee.
We informed Shey Njodzefon(RIP) the proprietor of Kibáng that we were now financially qualified to enter the club. He looked at us for long, examing our dresses. I wore a T-shirt with Shigwaalah drawn on the back. He hesitated, then allowed us enter, ushering us straight to the counter to buy top orange as a means to stay in.
For the first time in my life i was served a whole bottle of top that i didnt have to share with Eric and Jude😂. Tom warned me that the night would be long and that we had to be drinking a drop at a time to let it run through the night. This was not easy at all. Each time i took the bottle mouth to my lips, a strange magnetic force would hold it firmly there and despite my struggle to drink just a bit, i would suck out almost a full glass. How could one drink something so sweet slowly?
Tom pretended to control his rate of drinking but i saw him lost in dreamy ecstasy and bliss each time the bottle went to his lips and it stayed there too long to suck out only a drop.
The first shock i encountered was when one guy called Sylves got up to dance with Mary Disco (RIP). I had no idea before that moment that dancing meant holding a girl and dragging her tightly to one's chest.
"What are they trying to do like that? ???", I turned to Tom for explanations. He always claimed that he had entered many sophisticated night clubs at Berr and that once he was in one where Sally John was singing live.
" That's how they dance. I once danced like that with the junior sister of Ishaku at Berr. It gives a feeling i cannot explain with words. If we are lucky that Beri of Roo Mbii "accepts" us, you will feel it and stop asking me".
I was not satisfied with the answer and only had to watch in shock as Sylves kept manipulating Mary Disco, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Mary whom i thought was reasonable showed no sign of regret and swayed gracefully in and out of Sylves arms smiling.
About one hour after, Tom whispered into my ears:
" i know you have finished your top. Mine is gone too. Since it is dark and no one can see through our bottles, i will take them to the counter, move around there as if i am buying new ones, and then fill them with water. We will then drink the water throughout the night. No one will know and we will be allowed to keep staying in. Of course, we will be able to drink the water slowly because it's not like top orange "
His plan worked and we went drinking water. I saw guys i used to underlook, buying three full top orange bottles. I kept wondering where they were getting money from when i had to invent and sell a gun to buy one bottle.
"Taankar!!! ", a voice shouted above my shoulders. It was shey Njodzefon.
" Your father is outside with a cane, looking for you! ", he announced. My heart sank....
