The Book of Odd

I have locked myself up in the room since I first started attending my university studies, the only thing I do is attending my classes and markets. I have neither a friend nor relationship, my siblings dumped me feeling useless for I have always been a friend of these others. I can’t talk of my friends, it’s rare rare they come to visit me for being inhumane.

It costed me nothing to hang around with a girl but I felt comfortable being alone I was neither happy nor sad because I felt comfortable with it but I felt sad the way my colleagues reached out of me. In all these it does not mean I didn’t have someone whom I had feelings for.

“Swazi” even though I felt pity of the name but deep down I wasn’t surprised with the name because it was the way I was “Swazi” is the description of someone who is afraid of girls taken from Hollywood actor anord Swazinegger.

I have always been hoping for the future of which I lately realised that I was living in the future. I was hoping for it but I didn’t take it too serious when my brother said ‘'kukula konseko basi mulibe chibwenzi". That was the time a young couple was passing it hurted because even the brother who said this was young to me.

I have been living in a small town named Ekwendeni in the northern region of Malawi, the country in which it seems like there is political instability whereby leaders seem to have rule for self benefits something that makes me to not easily associate too because most of the times people debate much of politics of which I feel like it’s none of my business though it surely affected us all. It’s a country where democracy hurts even more and corruption was the leader’s daily bread. It’s not more than 2 years since people voted for a multi-party election hoping all things will change and I wasn’t among the voters.

“Am thinking of writing the book of my lifetime of which time couldn’t allow me”. We are now in fifty fifth anniversary cerebrating independence day of which we have over 25 years of multi party democracy, life seems to be ruined like the way were the time when we were colonised or either one party rule. By then we're were closer to graduation.

"Chikumbutso! Chikumbutso! Why are you late today? " I haven’t even taken a bath by then but I was expected to be in class by 2 O’clock pm and it was 1:30 pm. Jordan came to pick me up for the class “Oh hey bro am sorry am not even prepared I’ve been busy the whole day I didn’t even remember that we are having a class this afternoon”I replied.

Speaking from the truth I have all the way touched nothing except cooking the breakfast of which spent my whole time reading a certain story from facebook of which its story I could relate to the one of which happened to me and my ex. I couldn’t do anyhow but to tell him to wait a little for me even though he had no time to wait any more. I went inside my room only to wash my face, hands and legs. I couldn’t imagine myself, it took only 5 minutes to show up to him again.

‘Eeh, man, what were you doing all that time’, he asked me with an angry face. I could tell that he was surely exhausted.

"What’s the time? "I asked him of which I wasn’t stable by then thinking of what is going to happen at school because the class we were going to attend was sociology and the lecture who was teaching us the course is Mr Ndeule who embarrasses the late comers which made most of the girls drop his course.

We were about to arrive in class, checking time it was 5 minutes late. Lately I remembered that I didn’t close my room in the boys quarter I was staying of which the previous week one of our colleagues lost his laptop, the area has a lot of marijuana smoking boys and beer drinking guys the area is full of moral decay among youth and also dogs used to enter in and eat foods "eeh nigga you eat well my grandma used to tell me if dogs frequently visits your home then things are better at that house " I didn't respond to what he was saying, I was caught up with terror by then we had been 8 hours of no electricity I had no phone any more to call my neighbour.

Even though I wasn’t stable in my mind I could only accept my friends questions when he was speaking but telling you I couldn’t hear any word even though we noticed that I was no longer concentrate but he kept on speaking to me. “Do you know that this government is even more worse than the ones we have had, this is more worse, they were just full of promises of which they are also failing to fulfil. You know what leading a poor nation like this one is not that easy? ”he asked to my no concentration .

But all in all my responses were just nodding the head or producing a word like mmmmmmh! We later moved over a long distance without saying anything" I knew that something is wrong with you"he said, actually, I was thinking of my ex who had dumped me few days ago with the reasons I don’t even know, I even thought may be soul mate had moved out from the town because it been so long why I couldn’t meet her . I said to myself in my mind.

“Is that not Joshua? ” I asked in a shocked way because it was so strange to see him outside by the time when everyone is supposed to be in class. “Yes he is, there are no classes today the teacher has gone to his home village there is a funeral his father has kicked a bucket” This was Tadala answering from our back actually I didn’t even notice her presence. By the time she was holding Jordan in the waist from the back, I was overwhelmed with the news that the teacher was not present even though the reason was unpleasing because I was caught up with fear and also remembering my unclosed door at my room but on the other side It was sad in such a way that he lost his father. I thought I just waisted my time forcing love from my ex-girlfriend because she had never treated me in the way Jordan had been treated this time.

I had to run back home to check on the door, I found that the door was wide open with some strange footprints on the whole compound my heart beated so fast like I was running an Olympic race thinking of my computer which I thought I wouldn't replace soon and also information which I had stored In it of which I just left on the mattress.

''I think something is wrong In this area" This time I was asking myself questions after hearing no noise from anyone in the area ever since I came in after checking that everything was okay in my room, eventually I saw a certain guy trying to close zip on his trouser, "hey ndiwe Njani?" this was tumbuka translation meaning "who are you" but the guy seemed to be in a hurry and he didn't even worst his time answering my question instead he shouted to me "Munthu wazimangirira uku" meaning someone has committed suicide, I was surprised I wanted to ask more but the guy had already gone actually this is not the first time we have had the suicide case in this area a week before we also had another one who committed suicide because of investing the money his wife is keeping for village bank staking it on bet and he lost all money. It’s not only this guy I also I heard about it the time I was running to check on the door but I didn’t take it serious, it seems like someone had committed suicide because his wife had cheated on him. She kept on stressing him. She thought he didn’t take it serious. This time I had to close the door to follow that guy’s path.

Chilimbitso! One of my friend called me from the shop as I was passing. “Where are you heading to?” he asked. I have heard that someone has committed suicide so I wanted to see”.

"Aah ukunena a Tchuwa", that guy kusamva (meaning he was stubborn) the guy said he has been forcing that relationship ever since people has been telling him that his wife is cheating on you koma kusamva hmmm anadyetsedwa meaning he was given love portion today he found them by himself as he was coming back from work . "He explained" .

I stopped there for a while to hear from the guy that’s when we saw long car cue on the road. We weren’t surprised because we knew it was our president who said was coming to the north for developmental activities of which we can’t even point the significant of development made by him, the only people’s review was a cry of fuel, money and the rising of prices of goods.

“Hahahaha! This guy was just a waste of time voting for him” the shop owner Mr Benza complained.

Imagine a bale of sugar was on ten thousand kwacha last year and today is on twenty thousand kwacha, I went to order the things for the shop, things went totally different from the way I planned, he continued.

I didn’t have a comment on this even though I wanted to but I failed. “I have even heard that they have quarrelled with his colleague he made an alliance with”. My friend added.

Imagine the things these guys promised us on the campaign, you can’t imagine they are the people who have ruled the government worse. Mr Benza said. Few minutes later after the president had passed, my ex- girlfriend came in and entered the shop I wanted to get in I can’t lie even though I failed to follow her up but I was still in love with and this time she was shining even more than before.

"Man mukuganiza chani "(man what are you thinking?) My friend asking after noticing that I wasn’t there anymore, my mind was just full of memories of the time I was with her. I lately discovered that she has also disappeared, my heart hurt because I wanted to follow up on her when she gets out of the shop, unfortunately I missed her. Few minutes later I heard my phone ringing unfortunately I didn’t answer it I was late but it was my father from the village. Lately I remembered that I was supposed to attend youth get together at the church but it was 1 hour late, I let it go off my mind this time it was 4:30 pm, I returned home.

Two days later. “ you know what I have been wondering the same things” this was the voice of my ex girl friend talking from my back, I didn’t know what they were talking about but I can tell that she was truly happy of which it hurted inside me. But I knew that that’s how life was. Life wasn’t easy though deep down she wanted me back taking from her social media posts. But we all physically denied each other.

“Hey bro” I think I’ve seen you before” someone just asked me I guess I knew the guy but I couldn’t tell who he was. I responded as if I really knew him though deep down I knew that I had no knowledge of who he was.