Dial - Season 2 - Episode 79

4 years ago

Dial - Season 2 - Episode 79

The Holy Man came round the bench and sat down beside me, and then he smiled as his eyes took on a reminiscent light.
“I’ll never forget that young man,” he said quietly. “He saw the plight my mother was in, and he inquired about what was going on. I told him amidst tears. He was holding six roasted fingers of ripe plantain and two small sachets of peanuts. He gave three fingers of plantain to my hungry mother, gave me two, and ate only one. Hmm, he gave a sachet of peanut each to me and my mother, saying he was alright, he didn’t need any with his.”

The Holy Man snapped his hand suddenly and plucked a green apple from the air. He rubbed it absent-mindedly on his chest, and then bit into it with a satisfied grunt.

He chew reflectively for a while, and then took another bite.

“It didn’t end there, Yao,” he said gently. “That young man told the authorities not to pay him, but instead offset his charges for the furniture he had supplied against my mother’s medical cost. You see, we had no way of finding money to pay that debt, but that young man selflessly helped us, even though it was evident he needed the money so badly.”

“Quite a story,” I said, unimpressed. “And what has that got to do with me, if I may ask?”

“Well, everything, actually,” he said with a little smile. “I never forgot that man. Later in life I searched for him, but I couldn’t find him. You see, he gave his name as Kyekyeku Kweku, but later in life he changed it to Kweku Biko.”

It hit me hard, and I could only stare at him blankly for a moment, unable to speak.
“My Pappy?” I asked hollowly.
“Yes, your father, Yao,” the Holy Man said sadly. “Later, when I heard Akos was dead, I wanted to find everything about you, and there I was, totally shocked to see that the son of the young man who had helped me and my family so long ago was now an irresponsible womanizer taking women for granted and misusing them. I owed it to that man, a man I wished I had seen again, to make sure that his son at least became a good man in the world. And so I decided to do everything God would allow me to do, just to change you, Yao Biko. I owed it to the good deed your father did me a long time ago.”
I could only stare at him with a gaping mouth.
Suddenly, a lot of things made sense to me…absolute and perfect sense.