Sunday, December 23, 2007

leaving wum

4/3/2003:
at Dreamland in Bamenda... nice cool ride up from Wum. rain been falling. last night and this afternoon. places are green and fresh. nice ride up. i’ve said this before, as much as i like a hot/dry climate, tropical weather is much more befitting to Wum. much more.

anywho... taking the overnight to Douala. was finally able to leave Wum and decided the sooner the better... besides, overnights are cooler. and safer to come into Douala at sunrise than sunset. and this way i’ll make jum'aa, insha’Allah.

OK... let me just wrap-up Wum issues. there are some things in life that when you pass through them make you wiser. almost overnight. you end up seeing things exactly for what they are. people, too. things and people unmasked. hierarchy in this country is an amazing, intriguing thing. someone acting like a god one day and showing deference to the point of indignity the next. the commissioners were singing a different tune yesterday... glad the SDO pulled weight. glad my APCD talked big. who knew that would come in handy one day?

anywho... the A1 (First Assistant and, in this case, acting SDO) heard me out. found the whole thing amusing, i think. said that i, in calling this a small thing that’s become way too big, didn’t understand how this country works. right. said he was sure that the US Embassy already knew and that the wouldn’t be surprised if he got a call from the Presidency (Cameroonian, of course) asking him what’s up. right. he agreed that the matter shouldn’t go any further. the Commish of Special Branch came in and explained himself. said nothing about taking this to court. SDO said if i didn’t want it, no court. and the matter, as far as he was concerned, was closed.

so today, Muhammadu and i went over to Special Branch and collected his ID. no problem. then i went over to Public Security and collected—no, picked up the original of my file, made 2 photocopies and kept one myself. it’s here with me going to Yaounde. no problem there, either. as for Muhammadu.... i don’t know. just don’t know. i worry ‘bout that kid. his family. his people. i worry.

last night he came over and we talked again. he surprised me by saying he was going to sell the bike. really, i was quite surprised... thought i’d gotten through to him. wrong. afraid i wasn’t surprised when, not even 10 minutes later, he said maybe he’d just pack the bike away for now, let this cool (esp. as i’d be away) and only give it back to the permanent driver later. yeah... whatever Muhammadu. do whatever you want. i give up. i give up.

i was saying that things like this somehow make you instantly wiser. check this:
  • Big Man... there will always be someone bigger than you. someone to go over your head to. someone you will have to give deference to. that’s when you’re doing wrong. but when you’re doing right... there’s no such thing as a...
  • Small Man. a man doing right cannot be gone over. does not have to give deference. except to God. and that’s the point. the hadith that God’s laws on right & wrong are his sanctuary. stay within their bounds and you are protected. stray. even just go grey. then you’re on your own. always someone bigger. always over your head. always giving deference.

No comments:

Post a Comment