THE BIGGEST OF DREAMS

 

The sweet sound of the good old copper bell broke the boring silence and the usual chorus was heard across the school compound…… “thank you, teacher, we are going out for break!”

Boys immediately congregated in a circular formation……….

“I and you who may ‘bisquit’ out!?”

“I and you who may ‘bisquit’ out!?”

“I and you who may ‘bisquit’ out!?”

The game of Tag, as it is ‘dadabiciously’ referred to these days.

Eloh, one of the contestants, became the last man standing and therefore had to do the chasing.

Eli, another contestant, quickly crossed his fingers and shouted “Askis” just when Eloh closed in and was about to ‘tag’ him. No way! Come on! Even my class-3-brain told me that the excuse was spurious but “how we go do am?”.

The game resumed and after a long fruitless chase, Eloh became frustrated and decided to quit. According to the rules of the game, each member of the squad administered 3 solid knocks on his head; a fair punitive measure against quitting. “You dare not spoil the fun!”

Edem’s knock was the loudest. So loud was it that even the girls playing “ampe” at the other end of the compound heard it. I quickly suspected the motivation behind that brain-damage-threatening knock. It was payback time for either Eloh’s refusal to assist him with an Ewe Language assignment or the overflow of a bitter memory of the sharing of a certain condensed-milk toffee; the sharing of that toffee was so heavily shrouded in corruption to the extent that Edem had to go home “empty-throated” that day.

For your information, “I and you!” was one of the alternative games for boys who had NOT been looked upon favourably by the Ball Owner (he was usually a half-baked “dadabi” kid who severely lacked football acumen but owned a football). It was no secret that the magnitude of power wielded by the ball owners of our time was terrifying!

Folks, there were several reasons why a ball owner would not give you “sele”:

Edem was fond of playing “shot”; he had the proclivity of shortening the life span of the ball.

Gavor did not like passing the ball to the ball owner very often; this behaviour was tantamount to subversion.

Eli plays too much ‘skills’; that was an unacceptable attempt to share in the ball owner’s glory.

As for Eloh, if I were the ball owner, I would definitely not have given him “sele”. In fact, his stomach-direction kicks were just too many. He even once scored an annoying own-goal from the center circle during an inter-class match against class 3B. The most disappointing part was that it was a ‘last-goal-to-close’ agenda. Even though I did not know how to lose appetite for “Akple”, I had to lose a bit of it on that day when the class 3B girls started singing, “mi du wo dzi! ele dorme ve na we!”, “mi du wo dzi! ele dorme ve na we!” (to wit: we have triumphed over them and they are greatly pained).

As for me, a very prolific winger in my own right, the ball owner simply hated me because I refused to share a very small piece of “atsifufui” and “starch-kpornor” (very delicious snacks of our time) with him on two different occasions. That was a grievous sin and I knew it. Hmm…in such situations, the temptation to steal your mother’s “coinsequences” (our own plural form of coin) to buy either “apormpi” or “otomatik/Case 5” (lower priced alternatives to the professional ball) and call the bluff of the ‘devil’ (ball owner) was very high. But thankfully, the early Sunday School lessons at Mr. Tayviah’s (of blessed memory) medical village residence with Kwasi Adu and co kept us in check.

I had a dream! A very big dream it was....

…that one day, my ten little fingers will hold my own brand new “Case 5”. I will patiently wait for the bell boy to do his routine job. And when it rings, I will majestically take the lead to the stony pitch with the ball tightly secured under my left armpit. Boys will follow me with songs of praise and adoration. Some of them will buy snacks (aliha-block with polo) and profusely bribe me with it. I will seize the opportunity to slap bigger and stronger boys very hard on their cheeks and effortlessly compensate them with “sele”. I will become the greatest ball owner of all time!!!

I waited for so long but this dream never came to pass. I only became a sad-faced youth, holding tightly onto a thin thread of hope and patience.

Folks, I eventually came to the realization that, we don’t need everything to be happy, especially so if our happiness is dependent on exploiting others. God knows what is good for us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11.

Have a blessed day!

Image Source:

https://www.google.com/searchq=BALL+OWNER&rlz=1C1GCEU_enGH1007GH1007&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjh7eD38f_4AhVwhc4BHUqlBGwQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw#imgrc=PRY9aQ5EWhhVIM Date Accessed:17/07/2022

Created: April, 2010

Edited: May, 2022