...Is it by how old one is?
By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye
I knew him so well. Well enough to know him to be the no-nonsense type of guy, the type that was rugged and will never take insults lightly especially when it is coming from a minor, heavens, that person's gonna get the beating of his life if he enters into his trap. His no-nonsense attitude made him command fear but it almost got him in jail once.
Don't think I am about to bore you with some shitty story about a guy you don't know from Adam, we are talking about age and experience here.
Then I saw him from a distance, able to notice how dirty and stressed out he was and I saw two bald boys, very much younger than him apparently judging from how sweaty and dirty they were in their "blue cowboy v-shaped pants" (how the hell they were wearing the same child-like costume, I don't know), making all sorts of movement before him and if I am not mistaken, one could deduce from the kinds of moves they were making, including slamming their hands together right in front of his face, boy, how annoying that can be and that wasn't all, they went as far as pushing their face towards his, placing their middle fingers on both side of their chicks, pushing out their tongue so that it danced between their upper and lower teeth, producing a bubbling sound and giving such ugly smirk which transformed the whole blurry picture into super HD, clear enough to wipe off my doubts... They were mocking him, they were actually mocking this no-nonsense guy I know so well and he couldn't even dare to beat the nonsense out of them.
So what happened? What could have rendered Mr No-nonsense so impotent?
FLASHBACK
...Still on the age matter....
The boys, seven in number, have come together in the fight for supremacy. They want to know who is the best at playing the table tennis and they have come up with no other way to discover who the best is other than the dumbest way possible... Gambling.
The rule is: Anyone sure of himself and his abilities will put down N1000 and for anybody you beat, you are winning double-your money and his money. The guy who wins most is the best.
Enters Mr No-nonsense, how I love just calling him that. This guy knows nothing about playing Table Tennis but he doesn't want to pass off the chance of going home with over N5000 so he decides to join the Gambling game with the only N1000 with him.
His participation made the boys the seven they were but seven can't battle each other. It has to be even because they want to be one on one. Hence, they are left with no choice than to create a challenge that will see one person lose and then the remaining six can compete.
Mr No-nonsense cannot play, so he has to choose someone that will help him out but unfortunately, no one watching is skillful enough to help him out and no one is bold enough to risk giving it a shot and make Mr No-nonsense lose what happens to be the only money with him, it is a debt one would never dream to incur but then there is a young, short boy in pants only, rolling a black Tyre to and fro who is so eager to play and he calls on the No-nonsense guy to allow him play.
He burst into uncontrollable laughter seeing the tiny boy that wants to play Table Tennis on a table practically almost taller than him but the guy insists he is sure of himself because this is not the first time he is doing Standard Table Tennis Gambling.
"At your age!?"
Other competitors convince him to allow the young boy play falsely testifying that they have witnessed him play the game before and are amazed at how good he is at it. They just want him to allow the boy play and lose his money just like that. At least, it would be their own gain.
He gives the young guy the go ahead but not without threatening to kill him if he loses. What immense pressure he has put on a young boy who is only trying to help already but the boy amazingly shakes off the pressure with so much ease and wisdom and he beats that one competitor in the challenge to survive the first stage of the game. EXPERIENCE!
You can only imagine the kind of mood "No-nonsense" will be in.
They go into the Gambling proper and this young boy in blue pants impresses again despite his hilarious stature up against the seemingly "high table".
He eases into the penultimate stage where he faces another guy that almost knock him out and trust him, Mr No-nonsense never stops yelling at this guy forgetting that he wouldn't have gotten this far in the first place if not for the young boy, AGE!
The boy narrowly defeats his opponent against all odds and enter the final but then...
Enters (Mr I-sabi-am)- Let me introduce you to this guy. He was the type that everyone wanted on the team when it came to playing Table Tennis. He was damn good and he was a close friend of Mr No-nonsense before he gained admission into a higher institution and he stopped playing Table Tennis.
After two years, he is back in his community now and he wants to make up for all the fun time he missed with his friends and to spice up the whole situation, he sights his friend and others watching some set of people playing what was his favorite game. The noise, cheers and clapping, how could he miss the fun.
Mr No-nonsense sees his long time friend and they do those things friends who have not seen each other in a long time do.
Knowing him to be a guru when it comes to playing the game, he snaps his fingers at the young boy and bullies him from the table saying, "make way for my padi, na him be boss o and na him go play ma final. All those rubbish we u don dey play for me go end now. I am winning this dough men. Watch ur oga play", forgetting how good the boy has been.
Others try to stop his move of changing players claiming it is cheating but who dare to challenge the guy that doesn't take shit from anybody.
The young boy watches in sadness and embarrassment as tears roll down his cheeks and he regrets playing for an ingrate in the first place.
He would go on to smile though in the end as he watches as the opponent humiliates Mr I-sabi-am 21-0. Here is the guy that Mr No-nonsense believed so much in.
The boy cannot control his laughter as he watches as Mr No-nonsense loses all the money he had helped him win in the first place. He is left with nothing.
No-nonsense is burning with fury. I-SABI-AM tries to cool him down saying with all smiles,"guy, no vex na, maybe today no be ma day. U know dat I be d oga for dis tin and besides, it's been long I played d game na" but No-nonsense is not in a smiling mood, he grabs his hand on a big stick, picks up a broken bottle with his left hand...
****
I yelled at them to stop their chants of mockery at my friend...Oh!Did I just call him my friend?! Well, I couldn't call him that No-nonsense shit in the mood he was, afterall, he was obviously enduring things more than "nonsense" already and he was just too ashamed to react. He looked so melancholic, powerless and vulnerable and here is the guy everyone feared so much, he was actually being extremely ridiculed by two choncholo boys in nothing but PANTS. I couldn't feel more sorry. I took out my belt in attempt to whip them but they knew better, they fled as fast as their small feets could carry them rolling their black tyres along.
He was young but much more experienced. He was a street boy and he was pretty much used to Table Tennis gambling atmosphere. He had played with and against his colleagues and those older and better than him. He had tasted defeat and success before. He had been mocked because of his height. He had made mistakes and learned from them. He had sharpened his skills and mastered the table so who else was the best option if not him and instead of the guy whom last played Table Tennis two years ago. Even if he was the best then and even if he was older, the young lad had the experience and he would have won Mist...I don't want to call him that again, he would have won my friend the game and he won't be left with absolutely nothing.
In the end, he learnt that experience is not by age but by the knowledge and skills that you have gained through doing something for a period of time.
Cancel that mentality, you don't have to be old or young to claim to be an experience person in doing something. It's about having substantial ideology, skill and wisdom after several days, weeks, months, years of practice and it is not by how long you have lived.
Live inspired.
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