As Lazzo passed by the wayside, a long-time colleague called out to him and said he had some news from the grapevine.
That a mate in the hood had some information to the effect that he was not the father to the youngest son!
The long-term story was narrated to him and it stretched back to the days when missus was a maid in the low density area.
It transpired that all his sons had kinky hair and his youngest offspring had satin black hair stretching out resembling the employer who hailed from a Mediterranean country.  Lazzo was told he had better watch out before he knew what hit him!
When Lazzo reached home riled, he told his missus off and that he wanted her to leave home there and then because ‘someone’ had told him the truth at long last.
It turned out that his marriage was now on the rocks because of hearsay and it was speculation that finally turned out to be the last straw that broke the Camel’s back.
Apart from being a regular reveller at the watering hole in the hood, Maria was well known in the precincts for her laissez-faire social stints at the night club.
This day, Lazzo finally had an excuse to get rid of her as his mentors had chided him for tolerating Maria who seemed to b a liberal social performer in the neighbourhood.
But it was not as easy as that because Maria resisted the move tooth and nail.  In the day time when Lazzo had gone for work as a bricklayer, she was busy playing cards at some township dungeon patronized by several women of her kind.
Here, they would drink using the proceeds of gambling and sometimes, household goods were placed as bait without the knowledge of hubby.
However, hubby had a nose for news and he picked up one titbit that disclosed why the rations in the home were running low very quickly before another payday.
Maria’s friend was another whirlwind of a woman who would stop at nothing from spilling the beans when offered an alcoholic drink.
Besides, this thing called ‘morality’ was outside her diction… She told Lazzo that Maria would sometimes use relish in exchange for measurements of alcohol at the watering hole because her long-time companion was the bartender.
It was news to Lazzo but he was not amused because he had had several arguments at home about the rapid depletion of food rations in the kitchen.
When Lazzo bought another bottle of alcohol, Maria’s  friend further disclosed that in fact, one time when he was out of town for a considerable time on duty, she had gotten pregnant from another man.
“She in fact asked me what she could do because she did not want Lazzo to find out on his return but another friend chipped in and said Maria should just tell him that he had left her in the family way ,” Maria’s friend disclosed Lazzo’s mate listened intently to the disclosure.
“What do you think about all this my friend?,” asked Lazzo anticipating more riveting opinion in the light of the overwhelming revelations but his mentor casually shrugged off the issue candidly saying,”You have heard for yourself.  Now, you have to decide.  These days, I am very careful not to get involved in matters of the heart.”
He went on to explain that in the past, he had tried to advise another friend about his rocky relationship whose wife still  had a child with another man in the hood but he was betrayed.  The woman concerned stormed his home and told him off as the originator of the rumour.
Since then, he had sworn never to spill any beans and he would rather leave the matter to the warring parties for a solution because beyond the two, the third one always led to a crowd!
Lazzo swallowed hard as he pondered the next move as he hit on a brilliant idea.  He would find a girlfriend and just become impossible, he thought to himself.
After all, when Maria was behaving as an infidel, she did so with a heartless intent far removed from love.
In fact, Lazzo’s   mentor had once declared at the watering hole that when ‘our women say that they love you, they don’t mean it.  It only matters when you are there with them and after that you wont know their next step.  White women mean every word they say,” he had trailed off with a cynical chuckle to himself.
He went further to elaborate on a composition by a late local Bemba language ballad soloist who churned out various hits before his demise  that  ‘ the hunter should in fact smoke some of the meat that he finds in the forest and eat a bit of this because as he was there, he did not know what missus was up to in the village’.
Now Lazzo’s  informat was up  to his kneck in trouble because the villain was contemplating seeking legal redress over the matter.
As she downed the second bottle in ten minutes, she said gaining drunken courage,”Well she can do what she likes because after all everyone knows the truth and in fact, I would ask her,” Who told you that I gave them information on your movements?…You must be jocking!,” she dismissed the prospect as she waved her hand in front of Lazzo’s face in the manner she would when faced with such a challenge.
Lazzo’s friend beamed with interest and added,”In fact ,when a man is going through such turmoil, this is what gives rise to names like ‘Mabvuto’ (Suffering) because long after one is not there, people will remember them for their unforgotten torment through their offspring.
Now it began to dawn on Lazzo why there was a plethora of philosophical names emblazzoned on watering hole walls in the neighbourhood.
By merely reading the name of the dungeon, one would deduce what would have inspired the proprietor to come up with such a name!
Names like ‘Zonda uzalema’ (Dislike me but you will get tired) are the order of the day in the hood and there seems to be no end in sight to their coining as more watering holes spring up.