A friend is like a ship’s anchor at the bay, it is always there for anchorage,’ so thought Lazzo as he walked past a sprawling bar that once was a haven for revellers in the locality.
But now emblazzoned on the outer walls are multi-coloured religious inscriptions suggesting a drift towards piety!
However, he wondered whether the trend was leading to reduced crime and in the final analysis, he was distraught to learn that to the contrary, news flashes on television epitomised more mischief ranging from gender-based violence to aggravated robbery…
Lazzo had overhead a typical worshiper in the precincts warning that this was ‘the beginning of the end’ although many people took the signs religiously foretold for granted!
He had also heard another pious man point out that the signs included the proliferation of spiritual healings. While many would perform these miracles, in the aftermath, they would be denied entry into the ‘Kingdom.’
“These are mortal beings like you and me and in fact susceptible to human characteristics like anger, happiness and humility but who fall short of the Creator’s glory,” said Lazzo’s mentor who was just downing his third bottle of alcohol which was so much preached about in religious circles.
He continued as he took another swig at the bottle: “It  is common knowledge that those that take delight in the intoxicating wines were devil incarnates and were said to be sinners who should not be associated with according to the self-acclaimed ‘saved people’,” he said with a tone of disapproval.
Lazzo watched his mentor’s eyes begin to change signifying heightened inebriation as usual and when this happened, his tone also changed depending on the topic at hand.
When he was embroiled in a controversial debate his voice also rose to a high-pitched crescendo.
His mentor had warned him over this but he replied that this was a matter of ‘deoxyribonucleicacid (DNA)’ pattern and in short was a natural reflex mechanism. “There you go again with your complicated words, for goodness sake, why can’t you be simple for a while and let me understand what you are trying to say?” protested Lazzo’s mentor.
“But you and I have been to school and you know what to do when you encounter a difficult word because there is a dictionary and thesaurus to guide as to the meaning of any word you come across,” replied Lazzo.
He also pointed out in fact most computers have all the versions of these reference books that currently exist in hard-copy form.
Lazzo also explained that any spoken or encoded word (printed word) indicated a target audience.  If the recipient of a message did not get it, then they ought to know that they belonged to a different category and should use the designated tools to decipher the meaning.
“For instance, when a writer originates literature for children, the vocabulary espoused is suited for minors as an audience but adults should not expect  ‘spoon feeding techniques,” asserted Lazzo.
As the going was good, Lazzo reminded his mentor that he had had a memorable time at the building now bought by a church group.
As the proprietor was a woman friend who gave him sanctuary in the bar one night as he was going far away into the neighbourhood.  He had to avoid muggings that were frequent at night!
Therefore, he and a newly found female companion found sanctuary in a room behind the counter which was used as a storage compartment. The place performed its ‘safe keeping’ service.
But to his dismay, the following morning, missus turned up at the now ‘pious’ building having got wind of the proceedings by the grapevine.
It was a confrontation that Lazzo would hardly forget because it drew a sizeable crowd of passerbys as he labored to explain his absence from home.
Someone in the crowd yelled:”This is a result of not keeping your spouses properly because you make too much noise when they are at home and eventually, you drive them into the arms of ‘sololas’ (wayward women.)
When Lazzo reminisced over the bygone era, he thought that the imbibing places  and the brands of alcohol they served was skyrocketing surpassing all statistics in the locality’s history!
For instance, where the ‘Anthill bar’ stood was now a school signifying a radical change of development in the opposite direction.  Still, there was a litany of other small dungeons serving the purpose of entertaining imbibers.
In some places, he saw the hand of modernization creeping in with the advent of new paved roads in the hood attracting some of Lazzo’s friends who had hitherto shunned the precincts in the past.
It was indded an extreme transformation from the days Lazzo spent his nights in Misisi at a girlfriend’s house after a night out at a watering hole that featured a live band.
He was missing those live band shows which really presented musicians strumming their guitars with outstanding dexterity on the strings.
He was not quiete shure though whether the demise of the foregone trend was as a result of computer generated music or the extinction of musical instrument players.
He had however heard other people claim that despite modernization, some African countries like South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo still had musicians strumming their guitars with dexterity!
Perhaps one would ascribe the local situation’s inability to provide live bands due to ineptitude at handling musical instruments hence the frantic turn to computer generated music.
The programmed sounds served as a lucrative source of income for the local musician who seems to have never had it so good and plain sailing to realization!
At the stroke of the hour, Lazzo was increasingly growing conscious of the need to retire early unlike in the past when he would spend the whole night imbibing until day break.
Often he would be walking out the overnight watering hole as the hood’s workforce would be heading towards the city centre for another day’s work sequel.
He reminded his mentor that the female bartender had began to look prettier than before and it was time to drift away!