The Beliam's fuzz

Preparations

"What are you talking about Afrakomah? Who else should I support except my brother?" I replied with an amount of seriousness in my voice. "So you think Afrifah will stand a chance against Oppong? Look at his muscles. He will just crush him with his fist and trample on him with his feet. Brother should just forfeit the fight." Afrakomah responded. "Who told you we use muscles to fight? Who told you? Ye of little faith. Just watch and see." I chirped in. "You believe in your brother oo. Well, let the gods decide." Afrakomah responded with much more softness in her voice than before.

The finals of Sunkwa-kofo commence at sunset. The custom is that the winner is crowned when the sun is down. Therefore, the celebrations are supposed to continue till sunset when the finalists get into the square and begin to fight for glory. Some people of Agyapakrom believe that the gods descend to bless them when the sun sets. No wonder the biggest fighting bout of the year only happens at sunset. It is also believed to allow the finalists of the Sunkwa-kofo to refresh their minds and prepare for the finals.

Normally, the fun and excitement continue till sunset. People go about the village eating, drinking, chatting, and making merry for the rest of the day. This time around, things were different. The anticipation of the finals of the Sunkwa-kofo had stolen the joy this year. Along the roads, in the marketplace, in the town square, and even at the King's Palace, the talk of the day was about who was going to win the fight. The whole village was crowded with sentimental arguments and vigorous disagreements. It looked like the whole village looked split into two parts. One part is for my brother Afrifah and the other half is in full support of Oppong.

Back home, some form of belief and hope had sent my father into "Alice wonderland." He is normally docile and speaks only a little. Today, he was acting quite weird. He was looking very restless and anxiety could be sensed in his eyes even when looked at from a distance. He strolled up and down the compound of the house as my brother Kwaku Afrifah watched on with his eyes poised as if they wanted to bite. Kwaku looked a lot disturbed. Though he was supposed to be confident, he probably looked quite the opposite. No wonder my father, even though he had so much hope, was still anxious that his son might not believe in himself as much as he should. Afrakomah sat down beside my brother with the idea of convincing him not to have any form of belief or hope. Her mission was quite simple. She only wanted to tease them with the hope of releasing the tension that existed. She teased and irritated my father and brother, who were doing as much as they could to ignore her. For me, I was quite caged in front of my room as the fear of the rudeness that might proceed from the mouth of my mother crippled my mouth from voicing out what was in my heart. I wish I could speak to my brother this time. I knew he needed me the most, especially at that time, but I was much more afraid of the woman of the house than I was motivated to speak to my brother.

Though not the ideal situation I would wish for, it gave me some amount of time alone to figure out what happened to me back there. I mean, the split-second heart stoppage and the stun at the sight of him. Who is this guy who is sitting on my conscience? What on earth just happened to me? I couldn't stop thinking about him for even a second. My eyes were set on my brother at the other end of the house but my heart was thrown into a dilemma. I couldn't quite get my thoughts straight. His thoughts filled my mind with so much joy. It was like eating my favourite food with chilled water and maids providing me with warmth from their fans. The way he fought, like a lion roaring and pouncing on its prey. The thought of him took my mind off what was really at stake. Oppong Gyabah, what have you done to me?

What was at stake was my family getting raised to be the financial managers of the village. Most people had the notion that most of Agya Oppong's riches came from the fact that his family line had held the position of financial owner for almost all the years that Agyapakrom had been in existence. Everyone envied that position but one could only take it from him unless they won the Sunkwa-kofo. Though most people like my father disagreed bitterly with the idea that one person controls the whole financial operations of the village, the only thing they could do about it was just to talk. Not even the king could change that. Custom is custom, right? For the custom to change, there had to be unanimous voting by each of the families to abolish the Sunkwa-kofo, but Opanin Oppong wasn't ready to give up his daily bread. And why should he? I'm not sure anyone would be willing to give up such a prestigious and lucrative role.

Suddenly, everyone was thrilled by the anticipation. Some neutrals in the village saw the bout amusing, but for the parties concerned, it was about something big to lose. Around 5 pm, lots of my father's family members gathered at the compound of our house to give their word of encouragement to Kwaku Afrifah, my brother. One man caught the attention of many with the way he was trying to "Pep talk" my brother about fighting tactics. One woman who was sickened by the sight of it quickly chipped in and exclaimed, "Ofori, sit down! You never won anything in your life. You couldn't even win a woman." The culprit, in response to these harsh words, also responded with even harsher words like; "No wonder your children are useless! Your useless husband couldn't provide this family with a warrior to defend the family's name." Immediately, tempers rose and it took muscles to split them. My father, with a lot of seriousness, shouted at them to stop and concentrate on what was ahead.

The last person to speak before the family set off to the King's Palace was the "Abusuapanin", who is like the elder of the family. He gave a very igniting speech that set the whole house in a "charge mode." Even Afrakomah looked poised at that moment. No one could tell how long she would support her brother anyway. There's a saying that "Blood is thicker than water" and everything proved that, indeed, blood ties were doing their best at that particular and peculiar moment. I was quite poised as we gathered under the Baobab tree that stood dancing in the forecourt of our compound. The cheers and chants went on for about an hour or so until the place became as quiet as the cemetery when the town crier beat the "gong gong" drum to signify that the sun is set and the bout was about to begin.

The custom demands that no one speaks before the king does after the gong is played. All you could hear was the tidy footsteps of people coming from all corners of the town to the forecourt of the King's Palace. The gathering was massive. I could see numerous faces around that I hadn't even seen before. The news of the bout had spread like the wind and had attracted all and sundry from neighbouring villages to witness what could be the most memorable event of the Sunkwa-kofo. No one could afford to miss that. Normally, traders from farther distances would be gone by that time but that wasn't the case today. Everything happening around was significant to the attention and importance of what was at stake.

Finally, the king stood up to speak. His words were for peace to reign even after the fight and that the two parties to accept the outcome of the event. The two family heads were called up front to speak and swear on the gods to accept the outcome of the fight and to respect whoever the gods choose that year to lead the village's finances.

All customs and formalities were over. The place was filled with anticipation and dismay. The anxiety that existed between the two families of concern was touchable. The heartbeats from the parties concerned were palpable. I looked at Kwaku Afrifah with a smile. That was the only motivation I could offer at that instance. I just wish you the best wins. The fighters were up front and everything pointed to a roller-coaster ride. The gong gong beater stood up again. He struck his drum with great passion and energy and the king shouted with the last breath in his throat; "Let the action begin..."