Early morning, Ken was lying by the roadside, dressed in filthy clothes that reeked of urine. As the sun rose, the temperature increased, causing the foul-smelling vapor from his body to saturate the surrounding air. The odor was so pungent that people had to cover their noses to avoid it as they passed by. Despite this, a large group gathered around him, making the already small space he had to breathe even narrower.
"I hear that thing lying over there calls itself king. Is he king of liquor or king of drunkards, or does he threaten to overthrow our king?" A man grumbled from the crowd, and everyone started muttering. He was Sam, a gentleman from the nearby village, who had heard many stories of those who suffered the upshots of Ken's oppression of people at the Buzz bar.
"Yes, he is. He is King of his stomach, I suppose. Don't mind, though he is also king of your young daughters who attend Buzz bar parties." His closest neighbor responded. This person was Jane, a woman who used to reside just a few meters from the Buzz bar. She had a fair knowledge of all that transpired in this bar.
The two individuals suddenly engaged in a conversation.
"Hmm… It is quite interesting. Is that the gentleman that almost all ladies talk about to have the most flexible waist?" Sam asked with a lot of curiosity while nodding.
"Yes," Jane answered with a simple smile written on her face, "he is the one, and I think his father finances the flexibility of his waist. Most importantly, he has his disciples who are also his assets in the bar."
"Hmm… what do you mean? I don't get you right!" Sam requested clarification, and everyone who heard tilted their ears toward Jane.
Jane laughed shortly and explained, "What I mean is that his father keeps sending him money to continue working on the building he had started in his new home before going abroad, but instead, he uses the money to fund the Buzz bar. He spends it on getting women to dance with, shaking their waists, and stopping troublemakers at the bar from causing him some problems."
"I can imagine how terrible the situation must be," replied Sam empathetically.
Almost all the people in the place turned around and glanced at one another with overwhelming surprise on their faces. They had been wondering what aroused the sense of empathy in Sam.
Jane similarly acknowledged his deep feelings with a condescending smile and said, "And when his parents return abruptly, they may exist no more because they can all commit suicide. The name of their village may also change to 'Felo-de-se' meaning 'self-destruction,' an ultimate resemblance of something that occurred recently in the nearby parish."
Sam soon realized that everyone was unconcerned. He then turned to Jane, and with a stern visage, he asked loudly, "What happened?"
Jane described, "Well, the director went to school overtaken by his children's issues encountered at home and jumped into hot seething water that the cook expected to use to prepare porridge for the students. Days later, a student fainted with hunger and nearly died. Many continued suffering from anorexia as they constantly associated the saucepan used to cook food with the deliciously appearing meat of their director's flesh that remained in the saucepan following the incident. The school acquired the nickname 'Felo-de-se' from the neighboring residents a few months later, and the relatives of the deceased sold the school because they couldn't manage it and aliened its property to the new director."
As people laughed at the joke, Mike, a fellow nurse to Ken passed by. He too saw the man lying by the roadside and the many people who gathered around him wondering, but he ignored him for a village drunkard and moved past quickly.
After walking a short distance from the scene, the loud voice of a young girl struck Mike's ears from a distance.
"Doctor, Doctor!" she shouted. The voice he heard could still sing a sweet lullaby. He stopped and looked behind, but he could not recognize the direction of the call. Everyone was quiet. Since he did not consider himself a doctor, he proceeded.
"Doctor, Doctor Mike!" she shouted again.
Looking back, he saw a young girl rush unsteadily toward him. He was startled alert to think that something wrong could be happening. So, he stopped and began retreating toward the scene. But on approaching the girl closer, she burst into tears.
"Your friend, Your friend!" she cried out loudly.
"What is wrong with my friend?" Mike inquired in a subdued tone.
"You can't believe it, doctor. Your friend!" she continued crying.
"Do you mean my friend has passed on?" He inquired again.
"I wish you were there. Doctor, you could have helped out. Please, doctor, but you cannot believe it." She fell and screamed at Mike's feet.
The young girl was Rita, the one whom Ken examined the day before and advised to return the following day to continue her treatment. She was shocked to find the person who had to attend to her in a most awkward predicament.
Mike's second thought was that the man he chanced on lying along the road could have passed on. So, he decided to run back. But, before he could run away, the child shouted again with a challenging question.
"Doctor, won't I die?"
Mike was de-energized. He stopped and returned to her straightaway, panting like a tired dog that had long raced. He then held her right hand and lifted her.
"You will not die," he calmly spoke to her, "you will be fine, don't worry."
"How can't I worry yet the friend of yours who…" she burst into tears again without completing her statement. She fell back and continued wailing.
Fortunately, there arrived Okii, a man who had been at the facility the day before with Rita, the disturbed girl. Rita was lying helplessly with her hands stretched above her head.
"Mike, what is happening here?" He asked.
"This girl rushed here crying, but I failed to discover her problems. For almost every question I asked, her answer was unclear. I cannot understand her completely," replied Mike.
"Listen then, I may guess her issue. Yesterday, I found her at the hospital and stayed with her there from 8:00 pm to 3:00 pm. She was then examined and treated by Ken and advised to return today to proceed with her treatment. That may be the root of the matter," Okii Explained.
"So, was she treated wrongly?" Mike demanded in disbelief with a ticing face, a countenance that signaled disappointment.
"No, I don't think your suggestion is right, but she must be disturbed."
"How? Tell me, what happened? What went wrong?"
"Yes, he is the one who did it!"
"You are fake!" Mike sounded angry and shouted, "Who did what, where, and at what time?"
Okii gazed at him silently without a reply. He then twitched his face and smiled at Mike. That was the simple answer to his question.
"Are you also crazy?" Mike yelled fiercely at him. His anger had grown like a tree in fertile soil. He could not withhold it anymore. Although rarely he was riled, the suspense he faced was a great grief.
His sense of reasoning sank deep in his heart like a borehole pump, and he said, "I am now sure and well convinced that a detrimental trick is preset against me. That is why everyone, young or old, comes here with different enticing styles to provoke me into doing something weird. What for? Disappear from my sight if you cannot speak out a univocal statement, or else I shall forcibly go crazy and leave behind a failed mission!"
"Well! I can speak up for truth and justice," Okii exclaimed and later grinned, saying, "I will be open, but listen. I beg you to listen. We are extremely tired of you and your friend. Do you understand me now?" His voice climaxed at the end.
Initially, Okii was close to Mike, but when he began verbalizing, he withdrew slowly from him. He had intended his statements to annoy Mike, so he was also anticipating an irrational reaction.
Mike immediately picked up a cane and pointed it at Okii.
The latter began to run away slowly, and from a nearby distance, he expressed his grief, "Wow! You people who say others are crazy are indeed very crazy. If you have become this crazy and likewise Ken is unhinged, do you think patients will treat themselves? Generally, your arrival at the facility is always unconventional, and worse still, your presence is a pain in the neck. You harass patients and leave most of them untreated. No sense, dirty pigs!"
"Okii, what have you just said?" Ken shouted, amply charging like an irritated dog ready to bite.
"It is clear that Ken lies along the road madly dressed in his usual suit, the mud with his whole body scented with the usual perfume, urine. He has transformed into a pig, a dirty one. I did not mean you are a dirty pig. My statement meant your colleague portrays its character," Okii replied.
"So, do you mean the person lying along the road is Ken?" Mike asked, beseechingly looking at Okii and then criticizing, "Why should he drink to such an extent? For there is no difference between him, a medical worker who educates others against drinking at times, and the local rummies? Well! It is fine because the earth is open to everyone's choice." He repressed the fact that he too was an alky. So, he kept away from his load and concentrated on his friend's burden.
"Haha! I picked two important messages from what you just said. That is, "at times" and "it is fine... the earth is open to everyone's choice. But why did you two sit and decree take up only this one choice of drinking too much?"
"It is becoming too much. Let's leave it at that. We were talking about Ken, and I understood what you said. I am ready to go and see Ken, but I request you try straightforwardness in delivering your messages next time." Mike tried to divert Okii's mind, subsequently cautioning him.
"What if my trait is inborn? How will I modify it? Explain!" Okii argued with less energy. He had felt the innateness of his behavior. It was usual since his childhood.
"It is well," Mike assured him, and skillfully, he evaded the question, "That is simple. I shall deal with it later. Come, come here and help take this girl to the hospital."
Okii walked to the child and raised her. He held her right hand, and they slowly walked toward the facility. Meanwhile, Mike took the opposite direction, rushing to see his friend Ken.