Kedi

Photo credit: Scorpy Design

Some people are just who they are and no matter how hard we try we will never be able to change them.

In human eyes such people may be terribly bad, they are no good and a waste of space.

When I think of Kedi, all those thoughts flood through my mind. By human standards, she was no good because she had no husband and no children and she was a prostitute.

Yes you heard me right, Lokpanta was that kind of town where every one knew what each other did and prostitution though frowned at was considered a job.

So yes she had a full time job whoring her body. She weighed close to 150kg and so she had all the wares needed for the job in excess.

I heard that she was an extremely jolly good fellow. She loved to laugh and to eat, she could hardly move so she sat all day on her mattress eating and singing away till customers came calling.

She wouldn't be anybody's liability and so she decided to make use of the only thing that she had; her punani. 

Kedi reminds me  of the prostitute in the bible who brought God's blessings to her home and one may wonder why God used a common harlot to do His work and the answer would be that His ways are not our ways.

Prostitution was the only job Kedi could do, she was morbidly obsessed and so she couldn't farm or do any other meaningful job. Her one bedroom mud apartment became her workplace and carried out her duty with a cheerful heart.

I really do not know how Kedi visited the "ogwe" which was usually built away from everyone's compound. Ogwe is the local toilet, a shallow ditch cordoned by some sticks where people walked to whenever nature called. The rich had theirs built up in a way that would enable proper sitting but for the real ogwe one would bend the knees all the way which is very good exercise anyway.

Kedi was also infamous for her ability to compose songs with people's names and then told their stories in the songs. 

When she wasn't snoring away, she would be in her little haven singing away in her loudest voice.

With her songs she also spoke out against some ills in Lokpanta and exposed wicked people.

One of her songs became quite popular and that was how we knew that her family who father helped a great deal always talked bad about him.

In the song Kedi accused them of accepting employment and gifts from father yet talked bad about him and of him not helping them enough. 

She was a very good cook and would cook right there sitting on her mattress. She served her customers food before welcoming them into her sanctuary.  She had to keep them happy and coming back for more.

On a very sad day, the Ukomi people of Lokpanta woke up to flames coming from Kedi's room, they tried all they could to save the local whore who was known more for her truthfulness than prostitution. All their efforts were to no avail.

It was impossible to save her, the streams were far and there were definitely no fire service trucks or decent water sources and there were no rain waters in the local pots. It was the dry season and the fire burnt very fast.

Kedi the akwuna(harlot) who made a difference in her community, who spoke the truth not minding whose ox was gored, Kedi who sang and entertained listeners both  young and old, who called people to order by her openness and who was secretly feared by evil men and women screamed as the fire ravaged her body.

When the fire was eventually put out following several quick dashes to the stream, Kedi was surprisingly alive, her famous mattress had melted and gummed to her body. 

She died singing an original tune telling about her life and how unpredictable life could be and also warning people to stay away from evil.

It was a gory sight and a very sad day for ndi (people of) Ukomi and Lokpanta in general. It was indeed a sad day for the oppressed, innocent and the good people that Kedi fought for.

How does a prostitute become a freedom fighter and a force to be reckoned with? Sometimes, some things do not make sense.

Cause of fire was not her kerosene stove. Kedi was a chain smoker and on that faithful night the last thing she did was smoke her St. Moritz. It was assumed that she fell asleep with the cigarette between two fingers.

Kedi was who she was, love or hate her, it meant nothing. She never tried to change for anybody. Sometimes when I think of the fire incident, I think of the evil men she often sang about.

Rest on Kedi!

PS: Real name was changed for privacy sake