EPISODE-23“The Hunt”
Written by ADONG Lucy Judith
SCENE I
LOCATION: GRACE’S BAR-AFTERNOON
B/G SFX: GLASSES CLATTERING, LAUGHTER
CHARACTERS: BUGEMBE, OMARA, EDGER, GRACE, LUSIBA
MILDRED: (AS NARRATOR) They say the search for knowledge is the search for wealth.This is indeed true. Omara, a casual laborer in Bukulu and his wife Lucy, a market vendor in the same town, were living a simple life without knowing all they needed to know; something that could have brought them great happiness. Omara didn’t realize at the time but things were about to change – for the better!
SFX: FADE OUT NARRATION, FADE UP BAR WHERE THE 4 MEN ARE IN A HEATED EXCHANGE
BUGEMBE: (ON MIC - OUTRAGED) I am telling you, Edger, no man in his right mind should even be thinking of such!
EDGER: (ALSO LOUD) You see, that’s your problem, Bugembe, you’re always too quick to dismiss things.
OMARA: (CALLING OUT) Another bottle please, Grace.
LUSIBA: (CALLING OUT) One for me as well.
GRACE: (APPROACHING MIC) All right two beers coming up for Omara and Lusiba.
SFX: GRACE PUTS 2 BEER BOTTLES DOWN ON THE TABLE
BUGEMBE: (TO GRACE) Two cold ones here also, Grace.
GRACE: Bugembe, you already have one full from Edger, on the side. And you’re not even halfway through this one, and you want another.
BUGEMBE: I drink fast, Grace my love.
GRACE: As long as you’re paying me cash, Bugembe. And what are the two of you shouting about anyway? (SHE SPEAKS LOUDER AS SHE MOVES AWAY FROM MIC TO THE BAR)
BUGEMBE: (CALLING AFTER HER AS SHE GOES) Edger here is considering shortening his thing. (LAUGHS)
EDGER: It is not shortening. Bugembe, do not misquote me. It is circumcision.
BUGEMBE: Things to do with shortening my natural gun I will dismiss any day.
SFX: BOTTLES CLATTERING AND FALLING SHOVING AND PUSHING
GRACE: (ON MIC) Here’s your beer, Omara. Be careful you don’t start drinking like Bugembe here.
OMARA: Relax, this is my last, Grace. Then I’ll be on my way home.
BUGEMBE: Hey! Where is mine, Grace?
GRACE: When you have swallowed the other two, Bugembe, I’ll see.
BUGEMBE: You mean you don’t know me, huh? So, my love, you still haven’t said what you think about Edger’s decision to circumcise.
CROWD: MUMURS OF MIXED FEELINGS
GRACE: I have no comment about men and their toys.
BUGEMBE: This is no toy, Grace.
GRACE: (WALKING AWAY) Whatever you say, guys, enjoy your beers.
BUGEMBE: That Grace doesn’t want to sell her best customer beers!
LUSIBA: Well, Bugembe, I have a comment. My friend Bagaya got circumcised a few days ago and he’s not complaining.
BUGEMBE: Bagaya circumcised? Why would he do such a thing?
BAGAYA: He said his wife wanted it because it is safe. Less risk of getting HIV.
BUGEMBE: What is Bagaya on about? Does he not know that circumcision reduces the size of the gun? HE WON’T BE ABLE TO PERFORM. Like Edger here.
LUSIBA: Naye Bugembe, who told you that?
BUGEMBE: Lusiba, you’re an idiot. Omara tell your friend that circumcision is deadly.
OMARA: I really don’t know much about that stuff, Bugembe.
EDGER: Bugembe, stop misleading people, you know nothing. From what I hear male circumcision is healthy and reduces the risk of STIs.
BUGEMBE: Please, Edger –go and chop your thing, fine. You can become impotent!
EDGER: You don’t know anything about Safe Male Circumcision, Bugembe.
BUGEMBE: I know it can even cause impotence. Not so, Omara?
OMARA: Please let me enjoy my beer, Bugembe. I told you I don’t know.
BUGEMBE: What do you mean, Omara, you don’t know? What does your wife think?
LUSIBA: Leave Omara’s woman out of this. She’s a tough one; she would probably lash him if she found out. (THEY LAUGH)
BUGEMBE: Then they should trade places and Omara begins wearing the skirts since he is more of the woman in the relationship.
OMARA: Bugembe, that’s enough.
BUGEMBE: (LAUGHS) You should get circumcised like Edger wants to so that you become the woman.
OMARA: (ATTACKING BUGEMBE) You idiot, I’ll show you who is the man.
SFX: SCUFFLE, SHOVING AND PUSHING
GRACE: (MOVING TOWARD MIC QUICKLY) No fighting in the bar! Bugembe, take it outside! If you must.
OMARA: Shut your big mouth, Bugembe, or I will shut it for you.
BUGEMBE: (LABOURING) Let go of me, Omara, you fool, can’t you take a joke?
OMARA: I’ve had enough of your childish jokes.
EDGER: Guys, relax. Omara, come on let him go.
LUSIBA: Leave Omara, Edger. Maybe it's time Bugembe got a beating. (TAUNTING BUGEMBE) You see, Bugembe, you should not mess with Omara. Just because he is quiet doesn’t mean he is weak!
BUGEMBE: The man is crazy! He tore off my button. You get me a drink, you Omara!
EDGER: Sit down, Bugembe. Let’s just finish our drinks.
BUGEMBE: (DUSTING HIMSELF DOWN) You, Edger, you are the one who started all this confusion with your stupid ideas about circumcising…Get me a drink. You see mine is spilled… That Omara… useless...!
OMARA: (MOVING FROM MIC, STILL THREATENING) I am out of here, before I damage that Bugembe permanently.
LUSIBA: And your beer? You just ordered…!
OMARA: Forget it! I am enough for one day. (EXITS)
LUSIBA: You see? Lucky for you, Bugembe, we pulled you apart in time otherwise Omara would have taught you a lesson.
SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT.
SCENE II
LOCATION: OMARA AND LUCY’S HOME-EVENING
B/G SFX: DISTANT CARS DRIVING BY
CHARACTERS: OMARA, LUCY, NTONGO
SFX: CLATTERING SAUCEPANS
LUCY: (LAUGHING) You cannot be serious, Ntongo, what did his teachers say?
NTONGO: What could they say, Lucy? They were as surprised as I was, can you imagine! My 11 year old son trying to drive the school van!
LUCY: Don’t make me imagine, the thought is funny enough. Please pass me one of those saucepan covers. I need to cover this soup.
SFX: LUCY PUTS LID ON SAUCEPAN
NTONGO: Neither of us owns a car. So where he got the crazy idea, I can’t imagine.
LUCY: You see? That’s what happens when you have so many children like you do. You can’t keep an eye on all of them and you can never know what ideas they pick up from God knows where?
NTONGO: You mean such a thing has never happened with your kids, Lucy?
LUCY: Not a chance, those three boys know I am always watching. They can’t dare to even step out of line, Ntongo.
NTONGO: Then you are lucky, me am always running after one or the other. Now I can almost swear Amuli hasn’t returned home yet otherwise he would have come looking for me already.
LUCY: Talking of which, Omara should have been home by now too. It’s 5 o’ clock.
NTONGO: (GIGGLES) Talk of the devil, there he comes now. Maybe you can ask him why he isn’t home yet.
LUCY: You can rest assured I will.
NTONGO: (MOVING FROM MIC) Well I better run along and look for this Amuliand. When I find him, only God knows. (TO OMARA) Good evening, Omara.
OMARA: (APPROACHING MIC) Good evening, Mama Amuli. (TO LUCKY) Hey, Lucy dear, am back.
LUCY: Indeed you are, Omara!
OMARA: Sorry am late, it was a really long day and I had a bit of a mix up.
LUCY: One that got your clothes all scuffed and dirty?
OMARA: It’s nothing.
LUCY: Really, because it looks to me like you were mixed up in a fight, Omara.
OMARA: No, Lucy, it wasn’t like that.
LUCY: Am sure you are going to tell me what it was like.
OMARA: (SIGHS) Okay, Lucy, I got into a ka little fight with Bugembe.
LUCY: Omara, of all people you could have fought, you had to fight Bugembe!
OMARA: He got on my nerves.
LUCY: I’ve told you not to drink with his kind time and again. Especially Bugembe, he is only friends with you when you have money.
OMARA: I guess I’ve learnt my lesson today.
LUCY: Why did the two of you fight in the first place? And don’t give me that ‘he was being rude’ alibi.
OMARA: (STUTTERS) Just men’s misunderstandings, Lucy. You know.
LUCY: No I don’t know.
OMARA: He was being objectionable, suggesting that I am not a man.
LUCY: So you fought!
OMARA: All I was doing was enjoy my beer while Edger and that Bugembe were talking about Safe Male Circumcision and then Bugembe started picking on me.
LUCY: So that’s what this is all about, circumcision! Well if you ask me, I don’t think circumcision is such a bad thing.
OMARA: (SURPRISED) Really?! How do you know?
LUCY: Before we moved here I lived among Muslims and they did it for cleanliness.
OMARA: Good thing am not Muslim and am not dirty either.
LUCY: (SHRUGGING) Lots of younger men are getting circumcised these days.
OMARA: And you support it?
LUCY: It reduces the chance of spreading disease – that’s what they say.
OMARA: Am surprised… Seems like you don’t see anything wrong with circumcising.
LUCY: Like I said, that’s what I heard, Omara. I hear it’s a good thing.
SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND OUT.
SCENE III
LOCATION: HAJJI’S CONSTRUCTION SITE-MORNING
B/G SFX: TRUCK ENGINS, HAMMERING, CLASHING OF METAL.
CHARACTERS: OMARA, LUSIBA
OMARA: Hey careful, you almost threw that brick right in my face, Lusiba.
LUSIBA: Okay, what is it with you, Omara?
OMARA: What do you mean?
LUSIBA: You’ve been distracted the whole morning, what is it?
OMARA: I just have a lot on my mind, Lusiba.
LUSIBA: Care to share?
OMARA: Nothing really, just some stuff.
LUSIBA: Don’t tell me you’re feeling bad about kicking Bugembe’s ass the other day?
OMARA: I was thinking more about about Safe Male Circumcision. I mean what do we really know about it? What if Edger is right?
LUSIBA: That’s what’s bothering you? Here’s what I know, Safe Male Circumcision is a government programme…
OMARA: You mean it’s that big?
LUSIBA: Yes, it’s a government programme to prevent HIV. Now instead of just saying we should abstain, be faithful and use condoms, they say men should also get medically circumcised to prevent HIV.
OMARA: Isn’t it painful?
LUSIBA: (LAUGHS LIGHTLY) I don’t think so.
OMARA: But you are not sure?
LUSIBA: I’ve even been considering it, for myself.
OMARA: You! But… it’s a Muslim’s thing…
LUSIBA: Do I look Muslim to you, Omara? I want to keep clean. And safe. From what I understand it reduces a man’s risk of HIV.
OMARA: But…
LUSIBA: Let’s work before Hajji finds us idling here. God knows, he doesn’t pay for that. If you want to know more about circumcision, you should ask Bagaya at football on Saturday.
SFX: TRANSITION MUSIC UP AND SLOWLY FADES OUT.
SCENE IV
LOCATION: BUKULU FOOTBALL FIELD-AFTERNOON
B/G SFX: LOUD CHEERS
CHRACTERS: OMARA, BAGAYA, LUSIBA
SFX: FINAL WHISTLE
BAGAYA IS CONFIDENT; OMARA BY CONTRAST IS SHY
LUSIBA: There we go… three more points in the bag for us. Why don’t you go and talk to Bagaya now?
OMARA: Looks like he is still talking to the coach. I don’t want to seem pushy.
LUSIBA: Well he’s done now; let me call him for you. (CALLING) Gaya, Gaya.
BAGAYA: (OFF MIC, CALLING OUT) Lusiba! Am coming.
OMARA: (ON MIC) Thanks a lot, Lusiba, I’ll take it from here.
LUSIBA: Good, because I have a meeting to attend too.
BAGAYA: (BREATHING HEAVILY) Guys what’s up?
LUSIBA: (ON MIC) Nice defense, man. You’re at the top of your game this season.
BAGAYA: (ON MIC) Thanks.
OMARA: Nice moves, Bagaya.
BAGAYA: Just call me Gaya, Omara. Everyone does. So what can I do for you guys?
LUSIBA: Me nothing, I was just leaving. It’s Omara that wants to talk to you.
BAGAYA: Oh?
OMARA: (SHY) I heard you… Lusiba says… you got circumcised.
BAGAYA: Oh that, yes, last Tuesday.
OMARA: Five days ego! But you’re… you played, like a star. Don’t you feel…?
BAGAYA: (CHUCKLES) Pain? Nothing! I had worse injuries playing football.
OMARA: I guess. (HESITANT) So why…why did you get, er, circumcised?
BAGAYA: The benefits man, look; it reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 60%, keeps you clean and…
OMARA: But how?
BAGAYA: How does it reduce the risk of contracting HIV? Simple, the foreskin, where HIV and other diseases can hide, is cut off. You see, sometimes the foreskin gets tiny cuts and lesions during sex.
OMARA: Yes, yes I understand.
BAGAYA: Sexual diseases can easily come through those. Then again it’s also a lot easier to stay clean when you are circumcised.
OMARA: Okay.
BAGAYA: So are you interested?
OMARA: In getting circumcised? Not really, I just wanted to know about it.
BAGAYA: You should, it’s a good idea especially if you forget to use condoms…sometimes of course.
OMARA: What do you mean?
BAGAYA: Well since it reduces the risk of contracting HIV. Now don’t get me wrong, you still need to use condoms, but… hey, a guy forgets sometimes.
OMARA: Maybe it’s for single guys like you, not for married men like myself.
BAGAYA: Unless the married man has a side dish.
OMARA: What is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to suggest that…
BAGAYA: Not a chance. I wouldn’t risk picking a fight with the man who, so I hear, sorted Bugembe out. (CHUCKLES) But…
OMARA: What?
BAGAYA: A man who can confront Bugembe shouldn’t be afraid of a simple surgical procedure.
OMARA: I guess not.
MILDRED: (AS NARRATOR) Slowly by slowly and bit by bit, Omara was getting more and more interested in Safe Male Circumcision even though he liked to tell himself it was for ‘other people’.
SFX: TRANSITIONAL MUSIC UP AND OUT.
SCENE V
LOCATION: OMARA AND LUCY’S HOME-NIGHT
B/G SFX: CRICKETS AND FROGS CROCKING
CHARACTERS: OMARA, LUCY
OMARA: (LAUGHING) He said he can’t fight a man who beat up Bugembe, Lucy.
LUCY: (LAUGHING) But, Omara, you said you two didn’t really fight.
OMARA: That’s the funny part, Lucy, we didn’t.
LUCY: Well, I hope you are not going to use this as an excuse to go picking fights all over Bukulu.
OMARA: No, it started as a silly argument with Bugembe. But now am not finding it so silly anymore.
LUCY: What are you talking about?
OMARA: Safe male circumcision of course. What else?
LUCY: This is the fourth time that you are bringing it up. What is the sudden fascination, Omara?
OMARA: Nothing, I am not fascinated.
LUCY: Really?
OMARA: Okay, it’s just talk.
LUCY: Come on,Omara, you don’t talk very much, but it’s the only thing you have been talking about lately.
OMARA: Okay, I have been thinking about it a lot of late, Lucy.
LUCY: Why? I thought your mind was made up never to try circumcision.
OMARA: Yes, but I am a man of reason. I am entitled to change my mind. After all, we are not all stuck in our ways forever.
LUCY: Very dodgy answer ha? I thought I had you cornered there. But at least it shows that I have a strong minded man. So, tell me..