Mr akpos popularity has soared.He has always been popular because of his love for strong drink.But from the time he stumbled upon two young men in a toilet,his fame has reached levels he never imagined.

In principle his story is for free,whether he is sober or drunk,but in practice if you want to get down to the finest details,'the juiciest parts'as he calls them,you have to buy him a tot of kashasua,the spirit distilled at mr femi's village entertainment centre on the outskirt of chipiri village.

In truth,nobody ever finds out what the strands of those details are in Mr Akpos's story.After listening to it many times,one comes to the conclusion that whatever happened in that toilet,the long and the short of it is that Mr akpos caught two boys,one of whom is chipiri village's own Charles Chikwanje and the other a stranger presumably from a neighbouring village,in flagrante. '0k, tot's bought' the round thrower says sitting down opposite Mr Akpos on a brown,- short legged stool.'Now tell me. Who, in the process,was performing the function of the man and who was woman,if I may be a little straightforward?'

'How is that posible?' Is what most of the villagers want to know, 'between two men?' 'Another tot; Mr Akpos answers. Or when the inquisitive person looks better off financially, Mr Akpos may say: 'Give each one of us a tot,then you will have all the details' to nodes of approval from his drinking mates sitting under a huge kachere tree outside Mr Femi's house. The enquirer obliges. He throws what is called 'a round'- in the lingo used at places like Mr Femi's village entertainment centre.

Is this supposed to be a story or what?

oluday2:
Is this supposed to be a story or what?

a fairytale

Mr Akpos prefers to begin from the begining. He does not remember what he most have eaten,he says, but he was coming from mr femi's not naturally very sober,when his stomach was terribly upset beyond what he could bear. He say a line of toilets outside chipiri primary school,those brick iron-sheet roofed pit latrines,about ten or so of them,right at the biginning of the school compound. It was a saturday,so there were no pupils at school. He ran for the toilets,burst into the first he came to and had relieved his stomach from its burden in one monumental effort when he realised he had company. Charles and a boy Mr Akpos failed to recognice were so engrosed in their act. It take some time for them to become aware that somebody had entered the toilet,by which time Mr Akpos had seen 'everything'. 'What; the round-thrower asks, 'was the everything?'. Another tot Mr Akpos demands. His patience beginning to wear out,the round- thrower obliges,faced with no choice. But when the content of that second tot are poured down the throat at one go,Mr Akpos speech begins to slur. A strong odour of alcohol escapes his mouth as he speeks. His eyes are redder than they were not so long ago. He tries to delve into the details but the story is not coherent at all. In despair, the round thrower leaves feeling cheated. Mr. Akpos drinking buddies laugh loud!. 'Keep it that way man;the buddies said.' Like that,we won't worry about money to spend on alcohol until the end of september'. This,by the way is the first week of August. Everybody laughs again. Another day at Mr Femi's village entertainment centre is going on very well.

Maxwell kabaifa,a short,bespectacled,baldind retired civil servant and Mr Akpos former drinking buddy,now a born- again cristian,once tried to persuade Mr Akpos to desist from ruining the boy's future.'He's one of only three of us from this village to have made it to the university;he said.'Don't you realise the state might send him to rot in jail?'Mr Akpos,towring over his childhood friend, said he learnt civics in standard six in local primary school and,among the qualities of a good citizen of any state on earth,telling the truth was of great importance. He was reporting the truth as he saw it. The consequences of the truth were non of his business. As Maxwell kabaifa feared,the story quickly attracted the attention of the police. Charles was arrested under section 153 and 156 of the penal code for 'unnatura offences' and 'indecent practice between males'. Charles was a student of law at the university of malawi's chancellor college. He was arrested in the summer holiday after which he was due to enter his third year. He used the knowledge of the law to successfully fight for bail,which the police had initially resisted 'for the culprit's own safety'. Charles also used the knowledge of the law to totally refuce disclosing the name of his lover,in spite of being coerced by the police. Now the village of chipiri has become famous. Reporters from the malawi news have been here. The day before, it was the weekend nation. Zodiak Radio station was here,as was Capital FM,MIJ Radio,Star FM, joy Radio and MBC Radio 1. They all want to talk to charles,to take his pictures and to ask him a lot of probing questions. Charles has refuced to cooperate. When they come to his parents' house , riight in the heart of the village next to the clump of banana trees. Charles refuces to meet them,so they end up talking to his father. His Mother completely avoids the reporters. His father simply says he is quite shocked,like everybody else,but he loves his son and wishes him only the very best.'I stand in solidarity with charles;he says. When the reporters asked more inconvenient questions,like 'Did u notice any homosexual traits in him before his scandals?'. He answers: 'I have told you to stand by my son and that is enough for now'. Naturally, being what is termed in the news world as a 'source',Mr Akpos has received major attention. Not long ago he was on the centre spread of both leading newspaper, tot in hand,with the tiny grass-thatched huts of chipiri in the background.