TURNING the pages of his existence at the watering hole, Lazzo fixedly stared as the fellow patron rambled on in his usual style about the hoodlums of the hood …
Years had elapsed since the memorable elimination of father by son who connived with mum to eliminate him over anticipated pension money.
She could not stomach the idea of sharing his earnings with another woman hubby was flirting with …
The hood had been ablaze with speculation that relatives of the deceased had in the aftermath approached a witchdoctor who told them that the weapon used was buried
somewhere in the precincts of the house!
He thought the age had given rise to a generation of weird offspring at variance with the long upheld adage- like father like son!
But  in his mind Lazzo contented that siblings who acted so callously often did not take after their parents and like the upheld view that daughters no longer cooked like their mothers but took alcohol like their fathers!
The lad wriggling his waist menacingly on the dance floor was in fact a pick pocket who the grapevine in the hood knew as walking around with a bunch of keys.
He was often in the company of other peers who appeared to be lazing about whole day and who seemed to have resigned themselves to fate!
As usual a legion of characters converged at the watering hole in their pursuit of the pick-me-up effect that lay in the bottle but ended up confusing them in the process …
Sometimes, Lazzo was perturbed by the adrenaline-raising behaviour that often recalled the saying ‘charity begins at home’.
Consider  this lad in the hood who committed incest with senile adult and decided to flee the hood as he obviously knew the ramifications of his act!
His relative poured out his heart at the watering hole and succeeded in raising consciousness to the wind of change raging through the generation that today’s youth was not only weird but permissive in the extreme!
This again drove Lazzo to recall the olden days when belief was rife that children that grew their teeth on the upper gums were by nature wayward and deserved to be dumped into the river!
Decadent and heartless  as the thought was, it was however thought to be a remedy to the emergence of pranks and other ‘queer characters’ in the society of the day.
But on the contrary, the hood was replete with a heart warming fairy-tale like episode when a mother discovered dad at a workplace in the city.
Decades passed when she got a job at his company … She looked hard at the bespectacled man and remembered him.
Many had speculated that he was no more but he had decided to lead a quiet life after his formal work stint ended in retirement.
The woman had forgotten about him until then. She was elated to discover him now that he had become an entrepreneur!
He decided not to employ her but asked for a reunion with his daughter who had now blossomed into a middle-aged blonde.
The patronage marvelled at this novelty which was a stark contrast to the man who spent his earnings running away from a woman …
This unthinkable act began with the discreet behaviour of missus photocopying papers related to his final earnings and sharing the information with friends in the hood.
Amongst these were ones that she had extramarital affairs with and this turn of events, he was alarmed and fathomed trouble. There she was making calculations with all and sundry and as he went about at the watering hole, a female patron disclosed to him that in fact everyone in her circle of friends had read the figures!
The beleaguered man was perturbed and demanded an instant separation with his spouse but this could not work …
That was the beginning of his truancy as he ventured on an odyssey of hide-and-seek which culminated in his account ending up in red!
The patronage was thrown into a trance of pros and cons as the debate raged at the watering hole on what the man should have done and not done!
Some contended that he had changed his mind now that he had a promise of a colossal sum while others supported the woman.
It was quiete an exasperating debate that was also emotional as the man reacted when lambasted over his mindless expenditure.
But since it was not the first time he had heard this, he calmly took the wrath of critics as the watering hole was swelling to its bream laced with loud music.
The humid atmosphere comprising the odour of sweating bodies and cigarette smoke was becoming familiar.
No patron had a choice except to stay and drink with mirth-a pastime typical of a patronage celebrating life.
His mentor had once asserted that one should indeed make hay while the sun shines because every time he was enjoying good health, some people were bed-ridden and sick and not knowing whether they would see the next day!
The lad who spent a night at the veranda owing to intoxication came through the entrance his eyes roving like a tracer …
He noticed Lazzo perched at his favourite corner like he had booked it from the proprietor guzzling one bottle after the other.
The epitome of his pastime always began towards midnight  when Maria’s friends began to show up to begin their night.
As usual the television screen was showing pictures of an event at a conference but at the watering hole there is nosynchronisation of picture and sound.
Loud music is preferred to intellectual discourse and often speculation on the pictures loomed large rather than the news content.
Lazzo had gotten used to misnormer for decades and concluded that it was very rare in the hood to pay attention to current affairs whilst at the watering hole which was predominantly speculative!