I’m more careful now, says drinker

I’ve on numerous occasions shared pub stories as narrated to me by ladies, especially the barmaids. Men who patronise bars have their unique stories too. Stories worth sharing.

That’s why today I’m letting one Mussa (not his real name) narrate one of his many bar experiences. Here he goes…

“I like my beer. I also like hard drinks such as Konyagi, K-Vant and Valuer. Being a self-employed plumber, I’ve all the time I need to drink because jobs don’t come daily.

When I’ve a good amount of money in my possession, you can find me drinking even before noon.

I try to avoid hard drinks, though, except when I’m with friends, some of whom are truly hardened drinkers.

Now there was this occasion on a Saturday, an occasion that I considered special. Two friends and I moved from one bar to another, drinking and entertaining girls that we didn’t even intend to take off with.

In our movements, I used my motorbike while my friends followed me in a specially hired bajaj.

I had earned good money after fixing a water problem for a customer in Mbezi Beach and I felt like a king with more than five lakhs in my wallet. My friends were okay too in their pockets.

We ended up at a famous bar in Tegeta where we decided to switch from beer to K-Vant. We ordered the 750ml bottle with tonic.

I was not keen on the tonic, for I didn’t want to dilute my excellent, strong drink with anything.

When we were done with the big K-Vant, we ordered another—the small one in the 250ml bottle.

We polished off this one quickly, then, we went back to beer.

I don’t recall feeling sleepy, but here I was, waking up while seated on my chair and a half-taken Castle Lite on my table. I looked around, and I realised only the watchman was there.

“Where are my two friends?” I asked the watchman.

“They left,” he answered.

“Why did they leave me behind?” I asked.

“They tried to wake you up and you angrily told them to leave you alone because you’re not a child,” he said. I staggered to my bike and left the bar premises.

According to my wife, who woke me up at 9am, I arrived home at around 3am. I couldn’t recall the route I took nor could I recall how I managed the motorbike.

My wife wanted money to buy bites for breakfast. I asked her to get me my wallet from my trouser pocket. She searched for it and said it wasn’t there.

I asked her to bring my phone so we could withdraw money from a neighbourhood electronic money shop whose code number I’ve memorised. She looked for it all over the place but couldn’t find it.

I swore there and then, that I’d be more careful now with booze, no matter how much money I have. I also vowed to be more wary of my friends, even the closest ones.”