CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER (5)

“Hey, did you watch the news?” father asked me

“No, what’s up, dad”

“Did you see Goodluck wearing a kaftan, he looked so Hausa.” Father exclaimed.

“That’s what I’ve been telling you about packaging, father said.

Okay, father, I get the message.

The way you package yourself goes a long way to creating the image of you in the mind of others, father told me.

“Dress the way you want to be addressed, says the popular quote. Now, it’s more about packaging. Image is something, but not everything. Just like beauty is vain without character and riches hollow without integrity; while packaging is still important. I must remind you that content is still king,” he said.

Wow, I have never heard it like that before. So many thoughts and ideas began to race through my mind like speed cars in a Formula One Grand prix.

I wondered how the two Brits, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, felt about each other, now that Jenson Button has signed a new contract with Hamilton’s Renault team; nationals but competitive rivals on the same F1 team. What was Renault bosses thinking? Are they trying to fashion a Chelsea or Man City out of the Renault team in F1? By the way, Button was recently knighted by the Queen. Hmnn, Sir Jenson.

But, at the moment, one ‘dame’ speeds away for my thoughts' top prize. It’s Edna on my mind.

“Before you say anything more, there is something I need to tell you,” Edna had told me the last time I called her. I wanted us to fix an appointment. I didn’t just want to take her out. I wanted to catch her by surprise with my decision.

Now, I might have to reschedule the surprise with this sneak she just chipped in.

“Can’t you just tell me on phone?” I cajoled.

“No, it’s something I need to tell you face to face,”

She had stressed the need so much that it had got my pulse racing faster than any Braun GP or Renault car could ever do in five seconds. Whatever does she have to say that couldn’t just be said on phone? So many thoughts and ideas were racing through my mind. And this was not about winning a Formula 1 grand prix.

I just wondered.

We have so much history together, but can I handle her past, if it turns out to be what I never imagined or expected?

‘Content’ is still king, I had to remind myself.

“Happy New Year in advance,” was the first thing she said to me when we later met. We hugged and she, finally, revealed the contents of her heart to me. Well, so much for image.

And so it was; yesterday ended at the break of today.

…New Year. New beginnings.

© ARUKAINO UMUKORO