Loko,that Cableman

I had just moved into my new apartment on Lark Street. It was on the
second floor overlooking the river. This was a locality that had been
developed only recently. There were a few houses which were mostly
one-storey brick structures. The people who lived on Lark Street were
simple, uncomplicated folk. All of them? No way. Two weeks after I
became a resident of Lark, as it was known popularly, I met Loko. Or
rather, he met me. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was enjoying my
weekend siesta. Suddenly there was a lot of knocking on my door. I live
alone and therefore have to open the front door myself all the time. I
was very angry at being deprived of my afternoon nap and was about to
abuse the person on the other side of the door. And then, Loko
appeared. He truly did. Loko was tall, he was quite thin and gave you
the impression that he would start dancing any moment. But he didn't.
Instead he meant business. "Hello there," he said, "I gather you are
new around here, Mr. ,Mr. ,?". I helped him, "I am Jim Rock." Before I
could proceed any further the man emphatically declared, " I am Loko.
Loko, the cableman himself. It is my job to give people cable. Cable is
a wonderful thing. You get cricket, movies, news, soaps and what have
you. And for a few pounds extra I can give you what you want to see and
are afraid to ask.." By now I was quite angry. I told him, "If and when
I take cable it will be from an honest person." Loko was unmoved. "For
your information," Loko stated, "I am the only person in Lark who gives
cable. So, its your choice." I was sure that I did not want to take
cable from a person who was as rude and brusque as Loko. But cable is
such an irresistible thing. A few days later there was this important
cricket match and I had to watch it. Loko had given me his number and I
contacted him. He told me that for fifty pounds he would allow me to
watch the cricket match. Well, he kept his promise. And did more. In
the break between the first and second session of the match Loko showed
a film that any male would probably watch alone. I wanted to see more
such films. So I spoke to Loko. He gave a triumphant smile and told me,
"I knew that would work." And I had to shamefacedly admit that he had
won. The cablemen always do. Loko asked me to pay him two hundred
pounds for doing the wiring for my cable connection. I gave him the
money without asking any questions. He did the wiring work on a Friday
afternoon. It was during the peak of summer. When I returned from
office I found that I neither had power nor was my landline working. It
was a hot, stuffy, frustrating night during which nothing seemed to
work for me. I tried to call both the electric supply and telephone
people from my mobile. But they seemed to have gone home to celebrate
Friday night. When the repair people did come, what they told me was
shocking to say the least. In his eagerness to do the wiring for my
cable connection Loko had destroyed all the wires belonging to the
electric supply corporation and telephone company.When I asked Loko why
he had done this he denied touching any wires in my house. In fact he
told me that he did all his wiring by 'remote control'. A few days
later another company started giving cable in Lark. Loko rang me up and
said that he was going to teach his rivals a lesson that they would
never forget. That evening there was a huge fight between Loko and the
rival company whose chief was called Domino. They not only used guns
but they also fought with bombs and grenades. Loko was seriously
injured and had to be admitted to hospital. He was laid up there for
three months. I visited him a couple of times and he always said, "Let
me come out of this place. There will be just one cable operator in
Lark. Well, when Loko did come out he could do nothing to prevent
another, and then another company from entering the cable business in
Lark. Loko died while he was trying to set up a cable between two tall
buildings that had recently come up in our area. Well, he died with a
cable in his hand.