A Man Died (Some Words for Mr. E)

This afternoon I received the news of a friend's death. I was stunned at first, then I was surprised, this gradually escalated to unbelief. Moments later I was angry.

Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

I am not very good at saying goodbye, neither am I one to easily get angry over nothing. This is not a tribute, I doubt anyone could write a befitting one, or tell about the goodness of such a nice guy in less than 500 words.



^unsplash.com


Some things do not just make sense. They said everything that happened, does so for a reason. Some reasons, then, do NOT make sense.

I know it was a futile anger, some may even argue a senseless one. I was angry for a lot of reasons, one of which is the randomness of it all. No one deserves to die, you may argue. You may probably be right.

Yeah, life is not fair, I already know about that. People die every day. I know about that too.

If I know about all these, why am I still angry you may ask?

I am angry at this news for a lot of reasons. My friend, Mr. E is, sorry was, I still could not still bring myself to write about him in the past, a great guy. He was a guy that loved life, he loved the small things in life. He was altruistic to a fault, even when he recently lost his job, he still offers to pay for our drinks, about two months ago, which we, my friends and I, politely turned down. What manner of men takes the last bread of a starving beggar?

He was a simple soul, he lost his job trying to help a friend, he was offered a way out if only he could throw the friend under the bus. He refused. He got fired. He went home and started life afresh, distributing CVs, walking the streets looking for a way out. Finally, he got a job at a filling station, took it at more than one-eighth his pay at his last firm. He was happy again, the sun is out and shinning at him. He has seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I was relieved, relieved because I couldn't bear to see him go back to the hard life before graduating from school. A story he loved telling.

A story which involves all the hustles known to a student in school, who when others are battling to pass the exam, he is battling the hunger gnawing at him as the last meal was hours ago.

Last month, it even got better, he got a job much better than the last one. The pay and everything was better than the one where he was fired from. He called me and was shouting, "Green, I have made it!" His happiness was infectious, I was having a not-so-good day when the call came in. Immediately I was transported to the world of Mr. E. He had made it, that is all that matters!

Today, the phone rang, an obviously crying girlfriend who stopped long enough to say, "Mr. E is dead" and continued crying. I let her cry on, not that I am heartless, I was lost for words to say. I was speechless. I was stunned. Life just played a cruel joke on Mr. E. Well played Mr. Death, you got the last laugh.

RIP Mr. E

Death would have it no other way.