Blast from the past

I got an unexpected email from my mother in Samoa. She had run into an old firend of mine, Ofo. I can't say that Ofo was a name that I had not crossed my mind in a long time because for me I sometimes wander back to my youth and Ofo was a big part of it.

I met Ofo by chance. Their family migrated to Apia from the rural village of Falelatai. His father was a plumber for the government and mother a homemaker. Ofo was the second eldest and had three brothers and three sisters. They lived in an old fale behind us in a space no bigger than my current bedroom. They were squatters from the village. Like many rural families they moved to Apia to search for a better life. And like many who followed the same path, they were poor.

I was skipping rocks in a water logged ditch behind our house when Ofo appeared on the opposite side. A short unattractive child wearing only a tattered green lavalava. He also had a freckled face which was unusual for a Samoan boy. In the outskirts of Apia open water drains snaked throughout suburban settlements. For curious little boys like me, we traversed these disease infested drains with our homemade spears looking for eels, tilapia and little shrimp. We never did anything with our catch. We were in it for the thrill of the hunt.

It was my eighth birthday and I was waiting for my mother to come home and bake me a chocolate cake. This became the topic of conversation between Ofo and I, and I may have casually suggested that later on that evening he could come and have a piece of cake. It must have set off a trigger in Ofo's mind as right before sunset there was a knock on our door. It was Ofo and his mother, Malia. Malia had succumbed to Ofo's insistence that he was invited to my birthday and that he had to come and claim his piece of chocolate cake. That was the beginning of a friendship that lasted 10 years.

Over the years Ofo helped me do odd jobs around the house. I qualify saying "help" because my family thought he did most of the work. In return we gave Ofo firewood and crops from our plantation. Or any other surplus food items we had at home. It created a sort of symbiotic relationship between the two families. In a way we were kind of a second lifeline to Ofo and his family.

Ofo was a hard and loyal worker. My father once said that wherever Ofo would go he would be gainfully employed. When I was eighteen Ofo's family got evicted from the land they occupied. I was there when they moved out. Up and out of my life. I only saw him sporadically after that. I later heard that Ofo had gone to American Samoa to work at the Tuna Canneries. I last saw him 19 years ago on a short visit from American Samoa. I miss him.

Does fate rule men's lives

I am in the middle of probably one of the most hellish three weeks at work. Things coming at me in all directions. Everybody needs something urgently and everybody thinks what they need is more important than what somebody else needs, etc. In our industry the work pace is fast and furious. Clients always want shit fast but accurate. There are no normal work days for me. 9-5 is not a luxury I can enjoy. In the midst of all the chaos I find myself wondering if this is it??? Is this what it has boiled down to for me??? Every morning as a boy waking up and going to school. Followed by University in my young adult years. What a wonderful little shithole I carved up for myself here. Right now I am fairly young, I am strong and I am resilient I can handle this. But what about 10 years down the line. I am not so sure anymore. Revelations about life manifest themselves in the unlikeliest situations. But that's another blog for another day.

Is this what fate had planned for me? If I believe in fate then I have recourse for all the wrong decisions and indiscretions I have committed in my life. But yet I still look at them with disdain. I guess if fate were true then I should be okay because it was all meant to happen right? Fate is an excuse. Hard to find solace in something you do not believe in. I am not really sure how and why I got here but I am pretty sure it was my fault.