Power: Exquisite Meat!

By FELIX KAPUTU

They do not call him Mr. President or Excellency. They call him PC a clear allusion to a computer He has control over everything and uses his people as cattle, and often as meat for his food. In the long process, he slowly changes in a dangerous monster like being Can he by any chance still build his connection with the humankind, and become a man?
His Personal Assistance is rather called PA, and quickly changes this in Program Analyst, name he only shares with his closest friends. He pretends to have an absolute control on PC, and advises him for the worst, least human reactions.
A cook, named Coop, stands between PC and PA. Though he does not understand anything to the computer configuration, and to its system control, can PC be more human?
The novel questions the limits of humankind and PCs possibility to restore integrity once he has animalized.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456809713

FELIX KAPUTU

Felix U. Kaputu is a Professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, the United States of America. His experience includes traveling and teaching around the world in which capacity he was exposed to different leaders and leaderships. His past experience particularly in Africa has opened his eyes on dictators’ lust for power built on the corpses and blood of their countrymen. He thinks many other dictators are still on power all around the world. Felix U. Kaputu’s writing skills have led him to his first novels in French published by L’Harmattan. Power: Exquisite Meat is his second publication with XLibris

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Power: Exquisite Meat!

Felix Kaputu

Copyright © 2011 by Felix Kaputu.

ISBN:                      Softcover                      978-1-4568-0970-6

                                 Ebook                            978-1-4568-0971-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Personal Advisor’s (PA) End

Tales of the Past

Exquisite Meat

PC and His Lion

Coop and Mathilda-Kwan

Returning Home

Island Wisdom

Headlights

Homecoming

Important Meeting

Negotiations

Progress!

Ceremony

Tricks!

Chaos

War

Coup

Change

Resolution

Newness

Dedication

To David Kaputo, my brother

Diocesan priest of the Diocese of Solwezi

Suddenly dead, still present in many memories.

David chose a specific understanding of power.

He was a servant and a grassroots organizer.

His work done, he bowed down for his farewell.

What exquisite meat! Delicious, soft, tender, and lovely!

Personal Advisor’s (PA) End

After their long meeting, the officer and the sergeant were again taken back through invisible paths to the outskirts of the forest. They had forgotten about their vehicle, but it was well hidden in well-covered bush, and four young men were hidden all around. The disciplined young guardians gave back the keys and departed.

In the meanwhile, back in the forest, PC was given a specific phone number to permit him to share specific points with the officer on the behavior to be observed in the coming days. PC was given a list of the soldiers’ needs, and in spite of his isolation in the forest, he promised to take care of all their requests in the coming days. On their way back, the officer and the sergeant stopped in many trenches, question of making sure that they saw how things were going on. At their headquarters, the officer and the sergeant had a similar meeting to the one they had on the night previous to their departure from the forest. They explained in details things they were given access to and the progress they had noticed all around the once-neglected forest.

After their detailed report, many a soldier wished that they could forget about PA and start new lives in the forest. They all agreed on different steps to follow in order to reunite the island and forget about PA’s demoniac ideas. From his satellite phone, PC informed the headquarters, and the soldiers now likely to fight for him of the advancements of technology and all useful war utilities installed in the forest. PC also pointed out that everything on the island was observed from satellites and all people’s movements communicated to his central intelligence center.

On the next day, the officer organized an exercise opposing different trenches and using fake cartridges. The operation made so much noise and turmoil that the headquarters officers spent the entire night explaining PA what was happening and pretended that many armed people coming from the sea and from different directions at the same time attacked the trenches.

PA encouraged the soldiers he believed to be still with him to work hard, to keep fighting, and promised them support from the hill at any time. That was exactly the reaction or response the officer in charge of operations expected from PA. It was a normal response to their fake fighting stimulus.

The sergeant and the recruiter went on the hill as soon as possible and had a meeting with PA. They convinced him to send to the first lines for training all the youth from the hill.

The officer’s messengers went back to the trenches with all young men and women in age of serving under the uniform. They also included in the lines as many as possible very young ones that could easily qualify as child soldiers. For reasons of security, they presented them to the trenches and pretended that they would have the first part of their training in a location within the forest where they would learn the hardships of life and where they would exercise physically their bodies. In this way, these young people joined PC. The sergeant and some other reliable soldiers escorted them to the entrance of the forest.

They were told they were taken for a couple of days in the camp where PC was, were trained under the supervision of Mathilda-Kwan in the most-needed profiles on the offshore and in the mine. During this time, the trenches had sporadic shooting exercises and planted a lot of trees toward the hill. Finally the time came they should go and bring PA’s personal guards to the trenches.

On a given evening, the messengers brought back PA’s personal guards welcomed like new recruits in a military camp. The guards had to undergo their baptism under the form of several physical exercises among which running in the dark and in dirt water. Everybody could see that PA’s special soldiers were spoiled. They had nothing specific to call them soldiers. They could not easily run, were most of them very fat and obese. Other soldiers were mocking and clearly telling them that it was time they rebecome soldiers different from gunned civilians surrounding PA.

After the first series of exercises, the fake soldiers were very tired and automatically fell asleep. At that time, the sergeant and the recruiter gave their commission a clear report on the soldiers they had left on the hill, on the population, and on strategies they could use to take the hill without any bloodshed.

The officer suggested sending the last-coming soldiers, PA’s bodyguards, toward the forest without any gun in a simple running exercise combined with other physical exercises. This displacement should be prepared with much serenity and with a clear schedule on the time they would be running, jumping obstacles, and sitting down to rest.

Later on, PA’s guards would spend time in trenches with wooden fake AK-47 in order to show them how they had to shoot from there and how to cover themselves when the enemy was coming toward them. They would also be taught how to secure those who could be injured and to evacuate them for the first health aid.

Such training would take about three days or so. In the meanwhile, those who were in trenches for weeks before would be on their way to the hill hiding from one tree to another. The sergeant and the recruiter informed them that the carousel did no longer have any observatory unit. The soldiers could progress, and nobody would ever detect their presence that would be complete a surprise viewed as their coming back home.

When the meeting was over, the officer made a gesture with his hand, telling the recruiter that he would need him and the sergeant. Late on the same night, they met. The officer needed to share with them a detail he did not mention in the presence of the larger group.

I have a surprise for you; can you guess what my surprise is?

That we are attacking tomorrow early in the morning!

That you have other plans you did not want to communicate to the large group.

You have all failed. Do come here and see!

PC was in what should be considered as the officer’s sleeping room. He was in the lotus position with closed eyes and the palms of his hands turned toward the sky. He was silent and seemed to be very far away. The officer, the sergeant, and the recruiter left him alone, went back to their seats, and continued their conversation.

That was the surprise! As you can see, what you have mentioned as you were guessing was also true, but this was the most important of all.

What about the topics we have mentioned?

I spoke with PC all along last night; we have agreed on a given number of strategies.

Can you elaborate more?

Yes, from tomorrow early in the morning, the forest will be sending drones flying over the hill and throwing papers, informing people that they have to stay home, nothing would happen, but PC was on his way back home. This information would push PA to open us his last reserves of weapons.

We agree with you, Officer! There is still a question. What happens to PA?

When he is in the television office, we suppose as usually with his lion to inform the population on his strategies and certainly to insult PC. You will take position to disarm his remaining bodyguards; they will not escort him on the television platform. That room is built in such a way that no noise from the outside can come in. After his speech, you will have only to arrest PA, and we will make sure he is sent to the international tribunal court of Hayes in Holland.

When is all this happening?

Starting tomorrow morning and finishing with the communication, asking you to reach the carousel, my dear friends! Now, do please go and ask all your people to start parking their belongings for an exercise.

The sergeant and the recruiter left the officer. They knew that he would have to talk with PC on all details and communicate with the forest. Early, on the next morning, the trenches were disturbed by drones flying over the hill and by the responses from PA’s personal bodyguards. The latter were very happy every time they reached their target and thought they had shot all the drones down. They communicated the victory to PA and were very pleased of their success.

At the same time, their images were transmitted to PC’s laptop. PC could see how PA was happy and did not even hide behind the shooters. Later PA was seen with his lion and was playing with it. However, PC and the people in the forest noticed something very important: all papers thrown on the hill were picked up, the information circulated, and nobody was on the streets.

Finally, PA sent a message, asking the officer if he could send some more munitions to his personal guards as the drones were still coming. The officer told PA that he would even do better; he would send munitions with some soldiers who would stay on the hill. PA could not guess the trap.

That was exactly the signal for the group that was following the communication to leave the last trees, reach the carousel and the government buildings with dirt clothes and bloody signs on their bodies celebrating the victory, tell PA that the war was over and that they had lost many of their comrades. The soldiers also handed a speech from the officer and asked PA to go and read it on the television.

PA read the first lines of the speech, found that it was interesting, and run straight to the television platform where all his bodyguards were bloodlessly taken care of and completely disarmed.

Citizens and countrymen, your suffering and long mourning have lasted a very long time! I salute your courage and patience all along the last months. You have never suffered so much as you were forced to lead a life without electricity, water, food, and payment of your salaries.

He paused for a reflective moment and then continued, Now that peace is back, the institutions of the country will allow me to take back what must go to my family. I am left alone but with my Iljun. I mean my lion. I would like to present him to the entire island as a faithful friend and the guardian of your leader. Now that peace is back, we must denounce all the actions of Coyotes. They imposed suffering to our mothers, sisters, and friends and even to the army. It is time that we clean our home.

After his speech, PA went to the door but could not find his bodyguards. It was very strange, but he thought that they had gone nearby, leaving their post.

He thought of a way of punishing them; they would have to go back on foot. Then, he would put them in jail.

As PA reached the carousel, he saw many soldiers in very clean uniforms and standing up as though waiting for the arrival of an authority.

PA thought that was a surprise his ethnic bodyguards had planned for the ending of the war. They doubtlessly reserved him a triumphal and heroic welcome. He stopped his vehicle, quickly checked on his suit and on his lion. As he was putting his right foot down, he perceived a helicopter he had never known or seen before landing.

Ready to get on the red carpet and go toward the helicopter, PA thought that his people had forgotten to tell him that an important head of state was coming to celebrate with them their victory over the war.

The officer came closer to PA and pretended adjusting the political authority’s tie and costume, gestures to which PA and the lion were accustomed in such circumstances. However, at the time the officer checked all over PA’s body, he made sure that there was not any kind of hidden gun.

The officer walked respectfully beside PA as they both took the direction of the helicopter.

The engine stopped.

A man was getting down backward, his face not visible.

His first foot touched the ground, then the second. Still face hidden, he checked over his clothes and suddenly turned toward PA.

At the same minute, the police band launched the national anthem.

PA was now shaking with rage. The lion came close to PA, recognized its former master, and started pulling back on PA’s trousers while the latter was shouting, Alert! A phantom, a phantom, a phantom! This is a dead man! He is a dead man killed by my Coyotes with one hundred kilograms of explosives! A phantom, troops a phantom!

Good day, PA, my brother! So you did all that to kill me!

Believe me, he is a phantom! Kill him a second time, and we shall be free forever!

"Open your eyes, PA, and go to justice!

Never! I will kill you.

The lion pulled on PA, and they went running toward the thick woods at the bottom of the hill.

PC was back, and the island was reunited.

In his short speech to the soldiers and later on reproduced on the national television, he invited everybody to leave the hills and follow him where he was hidden; they would find there jobs, schools, health care centers, as well as other facilities that had completely vanished from their sight.

The government would consider rebuilding the hills in universities, hospitals, and other national facilities. PC invited everybody to look for PA and facilitate his delivery to the international justice that would deal with his many issues and crimes against humanity. The new leader—back to the power he was forced to leave—reminded them that PA’s last sentence was claiming his authority and property of the Coyotes Association. Many crimes were committed and had to be paid for.

Farmers saw PA several times.

They reported that his clothes were completely changed in rags.

He was still being pulled by his lion.

A woman reported that she met them, tried to hide, but PA had seen her.

Do not forsake me, my sister. I am unable to reach the hill or the carousel. This lion has enslaved me and does not want to move toward the carousel. Please, do give me some matches; that is all I need. Tell PC, if he is really PC, to send me matches.

Why matches?

My boss the lion cannot eat any raw food, and then he becomes crazy and pulls me all around woods. However, when he catches a rabbit and I can broil it, he is happy and sits beside me for hours. He never leaves me alone, and I cannot just go back to the hill.

Here you are. Fortunately I have some matches! I will tell your family to bring you more!

Do not tell them. I would not like my wife or children to see me enslaved by a lion! Tell PC I am sorry; I am his brother. We have the same blood. I will come and apologize as soon as possible. I am ready to go on working for the island.

The woman had left them.

Later on, as a mandate was issued by the International Court of Justice, PC was asked to do all his best to get PA transferred at La Hayes as soon as possible where he had to be tried for the genocide of a valley village and other crimes, forcing sex between his lion and young girls from the hill.

Many soldiers and other specialists were sent to catch him, but they failed and could not get the amount of money fixed on the wanted head.

The lion always covered PA, and the special hunters were unable to catch their prey.

The situation ended finally when the lion ran hunting a deer. A very weak PA went to the carousel. He was arrested, shaved, washed, clothed in a dark suit, and fed. PA was pretty sure that he was on his way to meet with PC. When the ACL helicopter landed, he was gently pushed aboard. It flew to La Hayes in Holland where PA is still to be judged. His lawyer repeated how PA was sorry and could not believe that PC had handed his brother over to the international court. Things were not clear in PA’s mind. He was telling other prisoners that he would soon be on his way back home, thanks to the support of all investors he had taken care of in the country.

Iljun, the lion, never attempted to come on the top of the hill. It was quite often silent except for some nights; its roaring could be heard from afar.

Tales of the Past

PA wished to hear about ancestral wisdom on power management. He expected Coop to tell a story giving names of powerful kings and the ways they used to cooperate with different parts of the country. He wanted a lesson of history and was ready to record it on his tape recorder.

Coop, however, told him these two tales based on animals, Once upon a time, when forest animals had also the use of speech and had powerful and political institutions, there was a very big and powerful kingdom led by King Elephant. He was the eldest of the forest, and his memory covered all the past institutions as well as the implications of different animals in power management. King Elephant had a very high sense of power, and everybody was afraid of his physical reaction. He had often the habit of punishing wicked citizens before giving them to the kingdom police for further punishment. All the country was afraid of him, and everybody who had a problem with him feared exile and hiding for ages in the forest to avoid public punishment and shame. They would go with their families to the most remote areas and live very poorly there with no expectation for any kind of future. More and more were going that way, and the country was only full of poltroons and cowards. The big king Elephant quite often punished foreign prisoners by making them farm for the royal family. He had many hectares of land plowed by prisoners. He usually had harvests to feed the court, his servants, and prisoners. Sometimes, he would even distribute some of his harvests to petty kings quite far from his kingdom. The more he did this, the more the cowards working for him were upset. They started murmuring about their suffering and hard life, but they never dared speak openly. Those drinking alcohol sometimes forgot to keep silent and sang on human suffering and how some kings weren’t sent by God but rather by some evil forces to impose suffering on other creatures.

The story continued, "Nobody would listen to them; they were just looked at as drunken men and were neglected. However, the king of Caterpillars listened carefully to them and started planning a revenge on the mighty king Elephant. As a matter of fact, Caterpillar King had not yet forgotten how the mighty elephants had cut trees in the forest without informing his community in advance. Caterpillars suffered crawling for a very long time before meeting some other trees where they would live and freely eat leaves. Many caterpillar citizens were crashed down, killed without any consideration for their life or any compassion for their fragility. They had died by millions because the almighty elephant needed his barns to be built on that area. In fact, the Elephant knew perfectly well the caterpillars’ language but behaved as if they could not have anything to talk about with him.

Coop took a deep breath and then kept going, "Caterpillar King thought he had to find a way to justify the blood of his citizens. He had heard about kamikazes in the history of his people. It was high time to find some volunteers who would attack the enemy in such a way that he would be astonished and punished for many years. King Elephant should be forced to kneel down and ask for mercy and forgiveness. King Caterpillar knew that he had to be careful and avoid casualties among his people. He called on his people very late on a chosen evening and asked for young volunteers who were ready to give a serious assault to their enemies. He did not want to mention the name of King Elephant. He wished to keep the name hidden until the last moment to avoid any kind of secret exposure. If the secret were known, it could reach King Elephant, and the latter could react strongly. King Caterpillar had still very fresh in his mind the suffering his people had undergone. He selected the strongest citizens and asked them to meet at his palace late that night. When they arrived, King Caterpillar had a private talk with the group leaders, i.e., ten selected by the youth. He explained to them what they had to do that very night. They had to crawl on their bellies, avoid any kind of noise, and get on the big field. Once there, they had to make sure that all their warriors get at the core of all corn plants and start eating as much as they could while spoiling as much as possible with their excrement and urine. Butterflies were also part of the strategy. Butterflies were taught a song to attract King Elephant to his field.

Coop was getting into the tale. He sped up his rhythm. "It all went in the way King Caterpillar had planned. After a couple of weeks, corn plants started falling down one after the other. King Elephant thought that was normal since it was almost harvest time. He went to observe some plants and found that they were rotten, and at the same time he heard the song of the butterflies. He was very angry and questioned who dared to come in his field and who was stealing and rotting his corn. The song answered him, ‘We are excrement, we are a vermin, and we have eaten your corn.’ That was too much to bear. King Elephant understood why his corn was rotten. He saw butterflies, and he could not stop his anger or wait for any rescue team. He decided to run on the enemies and crash them down. As he was running, his mass and power pushed down other corn plants. Butterflies saw that he was furious and chose to fly higher and higher as the king ran after them. Unfortunately, the heavy king Elephant could never leave the earth. He was very angry but could not save his corn. All his field and harvest were lost.

"He could not get anything out of his farm. He had to borrow from other kings, and his kingdom had to suffer for more than seven years before finding back a bit of its equilibrium and glory. All his opponents within the kingdom were very happy. At a given point, he had to negotiate with them in order to find out a way of defending their kingdom and a way of living in harmony. He had to forget about his dictatorship. He had to humiliate himself and agree with the very small animals of his kingdom in order to ensure any prosperity to his kingdom as well as his personal glory. King Elephant yawned and in a dreamlike position stated to himself, ‘Sharing is power. No power without sharing.’

That is the first tale I wished to give you today, PA. I know that you are very intelligent; you will use it and find within it a lot of our once-upon-a-time animal ancestors’ wisdom and political understanding. If you have any question, you can interrupt me at this level before I take the second tale.

PA had no questions. He thought it would be would better to listen to both stories and raise some questions later.

"Here is then the second tale. Once upon a time, there was a very powerful king of the forest called Thambo the Lion. He was very strong, and all animals who knew how he could wrestle knew that he could easily beat his opponents in one strike on the ring. Everybody was afraid of him, but above all, he was respected and ruled a peaceful kingdom. The respect he was given was based on the way he conceived his power. Thambo the Lion had divided his big kingdom into areas led by his representatives. They governed under policies agreed upon with the king. These rulers had their own representatives at different quarters of their areas. The policy was to turn around work, production, and fair salaries to all. King Lion had insisted that all his citizens should work in different sectors of life, and his representatives were charged to ensure their security, to organize palavers to solve any kind of problems raised among people. They were all supposed to pay taxes, portions of which were sent to the king once a month. Every year, the king went around the kingdom to listen to his people and their preoccupations. He usually also took that opportunity to lead personally ancestral rituals that took place at the center of the kingdom. Everybody was invited. There was food for everybody, different competitions, and prizes. The ending, a week after, usually involved commemorations of myths of creation, transmission of power from one generation to another, and the place reserved for King Lion in the Chain of Being. Apart from dance and other noisy ceremonies, there were also moments of absolute silence.

"It was self-imposing to have so many people coming from all over the country getting silent at once and observing that silence for about one hour of meditation. The king was responsible for teaching his people how to get connected to supernatural forces, to gods, and to God through silence and ascetic life. This general rehearsal was very important since it permitted all areas of the country to have the same rituals, at the same seasons of the year. These religious rites led to an understanding linking all sides of the country and contributing in the building of their identity, as well as their recognition of the leadership of Thambo the Lion.

"As Thambo was getting older and older, elders were afraid. With his death, their land could be exposed to violence and could be scattered in small parts. They had noticed that King Thambo was becoming weaker and weaker, and they were all looking forward to the next annual praying ceremony to find out if something would be announced. They suspected Hare, who was very tricky, of doing his best to get on the throne. Thambo the Lion felt what all his people sensed, and he spent much time in meditation so that at his death the kingdom could continue on a normal evolution.

"When the holy week came, all celebrations took place like normal, and everybody was sure that nothing would happen, that the king would die like all his predecessors and his death would be announced through local leaders. They all gathered for the last rituals and thought they would see the last of old Thambo. He had a very clear voice, full of energy. Several asked themselves