You know what I mean and all that

You know what I mean and all that.

Anybody who knew him knows what I am talking about in the title.

One Eid uncle Essop from Shongweni, that funny and crazy, uncle asked if he could slaughter a cow at our place in Umlaas Road and I said it would be fine and fun. I obviously had no idea.

We regularly had had cows over Eid and it really was a lot of fun.

The shop was open as Eid was a busy time for me.

We stored and cut a lot of the meat in the community.

When the animal was delivered I should have gotten a clue of the drama that was about  to unfold, when we couldn't get it off the farmers truck.

Then when it was off, the farmer finally left, in a tizz.

I asked uncle if he wanted my help, and he said he would manage just fine, with his two sons. He said this like he was insulted that I would think he would not manage.

He actually was quite adamant about this, so l let left him and his to do their thing.

From the open door of the shop I saw the Brahmin bull race across my field of view.

With the old man and his sons being towed behind the animal.

Uncle brandishing his long shiny knife.

They went to and fro, back and forth.

As the morning wore down they were lagging far behind the enraged beast and the son with the gimpy leg was struggling to keep up.

My customers and the entire neighbourhood had come out to see this spectacle, but by midday even the crowd had moved on.

Clearly nothing was happening anytime soon.

Every time I offered to shoot the animal to put an end to the craziness he shooed me off.

By late afternoon he indicated to me that I should stun the, by now crazy beast and I shot it with a small calibre bullet and it dropped into a comatose state.

Problem was that at some point in the mornings merry chase they had lost the knife!

I ran back to the shop, got mine and the old man started reading his prayers for felling an ox.

No amount of prodding could get him to speed up the process.

I knew that when the Brahmin regained it's senses we were in for it.

He finally took the knife to it and cut through the skin. And that pain awakened the dragon

If we thought we had a crazy animal in the yard before we clearly had no idea how crazy a wounded Brahmin could get.

We could not get close. Nobody could.

And when tried it was like running with the bulls in pamplona.

I finally had to shoot it again, twice to get it down, and then make the cut.

I will never forget that crazy Eid and I don't think anyone else who was there will either.

That scene of him and his merry band running, stumbling and being dragged behind the crazy bull. Priceless.

Shongweni Essop was a really funny old man.

"And where ever you are I hope you are still making people smile."