An Incident at Pat's Bar

by E. C. Osondu

The bars favored by American oil workers in Port Harcourt were named after girls. The girls were retired prostitutes called club girls. Short and memorable names—Pat's Bar, Stella's Bar, Abby's Bar, Christy's Bar, etc. The oldest of them was Pat's Bar; it was also the one most visited by the older oil workers. You could tell the older oil workers from the color of their skin. It was the color of anthills, a very dark brown color. You could spot the old timers, they smoked Marlboro Reds, they were usually potbellied like most of the prosperous locals and had their shirts unbuttoned to chests revealing wiry grey chest hairs. They spoke a smattering of Pidgin English and their speech was sprinkled with local expressions such as wahala, oga, ashewo, nyash, and na wah.

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