What happened about Mr Muter

What happened about Mr Muter/Fault with silence



By Mordecai J Banda



Mr. Muter [pronounced moo-ter] was the only living ex-coal worker in his township of Drupe. Many other coal workers had returned ill, died of accidents in the dangerous caverns or simply remained back there in the South. Mr Muter returned with a fairly large amount of goods, which he obtained with extreme luck from dying friends or the kind leaders of his coal mining team. Mr Muter was, you see, very charismatic.



Even though he was physically unblemished and still fighting fit for a 50 year old, Mr Muter had a problem of speech. It was barely physical, but psychological; there was many reasons for this.



Mr Muter had returned from South, proclaiming his riches and barely being modest on his Malawian companions. He flushed his money about, and no one could touch him because of his deadly built frame and surprising youth. Many people commented of his age [at the time 48] not being a number of days passed, but the added up figure of two young 24 year olds who love to fight.



Mr Muter also arrived to immediately marry a girl who had been dating already. He had been so convincing to the woman’s parents that they had had no choice but to turn down the original suitor and accept Muter’s proposal, after all, he was very rich. The first day the woman, beautiful Edina of Maphunziro[Teachings] village, complained and grieved, but Mr Muter could be as gentle as he was tough. And when the old man hit 50, he had two teenagers in the big house, Todd and Medina.

With all this success in his life, Mr Muter soon saw no point in friends; he barely missed his parents and family, and soon he even alienated himself from the family get-togethers that happened regularly at his home village, the name of which he also forgot.



Gradually Mr. Muter was a silent and harsh man, and despite his now annoyed wife’s pleading, he completely ignored her or some of his other surviving ex-coal workers. The situation got worse when Muter watched a convincing film of a Latino-mafia boss, or Don in the correct terms. The man never had to speak, he got what he wanted, and at the moment the very drunk Mr. Muter welded the idea into his mind, and he muttered to himself, “I will be like that man, what I look at will be brought to me, and what I breathe on will be cleaned for me.”



The following two weeks were chaotic for the family, Mr Muter had a fat and moderately fierce dog in the house, and every time it intimidated or nipped an intruder or visitor, Mr Muter would beat it senseless, then the next day after that with no shout or warning. He would do it silently; his face contorted with silent rage as he dangled the hopeless dog and whacked it with a stick thick enough to be called a log.



To his son he would call “Todd!” and Todd being interested in the past day mining tools of his father, would bring a hammer or a pickaxe with him absent-mindedly. Mr Muter would not mention what he had wanted originally by calling him. Expecting somehow that Todd knew Muter wanted the TV on or the beer from the fridge to arrive, Muter would rise from his couch with exasperation, take the current tool in Todd’s hands and leave them with the mother or any person available, then whack Todd senseless.



To the daughter he also called, “Melinda!” and Melinda being interested in music [unknown to Muter that she took that from her mother] would come along with the loud [and fancy] phone she had with its headphones chugging music into her ears. Mr Muter would expect Melinda to wash either dishes or clothes, and her not able to even hear him, Mr Muter would rise from his couch with exasperation, snatch the headphones and toss them angrily, then whack her senseless.



To the wife he didn’t even bother calling, he never talked to her and plenty of times beat her over Todd and Melinda, expecting her to tell the children to work. She was also a good singer but Mr Muter beat her for the noise; but being the quiet Latino-mafia Don he had seen on the TV. He didn’t bother talking. So for every individual, the dog, Todd and Melinda and herself, Mrs Muter got beaten.

This went on without challenge for many weeks, and the house got bigger and bigger, the money piling up, because despite his silence, Mr Muter found many ways to make income.



Two weeks later the day was as usual.

The dog barked and nipped one of Mr. Muter last friends only slightly, [The friend had been poking it with a stick] and Mr Muter beat it.

Mr. Muter called “Todd!” and Todd came, with a tool. Mr Muter gave it to the nearest person, and beat him up.

Mr Muter called “Melinda!” and Melinda came with music chugging. Mr Muter tore off the headphones, and beat her up.

Mrs Muter arrived and talked and sang, Mr Muter shut her up, and beat her up, because she didn’t talk to the children when he looked at her.



Then nighttime arrived, and Mr Muter was dozing in his couch. He heard a noise of the fence breaking and the windows crashing each sound short after the other. Mr Muter cautiously approached the doorway, and surprise! Three thieves unarmed but outnumbering Mr Muter, were at the gate. Mr Muter was barely as strong as he was before. So he decided to enlist help of the dog, he untied it and bawled out for it to attack, but the dog, like any living thing, thought first. Since I am beaten for biting anyone, then that means I should bite HIM. Of course this was logical for the dog, because the master never used words to teach it.

Mr Muter soon had a canine clinging to his buttocks with its sharp teeth digging in. The thieves approached.

Mr Muter screamed loudly, beat off the dog, and ran into the house. His backside bleeding profusely and staining the floor. He decided to enlist the help of his son, whom always had a tool with him, that would definitely assist him to fight off the thieves. So Mr Muter called, “Todd!” Todd was holding a hammer and pickaxe. He ran over to the father, who was relieved at his sight, and Todd saw the thieves coming in. But Todd thought first,

Since I’m whacked for holding these tools I should give them away immediately so that dad will have no reason to beat me This was logical for Todd, because Mr Muter without any words took the tools away to someone else and beat Todd without a single word to teach him, so Todd presumed that he was meant to give away the tools every time he met his father. Todd then gave the hammer and pickaxe to the nearest person, the thieves.



So the thieves soon had a hammer and a pickaxe, they approached with menace, ready to strike. They ignored Todd.



Mr Muter shouted for Melinda with desperation. He thought; she will have a phone to call the police. So he called out, “Melinda!” he called, cowering behind the couch he usually sat on as the thieves approached.

Melinda was listening to music with her phone while in bed. Melinda heard her father calling and Melinda thought first,

Since father beats me for having the phone I shouldn’t let him see it So Melinda hid her phone and arrived without one.



The father seeing that Melinda had no phone, was now completely desperate, he called for his wife but there was no answer, “Elida!” he called again and again. The thieves left one of the thieves, the shortest and slimmest, to beat Mr Muter with the side of the pickaxe. Mr Muter screamed in pain and the dog, trying to be obedient, arrived and continued his biting that the master seemed to like.

So as the house got ransacked, Todd passed on any item [Which would have been either a good weapon or simply hidden otherwise,] to the thieves. Melinda efficiently ignored the thieves. When they were finished, the smaller thief stopped hacking Mr Muter, leaving him badly wounded and barely alive as he coughed out blood and spat out teeth.



He found out the neighbours hadn’t arrived and his wife was nowhere to be seen. Where was she? She had a strong voice to call for help. Mr Muter then saw the smaller thief whisper to his children, Todd and Melinda, and the children seemed surprised, but to Mr Muter’s immense shock; they hugged the thief and stalked off to the door with the group. Mr Muter was too baffled and beaten to protest or call out. The thieves left with his hidden money and furniture, but on the doorway the small thief called the dog, which obediently went to the thief.

“Who are you?” Mr Muter managed his first words.

The thief simply replied, “So now you can talk” and removed a glove from the right hand, exposing a feminine hand, then threw a ring over to Mr Muter, who finally gave in to the pain and shock, and fainted.

It took only a few days for the people all across the township and beyond to learn from the late Mr Muter. The fathers made sure they communicated nearly every single thought they had, and that they talked more, to make sure the family knew how to run in harmony and made it a point to teach with not only punishment or incoherent shouting but with words. Even With their pets.