Little things make big things happen

“In these kinds of structures, the devil is in the details.”

Even I had never heard such a phrase before, so when my mom turned and exclaimed “Devil!” I spread my arms out while shaking my head to let her know I was as confused as she was.

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“Please explain o, what do you mean by the devil is here? Let me know if my children will go up on it or not.”

That was the point where we burst into uncontrollable laughter. My sides ached and tears seeped down my eyes until I had to crouch to calm myself down.

“Mummy, David didn't mean the devil is here. I'm sure that's just a phrase, right?”

David's lips lifted in that lopsided smile he usually wore when he was amused.

“Yes. I actually didn't mean the devil is here. But let's have a seat when the manager of this place is available, I'll explain what I mean.”

It was the second day of our family get-together back at Port Harcourt, during the holidays. We had visited the city mall for a tour before then, going to “ooh” and “aah” over items we could not afford.

According to our get-together routine, we were supposed to go to a park called ‘Pleasure Park’ two days before, but my mother had begun coughing, her breathing too became heavy and shallow, so we suspended all activities and stayed back to nurse her.

That same week, I had a fortunate stroke of serendipity as my best male friend, David, happened to be in Port Harcourt City at that same time.

“I'm going to Pleasure Park tomorrow with my family. Can you come there as well so I can see you?” I asked him over the phone after I confirmed that he wasn't playing pranks.

“I was planning to go out myself, but I didn't know where so that's a really good idea.”

After having our first meal of barbecue fish and fruit drinks, everyone scattered about to look for something to engage themselves with.

I hurried around, looking to see if there was a light-skinned, medium-height, young man with a familiar face but I didn't find any.

I was with my mom, still sipping from my fruit juice can when he snuck up behind me and covered my eyes with his palms.

“David” I knew it wasn't going to be anyone else. He chuckled, bent to greet my mom who patted his back in response and turned to heave me up in a tight embrace.

“My guy! I can't believe I'm in Port Harcourt with you.”

“Treasure, I've told you to reduce the rate at which you put on T-shirts and jeans. Now, even your friends are calling you a guy.”

I tried my best not to explode in laughter, so I cleared my throat loudly instead and whispered to David, “Please don't call me guy when my mother is around. She's going to misinterpret the concept”.

Since every other person had scurried away to do something for themselves, David and I decided to head over to the climbing tower to try it out.

“That thing is too dangerous, I've warned you that you're not a guy, Treasure. Even guys are not up there….”

I felt like breaking into tears. Why did everyone have to leave my mom with me? I was barely going to have any fun because of the safety orientation she was going to give throughout our stay together.

We finally arrived at the tower when I promised that I was just going to make a video of David climbing and not go up there myself.

It was while we stood there waiting for the manager to attend to us, that David made the statement, “The devil is in the details”.

“Well, what does that mean?” I turned to him.

“It's an expression that means that even the littlest of mistakes can be really disastrous. I can imagine how long it took for this structure to be set up, and the safety measures that have been put in place to secure the lives of the people who would go on it.”

“But what's the essence of all that drama?” My mother cut in “Couldn't they just set up some other game? What's the advantage of this particular one?”

David lifted his lips in that lopsided smile again.

“Well, I would say that there are a lot of people out there who want to try certain things and climb certain heights. This particular structure is for them. Its why so much detailed attention is put into setting it up”.

“So long as you have involved the devil with this particular structure, don't go on it” At that point, no one bothered controlling the hysterical laughter that escaped our lips.