I tried again. "You don't mean you were kicked out of the group?"
He winced. "Oohhh, nooo! Opposition. Opposition."
"You mean there was too much opposition to your being kicked out, so you weren't?"
He slumped in his seat and regarded me balefully. With the pathos of a squeaky hinge, he said:
"Head man. Top dog. Derelicted resident. Boss. Wheel. Me. Zan Blekeke."
And if I didn't get it now, I just didn't deserve to know. But I got it.
"You were elected president?" I said.
Zan Blekeke nodded gratefully. "Yus and so. Undeserving awful, but...." He heaved his chest in resignation.
"No. Not at all," I protested. "Why, I think that's wonderful. You're just the man for the job! Have another drink."