Water
roughly splashed across his face roused him. It took his eyes several minutes
to adjust because they were hurting and his head was also pounding. He was
still in the same alley but now had the unwanted company of all five of his
assailants. Their leader judging by his stance was an almost toothless heavyset
man-ape, tattooed generously across the face with “ancient oyo” tribal marks.
He looked more burnt than black. Even in his dazed state, Fido concluded death
would be scared of the man.
“E joo sa…” {Sorry, sir…} Fido started
to say.
“Nomuba wan, mo hate ki eeyan ma pe mi
ni sa” {Number one, I hate people who address me as sir} The man said.
Unconsciously, Fido looked around for
hidden speakers. The man’s voice seemed to be that of many speakers tuned to
bass mode, combined. He couldn’t tell if it was because his brains were
scrambled at the moment or if it were really so.
The man continued.
“Awon alabosi lo ma n lo sa fun ra
won, nitori na ti o ba feran emi e, ma pe mi be” {only hypocrites address
themselves as sir, so if you value your life, stop addressing me as such”.
Fido
didn’t really understand the man’s reasoning and really couldn’t argue, so he
nodded his agreement furiously with every word the man uttered. Every single
word.
“Nomuba tu, mi o feran ebe, jo ma be
mi” {I hate apologies, please stop begging me}
Fido noticed the man had ironically begged
him but he was too busy nodding to dwell on the thought. He wished the man
could see that he was also nodding in his mind. Every part of his body
including his … was synched to the same nodding activity.
“Ki awa to de aiye la ti n payan. Ta
ba tun ku gan, a si ma ma payan. Ninu oyun ni moti koko payan. Mo te kehinde mi
fo lori danu ni! S’ori oye kin pa e ni, nitori o ti gbe mi sare, sugbon awe wa
loni, nitori na, ma saanu fun e” {I started killing before I came to this world
and I will continue in the afterlife. The first person I killed was my twin in
the womb. I stomped him to death! You see, I should kill you because you made
me run but I’m in the middle of a fast so I’ll show you mercy}
Fido was sure the world was grateful
there was only one of the man. Two of him would have been an apocalypse. That
moment, the man smiled at him with his countable teeth as if he’d just awarded
him a prize and calmly shot him in the kneecaps of both legs.
The shriek that emanated from Fido was
nothing like the familiar type that came when his grandma used to thrash him
all those years. This was far worse and alien. He started feeling in all parts
of his body at the same time. It made him realize how dead the body was to
feeling without pain and he prayed to die just then. A scuffling sound
introduced another presence in the alley and the five men tensed, alert. They
relaxed when the person turned out to be familiar.
Fido heard the newcomer say “ohun ko,
ohun ko” {it’s not him, it’s not him} just as night came during day for him
again the second time that day and the third time in his life.
*********************************************
He awoke to a smell which informed him
it must either be heaven or a hospital and he prayed it was the latter. It was,
and he sighed in relief. His face was bandaged and felt heavier. He struggled
to move it to view his legs. They were still there but now were presently held
apart by some tube-like cords. He heard footsteps outside his door and closed
his eyes as fast as he could manage. He wasn’t ready to see anyone in this
state.
Two people had come into the room and
were talking about him. The male voice had a certain serene authority and
probably belonged to the doctor while the other voice was the agitated yapping
of his grandma.
The doctor was saying… “…ko si nkan ti
a le se, a ma lati ge ese mejeji kuro ni. Infection yen ti spread ju” {…there’s
nothing else to be done, we have to amputate both legs. The infection has
spread extremely}
The words caused Fido to open his eyes
but he never saw anything before night came again.
***************************************
Most of the times he awoke he didn’t
know if he was still alive or dead, existent or non-existent. He had so many
dreams he didn’t remember. They seemed to making fun of him. He lost all track
of reality or what was real or not.
But the time he woke to find his legs
gone, he knew it was real. The tears came and came and never seemed to stop. He
thought of football, “Obesere fc”, “Agege bread” and “Ewa agoyin”, he thought
about “Garri” and the bees and inwardly cursed the five men for taking all that
and more away from him forever. The thing that saddened him the most was the
fact that they had picked the wrong person. He’d not been whoever they’d been
sent to kill. Night came again for him.
*****************************************
The next time he woke he was free of
the facial bandages and the heaviness. He wanted to look downwards but didn’t.
Not because he couldn’t move his head but because he knew it was a bad idea.
What was there to look at but misery?
********************************
The sun rays shining through the
window blinds interrupted his dream and he woke. He felt sorry for waking. The
sleep had been an enjoyable one. He caught a big yawn and stretched, his joints
making all the usual agreeable pops. He swung his feet over the bed and got up
to adjust the window blinds that had rudely interfered with his syrupy sleep.
He got back on the bed when the room was well shrouded in the veil of darkness
once again and proceeded to recapture his sleep.
He curled his legs to his stomach to
achieve the fetal position he found so pleasing when sleeping and that was the
moment it hit him. He’d just walked! He sprung from the cherished sleeping
position like a “magun” possessed acrobat and checked his legs. They were back!
His legs! Real, fine legs! Fine, real legs! And they belonged to him. He jumped
down from the bed and ran out of the room into the hospital’s waiting room
which was full of patients, nurses and a handful of doctors.
“Mo le rin! Mo le rin! Ese mi wu pada!
Ese mi wu pada!” {I can walk! I can walk! My legs grew back! My legs grew
back!” he shouted as loud as he could.
Then he stopped shouting when he
realized the whole room was silent. The people in the room were looking at him
with different expressions. The silence didn’t really bother him. It was the
worried looks from majority of the people that unsettled him. A few of the
female nurses were chuckling secretly while the available male ones looked
ready to spring on him.
The closest doctor approached him and
whispered to him.
“Beeni, kosi tun tun ninu iyen, ti ese
ba ge, a wu pada. Apa, ese, gbogbo re lo ma n wu pada. Se o gbagbe ni? so da e
loju pe ori re wa ti jina?” {Of course, there’s nothing new in that, if a leg
is amputated, it grows back. Arms, legs, they all grow back. Did you forget?
Are you sure your head has fully healed?}
…and then Fido remembered. It was
true, legs and arms did grow back. What had he being thinking? Embarrassed, he
turned to the doctor and meekly nodded.
**************************************
P.S - What if the real
world is an illusion and our dreams were real? What if we could make things
happen by dreaming hard enough? What if? Don’t blame me, I’m a Joseph
person…just trying to use a little imagination here. Thanks for reading.
