''Mahn, I was saying earlier that my mum wasn't breathing anymore'' Old friend belches and hiccups a few times consecutively. Son of man offered him a sachet of water lying on the table. Old friend sucked everything in a gulp, then cleared his throat thoroughly.
''As I was saying, neighbors had already invaded our house, and this woman emmm........you should know this woman now. This woman that used to be mum's closest pal that year''
''You mean mummy Charles?'' Inquired son of man. ''Exactly! Mummy Charles'' he said pointing his index finger towards me in affirmation.
''I know you must have heard she passed on recently. She died in an accident on her way to her son's matriculation ceremony. Her son was a fresher in Kogi State University, Anyigba. She drove herself all the way to Anyigba and had already gotten to one famous round-about named Unity Square. From descriptions, I could tell she was just a stroll away from her destination when her brakes failed and she lost control. Her remains were pulled from underneath a parked Mercedes truck that had just offloaded PMS in one of the fuel stations around, and was warming up to take off''
Son of man was dazed beyond any reasonable doubt. It was obvious in the way he stared ahead blindly.
''I know you are shocked but please close your mouth na, I just finished munching fufu o. These annoying flies haven't departed yet, just in case one of them find its way into your mouth fa'' cautioned old friend.
He continued ''Wait a minute! Don't tell me you didn't hear of her demise. Okay! Okay! I almost forgot you told me you were out of Abuja towards the end of last year. Minna is quite far you know, so I shouldn't have expected the news to have gotten to you over there, even though bad news travels faster and farther than a comet. Okay, let me continue''
Regardless of the warning, son of man couldn't help but slap himself hard on his lips in a quest to chase a fly that had attempted to settle in his mouth. He just couldn't program his brain to believe these stories he had heard. How on earth could he not hear these mysterious events. He thought.
''Are you with me brother?'' Old friend had asked.
''Yeah! Yeah! Sure I am''. Son of man replied as he had already slumped into a daylight dream.
''So, Mummy Charles had grabbed me by the waist and tossed me away from our house. She took me to her 2 bedroom flat and locked me up in her own room. The only day I was allowed to see sunlight was the day we were to travel to the village for my beloved mum's burial ceremony.
Brother, I was shrunk drastically. I was that shrunk so bad, I was looking like a nylon bag being subjected to fire from a matchstick. All the drainage around my neck were deeper than those canals in Lagos. We arrived the village and the burial ceremony kick started almost immediately.
Brother, this was were the main shock was served. Brother, I got served. I got served a full course dinner of surprise. Dad was standing close to the 6 feet hole alongside family members including myself. I was pained the moment mum's corpse was being lowered into the pit by four able bodied men. The very second the casket dropped in the hole, dad slumped and was lying flat on his stomach on mum's casket. As in ehn, that was it oo. This man was gone for bad forever and ever. Some said he fainted, some said he hadn't slept in days, so his body was inky reacting to stress, blah blah blah blah blah. Every known medical and spiritual effort to enable this man open his eyes again, mba! The man refused oo. He was dead! Just like that. He didn't even say 'Eneojo please, I want to disappoint you a little so leave this place immediately'
I mean, he wasn't even shy at least. Okay, let's say he didn't care about all that courtesy but he should have at least honored the fact that I hadn't seen him in two straight weeks. There were things I wanted to say to him, nightmares I had to share with him, events I had to recount to him. The best he could do while we were on transit, was to grab my neck gently and say 'Boy, you look malnourished and sick. You should stop over thinking at once. This whole thing will pass and we will get back on our feet. Be strong and remember you are a man'. With that, he patted my back softly and I nodded in response.
See, we have writers, dancers, singers and a zillion and one talents here on earth. But son of man had never seen someone who could allow an ocean of tears down his cheeks and still maintain his tone, accent and even gesticulations at the same time until that day.
Now he understood what was meant by the saying "True pain is an abstract pinch on man's emotions"
