Different Shades of Blur - Obirin Abiye

Old age does not save one from punches. That was something he could have thought of before he decided to go settling issues that was not any of his business. The fist tightened, fingers embracing themselves; bracing up for the wonderment that was about to happen. The man watched with fascination as the fist landed on his cheeks, he felt its tingling after-effects. His eyes bulged out involuntarily. Could it be that he was imagining things? His mind would not give way to thinking one thought. It raced in different directions. Another hit brought him back to life. He staggered backwards and he was able to understand that he had just been hit on the face. Not once but twice and that was that. Pathetic. He could do nothing as far as his body was concerned. It had lost all its youthfulness embedded with impatience. It was the young man's time now but he had disrespected him. "Ah! Agbalagba!" the young lady had said. "Baba!" She later remembered his face as the man who used to praise her. She did not understand a single word from his several chants which he titled "oriki". "This is how we praise you in your home" he would say. She did not understand the movements of his mouth quivering in strange tones embalmed in strange words. She just smiled and pretended to understand. He would tell her stories of the old. One story caught her attention. She never forgot the song he sang about oluronbi. She immediately learned it. "Olukaluku jeje ewure ewure ewure Olukaluku jeje aguntan aguntan aguntan Oluronbi jeje omo re omo re apon bi epo". His hands and body moving simultaneously to the song that came out of his mouth. She did not understand why Oluronbi would have to give back his daughter to the god Iroko. "Iroko join join!" It was later she realized that Oluronbi had made a foolish mistake by promising to sacrifice what was given to him rather than other things of which she assumed, he deeply regretted. When he made a not so funny face, she laughed as hard as possible. She was grateful to him, but she did not feel he needed to stress himself that much. And after sixteen years she did not like the way her eyes welcomed Baba; the man who came once in a while to their house. The bright-eyed peacemaker. She would have expected that her eyes smile along with her but her face decided to abandon her today; in fact all of her body. She ran towards Baba who had already lost his balance again. This was an urban setting where there was little or no regard for an elder. At least he should not have wanted to make peace with two "Agberos". They were as crazy as louts should be. His eyes stared intently at hers. He remembered her, quite alright. She was the little girl he once knew. He murmured his blessings to her and ordered that she left him alone. She moved a bit backwards and watched in horror as the man metamorphoses into a yeti; a thing alternating spirituality and the physical realm. His long fingers and long teeth shined in the sun. And all smoke bellowed from his head. He made a movement which she could not fathom. It was a walk or a run of some sort which he made towards the two louts. His body vibrated on the floor and people who were once spectators where seen running for dear life. The young lady stood amazed. He tore the two men apart, in peace and in pieces. Their body parts were seen sprawling in the air as Baba stared at the already petrified young lady, panting and staring. Baba was tired of the disrespect he had received in the world. He looked round to see people running to safety screaming "Iwin! Iwin! " . He drew near to her and said his last oriki to her and disappeared into thin air; nothingness. She never stopped staring.