For Abodunrin;

Gather around, let me tell you a little story;

Dressed in her best attire, the lady swayed under the moonlight. It was her birthday & she had prayed to the gods for a lot of things but happiness topped the list.

Her friends circled her dancing too to the synchronized beat of the drums. It was just another beautiful but cold night in the village and they were all scantily clad but heavily adorned. Their skins glowed as they danced and the scent of cinnamon could be registered by the nostrils of anyone who approached them.

She danced till sweat glazed her already glazed body. She moved to the beat till the man with the pot belly and his friends approached her friends. She knew the man with the potbelly – he had promised her heaven on earth in a bid to have a taste of her body. She looked at him and smiled, even hugged him as far as her arms could go round his body but she was uncomfortable. A bit uneasy at that.

The man with the potbelly dragged her away from the crowd and the drummers to express his displeasure – he claimed that he had brought his friends to meet with her friends and also to suprise her. He made claims and she just looked as he spoke, hurt. Hurt because it was all a lie – he had actually brought his friends so they could hook up with hers and she’d have his time. She’d have his time and he’d take her somewhere quiet to have his feel.

She went back to the gathering to continue dancing, the best palm wine had been served in gourds to everyone around and her friends. She tried dancing but she couldn’t. Her body refused to moved and her mind felt burdened because of all the man with the potbelly had said. He had played the blame game. Blamed her for the fact that his friends were bored and her friends were not relating with them. Blamed her for the fact that he and his friends had actually purchased the best palm wine and had it served round so she could feel happy on her birthday but he was lying. The palm wine had been the drummers’ gift to her and his friends had come with plans to take her friends to dark corners for their fill.

He walked into the gathering with his friends. She had spotted him and his friends. She even welcomed them but that was it, she didn’t look over at his side again. He looked at her from time to time but she didn’t even acknowledge him or the looks he threw over at her. Her- the beautiful girl with the painted face that danced surrounded by her friends. He could tell those were her friends by the way she related with them and the way they called her name.

‘ Ebun’ they had shouted, smiling as the drummers changed their rhythm. It was probably a rhythm she liked because she smiled back at them and swayed beautifully under the moonlight. He watched the man with the potbelly grab her waist and pushed her up against himself like she belonged there. He watched her countenance change for a second before she smiled again like nothing had happened. He watched her.

The man with the potbelly had frustrated her and she wanted him to leave but he wasn’t going. He held her waist and she couldn’t help but feel irritated by the way his hands held her. She was visibly upset but nothing could spoil her night not even the grabby hands of the man with the potbelly whose only wish for her was to have his fill.

She walked up to him. He couldn’t believe his eyes as she and her friends came to join him and his friends. She looked at him and then went on to dance with his friend. He couldn’t be happier for the said friend but he couldn’t also stop looking at her as he danced with one of her friends. He looked at her as she looked at him and they both felt nothing.

The night ended and the sun was rising. The crowd had dispersed and everyone was struggling to make it back to their huts in time. She had waved goodbye before leaving with her friends, he and his friends had decided to pass the path by the river as it was a shorter path and water was needed to clear the palm wine that was messing with them.

‘ help’ she screamed. She had fallen into a deep hole with her friends and had already begged the gods to send help before a snake found its way into the hole. She heard a noise and a familiar voice as her friends stayed, crying. It was him – ‘ Bode ‘ she called to him . He peered into the hole at her and knew he had to save her.

She gave him the warmest embrace. He had saved her and her friends. He had even walked them to their hut. He had actually saved her and she had embraced him. She stared at him till he disappeared, praying to the gods to bless him and his home. She stared till the memory of him was all she had.

– For Abodunrin

– SoulFullOfSeyi