The Ricochet [ A short story by ThaNaijaPOET]

Advisory Content:

This poem contains strong language and explicit sexual and violent content.

The Ricochet

Olumide always considered himself

God’s own gift to mankind

He was tall

Handsome and

Was physically carved

Like a Spartan

He was also smart

But like most mortals

Olumide also had his flaws

He was evil

Perhaps

Tagging him evil might be an understatement

Olumide was an embodiment of evil

At different points in his life

He had embraced violence in its extreme

Just name the act

And Olumide had either done it

Or was in the process of doing it

One of his landmark deeds

Was an encounter with an old man

On a very cold evening

Shortly after the heavy rainfall

Olumide was bored

And to make matters worse

He was also broke and hungry

He knew he could easily get food nearby on credit

But his ego counseled otherwise

It therefore didn’t come as a surprise

When he slowly rose from his bed

Put on a shirt, jean pant and boots

And set out to find a solution to his problems

For a very strange reason

He decided to veer off his familiar route to the major road

And opted for a muddy terrain as a shortcut

Olumide hadn’t walked for more than 4 minutes

When he looked up from the wet and muddy floor

And saw the silhouette of an old man

Approaching from a distance

With each step Olumide took

The distance between the approaching old man and himself shortened

Also

With each step came the evil whisper

Olumide had become familiar with

And always embraced

The old man wasn’t too far off now

And the voice in Olumide’s head

Told him precisely what to do

Once the old man was within his reach

Just as the old man was about to walk past Olumide

Olumide suddenly moved off course

And took a bold step off the straight line he had been walking

And stepped right in front of the old man

Automatically blocking off his path

The old man who had his head lowered all along

Slowly looked up to see who or what had blocked off his path

When his eyes fell on Olumide’s face

He neither smiled nor frowned

For this man was four times Olumide’s age if not more

And was not a stranger to evil

Without waiting for Olumide to speak

The man dropped the heavy sack he was carrying

Looked back at Olumide and said:

“My son, all I have on me

Is the money from the toothpick I was able to sell today…

I beg you in the name of your creator

To spare me

My daughter is very ill

And the N500 is all that I have to buy her drugs

And feed my family today

God will provide for us tomorrow…”

The man was about to go on

When Olumide threw a hard right-hand fist into the man’s face

Throwing the old man backwards

And falling hard into the wet floor

From the impact

Olumide knew he had just broken the old man’s nose

 Even as the old man groaned in pain

Still on the floor

Olumide moved in

He picked the man up from the floor

And while holding him erect with one hand

He swung his massive fist across the old man’s jaw

The impact not only broke the old man’s jaw

But sent saliva, blood and three teeth flying into the brown mud

Just as he was about the drive his boot

Into the old man’s face

A move that would have killed the old man instantly

And left him with a broken neck

Olumide’s eyes saw money

In bits and pieces on the floor

He abandoned the man

Walked towards the money

And began picking them up

And after he counted

He had a total of N500

Without any hesitation, he stuffed it all into his pocket

As he was about to leave

He took one last look

At the old man who was barely moving

His shirt all bloodied

The mixture of mud and water on his body

And the countless pieces of toothpicks that lay scattered

All around the old man

It suddenly occurred to Olumide

That indeed

The old man had told the truth

He was almost tempted

To return the money to the man

And help him up

But the slight bulge in his pocket

And the dark voice in his head

Helped him make up his mind

As he began walking away

He looked back for the very last time

And saw the old man crying and sobbing

As he picked up a blood-stained toothpick…

Pointed it at Olumide

And howled out loud in agony

A bolt of fear

Cursed through Olumide as he heard this

But it was already too late

As the wheels of nemesis

Was already set in motion

He looked away quickly and just kept walking

After spending N400 on Suya and N80 on locally prepared alcoholic drinks

Olumide stepped out from the bar

And beckoned to a scantily dressed girl

As the girl got close enough

Olumide grabbed her big buttocks

And dragged her close to his chest

She looked straight into his eyes and said:

“Short time is N1, 000 and TDB is N2, 500

But because you saved me from police yesterday

Just buy me a drink”

He gladly obliged and just before he stepped out of the bar

He moved to pick a toothpick off the tray close to him

But hesitated for a brief instant

As the scene of his encounter with the old man

Flashed across his mind

Olumide instantly killed the flashback

Picked up a single stick of toothpick

Put it in between his lips

And headed home with his sexy prize

He had barely opened the door when he unzipped the girl’s short blouse

And grabbed her again

But this time from behind

She had the kind of body

Capable of giving a man an erection

In less than 30 seconds

And in 45 seconds

Olumide was as hard as an ice cube

He was not one to indulge in foreplay

And while the girl had her back to him

He expertly slid her lacy pants off

Used one hand to place her hand on the bed post

As he guided himself into her

Olumide knew the size of his manhood was far above average

And he enjoyed the audible breath that escaped the girl’s lips

As he penetrated her

She groaned and moaned as he held her hips still

And thrust in and out of her

This went on for another 20 minutes

Altering her position from time to time

At a point, he had her lying face up

Her back on the bed

And lifted both her legs

Off the bed

Placed them on his shoulders

And penetrated her wetness once again

Her depth spurred him to ride her

His length and size made her grab the sheets

Fists clenched like the claws of an eagle seizing a prey

He rammed into her

Like a carpenter knocking a nail into a wall

And moans of pleasure escaped her throat

After a while

He felt the girl’s body begin to vibrate

As she approached orgasm

She began to moan and gasp for breath

As she held on tightly to him

And climaxed

Shortly afterwards

Olumide also reached his sexual peak

She had a cold shower

Got dressed and told him:

“You’re good and I like you

But next time, I’m going to charge you”

He smiled at her and winked at her as she stepped out of the room

Olumide sat up in bed

Regurgitating the effect of his orgasm and smiled

Slowly shifting the position of the toothpick between his lips

Without any warning

Scenes of his violent encounter with the old man

Flashed across his mind again

As if this wasn’t bad enough

Graphic scenes of his rape victims, their tears and blood also came reeling

He remembered Aishat

How he had brutally raped her

And cut her from time to time with a knife to instill morbid fear into her

He recalled Nkem

And what he had done with her corpse after raping and snuffing the life out of her

How remembered the look on Emeka’s face as he stabbed him in the chest

Pulled out the knife in a flash and slit his throat

He remembered the little girl walking along the dark road barely a week ago

And how he had grabbed her when no one was looking

Knocked her unconscious and delivered only her head to his client

Olumide knew he was a product of the society

Where corruption, greed and quest for power reigned supreme

However

For some strange reason

The thought of turning a new leaf now had him in a vice grip

And he switched the toothpick

To the left side of his lips and decided

That he would think deeply about his life

In the morning

At the moment

The only thing on his mind was sleep

As he lay back on the bed

With the toothpick still playing on his lips

He wondered if he could really ever change

For the better

He was certain he could

But one thing he doubted if he could ever bury

Were memories from his past

Within seconds

He closed his eyes and slept off

Sometime shortly past midnight

Olumide’s eyes shot open

Not because he couldn’t sleep

But because he was in agonizing pain

He felt as if an Olympic athlete

Had driven a javelin through his entire neck

He wanted to scream out in pain

But he couldn’t

There was something in his throat

And it stabbed against the walls of his esophagus

He couldn’t see it but he knew there was blood

Trickling down his throat

He would have preferred to stay still

But he felt a pain of a hundred needles

Constantly stabbing at his throat from the inside

He was on his feet now

Olumide jumped all over the room

Like a man having a choking fit

Indeed he was beginning to choke

The more he panicked

The deeper and harder the sharp edges stabbed into his throat

And then he remembered

The toothpick

The knowledge did nothing to help

In his panic

Olumide tripped on an electric cord lying on the floor

And he wheeled forward

Crashed his head into the window

And before he could stop himself

His bare neck slashed across the sharp edge of the louver

Tearing his neck open

Blood gushing out

As he frantically grabbed his neck with both hand

Choking on the pain and blood

Already flooding his throat

And choking him to death

Before he slumped

He slammed his 95kg frame through the door

Trying to break the door open

But failed

As he slumped

He saw in the blurred distance

What looked like a bloodied old man

Holding a blood soaked toothpick

And screaming out in an eternal howl of agony…

Composed by Samod Biobaku [ThaNaijaPOET]

Dedication

Specially dedicated to all those who love me despite my seemingly strange nature. I’m also dedicating this to my new friends all over the world. You all know yourselves and I love you all.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @ThaNaijaPOET for exciting short stories, poems, modeling/acting auditions, artworks, photos, interviews, reviews, jokes, quotes and other entertaining content | BB pin: 267F2633