英语短篇小说欣赏-Heart
HeartCrispin Oduobuk
'Wielding a glimmering machete, an insanely angry Papa Barna pursues an
unashamedly naked Oyigbo the butcher out of his compound. Picture him in
sportswear and the latter would rate high as an Olympic-level sprinter for the
effort he is making. Such is his speed that long after this incident, there
would be no consensus as to the true size of his penis; no one sees that
pendulum for more than a split second. Even the Akpan twins, Paul and Silas, who
have the dubious honour of being knocked out of the way as Oyigbo shoots into
their compound, would be unable to give their classmate, Okoro the Lip, a
detailed description when he demands one. But they would be able to attest to
Oyigbo's speed and ability to swerve, for he pulls a hairpin turn around Papa
Barna and doubles back towards the main road right before their eyes.
Out on the main road, the chase blows on.
Abruptly, Oyigbo decides the road is making it too easy for Papa Barna to
gain on him. So into the bush he veers. He leaps over tree stumps and cuts a
swathe through the tropical rainforest with the sheer force of his momentum.
Papa Barna, a man on a clearly defined mission, resolute in the manner of a
well-paid assassin bent on earning his fee, tears after Oyigbo. He says nothing
but runs with a determination that telegraphs a discomforting message to Oyigbo:
this man will not be stopped, no matter what.
Knowing what he knows, no one can possibly blame Oyigbo for pushing himself
beyond his own imagination. However, a non-person whose opinion matters a lot is
not only heaping blame but is complaining noisily in a most agitated way about
Oyigbo's thoughtlessness; his heart is on the verge of bursting ...
Oyigbo's heart has come close to bursting many times in the past years.
"Oh, don't be so fast," Mama Barna would often say from beneath him at such
times.
"Yes, yes, no, no," Oyigbo would mostly be confused, his eyes rolling
crazily.
Yet at such times, his heart, though close to bursting only seconds
earlier, would decelerate to a steady, sated rhythm.
This time, there had been neither deceleration nor satisfaction before
Oyigbo had to dash off. And now his heart is threatening to burst for real.
Being sharply aware that he would have no need for a heart if he stops,
Oyigbo presses on. Papa Barna sails after him, stocky legs, blazing eyes,
glimmering machete and all. Papa Barna --
His return from New Town on this fateful day had begun happily enough. To
begin with, the mechanic worked fast on his motorcycle and the repairs didn't
cost half as much as he had feared. Buying quite a large number of presents for
everyone in his household, including a new bowler hat with a silk band and a red
feather stuck in it for himself, he had set off cheerfully for the return
journey, enjoying the new surge of power delivered by the newly-serviced engine.
He made good time and as he alighted from his motorcycle, the quiet pervading
his compound struck him as odd. The girls may be in the farm, he reasoned, and
Baba - his pet name for his son Barna - would either be frolicking in the stream
or still in school, though not on account of any serious work. But his wife
ought to be around. He'd opened his mouth to call out to her when he saw the
cart. His mouth stayed open but no words came out. Slowly, almost as if he were
some external being other than himself, he went into the house. He heard them
before he reached his - their - bedroom door. The passionate cries of lovemaking
were unmistakable. Entranced, he made his way silently to the store where he
kept his tools and things. The machete, usually very heavy, felt almost
weightless as he clutched it and started back towards the bedroom.
His mind, however, had a lot of weight on it. So his fears had been true!
Human beings being cursed in perpetuity with a selective memory process, Papa
Barna could only recall that he'd always had doubts about Maria, his first
daughter. How could she really be his when she looked so tall and fair when both
he and his wife were short and dark? She had been born ten years before Baba and
it had taken five years after Baba's birth before the twins, Ruth and Esther
came along. And that had been after numerous sacrifices to the gods. He sadly
recognised the truth; only Baba had his blood; Maria, as well as Ruth and Esther
- already showing signs of being every inch as tall and as fair as their elder
sister - were ... Oh! How would he live with the shame?
Mama Barna had a few seconds to scream and utter a plea before the machete
silenced her with one blow. Papa Barna looked at the blood-spurting body without
feeling as he wiped the machete on the bed sheets. In the manner of a
malfunctioning automaton, he now functioned purely on a dispassionate programme
detailed to terminate the fleeing tall and fair Oyigbo ...
It is inevitable that a crowd should follow. This, after all, is just a
small village. However, not even the younger, more agile men can keep up with
the two shooting stars. Oyigbo, on a primordial self-preservation race simply
can not be bested. Papa Barna, on a self-divined, holy-inspired mission of
honour-preservation is ready to pay any price in his bid to exact the ultimate
price. In such company, leisurely folks seeking amusement are in no position to
keep up.
"I heard Lazarus telling Tom and Heekee that his Uncle Jonathan said that
Oyigbo did not have a good heart," Okoro the Lip would later whisper to Paul and
Silas.
"Could it have been an illness?" Paul would ask.
"I don't know," would be Okoro's reply. "Lazarus said that his Uncle
Jonathan said that Mama Barna has been marrying Oyigbo the butcher. He knew but
he didn't tell anybody. Then that day Oyigbo went and stayed inside Papa Barna's
house because he thought Papa Barna will spend the whole day in New Town to
repair his motorcycle."
"So what does his heart have to do with it?" Silas would want to know, but
Okoro's open palms would be his answer.
"They say the Long-Nosed One in New Town has given the order for them to
hang Papa Barna," Paul would reveal.
"I heard that too," Okoro would add. "Some people are saying that it is not
fair. Baba Soja who killed more than ten people is still in prison. Papa Barna
killed only two and they are going to hang him."
"It must be because of his heart," Silas would sum up. "Maybe they don't
want whatever happened to his heart to spread."
"But what really happened to his heart?" Paul would query.
"I don't know," Okoro would pronounce. "I only know that they said he
didn't have a good heart."
As Oyigbo shoots on to the main pathway to the village stream, a sharp,
stabbing pain in his chest draws an agonised scream from him. His steps falter
and simultaneously Papa Barna's machete descends on him. Oyigbo goes down still
screaming.
"Papa Barna, Please!" he coughs, spurting blood. "I did it only once.
PLEA--"
Papa Barna's second slash to the neck misses and cuts deep into Oyigbo's
shoulder, sending the latter into another ear-piercing scream. The third slash
connects precisely as intended. And so do the subsequent ones. Oyigbo the
butcher chokes in mid-scream and screams no more.
页:
[1]