Foggy Eyes

But at that moment I wanted to win, I wanted him to feel weak, to feel powerless, to know that he was nothing, and regardless of all he’d done, and all he thought he was, he couldn't hit me where it hurt. So I didn’t evade it, the slap on my cheek, with the hand which held a ringed finger. I let him hit me, because, in a way, it reminded me of the fact that I wasn’t in a dream, that yesterday had happened, and it hadn’t been a joke. I didn’t cry, didn’t flinch, I simply laughed, bursting into a maniacal laughter, and as the waves rode my body, bringing me to a crescendo, I heard,

“Shut up you bastard. Witch. Demon. You think you’re so great, you’re just a disappointment, waiting to be slaughtered. Very soon, you’ll die. Sooner than you think.”

By then, my laughter had died down, and all I did was stare at him, stare, and stare. Not feeling, just thinking, and in my head the words,

“You’ll die, sooner than you think”

kept echoing. Would I really die? Was he there yesterday to mark me? Had I met the God of death? Was he really going to take me away. Lost in my head, I didn’t see Otimkpu raise his hand to deal another blow, but, at that moment, numb, I looked up, and within a few centimeters, was his hand. So, I waited, eyes closed, it was too late to evade it. But nothing came, just silence. Opening my eyes, I met Otimkpu’s foggy eyes, hand still close to my face, yet unmoving, frozen. Then, he wasn’t there anymore. And accompanied by his sudden disappearance, was a piercing scream which caused my ears to throb. There, on the floor, meters away from me, was Otimkpu, arms askew, and blood trickling down his head.