He also had his long and protruding moustache evenly trimmed, but may be unaware of the whitish, powdery particles spotting the tip of his nose and moustache as he quietly sat to nurse the cola-drink that was largely untouched and looked more like a decorative item on his table.
At the corner where he was, something must have struck me about his peculiar gaze, beyond someone just lost in thought.
However, the essence of the rendezvous was to 'cool off' and at that point too, all I needed was perhaps a 'sparring partner' with whom to while away time discussing topical issues of the nation, sports and the likes, as it is traditional in most 'beer parlour' settings.
And his lone occupied table appealed to me the most, being free from the common, noisy, trouser-sagging, halfcladded, often poorly and weirdly dressed fellows, that dot the place all over. This night, I needed a break! Perhaps, some form of sanity too, I thought as I moved to change my table to join the gentleman's table.
The music coming from the sturdy speakers strategically placed within the venue, was alluring, reflecting the mood of the night and I was just trying to settle down at the gentleman's table, when my eyes caught sight of the beads of sweat lined across his forehead.
For him to be sweating profusely, even while not lifting a finger to do any task, baffled me. Again, l also noticed that his nose was, involuntarily expanding and contracting, while his right cheek and that side of the neck started twitching intermittently as if in consonance with the rhythm of the music being played.
All of a sudden, he raised his head that had been downcast all these while and gave me a probing stare, with eyes that seemed to now bulge out of its sockets. I wished very much that those reddened eyes of his would rather be cast else where! Yet he would not spare me a moment, as he had them continuously fixated on me!
My heart must have skipped a beat! And yet, mechanically again, he turned to his right, then left and repeated the act many times in quick successions as if following the command of an imaginary person, even as he kept muttering some inaudible words.
This l concluded in my mind, was 'acting' taken too far! And by now, not a few heads had turned towards us, watching as the drama unfolded. With the embarrassing situation, my initial thought was that I may have been caught in the wrong place. How to get myself out of this mess, was now my immediate concern! I was still ruminating over this, and how to do it, when someone amongst the crowd that had gradually milled round our table, and who assumed, we 'came together' to the venue, asked again:
'What's wrong with him?'
And yet again, another enquirer said;
'Your friend is sick!'
To both statements, I was at a loss over what to say. A lump, for all I care, could have settled blocking my throat, as I had difficulty uttering the appropriate response to the statements.
Still, the 'act' continued and now, more audibly. He moved his left hand again, as if 'beckoning' into the air, but to no one in particular. Then I heard him say: 'My coke, gimme ma coke'.
Now, his face was squeezed together like those irregular patches of clothing materials roughly strewn together!
He was looking in bewilderment, somewhat uninviting, mean and menacing altogether! Yet again, he blurted:
'My coke...ma coke'
Like a good Samaritan, l only stretched forward to hand over the cola-drink on the table to my gentleman friend in line with his earnest request.
That must have been the worst blunder of the night! For this got an instantaneous response from him, and with that his unrepentant 'beckoning' left hand, l got hit with a hard 'backhand' stroke! A 'smashing' stroke for that matter, that can be likened to that from a versatile 'ping pong' tennis player, who with a comfortable lead, is out taunting the opponent with those occasional, unpredictable strokes!
Now, deed done! And the awful act of 'battery' of an addict 'absorbed!' l could only thank my stars! For l was only lucky, not to have been completely caught off guard, perhaps, courtesy of some of my athlete's reflexes, on account of which l sustained no physical injury! Only this unfortunate infraction. This may have saved the situation from further getting worse.
Meanwhile, the thick bottle of the cola-drink had been far-flung chattering into pieces afar, as its content got splashed all over the wall at a farther distance!
For the crowd that had milled all-around, to have been unscathed in any way was, most surprising! However, the response of the Security Operatives within the establishment was spectacular and swift. This quickly brought the situation under control, with the 'bundling' of the 'un-gentleman' out of the scene.
Emerging facts were to confirm the whitish specks found on the man's moustache to be cocaine! And more startling revelations also corroborated his shameful life of drugs and substance addiction/abuse. And obviously his 'pathetic' craving for 'coke' (cocaine) must not to be maligned for the cola-drink also popularly referred as Coke.
The 'Disco jockey', (DJ) at the bar may have overheard the gist going around, for suddenly the music changed. A music track by an artist of the '70s--Dillinger, rented the air:
"I've got cocaine runnin round my brain..."
Slotted as an ironic comedy and mockery of hard drugs and substances for its users with their litanies of regrets, shame and agonies.
Need this warning, be said all over again, for the umpteenth time?
Stay away from drugs and other hard substances, and save the world from further needless pains, regrets and absolute waste of some hitherto, glorious destinies and resources!
Let's rid this world of those undesirable qualifications like, 'The wretched of the earth'!
Timi Awoyemi teamawoyemi@gmail.com
5th Nov., 2017.
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