“Come in and make yourself at home,” he said.
Maria struggled to take her coat off. I wanted to ask her if she needed help but Ididn’t dare. Instead, I took off my hoodie and flung it over a coat rack. I flipped off myshoes and walked into his living room. Man, the place was huge. There were candles ofall sorted colors lit and statues of Orishas that were placed on tables and on verandas. Iwalked over and picked one up.
“No! Make sure that you clean yourself before you walk into my house,” Chobosaid.
I paused with the statute in my hand. I blinked a couple of times and realized thatChobo was talking to me in Spanish. I felt like a foreigner in my own country. My eyesshifted to the left as my brain worked to translate his words into English. Clean. Clean.Clean. Oh! Clean yourself! I looked over at a basin of water that was nestled in thecorner. I rushed over and cupped huge handfuls of it and splashed it on my hair and face.I turned around in time to see Chobo stifling a grin. I caught my reflection in a mirror. Iwas soaking wet.
“Come here, child,” he said in Spanish. I obeyed, but I was drawn back to the statue.I carefully picked it back up.
“Nelly, don’t touch anything,” Maria snapped.
Hurriedly, I placed the statue back down. Timidly, I looked over at Chobo in anattempt to apologize.
“Don’t worry,” he said walking over to me and picking up the statue. “You weredrawn to this one for a reason,” he said while examining it in his hands.
“I think that I like this Orisha the best,” I said softly. He stopped, looked at me andthen at Maria. He chuckled softly before he asked.
“You’ve seen it before?”
“Yes, it’s Changó,” I said while gently taking it from his hands. He released it and letme hold it for a while. I knew the story, but I didn’t know how I knew. Changó was agreat African King from the city of Ile Ife. He had powers and magic beyond belief and,he was always successful in getting his enemies to succumb to his will. The statue washeavy, about twentypounds and carved out of clay that was painted black. Changó wasseated on his throne cross-legged with colorful jewels at his feet and a red double edgeaxe clutched in his hand.
“Yes, that’s true. But Changó is much more than that,” he said, thankfully in English.
Changó is the Orisha that sets the groundwork for all the other Orishas,” Chobo said.
I looked at Chobo. For some odd reason I felt really comfortable around him. Idecided to ask him a question that I hope wasn’t dumb. I cleared my throat and looked atMaria. She glared at me warning me to be on my best behavior. Chobo looked at me withkind eyes before he said.
“Go ahead. You can ask questions. That’s why you’re here,” he said.
I couldn’t look him in the eye. Instead. I looked down at my feet and mumbled thequestion under my breath. I was a little surprised that he even understood me.
“An Orisha? That’s not a stupid question,” he said while waving his hands in the air.He reached over and lifted my head up and then continued.
“Orishas are forces of energy that live both inside you and in the universe. Over theyears, man has given them names and human bodies but in the end, they’re just energythat we call ashé,” he said.
“But, what do they do?” I asked timidly.
“Well, everything. Energy, ashé is everything and everywhere,” he exclaimed. Ilooked at him. I was a little confused.
“Come with me,” he said motioning for me to follow him. I did with the statue in myhand, for some reason, I couldn’t part with it. Chobo gripped his cane as he struggled tosit in an old rocking chair. I could hear his bones crackling. He adjusted his feet andelongated his legs before he began to rock gently in the chair. He lifted his cane andmotioned for me to sit cross-legged in front of him. He cleared his throat and began tospeak like a college professor.
“Energy rises from the earth. It starts from here,” he said, leaning over and placinghis hand behind his back. I leaned over to my side and realized that his hand was inbetween the top of his buttocks. There’s energy in my butt? I wanted to ask. I covered mymouth in an attempt to smother the spurts of giggles, they managed to come out likemuffled farts, quiet but insidiously offensive. I looked up and saw Maria glaring at me,quickly I wiped the smile off my face but I froze when I looked over at Chobo. He waslooking at me, or through me. His eyes were as black as onyx, and I could have swornthat I could see my reflection in them. I was hypnotized and silenced by his gaze.
“Do you know why you’re here?” Chobo finally asked. I shook my head no. I had anidea. My mom said that I needed help, but I felt okay now that I was away from Nico. Iwasn’t having nightmares anymore, and I tried not to think about him and what he mademe do.
“You’re here because your soul has been ripped into a thousand little pieces.” Ilooked back at him aghast. He was leaning over in his chair now, staring at me like hewas a priest about to perform an exorcism. I cupped my head in a weak attempt tostabilize it from spinning.
“In times of turmoil and trauma you soul innately sacrifices pieces of itself in orderto survive. They run and hide in the world of the dead,” he continued. Okay, he wasmaking me feel really bad now. I wiggled around on the floor. I felt very uncomfortable.Then he said something that really scared the shit
