Of course, I tried
to hide, pretending I am not home. Stuck in
the jam or something. Mami was laughing but at the same time worried for me. And Yiyi thought we are playing hide and seek!
My dad went out to greet him. At the same time, I thought it's too late for us to do anything, I would have to go through it somehow. So I went out too.
The old man came into the house, and demonstrated how to lie down and how he'll whacked the wood plank. He was really excited.
"Just now, the moment I saw your son, I know he's having back-ache. I already know it by looking at the way he walked.", he told my dad, assuring him that he knows what he's doing and everything's gonna be ok.
At least, he knows what he's doing and he has done it before. I was relieved in some way to hear that.
For a short while.
So I got myself ready, put a thin matress on the floor in the living room. And I lay down.
"Eh? It is you?" the old man asked, looking confused.
"Yeah", I said, sensing something was wrong.
"Your back ache?", he asked me again, then he looked at
my brother.
*Gulp!* "Yeaaaahh...". The 'son' he saw and the one he thought having problem was my brother.
While I was lying there, I can really see the worried face of my parents, and Mami. My brother was trying hard not to laugh. Yiyi thought we are playing a game. I looked at Mami, then Yiyi. If anything happened to me (gone cookoo or something), it will be the last time I saw their face. :(
I lay there, trying to do as he told, loosen up my body and relax, with my feet close together. My brother helped with the wood plank, holding it upright against the base of my feet, as if I was stepping on the plank. The old man got into putting position like in a game of golf, at the bed of my feet. Except that he was not holding a putter, but a 10-pound sledgehammer!
I braced myself for impact. He raised his sledgehammer 45 degrees to his right. With all his might, and I can see it through his eyes, he
swinged swung. My brother closed his eyes.
Wham!!
"Are you ok?", Mami asked me.
I kept silent, bracing myself for the second shot. A quick adjustment with my toes to avoid the nails on the plank.
"Ready....", the old man commanded. He swinged again.
WHAM!!
OK, now the third and the final shot. Mami was holding Yiyi closed. The sound of the impact must have scared Yiyi.
"Ready..........."
My brother changed hand quickly. Obviously his other hand was trembling from the shockwave caused by the first two impacts to the wooden plank.
WHAM!!!!Yiyi closed her ears. The plank broke into two.
"Are you ok? Are you ok?", everyone's asked.
"I'm ok, err...I think", I said. I felt exactly how you would feel being whacked by a sledgehammer.
Actually for a moment, the pain did dissapear. I actually felt better. But I don't think it's the whacking. It's the adrenalin rush.
So we cleaned up, and thanked the old man (Pa, Ma, you thanked a man who whacked your son with a sledge-hammer?). And we had a great laugh over dinner.
And yeah, my back still hurts.
The end.
Note 1:
Pls do not try this at home.
I have tried this strange and weird-chinese-remedy and it doesn't work. LOL!!
Note 2:
The old man is actually a nice chap, probably around 65yrs old, who migrated from China to live with his sons here. Someone who have seen the good and the bad of life. I think he was just trying to help and share his knowledge. There was this empty land near his house where the municipal couldn't be bother to maintain, but he turned it into a small farm, with bananas, papayas, and other vegetations, which he normally distribute to other people. He's a good friend of my father, and he speaks a strange Mandarin accent who only my father understands. Anyway, thanks Uncle.
