West Palm Beach | Ben James Smith | Massage

Good day Mi Gente. I am in West Palm Beach SBK and the festival is going just fine. I got a performance tonight, I’ve been by the pool and yesterday something happened to me. Let me tell you all the story.

I was dancing salsa and I did one move that I didn’t do in about 10 years and apparently I ripped one muscle in between my ribs. That motherfucker sounds painful, yeah? That motherfucker was painful. I woke up in the morning and I could not breathe. If I take a deep breath my right chest would hurt like a motherfucker. I was like “shit, did the smoke get to me? Am I gonna die? My lungs are fucked up, I am dead.” I did not know wtf was going on. If I move my right hand, or try to stand up by myself, that would hurt like a motherfucker. But I had to teach and I had a pool party! What was I gonna do? I was a handicapped motherfucker thinking my life was over. So, I was in the room with Flavie, Shani and Martin and they all heard my pain because I was screaming like a baby. I was walking all crooked, pretending like I was ok, but the pain still getting to me, and me thinking that the weed got to me and I am too young to die. My brain said “bro you 36, Tupac died at 26 so you 10 years over.” I was young when Tupac died, he was my inspiration. My brain was like “kid, wake up. You think you young but you an old fart.” So I was downstairs on the veranda still smoking weed, bc I was like if I gotta die, let me die right now, looking at alligators and planning my death. Of course dancing till I die, in my pain.

But then my life savoir came around. Mister Ben JAmes Smith, a masseur. I told him about my pain, he looked at my body and he told me exactly what I told you in the beginning. He said. “ Yeah yeah, Because you always been dancing Kizomba and semba, your right arm got locked”. You know the leader’s right hand is always in one position? He told me, “your body is used to salsa, but because of kizomba you locked your muscles so much that your salsa moved ripped a muscle in between your ribs.” But I was like but what that have to do with the breathing part? He told me, “yes those muscles stop you from breathing because if you breathe I can see your ribs, and your right ribs right now are locked up.” I checked him, “So you telling me it’s not the smoking or the drinking?”. He said, Absolutely not. I asked him “So you can fix this?” He looked me up and down, “Yes Manuel, that’s my job. I know you for over 10 years and I think you need me right now.”

Boy oh boy that dude gave me an orthopedist hand chop I don’t know what that made me scream like a bitch, bubbles on my back, you will see it on the picture anyways and I came out of that like a young man again.

All in all, remember the name: Ben James Smith. This white boy fixed your boy when I thought I was gonna die. I respect massages right now and I will get at least one massage a month, like I do treating my deadlocks because taking care of my body is as important as cutting my nails.