EPISODE 5
My phone began to burst with calls and love text messages from Elizabeth. Each time I saw those texts I would laugh bitterly before deleting them. As for the calls, I kept rejecting them. I was not a type of guy that would insult a girl on phone.
On one occasion I didn’t have the time to delete the messages she sent throughout the day. Summing up the text messages during the night, they were up to fifteen. I showed them to some of my friends and they burst out laughing. They said she’d come to know my value since I started going out with Sharon.
Meanwhile, over the period of our relationship Elizabeth wouldn’t call me or compliment me with a text, except when she needed money or voucher. I had been the only one doing the calling, and if she ever called, that meant she wanted to tell me she had received the voucher. She once told me she loathed night calls. Although, after we departed I overheard her friends saying she wouldn’t sleep overnight, calling her rich boyfriend. The height of her arrogance to me was really competing with the sun level. I wondered why she wanted me back when she’d started dating Badmus a.k.a Sixty-degree. He was one of the topmost boys on campus.
A week to our exam Elizabeth came across me in the library, and immediately our eyes met I noticed that her body shivered like a bird that was just beaten by a heavy rain. The book in her hand fell on the floor and she hurriedly picked it up. I did nothing, but regarded her like a mere stranger.
It seemed she was afraid to have a physical interaction with me. She was reading on the row of chairs next to me with her right palm supporting her jaw. I had thought she would ask me why I wasn’t receiving her calls or replying her text messages. She must be very shameful.
I let my mind assume that she wasn’t around, so my mind was completely swallowed by the book I was reading until I heard a librarian’s voice somewhere around. She was questioning somebody with gravity in her tone.
“How come the surface of this textbook is soaked with water?” She demanded again.
when I revealed my face I realized that the woman was addressing Elizabeth.
“I’m talking to you.” The woman insisted; although in a low tone.
Elizabeth had now buried her jaw in her two palms, while her head bowed over the book. She sat still like a statue.
When she eventually showed her face, the woman’s forehead furrowed with alarm, and I wondered why. It was then I saw Elizabeth’s tears-misted face, and another drop of tear began to crawl down her right cheek.
“Why the tears, my dear?” The woman’s voice fell with sympathy.
Elizabeth’s face diverted towards my side, and I quickly lowered my head in my book just in time. I heard the librarian ask Elizabeth if looking towards my side was the response to her question.
The librarian’s voice suddenly fell into a whisper in my ears. I guessed she was trying to know the reason behind her tears. Perhaps she thought she was bereaved. I couldn’t tell why she was weeping either.
She muttered something to the woman. I tried to listen, but my ears failed me completely. The next word I heard from the woman was, “Don’t think about that. May his soul rest in peace. Make up your mind, it would only distract your studies.”
With that, the woman left for the next aisle to further her supervision. I wondered what she must have told the inquisitive woman.
Afterwards, I decided to steal a glance at her to see her reaction. It was too late. Our eyes clashed like two live wires that were struck together. And she threw back her face in her book before I could escape my own eyes.
She soon packed her books and walked feebly out of the library. She was a tall girl who had the stature of a model. Her pronounced hips had always swayed proudly whenever she walked, but now it appeared rigid. Her fair skin had become pale, and I could see frustration etched on her pretty face. When we were still together I had been a slave to her striking beauty. If anyone had told me that her love would vanish from my heart, I would have doubted it. However, Sharon’s beauty and modeling stature was much more stunning.
****
The following day was Saturday. I was playing football with my friends on one of the fields on campus. We were just catching fun by raising the ball and passing it without letting it kiss the ground. Four of us were staying at different angles. My other friends were arguing over the previous day’s match between Arsenal and Chelsea. They were all seated under one of the colossal cashew trees that flanked the football field. It had been a shrill argument between them that each team surpassed the other in skill.
But suddenly silence fell in their midst. I was wondering what caused the abrupt quietness. When I looked towards their direction, I discovered that they were still arguing, but in a low pitch. A shocking look spelt on their faces and some mouths turned agape like that of roaring lion. I was just thinking about going to join them when they all beckoned to us from afar. On getting there, one of them asked me if I knew what happened overnight in the female hostel.
“Wetin happen?” I asked them.
“Are you aware that your Ex-girlfriend, Lizzy, was rushed to the school clinic last night?” One of them asked.
“Wetin concern me about that one?” I said, spreading my palms apart.
“According to wetin me I hear,” said another, “she collapse when she dey climb the staircase to her block.”
“Na God save am o,” retorted another person beside me, “If not for somebody wey dey her back, She for crash pata-pata.”
“So, guys wetin be your point now?” I said, “why you dey tell me. Me be her boyfriend?”
“The doctor confirmed that the girl is three months pregnant.” The first speaker added, “and according to the report, the dizziness was not because of the pregnancy. It’s because of excess brooding.”
My heart hammered against my chest, and my body shook to the force of it. Three months pregnant?
“And so what!” I said, feigning carefreeness, “Sixty-degree should take care of that!”
“The belle na three months old o!” Somebody emphasized behind me,“ I just dey pray say no be you go get am. Na only you she dey follow up and down like chicken around that time.”
I said a big AMEN to the prayer within me. Elizabeth had refused to use protection with me twice. I asked if she was on contraceptives, and she answered YES. Maybe the contraceptives didn’t take any effect after all. ‘Oh, no. I am certainly not ready for this. Not now!’ She must have been sleeping with Badmus ever since then. I prayed that the medical test should just indicate Badmus; not me.
I assured my friends that the pregnancy was not mine. I asked them to gather information about the further medical test.
****
I was fretting, turning up and down in bed during the night. What would become of me if the pregnancy was eventually mine? And according to further information, Elizabeth had once consulted a doctor outside the school. The doctor advised her not to abort the pregnancy as it might claim her life. The information was linked by my friend who was dating one of her roommates.
“Oh, my goodness, what do I do about this?”
It was my phone that answered the question from the corner of the bed. The ringtone was certainly for a call; not a text message. I fumbled for it under the pillow. It was Sharon. I cleared my throat, and composed my voice to hide the emotion.
“Hello, sweetie.” I said to the receiver.
“He-e-llo, Festus,” she said hurriedly, “Please, I need your attention at the back of the old hall.”
“Hope nothing is wrong. You are not sounding alright.”
“Nothing. I guess it’s because of the cold.”
“Okay. Give me a minute,” I said, glancing at the wall clock. 11:45pm.“ What are you still doing on campus at this hour?”
“I just left my friends’ hostel. I need to see you. it’s urgent.” Her voice shivered.
I quickly dressed up. Collins and Dayo were not in the room. I locked the door and made my way downstairs.
When I reached the back of the old hall there was no trace of anyone. The place was dark, but the whole campus was lit up. The hall had always been alight except when the light tripped off, and it rarely did.
“All the florescent in the hall are off. Why?” I asked myself.
The whole streetlights around the hall were also dead. Although, the place was not entirely silent. I was still hearing voices and shuffling of feet here and there; obviously from students going for tutorials. I thought I needed to call Sharon. Maybe I didn’t hear her right. “She can’t just be here.”
When I was about to place the phone on my ear I heard heavy footsteps. Looking back was too late, a heavy rough object blew my head off.
Everything went blurry. Indistinct and wavering sound of laughter. Blank out.
My phone began to burst with calls and love text messages from Elizabeth. Each time I saw those texts I would laugh bitterly before deleting them. As for the calls, I kept rejecting them. I was not a type of guy that would insult a girl on phone.
On one occasion I didn’t have the time to delete the messages she sent throughout the day. Summing up the text messages during the night, they were up to fifteen. I showed them to some of my friends and they burst out laughing. They said she’d come to know my value since I started going out with Sharon.
Meanwhile, over the period of our relationship Elizabeth wouldn’t call me or compliment me with a text, except when she needed money or voucher. I had been the only one doing the calling, and if she ever called, that meant she wanted to tell me she had received the voucher. She once told me she loathed night calls. Although, after we departed I overheard her friends saying she wouldn’t sleep overnight, calling her rich boyfriend. The height of her arrogance to me was really competing with the sun level. I wondered why she wanted me back when she’d started dating Badmus a.k.a Sixty-degree. He was one of the topmost boys on campus.
A week to our exam Elizabeth came across me in the library, and immediately our eyes met I noticed that her body shivered like a bird that was just beaten by a heavy rain. The book in her hand fell on the floor and she hurriedly picked it up. I did nothing, but regarded her like a mere stranger.
It seemed she was afraid to have a physical interaction with me. She was reading on the row of chairs next to me with her right palm supporting her jaw. I had thought she would ask me why I wasn’t receiving her calls or replying her text messages. She must be very shameful.
I let my mind assume that she wasn’t around, so my mind was completely swallowed by the book I was reading until I heard a librarian’s voice somewhere around. She was questioning somebody with gravity in her tone.
“How come the surface of this textbook is soaked with water?” She demanded again.
when I revealed my face I realized that the woman was addressing Elizabeth.
“I’m talking to you.” The woman insisted; although in a low tone.
Elizabeth had now buried her jaw in her two palms, while her head bowed over the book. She sat still like a statue.
When she eventually showed her face, the woman’s forehead furrowed with alarm, and I wondered why. It was then I saw Elizabeth’s tears-misted face, and another drop of tear began to crawl down her right cheek.
“Why the tears, my dear?” The woman’s voice fell with sympathy.
Elizabeth’s face diverted towards my side, and I quickly lowered my head in my book just in time. I heard the librarian ask Elizabeth if looking towards my side was the response to her question.
The librarian’s voice suddenly fell into a whisper in my ears. I guessed she was trying to know the reason behind her tears. Perhaps she thought she was bereaved. I couldn’t tell why she was weeping either.
She muttered something to the woman. I tried to listen, but my ears failed me completely. The next word I heard from the woman was, “Don’t think about that. May his soul rest in peace. Make up your mind, it would only distract your studies.”
With that, the woman left for the next aisle to further her supervision. I wondered what she must have told the inquisitive woman.
Afterwards, I decided to steal a glance at her to see her reaction. It was too late. Our eyes clashed like two live wires that were struck together. And she threw back her face in her book before I could escape my own eyes.
She soon packed her books and walked feebly out of the library. She was a tall girl who had the stature of a model. Her pronounced hips had always swayed proudly whenever she walked, but now it appeared rigid. Her fair skin had become pale, and I could see frustration etched on her pretty face. When we were still together I had been a slave to her striking beauty. If anyone had told me that her love would vanish from my heart, I would have doubted it. However, Sharon’s beauty and modeling stature was much more stunning.
****
The following day was Saturday. I was playing football with my friends on one of the fields on campus. We were just catching fun by raising the ball and passing it without letting it kiss the ground. Four of us were staying at different angles. My other friends were arguing over the previous day’s match between Arsenal and Chelsea. They were all seated under one of the colossal cashew trees that flanked the football field. It had been a shrill argument between them that each team surpassed the other in skill.
But suddenly silence fell in their midst. I was wondering what caused the abrupt quietness. When I looked towards their direction, I discovered that they were still arguing, but in a low pitch. A shocking look spelt on their faces and some mouths turned agape like that of roaring lion. I was just thinking about going to join them when they all beckoned to us from afar. On getting there, one of them asked me if I knew what happened overnight in the female hostel.
“Wetin happen?” I asked them.
“Are you aware that your Ex-girlfriend, Lizzy, was rushed to the school clinic last night?” One of them asked.
“Wetin concern me about that one?” I said, spreading my palms apart.
“According to wetin me I hear,” said another, “she collapse when she dey climb the staircase to her block.”
“Na God save am o,” retorted another person beside me, “If not for somebody wey dey her back, She for crash pata-pata.”
“So, guys wetin be your point now?” I said, “why you dey tell me. Me be her boyfriend?”
“The doctor confirmed that the girl is three months pregnant.” The first speaker added, “and according to the report, the dizziness was not because of the pregnancy. It’s because of excess brooding.”
My heart hammered against my chest, and my body shook to the force of it. Three months pregnant?
“And so what!” I said, feigning carefreeness, “Sixty-degree should take care of that!”
“The belle na three months old o!” Somebody emphasized behind me,“ I just dey pray say no be you go get am. Na only you she dey follow up and down like chicken around that time.”
I said a big AMEN to the prayer within me. Elizabeth had refused to use protection with me twice. I asked if she was on contraceptives, and she answered YES. Maybe the contraceptives didn’t take any effect after all. ‘Oh, no. I am certainly not ready for this. Not now!’ She must have been sleeping with Badmus ever since then. I prayed that the medical test should just indicate Badmus; not me.
I assured my friends that the pregnancy was not mine. I asked them to gather information about the further medical test.
****
I was fretting, turning up and down in bed during the night. What would become of me if the pregnancy was eventually mine? And according to further information, Elizabeth had once consulted a doctor outside the school. The doctor advised her not to abort the pregnancy as it might claim her life. The information was linked by my friend who was dating one of her roommates.
“Oh, my goodness, what do I do about this?”
It was my phone that answered the question from the corner of the bed. The ringtone was certainly for a call; not a text message. I fumbled for it under the pillow. It was Sharon. I cleared my throat, and composed my voice to hide the emotion.
“Hello, sweetie.” I said to the receiver.
“He-e-llo, Festus,” she said hurriedly, “Please, I need your attention at the back of the old hall.”
“Hope nothing is wrong. You are not sounding alright.”
“Nothing. I guess it’s because of the cold.”
“Okay. Give me a minute,” I said, glancing at the wall clock. 11:45pm.“ What are you still doing on campus at this hour?”
“I just left my friends’ hostel. I need to see you. it’s urgent.” Her voice shivered.
I quickly dressed up. Collins and Dayo were not in the room. I locked the door and made my way downstairs.
When I reached the back of the old hall there was no trace of anyone. The place was dark, but the whole campus was lit up. The hall had always been alight except when the light tripped off, and it rarely did.
“All the florescent in the hall are off. Why?” I asked myself.
The whole streetlights around the hall were also dead. Although, the place was not entirely silent. I was still hearing voices and shuffling of feet here and there; obviously from students going for tutorials. I thought I needed to call Sharon. Maybe I didn’t hear her right. “She can’t just be here.”
When I was about to place the phone on my ear I heard heavy footsteps. Looking back was too late, a heavy rough object blew my head off.
Everything went blurry. Indistinct and wavering sound of laughter. Blank out.
EPISODE 6
SHARON
Their wicked grin still continued. His body sprawled on the ground there; not moving. The hot tears that had sprung out of my eyes increased with my heartbeat. Festus was knocked unconscious by the guy that abducted me a while ago. Those cultists were eight in number, with red straps around their wrists. My heart almost burst open immediately the giant stick landed on Festus’ head. Even now I wasn’t sure if his skull had not fractured. I prayed he wouldn’t die. If he did, I swore I would follow him.
About ten minutes ago when I was about to start my car, a gun pointed at my ear; a rough masculine voice then asked me to cooperate and follow him to wherever he was going. Looking at the guy, he was tall and fit, and his mouth stunk with Indian hemp. Getting nauseated, I gagged on the acrid odour. He asked me to cheer up and follow him gently like I was his boyfriend. Of course, I did. I was taken to his four accomplices who gathered behind the dark alley of the hall. The only light at the spot was the red glow at the butts of their weeds and cigarettes. They’d threatened me to contact Festus. They pointed a gun at my skull as they urged me to be calm so that he wouldn’t suspect anything. I tried to caution myself, but fear gripped me – it gripped my voice more. My fear was not for the gun, but for what they might do to Festus.
Festus was lifted by two among those guys, and another person also carried me across his shoulder. I started struggling, but a raspy voice asked me to stay quiet. And I quickly obliged.
Finally I met myself at a clearing in a jungle where tongues of flames kept dancing in the air from a bonfire. One of them began to tie Festus to a tree – around his chest and legs.
They dropped me on the ground. I saw five people seated around the bonfire. After a while they all began to recite some words that sounded like a foreign language in my ears. I believed it was an incantation. They started jugging around the fire while uttering those incomprehensible words.
Then, I heard a familiar voice from across the burning logs. The voice told me that today was the day he would destroy his obstruction. It dawned on me that it was the guy who had been pestering me on campus for almost a month. He was Kinsley by name – popularly known as KAY-EURO. His parents were very rich. He said I was his type of girl since I had also come from a very rich home. I never knew Kay-Euro was a cultist! Had I known, I would have acted as if I’d accepted his proposal. I had pushed him out of my way several times.
“Now I know the reason why you’ve been avoiding me!” He had whispered to my ear two days ago, in a restaurant on campus. I was standing while buying something from the bar when I heard his voice from behind.
When I turned back I said, “Yes. you again? what’s it this time around?”
“I will fuck you up!” He said firmly, but in a low tone, “So, you treating me like shit because of that wretched brat. huh?”
I didn’t say anything. I just walked out on him as he rattled on.
“I gonna deal with both of you. Bullshit! Bullshit!”
That was the last word I had heard from him on that day. I never knew he meant it. According to rumour, I learnt he had been staying in the U.S right from his childhood. He was a dropout from Oxford university before his parent bundled him back to Nigeria. He started from 100 level, and he had spent seven years in school for four-years course due to continuous carry-overs. Besides, he was not my type of guy. Although he was fair and extremely handsome, but nothing about him seemed to interest me. My heart never beat for him. No accounting for taste truly. If not, how would Festus steal my heart away at first sight?
Back to the frightening scene. Their dancing soon came to a halt. One of them brought out some clothes from a hiding behind the tree. They all wore the red uniforms that had black images of scorpions on them. As if the uniform itself was a devilish spirit on its own, their faces became more sinister and their eyes seemed to spit fire as they glared at Festus. He was now awake from unconsciousness. I heard him cough and sneeze as one of them placed a raw weed by his nostrils, and another person slapped him hard on the face.
I was sitting there, staring with horror. I could feel my veins forcing the blood in my limbs to my head and vice versa. I felt sweat gathering in my palms, my lips trembling, my body quivering. Violently, my heart started butting behind my chest like a mad ram. I was very nervous.
“You dare drag a girl with me on this campus!” Kingsley said between clenched teeth as he pointed at Festus from across the burning logs. “Ha! Ha!! Ha!!!” His throat burst out with a murderous grin. And he ended it by smiling like an innocent boy – a smile that seemed more dangerous than his previous outburst.
“You are a dead meat!” said another person beside Kingsley.
Kingsley stretched forth his palm at the person that spoke as gesture for him to pause. I guessed he was their leader for his authority among them. And Immediately his face directed towards me.
“And you!” He pointed at me, “If not for love … that wicked thing called love that makes a tiger behave like a sheep. I, Kay-Euro, the scorpion king, that stings without mercy, was rejected by you!” He paused, shaking his head and walked close to Festus. He looked at Festus in the eyes, smiled and continued “I shall taste your girlfriend before your two naked eyes. And I may kill you afterwards. I hope you will enjoy the live pornography …. Some of my members might also be interested in the show. Am I right?” He asked, turning back.
They all answered, “Yes, King!”
With that, Kingsley burst into a resounding mocking laughter.
Oh, my God! come and save me from this. I couldn’t afford to be raped before my lover. This would be the worst experience. When Kingsley turned back to meet his members I managed to see Fetus’ eyes from the reflected light. His eyes seemed to be shining with tears, and he shook his head limply.
FESTUS
My headache was aggravated by what I heard from Kay-Euro. Rape was that incident I dread most for my lover! It would depress me to the point of death even If I heard about it. What if it was performed in my presence? I wished I was rather knocked unconscious before they carried out their operation . Oh, Jesus! I couldn’t stand this. I wish Kay-Euro would change his mind.
“God, please forgive me,” I whispered with tears-bathed face, “forgive me if my past is beginning to catch up on me. I can’t stand the pain that would be caused to Sharon. If this rape is carried out as planned, it might make my love for Sharon turn to hatred.”
I shook my head slowly. I couldn’t afford to lose the love I had for Sharon. If she was raped by all these terrible guys, would I ever forget?
Would I ever forget the rhythms of their jerks, their sweats, her painful moans, with the varieties of manhood? What an anguish! How would I ever erase this memory off my mind? And my life wasn’t safe either.
Kay-Euro asked his members to bring Sharon right in front of me while he unbuckled his belt.
EPISODE 7
One of the boys lay Sharon on the grassy surface before me. They threatened to shoot her if she tried to scream or prove adamant to any instruction. Kingsley laughed and pulled down her skirt to reveal her thighs and her white panties. Sharon was fidgeting on the ground like a virgin bride on her wedding night. Her face began to stream with tears. When Kingsley’s hands made for the panties I shut my eyes tightly and stooped my head.
Thump, thump, thump – my heart beating loud and clear in my ears. A cold shiver surged through my body despite the overflowing sweat pouring from my forehead to my feet. I wished I could shut my ears to bar the slightest sound of her moan or the sound of sexual body collision.
Now all voices became echoes in my head – as if coming from a very far distance.
“Take off that shit for me before I blast your head!”
Waves of Sobs echoed in my ears, “Please, don’t do this to me. Pleas-s-s-s-e! U-h-h-h-h-sh-h. A-s-s-h-h-h-h!”
“Oh, yea. You gonna enjoy this babe. Just shut the fuck up!”
Indiscernible voices passed through my head. It felt as though thousands of arrows were ripping through my flesh, while my head went numb as if drown in iced pool of water.
“Sacrilege!”
A voice rose high into the sky. My eyes flipped open only to see Kay-Euro back on his feet. He screamed again, and his body was quivering as if smarting from electric shock. He hurriedly delved his hand around his waist and produced a red rope strung with cowries. Sharon was lying down there, her thighs trembling. Her panties were still intact, but her camisole was partially open, revealing a fraction of her boobs.
Then like a lunatic at a fresh display, Kingsley began to laugh stupidly while holding the fetish skywards. The yellow flames from the bonfire cast fast-moving shadows across his tall figure, but his sweat-stained countenance was visible enough and one could see a smile of satisfaction on his face. He directed his look towards his members whose mouths were agape with baffled facial expressions. They were standing in a single file about two feet away from him. Kingsley’s action must have appeared as a drama to them as well. I guessed the time he spent on Sharon wasn’t up to a minute before his strange uproar. Perhaps he was still going to resume his diabolic gusto.
“The great scorpion!” He bellowed at his members three times. “Yah!” they answered to each hail with their right fists thrusting heavenwards.
“Do you remember what Baba said about this amulet?” He directed his question to his members.
“Yes, King!” They chorused.
He shook his head and turned back gently, dropping a gaze on the fretting figure on the ground.
“She is a spiritual soul!” Kingsley barked, while demonstrating with his hands like a witch that was about to make a confession, “No one ever draws hurtful tears from her eyes without facing destruction! Children like her do not want rival in any home they find themselves … She must be the source of her father’s wealth … She might not be aware of this because her spiritual friends had been made invisible to her long time ago. That old man had forecast all these, and warned me not to hurt any woman. ”
Kingsley collapsed to his knees and bowed his head. He began to punch the earth with all his might. His members were staring in shock at him. I supposed they knew the implication of what Kay-Euro had just done. Although everything still appeared as a melodrama to me. Sharon also looked confused.
Kingsley sighed and continued, “But she has shed that tears when I’ve not even dug that hole of destruction; the hole that might have taken my soul if not for the alert of this amulet. Oh! Baba asked me to be careful, but lust has….”
“Everybody, freeze!” A baritone voice interrupted from the bush behind me,“ if you make any attempt to move, you are playing with fire. The whole place is surrounded by armed corps. Drop any weapon that might be on your body and your hands up!”
I couldn’t turn my head to look behind, but I was sure it was a police man that spoke. Kingsley still maintained his position. He did not even reveal his face, and I began to wonder if he was easily obedient; I believed a scorpion king would have a mystical power. His members didn’t take any step either. They removed the pistols and the different charms that were hung around their body and dropped them on the ground. I was actually expecting them to combat the police. I was excited they didn’t. I heaved a sigh of relief, and I felt cool breeze washing over my tense skin. It was that moment I felt that I had a wound on my head.
Kingsley revealed his face and shook his head solemnly, “Welcome! I have been expecting you. You must have been informed by the spirits.”
The twelve armed officers that came into view began to look at each other in the face. They were apparently confused concerning the word ‘spirit’ mentioned by Kingsley.
“For your information Mr. Man,” one of them said, “We are not here to play. If you continue to say jargons, I will blow off your head with this gun. We were not informed of your atrocity by any spirit or whatever! Somebody alerted us on phone about twenty minutes ago.”
Kingsley smiled bitterly and said simply, “You can’t understand. You are all naïve of the terrestrial force.”
One of the officers wanted to shut Kingsley up, but another one cautioned that they should hear him out.
“You can say whatever you like,” the officer said, “remember everything you say here will be used against you in the court of law.”
“You black rats have no sense of cultism!” Kingsley said with fury in his eyes, “those spirits must have taken the form of a human as an informant. If those immortals have not fortified you, none of you ‘incompetent dogs of Nigeria Government’ dare not visit the lion’s den without bathing with blood … if not for the tears of this ‘sacrilege’ that rendered my power impotent, I bet none of you will leave here alive; even though you are up to a million!”
“Officer, untie that young man!” One of them instructed, “Young lady. Dress up and rise to your feet.”
Seven officers came forward to handcuff Kingsley and his nine boys. Two of them untied me and supported my limp body on their shoulders. I was very happy that I hadn’t been killed before the police arrived. I didn’t know where I was. I did not know how far it was to the main campus. I thought God had answered my prayer through Sharon’s unknown mystical guards. All in all, I just learnt my lesson about evil deeds such as rape. Everything that happened still appeared to me as a dream. Who could ever believe that Sharon was no ordinary human?
SHARON
Festus and I had been taken to the hospital by some of the officers. Festus was deep asleep from the sleeping injection he had received. A drip was being passed to his body. I was glad that his injury wasn’t as much as I expected. He had a minor cut at the left part of his head. However, the nurse had used a bandage around it. I had called my parents’ number immediately we left that terrible scene. Before 6: am Dad and Mum arrived. They met me beside Festus’ sickbed. Mum started examining all over my body if I had not been bruised.
“Are you sure they didn’t touch you at all?” Mum asked anxiously.
“No, Mum. I’m fine.”
Dad stood speechless. I narrated to them how God had saved me from gang rape. But I didn’t include that Festus was my boyfriend. I told them he was just a friend. Mum sat beside me on a plastic chair beside Festus’ sickbed, while Dad remained on his feet.
Dad heaved a sigh, and stretched his palms upwards, “Oh, thank you Jesus!”
“My Treasure, you know you need to be hospitalized, yourself.” Dad said in his baritone voice, while rubbing his bulging belly. In his left hand was a silver walking-stick that had always accompanied him to any journey.
“Dad, I am fine. It’s Festus that really needs a treatment.”
“Omalicha Nwa! You mean your own health is not important to you?” Mum asked with agitation in her voice and directed her speech to Dad, “I can’t afford to let my daughter study in this country any longer. I don’t want to lose her. And I have asked you to send her to the states, you refused. If she has been raped to death, is this what we’re going to be saying?”
“Woman, be patient!” Dad said, almost provoked. He paused for a moment as if to calm his temper. He struck his walking-stick on the tiled floor and said, “Alright, I will think about it.”
“You’d better think about it.” Mummy mumbled; her affectionate hands were still wandering on my body.
I didn’t care about what Mum and Dad were deliberating over. I had one important question to ask them, but I needed to reserve it. When I was narrating to them concerning Kay-Euro’s revelation about me, my parent stared at each other in the face. Dad interrupted me with another topic when I wanted to confirm if I was really surrounded by spirit. Somehow, I believed my parents were hiding something from me. Could I have been a child surrounded by spirits without my knowledge? What sacrifice could they have made to hide my spiritual friends from me?
My Daddy’s loud throat-clearing pulled me out of my thought. He would only clear his throat in that manner if he was suspicious about something. But what could he be suspicious of?
“And you say this young man is just a friend?” Dad asked.
I was forced to smile when I looked at Dad’s curious facial expression, and I bowed my head timidly.
“Treasure,” Mum said, patting my back, “Just tell us the truth. I know my daughter quite well. He is more than a friend; Right?”
I glanced at my parents questioning look. And I smiled while nodding my head shyly. I didn’t mean to lie that Festus was just a friend. Of course, I was not too small to have a boyfriend. I had just marked my 24th birthday. I didn’t want Mum to start interrogating me about his background. My parents really wanted me to present to them a fiance from an influential background like ours; although, Dad didn’t care much about that. All he wanted for me was a responsible man.
“You mean he is your boyfriend.” Mum insisted.
“Yes.” I nodded slowly.
“Hmn … he is a good-looking boy. You have really taken after your mother. ” Mum remarked animatedly, while stealing a glance at Dad’s face.
I smiled in response to her compliment. I knew what she meant by that. Indeed, Dad was still very handsome in his late sixties. He had a light-brown skin and a bald head. His blemishless white beard and moustache created a sharp contrast in a way that made him look like a typical professor. And he was really intelligent. During my secondary school days, each time he didn’t go to the office, he would tutor me on all subjects. His sense of arithmetic was awesome. He studied statistic in school. Mum was just in her late forties. I didn’t take after her with fair skin, but her beauty.
“So, who is this boy’s father in this state?” Dad asked the shocking question I had been avoiding.
EPISODE 8
Getting dazed by the question, I started fiddling with my shoulder-length hair in anxiety. I didn’t know where to start from. I was scratching the back of my neck without feeling any itches. I wonder what my parents would say if I told them how poor Festus’ parent had been. I trust Mum. She might call him a gold digger. Dad might ask me to stop relating with him. As much as Dad craved a responsible man, he did not want to betroth his daughter to the son of any nonentity. Right from my tender age Dad had promised to make my wedding an elaborate one. He had always attended the engagements of his friends’ children, and each time he returned he would tell me all he witnessed.
“My Treasure,” he would call me, while sipping a wine from a goblet or puffing on his tobacco, “Oh, I wish you were there. If you see how many cars the groom bought the bride’s parents as a present you would be amazed.” At the end of his statement he would tell me whose son the groom was among the important personalities in the states.
“Wow!” I would giggle, my panda doll would lie beside me, “That’s really interesting.”
That statement had always been my response over the years. That was Dad for me. He would talk to me like an adult those times I was less than fourteen years of age. Sometimes, Mum would become jealous of me because anything Dad was supposed to discuss with her, I would be the one to first hear about it.
“Who are his parents?” Daddy’s voice yanked me out of my daydream. His voice was calm this time.
“Dad, his father is nobody in any state, but his parents are living fine.” I said with confidence. I needed to just lie again in order to save myself from further interrogation.
“Honey, this is no time for such question,” Mum said, fondling with my hair. “This is a time for thanksgiving. I am just happy that my daughter is alive. Boyfriend or no boyfriend is not the issue for now. Besides, she has not introduced him as a fiancé.”
I wished I could interrupt Mum. Did she mean I wouldn’t be allowed to marry him if I finally introduced him as a fiancé?
“I know you wouldn’t let me talk,” Dad said with a tinge of tease in his voice, “I am still talking to my second wife; not you.”
“Okay o … husband and wife. Continue with your talk.” Mum smiled, turning her face away.
At that moment, the nurse in charge of Festus came in and asked if Mum and Dad were his parents. I told the nurse that Festus’ parents were staying in Lagos, which was very far from Kano state. Then she prescribed some drugs for his quick recovery. My parents volunteered to pay all the bills. Dad asked the nurse if she had carried out any test on me.
“Yes, sir,” responded the nurse, “I have examined her immediately. She wasn’t hurt. But she needs a good rest for her to recover from the shock she passed through during the incident.”
“I hope you heard what the nurse said,” Dad turned to me, “you have to come back home. So, I will make sure you have a good rest.”
“…And you must come back home today,” added Mum.
“But, our exams is few days away – five days precisely.”
“I’m not sure you’re going back to that school, “ Dad said firmly, “When you come back home, I will know the next step to take.”
“But, Dad why?”
Dad did not respond. instead, he gave me a glaring look that suggested that the reason was obvious. Mum didn’t utter a word either. She just gave me an eye-contact, meaning that I shouldn’t argue with Dad. She rose to her feet, picking up her handbag.
“Come home before nightfall,” Dad said as he turned towards the door with Mum leading the way.
I believed my parents had decided to send me abroad to further my education. What would become of my relationship with Festus if I eventually leave this country? I couldn’t afford to. I would rather find a way to persuade them.
When it was quarter-to-nine in the morning I realized that my phone had been off all through the night. The battery was dead. I rummaged for the charger in my handbag and plugged it at a socket near the bed. In a little while I switched on the phone.
“Oh my goodness!” I exclaimed in a low tone, covering my mouth.
Checking through my BBM, I realized that the incident had spread through the whole campus. Majority of my friends were taunting me that Kingsley had seen my nakedness at last. Some of their messages went thus:
“Upon all your shakara 4 dat guy, he finally checked you out. I can’t still believe it. So tell me, how many rounds now?”
“Shasha Baby, I don tell you say Kay-Euro go chop you. Lol. Sorry for the pains o. Where the hospital dey?”
“….hope dem no wound your Festus for you too much sha. Lmao …. lover girl. Me too dey suspect say dat guy be cultist for all im swag for campus. Na so God go dey catch dem one by one.”
Scrolling through the countless messages, I shook my head. The campus newspaper would definitely have me and Festus on their cover page this week. How many people would I tell that Kingsley hadn’t raped me before the police arrived? He had only stripped my bra and buried his mouth on my nipples before he screamed. Nothing more. He must have become infatuated with my breasts. Although his first attempt was for my panties, but he had changed his mind.
I heaved a sigh as I directed my look towards Festus. He was still sleeping.
“With all these rumour, would I be able to study in this school any longer?” I thought to myself, “ Is this how I’m going to part ways with Festus? No … never!”
At that instant, I heard my phone ring. It was Bisola, one of the friends I accommodated. She told me she was just hearing about the incident when she got to the lecture room. She added that the incident was the new topic in every department. And I narrated all that happened to her.
“Oh, thank you Jehovah!” She exclaimed, “this is a testimony to be shared. I hope your boyfriend is not seriously injured.”
“Yeah. It’s just a small cut in the head. He will be alright. Thanks for your concern.”
When Bisola told me she was coming to the hospital, I asked her to get some food and beverages for him on her way.
****
I arrived home on the next day after Festus had been discharged from the hospital. Three security guards came to help me with my luggage out of the car. Our edifice had almost the same structure with the Whitehouse in Washington DC, but not as gigantic. It was coated in cream and orange colour. A section of the house was decorated with the American clay bricks. Our garden stretched up to 15 acres. From our gate, one had to drive through paved road flanked by flowers, decorative trees, streetlights, sculptures and fountains before locating our edifice.
I was clad in a body-hugging dress that left my arms and shoulders bare. I walked through the front door after the guards. When I got to the sitting-room, I looked up only to see Mum smiling down at me from our loft or interior balcony. I guessed she had seen me coming through the security camera. Gently, I climbed the stairs with my pink high-heels which glamorously matched my dress. Mum embraced me. She welcomed me as if I hadn’t been home for a year, and I couldn’t do without coming home once in a month.
“You look stressed up, dear,” Mum said, putting her arm around my shoulders. We headed towards my room, “remember what the nurse said.”
“The driving is just too tedious for me.” I placed my palm on my aching head.
“You mean Kano to Abuja is tedious? But you have refused to let your Dad get you a driver.”
Immediately we got to my room Mum said she had a good news for me, and asked me to guess. We both sat on the bed, facing my tall standing mirror.
“Oh, Dad eventually got that private jet?” I asked while unknotting my diamond necklace and bracelets.
“Not about your Dad.”
“Alright then,” I hummed thoughtfully for a moment, “Okay. You have decided to open another mall in the UK or … California.”
“You don’t still guess right. Now, let me tell you,” Mum said, her voice falling into a whisper. She told me that Alfred Peters, the first son of my Dad’s best friend, would be coming back to Nigeria in three weeks’ time because of me.
“Why … because of me?” I frowned, my voice laced with repulse.
Mum said Alfred had refused to marry since he left Nigeria to manage his father’s business in New york. He had been gone for three years after he graduated as a medicine student. I could remember when I was 13 year-old or thereabout. Each time Alfred and his Dad paid us a visit, his Dad would stroke my chubby cheeks and say, “Beautiful Princess, I will still marry you to my son.”
Seated beside his father, the fifteen year-old Alfred would tilt his head shyly. His tender eyes would speak out desire. He was such a cute black boy.
“Me?” I would laugh childishly, “I can’t marry a black boy. When I grow up, I’m going to marry a white man. They are very, very fine. I like their films too.”
That was all I could remember about Alfred. I hadn’t seen him for a very long time. Why would he decide to propose to me now?
“So, I want you to treat him well when he comes here,” Mum continued delightedly, “your Dad had supported the union already. Alfred is a very handsome man with a high reputation. If you see him now, I bet you won’t be able to resist his sight. Let me show you some of his pictures on my….”
“Mum, don’t bother,” I interrupted Mum when she was about to show me the picture on her phone, “I don’t care if he’s the most handsome man in the universe. The fact is, ‘I already have a fiancé!’ ” I uttered the last statement out of frustration, and I could see Mum almost bouncing off her seat as if the words had sent a thunder bolt into her body.
“And who is that?” She asked, confused.
“Mum, it’s the boy you saw at the hospital!” I said with a frowned face. I turned away, folding my arms across my chests.
“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. So, tell me what his comfortable parents have achieved; maybe I will consider him.”
I took a long sigh and turned to Mum. With a consoling, gentle voice I said, “I think, at this juncture, I have to tell the truth … His parents are poor, and I don’t think that has anything to do with the feeling I have for him.”
Before Mum could respond I heard my phone ring. On the phone screen I saw “SWEET HEART calling…” That was Festus.
“Mum, please; just a minute,” I said, walking across to the corner of the bed. “Hello, sweetie,” I said in a low tone.
“Oh, thanks dear,” I said, peeking at the wall clock, “I got home about fifteen minutes ago. I hope everything is alright. Feel free to call me if you need anything. Okay?”
I was very amused when Festus said he wouldn’t be needing anything for two months after the one-fifty-thousand I gave him. That wasn’t up to the money I bought my recent necklace. If I needed to shop for jewelry Dad wouldn’t give me less than 750 k. I really wished to give him up to 300k, but I regretted I had only N150,000 left in my account.
“You must be kidding,” I smiled, “ that wouldn’t be enough for two weeks let alone two months.” I stole a glance at Mum who was about to stand up, “anyway, I will call you back, dear. Let me attend to Mum … love you, bye.” Festus replied the statement and sent a kiss to me.
“Mum, I’m so sorry,” I said, moving close to her. I placed my hand around her shoulders, “ I didn’t mean to interrupt the conversation, but I had to keep Festus’ mind at rest. He wanted to know if I’m already at home.”
Mum still stood on her ground that Festus was not suitable for a prestigious girl like me.
“He is only a gold digger!” Mum almost yelled at me. “All I know is you can’t marry him!”
click here for THE NEXT EPISODES
No comments:
Post a Comment