Episode 21
With a huge smile on his face, the cemetery keeper walked to Janet where she was sitting under the mango tree and announced he was done with his work of weeding her father in-law’s grave, and had presented him with perfumed flowers. “So, can I go read him the poem now, right?” she asked. “Yes, I believe he can’t wait to hear those words,” said the man.
Staggering on his bad limbs, he followed Janet back to the grave. Janet was not sure, but somewhere in the recesses of her mind was the knowledge that what she was doing bothered on necromancy. To lighten her mind, heavily burdened with guilt, she mumbled a short prayer to God. “Dear God, please forgive me.
I am not sure about this, but in my current dire situation, this is the only solution I can get my hands on.” That prayer did not lighten her heavy heart, but it afforded her some pseudo comfort, for having condemned the act of communicating with the dead before she embarked on it.
For the next ten minutes, Janet summoned her intellectual astuteness and read the words of the poem as though she was reading the wordings of a holy poem in the church. Her mind was so focused on the words of the poem that she did not see any of the rather paranormal activities happening around the grave.
The cemetery keeper was mesmerized. He was almost delirious by what he saw. As Janet read the words, the sand on the grave seemed to bounce up and down in a rhythmic fashion. It was at the point she finished reading the poem that she turned her gaze back to the man next to her. The man was literally jazzed.
“What is it sir?” she asked. The man looked up, his face wrapped up in Elysium. With stuttering lips, he replied, “I… I… Saw the grave… The grave danced! I saw the grave dance! The dead in it is happy!” That was not something to say to a lady totally naïve about spiritual things and the dead. Janet felt her heart beat irregularly with pungent twinge of pain.
She stepped away from the grave, afraid it might open up and swallow her whole. Then a blast of wind blew in-between them and a voice like the voice of the wind whispered, “Find my killer and you will have found your oppressor.”
The effect of the voice was so staggering that her feet could not hold her up any longer. Irrespective of her class, she sat on the ground, wishing she was home. I don’t get it. Why did he not tell me who killed him, instead of sending me to find the person? Janet thought.
As if her father in-law was in her head, a voice spoke to her again, “In my death I was forbidden to speak of what happened to me. I want to, but I can’t. If you don’t find who killed me, you will be next.” That was it for Janet.
She could not take any more of that paranormal conversation. She stood to her feet and bolted away, trying very hard not to scream her head off.
Because of his deformity, the cemetery keeper could not keep up with Janet. All he could do was shout at her to stop running, but Janet would have none of that. She was done with seeking help from the dead.
Emmanuel’s Home
Emmanuel was home by now and very much bothered by what his friend had told him to do. “As much as I am afraid Janet might be jinxed, I cannot bear to cheat on her. What if it turns out I am wrong?” Emmanuel whispered to himself as he paced about his living room.
While he walked about his living room restlessly, his eyes rested on a picture of his father on the wall and a thought seized his mind. “What on earth was my father here for the other night?” he asked aloud to no one. Before he could process that thought, another one hit him, “What did mom mean by daddy ‘died in vain’?” Like a prey being hypnotized by a serpent, he sunk into the closest sofa to him. “God please help me! I don’t know how we came to this…
Look at me trying to cheat on my wife… My mother saying my father died in vain… My male strength gone mysteriously and the dead showing up in my house… and there is even a remote possibility that my wife might have a spiritual husband. How can a happy life turn so sour in a short time?” he wondered as he prayed.
He was lost in his searing thoughts of sorrow, when Janet barged into the house. She was almost beside herself. When Emmanuel saw the look of her face, he was shocked.
He could not bear to ignore her. Janet was happy to meet him at home. She ran toward him and threw herself on him and began to sob deeply. Emmanuel was full of thoughts as to why she was crying. He assumed that perhaps she was about to confess to him what she knew about his condition.
Patiently he waited for her to speak up. “Baby we are in trouble,” she said as if Emmanuel did not know that much.
“We have been in trouble since our wedding night, that much is clear to me,” Emmanuel said with sarcasm. “I spoke with your father; he said…” Janet was saying. She was stopped by the look on Emmanuel’s face. “You spoke with my father!” he wondered.
Emmanuel could hear his own heartbeat. “Yes, I did. I went to his grave to plead with him to return your male strength which I supposed he took from you…” “And he spoke to you?” “It wasn’t that straightforward. I did some things to please him.” Emmanuel became much more afraid of her. He shifted away from her. His thoughts were, “So you are not just jinxed, you practice witchcraft too?”
Janet could see he was a bit distracted and so she asked. “Are you listening to me, baby?” “Yes, what did you do to make my father speak to you?” He was beginning to give his worries away in the manner he spoke. “You, your mother and Arit neglected him for long. His grave was not weeded and no one brought him flowers.
I was told by the cemetery keeper that most nights he was seen sitting on his grave crying.” “Crying? My father was crying?” “Yes he was. He told me he was killed…” That was the clincher. Instead of shifting away from Janet, he moved closer. “Did he tell you who killed him?” he asked with a whisper.
“No he did not. But he warned me that if we do not find his killer, I will be killed soon.” The thought of Janet dying made Emmanuel realize how much he really loved her.
Taking her into his hands warmly and his eyes locked with hers, he said with frightening cold voice, “I will kill a whole nation than let any harm come upon you.” The sound of that was very reassuring to Janet. She nodded, happy that his cold attitude toward her was thawing.
“But my father should have told you who killed him,” Emmanuel thought aloud. “I wanted him to tell me, but he said he was forbidden in his death to reveal the person’s identity or the things he knows. I am afraid to admit that he sounded as though he was killed by an occult power.
You can’t kill a man and shut his mouth from speaking what he knew, except you are using occult powers,” Janet said.
Emmanuel picked his phone to call his friend who suggested he find another woman to show love to prove if Janet was jinxed and in that instance, he felt his male organ swing back to life as if it broke out from under a ceiling. With both hands he grabbed his private part, looking embarrassed.
“It is back to life! Baby I can feel it like before! My male organ is back to life!” Emmanuel shouted. Janet could not move. Her mouth hung wide open in shock as she looked spaced out. “Your father has done it. He has fought for us,” she whispered. Emmanuel stood up, lifted her in his arms and made a dash toward the bedroom.
Mrs. Asibong’s Office
She was giving her personal assistant some instructions when her phone rang. It was not her regular ring tone. She knew who was calling and it had been eleven long years since they spoke last. She had carried his number and assigned a special tone to it in each of her new phones, those long years.
“I am sorry, that is an important call and I have to take it in privacy,” she said to her personal; assistant. Hastily she walked her assistant to the door and shut it. She went back to her table and picked the call, “Hello, you are not meant to call me except something goes wrong.
So, tell me, what has gone wrong?” “Your daughter in-law visited your husband’s grave today. I heard she had his grave weeded, gave him perfumed flowers and read him a poem,” a male voice said. “And…?” “Nothing more,” replied the male voice.
Her breathing became strong and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. “I looked into that girl before I allowed her to come into my home. Why didn’t I see all this? This is the second time she would set beyond her bounds…
Have you looked at the chains, are they still in place?” “You have nothing to worry about. The chains are in place.” “But the other night, he was seen in my son’s house. How did that happen?” “If there was trouble, I would have told him.
It was not him that they saw, he sent another to appear like him. I knew about that and there was no way I could stop it.” “I thought as much,” Mrs. Asibong said with a sigh of relief. “I would have you watch him closely tonight, find out how he fares. You know if he breaks out, the rest will come with him,” she added. “Yes I know.” “Thanks for the information, I will deal ruthlessly with my daughter in-law.”
Episode 22
Emmanuel’s House, Bedroom
Breathing heavily, Janet stared rapturously at Emmanuel’s body. Every bit of muscle in his body was pulsating. With infectious smile and a happy heart, she whispered, “You are back baby. You took me on like a stallion. At some point, I could not breathe. You are back, my love.
We can now make babies; what do you think?” “I have no issues with making babies, but we have to first take seriously what my father told you and find out who wants you dead. I think it will be foolhardy to relegate that and move on.
On the other hand, we have not found out why my male organ crashed in the manner it did,” said Emmanuel thoughtfully. “You are right, but how do we go about finding the person who killed your father and wants me dead?” Janet concurred. “Going by what my mother said to you, she knows something about how my dad died.
She might not want to let us in on it, but I am certain she knows what we don’t. I will find a way to make her tell me what she knows…” “What if she refuses?” Janet interjected. “Then I will look for alternative ways to find out what happened to my father.”
“I hope the alternative ways will not make things worse than they already are?” Janet asked. Emmanuel gently pulled her over to his body, planted several kisses all over her body and then replied her. “I will be very careful. Whichever means I choose to find out the truth will not put us in much more trouble than we already are.
I will make sure of that, okay.” Janet kissed him and whispered seductively, “Okay baby… It feels like it was long time ago that we made love last…” “We just made love now,” Emmanuel interjected. “I know, but that was just a test. Now let’s do the real thing…” “I thought I heard you say you almost could not breathe…” “Stop talking and get down to business, baby.
I know you understand my meaning. You are just being silly.” Smiling mischievously, Emmanuel said, “Yeah, I understand you actually…” Janet responded to that with a knock on his head. “Aw!! What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his hand on the spot Janet knocked on his head.
“For making me explain too much… You were not done explaining before I gave you the knock, continue or I’ll give you more knocks.”
Acting like a little boy, trying not to offend his mother, Emmanuel continued, “The reason you felt that way was because of the fear we felt over the crash.
To me, it seemed like my life was over. I can’t even imagine what must have gone on in your mind.
Any chance I will hear them?” Janet began to laugh. “I see, they must have been very terrible to make you laugh this much,” Emmanuel pointed out. “They were bad, dark and evil. I could not imagine living for the rest of life without sex in my marriage.
The fear of that killed me a thousand times.” “Was there a chance you would have left me or cheated on me?” Emmanuel asked, looking at her quizzically. “Those two thoughts made me mad. They kept coming at me like storms.
I have to admit; I almost went nuts under their crushing blows.” “Did you get to make any of the decisions then? They were possibilities, right?” Janet regarded him for a while and with a smile replied, “I am not that easy to beat down.
I did not. Your crash was not even up to a day long. How could I have made such grave decisions that soon? How about you? Were you going to run away from me or go to other ladies to see if they could wake it…? You know when such things happen, somehow, the woman becomes a suspect. Did you think I was a witch?”
A look of guilt took over Emmanuel’s face. He looked down on the bed, unable to look her in the eyes. “I know you baby.
You thought I was a witch or perhaps jinxed. When you banged the door and left me, it felt like you banged the door of my heart.
“Because it happened the first time we made love, right? Perhaps you thought I had a spiritual husband who took your male strength away for touching his wife,” she interjected.
Emmanuel reacted with so much shock at what she said that Janet could see he thought all she mentioned.
Ibinabo’s House
“I have made up my mind to deal with Janet, and I have decided to do it now,” Mrs. Asibong said to her friend, Ibinabo. “What did she do this time?” asked Ibinabo.
“She went to visit my dead husband. From what I gathered before I left work this evening, she managed to stir the spirit of my dead husband.” “This Janet must be very strong spiritually.
Did her action weaken the chains you placed on your husband’s spirit?” “No, she did not. However, if I don’t serve her some bitter pills to swallow, she might break the chains.”
“How are you going to do that seeing you have made a deal which somehow forbids you from inflicting damaging hurt on her? Don’t forget she is the major sacrifice you have offered to get the restoration and protection you want.”
“I know Ibinabo. My plan is to inflict her with a sickness. If she was not my daughter in-law, believe me, I would have shut her womb and thrown the key into the Atlantic Ocean.
She is a pest! An annoying pest!” “I still have not figured out why you hate her this much. If she was my daughter in-law, I would have kept her far away from all this. I am certain you are making a mistake.
Have you thought about it that if you inflict her with a sickness, it might affect her ability to bear you the grandchildren the priest spoke of and also the one you have offered to our lord?”
“So are you suggesting I sit back and watch her destroy my life?” “She is not after you, Eme. I am certain she does not even know she is doing some things you don’t like.
A couple of months ago, she was the best daughter in-law a mother in-law could have. Now she is a devil. Eme, please, be very careful with that girl.”
Mrs. Asibong’s phone began to ring. She checked to see who was calling. It turned out to be Janet. “Talk about the devil and he somehow shows up. The witch is the one calling me.
What could she want to tell me?” “That your son’s male organ is back to life and that she has been rocking it all evening,” Ibinabo joked. “You know, you are right. I need to hear that,” Mrs. Asibong said and picked the call.
“Hello Jenny girl! What good news have you got for me?” Mrs. Asibong asked as though she was not mad with Janet. “Mommy, the missing servant is back and is working at electric pace. I can’t get enough of as it is,” Janet said with the sound of joy in her heart.
“I can’t be happier for you. I think the two of you should seriously give making babies a thought. I wouldn’t want that servant to pack up again without a grandchild for me.
In fact, tell Emmanuel I ordered for grandchildren.” “Okay, mommy, I will pass your message across to him.” “Alright Jenny, enjoy the revived servant as much as you can. It is yours for the keeps,” Mrs. Asibong signed off.
Janet could not help giggling at her mother in-law’s comment.
At the bathroom from where she had made the call, she leaned on the wall and laughed hard after the call had ended.
The imagination evoked by the comment, “… enjoy the revived servant as much as you can.
It is yours for the keeps ” was so graphic that her thoughts went back to some things she had thought when Emmanuel’s male organ was still nonfunctional. At the living room, Emmanuel was on the phone with a man his friend, Samson, had helped him get in touch with.
“How long will it take you to find out all I have told you about?” Emmanuel asked. “Give me three days. I sense a strong occult presence around you. I have to be careful with this case, it usually doesn’t end well,” the man at the other end of the call said.
“Please sir, do it quickly. Whoever is after me, is also after my wife.” “Yes, you are right. I see covenants involving blood and graves with chains… You know what, Mr. Emmanuel, let us end this call. I need to look into your family now. So much has gone wrong for long.” “Okay, sir.”
All through that evening and late into the night, Emmanuel and Janet did their best to enjoy as much romantic moments as they could. Emmanuel even called the doctor handling his case to inform him that his male organ had come back and had been working very fine.
So, that evening was filled with joy and no one was expecting what began about 1: 56 am in the morning. For Janet it was only a nightmare until she snapped out of her sleep with a scream and found her matrimonial bed soaked with blood.
In the far corner of their bedroom were two human-like shadows holding in their hands bloody objects which Janet figured out to be some organs from her body.
She turned to look at Emmanuel who was next to her only to find him sound asleep in spite of her ear-piercing screams.
Episode 23
Janet shook Emmanuel violently amid her screams. Emmanuel woke with a startle, blinking his eyes repeatedly. It took about thirty seconds before the horror before him sunk in.
The bed was soaked in blood and two human-like shadows were in a corner of their bedroom holding stuffs he could not decipher. All he knew was that whatever things they were holding were dropping blood to the floor. Without a thought, he jumped out of bed, grabbed Janet and headed for the door.
On their way to the door, they were yelling the name of Jesus and pleading his blood. They were too scared to observe what happened when they began to use that name.
The two shadows seemed to plunge into some sort of confusion. Twice they rammed into each other as though they were trying to find an exit route in each other. It was as though they didn’t want to hang around anymore and gloat over what they had done to Janet.
The excitement on their faces was replaced with the look of dread.
Their attempt to escape from the bedroom was successful on the third try. Seeming to step into the wall, they vanished from the bedroom.
Janet and Emmanuel were at the door when Emmanuel turned and noticed that the two devils had vanished, taking with them whatever it was they had in their hands. “Baby! Baby! They are gone! The devils are gone! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Lord!” Emmanuel shouted, his eyes darting about the room.
Janet was not in the mood to say a word. She was sure she knew what those devils had removed from her body, they were her womb and some intestinal organs. She was busy running her fingers all over her body. Things were gone from her body that much she knew.
Much to her shock, though she could feel she had been cut open by the devils they saw in their room, there was no cut on her body. It was very strange to her; she could not understand it.
Though she could feel the cut of devils’ blades, yet there was not an injury on her body. “Where is the blood from then? I saw them cut me open in my dream. Where is this much blood from? Lord what is this?” she mumbled to herself.
Emmanuel was on the floor praying out his heart. Through the years when people began to die mysteriously in his family, it was his devotion to God which saw him through. Sadly, since things got better and life became less stressful, his faith had waned and he turned his attention to other things. With what he had seen that night, he had no choice than to pray. “Baby stop!!!” Janet yelled. Emmanuel was shocked by the sound of her voice.
“I know what those devils left with…” she paused. As if a light bulb had been turned on in his head, Emmanuel sprang to his feet from where he was kneeling, and began to feel his body.
The first place he touched was his male organ; from that point, he moved his hands to feel other parts of his body. He was happy to have only blood stains on him.
“What did they leave with?” he asked after he was satisfied with checking himself for any possible missing parts. “My womb,” Janet said with hot tears streaming from her eyes. Emmanuel took quick steps toward her and hugged her in spite of the blood stains all over her.
“Don’t say such a thing, how could they take your womb? Is there any cut on your body?” Emmanuel cautioned her, pulled away a bit, and began to feel her blood-stained body for any knife cuts.
Fighting hard to keep a rein on her emotions, Janet began to narrate her nightmare to him, “I saw those devils enter our bedroom in my dream but I could not run from them. They did something to me and immobilized me. I wanted to scream, but could not.
I tried to fight them, but I could not. With those knives you saw in their hands, they cut me open and removed my womb…” she paused, breathing heavily. Then she busted into tears.
Emmanuel hugged her yet again and tried his best to calm her. That was hard to do, Janet was terrified beyond words. Amid her cry, she began to explain what those devils said to her hearing,
“Baby, the devils said some things while they were removing my womb.” “What did they say?” Emmanuel asked breathlessly, giving away his fear. “One of them said to the other, ‘let us see how she will give birth to that sacrifice’.
When he had said that, the other one began to laugh hysterically and mockingly said, ‘when the wait for the sacrifice she gave them becomes endless, they will turn against her and she will run back to us.
When that happens, we will demand the most precious things and not just Emmanuel’s male organ’. Baby I heard these words clearly. I still hear them in my head,” Janet concluded.
Emmanuel let go of her. “I don’t understand. Who is the ‘she’ they were talking about?” he asked with a wary look on his face.
He was beginning to think again that Janet was a member of a secret cult. “I don’t know who that is; but whoever she is, from what the devils said, she is offering our body parts and even unborn children to devils,” Janet replied.
Emmanuel was so focused on who the ‘she’ might be that he lost the meaning of what the devils had said to each other. It took Janet’s words for the meaning to home.
As if a light bulb had turned on in his head, he asked with a scream, “Wait! Does that mean my male organ failed because someone offered it to those devils?” “That is what it means, baby.” “Jesus! This is not happening.
This can’t be true… Baby is there a chance you are the one they are talking about? Are you the ‘she’? Are you somehow jinxed? Do you belong to some evil cult which I don’t know about?”
Emmanuel asked, his face contorted by the anger in his heart.
Janet could not believe her ears. She stared at Emmanuel unbelievably, her mouth hanging very low in shock. “What did you just ask me?” she managed to ask, her words laced with venomous anger.
“You heard me right! I demand to know the truth right now! Are you the one they were talking about!!!” Emmanuel barked maniacally, sounding clearly beside himself with anger.
Janet had had enough, she took two quick steps and stood shoulder to shoulder before Emmanuel and yelled back, “Go ask your mother who said your father died in vain!!!
Go ask your father who said he was killed and that whoever killed him is after me!!!” Her words were so loud that they seemed to push Emmanuel backward a bit.
Emmanuel was poised for a fight with Janet when he noticed a figure walk into the bathroom. In anger he went after it, leaving Janet terrified by the way he moved.
When he yanked the door of the bathroom open, he yelled, “Daddy show yourself! Stop hiding in corners!” Then his eyes rested on the words written with blood on the mirror.
In utter shock, he whispered, “Baby, you have to see this.” Picking her steps fearfully toward Emmanuel who stood by the door of the bathroom, she asked, “What is it?” “You have to see it.” She was too afraid, so she hid behind Emmanuel and peeked into the bathroom.
The words on the mirror read, “Emmanuel stop fighting in vain and go in search of him who killed me. When you find that person, you will have found who is after you and your wife.” When Janet read the words, she sighed loudly and walked away.
“Perhaps I wrote that on the mirror also to fool you! You know what Emmanuel, you are disgusting!” she shouted and began to cry again. Emmanuel could not take his eyes off the words on the mirror.
“Who is this person?” Emmanuel asked a little audibly. Just like when Janet visited her father in-law’s grave, a wind blew by and Emmanuel heard a voice saying, “Look back at your dreams after my death.
Visit Jeffery’s grave.” Emmanuel held his ears and winced in pain. Though the words were gentle, yet they burnt his ears. “Baby, my father just spoke to me.
He has told me what to do!” “Go to hell! Don’t you ever talk to me again! I am witch! I am the person who took your male strength, cut your wife open to remove her womb and offered your unborn children to the devil.
Don’t you ever forget that! I am not your baby Emmanuel! I am a witch!” Janet yelled at him, crying. In that instance, Emmanuel knew his marriage had taken a major hit.
He had hurt his wife beyond words could describe. Sadly, he had no idea how to mend the broken fence. He stood helplessly looking at Janet as she cried her heart out on the floor where she sat.
“God, what do I do now, I have hurt my wife?” he prayed. Janet sprang to her feet, surprising him. She grabbed her finger and forcefully pulled out her wedding ring and stoned it at Emmanuel. The ring hit Emmanuel on the forehead and bounced off.
“I am done with you! I cannot continue to live with a man who thinks I am a witch every time something goes wrong in our marriage. I hate you! Emmanuel I hate you!!!” Janet screamed.
She ran into the bathroom and locked the door from behind. Emmanuel picked up the ring and went to the door to plead with her to forgive him. “Baby, I am very sorry.
I wish I could take back those words I said. Please forgive me.” “I have told you already, Emmanuel, I am not your baby! I am leaving your house today.
Once I come out of this bathroom, I will pack my things and leave you!” Emmanuel ran to the bedroom door, locked it and hid the key. Janet had been deeply hurt, from the way she spoke, he knew she would leave him that day.
Episode 24
Mrs. Asibong was sound asleep on her bed. The time was 2:15 am. Then her phone rang. It was the priest whom she gave the lives of Janet and her unborn child.
With an angry sigh she reached for her phone. “Hello priest, why call me at this odd hour? Is everything okay?” she asked. “All is not well! You have to get down to our shrine this minute!” said the priest, loudly.
“What is wrong priest?! How do you expect me to drive out by this time all alone?” “Mrs. Asibong, you have no choice than to do that. All the lives in your family depend on it. I have called your friend, Ibinabo, she is on her way to your house with some people.
You have to get down here immediately!” “Okay priest, I will come over to the shrine now that I know Ibinabo is on her way to my house with some people.
Please can you let me in on what is wrong? Please I beg of you.” “Mrs. Asibong, there is trouble. Your fellowship has offered a counter sacrifice to undo the sacrifice you offered to us.”
“My fellowship? I thought you had silenced them once and for all. How is this possible?” Mrs. Eme Asibong asked, feeling like fish out of water. “I hate to admit to you that we underestimated them.
Have you spoken to your son and his wife?” “No, I have not.” “Please get in touch with them. It is highly important that you do so right now,” said the priest as he hung up the phone.
“Mommy! We have been under attack for the past few hours! The worst part is that Janet wants to leave me!” Emmanuel blurted out breathlessly.
“Calm down Emmanuel! I want to hear about the attack, what actually happened?” she asked. “Mom, as I speak right now, our bed and much of our bedroom are covered with blood…”
“Blood! Oh God! From where?” she interjected. “Janet woke me up from sleep with a loud scream only for me to see two spirits in our bedroom and our bed covered with blood. The spirits had in their hands Janet’s womb and some intestinal organs.
My wife is not going to be able to give birth to any child ever again! Mom please help! Please help me!” Emmanuel cried.
Mrs. Asibong felt her tongue cleave to her upper palate. She could hardly utter a word. Thoughts of all sorts were going through her mind at that point. What have I done? Mrs. Asibong thought to herself “Mom!!! Are you there?” Emmanuel’s loud query woke her from her thoughts.
“I am here Emmanuel. You know what? Make sure Janet does not leave your house! I am going to look for help right away.
Did you hear me?” “Yes ma,” Emmanuel replied with hope. “Good. Keep her in your house and make sure she does not leave you.” Before Emmanuel could get the chance to tell her what his father had told him, she dropped the call.
A loud car horn blared from outside the compound and she knew Ibinabo and her team had arrived. Just then her phone began to ring. It was Ibinabo. “Hello IB (short for Ibinabo),” said Mrs. Asibong. “Are you ready to leave with us? The priest told me he was going to call you.
You should be ready be now,” Ibinabo inquired urgently. “I am afraid am not yet ready. I spoke with my son, he said they were attacked this morning.
The worst has happened IB…” “Get a hold of yourself and get out of your house! We are here to find the solution to your problem,” interjected Ibinabo. There was no time to dress herself very well. All Mrs.
Asibong could do was find a wrapper and tied it around her nightgown. She reached for her handbag and phone and dashed out of her bedroom.
On her way out, she found a pair of leather slip-on and slipped her feet in on them. Outside, she yelled, “Musa!!!” The gate man busted out of his gatehouse with his arrow and bow, ready to shoot any intruder. Mrs.
Asibong held her hands up in fear and screamed, “Please don’t shoot Musa! I am the one! It is your madam!” “Kei! I for kill am for you now! Where is the thief, madam? ” asked Musa in pidgin English. “There is no thief around Musa.
Open the gate I need to go somewhere right now.” “Madam! You want to go somewhere by this time? Ah! It is not good time to go out. Thieves, spirits, they go out by this time.
This time not good for going out ,” Musa cautioned. “Thanks Musa for your concern, however, I must go out now. My son is in trouble, I have to go help him and his wife. Open the gate please.”
He ran back into the house, found the key and dashed out. As he unlocked the gate, he narrated a short dream he had to his boss. “ Madam, trouble is find you.
I saw it in my dream. Oga come with plenty dead people. I see you mad. You commot your clothe run enter market …
” He paused to push the gate wide open. Mrs. Asibong stood transfixed. She could not lift a limb nor bat an eyelid. Outside the gate were Ibinabo and some men. “Common lets go,” Ibinabo encouraged her.
“You have to hear this IB… Musa who did you say you saw in your dream?” Ibinabo ran into the compound, obviously to drag Mrs. Asibong away.
“I saw Oga, your husband,” replied Musa. His words struck both Ibinabo and Mrs. Asibong with awe. “Who told you that the person you saw was my husband? I only hired you a couple of months ago.
My husband died fourteen years ago!” Musa smiled proudly and squirmed his shoulders with self-assurance. “Your husband is Mr. Asibong. Is he not?” Musa asked. “He is. How did you come to know him?” “What could this mean?” Ibinabo asked in fear.
“He came to me in my dream. He told me he is coming…” He paused and drew nearer to the two women. With a whisper he continued, “I know he is angry about something, but I know how to stop him. I am a good melicine (medicine) man.” Mrs. Asibong and Ibinabo looked at each other in disbelief.
“Musa when I get back we will discuss this, okay,” said Mrs. Asibong. Grabbing Ibinabo’s hand, they ran into the car waiting for them outside. On the drive to see the priest, Mrs. Asibong wondered aloud about what Musa told them.
“How is it that the chains are on his grave and yet he still moves about causing me troubles?” “Eme, you have to get rid of that your gate man. It is just like he said, he is a medicine man. I fear he may have been looking into your life.
I am afraid he was the one who reached out to your dead husband’s spirit. You will be shocked by the level of voodoo these Hausa gate men have,” said Ibinabo.
“I swear I will kill that gate man if he is the one reaching out to my dead husband’s spirit.” “I said do it! He is the one! My mirror just confirmed it,” Ibinabo claimed. Without delay, Mrs. Asibong placed a call to Jumbo, her professional assassin.
“Jumbo, go to my house right now and remove my gate man from the face of this earth. He has crossed his boundary. Make sure his body is never found.” “Okay madam,’ replied a sleepy Jumbo.
Emmanuel’s House
Still fuming, Janet stepped out of the bathroom and quickly began to pack her personal effects. Emmanuel did not try to stop her. He had locked the door and wanted her to wear out her anger by packing her load.
His silence and gaze had Janet worried. She had expected him to plead with her and try to stop her from packing, but he did not. In-between packing her load, she would stop and look at Emmanuel worriedly. Emmanuel took notice of those looks and pretended he did not.
They gave him so much hope. At least she still cares , he thought. To confuse Janet a bit more, he stood up and went into the bathroom and had his bath.
It was a hurried bath. When he came out, he had a bucket of soapy water and a rag. After removing the blood stained bedsheet, he began to clean the blood on the floor.
Janet still could not figure out what he was up to. She was aware that Emmanuel had called someone while she was in the bathroom. However, she had no clue who the person was or what they discussed.
She felt the outcome of the call was the reason Emmanuel stopped pleading with her not to leave him. Why would he be crying and pleading with me while I was in the bathroom and suddenly stop after the call he made , she thought.
To find out what was on his mind, Janet started a shouting match. “I guess you had made up your mind to end the relationship as well, right? Your silence says it all! I should have known it was a big mistake getting married to you,” she said, hoping Emmanuel would reveal what was on his mind.
The Priest, the Shrine
With a run, Mrs. Asibong, Ibinabo and her team ran into the priest’s house. Walking hastily like generals during a war, they made their way into the lavish shrine. On seeing Mrs. Asibong, the priest announced, “Your fellowship has struck us hard!
They have removed Janet’s womb so that your sacrifice to us will never be born!” Mrs. Asibong felt giddy, and somehow managed to steady herself. She pondered the words of the priest and asked, “But you told me you people are powerful enough to protect me and my family.
How did you let this happen? I slept with that boy inside and gave you millions! How about that?! You took my blood; and all you could do with that was let this happen!”
“Don’t you ever call the powerful one a boy again!” yelled the priest. “Wait, priest. Do you mean that both your cult and her fellowship are at war over Janet’s life?” Ibinabo asked with her jaw hanging wide open. The priest nodded a ‘yes’ dejectedly.
STORY CONTINUES...
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