I was told someone was outside asking to See Me. I thought it was one of the villagers coming to ask for money, because ever since I got to the village, it had been one villager after another coming to ask me for money…
I told my immediate younger sister to discharge him, but she insisted I see him as he was a stranger and he asked of me by the name ” Sis Grace”…That caught my attention, immediate fear gripped my heart as I hoped it was not Larry. I ran out of the house through the back door to escape, and hideously stole a peek at who it was…. It was a strange man with a Bible under his arm. I looked around and there was no sight of danger. I walked towards him and as he saw me coming, he had the best and most innocent smile I had seen in a long time…
” Sis Grace!… I knew my eyes could not deceive ME, I said it, I knew it was you I saw yesterday, when I drove past here, ” then he looked down at my bulgy stomach
” Hallelujah!… God has done it… Okay .. No wonder you came here to hide from the public eye… That is wisdom MA… The thing is I have been one of your secret intercessors, praying that the Lord will bless you with the fruit of the womb… Sis Grace, you don’t know who you are to me, you are my personal bishop, Your songs are the messages I listen to day and night and the way you sing with our native Yoruba Language makes it drive home your message into my soul “… He said
This man must have spoken excitedly for over 5 mins without me uttering a word…. I just kept giving fake smiles as the conversation warranted….
“Sis Grace, the best time of my life was after I Lost my beloved wife, I thought I was going to die, but your song was my daily capsule of hope…. Now, I think this is the best time to pay you back, you know ma, now I know why God brought me here…. You see I was just newly posted here as the branch pastor of our church in Igbonla…. I was a bit angry, but now I know God brought me here to keep interceding for your safe delivery…. You shall deliver this baby with ease, this baby shall be a great baby, this baby shall grow up to do great works for the Lord, this baby shall…..”
” Enough pastor, please with all due respect I don’t need all these prayers. I am fine… the GOD of the Christians have failed me, I am no longer Sis Grace, I am now Orishamuyiwa, I am back to the gods of our fathers.. Thank you for stopping by…”
I walked back into the house and from what my younger sister told me, the man stood in that position for over 45 mins like someone who saw a ghost…He left much later really downcast.
Later, that evening Ifakolade paid me a visit, and I saw him and my mother having a secret discussion. After the discussion kolade walked up to me…
” Oosamuyiwa, the loss of my brother can not be in vain, and the death of your sister and husband can not be in vain either…. Who does this Larry think he is? , wherever he thinks he got his charm from, I know somewhere deadlier to go to… I just came to inform you I am going on a revenge mission and your mother is in support… All I need from you is financial support, I am going to spiritually reinforce against Larry, so whatever money I am told to bring, you will have to bear it… So are you in OR….? “
” I am in…. I don’t have any choice anymore… He is after my life too…. Just tell me what it cost and I will pay….”
My mother took Ifakolade to the most terrible herbalist in all of the 6 towns that makes our local government… Baba Jawegbona.
I was told Jawegbona said Larry was the son of a herbalist and had been fortified heavily, and could not be easily destroyed. He said no bullet could ever penetrate his body except if a man and woman who are married, hold a gun together to shoot at him in unity…. Only then could a gun penetrate into his body as the blood of a couple was used in the preparation of the charm used in fortifying him.
In essence, my mother and Ifakolade came back with the news that if I wanted revenge, I needed to marry Ifakolade and together pay Larry a visit… So with hands in unity, we will shoot Larry dead….
Did this make sense in anyway…. Me? Marry Ifakolade…..
Ifakolade was ready, he didn’t mind I was pregnant, the fire of revenge was burning in HIm…He said he didn’t mind sleeping with me while pregnant to consummate the marriage, and thereafter, we go to the city to finish Larry… He went further to promise that after the killing, we could go out separate ways…
It looked simple but the part I didn’t like was that I will have to sleep with Ifakolade too, making it 3 men…. Was I not gradually becoming like my mother and was the search for revenge not going to give birth to something else???
To be continued …
© Opeyemi Akintunde