The bride 2
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At first, everyone was surprised. I took a few seconds before they recovered from the shock and sought to do something. Kunle was the first to run to Nneka where she was scattering the canopies and held her. She pushed him away with so much force that landed him on his buttocks. Nneka’s brothers and some of the kinsmen then surrounded and held her down before taking her into the house. They were many murmurs among the people present. Some of the women cried out of sympathy while others discussed the possible causes of Nneka’s insanity. Gradually, the guest dispersed as the chief celebrant had become a mad woman. What a way one’s special day went sour.
While these commotions were taking place, Nneka’s mother sat where she was. She was too shocked to move a limb. Her facial expression was indifferent as she watched her first daughter running around n***d in front of the crowd on her wedding day. She just moped like someone who’d been hypnotized or under a spell. Her mind was vague with no thoughts of what was happening running through it. She was in that state for a while before letting out a loud scream. After the scream, she collapsed to the ground and became unconscious. People rushed to her side and took her into the house where efforts were made to resuscitate her. After she regained consciousness, she started crying and making some heartbreaking comments.
When the commotion died down, Kunle made arrangements for his people to return to their bases while him and his brother stayed back, probably to help find out the reason and possibly solution to the darkness which had befallen the love of his life. In his heart, he was convinced that someone, somewhere, who didn’t want the progress of Nneka’s family had made a spiritual projection to stop Nneka from getting married. This supposed person he swore to find and deal with. He was determined to go to any length in finding and punishing the person who had inflicted such pain and shame on the woman he loved.
Time passed with no solution coming up. Kunle had gone back to his base and was visiting whenever he could. Each time he visited, he’d sit with Nneka in the room where she was bound on both hands and feet. He would cry bitterly as he watched what had become of his woman. The once beautiful Nneka had become a ghost of herself. Her bulky eyes had sunk in, her firm b*****s had become almost placid, her glowing skin has sores and her hairs were falling off. She would be snarling and talking to herself. Sometimes, days would pass without her sleeping at all. The more Kunle saw Nneka, the more heartbroken he became and the more determined he became in finding a solution to Nneka’s problem.
Around the town, many people peddled many rumors and gossips concerning the cause of Nneka’s madness. A set of the gossipers had it that Nneka was from the marine world and had a husband there. They gossiped that her marine husband struck her with madness because she insisted on getting married in the physical realm. Another sector of the rumour mongers said that Nneka was an ‘ogabnje’ and that ogbanjes are not allowed to marry mere humans, thus her madness was projected to prevent her from doing so. This set buttress their claims by insisting that it was only a person from the ogbanje caste that could be as beautiful as Nneka was.
Another set, mainly made up of men whose advances Nneka turned down in the past peddled another rumor. They said that Nneka was using her beauty to defraud men. They further claimed that she promised to marry a man and absconded when she’d liquidated the man. Thus, out of anger, the man struck her with madness. All these rumour, lies and gossips were mere speculations as no one knew exactly why the beauty queen went mad.
Time went by and solutions were sought for in different prayer houses. Most of the supposed men of God gave false prophecies and provided fake solutions. Some sold fake sacramentals to Nneka’s family and duped them huge amounts of money. These fake prophets told many lies concerning the cause and solution to Nneka’s condition. One of these fake men who defraud people using the name of God came to Nneka’s family house on invitation and requested to have some time alone with her. He claimed that he needed to pray against the violent spirit which was tormenting her and wrestle with it (the spirit) physically if need be. They (Nneka’s people) obliged and he was led into the room where Nneka was. He (the fake prophets) started shouting in form of prayers. He shouted for a while before he went mute. After a while of going mute, he started m*****g softly. It was then that one of Nneka’s brothers opened the door and found the ‘prophet’ having a carnal knowledge of mad Nneka’s body. So much for a prophet who’d come to wrestle with evil spirits.
It got to a point that Kunle couldn’t take it anymore. He decided it was time to seek for solutions through traditional means. This decision of his was not welcomed by Nneka’s family. They insisted that there is nothing God cannot do and that if it is the will of God, their daughter, Nneka would be healed. After a long time of dialogue and facts presentation, Kunle was able to convince Nneka’s family to try a herbalist who practised somewhere around his base. Arrangements were made and Nneka was transported to the herbalist’s home in the company of Kunle, her mother and her eldest brother.
At the herbalist’s home, after some incantations and greetings to his gods, he (the herbalist) threw his ‘awön ohun elo afòśè’ (divination materials) and looked at them keenly. He stared at the pieces of bones, sticks, cowrie and other items he’d thrown on the ground for a long time and shook his head in pitifully. He looked up and stared at Nneka with the same pity in his eyes.
He then went ahead and told them the cause of Nneka’s madness.
What did he tell them?
Find out!!!
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