BEHIND THE FINE FACE
EPISODE 5
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Bobby was surprised to see the look of shock on my face at the sight of his wife.
Rachael was equally shocked to see me, but besides the momentary display of astonishment, we both soon reclined to acting normal; as though we didn’t know each other.
I don’t know why, but it suddenly felt like the less awkward thing to do.
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I could see it in the “spiritual father’s” eyes that he recognized Rachael as well, even though he was just meeting her for the first time. He had painted a vivid picture of Rachael the first time I came here, that there was no way he couldn’t have recognized her now that she was finally sitting down inside his hut.
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I couldn’t help it; at intervals, I’d find my mouth agape; threatening to say something; to ask a question that’d reveal the obvious, but every time, I was able to hold the words from falling off my mouth.
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Rachael was strangely calmer than I’d assumed, she should. I mean, “Shouldn’t she be surprised that her husband knows me? Shouldn’t she wonder what I was doing here and, more so, how I got to know this place? Would she still have remembered that this was the same spiritual father I’d once told her about?” I kept thinking to myself.
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The spiritual father went ahead with his incantations. He seemingly invoked “something” that he spent another thirty to one hour, communing with. When he was done, he looked at me, then at Bobby and finally at Rachael. He went on to utter some more incantations before he told Bobby and Rachael to go and come back again in a fortnight but this time, he was very specific with details; one of which was that I am not allowed to come back with them.
We thanked the spiritual father and bade him goodbye.
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That night, I could not sleep. I tried to but I just couldn’t. I didn’t know what to think or where to even begin to connect these dots.
I didn’t need anyone to tell me anything from here on. I knew that Bobby’s problem had everything to do with his union with Rachael, but then, this knowledge of mine only opened the door for even more confusion.
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“Do I go ahead to tell Bobby that his wife is responsible for all of it? How am I even sure that Rachael is? What if this is just one huge coincidence? But Bobby deserves to know, either way. Does lightning strike the same spot, twice? Of course, it does. Don’t be silly, it doesn’t.” I was going wild in mind-boggling back and forth, in my head.
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“Bobby had more than enough to cater for a lifetime’s expense, the last time I saw him, how could everything have just gone down the drain? How na? And why is the recurring decimal in the midst of what had happened to me, and what is happening to Bobby, Rachael? What kind of coincidence is this? Will he even believe me? Won’t he see me as someone who wants to break his home? He has told me before now, that his wife is the only thing keeping him going at this point. How do I think he’ll take the news of the same wife, being responsible for everything he’s been through?” I asked myself.
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It was hard, but I finally resolved to wait until Bobby’s trip back to see the spiritual father in a fortnight. Whatever it was, I was positive that the spiritual father was more than capable of remedying the situation. Besides, all he said was needed, from our first encounter was simply to wash Rachael’s head. “How difficult can that be?” I thought to myself.
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The fortnight came and went; yet, I didn’t see nor hear anything from Bobby.
At first, I assumed he was probably in isolation from what had been discovered; from the ritual that’d been carried out; as per the instructions given but as the days wound up to being weeks of un-connecting calls and undelivered text messages, I became worried.
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I couldn’t call the spiritual father to ask him certain questions about Bobby because from what had played out the last time I was at his hut, it was obvious, he didn’t want me knowing too much about this particular case; probably for the sensitivity of it or whatever.
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On more than one occasion, Í was tempted to discuss Bobby’s situation with Grace (my wife) but, I’ll always refrain from it. I didn’t want to say something that I wasn’t entirely sure of. I wanted to have gotten the full story from Bobby before we (Grace and me) could really sit down to have a deep ponder, over the things that really go on in “our lives”, unknown to man.
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I bumped into Bobby on my way to work one day. This was a little over two weeks after his visit to the spiritual father. From all indications, Bobby had sighted me first but had turned the other face, pretending not to have, hoping that I’d drive past, without a word.
This was certainly unlike my guy.
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“Guy, what exactly is happening? I have been trying to get a hold of you, for weeks now. Your lines have been switched off and on more than one occasion; I’ve tried locating the address you gave me (as Bobby’s place of residence) to no avail. Haba! I took you somewhere to get help, don’t you think it’s rather ungrateful of you to have found it and simply blanked me? Besides, you made me very worried.” I said.
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Bobby heaved a deep sigh, before he apologized. “My guy, I had to sell that phone just so we could get something to eat, last week, but that is by the way. The spiritual father told us to go home and be prayerful. He said that nothing is wrong with either of us and that he sees good things in my future and that of my wife…”
“… He said all that?” I asked, rather surprised.
“Hmm! He did, guy, but I no believe am. From indications; his body language and the way in which he hurriedly discharged us, I sense that he is not being truthful.”
“What are you talking about? What exactly happened?”
“The moment my wife and I stepped in, that man was obviously restless. He kept talking to us and looking away, as though looking at someone standing beside my wife and me, giving him instructions on what to say to us. It was so obvious; too obvious, even.” Bobby said, burying his head to the ground. “Guy, I think you are right after all. My village people have finally located me.”
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“Wait, guy. What did your wife say during all of these?”
“Oh! That woman is a blessing to me, bro. I swear, I don’t know what I’ll ever do or would have done without her. She always sees the good in everyone.” Bobby said, with sincerity splattered over every word. “While the spiritual father was being weird, she tried to make sense out of everything he was doing. She said, as a spiritual head, he certainly has spirits whom he sends on errands; spirits that convey certain messages and that, it was probably the case with his message to us. Someone or something might just have been standing, dictating those words to him, for us…”
To be continued…
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Moshood Avidiime
