“Nike! Nike where are you ?” Afonja called after his wife , as he ran into the underbrush, of an urban forest near one the Lagos beaches . With his cat vision he could see through the dark forest as if it was day .
“Nike! Nike don’t worry I’ll get to you soon .” He kept listening to her faint cry . He ran towards that direction as branches of shrubs slapped against his dark fur , she was across a swamp , he changed into a four legged cat, climbed on a tree whose branches cross over the water .
The big cat crossed over with , it’s yellow eyes glittering in the dark night like shinning star , when he safely landed on the other side of the water , it stood on two feet , stood up straight like a man , he began to run on two feets .
“Nike! Nike !” he said grabbing his wife in his arms .
“I am going to kill her myself my love , how can they hurt you .” Nike who had shifted back into her human form begged to be saved .
“Oko mi don’t let me die ! its so painful , my head hurts, my neck .” Afonja began to growl , in a menacing way .
“Who did this to you Nike ?” Afonja roared in a masculine voice of a lion .
“A police man shot me, I’ve already killed him , then Grace .” she fought to say as she was almost unconscious.
“Which Grace? you mean Margaret’s mother ?” Afonja asked , his brows folded, he caressed his wife’s hair .She nodded do his question .
“I shall k i l l Grace and her daughter by my own bare hands ! I’ll watch them see me eat that baby! they dare hurt you ?” He hissed .
“Take me to the hospital I don’t have so long , I have lost enough b l o o d, there’s a bullet in my lung .” Nike said as she light was fading out .
Afonja gathered his beloved wife on his arms and clutched her to his chest , he didn’t take the water logged road , he sniffed the air for where human scent was coming from . He began to run with her , as he jumped over woods and stones on their way .
They got to the road , he shifted to his human form , he was unclad , he couldn’t take Nike to the hospital n***d , he had run for hours to meet her in the forest. their minds were connected he knew just were to find her .
He stood by the road side watching his wife pass , as all the vehicles he stopped speed off , terrified of a n***d middle age man and a bleeding woman standing beside the road in the dead of the night .
He watched Nike becoming limped, he flagged down a vehicle, the driver wouldn’t stop , that part of the forested road , was prone to armed robberies and kidnapping, he jumped onto the front , of the speeding car , the driver missed him by an inch , the driver thinking he had run him over came down to check .
Afonja leaped on him , immediately shifted into a big cat like a lion dark black , as the man fight in horror , he watched terror as giant claws of a beast dug into his face , it pealed off the cover of the man’s face , the man began to choke on his b l o o d .
Then a strong bite from the sharp canines of the big cat to his neck , saw the man grunt and went quiet, his b l o
o d splutter in every direction . Afonja dragged the dead man’s corpse to were Nike lay, , he cut of the head and threw it away , then squeezed the man’s neck like a woman would squeeze a wet Bedsheet she was washing and made sure every drop of blood landed on Nike’s mouth .
“Nike baby you’re going to be fine .” Nike regained a bit of her strength as she feasted on human blood like IV drip .
Afonja changed into a man , and wore the man’s clothes , he took Nike into the vehicle and drove to the nearest hospital. he dropped Nike on the ground and dumped the car in a canal , before taking her to the emergency centre.
the doctors and nurses rushed with a stretcher to collect the n***d and bloodied woman , they rushed her into the theatre and began operations, as Afonja called his P.A with a borrowed phone , and ordered him to transfer three million naira into the hospital account , over surpassing the hospital bill of five hundred thousand by five times .
the doctors and nurses scurried About, making sure the wife of a benevolent philanthropist didn’t die . He called fora driver to bring car him , with his phone .
Jacob was at home sleeping , he was tired of his wife’s tantrums and shenanigans, so he stayed away from the hospital, whenever she was ready she would allow him see his baby .
He was dozing when his phone began to ring , the room was dark , Jacobs didn’t like sleeping with the light on , He moved his hands on the table near his bed and felt for his phone .
“Hello who is this ?” he asked with a grumpy voice , he had not had a good sleep for two days , he was dead sleepy.
“Jacob please come to the hospital your mum was shot by armed robbers. I and your siblings are currently in the general hospital.” Jacob jumped from the bed , in his pajamas he dashed down . and got to his Mercedes Gle class 2020 model.
He kept honking the horn at the gate , the stupid gateman was dead sleeping . he jumped out of the drivers door of the SUV and kicked the security door .
“Musa if you don’t get your S t u p i d a s s up , do I pay you to sleep ?” Jacob yelled ” don’t worry you’ll get another job tomorrow morning .” Musa jumped up and grabbed his long sword .
“Na who deyi there ?” He asked in his thick Hausa accent .
“Come and open this door , you seems to need another job , did I employ to sleep ?” Jacob quarreled .
“Oga am sorry, I tire well well .” He said apologetically.
“Shove that apology down your throat , just open the d a m n gate .”
as soon as Musa opened the door , he sped off the compound , he was wondering what would take his mother out in the night , and not in her bullet proof SUV.
Then his phone began to ring again , it was his wife calling , he cut off the call, she called again and again , he picked the call up .
“Margaret what is it ? why not let me have my peace ?.did I commit a crime marrying you ? to uplift you and your wretched family from poverty?” He blasted his wife , Margaret was shocked beyond words , she couldn’t believe she heard such word from her husband .
She cut the call and he threw away his phone to the passenger seat .
“I d i o t woman ! nobody can separate me from my family , you have to go back to the gutter !” he cursed . ” How dare you accuse my father of being a wizard, it’s your mother who is a witch, see don’t call my line again !” his knuckles tightened around the steering well.
He slammed his huge hands on the steering wheel
“I am d a m n e d ! Aaaar!” Margaret you’re a curse to my life ! I should have listen to my parents and never had gone into the trenches to pick a wife .” He spoke to himself as he drove at top speed to meet his father and siblings waiting for his mother at the hospital.
“You’re going back to the trenches !” he cussed.
it was two A.M in the morning when he drove into the hospital.
