BLACK CAT
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Mummy please wake up , I need you , mum Samuel needs you .” Margaret whose voice had faded , eyes red like pepper , and swollen like she was stung by a bee cried .
“Mummy who else do I have in this world ? why would you have to leave me now ? mummy please come back to me !” She wept covering her face on her mother’s body .
Jacob was trying to console her , and take her from mother’s body , but she glued herself to her mother’s body .
“Maggie your mum is gone , we have to go and attend to Samuel .” He said as Samuel was crying in the arms of the nurse holding him . At that moment Margaret didn’t care about anyone .
“Mummy please wake up , mum I can’t forgive myself .” Her lips quivered as wept ” Mummy I cannot forgive myself, I brought this -this – on you .” She stammered .
“Oh Jesus , I am dreaming , mummy please wake up , I beg you mummy in the name of Jesus , daddy has left me , now you two want to leave ?” She hugged her mourns tight .
“Mummy I beg you in the name of Jesus , please wake up , don’t leave me too , mummy you’re all I got .” Margaret lay on the floor of her mother’s hospital room .
Doctor Shade walked back into the room , she put her hands gently on Margaret’s shoulder , she was lost for words to console her .
.”Maggie, what can we say ? no matter anything that happens in life , we have to give thanks to God .” She said calmly, but Maggie wasn’t listening .
“Oh mummy please come back to me , oh mummy …” Her voice faded , her head throbbed with headache .
Two nurse assistants came into the room with a gurney , they lifted Grace’s corpse and placed it on the gurney , then covered it with a white bedsheet, before rolling it into the marbled corridor .
Margaret got up from the ground . ” No! No don’t take my mother to the mortuary! please leave my mummy here .” She fought to stop the men rolling the body .
Jacob Held her back , as they rolled the body away .
“Jacob I hate you ! ” She said enraged . ” I curse the day I ran into you ! you’re the reason why my mother is dead! I hope you’re happy now as your parents have taken my only surviving family ?” forced herself out of his embrace .
“Am sorry Maggie , but you’re not sure of what you’re saying ?” he was still in denial, he knew his parents might be into some juju stuffs but not killing people and turning to beast , If they were shape shifters , he would have known while growing he knew his parents .
“You can defend them all you want , but I am going to divorce you ! you’ll go and marry your mother !” ” She said as she pushed him away from her .
“Done ever touch me with those filthy fingers of yours .” She said as she ran towards the nurse who was holding her baby , and collected the screaming baby , who immediately kept quiet .
Jacob put his hands on his head as he squatted down , his head was spinning and banging with headache . He was in a fuse not knowing what to do .
The Chief mortician wasn’t available, but his apprentice who was a fresh graduate from the University, was on ground , he collected Grace’s body and with the help of the nurse assistants placed her corpse in a freezer , after tying a tag on her toe, with her name and serial number .
He thanked them , as they returned with their gurney , he was taking record on his log book , copying information from Grace’s death certificate. The pungent odor of antiseptic filled the air , it was so strong , but it was better of than the smell of human corpses in the freezer, the freezer couldn’t stop the smell, though it wasn’t so strong but he hated the smell of death .
In Afolabi’s house , the party was on , Nike and Titi appeared in the house and joined the celebration, they drank bottles upon bottles of wine.
“What do the elders say Afonja?” Jamar who was a bulky Hulk of a man asked a bit drowsy . “That a flies that dances near the hot pot of soup , will one day become meat for the unsuspecting owner .” They all roared in laughter .
“Afolabi , I cannot thank you enough , watching that woman die made my heart beat for joy, she wouldn’t let us act freely , imagine her stopping me from taking my own grandson ? was she the one who married my son ?” He asked in disbelief.
“I done know oh Afonja , some of those church people think they’re untouchable, now where is she ?” Kamoru another cat chipped in .
“Lol she’s lying very dead in the morgue , we’re going to strike her daughter, when she doesn’t expect it .” Nike said and they bursted into laughter .
“Afolabi , we need pepper soup , you need to tell your chef to get us one goat from the street , a celebration party can’t be complete , without a pepper soup.” Afonja said .
“By tomorrow that boy shall follow his grandfather to the altar of Shaukura lord of the forest , God of the sea , king of cats and all creeping things .” Afonja boasted and took another glass of champagne.
“Afonja you shall be the strongest cat shifter in Africa, by tomorrow we shall have the heart of the baby on the holy altar of Shaukura.” Afolabi retorted. the all burst into laughter .
“When the great one is done eating, I’ll like to eat the head . ” Titi said laughing.
“No you can’t eat my grandson’s head , I am his grandmother I’m going to eat his head , I’ll allow you eat the toes and fingers.” they all laughed .
“See how my son’s wife is so frail and weak without her mother , now we would just take her out , we would eat her flesh , for making us pass through hard time .” Afonja grunted
“Yes for the bullets to my stomach , she must die .” Nike said as they watched Margaret cry helplessly in the hospital, on their giant flat screen TV.
“Her God didn’t come to save her ?” Kamoru teased.
“Let’s wait for tomorrow we shall take her and her baby out, if my son stand in the way .” Afonja mumbled , paused and watched the faces of his friends . “If he stands in our way we have to kill him too , with his family , Segun would take his place .”
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They all nodded . “Yes Afonja , anything for the course of the fraternity, child or anything for the fraternity and the great one Shaukura.” They all sang in unison , for that was their motor .
The young mortician was alone in the morgue’s registry , when he started hearing a rattling sound from the morgue , he kept on doing what he was doing , but the sound continued, he dropped his pen , and went into the morgue .
He opened the first freezer the man in it was dead cold , frozen white like ice fish , the second was a young woman who had recently died from a fatal accident.
Then he thought about the new corpse , what if she was still alive ? He rushed down and rushed to Grace’s freezer , he pulled it out , and there was Grace sneezing and coughing.
He was terrified and ran out of the morgue , he ran to the security on the corridor leading away from the morgue .
“please go and call doctor Shade, tell her there’s an emergency in the morgue .”
His heart was beating against his chest , he put his hands against his chest, as he squatted against the wall , he nerve knew the job of mortician came with seeing unbelievable things .
That woman in the mortuary was dead , he was the one who checked her before loading her into the freezer, how come she was still alive ? she was supposed to be frozen after an hour in the freezer.
