THE STRANGE PROPOSAL (A SHORT STORY)
Part 3
©Franca Uwuigiaren
That night, I had a beautiful dream. I was given a letter of promotion, with awards and a cheque. A lot of people gave me accolades. I shook hands with great men. When I told my wife the dream, she had mixed feelings. She wasn’t excited.
“You’re not happy, Oroma. Why?” I asked.
“The dream I had didn’t end well,” she said, frowning.
“What kind of dream will make my darling upset this morning?” I said, trying to make light of it.
“It’s about you, Obiama. I’m just sad.”
I sat up in bed quickly. My wife was so gloomy.
“Tell me about your dream,” I said.
“We were celebrating and dancing when a woman came from no where and pushed you and you…”
“So…so what happened?” I asked, not liking why she paused.
“You fell into the mud. There was no mud when we were dancing, but suddenly we were standing inside mud, and she pushed you.”
I sighed deeply, then took her hands into mine, squeezing gently.
“Anyway, it’s a bad dream, but trust me, that person in that dream is not me. The moment it is morning, I am going to the office to collect my promotion letter, and of course, you know promotion comes with financial increments.” I said, smiling. She managed to force a smile.
“My dear, brighten up. My miracle is on the way.”
“Amen!” she said.
I didn’t return to sleep again. I opened the wardrobe, selected a blue long-sleeved shirt and black trousers, then I ironed them. I used the remaining hours to watch television. As soon as it was 5 a.m., I took my bath, ate breakfast, and left home for Victoria Island because that’s where I worked.
As soon as I entered the office, the business manager called me into her office and told me there was a letter for me from the Head Office. She handed me the letter. I tried to open the envelope and, with a smile, started reading it when suddenly my countenance changed. It was not a promotion letter but a letter of termination of appointment. I collapsed on her chair.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
I left her office and went looking for Damian and gave him the letter to read. He was dumbfounded.
“I’m sorry” was what he said.
“So much for the spiritual work.” I told him.
His face fell feeling bad but I had to go home. I didn’t know how and when I reached home. I cried my eyes out. Where was I to start from? Who did I offend? Suddenly, I became angry. What was the essence of the spiritual work the prophet said he did? What’s the importance of the black clay pot under my bed?
“He is fake.” I cried, then went under the bed and brought out the clay pot. I went to the backyard and broke it. I was angry.
Suddenly, I remembered the dream I had weeks back where a female told me she’s from the head office and by Thursday, fifth, I will be sacked. It was then it dawned on me that I was sacked on the day she said. “Haaa!” I said, then collapsed on the chair.
Even when my kids returned from school, they knew something was wrong with me. My wife wept. She was just a primary school teacher whose salary wasn’t enough. We sat down together and began to brainstorm on how to manage the resources we have in the account. I decided to go into poultry business.
I got an empty space close to my place and paid for it. I began to rear birds, and everything wasn’t fine, but we were managing. I was still going out to submit my CV to different companies. I believed that in a few weeks, I would get another job, but it was not to be so. Feeding wasn’t easy as money wasn’t coming into the family.
Christmas was fast approaching, and I was looking forward to massive sales. I had gone round telling people that I was ready for business. Christmas is just a few days away. It was a holiday, and my two sons were with me at the place I was rearing my birds. We worked tirelessly to clean the place up and feed the birds, after which I was exhausted.
I hadn’t been sleeping well, especially with the many piled-up needs unmet. My nights were spent thinking of how to pull through the mess I was in. I sat on the long bench, watching my sons play the ball they came with, and hoping that I would make some sales that day. Exhaustion took over me, and I soon dozed off and had a dream.
I saw this beautiful dark-skinned woman standing next to one of the chicken nests. Apart from her beautiful smile, there was nothing spectacular about her.
“You want to buy chicken? How many?” I asked excitedly as I stood up and approached her.
“I came to see you…I don’t know why you’re refusing my proposal,” she said unsmiling.
“Proposal? What proposal? I don’t understand. I have never met you before.”
“We have met, Obiama. It’s just a shame that you’re fighting a lost battle against me. Why are you meeting my subject to fight me? Do you actually think that he will fight me, the source of his power? Open your eyes…my subjects will deceive you and make you believe they’re fighting me, but you know what?” She asked, laughing.
I was confused as I stared at her, wondering what she was saying.
“I’m definitely going to marry you…your grandma is so ecstatic. She has been asking me to give you wealth. She wants you to be so great, and I promised to oblige her. Her request started before you were born.”
I still didn’t understand what she was saying. I wanted to challenge her, but I stopped.
“Obiama, believe me when I say I can give you wealth beyond your imagination.”
“Wait…”
“No, you wait! Just look at you…from a bank job to rearing chickens. How much will this business fetch you?”
As she talked, I noticed her clothes changed to a see-through tight-fitting skimpy gown, and there was a crown on her head.
“Why are you refusing me? Many are asking for my hand in marriage. I have many husbands, Obiama. I want to have you too because of the covenant between me and your grandma. I’m a queen, a goddess with pride. You should be proud that I asked you to marry me. I left my kingdom, husbands, children, and business to come ask you to marry me, and you’re still refusing my proposal?” I could feel her anger by now.
“There’s nothing in this your chicken business that can make you wealthy. Do you want to remain a pauper all your life… struggling?”
“Please, I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I am married. I am married to Oroma. My wife is more beautiful than you. Please go!”
She moved towards me and started touching me seductively. Her nails were long, lovingly painted, and beautifully manicured.
“I will take care of you. All I ask is marriage…just marry me. In the shortest time, everything about you and around you will change. Your circle of friends will change too. I’m not asking too much.”
“I don’t want anything from you…we are of different kinds…I am human…”
The next thing she was n***d, and she stared seductively at me.
“Don’t you like what you see? Come here. Come to me…” She was no longer the dark-skinned woman but fair. She stood before me n***d, and her beauty was indescribable. I stared lustfully at her with my mouth open.
“You’re beautiful!” I found myself saying to her as I moved towards her. There was this pull that I couldn’t resist.
She laughed.
I found myself caressing her beautiful face and moved my hand to her neck. I was mesmerized. She gently pushed me away.
“You see, I have power over you, just like I have power over many men. On these b*****s, you see, many have suckled and gone to hell…some on their way there because they displeased me and didn’t satisfy me. Obiama, my mission is to men of great destiny…I marry them, then squeeze their glory like juice and drink, enjoying the sweet savour from them. I drain their glory…”
“What are you talking about?” I asked and moved backward in fear.
“Nothing!”
“I am married…can’t have anything to do with you. Go to your kind.”
She suddenly grabbed me, held me tight, and tried to kiss me, but I pushed her and moved back.
“I can never ever marry you. I am human, but you’re not. I love my wife too much to marry a second wife.”
“As you have rejected me…I will teach you a bitter lesson. Everywhere you turn, you will meet brick walls. I will close all roads and opportunities until you beg me to be your wife, then I will be the one giving you my condition.”
I began to laugh.
“Really! You can do nothing. I am not afraid of you.”
She disappeared. When I opened my eyes, I jumped out of the chair and looked round my surroundings. Wasn’t it just now I slept off? My kids were still playing their ball. I called my children and asked if they saw anyone come in or leave, but they didn’t see.
“This is getting out of hand,” my wife said as I narrated my dream to her later.
“Abi, you will go and meet your mother so that more sacrifices can be done to appease…this one she’s talking of a covenant…call your parents.”
“Don’t go there, dear.”
My wife did everything to persuade me to call my family, but I didn’t. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I thought of everything happening in my life. I had become so lean that people now knew that all was not well. I consoled myself with the fact that if I made enough sales in my poultry business, and if the turnover was good, I would think of a better business to invest in.
The following day, I and my kids went to the compound where the poultry was. It was not far from my place, just a stone’s throw. To our chagrin, all the birds were dead. I shouted as I saw the birds stiff.
“It’s not true!” I whispered.
“Daddy, they’re all dead!”
My sons cried. I removed my shoe and sat on the ground. I remembered the threat of the woman in my dream and began to weep. This business was where I invested the money I had. I depended so much on the business. “Ahhh!” I shouted.
Suddenly, there was this cool breeze that began to blow, and I heard a whisper in my ear. “I told you I will deal with you.”
“You have done your worst?” I shouted. “What else is there to do again?”
I knew that I was in a battle that I was already losing. That day, I called two Abokis to help me dispose of the dead chickens. Till date, I don’t know how they did it.
There was gloom in the house. My wife cried her eyes out. I was broke. While I was thinking of what to do, my wife fell ill. I needed money to take care of her. I had nothing. I borrowed from my siblings to take her to the hospital. With the tests conducted, nothing was wrong with her. I had to bring her home. While battling with my wife’s health, my first son fell ill, and the world came crashing on me.
Every day, Oroma would groan in pain and cry. She couldn’t walk or do anything in the house.
We woke up one morning with nothing to eat. I ran to a neighbour for assistance. He didn’t give me money but he packaged some foodstuffs for me. In the evening, I told my wife I would call someone to seek financial assistance.
“Who are you calling?”
“Damian! He has been the one encouraging me to be strong. We need money.” I told her.
“It’s already late. Tomorrow morning, call him.
I know Damian is a nice person. He won’t hesitate to help me if he has money with me.
That same night, I dreamt again where I was calling Damian on the phone, and a woman’s voice came online and said she was his wife.
“I know why you are calling my husband, but sorry…my husband doesn’t have money to give you.” The voice said and cut the line.
I told my wife the dream in the morning, and she told me to discard the dream and call Damian. I did, and he came online immediately. I explained my plight to him, and he told me that the money he has now is for something, and he can’t afford to give it out. I begged him that I am stranded, but he cut the call on me, and then I burst out crying.
“How do I do this? Where do I get money to take care of the many pending needs?”
“I don’t want to die, dear. I think you should marry the goddess. Marry her, please. Maybe you should go to the beach and shout her name, then tell her that you’re sorry and ready.” Oroma said.
“Shut up!” I told her.
She looked at me and began to cry. I was under so much pressure and didn’t know what to do.
Things became worse in the family. My wife was no longer working. She and my son were in so much pain. My parents wanted us in the village.
“Come to the village; perhaps there are things that can be done to turn her eyes away from you,” Papa told me. “If transport is the problem, I will send it across, but come.”
“Obiama, I didn’t give birth to many of you. Bring your wife and children, and let’s see what can be done. Perhaps the goddess’s anger can be assuaged.” Mama said.
While they mounted pressure on me, my wife wanted me to listen to them.
“Either you marry this goddess and let me and my son get well, or you listen to your parents.”
I stared at her, torn between two worlds. I was trapped, and didn’t know how to escape.
The pressure was mounting and I knew I had to make a decision soon. But what was the right choice? I didn’t know.
To be continued…
