WHISPERS IN THE DARK
CHAPTER 4
It was my first experience. I had never slept with a woman before, but she was a bit more experienced than me. So, I didn’t even know how to start. She had to guide me all the way. But I must confess that the feeling was good, very good. After we were done, I asked that I be served food again. She hurriedly made it available. When I was done, we went for another round. Later, we went to bed with her sleeping in my arms all night. When I got up in the morning, my hand was numb but what could I do? I enjoyed the whole process.
The next day, we went to school to complete our registration process. First, we went to the bank and paid our tuition. Later, we went to the university receipt office and submitted our receipts. We now went to the school laboratory and conducted the necessary tests. When we were done, we boarded a cab to the market to get some groceries. Towards evening, we went home like a husband and his wife would do.
Addie was an exceptional lady, and I say this with all sincerity. She was that kind of person that was meant to fall in love with one man and one man only. To her, love was everything. To her, love was all consuming. To her, love was a bank into which you have to invest selflessly and unselfishly. She was a good woman in spite of her age. She took good care of me and home, and she was always smiling. She also organized days for us to fast and pray for our relationship. What a woman!!
One day, as we lay in bed after a long day, we started talking.
“Eyong”
“Sweetheart, hope you are ok?” I asked.
“Eyong, what kind of name sef is that?” She laughed. She was in a teasing mood.
“I beg, leave my name. How about you? Listen to your name, Addie. What are you adding?” I laughed.
“I am adding your big head.”
“The head you are dying for.”
“Die for what? I beg oh. I just pity myself when I am going to be having your child. I will suffer.”
“How?”
“Because your child with take after you with the big head and he is going to tear me very well.” She laughed. I grabbed her but she freed herself and got off the bed. I followed her and we ran around the room. I caught her and brought her back to bed. She was laughing all through. I wonder what was keeping her in such a good mood.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked, looking at her slitted brown eyes.
“Yes”
“What is putting you in such a fine mood?”
“You want to know?”
“Yes.”
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“It’s because I love you. I am so happy and blessed to have you. You are so young yet so responsible, respectful and intentional. You are a blessing to me, and I thank God for the day he brought us together. My life has never been the same since I met you.”
“Thank you, Addie. I should be the one to thank you. You are a real woman, beautiful and genuine. God will bless you always.”
“Amen. The first day I saw you, I had a feeling that we were going to date. Forget about the fact that Elvis brought us together. We were already destined. I love you so much, Eyong. You have everything a man needs.”
“Thank you, Addie.”
“Guess what else you have?” She asked, a mischievous smile on her face.
“I don’t know.”
“A big head.” She said and ran out of the bed while I gave chase.
Addie and I were always happy. We didn’t allow anything to come between us. We had our issues, no doubt but we always solved them with love. I thanked God for her, and I hoped I spent the rest of my life with her. She too hoped the same. But the devil had seen us happy decided that we had had enough fun. It was time for us to pay.
There was a woman who had a house beside our hostel. Her name was Mama Etchu. From the very first day I came to that neighbourhood, Mama Etchu had found special interest in me. She called me ‘Fine Boy Eyong.’ Her husband was of late. She lived with three of her daughters and a son who was the youngest. She had a small hostel beside her own building. The small hostel contained about eighteen rooms and was mostly occupied by students in the university.
When I first came into that neighbourhood, and people saw that I was getting close to Mama Etchu, they decided to warn me. The first person who warned me to be wary of her was my landlord’s son. One day, he paid me a surprise visit and as we watched a football match together on TV, we talked.
“Bro, like I have been telling you, you have to stay away from her.” He spoke.
“Who?”
“Mama Etchu, of course.”
“Why? So, because people suspect that she practices some form of witchcraft, I should avoid her?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“But people have no proofs. The accusations are all baseless. She seems like a fine woman to me.” I was persistent.
“You don’t know what you are doing.” The landlord’s son said sadly. “Let me tell you a small story that might change your mind.”
“Telling me your story is one thing. Whether it changes my mind or not is another issue altogether. However, I am ready to hear your story.”
“Three years ago, there was a young man living in one of Mama Etchu’s apartments. He was a handsome young man, just like you but he was much older. He had a beautiful fiancée. They lived together. He worked with one of these communication companies and his wife to be was a student. He was such a nice guy and everyone in this neighbourhood loved him, including Mama Etchu. However, what no one knew was that she had diabolical plans towards the guy.”
“What did she do?”
“She hated the fact that Leenox, as was called already had a fiancée. She was boiling with jealousy and started making dangerous plans.”
“What kind of plan?”
“She decided that she would devise a means for Leenox to throw his fiancée away and make him marry her daughter instead. She cooked up all sorts of lies about his fiancée, but Leenox didn’t believe. His love for his fiancée was too strong and nothing could change that. So, she decided to kill her.”
“What?”
“Yes, she killed Leenox’s fiancée. Poor girl, she got up one morning and was bleeding. They rushed her to the hospital, and she was pronounced dead.”
“Jesus Christ! Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“What became of Leenox. He mourned his fiancee for long. The poor guy was inconsolable. Finally, he decided to leave the compound.”
“He didn’t marry Mama Etchu’s daughter?”
“No.”
“So, how are you guys sure it was Mama Etchu that was responsible for her death?” I asked, skeptical of the whole thing.
“Because the poor girl’s spirit didn’t rest. Her spirit, restless and longing for revenge came after Mama Etchu. For several nights, she could be heard screaming and running like someone would do when she was being chased by a ghost. Then suddenly, it all stopped.”
“What made it stop?”
“People say, she went to a sangoma and fortified herself. The dead girl’s spirit could no longer come close to her. So, my point is that, all the love and concern she is showing you could be because she is grooming you for one of her daughters. She has three daughters, and they are all unmarried. Please, be careful.”
I didn’t take the landlord’s son’s story seriously. Not because I shouldn’t have believed him but because I was too inexperienced. I grew up in the village where almost everyone knew almost everyone. In the village, it was easy to trust people. I didn’t know that I was in the city now and things happened differently here. So, instead of me to be on my guard, I let down my guard and paid a price for it.
One day, I was returning from school and as I passed in front of Mama Etchu’s house, she greeted me.
“Fine Boy Eyong, welcome.”
“Thank you, Mam. How body?”
“Body dey inside clothes.” She said and laughed. “How’s your friend?”
“My friend? Who do you mean, Mam?” I asked, confused.
“Addie, how’s she?”
“She’s fine but she travelled to the village.”
“No doubt, I haven’t seen her in a while. Eya!! You must be hungry then because I know men are too lazy to cook.”
“Yes, Mam. In fact, I can eat a whole cow now. I am not just hungry; I am absolutely famished.”
“Alright, go and get a bowl let me give you some food. I have just cooked. Or better still, just go home, Ayuk, my daughter will bring it to you.”
“Ok, Mam. Thank you. What kind of food is it?” I asked then remembered I shouldn’t have asked that. Embarrassed, I corrected myself. “I shouldn’t have asked that. I am asking as if I was the one who gave you money to do the cooking.”
“No, it doesn’t matter, Fine Boy. It is your right. My house is your house. You have to feel free. You just go and rest now. Ayuk will bring your food.”
I went home, changed into a boxer, went into the bath and freshened up. When I got back into the room, I heard a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Ayuk”
“Oh! Ayuk, please come in.” Ayuk was Mama Etchu’s second daughter. She was her carbon copy.
“My mother said I should bring this food to you.” She spoke.
“Thank you and also say thanks to your mother.”
I had no food in the house, yet I was brought up to know that it was unsafe to eat someone’s food just like that, especially someone whom people thought to be fetish. I had to go play football at the neighbouring hostel. So, I decided that I would buy some snacks at the neighbourhood bakery and eat. Then, when I got back home, I would wait for darkness, put Mama Etchu’s food in a nylon and throw it at the refuse dump. I covered the food and kept it in the kitchen. A mistake I would later regret.
Two hours later, I was still playing football. Addie who had been in the village for a few days, returned and didn’t find me at home. She called me and I told her I would be home immediately. I forgot to warn her against eating the food in the kitchen. Since she was hungry, she went to the kitchen, saw the food and ate it. As she was finishing the food, I walked in.
“Welcome, my love. What are you eating? You cooked already?”
“No babe. I saw some food in the kitchen, and I decided to eat it.”
“What? You did what? Do you know who brought that food to me.”
“No, who is it?”
“Mama Etchu.”
“Oh no!!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
