Sacred Oaths

EPISODE 12: BAD LUCK.

#SACRED_OATHS

Author: Samuel Frederick

Episode 12: BAD LUCK.

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When I got back home, I briefed Mimi about what transpired between me and the stranger at the restaurant. As expected, she cautioned me to thread carefully with Boma, even though she didn't believe the whole cultism part of the story. I tried to convince her but she strongly believed that Boma and his friends weren't cultists, until I played the recorded conversation between me and the lady as my proof. Mimi went numb instantly.

"We should really stay away from those guys." She had said with fear. "They're dangerous."

"Yeah, we really should." I had agreed with her.

We spent the rest of the day indoors, studying for the papers we had the following week.

As expected, Mimi's morning prayer was what woke me up the following day.

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen." She concluded, rising to her feet.

"Must you always wake me up?" I asked and hissed with a grimace. She turned to me, startled.

"Did I wake you? Iʼm sorry." She apologized.

I simply hissed again and turned over to the side, covering myself from the fierce sunrays with my blanket.

"Won't you go to church? It's Sunday, Fifi. People don't stay at home on Sunday mornings." She said, probably expecting an answer from me. I gave her none, though.

"Let the past be in the past and face the present, Fifi. It's for your own good." She said and left me alone afterwards. I hissed after her, ensuring that it was loud enough for her to hear well.

Several minutes later, Mimi was done preparing for church and asked me to keep something for her as she left. I shut the door and went back to bed, but somehow, for no logical reason, the sleep wasn't coming. I felt uneasy within me to the extent that I had to leap up and check myself out in the mirror. I seemed fine on the outside, as the mirror reflected, but my mind was troubled for no reason. So I had an idea, to do some housework, and maybe watch a movie to pass time.

Moments later, while sweeping, I saw a white pamphlet close to Mimi's bed. It had the sign of the cross and a printed image of Jesus Christ on it. It looked like, the more I looked at it, the more it stared back at me too.

"So it's you they call Jesus Christ?" I taunted, obviously expecting no answer from a common piece of paper. "Look at your hair, it's too rough! Go and get a clean shave, man." I mocked with finality as I threw it into the wastebin and laughed. Afterward, I turned the TV on to see a movie.

"Repent, for the kingdom of the Almighty God is at hand!" A manly voice boomed out of the speakers the moment I turned it on. As expected, I cringed, because it was one of those prophetic programmes I disliked with passion, so I changed the station and kept on tuning to find something sensible and entertaining, but I found none. All the channels were infested by trashy religious programmes, and it pissed me off big time, so I decided to go have a bath and stroll out to the streets instead, since I lacked a DVD player and a cable that could've actually saved me from the torturous ordinary stations.

As if that wasn't enough, the dress I kept on my hanger had been torn by rats. How come? I wondered, torn between surprise and annoyance. How did this happen? What the heck?

However, I arranged another dress and swung into the bathroom for a bath, only to discover that the tap wasn't running.

That was the height of my problems that morning. In most cases like this when the water ceases abruptly, it means that we shouldn't expect water for a couple of days, and when that happens, everyone in the compound resorts to fetching, so I had to ask a neighbor to borrow me one of her big kegs.

When I finally got to the place where water was being sold, after walking a thousand miles from my house, I was beyond disappointed to find the place already crowded by people. Their kegs and buckets were lined up like actual humans in a queue, so I dropped mine as well and waited patiently for my turn.

When it got to mine, I fetched and carried it back with a scarf on my head. I had barely walked halfway along the road when I happened to hit my leg on a stone, tripped and fell down heavily. The keg tumbled down from my head and landed with a loud sound, causing it to burst by the edges and it started dispersing water massively like a water fountain.

Passers-by instantly came to my aid and shared their sympathy, and some kind guys also helped me to stop the keg from leaking. I was lucky not to have sustained any injuries, but my sandal had been badly ruptured beyond repair. Or so it seemed.

Luckily for me, a cobbler's shop was nearby, so I went there and fixed my footwear.

After getting it done, I carried the keg and continued my journey back home, hoping not to bump into trouble again. As if my day wasn't bad enough, when I eventually arrived back home, standing next to my door was the least of all people I expected to see at such early hours of the day; my landlord.

"Oga landlord, good morning, sir." I greeted, wondering what brought him to my place since my rent wasn't even due yet.

"Fifi Ghana!" He reciprocated my greeting with the nickname he was fond of calling me. He came closer and helped me with the keg, off of my head.

"What brings you here today, Oga landlord?" I asked conversationally, expecting a jovial answer as usual. My landlord was a very funny man.

"Nothing o." He responded excitedly. "Today is Sunday as you can see, and my friends are waiting for me at Mama Obi's shop. I want to go there now and refresh my system with some nutritious cups of palm wine before Mama Ijeoma and her silly daughters would return from church with their trouble."

I laughed out loud.

"So how am I involved?" I asked, still laughing.

"I saw you when you were leaving to fetch water, but I was still preparing to leave then. As I finished putting on my clothes and was about stepping out of the compound, a certain lanky guy and a fair lady approached me, and they asked after you. I told them you just left and asked them to wait if they could, but they said they couldn't, that I should help them give you this package." He said, handing me the nylon he had been holding all along. I peeked in it and I couldn't believe what I saw inside.

"What's wrong?" Papa Ijeoma asked, suddenly startled.

"Who were they?" I asked, still not believing my eyes.

"A guy and a lady," he said.

"No, I mean their names, did they tell you their names, sir?"

"Well, yes. The lady said you should know her as Monica Thompson, and the guy said that he goes by the name Big Tiny. Any problem?"

What? Monica Thompson and Big Tiny, again? I shuddered. Those two were nothing but trouble! In fact, trouble was a complete understatement!

"Bloody hell!" I whispered, swallowing hard. "What have I gotten myself into?"