Chapter 1

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I was in the midst of three elderly women as I arrived at Tunde’s apartment. They were plucking rotten melon seeds from its curb. The little mediocre bungalow lay in a quiet hilly and remote area. The cracks on the wall, the faded paint and the rusted roof which seemed to be flying off told a story of how ancient the house was. The moss growing around the fence made it difficult to admire the architectural structure of the moldings across the fence. The compound was big but most of it appeared more like a little garden while two-thirds of it was cemented just enough for a car to fit in front of the house.

     “Good evening mummy,” I genuflected, trying not to look disappointed. “I’m looking for Tunde Ajaba.”

I was giving a job in Lokoja, far away from my home in Abuja and I needed a place to crash for a few days before finding an apartment. Tunde offered to give me a place to stay since he was the only one I knew in Lokoja. But when he said his home was lovely, I didn’t expect to see this. As I was reminiscing, the one who looked eldest stared at me through her glasses, sizing me from up to down while she stooped over to her batch of the melon curb. She returned to her melon while screaming. “Tunde! TUNDE!!”

“MA!!” was a distant voice followed by footsteps that drew nearer. TUNDE appeared from the back of the house wearing a dirty blue polo shirt and jeans. He was sweating so profusely, he must be busy with something quite tedious. He was shocked to see me and attempted to wipe the sweat of his forehead but was a failed attempt.

     “Jessica, I didn’t expect you to be here so early”

     Really? I thought, an equal shocked look on my face. It was quite surprising to hear given that we talked about my arrival the previous day. He took my bag and led me by the shoulder towards the back of the house.

     “How was your trip?” His smile, wider than the grinning cat in the Alice in Wonderland fairytale. “I mean I knew you were coming in but I wasn’t expecting you this early.” I looked at my phone and back at him.

“its 5 pm, Tunde.”

     “Really? I was so busy today that I didn’t realize how time flew.”

We had reached the back of the house. It was half the size of the compound upfront. There were half chopped logs of wood at a corner and a big pot at the center but that wasn’t what caught my attention. There was an open thatched shelter at the far corner. Lying Inside the shelter were two old women with spotted brown patches as skin. I couldn’t tell if they were dead but I could perceive a strong scent of peppermint and something rotten. Then two young women came out with a bowl in their hands. They lowered their slender bodies beside the vegetables and rubbed the bodies with the transparent content of the bowl.

     “Mary, go get the back room ready,” Tunde told the younger woman who immediately stood up, wiped her hands on her ragged wrapper and went ahead of us. Tunde changed his position by blocking the sight of the old women from my view. He wrapped one hand over my shoulders while trying to balance my luggage on the other hand. He was so close I was nearly choking on his cheap perfume and pungent seat odor. This bothered me very much, not just because I had a boyfriend, Saber, but also I didn’t know Tunde so well. Why was he been so over-friendly like we were old pals? I was still trying to get over the fact that he invited me to his place even when he didn’t know me. What was I to do? I had no choice but to come. I had no one else to help me out.

     “You look really good.” he said snapping me out of my cloud “but are you always this quiet?”

     “Well.” I wiggled out of his death grip “I hardly have anything to say.”

     “Really, why so?” he cocked his head slightly to the left. I could see he was feigning interest but I couldn’t figure out what game he was playing.

     “If you have nothing to say don’t say anything ” That was the wrong saying. Anyone would know that, but it didn’t seem like he did. He smiled at me and said;

     “Ahh…wise words from a wise woman.”

     “Really guy?” I couldn’t help myself but this guy was corny. “So you graduated from Uniben. What did you study?”

I was curious to know. He didn’t seem all that smart.

     “Architecture ” his demeanor changed as he took two steps backward “But school wasn’t for me.”

    Oh really, I thought trying not to look sarcastic. “Why do you say so?”

   But before he could respond the girl called Mary came out and mumbled something under her breath. I tried to reach out to her but she avoided me intentionally. Tunde grabbed my hands and led me past the questionable hut, where a door appeared at the end of the corner. He opened the door to a rather dim room with a well-laid bed at the center of the cement floor. There were only two pillows on the bed. But I didn’t mind; the room was quite neat.

    “Nice room,” I said and moved towards the bed and sat down.

     “Thanks,” he replied with a smile and locked the door behind him.

   This wasn’t good. Red flags everywhere. What was he doing? What did he think was happening here? I started to panic on the inside but tried to stay as calm as possible.

     “Why are you locking the door?” my voice was as calm as I could make it but my heart skipped beats.

      “I often lock my room to prevent my people from interrupting me,” he said dropping full body on the bed. It was then I noticed the small closet at the other side of the room with a disarray of clothes and the mini gasoline stove with an overused pot on top of it. Why was I in his room? Why didn’t he take me to another room? He was playing a dangerous game. He was still smiling at me lying on his side with his head propped up by his hand.

     “It would be nice being with a pretty little miss like you.” And there it was. “I’ve been waiting for this day since I last saw you.” Did he want to get with me? Has he no shame? His sheepish look answered my question. My fear was replaced by anger, but I still kept my cool.

     “Well, apart from the fact that I am a Christian and a Virgin, I do have a fiancé so I’m going to have to disappoint you there,” I said frankly. There was no reason for me to mention the virgin part but I felt like putting it out there.

     “So I did all this preparation for nothing?” he said sounding disappointed. I looked around the room, at the so-called preparations, this guy was crazy.

     “If a little courtesy and respect are what you’re talking about, I can pay for that and more at a hotel.” I stood up and picked up my bag from the foot of the bed.

     “You’re leaving?” I didn’t answer him. I was more scared that he was going to stop me. I rushed to the door, unlocked it with one swift move and I was out of the door. I went around the house and walked into one of the elderly women. She looked confused at my presence and ran passed me calling Tundes name hysterically. 

I was so much in a hurry to put a long distance between me and Tunde to understand the old woman’s reaction. I found my way through the black high gates, and out in the open, I was. But I didn’t feel safe yet. The road was quite muddy probably due to many days of rain, which made it quite difficult to walk. After a few attempts, I took off my slippers and decided to walk barefooted. I walked about the squishy brown sand until I came across a crowd of local traders at the side of a busy road. Most of them were elderly women with little children, selling rice, beans, palm oil, and yam. As I approached, they acknowledged my presence with “fine girl, you wan buy something?… I get everything you want oh” it was so noisy, most traders who were not interested in me exchanged conversations in their local dialect amongst themselves. They were loud, loud enough to drown out the noise from heavy trucks and trailers horning all through as they sped along the narrow road. As I tried to avoid the traders I caught a glimpse of the elderly woman trying to make her way across the muddy path towards my direction. What now? Why is she after me? I could have walked away. I could have pretended I didn’t see her but then she fell. I didn’t know when I dashed to her side and helped her up. She felt so weak and feeble. She was also as shoeless as I was. Her wrapper had all shades of brown and dirty green as a result of age or lack of laundry or both. The wrinkles on her face told decades of untold tales. But as I lifted her she kept on muttering, ‘my child please come back’ over and over again. Her wrapper fell from her chest revealing her neon undergarment that hung over her shriveled sickly legs. I quickly grabbed it and covered her up, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her grip on me was surprisingly firm. She determined to take me back with her. How could I say no? She looked like she would drop dead at that moment if I didn’t go with her.

Gradually, my luggage on one hand, led her away from the boisterous noise of the traders, through the slippery muddy road, back towards the black gates I fearfully ran through a few minutes ago. I intended to return her home safely and continue on my merry way but she still held on to me firmly but a bit shaky. The women around the melon curbs saw us coming and came to peel her off my body, screaming in their dialects, and gently laid her on a low bench all the while trying to console her. I stood there and watched how the women huddled around the woman, patting her, speaking in a high tone which seemed to soothe her a bit. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. The old woman looked so terrified, so terrified that I was beginning to wonder if the commotion was about me or something else. Why did she run after me? I don’t even know this woman. Still pondering on the situation, I turned around to leave but a hand caught my shoulder before I could leave the gate. Not again. I turned to brush away whoever it was, but the woman with glasses stopped me with an index finger up and lead me away from the drama unraveling before us. I politely followed her, silently resenting every step.  

     “Who are you?” the woman asked as soon as we reached a safe distance.

     “Jessica Roberts, ma. I’m from Abuja but I got offered a job here. Tunde offered to help me with accommodation while I settle in and find a place of my own. ” I recited like an interviewee as the woman glare sized me up through her vintage glasses.

    “How do you know Tunde?”

    “I met him through a friend.” generalizing my answer although my

that question sent me back two years earlier when I was invited for a university rave. I was a friend’s plus one to a birthday party, I wasn’t even sure who the celebrant was. Tunde was introduced to me as one of the party hosts. But what I thought was quite calm and earthy event quickly, escalated into a booze fountain and a coven for the revolved Cain and Abel. It was mortifying being around such a strange environment. But it was there I met Saber, my present boyfriend, he saved me from what would have been the worst experience of my life. A shuddered to drag me back to reality.

     “Anyway, I’m sorry I came in unannounced and disturbed the peace of your lovely home,” I said and turned to leave.

     “Please, stay. It is not in our nature to turn out a guest” she said and looked over at the group of women who have not only managed to calm the hysterical woman down but put her to sleep with a piece of local cloth over her slender body. There was a look of concern on her face. “Tunde is not the best of character, but you look like a good girl. We’ll try our best to make your stay comfortable. “

The fact that this family had a big deal with me leaving the house was quite disturbing. As a typical Nigerian, a lot of scenarios played inside my head, all resulted in me dead through occultic manifestation. Accepting a stranger into their home should already be a red flag for them but encouraging my stay seemed farfetched. The red-orange twilight of the sunset caught my attention. I quickly glanced at my watch. 7 pm! Great, it was already too late to roam the streets for a place to stay. With reluctance, I accepted her invitation and watched as she prepared to get an empty room ready for me.

Chapter 2

To be continued…