Homecoming of the gods

by Frank Achebe

  Ekeó was shy and wouldn’t stand the cameras that now pursued him about the place. He needn’t though, for there were those who had things to say about him. Ben Capital came forward as did the numbers that he’d ‘healed’ or done a miracle for. Few minutes later, more news vans were on their way to the town.

  What more? The whole nation now had something to talk about. More than something to talk about, they were bound to follow the news.

  ‘Though there are no direct confirmation, but it is believed that this young man styles himself as the Christ. There are vague references in this speeches to the crowd that gathers to hear him and watch him perform these miracles that suggest that he views himself as the Messiah, the one that will save the world.’

  It was a topic for Daniel and Ūö as it was for Black and his boys, for Reverend Francis, for Reverend Iňaō as it was for everyone from in town and in the state. Double the rate at which the news was traveling, it was a matter of time before it would become a topic for the world.

  Money was pumping his fists in the air. If there was an award for the happiest man in town, it had to go to him. He had seen the potential gains from the recent development. That was his specialty. If money was not in it, then Money was not in it. If money was not for it, then Money was not for it. He had seen the chance before he saw the chance. Now he was giving his brother instructions: ‘You have to be smart and quick. People have started asking about lodgings. Tell them you have a place for rent. And try to sound nonchalant and urgent about it. Give them the impression that there is a rush. It’s not your problem but theirs. You are merely being of help. Good, then get the money and have them excuse you for a minute. And phew….’

  ‘But we don’t have any lodgings.’

  ‘You fool, no one is talking about lodgings. I’m talking about their money. Get it and they can sleep on trees for all I care. If you can’t, bring them to me. Tell them you have someone who can.’

  ‘What if they catch me?’

  ‘You deny them. Tell them you didn’t remember receiving money from them for lodgings.’

  Brim had done a whole lot of jobs but he hadn’t duped anyone before. He did not know his brother as such.

  ‘Why don’t we just take what we have and leave now that we can?’

  Slap!

  Intimidation was Money’s only was of speaking in a way that he could be heard and understood by his brother. And the magic always worked on the timid boy.

  ‘I have taught you this one lesson for a million times. You won’t survive a day in a big city with a head like yours. Now you get your big head moving.’

  # # #

  ‘What do you think about the recent developments?’ Daniel asked during their Monday teatime meeting.

  ‘I can’t quite say I have an opinion yet. Only time will tell.’

  ‘Do you believe in miracles?’

  ‘Of course I do. I mean Jesus performed many miracles.’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t say I don’t believe in miracles. But it does beat my imagination.’

  ‘I guess with God, all things are possible.’

  Daniel saw that she did not have a taste for such things and so he switched the conversation to something more personal. ‘What do you think we go see the town and possibly the prophet?’

  ‘My mother wouldn’t allow that.’

  ‘No problem. You know, your mother loves you. I mean, you represent something pure to her. It would break her heart if she found that we are sneaking behind her back. So I will respect that. Out of the question.’

  ‘So tell me about your mother?’

  ‘Oh my mother. Breast cancer. They have taken away the right one. She’s going in for the second.’ That was another lie of his. But it served his intentions.

  ‘You mean, they cut away her breast?’

  ‘They did. To avoid the cancer from spreading. But I’m certain she will survive.’

  ‘We pray she does.’

  ‘Amen.’

  # # #

  Zach was not giving up on his hopes of seeing the mayor though he still felt frustration and though he had no certainties to it. It was the only thing that had him standing on his toes. If there were nothing to it, he would finally walk away. But in the undertone of a still-small-voice that had led the way till now, he knew beyond every doubt and every cynical sneer of his own mind at the idea, that there was something to it, something that held the key to everything. Following those delicate instincts wherever they led him was what brought him to town in the very first place. It defined the most intense periods of his life in ways he had taken for granted until recent times. Therefore, he needed no reasons to not follow this one through. He did not think he needed to look for one.

  He had thought about telling Ekeó that he wanted to see his father. He had changed his mind after thinking about it. There was a lot to the idea that did not make sense so he abandoned it. He had thought about asking Kuniā to take him. But it was obvious that she was under the spell of her brother and her vain hope of having him back from the dead.

  Like Sir Daía had admonished, he had to wait—wait with his tube of toothpaste, his bar of soap, his bed in the health centre, his clothes and his morning rituals at the river.

  Aside that, he had another thing to worry about. That Monday morning, he had woken with difficulties in his breathing. He felt pain in his chest and back. His now-bitter saliva had thickened with every spit and swallow. The cold and the stress of adapting to the new environment as well as the anxieties had started telling on his body. He would make no pretences about that. Without being told any further, he knew he was going to down with sickness and out of business for a while. It added weight to his frustration.

  # # #

  ‘Mother, can I take him to see the town?’ Ūö was standing in the veranda. Madam Békhtèn raised an eyebrow to meet the girl’s eyes. She knew what she was about but she gave it back to her.

  ‘Him?’

  ‘Daniel.’ Ūö never had anything to hide behind her request. If she did, there was nothing in her voice that suggested that she did.

  Madam Békhtèn had strong sensibilities and she heard something insinuating in those words. She resisted it. She knew she had to before it came back to haunt her. ‘Oh my dear, this town is in a flurry. I wouldn’t advice that. I can’t stand anything happening to you. You know that.’

  ‘But mother, its nothing. It’s just….’

  ‘Oh forget it. Let him go himself if he insists. And please I don’t want you anywhere around him. Please. On my word.’

  ‘Why that?’

  Madam Békhtèn sighed. ‘You are just a single step into life, not a thousand. Things are not always as apparent. My dear, please forget about him.’

  ‘But….’

  ‘No ma’am, we won’t about have this discussion, not now and not again. You should be preparing for university after all. If you want, I can send someone to find out from the admission board what is causing the delay.’

  She succeeded in switching the discussion.

  ‘I spoke with Nina over the phone, she’s received hers.’

  ‘Oh, what did she say happened?’

  ‘It was delivered to her by the postman. But she said some people are reporting to the admission board.’

  ‘Good, find out more from her and get back to me. Alright?’

  Ūö hurtled off to the telephone. It meant more to her.

  Madam Békhtèn had sensed that the boy had what it took to work magic on Ūö’s mind. She was no longer a child. She had grown into a woman, one that can think for herself. But what did she know after all? It was not going to be a bit different with this one boy, unlike the rest. She had even sensed that she was losing his attention but she had dismissed it as a feeling fuelled by jealousy and envy. She even felt guilty over the fact that she was thinking of her daughter in such a light.

  Now she was going to take it a bit serious.

  # # #

  Madam Békhtèn did not want to be touchy
about the affair. She could not afford to place herself at the centre. Her greatest hope was that Ūö would leave her home. While she lived in it, she could not guarantee her any protection. For that, she was hopeful that she would leave for university the next month, just as she wished.

  ‘Daniel,’ she had told him, trying as hard as she could to hide her disappointment with him, ‘Please, stay away from Ūö. She’s still a kid.’

  ‘Oh, baby (She loved him calling her that.). Forget it. It’s nothing. I just happened to have a few discussions with her.’

  ‘What about the discussions?’

  ‘It seems she thinks too much of me.’

  ‘You mean, she likes you?’

  That was exactly what he meant and they both knew it.

  ‘Not that exactly. I mean….’

  ‘Please let her be. I don’t want you having any more discussions with her. I don’t like threatening people. We seem to be getting along. So let’s get along.’

  ‘Oh baby, I’m sorry. It’s not going to happen again.’ He leaned and kissed her on the cheek.

  Chapter Ten: A Heap Of Bodies

  Alone in the wardroom that night, Zach had a nightmare—or a string of nightmares. There was no telling whether it was one of those fever-induced scary dreams or an extended version of the nightmare. It could not have been the nightmare for the dream had none of its original characters.

  In the dream, he was chasing a man in a tweed coat with black-rim spectacles through a street that could have been a maze. The street had both vague and identifiable features. There were houses lining the street but they had the features of the shack. Zach never got the chance to see the face of the man he was chasing until they burst out into a wider open street. The street was flooded and broken cars, trucks as well as putrefying dead bodies in the flooded trenches and their attendant vultures abounded. It seemed as if some earthquake or disaster had occurred on the street a fortnight ago. A waning moon overhung the scene making it the more creepy a sight.

  When they burst out in the street, Zach saw that the man was sipping lazily from a leather cask. The face was among the vague part of the nightmare. It was not at all familiar. The man slowed down when they got to the street. Zach followed, now in quick steps till they arrived what was a heap of dead and putrefying bodies among many others. Among the bodies were those of his father, his wife, clutching a dead baby, his mother, his two sisters and his brothers, Biyar…. From the corner of his eyes, he saw that the man that had led him on was smiling.

  Zach woke. It was still midnight when he woke. His head throbbed. He’d been pretending about the sickness. He wanted to resist the sickness but he felt sapped of all the energy with which he would have done so. He was shivering profusely and He felt he could still resist it, insofar as it was mere fever. But the nightmare and its antecedent dread sapped all of his remaining strength. The cold sweat started to dry into his body again. As to the dream, he wanted to ask someone what was going on.

  The room was dark. It had no electric bulbs. He could not stand the darkness. It felt like one of the childhood dreams from which he would run into his mother’s room and snuggle into her arms for the rest of the night.

  It did feel, in an unmistakable way, that someone shared the night with him in that small room.

  He could not shut his eyes again. He walked out of the wardroom back to the reception. It had electric bulbs. The bench was still there. He took it and lay down.

  # # #

  The town took no notice of the man who was slowly losing his mind. At the mayor’s place, people hurdled in the small trampoline canopies that had been provided for the shade and slept. Every other thing disappeared into their desire for a favour from the ‘man of God’, ‘prophet’, ‘messiah’, etc. As the people came, they came with their sick ones and problems and with their hopefulness that a boy as such could change things.

  The news was spreading fast. It reached Silas Ańgō and his mother the Sunday before. The story had been told as a follow up on his escapades with the daughter of the mayor of Nānti. Silas knew better. He had known the boy from when he was still sickly. He knew his brother, though not directly. Something was definitely wrong. He had told his mother so.

  He knew it was time to go back but he was swollen with his love for life that it took him a while to convince himself that he had to go back.

  It was from the same popular tabloid that I myself had read of the ‘boy messiah’ as they had called him. From curiosity and sympathy, I followed the news to the town. I did not need any reason to do so. It was one of those stories that one needn’t be told. I was not sure I was looking for a messiah or a boy that could perform miracles. I just went to the town with questions. It was from my journey to Nānti in the September of ’96 that grew this story. I cannot say that I witnessed everything or even the lot that comes into the story. By the time we were leaving the town, we each had our hearts in our mouths from fear and anxiety over our lives. But it was worth it after all. What I’m certain is that I was driven by more than mere curiosity. I can say that I wanted to understand, like Zachariah Bādu, the hero of our present story. Whether what comes into the story is true to this is another question, for another person. As to the ‘authenticity’ of the story and its different parts as well as my analyses of the different characters, I must remind my readers that it is my story, more or less, of what happened in Nānti in September ‘96. My methodology is simple enough as it is straightforward: I asked questions and where there were no answers, I made up the missing parts. I cannot have been the story. Into that will disappear all other similar concerns.

  Silas’ mother was disturbed: ‘What is going on?’

  ‘Mother I don’t know. But I have to go back. Otherwise I cannot find out.'

  # # #

  Madam Békhtèn did not want to leave the town. But she had a daughter that she loved enough to want to prove it to her. She would go to the admission board after all. That would take out a few days from her normal schedule. She did not love traveling for anything—the roads were bad.

  On the other hand, she saw it as giving her daughter her redemption, her getaway from the life that she had given her. Either way, she had to do it.

  She definitely would take Daniel with her. But she had made the mistake of telling him the night before. That Tuesday morning, he had fallen sick—or so he had styled it.

  # # #

  Daniel had actually fallen sick with mild fever. The weather was changing from rainy to dry and the pressure was on the body to adapt to the change. However, it was not as bad as he had styled it and not bad enough to stop him from making the journey. He saw in it a chance to spend more time with the girl that he was now fully attracted to.

  He had done something cunning to disarm his mistress. Instead of insisting on his being unable to make the journey because of the sickness, he had taken the other way: ‘Baby, it’s just a fever. I think I’m going to be fine after all. I don’t mind.’

  Madam Békhtèn had thought about it exactly as he wanted her to and as he’d expected she would. ‘No, it wouldn’t be worth it if it aggravates on the way.’

  ‘No, no no, I handle fevers very well.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will go alone.’

  ‘If you insist.’

  She had made a few arrangements and had left with her driver in her Mercedes 300. Immediately, Daniel became well again.

  # # #

  The door to his room opened to tea and Ūö stepped in. What was on his mind was to test her modesty.

  ‘You’re a beautiful lady. Forgive my forthrightness about it.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Ūö had returned though it did seem more of a flattery than a compliment.

  ‘It’s a great thing that you have not allowed much of what is your life to influence you negatively.’

  It clicked for the seducer for the lady sat on the bed beside him.

  ‘Thanks for that. I thought no one would ever notice. From when I became aware of all that happene
d with my mother, I was determined to make a difference—if I can afford to.’

  ‘Why not? You’ve earned your chance.’

  There was no telling her that she owed those whom she now sought to run away from to be for them a symbol of hope. And that she could make her redemption their redemption. And that she could be to them a symbol of goodness. And that her salvation was not only hers but theirs as well. To say so would not appeal to her pride in an authentic way.

  A man of virtue would have told her that but certainly not Daniel. He let it pass for a while into his sense of modesty. ‘You know, even me, I have no excuses to give for my—

  ‘No, it’s for your mother.’

  Daniel was silent on that. ‘If you say so. Why not we go see the town after all?’

  ‘You wouldn’t want to disobey your mother’s wishes, not even behind her.’

  ‘It’s nothing.’

  # # #

  Earlier on that night, the topic of discussion at Madam Békhtèn’s hall was the boy and his claims to being the messiah. They all seemed to agree on one thing: miracles did happen for real.

  Daniel was present. He had seen the town courtesy of Ūö. He had tried as much as he could as the walk progressed to hide his real intention. They had even managed to reach the mayor’s place and spend a while there.

  He had his own judgement of the boy and of his growing following. But for the most of the talk, he listened. He did have some lofty ideas but the rest considered him cynical and he knew they would respond to him with a good deal of cynicism.

  ‘Ben Capital can now see, you have to give him some credit.’

  ‘Why is everyone making it about Ben Capital?’

  ‘Do you have any problems with him seeing?’

  ‘Are you hating?’

  ‘Why would I?’

  ‘You tell us. I’ve known him for all my life. What I’m saying is that that boy is not real. Now, anybody tell me why he is not healing everybody after all?’

  ‘What do you mean everybody? Did Jesus heal everybody?’