“What is it?”
“There is a certain contestant for the throne that I want to be King and I need you to make it happen.”
“That decision has to be made by six chiefs and I am only one.”
“Do you think I am stupid? There are only three chiefs who will make that decision, the other three are men who will follow.”
“So how am I supposed to convince the other two chiefs?”
“You don’t have to. All you have to do is stand firmly by the boy I want and the other chiefs will eventually follow because none of them are ready to die, now that they have grown more powerful.”
“They might want to go to war instead before the eighty-second day.”
“Take it from me, those men want peace. Why do you think none of them have called a private meeting on the choice of the successor till now?”
“Odagwe sent a message to me that he would like to meet with Ihua and me a day before we tell the high chiefs our decision at the conference room in Utagba.”
“Hear his language: He would like to. That does not sound like a man ready for war.”
“So when do you start with the ceremony?”
“I take it we have come to an agreement. But are you not going to ask which of the Hurdene’s sons I want to succeed the King?”
Oludu looked at the witch’s eyes and replied, “I know the contestant you want.”
Agreshi realized that they had an agreement and that he knew who she had in mind.
“The ceremony starts now, but I should warn you, even if she gets to bring out the package, if her feelings for you are not as great as you have for her, she will still return to her world.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t think you do. Even if she dies and goes back to their world, you still have to vote for my contestant, even if none of the other chiefs agree with you and you all die at the hands of the high chiefs.”
“I said I understand.”
Oludu led her to where his wife was and they saw her still asleep on the bed.
“So what happens now that she is still asleep?”
“She isn’t.”
“She isn’t what?”
“Asleep,” Agreshi said.
Immediately, Ugonwa’s eyes opened and she dived at Agreshi with a knife in her hand. The witch stretched her palm to her, throwing white chalk on her face and the chief’s wife stood lifeless, rocking to and fro.
Oludu looked dazed, watching his wife as though she was a pendulum.
“Oludu, have you ever been to a de-initiation of an Ogbanje?”
“I have only heard stories.”
“Well, welcome to reality. I will say all I have to say once, so you better listen.” Agreshi poured white chalk around the motionless girl as she spoke. “As I implied before, if she cares for you the most, her package that locks the key between you and the girl will be made up of something she cherishes that links the both of you together.”
“One time I knew it was her father she cared for the most.”
“You better hope her feelings deviated, because when she breaks out from the trance she is in, she will head for the place she hid it and I doubt if you and I can catch up to someone running back to Utagba.” The witch stopped pouring the chalk and looked in the chief’s direction. “You are supposed to be sure that she feels for you more than anyone. And I mean anyone, even her child.”
“Only a fool knows what lies in the heart of a woman. All I know is that I feel for her the most.”
“That is not good enough, but it is all we have right now.”
The witch started saying incantations while she moved rhythmically around the swaying body. Then she started moving back while she spoke to Oludu again without looking at his direction.
“They always have a guardian on earth and a husband in their other world who protects them from any form of danger and sleeps with her in their world.” The witch faced the chief with a grin. “Those nights she moaned in her dreams, someone else was doing all the work. At times her guardian gets jealous when she starts enjoying her life on earth and shortens her stay on the earth if he cannot get rid of what gives her the joy.”
Suddenly Ugonwa jerked and her eyes closed.
“Any minute now she is going to run to where she hid her package and you have to be there when she reaches it or else her guardian will take her away.”
“Supposing she hid it at another province?”
“As long as the person she cares about is living in this province, it will be somewhere close to where the person is.”
Ugonwa’s eyes opened and she ran. Oludu chased her. The Omees guarding the Haku saw their chief running after his wife and wanted to block her, but Oludu screamed, “Leave her!”
The Omees at the gates also wanted to stop her, but they heard the command of their chief running after her. Ugonwa ran like a cheetah, not looking back, and even showing a trace of getting tired. The chief and most of the Omees in the Haku chased her like a wave. The chief’s wife ran into the bushes, still at the same pace. The men were only human and the number of Omees chasing her began to drop. They chased her, but they were beginning to lose sight of her because she was too fast.
Oludu was beginning to infer that she heading to another province. Whatever direction she was heading, it was in the opposite direction of Utagba. The chief at this time was the only man still chasing her.
This is not the way to Utagba. She cares for someone else the most. Why am I bothered? If it was her father, I would understand, or even her mother. Since I have been with her I have not even touched another, while her heart drips for another man. I thought it was real, but they are all the same…Why am I still chasing after her? It’s a tragedy when the feelings you have for someone are not mutual. What am I thinking? She probably feels the most for her aunt. This is the direction to her place…yes what have I been thinking?
Oludu ran after her with all his energy, but he still could not catch up and he fell tired to the ground; he was only human. As he lay on the ground, he cursed the time he spent with the witch. He was now positive that nothing good ever came out of the witch’s negotiations. He started punching the ground and when he looked up, he saw the dust of his wife run past him in the direction they came from. He was extremely tired, but he still chased her again.
Her pace seemed to slow down as she neared her destination. Oludu looked straight ahead as he followed her. He was angry, yet pleased that her destination was back in his Haku. She ran all the way back to their bedroom and he followed her, panting like an animal. When she got back into the room, she stopped motionless again. Oludu wondered what next to do. He hoped the witch was still around.
She started swaying as though strings pulled her and then she walked in a dangling manner out of the room, out of the edifice, to a tree near the gates of the Haku and she started groping the ground with her hands. The Omees wanted to help her, but the chief warned them not to interfere. She stretched her hands into the hole she dug and pulled out a little package. Oludu squatted in front of her, then he opened her hands and wanted to take the package from her.
Her voice was as deep as Titan when she spoke.
“Who do you think you are?”
“Give me the package,” Oludu said, breathing heavily.
“Do you really think she wants to be with you while she has me?” the deep voice replied. Oludu head butted his wife, twisted her hands and took the package.
She rose and with the same deep voice said, “Give it back to me.”
Oludu got up and moved back. The witch never told him to expect this. All the Omees around were confused about what to do.
Then his wife used her two hands, grabbed him by the neck and raised him high enough for his feet not to touch the ground. The Omees wanted to fire on Ugonwa with their arrows, but Oludu, who was suspended in the air, used his hands to tell them not to. “Give me the package,” the voice repeated.
The Omees had started attacking the chief
’s wife physically, so they would not leave any permanent injury, but she flung them away with one hand that was as powerful as that of fifty men. She suspended Oludu in the air until the chief dropped the package on the floor. She dropped him on the other side and bent down to pick up the little parcel. As she tried to hold it, it moved on its own back to the chief’s hand.
The guardian in the chief’s wife seemed angered by the event and she turned toward the chief with her eyes burning red. The chief suddenly had a frightful expression on his face. The wife rushed at her husband screaming.
Calmness came over him and he said, “Stop.”
She stopped.
Agreshi stood behind the spectators, watching the event. She said loudly enough for only one person to hear, “What took him so long?”
Ugonwa stood still for a short time and then her body started jerking, as though something was trying to tear its way out of her. Again she suddenly stood still and everyone saw her standing calm, but Oludu saw something different. When she stood still, a perfectly handsome man came out of her. With a heavenly charm and with a sweet voice he said, “Come with me, my dearest.”
Oludu looked at the beauty in the spirit and he did not have any words to say.
Ugonwa looked at him and asked, “Will you miss me when I am gone?”
Oludu still did not say a word to her. The spectators watching saw her lips moving, but could not hear her words. The chief seemed to be in a trance from their perspective, but they were patient.
“Look at the world I live in, it has no troubles or pain, just bliss in a manner that the earth can no longer provide. Everything I want is here.”
The chief finally spoke.
“Everything.” A tear fell from Oludu’s eyes, but his face remained harden.
The guardian spoke to her again. “It is time we leave. We are running out of time, my angel. Collect the package from him and let us go home.”
Oludu stretched out his hand, giving her the package.
She took it without saying a word to him and faced the spirit saying, “Your world is your own and mine is wherever he is.”
As though she was hit by a mighty rock from behind, her body jerked enough for the spectators to see and she started falling, but before she landed on the ground, Oludu caught her. She looked at her husband and gave him the package. He opened it and saw a piece of his hair in it. She fell asleep immediately and he took her back to bed. The observers knew they had missed some parts of the story, but they had enough for gossip.
As Oludu watched his wife, without looking back he asked, “Is she really asleep now?’
Agreshi replied, “Yes she is.”
Lying next to his wife and talking as though he were alone, he asked, “What makes you think you can trust me.”
“I don’t think, I know. And just in case of any breach, your wife is no longer an Ogbanje, so she is now susceptible.”
“You are aware that if anything happens to her, I will be coming for you.”
“I have to admit you are as powerful as I am, or even more powerful, but the difference between you and me is that I know how to use this power.”
“‘Really,” Oludu said facing the witch, but she was gone and he was alone with his wife.
Chapter 28
Chief Odagwe stormed out of his bedroom and into the visitor’s chambers in his Haku. As he walked to his destination, his anger proliferated, not because of the time he was awakened, but because of his visitor. He entered the chamber that served as a conference room and met his guest comfortably seated.
The Hurdene looked wickedly fine with her afro. She was present with six of her Ikuvamees and they all seemed ready for anything; despite their man-like appearances they gave an aura that put all the chief’s Omees on guard. From the chief’s perspective, the Ikuvamees had no chance at all if they decided to start anything here. First, his men in the room were three times their number and they were individually stronger, but there was still something about the women that made him uneasy.
“These seats are used when the master of the house gives anyone permission to use it and I am definitely not giving you permission to use it,” Odagwe exclaimed.
Onyela got up from the seat. Her Ikuvamee went down on her hands and knees and the Hurdene sat on her back.
“I heard you were demanding to see me at this time of the night. Who do you think you are making demands of me? I could kill you now. How dare you demand to see me?”
“You do that and I will be eternally grateful to you. Then the high chiefs will be invited into our little web and they will make the decision in favor of the motherless contestant, after they have ordered your death. By the way, did I mention that both the Head-of-Government and the Ifa priest still despise your existence?” The Hurdene had a confident tone in her voice.
“They would not have to know how you died.” Odagwe walked around Onyela.
“Seems you are enjoying your little walk around me. I suggest you look around you.”
The Chief looked around to see the Hurdene’s Ikuvamees in the Haku reaching for their swords.
“They are few compared to the number of men you have in this room, but I guarantee you will not be able to get a quiet death from me.”
“They are only six women.”
“And about two hundred scattered all over your province. The minute I die, you give the high chiefs the power to do to you whatever they wish. If you even attempt going to war with them, you become the enemy of the kingdom. As strong as your province has become merging with Abogima, you are still playing with the hands of a child where the fists of men feed.”
“I am touched by your care. There is an old saying, ‘You taste sweet wine a little and go, so you can remember the pleasure of the taste. But if you take it too much, then you will get the real taste and realize it was actually bitter.’”
Odagwe stroked his beard as he walked around the Hurdene.
“You were always terrible at proverbs,” she murmured.
“Let’s not beat around the bush. I know why you came here and my answer is no,” the chief blatantly said.
“Even your dreams cannot fathom why I am here.”
“Onyela, I will not vote your son as King, even if I have to die the worst death.”
“I would like to talk to you alone.”
“What can you tell me alone that anybody here does not know you are going to say? Listen, woman, your wine now tastes sour, so please leave.”
“This will be the last time I will ask to speak to you alone.”
Odagwe knew this Hurdene since she had the mind of a girl and she always carried a cheerful face even in times of her sorrow. But now the wickedness of her expression made him realize that he did not know who she was. She still looked the way she had when he met her. The only difference was that the child in her had been killed or there never was a child. It was a thought that he recognized for the first time, the native child always knew her way home. The power in her speech had a dangerous foundation and the chief stood trying to understand the situation.
The Hurdene got up from her Ikuvamee and started walking away; her soldiers followed.
Then Odagwe ordered everyone to leave them alone. The Hurdene stopped and told her Ikuvamees to also leave.
When the two of them were alone, Odagwe started feeling uneasy.
“It is pointless, Onyela. I will never vote in your son.”
Onyela started walking around the seats, rubbing her hands on them.
“I see that your pain is rooted to the past.”
“Is that what you came here to say?” The chief was still standing and watching her.
“There is a saying that the cause of the pain is the only one that can make you forget.”
“Listen, I have better things to do with my time, so you can forget about trying to seduce me.”
“When and if I want to seduce you, that would not be a problem. You still drool at my presence.”
“You are a dreame
r.”
“Why don’t you ask me what is really on your mind?”
“Next you will tell me you read minds. Listen, woman, I have things to do.”
“If you wanted to leave, you would left a long time ago. I suggest you listen to what I have to say.”
“Then say it.”
“It is a very large word to play with. Which of the its do you want to hear about: why I left you for the King or why you are going to vote my son as a King?”
“As I said earlier, you have lost touch with reality.”
“I also have things to do. I heard you and the other chiefs have agreed to meet a day before your decision is expected. I thought you were all ready to argue till you die.”
“You have nothing to tell me. I suggest you start your journey back.”
The chief walked past the Hurdene and was headed out.
“It’s terrible, now you have to let another woman’s son become King while your son is closer to it.”
The chief stopped and walked back to the Hurdene.
“You will do anything to get what you want,” he snarled.
“Think about it, Odagwe, I got pregnant immediately after I married the man. He is not capable of producing sons and you have nine.”
“You lie, witch,” he said, grabbing her shoulder.
“Rephrase that. A lying witch who is the mother of your son.”
Odagwe dropped her on the floor.
“Your sweet rose has thorns all over it. Nobody played love more than you when your husband lived and now I will not dance to the beat of your drum. Your son’s father is dead and I will not let you see me. Never!” Odagwe started walking away then he came back to face the Hurdene who was on the floor with an innocent look on her face. “Even if he was my son, do you think your husband would not have known, or even Queen Ifrareta?”
“He never knew I slept with you. All I told Ifrareta was that we were courting and even when he slept with me, I made him believe I was a virgin.”
The seriousness in Odagwe’s face faded away and he smiled as he replied to her.
“No matter how wide your hands are or how deep a bowl you can find, you will never be able to capture the rain…only the waters. I already told him years ago that I slept with you and even tried to spice it up by lying to him that I raped you. So take yourself out of my Haku or I will personally throw you out.”
When Gods Bleed Page 23