MURDER IN THE ORATORY

MURDER IN THE ORATORY, PROLOGUE, Jasper, I walk into Pope’s well-lit prayer hut with fear, he is mumbling words and when I listen carefully, I realize that he is praying for God knows who or what? He is facing the door with his back, but the moment I walk in, he calls out my name. ‘’Jasper, my son, I am glad you are here already,’’ I get scared just a little bit, how did he know it was me? ‘’Thank you, Pope, I had to show up as agreed, You have been a great man to me ever since I knew you, and my coming here today is to show you how much grateful I am to you.’’ ‘’I am glad,’’ He says calmly. Believe it or not, I have never understood how come Pope is always composed and collected. He is the prayer warrior of our village, the man who rescued me when my mum and I were brutally attacked and mum killed mercilessly. I sniffed death and I am here thanks to Pope. He is a great figure in our village.  Pope wears a white mantum, a very long robe worn by the prayer men. Originally, he could wear red color only, but later, he came up with different colours for different prayer occasions. He is an old man who many can say is aging gracefully, his beards are ashen in colour and he has long dreadlocks that are folded inside his colourful mavin cap. A mavin he never fails to wear at whatever time. He is perceived to be a very powerful prayer man and some people think he is a prophet. He gets a variety of visitors with various issues traveling all the way from different parts of the world. He can foresee several things, and that’s how he was able to rescue me from the ‘eye of death,’ ‘’Son,’’ he calls calmly bringing me back to reality and I lift my face to meet his eyes boring on me. ‘’Are you okay, I have been speaking to you for quite some time, but you seem really lost.’’ I smile at him, there is nothing as good as hearing him call me son. It makes me feel a father figure closer to me. ‘’I am good, pope,’’ I say with a smile on my ugly face full of scars. ‘’You made me lose my friends, most of them being so ashamed to walk around me. I am glad that I have Jairo and Omar standing faithfully by my side.’’ He gives me a look I cannot decipher at the moment. ‘’Look, we have to remove that mask today, you have to return to being the tall, cheery handsome doctor that you have always been.’’ I nod at him proudly, when he teases me with that. ‘’Amara sure loves you, she never tried to change her mind at all about you, even with the mask on, she has stood with you without knowing about it.’’ I don’t respond to that, this is my wedding night and the best gift I can give Amy, my beloved wife to be is my real face. ‘’I agree with you, I can’t wait to have my face back, I can’t wait to see the look on her when she sees me in reality.’’ ‘’Mmh! Turn around, son,’’ he commands and I turn as told. ‘’Close your eyes,’’ I feel as he takes a piece of cloth and covers my lower body from my shoulders downwards. I shiver a little, but I gain my strength when I remember he has always been supportive to me. He takes a white mug and gets crystal clear water from an old pot lying proudly at the corner of his small hut. He sips the water but doesn’t swallow it. Then without a warning, he sprays the content from his mouth all over my face mumbling words I have never heard from anyone. He repeats the act around seven times and finally, after several years of warning me not to look at the mirror, he asks me to stand before his full-length mirror and see how I look. The surprise on my face is unavoidable. MURDER IN THE ORATORY One Before they die, they are killed. They have managed to plan their own death. They have simply called for it. There is a loud bang on the door and when I look up, a guy, dressed in long black clerical clothing. A burst of wicked, sullenness is already coming through the door at me. Looking outside the dim street light allows me to spot dad’s old car parked closer to a black car that I cannot tell its owner. He is muscular and strong and that makes me terrified. He steers back behind the counter. He has a gun, held like it is his own hand. ‘’You see this?’’ he says and his threatening red-shot eyes make me want to run off. I try turning on my heels to run away from him, but he stops me. Then I turn slowly to discreetly scan his body. There is a bandanna tied over his face, but I can clearly see his eyes. I think I could know who this guy is and what he wants. ‘’The money,’’ he yells. ‘’The f*****g money,’’ What money is he talking about? ‘’If you don’t pay me the amount I want, I will not tell you who has killed them.’’ My eyes fly wide open, my mouth agape, and my legs weaken becoming jelly-like. ‘’Yes, they are dead! They have been killed and guess who is to blame,’’ I tilt my head towards him to listen more to him, ‘’you!’’ That makes thin particles of sweat form on my forehead, I am literally going mad. Who is dead? What is he talking about? And who is he? I follow his gaze in the opposite direction and I am surprised to see two coffins lying at a tent in my dad’s compound. There are a lot of guys, but I don’t seem to know any of them. Some are wailing, others talking and others just looking. I scan the place and I realize that there are a lot of onlookers from outside. Who are dead? I turn to walk towards the coffins, but he stops me and says, ‘’the bodies are missing, you will not be able to see them, Amara! You are going to prison for their murder!’’ ‘’What do you mean? Who are you?’’ I finally find my voice. ‘’You don’t get to ask questions, are you paying for the information I hold or not! It is your wedding day and they are both dead!’’ Ooh God! It is my wedding day? And what’s with all these? ‘’If you don’t want to pay me, then you can as well …’’ he pauses for a bit then lifts his gun and shoots over my head, I start to run away shouting when I feel warm hands on my cheeks. ‘’Hey, calm down, you must have had a very bad nightmare!’’ that’s Jasper, his presence calms me down. I am panting and sweating profusely. Then he puts on the lights that make me close my eyes. ‘’That was so scary!’’ I say amidst sobs. ‘’Who is dead! Why were the bodies missing? Who was that strange man in my dream that I have never seen?’’ ‘’Hush, I am here.’’ He says quietly. ‘’What was the dream about?’’ ‘’Two people, dead in the oratory. They have been murdered and the guy whose face was hidden was demanding money so that he could give me information on who is dead and who has murdered them. On my wedding day.’’ ‘’That is gross.’’ ‘’I am scared.’’ ‘’It was just a dream!’’ ‘’You never know, it might come true.’’ He embraces me warmly, rubbing my back gently with his warm palm. He kisses my forehead fondly promising to stay by my side. I glance at the wall clock and I notice it is one in the morning. I should be sound asleep, but that nightmare just made me feel crazy. I smile slightly when he caresses my hair and asks me to go to sleep. I cuddle him as I move even closer to him. I am legit scared of that dream. Whoever was dead in that dream, may their souls rest in eternity. I hope I will not be arrested for any murders. I slowly drift into sleep. The following day in the evening, The yellow ball of fire changes to hues of orange, and then almost tangerine. It merges with the sky, like juice-mix dissolving in a glass of water. It is sunset. I watch with an unwavering gaze, as a fiery red sphere of light slowly sinks underneath the skyline, and threads of light linger in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then dark blue, until all that is left of the sunset is a chalky mauve, and then that melts away in turn as stygian darkness takes over the sky. What beautiful scenery! Sequin-silver stars like the glowing embers of a dying fire wink down at me, illuminating the dark curtain of sky, and then suddenly the clouds part and I find myself looking at a gleaming, disc casting brilliant rays of moonlight onto the dark grounds. ‘’Hey pretty angel,’’ That acquainted voice that I will never forget from the very first day I heard it calls me, it is deep and sweet, and I mean you can never go wrong when it comes to Jasper’s voice. I turn slowly, in slow motion to look at the love of my life. The man who turned me into his woman against all odds, the guy who has been mine under the sun, and ever since I knew that men can be sweet, loving, and caring. ‘’Love,’’ I muter calmly, making sure that he hears it. ‘’You are here! You took too long I was so scared. I thought you had left me here all alone with no one to be my company.’’ His charming, signature smile makes my heart melts immediately. ‘’Baby, that’s what you get when you say, ‘you aren’t coming with me.’ You know what, love, I do love you so much, I appreciate your presence way more than anything else. You are one in a million, I will forever be looking at you and saying a prayer to my creators for bringing you my way.’’ I totally don’t respond to him. It’s not because I am mad at him, far from it, I am just wondering what I did to deserve so much love from Jasper. Well, to be honest, I have never met a loving man before. Jasper is so loving, caring, and charming at the same time, that I want to replicate his nature, you know that’s a ‘mission impossible’ right? I thought so. Life is a journey, it begins with a single step, and ends after millions of steps have been made. I know some make less, others more, but I still believe that you only get to your destination when you start the journey in the first place. Jasper and I are on the journey, where will our journey end? Jasper is a slightly dark man, exactly just how I like it. He is relatively tall and has an ugly massive scar down his forehead and past his eye and another one below his chin, he is one of the best listeners I have ever met. Apart from that, he is muscular and very healthy. Well, people think being ugly has something to do with your looks, absolutely not! A big no! An ugly person is self-centered, mean, ungrateful, and unkind. A person that has no interest in anybody’s welfare, state of happiness, or improving anyone but themselves. Someone that has all the qualities that branch off from arrogance. While beauty is actually something within, it radiates out in your treatment of others. It has nothing to do with a physical appearance at all. That’s exactly what he is to me. A beautiful soul, an accommodative heart, and a listener, who has always had my interest at heart. ‘’Hey, don’t be sad. I am joking. You know I wouldn’t leave you for anything in the world, and I want you to know that what you and I have, is something we will have for the rest of my life, remember, I am taking you to the altar soon.’’ I smile at the latter and the former. Can you believe that? A man who everyone has thought doesn’t deserve a woman in his whole life is here and he is surely taking me to the altar soon. He has been judged by my whole family, he is looked at from the outside, and no one bothers to appreciate what he has from the inside. ‘’Thank you.’’ ‘’Why would you be thanking me, love?’’ ‘’Because I believe that you and I were meant to be. Imagine when you went to get us food, I was here watching carefully the sunset, and just making sure my mind was occupied in the beautiful things that happen during the act. Then I thought to myself that you and I will be watching a million more sunsets to come.’’ ‘’Right! Come here, baby.’’ I get up from my sitting position and I walk towards him. I smile at him, and he smiles back. I shy when I feel a rumble in my stomach, and he bluntly says, ‘’don’t worry, I have food here. You must be very hungry by now.’’ ‘’You are such a lifesaver, Jasper, you have come at the right time. I know I have accused you of taking forever, it is just because I missed you. I did miss you so much, my love. I am happy you are here.’’ I compliment that with a genuine smile. He carefully places the bag he just brought down, and he opens his arms. Did I mention that one of his arms is shorter than the other? Well, if I didn’t, then I am mentioning that now, and year, I do not mind, I will never mind, because jasper is the man meant for me, hugs me better than anyone I know. He then pulls away from the hug, holds my wrist, and takes me to the mat. I sit on it gladly. I smile absently at no one and nothing in particular. Right on cue, he serves our food, and I dig right into it. I was hoping he would bring just what I liked eating most. I mean I loved eating fries, sausages, and any other junk foods. Not until I met Jasper. The guy who saved my almost pathetic life. I love him, no doubt about that. He introduced me to nice, healthy foods, and right now, I am on his list of healthy eaters. He says I can have fries, and all the junks involved, but I cannot have them every day because that could be hazardous to my life. He absolutely never forced me to love this. He didn’t blackmail me into it, either. He introduced me, and I fell in love with his style, and boom! Here I am. When I met Jasper, I was weighing 80 kilograms, I was a mess, I wanted someone to come through for me, I needed some warm heart to dwell into, someone who could just utter the word, ‘it is well.’ I had learned, though, and concluded that there is never true friendship, I knew I would never meet a true friend, but hey, here came my jasper, and I will never regret meeting him. He is one of the healthy eaters I know. He is a doctor by profession, and as always, he has the best, the warmest, and the most comfortable place in my heart. Guess what, I have oppositions all over. I know I have lost friends who told me they couldn’t live around me because Jasper is quite ugly due to the scars on his face, and just like that, they matched away leaving me all alone with no friend. Before then, I know a good number who left my life because I was going through s**t. I lost hope, I knew living was of no need! I didn’t want to do anything with my life but guess what, I met my only true love. I have however created a few more. Some of which I believe are truly here as friends and not joy riders. I know finding a true friend at this time and age is almost unheard of, but I still believe that we have ways of moving on from the people who do not deserve our presence. ‘’Now, now, now …. What could she be thinking of at this juncture? What exactly is in the mind of my beautiful baby right now? Let me guess, she misses home already?’’ ‘’You wish!’’ he smirks at the comment. ‘’You know what? I would understand if you get homesick, it is okay, we ….’’ ‘’Don’t! That would be the last thing to think about right now. What you need to do is to be here by my side, because trust me, I was just thinking about how far you and I have come from. The lessons I have learned from you, the challenges I have gone through, the rejection, the light moments, and what your presence does to me.’’ ‘’What exactly ….’’ ‘’Let me,’’ I interrupt him, standing up to get the plates from the mat. He cannot do that when I am here. ‘’As I was saying, you have made me lose twenty kilograms. J, you are truly the person I needed to live a happy life again.’’ ‘’My pleasure baby, remember, you have done so …’’ ‘’This is not about me, love. Just don’t do it that way, because I am the one who started the story, and I would wish to complete it.’’ ‘’Go on, love.’’ I remind him that I was a very apprehensive woman before I met him and that if anyone would have told me that I would be seated somewhere with a guy in the middle of the forest, watching the sunset and having dinner and planning for my wedding, I would have said they were liars. He stops me from speaking saying I have uplifted his self-esteem and you have helped me see worth in myself. ‘’You are my hero. You are beautiful, gorgeous, charming, and stunning as well. If you are going to ask, that is not the reason why I love you, you know I love you because of the beautiful warm heart that is planted in you. You are an awesome woman. The love of my life.’’ ‘’What do I owe so many complements?’’ ‘’Don’t worry, my sweetheart, you will pay for all these. I know where to catch you.’’ ‘’You do? I will not let you catch me.’’ Before long, I get up on my feet, and I run towards the field. I am literally doing zero work because Jasper is also one of the fastest people I know. He is keeping fit, and despite his disability, he has a lean body. He goes to the gym, jogs every morning, and I am slowly adapting to his way of life. He runs faster than I do, and I know he will catch up with me in a few minutes from now. Jasper is sprawling my back closely. He brought me here to have some break that we were both yearning for. **** ‘’Instead of getting bored here, why not visit Maasai Ostrich Farm?’’ that’s what Jasper asked me a few days ago. I had gone visiting him and he was happy to have me around. The following day he proposed this proposal and I didn’t think twice before saying yes. ‘’We can, love. I have always wanted to go out of the city with you, I think this is a very good opportunity for us. Now that you are off duty.’’ Being a doctor comes with its fair share of packages, both ups, and downs. I didn’t think I’d cope, but after he explained everything, I understood. ‘’Great, because there are plenty of things to see and do on the farm, from swimming to ostrich riding. You also get an opportunity to go on a farm tour, learn more about the Ostrich, and get entertained. It is a whole new experience you wouldn’t want to miss! Let’s visit Maasai Ostrich Farm!’’ I smiled briefly before coming forward for an embrace. I agreed and we took off a few hours later, and here we are. Jasper is my driver ever since I met him. He is the best driver, keen on the road and never over-speeds, and that day, he decided to bring us all the way, and when we got here, he bought food, we had it and went straight to a hotel room that we had reserved on our way here. It has been a whole lot of experience and fun. It has been one of the best, beautiful and remarkable times. I thank God I met him. Not only because of this but also because of a million other things in our lives. Mine specifically. He is standing behind me, and I turn back to smile at him. ‘’You know what I want now?’’ I shake my head, but before I know it, he is on my lips with a fierce kiss, and it takes me a blink of an eye before I start kissing him back. ‘’I told you I knew where to catch you, didn’t I?’’ he says with a smile. ‘’Love …’’ He interrupts, kissing me sweetly. He has a way of making me feel his presence, I love it then he pulls away letting me moan. ‘’Let’s go, I know exactly what I want.’’ I don’t say no to him, I won't say no to my Jasper, we walk together towards our hotel room. His arm is snaked around my waist, and yeah, we are going to do one of the things that we enjoy most. I am Amara born into a Christian family. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Caleb are church elders. We are five children and I am the third born, we have grown up according to the doctrines passed on to us by our parents and preachers. Here is my story.