Olokun pt1 (the wind of destiny)

A Temporary Solution?

Chapter 13

30th NOVEMBER 1990

True to his words, a month after the incidents, the Ekiatas were on their way to the ivory city of Benin, his wife had tried to talk him out of it, saying that there was no money and that Osadolor was about to take his school leaving certificate exams, but all her pleas and arguments fell on deaf ears, he had made his decision and no one, not even the woman he loved more than life could change it. He believed that everything was a superstition connected to Obti, and he also knew that once they were away from the village, in a land where no one knew them, it would be hard for anyone to notice any strange thing about their child, for Benin was such a big city and it was rare to meet anyone more than twice. He was not so resolved to take this decision at first, laying down on his bed that fateful day after leaving the Olokun priest's house, he had sulked and cursed his luck, for if not that he had an ill luck, this would not have happened to him and especially not at this time when age was not on his side, at a time when he could not make firm decisions and go to any length to make sure he accomplished them, he was angry not just at the gods but at everyone around him, they all seemed aloof as if this was just an easy issue that could be settled at the snap of the finger, it was as if they were all ignorant of the number of consequences associated with this problem. That was when it all came to him, the Olokun priest had said that her powers were tied to Obti, so what if they left Obti for another place entirely, would Olokun not lose her hold on her, definitely she would. Such gods were not known in other places, therefore it would be a good idea, but what if her life was tied to this place and these powers, what would he do?, No, that was not possible, she would not die, he had made his decision, they would leave in a month's time. He sat up on the bed and quickly wrote a telegraph to Samuel his first son who was a student doctor in the University of Benin, asking him to prepare a house for them as there was an emergency which needed him to move to Benin with his mother and his siblings, he knew that this message alongside with the 10,000 naira would be enough to get them a house in the university environment and also pay for Osadolor's certificate exams enrollment. He had felt a bit reluctant about his decision and so he had walked to his wife's room only to find her laughing at something his mother who held the baby in her lap had said. He was perplexed and that was when it occurred to him that, if he really wanted his daughter to be safe from the shackles of Olokun and all that had to do with her, he had to make sure that he took her far away from the village of Obti and all who sympathized with Olokun, a list which included his mother. So he walked into the room with his mind made up, they were leaving and nothing was going to change his mind concerning the matter, not even the worried stare which he received from his wife nor the confused look from his mother when he dropped the announcement could do anything about it.

Later that night Elizabeth tossed and turned in the bed, she had not been able to sleep a wink, different emotions raced through her, she was afraid for her daughter's life, it was not everyday that strange occurrences took place in their simple and quiet life, not through their children, not even in birth nor pregnancy, their lives were as normal as that of any other person on the planet, and to crown it all they were christians, so why had the gods or whatever Iye Eki and that mysterious priest called Agbonifo had called them chosen their family out of every other family in Obti to bear this responsibility, this situation no longer frightened her as much as it did yesterday but it still confused her, hearing also that she had married into a long line of superhumans did not look as good as it did in the movies, television showed superhuman powers as a blessing, it gave heroism a novel touch that was very beautiful to the ears and the eyes, it was okay for Sam Dede to be a son of the masquerade with superhuman powers in the movie Ijele but it did not feel so good for her daughter that was barely two weeks old to manifest such powers. Yes, mama had put a spelled cloaking bracelet on her daughter's wrist, but it was not enough to allay her fears, or take away what she had seen that morning, it would not change the fact that before her eyes the color of her daughter's eyes had changed from brown to green, that her daughter was born to bear the fate of a people she barely knew in her arms, nor that she would always see demons and battle with the less beautiful folk of the underworld. It looked like a movie but the only difference was that it was happening in her life and not on TV, she was not sitting in her armchair and having the time of her life after a hard day at the grammar school, she was living it. To make matters worse her husband was not being exactly receptive, he had brooded right from when he had come back from the priest's house to this moment, the news had affected him more than expected, never before had he come across a situation that he had not been able to solve, no matter how hard it was he would always find a way around it, she understood his mood because she knew her husband to be a man with a very proud heart and she knew that he was more angry at the crushing of his pride by this situation than by his daughter's dilemma, a thought that angered her greatly.

Not being able to sleep and visibly spoiling for a fight she kicked him, when he did not respond she shook him very roughly, his eyes were as red as hot coals in a hearth and the look on his face was not one of amusement. “What is it woman?, Can a man not have a night of undisturbed sleep in his own house again?, Or have you decided to join the league of people who want to take away my peace?, He asked with an annoyed husky voice, Elizabeth was not going to take this lying down, this was a battle of words she was going to win.“Do not speak to me in such a tone Alexander, you have not spoken a word to me apart from that stupid announcement you gave, so do not even get angry. I am the one who deserves to be angry at you, because I am the stranger here, I am the mother whose child has been given an impossible task to perform, instead of you to speak with me and allow me share your deepest burdens with you, you shut me out and choose the wall in your room as a companion, then when the evil spirits disturbing you release you from their hold, you give an announcement that is the most baseless thing I have ever heard”, she ended, she had poured out her mind and it felt better than anything else in this world, the pained look on her husband's face was enough retribution for his sins. Words were not enough to quantify the pain that Ekiata felt at his wife's words, it seemed as if she was cutting him deeply with a razor blade little by little, and not swiftly but slowly, it felt as of she ripped his veins one by one, he could not shed tears for that was unheard of from a man but right now he wished he could shed tears, this was not the moment for such biting words and especially not from the one person whom he loved the most. He could hardly speak up and when he did it was a very tight whisper. “Elizabeth so it has now come to this?, So you can actually look me in the eye and speak such hurtful words to me, you show no remorse at my current situation.......”, “Alexander please stop being so dramatic, whoever hears you speaking would think that you consummated with yourself, got pregnant by yourself, carried it for nine months and experienced the pain of labor all on your own, you want to give yourself hypertension over an issue that you can not control, any one who sees you will think the child is not mine too, besides you do not have to worry so much, she has been cloaked already”. That was the height of it, the shock that hit Ekiata was worse than a tsunami, it felt as of his larynx was suddenly poked with with red hot spikes, he could hardly breathe for some minutes. When he finally spoke, he asked “What did you say?”, in disbelief, “You heard me right my husband”, his wife replied rather aloofly, “She has been cloaked and there's nothing to worry about”, she ended as she lay down to sleep, she had gotten what she wanted, so there was no point staying up anymore. Words were not enough to express how he felt, this was the worst type of betrayal he had ever experienced, for him to be in the dark concerning the happenings that occurred in the life of his child was something he did not envision, not even in his wildest dreams, what even made it more unfortunate was that his wife was in on it. How had it happened?, When and what was he doing?, If these thoughts of his could be spoken aloud, he knew he would not be speaking but roaring, it was okay if his mother and the Olokun priest had machinations of their own, but that his wife would be involved in the defying of his orders, that would be the most incredulous thing ever heard of in the history of their marriage. He had made it clear that he did not want any form of ritual performed on his daughter, but still they went behind him, without his consent and performed the ritual on his child. But wait if a ritual was performed on his daughter, how come he did not know when they left, neither his wife nor his daughter left the house, or had they performed it in his house?, No that was impossible, he would have noticed it , there were no strange noises and the Olokun priest had not come to the house since the day after her naming ceremony, so how had they done it?, Ekiata asked himself nervously, he looked at his wife who had just laid down, her face did not depict that of anyone who had any care in the world, she was sleeping soundly. That was impossible, not when she had just dropped a bombshell on him, yes, she had warned everyone in the house including himself not to ever disturb her sleep because she had a slight case of insomnia, so falling asleep was very precious, he was going to break this law today, this issue was more pressing than a slight case of insomnia, since that she was a light sleeper, she raised her head after he called he called her name twice. Elizabeth was not happy at all and she gave him a long look that mirrored her feelings “Ekiata, what is it?, So because you can not sleep , you want to deny me the opportunity of having a night of sleep right?”, she asked him, Ekiata was not in the mood for any of these tricks that night, he was angry and he needed anwers, right now he did not care if her feelings were hurt, what he cared about at this moment was that she gave him a credible explanation for all the things she had just said “Elizabeth, I am going to ask you some questions and I need answers to them, I do not want this issue to lead to something else or for other people in the community to hear our voices, so please answer my questions right now”, he replied as he stood up and paced their room, Elizabeth could not see his eyes, so she did not get the hint of how angry he was, “What has gotten into you this night Alexander?, Or has the fear and confusion of the events that have occurred these past few days made you suddenly gain a hotter temper than you already have?, Please I do not have time for this, I had a very busy day and I would like to catch some sleep before this child wakes up”, she said and made to lie down, but Ekiata did not even let her lean, before she could lay down he held her by her arms and shook her, “Elizabeth Itorobong Ekiata, incase you no longer understand English when it is spoken to you calmly, I will repeat it with a loud voice so that it can sink into your brain, I have questions for you and I want you to answer me, When how and why was that demonic spell cast on my daughter, and who cast it, because I gave strict orders that nothing of any diabolic sort would come in contact with any of my family members most especially my children, so tell me now why and how our last child has a spell cast on her?”, that was when she saw his eyes, they looked hotter and angrier than coals of fire, she had never seen her husband this angry and it terrified her. She quickly fell to the floor at his feet crying, “My husband, the love of my life I swear to you that I did not mean to anger you or go against your orders in any way, it was your mother, she came and she told me about her mother and she felt that a cloaking spell was necessary to protect our child from evil eyes, she did not tell me about your refusal”, she cried as she reached for him. Ekiata could not take it anymore, his mother was slowly succeeding in tearing his family apart, in just one night, he and his wife had spoken worse words to themselves than they had done in 25 years of marriage, he had to take his family far away from Obti and as fast as possible, if not their plans would come to pass and there would be nothing he could do about it. “Stand up Eliza”, he said as he raised his wife up and held her to himself, “I do not want to leave Obti for Benin, we have a life built here for us, how are we going to start all over again, consider Osadolor my love, how is he going to cope, he is already going through a lot due to his preparation for the certificate exams”, she whimpered as he held her, after some time, Ekiata released her and sat on the bed, then he asked her to sit beside him as he resumed holding her to him. “Eliza, everything is going to be fine, I gave it a whole lot of thinking today, yes I know I have been behaving in a way that you find very strange, but this issue just made me to really take a deeper look into all that we have experienced in this village, we lost four children in one night to a strange disease, something that occurred because I had defyed my father's last instructions before his demise to leave this village immediately I had children all because I did not want mother to feel lonely, I do not want to lose a fifth child before leaving. As for where we would stay and how we would cope in Benin, you do not have to worry, I already sent money and strict instructions to Igbinosa to get us a house and also to find out if Osadolor would still be able to take the certificate exams with his mates in Benin this year, please do not fret anymore, lie down let me hold you tight”, he said to his wife in a husky voice that he used whenever he needed the comfort of her soft body.

The next day, as Ekiata sat in the confession box at The Immaculate heart of Mary Catholic church and made his confession, he did not feel any more of the pain and anxiety anymore, he felt a kind of peace go through him, the kind you felt when you survived a terrible ordeal without a scratch, the kind you feel when you had gotten problems off your mind. He could tell from the shuffling and shifting noises he was hearing that Fr Mike was not happy with the words he uttered, Fr Mike was a halfcaste, a son of an Irish Father and a Nigerian mother, therefore it would be strange if he understood what was going on, Ekiata knew that the priest's thoughts would be filled with anger towards his lack of faith and cowardice which was shown in him taking his family away from a home that he had grown in, Ekiata anticipated everything, he believed that he had the answers to whatever question the priest would ask next. “Have you gone to God in prayer concerning this issue?”, the priest asked after he had finished his confession. Ekiata was thrown aback, he had not expected this question, he was suddenly awash with guilt, he felt like a child who was caught arm deep in a pot of soup, he did not know what to say, he could not say no, because though that was the truth, it would be an answer which would make the priest who held him in high esteem to be disappointed, but he could not say yes either, because, it would be a lie and lying was a sin most especially in the confession box, this was a dilemma that eluded him and he feared he would not be able to come out of it. He was brought out of his reverie by the priest's voice “I see that you have not prayed about it, anyway I am not the lord and I do not have the right to to judge you, that is his job, so your penance is to pray the 5 decades of the rosary and ask the holy spirit to lead you aright on your journey, do not leave Obti till you have done it.

And so Ekiata obeyed the priest's instruction and observed his penance properly,two days after that, after throwing so many questions at God on whether the holy spirit would speak he received a letter from Samuel saying that everything was ready and that he had even secured a jobs for them in the Local Government Secretariat, he also sent a photograph of the house to him. Ekiata was elated, surely, this was a good sign, it was a sign from heaven that he had to move to Benin and so here he was at the park ready to leave Obti and move into a new life.