Ìrókò
1241 Words
"... we're not leaving without taking something with us"
Joe looked at him. "And who told you I will be taking anything with me?.... Except food, though".
"You are not abandoning this mission"
"What is wrong with you?! We don't even have a plan. We're not working with anything and still, the world will end."
"We don't have a plan but fate is taking it's course... Can't you see? Destiny led us here. Whatever made us appear here will have an effect on our mission"
"And what if it's a negative one? What if destiny is leading us to failure? What if destiny is working with towards the future I already saw; the end of the world?"
Toby was silent for a while. He realized that Joe was right. "We can't be sure about that"
"And how about we don't strive to understand or get sure? How about we enjoy ourselves?"
"And how are you going to do that alone?", Toby asked.
"I will do it alone", Joe said. "Leave!"
"Joe? You'll make a mistake if you don't think with every thing you have"
"Just leave!"
"Ok, then", Toby said and turned his back. "You know where to find me when you have found yourself".
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
He could see a familiar face in a soldier uniform. Kenny approached, focusing on the 'soldier' who slowly sipped coffee in a cup.
He wasn't sure of where he had seen the particular face he was looking at but he had a feeling that he knew the person, 'not as a soldier'.
The 'soldier' was looking left and right, standing confidently, with a hand in his pocket and the other hand holding a cup.
"Akeem! come over here!", a voice of a leading soldier called and the 'soldier' looked.
"Sir!", another soldier answered but he wasn't the one called.
"Not you, Hakim!", the leading soldier said and pointed at the 'soldier', who Kenny was about to call.
"Yes, sir!", the soldier answered respectfully and walked to the leading soldier.
Kenny could not talk to him, then. He walked to the closest soldier to him.
"Hey, uhm! who's that guy?"
"Which guy? Akeem?"
"No, I mean that one with the major general. What's his name? When did he join us?"
"Yea, I know. He's Akeem. I think he was transferred here, a few days ago."
"Oh... Ok. Thank you. Akeem", Kenny suddenly remembered. He had heard a similar name when he had his first interaction with the captives.
"Hey, Kenny", Uthman greeted as Kenny approached. "Any problem?"
"Maybe not. Just have a few questions"
"Ok. Go on".
"Uhm... I brought a guy to you, some days ago, remember?", Kenny asked in a whisper. No one must hear the conversation, or else, the both of them will be doomed.
"Yea, about that guy-"
"Yes, about that guy. Where is he?"
"I'm sorry. I thought I told you"
"Told me what?", Kenny looked around carefully.
"I just had to help him. I made a promise to him and I thought you were here when I said it".
"You only agreed when you heard his name, right? Because he's a -"
"Enough! Okay? You asked me to help him and I did. He couldn't find any of his kind, out there. He would have ended up in a cage again or he'll just die of hunger. How happy would you be to have condemned him to death, all because you wanted to do some good?"
Kenny calmed himself. "Thank you... I just wish you had thought of this, thoroughly... I'll keep hoping nobody else recognizes him. He'll probably snitch on us".
★★★ ★★★ ★★★
The beats got louder and he could hear screams. The screams weren't scary as they should be. The noises seemed to be made by happy people and the thought of that would be scary. Joe wasn't thinking of that.
There was more than enough depression in the country. The absurd move of the soldiers must have affected everyone including the captives and those who managed to escape. No one would dare to make such noise, beating drums and screaming happily. Joe desperately wanted to get the thoughts of the world around him out of his mind.
The beats seemed to be calling him and he was following his ears. He walked into the forest as the noise sounded louder and closer. He was walking deeper and he wasn't getting tired. Whatever it was was similar to hypnosis.
There was a loud thud behind him. He thought a coconut had dropped but there wasn't any behind him. He looked up. He was standing before an African Teak, which was commonly known as ìrókò tree by the 'Yoruba' people.
The beat was loud and it sounded like it was coming from the tree. Joe stared, looking up and down as he tried to remember the story he had been told about Ìrókò trees. He impulsively knocked on the tree and sat down beside it.
Suddenly, he felt the environment moving. He was relaxed and everything felt like he was dreaming. He opened his eyes, a bit wider, just to make sure the forest trees were standing still.
He felt an arm around him. He got startled as every paranormal phenomenon appeared to be real.
"What the f-!.... Aargh!", he screamed out as the arm pulled him, swiftly and easily. Whatever pulled him was too strong to resist.
He could imagine every story he had been told when he was a kid. Listening to those stories was fun when they had friends around. When the skies got dark and everyone would sleep, the children would stick together to avoid being haunted by the demons from the stories they had been told.
The funny fact is they got haunted. Whenever one of the children had to sleep without his mates, there was probably a man with one large eyes and cow horns by the window or a zombie holding a catch.
The Ìrókò story wasn't scary but it gave restrictions to the children.
In the Yoruba land, the Ìròkó tree is believed to be inhabited by a spirit known as the Ìròkó man.
Whoever dared to cut down an Ìrókò tree could be struck dead by the spirit and sometimes, the relatives could also be taken. However, to cut the Ìrókò tree and go scot-free, the lumberman has to appease the tree spirit to avoid a sudden and untimely death.
Still, the spirit of the Ìròkó man was believed to still live in the woods that were gotten from the tree and they could make scary and unexpected noises in the house.
Joe was somewhere else but a tree was still in front of him; a shorter tree which was definitely not Ìrókò.
His heart was beating rapidly but he wasn't actually scared. He got up on his feet and looked around.
Little children were beating drums and women were dancing in local footsteps. He could also see some men around. Everyone of them was weirdly dressed
and all their clothes seemed to be made from plants.
A man walked towards him, dressed like the native doctors in the Nigerian villages. He looked familiar but they were definitely meeting for the first time.
'Nollywood', Joe thought as the man made a gesture and walked past him. He followed the man, just as the man had demanded with a gesture, and they entered a room; rather, a shrine.
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