The Reaper's loot (Episode 21)

The Reaper's loot (Episode 21)

"He is no longer looking the way he used to look while talking to me. What is going on? Is the charm expiring already? But the baba had told me it would last even until his death as long as I finish using it all on him? Did he lie to me?” she mused after he had left her presence. She had sensed the anger in him, something he should never have felt no matter what and besides, his questions were becoming too much, his ego was returning little by little and this bothered her to the core. She didn’t want him to regain his senses no matter what and now that she was on the verge of claiming all his properties and sharing it among her siblings, anything going on was unnegotiable for her.

One thing she didn’t know was that the herbalist had given her the least potent of all his love potions. One that expired as soon as the powdery substance was used up. He had already regained his senses but had been playing along with her after getting to know how unreasonable he had been acting and how audacious she had become. He needed to thread with caution or she would return with a much more evil plan he wouldn’t be able to survive.

===

She went back to the herbalist’s place as soon as her husband had left for work. She didn’t care who saw her or didn’t, she knew no one there and so she confidently stepped into the old hut when the door opened for her at their own accord.

Mmesoma: “Baba I have something against you. You made a fake charm for me even after using my womb? Is that fair?” she said as soon as she sighted him sitting on his usual spot.

Herbalist: “That was all your womb could make. Even your womb was of no use, it wasn’t until you left that I realised that. I can see the fetish stuffs you acquired from India is given you courage to talk disrespectfully to me right?”

Mmesoma: “What do you mean by my womb was of no use and how did you know about those things I got from India?” she asked getting doubly perturbed.

Herbalist: “you reek of them. You emit a kind of smell that can make a sane man insane. Foul odour” he replied in a shaky voice.

Mmsoma: “See baba, I didn’t come here to listen to you hurl insults at me. I came here for answers. Why did you give me a charm which does not last?”

Herbalist: “Get rid of those stuffs you got from India and set that girl free. She is going to be your undoing when your Indian gods turn their backs on you. Get rid of them before it Is too late woman” he warned.

Mmesoma: “You are nothing but a jealous old fool. I can see your own gods have started turning their backs on you and that is why you cannot make a mere love potion. Look at you, you are close to the grave already and your idiotic gods will have no power to save you from the raging inferno awaiting you in hell. I have more powers than you now so I will leave you to your miserable fate in this miserable hut. Ewu, nama” she cursed under her breath and dashed out of the shrine in annoyance.

“Just imagine the old goat preaching to me. What does he know about being good? He wants to act like the wise one meanwhile he is nothing but a depraved idiot, filled with the putrescent values of a maggot” she kept cursing as she drove the long distance back home.

===

As she was about to place the pillow on her face after removing the ventilator, Ifeoluwa jumped out from his hiding and pushed her off from Bola. She looked around angrily to see who her assailant was and began to laugh when she saw it was Ife.

Angela: “If it isn’t the lover boy. Have you come like the prince in shining armour to save your sleeping beauty?” she asked mockingly.

Ifeoluwa: “Angela, this is game over for you. The police would soon be here to hurl your wicked ass into jail” he said and stepped in between her and Bola.

Angela: “Wicked? Who is the wicked one among us? You who close off your heart to true love from a good woman or I who is trying to restore the glory of my bruised ego? You know what? You are the devil here, you have taken away the good in me and replaced it with bitterness and hatred. I will still take from you whatever it is that makes you happy even in death” she charged for him but he dodged her.

Ifeoluwa: “You need to get your senses back Angie. I told you many times that we were over but you kept trying. The more you tried the further away I wanted to be from you and this is even before Bola came into the scene. Even without them, I will never have considered spending my life with you because your are possessive and obsessive. You can still make amends, take responsibility for your mistakes and actions so you can find peace”

Angela: “I will rather kill myself than have you lecture me about responsibilities. You who run from them like they are plagues? Oh please!” she flipped her tongue at him like one possessed as she planned her escape. They heard someone cough behind Ife, he turned back and saw Bola wide awake and already sitting up.

Ifeoluwa: “Oh my God Bola! You are awake?” he bent over her, checking every part of her trying to be sure she still wasn’t in a vegetative state.

Bola: “My throat is sore. My mouth bitter and where is my child? Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked looking around the room. “Angela when did you become a nurse?” she asked trying to force a smile to her aching face.

Angela: “No… No… you shouldn’t be awake, you cannot be awake” she screamed on top of her voice, took steps back and then dashed out of the ward. Just then the policemen stepped in with a nurse who had led them there.

Ifeoluwa: “She is the nurse who just ran out now. Please go after her and make sure you catch her” he watched as the policemen also turned back in pursuit of the impostor. He was afraid to turn back to her, afraid she would have gone back to being in coma again until she felt her cold palm on his arm.

===

She went straight into her secret chamber as soon as she had gotten home. Picked up a red mirror…

Mmesoma: “With the power conferred on me by the gods of India, I summon you Chiagozie Charles my husband’s spirit into this mirror now and I command you to obey at the count of three” she stopped and looked around the room, casting Nneka a wicked look where she laid glaring into thin air. “I…” she began, “2…3” and his face popped up into the bigger mirror in the room as he was in the office signing a file.

“Charles, I command you never to return home from now henceforth, run mad, go crazy, become an imbecile or whichever one you choose but don’t ever return” she commanded, picked up the little red mirror again to carry out the last ritual which would see her wish come true…