I swore never to allow myself to be bothered by a woman again, when I was finally discharged from the specialist hospital, that fateful tenth day of July 2013, with a truckload of medication.Tarami’s magnanimous branch manager had offered her official car and driver to take me home. I said goodbye to the Nigerian, Syrian and Indian doctors and nurses, who’d taken their time to cut and stitch me for more than three months. I was amused at Tarami’s tears of joy, as we journeyed to her apartment that afternoon.“Please drive us to the church….” The driver looked surprised, while he stared at the traffic lights ahead.“Madam said I should drive you home from the hospital, not…”“I want to go to the church and thank God.”“Okay, just drop us and we’ll use a taxi to church-” Tarami cut in. The driver seemed not to hear us until I made one last statement.“If you don’t take me to the church before going to her apartment Mr Karim, I’ll come to her bank tomorrow and tell the manager you drove
At that moment, I felt sorry for Tarami – for having to put her through the entire stress, knowing fully well she had to be at her desk tomorrow morning in the bank. Saret Andeki had started praying in whispers, while Pastor Alozie opened his large leather Holy Bible.I never intended for anyone to get hurt in the process of carrying out my late mother’s wish. This was why I felt the weight of guilt, as thoughts of all the people I’d delivered since joining Ebie, began to race into my mind.My eyes were still on the door which had since been shut. The circles of prayer warriors had just been formed, and Pastor Alozie looked like a ready medieval General for a much anticipated battle, he was sure he’d win. I only took my gaze from the door after Tarami’s right hand held mine.She bent down and looked at me affectionately, while the other hand stroked my face.“It’ll soon be over Tonye…very soon,” she whispered to me in a soothing voice. I nodded as an usher went around the church audit
Inside the church, despite the fading pains on my body from the accident, I knew I had no choice but to maintain that sedentary position, until my invisible double successfully concluded his ‘mission.’I ignored the heated prayers around me, while my buttocks remained ‘stuck’ upon a white plastic chair. It was a good thing the weather was cold and the mosquitoes were at bay, else we all would have been soaked in our perspiration before daybreak.I closed my eyes and opened them again, trying to imagine what was going on in the mind of my invisible double. Although I knew what he was presently doing, I knew there was nothing like the feeling of being there personally. Slowly, I turned my head towards Tarami and saw her praying like her late mother.“You will die the same way you made my leviathan die,” the goddess screamed at my invisible double before she slumped backwards onto the surface of the watery altar and melted on the flat surface.All eyes were now on my invisible double as
Timmy knew sleeping was the least of his worries as he brought the bottle of McDonnell’s to his mouth the fifth time. It was three o’clock in the morning and he also knew most Ebie initiates would be doing something similar to what he was presently doing, wherever they were.His apprehension seemed to escalate when he noticed his Ebie katana was not on the wooden rack, after his invisible double had returned from the marine sphere. He wished drunkenness would lull him to sleep, so he wouldn’t think about the consequences of what had just happened.He brought the bottle to his mouth the sixth time and cursed himself for contracting only one assassin to get rid of me. He thought about his money, cars, company, girlfriends, investments and stocks, but didn’t think about penury.I woke up on the altar the next morning to see Tarami kneeling beside me, peering into my face like a nurse.“Hope you’re better?” she whispered.“Let’s go home…it’s all over,” I whispered while looking around the
15th July, 2011Port HarcourtRivers StateMy name is Taribo Opuda Stephenson, an offspring of late Chief Tamunoibuomi Apiri Stephenson, whose death is the reason for all these narrative. At twenty-seven years of age, I know little or nothing about the occult or marine world.Everything I’m going to say or narrate happened within a year, and although I do not have any specific reason for doing this, I feel it has to be done. This is because after all I’d experienced in the past one year,it is important that persons all over the world should know the powers and forces that exist on this planet, which they have no knowledge about.Surprisingly, the word ‘marine,’ to the best of my knowledge, only concerned the activities of fishermen, animals and plants that live in the sea, a member of an armed force in the United States or United Kingdom who is specially trained for military duties at sea as well as on land, offshore oil exploration activities and freight activities on the high seas…
The next morning I was up by six, said a very short prayer, did some press-ups and hurried to the kitchen to tidy up the aftermath of yesterday’s cooking and dinner before Her Majesty strayed in there.Apart from her dressing, there was one other thing that pissed everyone off in the family – her promiscuous lifestyle, which her parents saw as uncontrollable. This was despite the wealth the latter possessed, which she easily had access to, and the comfortable life she lived.She had barely wiped off the toothpaste suds around her mouth when she came and greeted me in the sitting room.“Good morning,” she greeted slowly.“Good morning how was your night?”“It was wonderful, the power outage notwithstanding,” she shrugged with a deep sigh as if she wanted to tell me something bad or nasty, while avoiding my stern countenance at the same time.“I’ll be travelling for some days, maybe till Saturday,” she continued.“Travelling to where?” I demanded folding my arms and eyeing her suspicio
It was ten forty-eight when I stepped out of the apartment and headed for the hospital where my mother had been admitted. Out of all the twelve apartments on the block, my sister’s apartment was undoubtedly the cleanest. I’d say kudos to her, but it didn’t do anything to improve her ‘attitude.’Typical Benjamin Okpara Street in the morning saw people walking up and down somewhat aimlessly. I came out of the compound and started walking until a taxi cab stopped for me near Caledonia – a popular grill and night club, at the end of the street.I soon entered the taxi cab which was painted blue and white and shut the door, while thinking of Caledonia which in the next seven to eight hours would come ‘alive.’ The driver took a couple of short cuts before we were stopped by a traffic warden, who subsequently allowed the lane sideways to move. As I waited in the taxi cab, I began to wonder why my mother wanted to see me.The traffic warden soon waved our line to move, and the driver sped to
Words could not possibly describe the way I felt, while thinking about my mother that Friday morning.It had been two days since the ‘revelation’ about Ebie, as thoughts about my sister’s arrival crept into my mind. I removed the second button from the hole on my blue long sleeved shirt, while waiting for a taxi at the tail end of Sani Abacha Road.Four or five minutes later, a taxi cab stopped with three other passengers, and opened its front passenger door for me to get in. My wristwatch showed ten-thirty in the morning as the taxi cab sped to my destination – Agip Junction.The moment I came down from the taxi cab, I walked a few metres to where some bus conductors were shouting ‘Rumuokoro’, ‘Rumuokoro,’ and stepped into the passenger seat of a blue Mitsubushi L300 fifteen seater bus.I sat beside a fair lady who suddenly reminded me of my sick mother’s complexion. The bus kept stopping to pick and drop passengers until it finally reached my destination – City High School Rivers St
Timmy knew sleeping was the least of his worries as he brought the bottle of McDonnell’s to his mouth the fifth time. It was three o’clock in the morning and he also knew most Ebie initiates would be doing something similar to what he was presently doing, wherever they were.His apprehension seemed to escalate when he noticed his Ebie katana was not on the wooden rack, after his invisible double had returned from the marine sphere. He wished drunkenness would lull him to sleep, so he wouldn’t think about the consequences of what had just happened.He brought the bottle to his mouth the sixth time and cursed himself for contracting only one assassin to get rid of me. He thought about his money, cars, company, girlfriends, investments and stocks, but didn’t think about penury.I woke up on the altar the next morning to see Tarami kneeling beside me, peering into my face like a nurse.“Hope you’re better?” she whispered.“Let’s go home…it’s all over,” I whispered while looking around the
Inside the church, despite the fading pains on my body from the accident, I knew I had no choice but to maintain that sedentary position, until my invisible double successfully concluded his ‘mission.’I ignored the heated prayers around me, while my buttocks remained ‘stuck’ upon a white plastic chair. It was a good thing the weather was cold and the mosquitoes were at bay, else we all would have been soaked in our perspiration before daybreak.I closed my eyes and opened them again, trying to imagine what was going on in the mind of my invisible double. Although I knew what he was presently doing, I knew there was nothing like the feeling of being there personally. Slowly, I turned my head towards Tarami and saw her praying like her late mother.“You will die the same way you made my leviathan die,” the goddess screamed at my invisible double before she slumped backwards onto the surface of the watery altar and melted on the flat surface.All eyes were now on my invisible double as
At that moment, I felt sorry for Tarami – for having to put her through the entire stress, knowing fully well she had to be at her desk tomorrow morning in the bank. Saret Andeki had started praying in whispers, while Pastor Alozie opened his large leather Holy Bible.I never intended for anyone to get hurt in the process of carrying out my late mother’s wish. This was why I felt the weight of guilt, as thoughts of all the people I’d delivered since joining Ebie, began to race into my mind.My eyes were still on the door which had since been shut. The circles of prayer warriors had just been formed, and Pastor Alozie looked like a ready medieval General for a much anticipated battle, he was sure he’d win. I only took my gaze from the door after Tarami’s right hand held mine.She bent down and looked at me affectionately, while the other hand stroked my face.“It’ll soon be over Tonye…very soon,” she whispered to me in a soothing voice. I nodded as an usher went around the church audit
I swore never to allow myself to be bothered by a woman again, when I was finally discharged from the specialist hospital, that fateful tenth day of July 2013, with a truckload of medication.Tarami’s magnanimous branch manager had offered her official car and driver to take me home. I said goodbye to the Nigerian, Syrian and Indian doctors and nurses, who’d taken their time to cut and stitch me for more than three months. I was amused at Tarami’s tears of joy, as we journeyed to her apartment that afternoon.“Please drive us to the church….” The driver looked surprised, while he stared at the traffic lights ahead.“Madam said I should drive you home from the hospital, not…”“I want to go to the church and thank God.”“Okay, just drop us and we’ll use a taxi to church-” Tarami cut in. The driver seemed not to hear us until I made one last statement.“If you don’t take me to the church before going to her apartment Mr Karim, I’ll come to her bank tomorrow and tell the manager you drove
After an intensive massage one afternoon, I thought about the other Ebie initiates and wished they could witness everything I’d witnessed, especially Diane Orek, in her present state. She was the least of my worries, since one of them had even tried to kill me, by procuring an assassin. Staying in the hospital was frustrating, due to the healing and recovery process, which went on at a snail-speed. Many things had improved in my daily routine, especially my feeding pattern. I now fed myself, though salty, spicy and fried foods were still disallowed from my diet. My body, especially my blood needed sugar, so I indulged in ice creams and sweets on several occasions. As for the portrait, I looked at it at every available moment. Sometimes, I imagined me and Tarami as orphans who were running away from the goddess and dying in the process of surviving Ebie’s pangs, while the time rapidly ticked away. It was the third Sunday in June as he itched for the meeting to come to an end. If he
God had never failed or disappointed him ever since he became born-again two decades ago, and he knew he wouldn’t start now. As far as Pastor Alozie was concerned, the major battle at hand was the ‘third stage’ of the Ebie saga he was now faced with.The ‘first stage’ was the attack by the naked demons in my house. The ‘second stage’ was the accident which incapacitated me and the ‘third and final stage’ was the proposed face-off between me, Pastor Alozie (any other ‘interested’ party and the goddess.On the day the last surgical operation was to take place, Tarami and Pastor Alozie were given fifteen minutes to talk with me before I was reeled to the theatre.“I’ll come around immediately I’m through from work,” Tarami whispered as she held my hands.I looked at her smooth face and thought of how my abdomen had been scarred with stitches. The psychologist had advised me to keep recollecting happy thoughts and memories before the surgical operation commenced.This made me smile whenev
If anybody had told me that my invisible double was still ‘alive’ and ‘functional,’ I’d laughed heartily at such a person. The door to my room opened slowly and I stopped laughing at the cartoon on the television.I thought it was a nurse and tried to prepare my buttocks for another round of morning injections. Instead of a cheerful feminine face in a white uniform, I was surprised at the huge, six feet figure carrying a hamper, while entering the room with a smiling face.He looked satisfied with the occupant he’d just met, as his right hand began to reach for the back of his waist.“Are you Tamunoonye?” he asked in a friendly tone. Before I opened my mouth to answer, I watched in surprise as his smile soon turned into a painful, ugly grimace. He began to stagger towards my bed, while the hamper and dagger dropped from his hands.The next moment, I saw his white silk shirt become soaked with blood, flowing from his mouth and nostrils. He began to gasp for breath as the shiny blade w
While Tarami’s imaginary kiss landed on my forehead, Ibeabuchi put finishing touches to his ‘tools’ of work. As a former mobile policeman, he knew the modus operandi of the Police and Mobile Police respectively in the State.He was conversant with their nature and more importantly, how long they usually took to respond to a distress call.On the small table beside the window, two oiled pistols lay with a well sharpened service dagger between them. At that moment, he wasn’t concerned with the instruments of death before him, rather he marvelled at my picture, taken by a special camera inside the marine sphere.He tried to wonder why a handsome and suave gentleman deserved to die. Four hours ago, he’d received a message alert on his mobile phone. It informed him of his savings bank account with Union Bank, which had just been credited with Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira, by one AdiyaAdetuyi..Upon completion of the assignment, he would receive the remaining half.Examining the p
The goddess sat on one of the chairs near the pool of ice particles, while she kept observing the portrait, which was now held by three ‘marine aides.’ It depicted her Utmost Prosperity in a ceremonial military uniform, inspecting the corpses of six men tied to six wooden posts.Their heads were bowed and blood was flowing from their ripped abdomens.“Tonye, Tonye, Tonye…you were going to make me proud by being an exceptional Ebie initiate, but your foolishness will now lead to your painful ascension.”The three naked women remained stone-faced as the goddess gave out a loud cackle which shook the entire orb.“A new initiate would find this very useful…see to that.” She rose up and made for the watery altar, with the three women walking silently behind her.They overtook her when they were a metre to the watery altar, before placing the portrait gingerly atop it.“Tonye, you disappointed me terribly,” she whispered to herself as the portrait was slowly absorbed by the watery altar. Be