The Godmother – Batch 6

EPISODE 31

He felt encouraged by that, but how would he say it? He
must not reveal too much about Iye, just as he had done to
Rita. He told Zay about his ‘spiritual mother’ and how she
had warned him to desist from extra marital affairs.
‘I couldn’t resist you. With you, I’ve been having the extra
marital affairs, and now she’s threatening to deal seriously
with me,’ he concluded.
To his utmost surprise, Zaynab looked at him amusedly and
burst out laughing.
‘Hey, it’s not funny,’ he said. ‘Believe me, this is very
serious.’
‘Really? You looked so pathetic when you were saying it.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s because you don’t know the woman.
She’s a very powerful one. If you know her, you wouldn’t
laugh like that.’
‘Alright, I’m sorry if it looks like I’m trying to trivialize the
issue. But, really, you don’t have to look like that. This is a
very simple matter that has a simple solution.’
He looked intently at her. ‘You think it has a simple
solution?’
‘Of course.’ She smiled warmly to reassure him. ‘Look,
there’s an alfa I can take you to. He is a specialist in
matters like this.’
He became very interested. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, Alfa Ousmanou will handle a case like this with ease.’
‘Then, you have to take me there as soon as possible. I just
have to stop this woman’s breathing down on my neck.’
‘Taking you there is no problem. Just create a time. When
you’re ready, let me know.’
‘Tomorrow, I’ll let you know when we’ll go. There’s no point
in wasting time. This is an urgent matter. I’ll definitely give
you a call to arrange for
going there.’
The following day, he called her that by four o ‘clock, they
should go to the place. Of course he would be going only
with his driver and a police orderly. They went to Zay’s
office to pick her. She instructed her driver to drive the car
home. The Alfa lived in one humble bungalow at Kubwa.
The man listened to Tope well, occasionally nodding his
head.
‘You have come to the right place,’ he said. ‘What you have
said is quite tough, because I can see that the woman is the
one controlling your destiny. All the same, we can do
something that will break you away from her yoke. Listen
to me very well. You’re to bring seven black she-goats. In
addition, you’ll bring seventy thousand naira on each of the
goats. Then, you’ll pay seven hundred and seventy seven
thousand, seven hundred naira. That is all.’
‘Are you sure once I do all these, I will be free from her grip
forever?’
‘Don’t ask questions like that because it means you’re
doubting. Do what I say and you’ll see the amazing results.’
‘I shall do what you ask for without delay. Tomorrow, I will
bring all the requirements to you.’
He had departed the place a happy man. Zaynab played
pivotal role in getting guys that would buy the she-goats.
The afternoon of the
following day, they were back to the alfa’s house. The man
was impressed with the alacrity of Tope’s response.
‘Ah, my friend, your job is already done. Wait.’ He went into
an inner room and soon emerged with a piece of cloth.
‘Take,’ he stretched his hand to him.
Tope took the piece of cloth, staring at it.
‘For the next three days, make sure you sleep on it. You can
place it on your bed when you want to sleep. When she
appears to you in dream, don’t be afraid. Tell her boldly
that you have severed your ties with her. That is all.
Congratulations for your victory in advance.’

EPISODE 32

Tope took the piece of cloth, staring at it.
‘For the next three days, make sure you sleep on it. You can
place it on your bed when you want to sleep. When she
appears to you in dream, don’t be afraid. Tell her boldly
that you have severed your ties with her. That is all.
Congratulations for your victory in advance.’
With all these assurances, Tope left the place a contended
man. That night, he told Rita he would like to sleep alone in
the guest room for the next three days. She had no choice
than to acquiesce. It was the third day that Iye appeared to
him. She was in a flowing white dress.
‘Why are you fighting me?’ she asked. ‘Of all the things I’ve
done for you, why do you choose to fight back?’
‘I’m not fighting you,’ he replied. ‘I just want to be free
from you.’
She gazed at him. ‘You think that’s possible? You think you
can break away from me?’
‘Yes, I can and I will.’
She shook her. ‘Tope, you can’t. Stop wasting your time and
resources trying to do so. You can’t. You’re mine.’
‘I want out,’ he insisted. ‘I want out of the relationsh¡p.’
Iye shook her head and disappeared. When he woke up, he
was happy he had stood up to her. He was free, he decided.
He was free from the
grip of Iye.
Later in the evening, he and Zay popped champagne to
celebrate the successful outcome.
‘Dear Zay, I’ll never forget you for this thing you have done.
You have been such a good help and I’ll never forget this
that you have done.’
‘You’re welcome, my dear. What are friends for?’
‘That alfa is really strong. I won’t stop patronizing him,
henceforth.’
‘That’s good. He’s very powerful and reliable.’
‘And thank you so much for your connection.’
‘We thank God.’
They wined as if indeed there was something worth
celebration. Later, they ended up in bed.
‘You won’t stop amazing with your s€×ual prowess,’ she
commented.
‘The feeling is mutual,’ he replied. ‘You won’t stop amazing
me too.’
On his way home later that night, he got a call from Iye. At
first, his response was to ignore it. She however kept
calling and he finally decided to pick it.’
‘So, it has come to this,’ she said in agitation. ‘It has come
to you ignoring my calls.’
‘What do you want from me?’ he asked listlessly.
‘Okay. Listen well to me. What I want is that you should
honor your words and to stand by our agreement.’
‘I don’t have any agreement with you, lady,’ he said.
‘Let me warn you that you’re playing with fire,’ she said in
agitation. ‘That woman, Zaynab, will lead you to your doom.
You’re warned!’
‘I have nothing more to do with you,’ he said and cut the
line. He went on to block her number.
Things had changed, he decided. How long would it take
Rita, or Iye, or whatever she called herself to realize this
fact? He would not only
indulge in his new lifestyle, he would do it to the maximum.
On that basis, he decided he would give Zaynab, his new
found love, a great
surprise.
The following day, they met again in her house about five
p.m. it was becoming more regular and a routine.
‘I have a surprise for you, dear Zay.’
She smiled warmly at him. ‘A surprise? What surprise could
that be?’
‘Well, it depends on whether you’ll accept it or not. But it’s
a good and wonderful surprise.’
‘Give it to me, my darling. What surprise is that?’
‘Well, the first thing is you have to close your eyes.’
She closed her eyes, wondering what could be the surprise
he had for her.
He removed a small package from his pocket. It was a
diamond-studded engagement ring.

EPISODE 33

She smiled warmly at him. ‘A surprise? What surprise could
that be?’
‘Well, it depends on whether you’ll accept it or not. But it’s
a good and wonderful surprise.’
‘Give it to me, my darling. What surprise is that?’
‘Well, the first thing is you have to close your eyes.’
She closed her eyes, wondering what could be the surprise
he had for her.
He removed a small package from his pocket. It was a
diamond-studded engagement ring.
‘You can open your eyes now.’ Her eyes were filled with
wonderment.
‘I think we should consummate our relationsh¡p by getting
married,’ he continued. ‘What do you think?’
She looked at the ring in bliss. The truth was in her
previous relationsh¡ps, no one had offered her anything like
this.
‘Oh, it’s a beautiful ring,’ she exclaimed.
He put it in the appropriate finger.
‘And it looks perfect on my finger!’
‘So, what do I take your answer to be?’
‘Yes, of course!’ She clung on to him and they went on to
daze each other with k-sses.
Tope Davies decided to brave the odds. While Zay was
about to be married the third time, Tope would be taking a
second wife that was about
five years older than him. He did not hide that fact from
anybody. As a matter of fact, he told Rita his wife that he
would soon be taking another wife.
‘Another what?’ Rita exclaimed.
‘Another wife. I’m taking a new wife.’
‘You’re joking! This must be the joke of the millennium!’
‘It’s not a joke. I only want to let you know so that it would
not come as a surprise.’
‘It’s that woman, isn’t it? It’s that woman you spend
quality time with every day when you leave your office. So,
it is not enough that you’re
spending time with her, you want to go ahead and marry
her!’
He did not say anything again. Rita was heart- broken.
Surely, this was not the Tope she had married. The man she
married was very compassionate and considerate. The man
she had married would not be taking selfish and blind
decisions such as this.
She hærdly slept that night. The following morning, after
dropping Oyin with the nanny, she went to meet the pastor
of her church again.
‘It’s my husband again o. This time around, I don’t even
understand him at all. Can you imagine he’s planning taking
a new wife?’
The pastor tried to calm her down. Then he prayed for her
that the good Lord will intervene and bring Brother Tope
back to the path of
rationality and faithfulness.
‘Please, pastor, I want you to keep praying for me on this
matter. He must not marry that woman o. By all means, he
must not marry her.’
‘The good Lord will intervene,’ he assured.
Despite the assurances of the pastor, Rita remained
agitated. Why was her dear husband giving her such
heartache? Why was he hell bent on
ruining the love they had and shared for each other? She
had known that after the close of work, he had habitually
been seeing the woman. That
was bad enough. But to say he would go ahead and marry
her was outlandish. That would just not happen!
There would be no much ceremony. They would just go to
the registry and formalize the wh0le thing.
‘I feel so excited as if it’s my very first experience,’ Zaynab
exclaimed. ‘Just a few days more. A few more days and I’ll
be your wife.’
He practically lifted her and took her upstairs. ‘Let me give
you a preview of what I’ll be giving you as your husband.’
‘Okay, my darling.’
He undressed her slowly until she was completely unclad.
‘Should I do the same to you?’
‘Oh, no. Do not stress yourself. Let me do it with all
pleasure.’
He undressed himself to her delight.
‘This thing seems to be getting bigger,’ she said, holding
his p—k. ‘Yeah, the bigger the better.’
‘And it’s not fully er-ct o.’
‘No, it’s not. I will help to make it so.’ Her fingers ran over
it in a teasing way.
‘Why don’t you lie on the bed?’ she asked. He did and she
was by his side. She gently rubbed his manh-od until it
became fully er-ct.
‘Whosh!’ she exclaimed. ‘Here comes Mr. Big.’
He grinned at her. ‘Let’s go conservative. Let’s do the
‘bishop’ style.’
‘Anything my love wants.’
He was on top of her for another passionate intimacy. They
held each other as if their life depended on it.
in,side her big shop, Rita was seriously agitated. Despite her
standing and aversion, her husband seemed hell-bent on
marrying that other woman. The mere thought that she
would be sharing her husband with another woman brought
the bile to her heart. It was repulsive to say the least.
She just had to do something about it. That marriage must
not come to be. Never! The pastor he had consulted on the
matter seemed to be
taking things ‘too easy’ for her liking. He had said if it was
the will of God that her husband would not take another
wife, it would not happen. in
other words, if it was the will, then it would happen! Rita
did not like that statement. She had come to realize that
she could not rely on the
pastor to achieve her aim on this matter.
So, what could he do now? She just had to do something.
On the spur of the moment, she decided to call Wunmi, her
confidant, though the
latter was five years older.
‘This my challenge I’m facing from my husband, I can’t just
bear it anymore.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I can’t bear him marrying another woman. It must not
happen.’
‘I quite agree with you. That will be the beginning of him
abandoning you and your child.’
‘Oh, God, I can’t bear to see that happen. please, Aunty
Wunmi, is there no way to prevent him from going on with
his plans?’
‘Well, it depends on what you mean by preventing him.’
‘I don’t want that marriage to happen. I want to stop it by
all means.’
There was a brief silence from the end of the line.
‘Well, I have an idea, but I don’t know if you can take it or
not.’
Rita became interested. ‘Please, tell me. Tell me anything
that can stop his mad quest.’
There was yet another pause. ‘Well, the thing is there is
one baba that we can consult on this matter. All you have
to say is you want your
husband to only love you and love no other woman.’
Rita suddenly felt elated. ‘Aunty, you know somebody who
can do that?’
‘Yes. He is here in Abuja. I know women he has done it for
and the thing is working very well for them.’
‘Oh, aunty, why didn’t you tell me this since all these days?’
‘How would I know you would welcome the idea? You kept
on saying ‘pastor this’, ‘Pastor that.’ Anyway, it’s not too
late.’

EPISODE 34

Rita suddenly felt elated. ‘Aunty, you know somebody who
can do that?’
‘Yes. He is here in Abuja. I know women he has done it for
and the thing is working very well for them.’
‘Oh, aunty, why didn’t you tell me this since all these days?’
‘How would I know you would welcome the idea? You kept
on saying ‘pastor this’, ‘Pastor that.’ Anyway, it’s not too
late.’
‘I will take the option. How soon can we go and see the
man?’
‘As soon as you’re ready.’
Rita glanced at the big clock in the shop. It was few
minutes to four o’clock.
‘Aunty, I would soon be in your place. We’ll go today,
today. There’s no point in wasting time again.’
‘It’s alright. I’m at home. Come around and I’ll take you
there.’
‘Okay, aunty. I will soon be in your place.’
That was it. There was no time to waste again. Rita put her
things in her bag. She called the attention of the sales girl.
‘Lock up the shop if I don’t come by six o’clock. Keep the
proceeds where we keep it. I’m going out.’
‘Alright, madam,’ Amina replied.
Rita left the shop and drove to Aunty Wunmi’s house at
Wuse. Wunmi was married to a senior military officer as the
third wife. She was a
beautiful but serious looking woman. She must mean what
she said. The woman was waiting for her as she had
promised.
‘Good afternoon, aunty.’
‘Good afternoon, Rita.’
Without further delay, the two women, accompanied by one
of the two soldiers manning the house left for the baba’s
house. The old man
listened to what Rita had to say.
‘Baba, I won’t ever accept what my husband is planning.
I’ve labored with him a lot in the past. I’ve endured a lot.
Now, that things are rosy,
another woman wants to take him shine. No way.’
The baba was very patient. ‘What exactly do you want me
to do?’ he asked.
‘I want you to do something so that he’ll hate the other
woman. Something will make him love me alone and not
look at any other woman.’
The man nodded. ‘That is a very simple thing to do, but it
may cost you a lot.’
‘How much will it cost?’
The man appeared pensive. ‘Bring one hundred thousand
naira.’
Rita was pleasantly surprised. ‘Is that all, baba?’
‘Yes, that’s all.’
Promptly, she dipped her hand in her handbag and brought
out the money. ‘This is it.’
The old man smiled. ‘Come back this time of tomorrow.
Your work will be ready.’
‘Thank you, baba,’ Wunmi said. ‘Thank you very much. I
know we can always depend on you.’
The two women left the place.
‘You can be rest assured that your problem is solved,’
Wunmi said. ‘That baba is a very powerful one. The thing
will work like magic.’
Twenty-four hour later, Rita was back in the old man’s
house. He gave a small wrapped package.
‘There’s powder in,side,’ the man said. ‘You’re to sprinkle
the powder in his food or drink. Make sure only he takes
the food or drink. That is all. He
will hate all other women. You’re the only one he will love
in the wh0le wide world.’
‘Thank you, baba. Thank you very much. After the thing has
worked, I’ll surely come back to see you and show more
appreciation. I will surely do
that.’
She left the place, feeling excited. For the first time in the
last many days, she felt elated. She was certainly in a
jaunty mood as she drove her
car back home. Her phone rang. Her husband was on the
line.
‘Hello, dear,’ he said.
‘Darling, how’s everything?’
‘I’m fine. Remember I told you I would be travelling to
Enugu this morning to inspect the federal television and
radio stations in that state.’
‘Yes, I remember you said so.’
‘Well, I won’t be able to come back today. The senior
Minister said I should extend my inspection to cover the
other eastern states.’
Rita felt deflated. ‘Oh.’
‘Not to worry. In two or three days’ time, I should be back
in Abuja.’
‘Alright.’
‘See you, dear.’
‘Bye.’
Rita’s excitement puffed into the air. Why was it a day like
this that he would travel and not return as planned? Why
was it a day she had
something very precious to serve him? Anyway, no
problem, she would wait.
It took another three days before he returned to Abuja,
which was Friday evening. Rita was glad to have him back.
She had decided that she would be using endearments for
him and would treat him very warmly as she used to do.
‘Oh my darling, you look so stressed up,’ she commented as
soon as he came into the house.
He shook his head. ‘It’s not easy. My schedule was hectic,’
he said.
She helped him to remove his agbada and other clothes.
‘What you need first and foremost is a cool shower.’ She
arranged for him to have the shower. Then, she prepared
his favorite meal which was
fried meal and fried plantain, with fried turkey. She asked
the house maid to go to her room while she personally did
all these.
Then, she brought the food to him in bed.
‘You shouldn’t have gone through the troubles,’ he said. ‘I
don’t think I’ll be eating tonight. I don’t have the appetite.’
‘But you must eat, darling,’ she quickly said. ‘You’ve
worked hærd; you must feed well. How could you see food
as tantalizing as this and you say
you don’t have appetite?’
Truly, the food was sweet-looking. It was his favorite, but
he simply had no appetite, which was strange, even to him.
She practically had to feed him. After taking some bites, he
declined to eat further.
‘Alright, take a lap of the chicken,’ she urged.
He took it and was able to finish that. Rita was glad. He had
taken enough of the portion. After the meal, he said he
would like to sleep early as he desired rest.
‘No problem, honey,’ Rita said. ‘I agree with you that you
need rest.’
She left him in the bedroom, glad that she had achieved
what she set out to do.
Alone in the bedroom, Tope gazed at the flat screen in the
bed-room without interest. One of the local stations was
reporting his tour of eastern
radio and television stations. Tope watched briefly and
flipped the channel to a foreign one. After watching the
station for some minutes, he
slept off.
He had a dream. In it, he saw Iye in his then mini-flat home
in Lagos. It was like the first day she visited his house.
‘You’re really beautiful. You look smart too, and honestly,
I’ll like to marry you.’
Iye smiled at him. ‘Are you really sure you want to marry
me?’
He nodded ass**tively. ‘Certainly, I want to.’
She smiled up at him. ‘Well, we can marry, but not in this
form.’
His eyes clouded. ‘What do you mean? What form are you
talking about?’
‘You will have to go through transition before we can get
married.’
He looked more confused. ‘Can you explain what you
mean?’
She nodded. ‘I will explain. This is the way things would
happen. I would first tell you I could not marry you, that I
would be your helper, your
godmother. Indeed, I would help you to attain wealth, fame
and power. You would be married to another lady called
Rita. I would ask you to
treat her the way you would have treated me if I were to be
your wife.
‘You would promise to do this, but you would not keep to
your promise. You would be so unfaithful in the marriage.
You would meet a lady who would attempt to completely
take over your soul. I would warn you but you would not
listen. The lady would even take you to somebody who
would promise you that he could break my hold on you.
‘Then, you would attempt to marry that other woman. Your
wife would be so distressed that she would try all means to
stop that marriage
between you and the lady. Then you will have this dream.’
He looked at her and shook his head. ‘All these things
you’re saying are esoteric.’
‘Esoteric or not. They will come to pass. When you have
this dream, my dear Tope, it means you have three days
more. Just three days in your
present form. There will be a transition, and you’ll have me
forever, just as you desired.’

EPISODE 35

He looked at her and shook his head. ‘All these things
you’re saying are esoteric.’
‘Esoteric or not. They will come to pass. When you have
this dream, my dear Tope, it means you have three days
more. Just three days in your present form. There will be a
transition, and you’ll have me forever, just as you desired.’
The following morning, he felt much better. Thank God it
was weekend. That Saturday morning, Rita woke him up
with k-sses.
‘Is my darling husband feeling better now?’
He smiled warmly at her. ‘Yes, my dear. I feel much better,
now.’
It was when he was having his bath that he remembered
the dream he had about Iye. Now, what kind of dream was
that? The dream looked so
real, as if it indeed happened some years ago. What was the
meaning of ‘transition’ that she talked about?
He suddenly stopped his bathing. Wait a minute, this was
not an ordinary dream! In the dream, Iye predicted what
had happened to him. But the
most frightening part was that she said the moment he had
that dream, he had only three more days to go. Three more
days!
He wanted to dismiss the dream, but the more he tried to
do that, the more he had convictions that it was for real
and that something was
about to happen to him. After his bath, he wore t-shirt and
jeans. He was supposed to meet Zay that morning, but he
changed his mind. Around
eleven a.m., Zay called him.
‘I’m eagerly waiting for you, darling,’ she said.
He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it to
your place today. I’ve decided to take a rest. That tour
really sapped my energy.’
‘Oh sorry, baby. I think I understand.’
Rita noticed that he was indoors throughout that Saturday,
and concluded that the baba’s medicine was indeed
powerful. She must really
appreciate the old man and must also show appreciation to
Aunty Wunmi for taking her to the right place.
That night, he dreamt of Iye again. It was a very brief
dream. She was happy as she appeared to him. ‘Two more
days to go, my darling Tope,’ she said.
This time around, when he woke in the morning, he
instantly remembered the dream. He became jittery. ‘God,
this is becoming something else,’ he
told himself. Something told him he must do something.
After his wife had gone to church, he called Zaynab.
‘It’s like I have to see that alfa again.’
‘What’s the problem, dear?’
‘There’s a problem. I’ve been having a nagging dream about
that lady. I need to let the alfa know.’
‘But there’s nothing to be afraid of after what the alfa has
done.’
He sighed. ‘I strongly believe I need to see him. Let me just
see him and tell him the dream. Don’t bother yourself, my
driver would take me
there.’
About forty minutes later, his driver parked in front of the
alfa’s house. As usual, his orderly and the driver would stay
in the car while he would
go in to see the man. To his consternation, he was told that
Alfa Ousmanou had traveled to Senegal.
‘What! When will he be back?’
‘Maybe in a couple of weeks,’ he was told.
Couple of weeks! If the dream was anything to go by, he
would be long dead, by then. He went back to his car and
put a call to Zay.
‘I was told the baba has traveled to Senegal and may not be
back until two weeks’ time,’ he informed her.
‘Well, two weeks is not too far away it to wait,’ she said.
‘It is,’ he quickly interjected. ‘Listen, that lady is saying I
have two more days to live. Two more days!’
‘And you believe that?’ she asked almost derisively.
‘I think I do. Let me ask, is there no other powerful men, or
even women you know? I must see somebody on this
exigent issue right away!’
She appeared to be thinking over it. ‘Give me some
minutes. I’ll do some findings and get back to you.’
‘Alright. Thank you.’
He was driven back to his house. It was few minutes to
noon. He was so agitated that he was restless. He paced
around his sitting-room,
thinking. Maybe he should call Iye and apologize, his mind
said. Or at least, he should call her and hear what she had
to say.
Luckily, he had not deleted her number. He unblocked it
and called her line. The service provider said the number
was switched off.
D–n! He tried the second number he knew belonged to
her and it was the same result. D–n, d–n!

EPISODE 36

Luckily, he had not deleted her number. He unblocked it
and called her line. The service provider said the number
was switched off.
D–n! He tried the second number he knew belonged to
her and it was the same result. D–n, d–n! He was still
awaiting Zay’s call. His mind told him not to depend on Zay
this time around. One, she didn’t seem to believe him. Two,
if Alfa Ousmanou was the best she could offer, then that
best was not good enough.
His mind went back to Iye. Somehow, he believed she was
the only one that could come to his assistance at this
crucial stage. He tried her lines again. He could not get
through the first line but was able to get through the
second line. Thank God, thank God!
‘Hello, is that you Iye?’ he asked as soon as somebody
picked the call.
‘Who is this?’
‘This is Tope on the line. Iye,good afternoon.’
‘Good afternoon.’
‘Thank God I can finally speak to you. Iye, please I want to
apologize for going against you. Believe me, I’m sincerely
sorry.’
There was a long pause. ‘It’s okay,’ she finally said. ‘You’re
forgiven.’
He broke into a relieved smile. ‘Oh, Iye, thank you so much.
Thank you so much. My God will bless you.’
That’s alright. Just get to know that in the new life, there
will be no room for such misconduct. But for now, you’re
forgiven.’
‘New life? What new life are you talking about?’ he asked,
his panic returning fast.
‘I thought you said you love me.’
‘Of course, I do,’ he returned quickly.
‘Good. We’ll soon be together. Just two days to go, and
we’ll be together.’
‘What exactly are you talking about?’
‘Don’t worry. You’ll soon understand. Tope will die, yet
live.’
‘This is crazy. I thought you said you’ve forgiven me.’
‘I’ve forgiven you. That’s why I’m going to be living with
you.’
‘This is crazy, crazy. You’re making me crazy.’
‘There’s nothing to be crazy about. Just like you dreamt,
you’ll go through transition, and then you’ll be with me.’
She cut the line.
Tope could not believe his eyes.
He became even more distressed. Things appeared to be
working against him. First, the Alfa had traveled out of
Nigeria. Secondly, Iye was
insisting that he must go through transition. Was it not
death he was staring at so?
Why were things working so oddly against him? When his
wife returned from the church, she was quick to notice his
distress.
‘Darling, what’s the matter?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘Nothing.’ He could simply not bring
himself to telling her. What help could she possibly offer,
he asked himself.
About two p.m., Zaynab finally called him. ‘There’s another
alfa at Gwagwalada,’ she said. ‘I was told he was very good
too.’
‘Good. I’ll soon be in your house. You need to take me
there.’
He lied to his wife that he wanted to see the senior
Minister to give him some reports.
‘Can’t that wait till tomorrow?’ she asked. ‘Today is
Sunday. Surely, the report could wait till tomorrow.’
‘No, it cannot. Let me go and give him right now. I’ll be
back soon.’
His driver took him to Zay’s house, and from there, they
drove to Gwagwalada where they asked for directions to
the alfa’s house. He was an
elderly man with grey beard. He listened to Tope as he
recounted his dreams of Iye.
The bearded one was silent for a long moment, just staring
at the floor as if he was communing with it. Finally, he
spoke out. ‘You are indeed in a
grave situation as you have two more days to live. Is there
no way you can contact this lady?’
Tope’s heart sank. That confirmation was like hearing a
death sentence pronounced on him. He shook his head
morosely. ‘I have contacted her.
She insisted that I would go through transition and then I
would be with her. ’
The old man nodded. ‘She’s waiting for you to come and join
her where she’s is. For that to happen, you will first die.
Your soul will take another body and you’ll be with her.’
Tope shivered in fright while Zaynab became panic-
stricken.
‘May Allah forbid,’ Zaynab interjected. She realized that she
was shaking as she had come to the bitter realization that
the dream was indeed not
ordinary.
The old man was silent again. ‘The only way you could avert
the doom that awaits you is to sit on a special mat I will
prepare for you. You will take the mat home. From the early
morning of the third day, you must sit on the mat till
midnight. You must not go anywhere and must not do
anything other than sit on the mat. For no reason must you
stand up from the mat until after mid-night. That is the
solution.’
Tope looked a bit relieved. ‘I will do it,’ he said. ‘Anything
you ask me to do, I will do.’
The alfa nodded. ‘But you have to go now and come back in
some hours’ time for the special mat. As for payments, give
me any amount you
think you can use to redeem your life.’
It was Tope’s turn to nod. ‘Don’t worry, baba. When I come
back to get the mat, I’ll bring you more than enough
money. But for now, take this.’
From his small bag, he brought two hundred thousand naira
out and handed it to the old one.
They left the place. ‘So, indeed, that lady is as powerful as
this,’ Zaynab said wonderingly as they were going back
home.
‘I told you,’ Tope said.
Some hours later, he was back in the house of the old man.
The orderly helped him to carry a small Ghana-must-go
sack that contained bales of
money.
‘This is for you,’ he told the man. ‘I can assure that after all
this storm, I will surprise you with more money.’
The old man’s eyes glistened when he saw the money. He
nodded approvingly.
‘Don’t worry. You will live. Even as you sit on the mat, I will
be here praying unceasingly for you.’ He handed a small
mat to him. ‘Here’s the mat.
On the day that would be the last day, early in the morning
before sun rises, sit on the mat. You’re not to stand up or
do anything other than sit
on the mat.’
‘Thank you, baba. Thank you very much.’
He collected the mat and went back home a happy man.
He had decided that he would simply tell his aides and
others working for him that he would be in spiritual
isolation that day, in case anyone
asked for him. He also decided to open up to Rita.
‘My life is in danger, but don’t worry. I will overcome.
Tomorrow morning, I will not be going to work. I will be in
the guest room praying on this
special mat. Nobody is to disturb and distract me. I will be
in that room till twelve midnight. That is the situation of
things. Have no fears.’
Rita tried to appear calm, but she was obviously alarmed.
‘I hope all is well. I hope all will be well.’ She rattled on. ‘If
there’s any way I can help. I know a man that can …’
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ he said and tried what looked like an
assuring smile. ‘I can handle it. Don’t you worry.’
‘Are you sure, my darling?’ she still wanted to know.
‘Of course. Don’t worry.’
By five a.m., he was in the guest room with the mat,
torchlight, his phone and a bottle of water. He calculated
that he would be sitting for
nothing less than twenty-two hours. Twenty-two solid
hours! It was not going to be easy but he must stay alive.

TBC

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