Agony of the deaf episode 19 – 20
AGONY OF THE DEAF
(Faded Feelings)
Episode 19 & 20
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Written by Author Nath
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Both light and shadow are the dance of Love. Love has no cause, it is the astrolabe of God’s secrets. Lover and loving are inseparable and timeless. Although I may try to describe love when I experience it, but now I am speechless. Although I may try to write about love, but now I am rendered helpless. My pen breaks, and the paper sl¡ps away at the ineffable place where lover, loving and loved are one. But all I know is that every moment is made glorious by the light of Love. Motherly love which Charlotte had for her son is part of it.
She stood in front of the largest building regarded as the royal house in the new land the Hugos found themselves. She wasn’t standing alone; Guillaume was right beside her, and other hugos queued up in two rolls from the entrance of the royal house to where their number limited. All were quiet, having the sound of the wind pass through their ears.
“Don’t you think we should let him know.” Charlotte whispered to Guillaume.
“No, it’s better to keep him in the dark until it’s successful.” He replied with a higher voice.
Just then, Claude stepped out from the royal building and all bowed down respectfully. He was well dressed like he use to; coperate black and white attire. He looked at them for a moment and began. “Life is about accepting the challenges along the way, choosing to keep moving forward, and savoring the journey. I have to journey to the realities of my dreams, our dreams and happiness. We all have to be patient. Creating your dream life is based on your internal happiness, love, perseverance and patience. It is an everyday process. You just have to trust yourself and enjoy the journey. I promise to be back.” He walked down to his mother and embraced her. “I’ll be back, I have to go make our future straight.” he whispered on her shoulder.
Charlotte patted his back without saying a word, not that she had nothing to say but how to say it was a war. Though everyone has their own ways of expression. We all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle. This brings silence and silence brings anxiety, curiosity and peculiarity which Claude observed.
“Is everything okay, mother?” he asked her.
“Yes, son. I hope you find true happiness in your life.” she finally said.
Claude turned to Guillaume who exhaled and quickly said, “Grace is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace but mere justice to approve goodness. Rather it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save, sanctify and glorify. May that grace find you.”
Claude nodded his head.
“Remember who you are and where you began.” Guillaume continued. “Do not look where you fell, look where you slipped. The axe forgets but the tree remembers. Trust yourself and strive by yourself. Once you carry your own water, you’ll remember every drop. Don’t set sail on someone else’s star because wood already touched by fire is not hærd to set alight. Fare well, your highness.” he humbly lowered his head.
Claude matched forward in the midst of his subjects with a bag behind him. All stared at him sadly especially his mother who had turned to bid her son farewell. It was as if she never gonna see him again, she felt it within her but didn’t know how to explain it.
“Guillaume, I’m having some kind of feelings that something will happen to my son.” She told Guillaume as both watched Claude leaving the land. “I can’t be silent anymore. I need to tell him my decision.” she added.
“What has your decision got to do with his safety?” Guillaume quried.
Charlotte remained silent while Guillaume tried to give her more reasons to be silent by saying, “It is the fate of a woman long to be patient and silent, to wait like a ghost that is speechless, Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell of its silence.”
None said a thing again until Claude totally went out of sight.
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In Lagos city, a car pulled over at Claude’s old apartment. A huge man in suit came out from the front door, opened the back door and Ogechi stepped out on a roggered black attire with her sunglasses on. They unlocked the apartment before she entered, observing the interior building like a ghost. When she walked into the room, she saw Claude’s travelling bag still intact. On a table, she saw his comb which she picked up, drew out some of his hair particles that were stucked on it and put it in,side her back. Quickly, she left the apartment. She did the same thing with Eniola’s hair when she went to their lodge.
Late Chief Emekus basement was saturated with an intoxicating smell harnessed by Ogechi who was making a deadly potion. One could see her standing full naked before a boiling pot. The color of the vapour was abnormal; red vapour evaporated from the pot. Beside her naked body was a book of the hugos from which she was trying the recipe. Lastly, she added the hair particles gotten from Claude and Eniola’s comb, she stirred the content of the pot, brought it down and filled a quantity in a bottle.
“Long awaited.. umm..” she glanced at the book. “Uhmm.. long waited derugo is ready” she said with a deadly smile on her face.
On the other hand, at Claude’s new apartment, a knock came from the door. Quickly he rushed to it and opened but couldn’t believe his eyes. “Nnanna!” he happily shouted and embraced him.
Nnanna walked into the apartment with him. Like a banker in a suit, he dressed, seeming charming like the prince of Persia. “Dude, I’m so happy to see you?” he sat down on one of the cushions.
“Me too, Nna” Claude brought out a bottle of wine. “What are you doing in Nigeria?” he popped the bottle open and began to pour a quantity in a glass cup.
“Ogachi is the new CEO of Chief’s companies across Africa. So she summoned all of us for tomorrow.” Nnanna replied, taking the glass of wine from him.
“Okay” Claude also sat down with his own wine while silence took over. It seemed like the same thing was running through their minds. So Nnanna swallowed hærd, sat up from his seat and intensively looked at Claude.
“I want to ask you something and I will like you to be sincere.” He broke the silence. “Did you kill chief?” he asked.
His question did not only remind Claude his past but also generated tension in the room. Notwithstanding, he answered as an afterthought. “It was a self defense.”
Nnanna exhaled and leaned back to his seat. “This is all because of your blood and love. How’s she?”
“Eniola is fine. She’s in the village. We’ve been through a lot.”
“Yes, you’ve explained to me. As a friend, I’ll keep supporting you until you end up with her even as she’s deaf and dumb. In as much as you’ll be happy, you’ll have my full support.”
Claude stood up with the wine. He took a stap away from his seat with a hand in his pocket. “Yes, she’s my happiness and I love her. I’m just worried and scared because I don’t want to subdue her to any pains again. We’ve really been through a lot.”
Nnanna also stood up. “I don’t know what love is, but I know one thing; When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted friendsh¡p – when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally scared and speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us.”
Hearing that, Claude turned to him in a way both gazed at each other. “Thanks, man” he said.
“Don’t worry, after the meeting, we shall figure out how to set you up financially.” Nnanna dropped the glass of wine and shook his hand.
The sun began to set the next day. Ogechi had addressed her workers across African on a meeting. She could be seen walking towards Nnanna in the meeting hall where everybody hung around, discussing one thing or the other. Nnanna was surprised when she called him.
“Good day, ma’am.” he greeted politely.
“You’re the one in charge at our branch in Ghana, right? I mean after someone called Ike left.” Ogechi asked him.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ve viewed your reports and transactions. You’re doing well.”
“Thank you.”
Both smiled, yet none left the arena. Just before Nnanna could say something, Ogachi asked him.”Do you in any way know where he is?”
“You mean Ike? No, I don’t.” He replied.
“Okay,” she walked out from the premises followed by her bodyguards. When they entered into a car, she instructed them and said, “Monitor him.”
When darkness covered the sky, Nnanna took a cab to Claude’s house without knowing that he was being followed by Ogachi and her men. Through the glass of their car, they saw Nnanna knocking at Claude’s door. When it opens, she saw Claude himself then turned to her men.
“Take this” she handed a syringe to one of them. “Make no mistake.” she instructed again.
“Yes, ma’am.” Two men left the car with hidden guns. She watched them break into the house followed by shout and gunshots. Quickly, they ran out of the house…
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Same night, Guillaume arrived to the residence of Ayomide with a small bottle in his hand. Ayomide opened when he knocked and was surprised to see him. She also glanced at a wall clock to be sure of the ungodly hour: 12:50pm.
“What are you…?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Guillaume interrupted her. He really seemed terrified. On his hands and clothes were stains of blood on them. “I believe your daughter is asleep. Show me her room.” he walked in.
“Why?” Ayomide spread her hands.
“Charlotte wants the best for her son as you want the best for your daughter.” he replied.
Ayomide understood and opened Eniola’s room for him. Guillaume quickly uncovered the bottle and applied a black mixture of liquid on her l-ips and ears before they stepped out to the living room. Guillaume brought out a paper and handed it to Ayomide. “Give it to your daughter when she wakes up. It’s a message to her from our king mother from whom the blood was extracted with her vital organ. With this, no condition is attached to the healing of your daughter.”
“What?!” Ayomide exclaimed. “Is she okay?”
“We hope so.” Guillaume left while Ayomide gazed at the paper.
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The next morning, Nnanna and a doctor could be found in a hospital ward where Claude laid flat on a sick bed.
“Doctor, you said there’s nothing wrong with him?” Nnanna asked.
“Yes, he’s medically okay.” The doctor replied.
“Everything happened so fast. They fired guns at the wall, knocked me out, only for me to wake up and saw my friend unconscious. What kind of thieves don’t steal anything or kill anybody? What then did they do?” Nnanna narrated. Just then, Claude woke up, feeling a bit dizzy. The doctor and Nnanna rushed him…
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Meanwhile, the Hugos gathered around to mourn the departure of Charlotte who laid dead in a room in the royal house. They all had the knowledge of what killed her. Some hated Claude relationsh¡p with the deaf because of it while some didn’t care but was sad because their king mother put her life in the process. Already, Claude had been contacted and arrived with Nnanna. Both of them could be seen sitting on a round table with Guillaume, Gbenga, Isiala, and other village elders. However, Claude had not been told the cause of his mother’s death. Though he never stopped shedding tears.
Gbenga cleared his throat. “Pull yourself together, son.” he began. “Death does not knock on the door. One way or the other it must come. If you do not sleep because you do not want to die, you will die because you do not sleep. We know it’s a tragedy what has happened to you as a young man. You do not use because of it and lay down on the ground without picking yourself up. An ant on its feet can do more than an elephant lying down.”
“Exactly!” Isiala supported by hitting his staff on the floor.
Gbenga continued. “No person is born great – great people become great when others are sleeping. Claude, you’ve been a great man. Endure your pains as a great man.” he concluded.
“He who swallows a complete coconut has absolute trust in his anus.” Isiala began. “Your mother took a bold step for the one she loves.”
Hearing that, Claude looked up at him as he continued.. “Charlotte knew the consequences of her action. We do not blame her, she did it for your own happiness. The wise man never takes a step too long for his legs. She has made the road straight for you now, so remember even at your old age. Where you sit when you are old shows where you stood in your youth.”
“What are you talking about?” Claude interfered. “Did my mother kill herself for me? Why?” he asked curiously.
“You all sound weird, how can his mother take her own life for the sake of her son’s happiness?” Nnanna ch¡pped in too.
“Young Man, watch your tongue here” Gbenga rebuked him. “Who told you to speak? A man who drives his father’s car is not entitled to speak in a council of men who own bicycles.”
Angrily, Claude stood up. “Can somebody answer my question!!?” he shrieked, breathing hastily.
“You’re mother performed what is called Agirita.” Guillaume began. “She saw how you love Eniola and never wanted you to end up with her as a deaf and dumb woman, so agreed to perform Agirita; using her blood and kidney to heal the love of your life without any condition attach to it. All for you to have a happy home.” he explained.
“What are you people talking about? Who is Eniola?” Claude asked. The question shocked everybody in the room.
“No, maybe it’s a slip of tongue.” Gbenga broke the tension.
“A slip of the tongue is worse than a slip of the feet.” Isiala whispered to him.
Just then, Eniola arrived at the door. All looked at her even Claude. She seemed harmless, innocent and beautiful, though sad because she had a knowledge of what was going on. “Claude?” she called sadly.
“Claude, that’s Eniola, the reason for all this tragedy. Though it’s not her fault. It’s for the deep and great love both of you share together.” Guillaume clarified.
Claude stared at her. He looked from his friend to the elders and said, “You people have to explained to me why and how my mother died because I do not know who this stupid girl is!”
“Alapa!!!” Gbenga exclaimed.
None of them knew what was going on anymore. Already, Eniola had started shedding tears at the door. Was it the tears of Claude’s sudden action or the death of his mother for her to speak and hear again or the tears of seeing herself as the cause of everything? She didn’t know, but was seriously shedding tears and speechless. Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless and dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Eniola ran to Claude with that tears saying, “Claude, what are you saying. It’s me!” she tried to hold him but was pushed down by him which caused a roaring soliloquy in the room. Eniola ran out of the house. Suicide was the next thing in her mind.
“What is going on?” Isiala whispered to Gbenga.
“Who knows how water entered into the stalk of the pumpkin?” he replied in proverbs.
“The chicken frowns at the cooking pot, ignoring the knife that killed it. That’s what’s happening now.”
“Something is wrong somewhere. The ocean never swallows a person with whose leg it does not come in contact.” Gbenga ran out of the house too…
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TO BE CONTINUED