HAPPY NEW YEAR

I know is late but I’ll still say it. Because I want to and because I can. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

How was the holiday? I’m sorry I’ve not been commenting on blogs or replying comments, I was busy juggling weddings and family and village life. Speaking of which, how was the “village”? (For those that went) Mine was awesome and I got two proposals (yelsss, two guys asked me to marry them) well, they didn’t really ask me, they asked my Dad but you know………….. Its still a proposal right? Yeah? I thought so too. So don’t be surprised if I get shipped off to Malaysia or become a Mrs. to Uche in  Alaba………….my Mum is kinda in a hurry.

So here is the concluding part of the EYES OF THE EAGLE story:

 

I stirred the tea again, all the time looking over my shoulder to see if Ola was coming. Mum had brought the potion for me and explained how to use it. Just one drop……………it sounded simple enough. Ola hardly ate at home anymore but I had begged and persuaded him to eat breakfast. I heard his footstep and quickly stepped away from the tea. He sat down and I almost burst into tears, how had we gotten to this point? We used to be perfect. He stirred the tea a couple of times and looked at me.

"Aya mi" (Aya mi was the name he used to call me when our marriage was still on track). I felt an inner glow; could “baba's” potion be working so soon?

"My husband" I replied, flashing my best smile.

"I know everything"

"What do you mean?"

“I know you went to a herbalist, I know you want me to drink this, I know you want to turn me into a dummy"

I felt weak as the reality of his words hit me. He actually knew......I looked for words to defend myself

"My husband, I love you, why would I ever want to do that?"

"To stop me from marrying Lara"

"Wait……………… who is Lara?"

"Your sister"

He picked his bag and left before I could say any other thing. I sat down and let the words sink in.

I was holding my wrapper in one hand and my bag in the other as I ran to Mum’s shop. In one breath, I told her everything that had happened. Mum stood up and started pacing the shop.

"Temi, its no news"

“What Mum? You mean you actually knew my husband is dating my sister?”

“Point of correction Temi, not your sister…………I am not your mother. I just acted so because your father wanted me to and now that he’s dead, I don’t owe him anything"

It all started to fit in, the hatred, the punishments.........

"So Mum, you knew all along..........you caused everything that has been happening in my family"

"Of course Temi, I had to get you out of the way for my daughter to come in. Now, she can be Mrs. Ola Akanki, wife of the CEO, A&A group of companies" she clapped her hands and gave a small laugh.

"But Mum, why did you do it, how could you?"

"Some things you will never know Temi………. ".

The tears were uncontrollable as I left Mum’s shop, got home, packed my bags, picked my daughter and left Ola’s house.

PRESENT DAY

I looked at Ola again. No, there was nothing to discuss. I picked my purse and walked out of the restaurant.

*Oh, and my 2013 (January) crush is Flavour. His “Ada Ada” is currently topping my playlist and when I play it I dream of dancing while carrying palmwine and looking for Mr. Right (Igbo engagement things) definitely not anyone in Malaysia or Alaba. Have a fabulous year people

THE EYES OF AN EAGLE III

I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA for sometime. Life has been crazy and I mean CRAZY. I know God is in the process of doing great things in my life, I just need the grace to be patient. Your kind words and prayers are appreciated. Thanks to everybody that yabbed and checked on me, una do well *side eyes Priscy , Dayor and Tizzle.

So I finally met a blogger. Yayyyyy me!!! I met the awesome Tamie and I had a wonderful time. She’s great, super fun, lovely, wonderful……….infact, I don’t have enough words to describe her. It was great seeing you Tamie and I can’t wait to do it again……..Pizza is still on you.

A big thank you to Sugarspring for giving me the versatile blogger award. You can check out my answer here.
In case you missed the part I and 2, check here and here 

After two minutes of Mum doing her dance, a short man emerged from the groove of the tree. I blinked twice; it was like I was living some Nollywood movie experience. Mum had stopped dancing and was paying homage to the man. I looked closely at him, his hair was dreaded and he wore cowries in them, he tied a red wrapper around his tiny waist, painted the visible part of his body with white chalk and completed the appearance with a horn he held in his left hand. He smelled like the faint version of the bush we just passed. I tried to guess his age, he should be around thirty two, not that old so why was Mum calling him “baba”?

“Baba” finally sat down and Mum motioned me to do the same on the wood beside the tree. I wanted to scream there’s no way I’m doing that but Mum shot me one of her looks and I sat down. “Baba” stretched out his left hand and Mum dropped One thousand naira note on it. After some minutes which “baba” spent muttering some incantations, he finally spoke.

"Mama Temi, what can I do for you today?"

What!!? So this man speaks English? And was he not supposed to know why we were there?

Mum explained immediately what was going on in my life. Mum exaggerates a lot and I correct her most times but that day, I just sat there and watched her turn Ola into a monster as she told “baba” her story.

After what seem like ages, “baba” finally listed the things we needed to buy for the potion that was going to restore Ola’s “sanity”. I watched in disbelief as “baba” said:

“A python egg, two strands of hair from a mother gorilla, twenty four gallons of red oil……………………………………………………”

I couldn’t hold the scream this time.

"Where on earth am I supposed to get those?"

Mum smiled and gave “baba” some money. She told me to get up and we left.

We were hardly beyond earshot when I bombarded Mum with questions……………..”Is this man for real?” “Is the potion going to work?” “Where was he going to get those things?” Mum was gentle in explaining that powerful men like “baba” have their means and that he had been tested and trusted.

“You know that my friend?”

“Which one?”

“Mama Kofo”

“The one her husband just died?”

“Yes……………..when her husband started cheating on her, I brought her here and that was the end”

I looked at Mum with fear, could the end mean Ola’s death? I wanted to ask more but I kept my thoughts to myself.

We had passed the smelling bush and I asked Mum again…….

"Mum, are we not going to wait for a bike?"

"Bike ke?.....no ......we trek"

"WHAT?!!!"

THE EYES OF AN EAGLE

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BE MY WIFE

I woke up with a wild start, so it was just a dream…. It’s been a while since I got married but the thought of the first fourteen hours of that day, even in a dream still brings back the frustration felt I know you want to know and a few brilliant ones will be guessing. Alrighty, I’ll squeal it, just this once and never again.

Desmond and I or me (choose your choice, English can be quite complicated) have been friends for close to two years. We met somewhere ( I told you I wont squeal again) and we became friends and we were so close. I was still struggling to be a graduate then and Des (as I fondly call him) was struggling to be a Maryland big boy (you should know what that means)

So it was that I was shuttling between Lagos and Benin. Des and I were practically dating, we were in love but we were acting all matured about it. We talked about lots of thing ranging from sex (when we are not having it) to girlfriends (for him) and boyfriends (for yours truly), parties, routines…………….everything.

After two years of what you can call a hot romance, though not totally so Romeo and Juliety, Des called me one weekend and asked me to come over. Now I must sing a little praise of myself, though I may not be another Jennifer Lopez, so unlikely, I am still beautiful. If u like queen Latifah in set – it – off, I’m your girl. Asides that, I can be useful around the house, it comes with a long time of doing it yourself.

So I was in Lagos with the first bus and I went straight to Des’s  house (I had a spare key), let myself in and made myself very comfortable, to me that means, a cold bath, chocolate brownies and a bottle of something sweet

Des came home around 8:00pm (considering Lagos traffic, that’s good time).

‘how’s it going?’

Okay, so he didn’t really say that, what he said was:

‘Hey you, watz up, how’s your trip?’ but coming from him, that was a very cold welcome. It was either a hug, a kiss, or both but this day, guess what he gave me………………….. Your guess is as good as mine.

So I asked him why he called me and I was thinking: a booty call, laundry call or just sight seeing, well, you can guess again……………..

“We’ve been friends for sometime now and I feel you should be the first person I will tell” I was really all ears, this might be interesting. ‘ I met a girl and we are good together, we have chemistry’ (I made a mental note to check the dictionary meaning of chemistry) ‘and my mother loves and adore her’ I know I didn’t tell you I met Des’s mother but I did, it was during one of those crazy vacations when you look for anywhere to go and Des’s mother was throwing a party so I went and she appeared to like me a lot but maybe I was just reading her smiles…….

At this juncture, I was painting a picture of the said girl in my mind, if you’ve seen Lord of the Rings you may guess again. Its not as if I was jealous or something. Ok, maybe I was a little bit jealous. I loved him, I thought we had a future together but the only future I see now is him in a black suit and a miss thing in a wedding gown, now she’s throwing the bouquet, and I’m catching it. Very funny I almost laughed out loud.

All these while Des has been blabbing about his wife and all that, I only noticed him when he brought out an engagement ring and was saying something like ‘Linda, I know you have a good taste, if you like this, I know 75% of ladies will do too so what do you think, is it ok?’ IMAGINE THE GUTS

“I will strangle you and then there will be no proposals, no engagements and no wedding” okay, I didn’t really say that, what I said was: “it’s perfect, she will love it” What can I say, I’m just a good hearted gal.

After the meeting, I was too shocked to talk; I just gave an excuse and went to bed. Big girls do cry, I cried so bad I was seeing butterflies on the ceiling or maybe they were there. I woke up the next morning, packed my bag and decided to be decent and bold enough to say goodbye. I knocked on his door the first time, second time, no response and I concluded his fiancé came in and they were having early morning sex……..**disgusting** I turned to leave and saw him behind me.

“if you are getting married, stop sneaking up on your ex” didn’t really say that, what I said was

“good morning, im just about leaving”

‘Linda, you didn’t even ask me who the girl is.”

Okay, I know its not my best friend but why go through the stress. I told you I am a good girl so I asked “sorry, it escaped my mind, who’s this wonderful girl?” a dead man would know there’s sarcasm in those words but maybe he is deaf cos he kept smiling

‘Linda, all I told you last night were true except for one’ where are the guessers? Did you guess the part about chemistry? My guess exactly…………… ‘I ve found a girl and she’s all I need…………………………’ this is so not the Lord’s Prayer, you don’t have to say it everyday. WAIT!!!!!!

‘Linda, you are that girl, please marry me’ and he was on his knees with the ring, that ring I would have bewitched if I had Merlin powers.

Those of you who guess I fainted passed this course, I woke up with his lips on mine and I didn’t mind the early morning sex after all………………………………

So much for a proposal. Don’t ask me what happened next cos I ain’t telling

WHAT THE HEART WANTS

“The heart wants what the heart wants, even that which is worst for it”

She saw the flashes and heard the clicking sounds. She was not there, her mind was far away. She plastered her best smile on her face and turned whichever way they wanted her. She felt so sick she wanted to throw up, she wished she could sit down so she won’t faint.

Finally, someone led her to a chair and arranged her gown around her. It was sparkling white with hand sewn embroidery. No cost has been spared, right from her ring to her shoes, the décor, the food, the venue…………….it has all been well synced to the last sync.

“Congratulations Nita, you are so lucky”

She smiled again, a cynical smile

“Thanks a lot”

She watched the lady walk away and closed her eyes. She knew Ekene was there, she could smell his perfume.

“How are you feeling wifey?”

“Im fine…………………just taking it all in”

“It’s your wedding, our wedding, you should enjoy it”

“I am, I really am”

“Okay, let’s go see some people”

He helped her up, straightened her gown and kissed her.

“I love you Mrs. Ihioma”

“Me too”

Ekene was one of the best guys she knows. Loving, caring, God fearing, generous……………..in fact, he was everything that comes with the perfect man package. Everybody, including her very choosy aunt said she made a good decision by marrying him; only she’s not feeling like she made a good decision.

She saw him again then and her heart started racing. She was holding Ekene’s hand and he looked at her cos she stopped walking.

“You okay?”

“Yeah…….sure”

Why did he come? Why did Ekene invite him in the first place? Was he not supposed to turn down the invitation?

Ibrahim walked up to them then, his dark eyes boring holes into her, he still had his good looks, he now keeps his beard, maybe after Mohammed or some great prophet.

“Congratulations Ekene…………….Nita, I wish you all happiness”

She swallowed; maybe it could clear the lump in her throat. Ekene was obviously in a chatty mood

“I never thought you could make it Ibrahim, so nice of you to come”

“I couldn’t miss it. It’s not everyday you watch people snatch away the ones you care about”

Nita was feeling uneasy now, Ekene still went on talking

“Hope u will stay around so we can talk later

“Sure thing”

He looked her over again and strolled off.

*******************************************************************

“Ibrahim, why must you do that, why must you say such things in front of my husband?”

“Don’t worry your pretty head baby; he thought I was talking about him”

“Why did you come?”

“Cos my friend invited me”

“Cut the crap and tell me why you are here”

Ibrahim looked at her, pulled his chair closer and took her hands. She snatched them away. They were sitting by the pool in Ekene’s house. It was their wedding night and Ekene was busy saying “thank yous”

“I can’t watch you leave like that”

“What?”

“I know my parents said a strong no cos of the religion and tribe but now they don’t care. I made it clear I’m not going to marry anybody that’s not you”

Nita blinked thrice and pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming.

“Nita, cant you see, we are meant for each other”

“But I just got married”

“Elope with me”

He brought out two visas and flight tickets.

“Elope with me Nita; let’s go build a happy home for our baby”