[Story] Ogechi & I (Complete Episodes)

Ogechi & I

EPISODE 11

Then I turned again towards Ogechi for the last time and said; I LOVE YOU TOO, but I have to go. I hurried back into the plane. The doors were closed and the flight took off. I could see her weeping through the window. The girls she flew in with tried to calm her down but she was still weeping till the flight was far in the sky and she was out of sight. I sat back in the plane thinking of the many other things I could have done. I wasn’t sure if I had made the right choice yet. Onye was so surprise at me that he couldn’t say anything. After a while he tapped me and asked;

‘Guy, what was that all about? What kind of drama did you just act with that singer out there? Do you know her or something?
‘Mehn, that girl out there is my girl.
(Amazed) ‘What? Oge, your girl? You’ve got to be kidding me. How can she be your girl when she has been abroad all the while? And you never even mentioned it to me? Mehn, say something else.

I started narrating to Onye how I met Ogechi and everything that went on between us until she traveled for abroad. I hadn’t said a word about Ogechi to Onye before now. It was quite a touching story to him. I asked what he would have done if he were in my position. He told me not to ask him such questions since he wasn’t the one in my position. Hours later we landed at the United States airport. Onye’s cousin was already there waiting to receive us. She identified us and led us to her black land cruiser jeep with alloy wheels. We hopped in and she drove us straight home. Her house was like the WHITE HOUSE I had seen in Hollywood movies. She showed us round the house and introduced us to her cooks and cleaners. I was so happy to have finally travelled to the United States. My room was like heaven. Everything in it was white, and I feared I wasn’t going to maintain it that way while I stayed. And that could cause some sort of problems between I and Onye’s cousin. Then I remembered she had cleaners there. I was relieved. I jumped on the broad bed with my shoes on and lay there thanking God for the turnout of things. Shortly after, Ogechi crossed my mind. I called her, but she didn’t pick up my calls. That continued for days, and at a point I was upset with her. I never did that to her, even when she left for the US. I simply understood it was something she had to do. Why wouldn’t she also understand that I needed to do what I did? I even promised to visit more often because of her, yet she refused to pick up my calls. After a while of contacting her without response, I stopped.

Onye’s cousin, whose name was Cynthia, was overly nice to me. I wanted to begin my Masters’ Degree program at once so that I could be through soon enough and return to Ogechi full time before one smart guy made away with her heart. But instead of helping speed up the process, Cynthia became reluctant about the whole thing. She didn’t see the need to do it in a hurry. Whenever I insisted on getting started with the program, she would ask if I wasn’t comfortable in her house. In order to make me discard the idea of beginning my program immediately, she made everything available for me. Before I knew it, she bought me a car and provided me with the kind of life I had dreamed of living right from my days in school. She started taking me to various wonderful places around the United States as though I had gone there to stay permanently. She did a lot of things that baffled me and I was somehow scared because of the reasons I suspected could be responsible for her kindness. I just hoped I was wrong. I spent nearly two months in the Cynthia’s house without beginning the process of the purpose I went to America for. I almost let go of the idea of furthering my second degree program there due to the kind of life I was living.

Cynthia had introduced me to a couple of big shots who eventually fell in love with my poetry. One connection led to another, and I got to meet with a music producer who agreed to make me a part of his recording label with time. They say ‘delay is dangerous’ but in my cases, delay was nothing to be feared because whatever I wanted done was done whenever I wanted it done. Thanks to Cynthia’s powers and connections. I wondered how she gained that much ground there. Even some citizens of the United States couldn’t call the kind of shots Cynthia was calling. She had a lot white people who were loyal to her. I wondered again, why is she not married till now? She was in her early thirties and didn’t seem desperate for a husband. Well, I didn’t bother myself with all that since I was having a really good time there. I must confess I almost forgot that I promised to visit Ogechi often. But then I used her refusal to pick up my calls to strengthen my unwillingness to go back to Nigeria anytime soon or even contact her. I was simply overwhelmed by the treatment I was getting abroad that I didn’t want to put an end to it yet for any reason.

One morning I woke up to meet Cynthia and Onye in the parlor discussing. Onye was telling her that he’ll be heading back to Nigeria to start the car selling business he had planned to start beforehand. Onye’s reason for wanting to leave was that unlike me, he wasn’t fitting into the opportunities Cynthia had made available for us, as he wasn’t much of an arts person. He was business oriented, just like the last Igbo business man friend I had. IGBO KWENU! So he resorted to going back home to sell cars sent to him by Cynthia. They understood their terms and agreement. That didn’t bother me. What bothered me was how I was going to live with Cynthia without the person who linked us together. I tried to convince Onye to stay but he wouldn’t yield. Cynthia, on the other hand was doing everything possible to send Onye home before he had a change of mind. She promised to send him five cars to start with, demanding for just 30% of the money discovered from the sales. It was obvious she wasn’t doing it for the profit therein. I had my fears if I chose to stay back with Cynthia, but I wasn’t going to let such fears drive me away from heaven on earth, so I stayed back.

We continued our normal outings till it began to seem as though I was the man in Cynthia’s life, and that called to the attention of quite a number of American girls. This Cynthia of a girl may have been in her early thirties, but she glowed as though she was ten years younger. So I was proud to go out with her, just that there was nothing going between us. ‘So I thought’.

Sometime after Onye left, one of Cynthia’s Asian girlfriends by name Lin, celebrated her birthday at far away China. Cynthia was invited and I went with her. Of course Cynthia wouldn’t go anywhere without me. There were a couple of things about me which Cynthia normally boasted of to her pals whenever we were out together. I on the other hand was using her to form James Bond for Oyibo based on say I from Naija come dey control babe wey dem dey loyal for. No be small thing oo. I thought we were going to lodge in a hotel when we arrived at China, but we didn’t. Instead we stayed and Lin’s place which was more like a hotel. The house belonged to her father Chang. But she was Chang’s only daughter and next of kin. Chang was advanced in age and likely to die anytime soon. I thought those things only happened in Nigeria but na lie oo. Can you imagine that some Chinese guy-men like that started forming hot mad love for Lin? There was no end to their verbal expressions of love towards Lin. Lin became very confused and indecisive. Her girlfriends were her solace, as they were the only ones she could trust not to want to take advantage of her.

Well, the celebration went very well. Cynthia never failed to introduce me to any big shot whenever there was one around, and Lin’s father was one of them. As I was sitting in the middle of two amazing Chinese girls who were telling me about China and the happenings there, Cynthia showed up with two other Chinese girls who didn’t look like the others I had seen.

‘I believe you’re having a good time’ she said.

‘You can’t imagine how much’ I replied.

‘There’ll be time enough for that. For now you have to meet Mr. Chang’

‘ooOOhh ladies, I’m sorry I have to go. We’ll meet again’ I said to the girls I was with.

‘Alright then, let’s roll’ I said to Cynthia.

‘Not just yet’ she replied quickly. ‘You have to go with these two ladies and get cleaned up’

‘What do you mean by GET CLEANED UP?’

‘You need to take a shower, and these ladies will make sure that is done’

‘Cynthia, what kind of embarrassment is this? Are you implying that I can’t give myself a good bath?’

‘Not at all. You see, it’s like a tradition here. Before any stranger meets Mr. Chang, he or she must get cleaned up, and by two Chinese maidens who have been specifically trained to do so. Let’s not waste any more time. Go with them’

Before I could utter another word, the two Chinese girls grabbed me at once and off they took me. I got really pissed and tried to shake them off me to stop them from taking me to the bathroom but to no avail. I tried to overpower them and what happened marveled me. These girls were just doing those things Jackie Chan does in Chinese movies. They would bend and rise before I even got to know that they bent. They did a lot of those martial arts stuff but didn’t hurt me in anyway. All they did was to defend themselves and make sure they took me to that bathroom to give me a bath. And I wondered; ‘if they use this kind of martial arts to get me to a bathroom, what kind will they use to take my clothes off me when the time for that comes because I wasn’t going to let that happen. Over my dead body!’ The time for that quickly came. Omor! No be small Kung Fu oo!

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EPISODE 12

Hmmmm, we got to the bathroom oo, and what happened there is better left unsaid. The summary of the whole matter is that I was bathed by those two witches who used hard brushes to scrub my body as though I was infected with the deadliest skin disease they didn’t want me to transfer to Mr. Chang. I felt so bad because I couldn’t even give one of them a slap. They were just so good at dodging them. All I could do was frown and get angry with everyone, especially Cynthia for allowing me to go through that. Must I meet Mr. Chang?

After 30 minutes I was out of there looking as shy as a bush man who just encountered humans for the first time. Cynthia came to my room to take me to Mr. Chang. I couldn’t look her in the eye due to what just happened, and she made fun of it. ‘It must have felt pretty cool being bathed by ladies’ Cynthia said. I didn’t say anything in response. ‘Hey, are you angry with me? You know it wasn’t intentional. It’s just a norm here. Come on, snap out of that mood. We need to go see Chang. How I wish I can have that done to me by some cute Chinese guys’. ‘You can if you want’ I retorted. ‘They are a couple of them who’ll be more than willing to help you out’. ‘I prefer you to them’ she said carelessly. ‘I’ll be back in a little bit. Get dressed.’ She said and left the room. A short while later she came back and we left to see Chang.

Chang welcomed me like I was a distant relation who just got back after so many years away and I wondered why. I wasn’t even introduced to him anymore. It seemed like he already knew all there was to know about me. Even Cynthia was surprised at that. Chang dismissed Cynthia and those who were with him, leaving just both of us. ‘How are you doing young man’ Change asked. ‘I’m doing great’ I replied. ‘Enjoying the party?’ he asked again. ‘Pretty much’, I replied. ‘You have an edifice here. I almost mistook it for a hotel’. Chang laughed and we kept exchanging pleasantries for some minutes before he started letting me in on his success story. It was almost like mine, but not exactly. He fell in love with a girl from the same background as his, back then. The girl took advantage of the free education scheme that popped up then and performed excellently. She was later awarded a scholarship due to her excellent performance. Chang said he was struggling to keep his family going as he was the breadwinner of the family. He hoped that things will turn around soon enough so that he could pursue his dreams of owning a martial arts academy as he was a master of martial arts. But things changed when the girl he fell in love with came back and told him she was pregnant. He was happy about the news, but the girl wasn’t. She suggested an abortion but Chang objected. Problems began and they later agreed to give birth to the child and let Chang have her while she went ahead to marry a Chinese billionaire who promised her heaven and earth. According to Chang, the man she ended up marrying took excellent care of her to a point where he, Chang began to wonder if he would have taken that much care of her.

Lin was the product of their union, and Chang had not remarried after then because he lost fate in women and resorted to what Nigerians refer to as flexing. The truth remained that he didn’t want his daughter to have any of such experiences, so he called on me to help him out. How was I supposed to help him? I thought to myself. The man didn’t even know me. What even made him think I could help him? So many questions popped in my head and I got really confused. Chang said to me; ‘I’ve known you before now’. I asked how, and he told me Cynthia is a really good friend to Lin. He said they had been discussing about me on phone and Cynthia mentioned that I was a respectable man. ‘She told Lin you weren’t like a lot of the other guys she had come across’ Chang said. She also said you’re not forward and can barely express yourself before women. She said you’re not a flirt, and all that. She even said that judging from your actions around her, she dared to believe you’re a virgin’. Chai!! Cynthia don finish me! After saying all these things he laughed. I was already feeling embarrassed because of those things he said Cynthia told Lin. I couldn’t wait to leave that place to see Cynthia and unleash hell upon her. I controlled myself and pretended like I wasn’t bothered by any of those details. But then I asked him why he laughed, and he said;

‘I heard your name is Jesusboy’

‘That’s correct Mr. Chang. Does it sound funny?’

‘Not exactly. Just the boy part of the name. It goes a long way to confirm all Cynthia told Lin about you. Never mind, I’m okay with that. I love boys. I just wish every man would add boy to their names if that would make them be of good behavior’.

I couldn’t take it anymore being seen as an innocent naïve boy, so I spoke out.

‘You see, Mr. Chang, Cynthia doesn’t know me that much. All she told your daughter are just what she thinks I am. I’m not saying I’m a bad person, but I’m not exactly all she said I was. Especially the part she said I can’t express myself before women. Those are just speculations not facts. So please make no judgments based on her insinuations.’ If you think of me as the best of councilor due to those things you heard, you might be mistaken. Nevertheless I’ll help you in the best way I can’

‘Definitely you will’ he replied confidently.

‘What do you want me to do for you, Mr. Chang?’

‘With much hard work I have acquired a lot of wealth which I will have to leave behind for my daughter when I’m gone. I don’t trust these guys that keep hanging around her. They’re all gold diggers. I don’t want my daughter to end up with any of them. Boy, I want you to marry my daughter. That way I’ll die knowing my daughter and wealth are in safe hands’

‘What?’ I replied almost screaming.

‘Come on boy, quit the drama. You might be a nice guy, but you need money and a good girl for a wife. All these I offer you today and it will be my pleasure if you take them’

I was short of words, and my entire mind was greatly troubled. I didn’t know what to say to him. I kept rolling my eyes round and round until Chang’s priest came in and told him it was time to make prayers to Buddha. He told me he was going to converse with me again soon. I said okay and thanked him, and he left. Obviously, I had a lot to meditate on.

I went out and joined the party. The two girls I was with before Cynthia came to take me away rushed to me the very moment they saw me back at the party scene. But I dismissed them because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to engage them in the conversation they required. I sat at a dark corner viewing all that was going on. Cynthia was dancing with virtually everyone who was on the dance floor. She really loved dancing, as much as she knew how to. All the while I sat there analyzing Lin over and over again to see if she matched my kind of girl. Even if I agreed to marry Lin, I would be assassinated before long. There were lineup of guys plotting their way to that girl’s fortune, and I would just come in from Africa and shut them out? No nah, they definitely wouldn’t take it lightly with me. But that was sure not to happen, or was it?

It got pretty late and I started feeling sleepy. Cynthia obviously wasn’t going to retire anytime soon, so I didn’t bother saying a word to her before I went to my room to sleep. My soul had almost transported itself to another realm when Cynthia called it back as she burst into my room with an orange transparent night gown which was designed to reveal whatever hid beneath it. She shut the door behind her, leaned on it and stood there staring at me with a dangerous grin. And then she started moving towards me in the same way and manner the Indian ladies do when trying to impress their husbands on their wedding night. It was clear to me that all was not well because she wasn’t an Indian girl, and that definitely wasn’t a wedding night, let alone being ours. Unlike me, I was unable to figure out what to do to avert the situation before it got out of hand. I just lay on my bed watching Cynthia perform to no music. Her moves were so captivating that I lost the power and will to do anything more than lay still and take what was coming. She drew nearer and nearer stylishly until she got to the edge of the bed I lay on, knelt on it, and then GBAM!

EPISODE 13

Like I said, she drew nearer and nearer stylishly until she got to the edge of the bed I lay on, knelt on it and then like a tree that had been cut down from the root, she fell on the bed and became motionless. I thought it was part of the process of whatever she was doing, so I said or did nothing until my heartbeat which had increased as though I just finished a 100 meter race reduced. Then I called on her and got no response. I tapped her, still no response. It was when I turned her face towards mine to find out what happened that I perceived the smell of alcohol, and then I knew she had been acting under the influence of alcohol. Or was she? Time will tell.

I woke up early enough the next morning to discover that Cynthia wasn’t there. She had woken up and left the room while I was still sleeping.
Three days passed and Cynthia and I were ready to leave for America but Chang urged us to stay. I knew why, but Cynthia didn’t. It appeared that Cynthia told Lin about me not knowing that Lin went ahead to tell her father, which made him admire and want me as a husband to her daughter. So Chang’s plan was to get rid of Cynthia while I stay back with Lin. Cynthia was really kept in the dark by Lin and her father, and now, they wanted to make me a part of it. Cynthia innocently agreed to spend a few more days in China because she couldn’t say no to a man like Chang. Chang and I had another conversation and I asked what Lin had to say about the arrangement. Chang told me his daughter will always do what he asks her to do because she’s young, vulnerable and unable to make the right choices. I made up a lot of excuses in order to escape but Chang always found ways to bastardize my excuses. When Chang saw that I wasn’t giving in easily, he admired me all the more.

One day he arranged for Lin and Cynthia to be taken sightseeing so that he could have enough time alone with me since Cynthia was almost always sticking to me like glue. Chang then told me he was going to take me somewhere to meet with the men who ran China and other countries of the world. I went with him. He and I entered into his snow white limousine and the driver took off. It took three hours to get to our destination, where we had to pass through eight gates before reaching the main building. The building was nothing like any buildings I had ever seen, even in the movies. At all the gates were men dressed in black suits. And before we could gain entrance into any gate a password had to be given verbally by Chang. None of the men in black said a word to us. They only stood there to make sure that nothing went wrong. Chang gave eight different passwords in Chinese language before we got to the building. Fear had already consumed me when he gave the third password, but by then I couldn’t go back, I could only go forward. As we reached the building, some other men, also dressed in black suit opened the door to the car for us and we came down. No one said a word of greeting to anybody, everyone there concentrated on their duties and minded their own businesses. There were no ladies there. We passed through three doors before getting to the sitting room of the house, which was as bigger than usual. Everyone there was in uniform and surrounded someone that couldn’t be seen. As soon as Chang and I stepped in, a voice from the midst of them, probable that of the unseen man echoed angrily,

‘You’re late Chang’.

‘I will make sure to pay the required fine’ replied Chang.

The unseen man echoed again, ‘Don’t be deluded by your wealth. It can be taken just as it was given’.

‘Forgive me’ said Chang meekly.

Next thing the unseen man said was ‘FI-FA-FO-FIM! I hear the smell of a little boy. Be he dead or be he alive, I must eat his body with my bread. FI-FA-FO-FIM!’ Chai!!! I don die!!! Wetin bring me come this place ooo??? I started panicking but Chang asked me to keep my calm. I couldn’t. How was I to keep calm after everything I had just seen and heard? I started begging Chang to forgive my errors. I said so many things to Chang and even promised to marry Lin if he let me live. I was convinced that Chang was going to do something bad to me there and then. So anything I could do to get myself out of that situation was done without hesitation. But then, all I could do was plead and make promises. My whispers were regarded as noise because the place was as silent as a grave yard even with the number of people in it. The meeting didn’t continue further because of me, and Chang was blamed for it. When the meeting ended, everyone took off their uniforms and then I discovered that some of those in uniform were ladies. Apparently, there were also ladies there.

Though they took off their uniforms, their faces were masked. Two masks were also brought for Chang and me. They all left the sitting room to unknown destinations in pairs just like in the case of Noah’s ark. While I was still trying to study what was really happening, two ladies walked up to Chang and me, held us by the hand and led us away from each other to different destinations. I wanted to object because I didn’t want Chang out of my sight, and I couldn’t wait to leave that place. There was so much horror there. But change said to me, ‘Don’t worry. Go with her. I’ll see you at the end of Pleasure Street’. After saying that, he left with one of the ladies. I turned to the one that held my hand, tried to recognize her but it was needless. We both had our masks on. So I followed her to quiet and secluded area of the house where everything in sight was made of pure gold. We sat on a couch and started discussing.

‘What is this place’ was the first thing I asked.

‘If I were you I wouldn’t bother’ she replied.

‘I need to know because that man out there said he is going to eat my body with his bread’ I insisted fearfully.

‘Oh that?’ she asked. ‘Have no fear of that. It’s just a phrase used to announce the arrival of a new PRADA’

‘PRADA?’ I asked. ‘What does PRADA mean?’

‘Anyone who is a part of this organization is referred to as a PRADA’

‘But I’m not a part of this organization. I came here with a man named Chang, and he never said anything about any organization to me’

‘It doesn’t matter if he said anything or not. Once you’re here, you’re here. If not that you arrived late, your initiation would have taken place today. But that will now be postponed till next meeting’

‘When is the next meeting’ I asked with fright.

‘In three days’ she replied’

‘What about you miss? You’re a PRADA too?’

‘No. They don’t take women. We’re only here to give them a good time, like I’m supposed to give to you now. We better stop this talk and proceed to business’ she said with a grin.

‘What?’ I yelled. ‘My life is at stake and here you are talking trash?’

I got really pissed off by her and tried to take off her mask so I that I could see her face very well while yelling but she fought back with some of those tai chi stuff and got me off her. Our little combat caused some noise that called to the attention of two other masked girls who were passing by just at that time and they turned in to find out what was happening. ‘What going on here?’ they asked. I couldn’t say a word; neither could the girl I that was with me. Instead she left in anger. One of the two girls who came in went after her while the other one stayed back to inquire of me what happened. As was talked, her voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t tell if I knew her or not. Of course I won’t know her because I hadn’t made any acquaintances yet in China and wasn’t going to make any because I was going to leave China the very moment I met Cynthia. So I just concluded that she was a strange girl with a familiar voice. Due to my encounter with the previous girl I didn’t pay any attention to this very girl at all, not until her phone rang and she picked and started talking. ‘What?’ She was speaking Igbo with the caller. Igbo girl in China and in a PRADA territory? She noticed I was shocked at the dialect she spoke. When she dropped the call she asked why I was shocked at her dialect. She went ahead to make fun of Chinese language thinking I was a Chinese guy.

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

‘Listen man, if you don’t like ladies tell me and I’ll just get the hell out of here at ones. Stop making fun of me’ she retorted.

‘No miss, I don’t mean to insult you. I just want to know you’.

‘Is that necessary?’ she asked. ‘We probably won’t see each other again after today, so what’s the point?’

‘Okay, I agree with you’ but can you at least take off your mask?’

‘It’s a taboo here’

‘What do you know about PRADA?’ I asked.

‘Dude! What’s your problem?’ Why are you so inquisitive? Even I, who’s just coming here for the first time haven’t asked these much questions?’

‘This is your first time here?’ I asked.

‘Of course’ she replied. I came here with a friend of mine. I don’t even know what this place is. She just told me it’s a party, so I’m here to enjoy myself. I suggest you the same and stop all acting weird’

‘Well this is my first time here too’ a man named Chang brought me here to be initiated into the organization of the PRADAS without my consent’

‘Did you say Chang?’ she asked curiously.

‘Yes Chang’ I replied. ‘Do you know him?’

‘Wait a minute’ she said. Are you…,, are you…, ‘Take off your mask’ she said seriously.

‘Why’ I asked. I demanded that first and you waved it away, now you want me to take mine off?’ ‘No way! If you want to see my face, I’ll have to see yours first’

She took off her mask; low and behold she was Cynthia. ‘What in the world are you doing here Cynthia?’ I screamed. ‘Is this what you do?’

‘Hey stop yelling’ she said. ‘How do you know my name? Who are you? Tell me, who are you!’ I grew weary at discovering that Cynthia, who was supposed to go site seeing ended up in the PRADA territory, not as a member but as a pleasure tool. I didn’t know whether or not to reveal myself to her but then, she brought me to China, and I needed her to leave. So I slowly took off my mask. She was so shocked on realizing it was me that she almost fainted. But she got a hold of herself and screamed; WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Imagine question oo? ‘What am I doing here?’ Wasn’t she supposed to go sightseeing? Now she’s here, asking what I’m doing here. See this girl oo!

EPISODE 14

‘Don’t even try to play dumb with me’ I retorted.

‘Play dumb?’ What do you mean? Who’s playing dumb here? Weren’t you supposed to be out with Chang?’

‘Of course I was’ I retorted again. ‘And this is where he brought me out to. And you? I heard that this place is an organization for a group of people called PRADA. From what I gathered, they don’t take in female members. The females’ only come here to satisfy the s#xual appetites of the PRADAS. Amazingly here you are’

‘What are you insinuating?’ she asked angrily.

‘I’m insinuating the obvious’ I retorted the third time.

Before I could say another word, Cynthia landed a slap on my face. The impact wasn’t that much anyway because her palm was as soft as that of someone I know. But I got furious and we started a quarrel. As we exchanged words, I got to know that Lin, Chang’s daughter was the one who brought her there without of her knowledge of what happened there, just like Chang had done to me. I also narrated to her how I got there, but I could sense doubt in her eyes. I didn’t have a problem with that because I didn’t believe her either when she told me Lin brought her there. I asked her to bring in Lin for questioning and she did. Lin explained to us that her father watches over her strictly to make sure she doesn’t indulge herself in s#xual activities until she was married.

According to her, her father had sent word to his friends and loyalists to keep a close watch on her to keep her from trying to do it secretly. So the only opportunity she had to do so was in the PRADA meetings where everyone was masked and she couldn’t be seen. She was 25 years of age and she confessed she started going for the PRADA meetings secretly from the age of 22. I asked how she managed to bypass the password and she said she had a godmother who her father didn’t know of. Her godmother was there for the same purpose as the other females. She confessed a whole lot to us. Then Cynthia busted out in anger. ‘Why didn’t you tell me all these before bringing me here? Is this how you treat you friends?’ She was asking so many questions at a time and almost called to the attention of some people who could be hearing her voice from a distance. I stepped in and separated them from each other as Cynthia almost started a fight with Lin.

I took Lin away to another chamber and questioned her all the more. I was more concerned about my initiation to the PRADAS than anything else. I asked Lin if she was aware of her father’s plan to get us married. She said she was but was afraid of what might become of Cynthia if it pulled through. Lin told me that Cynthia had always been referring to me as her fiancé and had said a lot of good things about me. Since all the men around her either came for the money or fame, her father decided to secretly arrange for us to marry each other without Cynthia’s knowledge, and this was supposed to take place after my birthday. She explained everything to my understanding except the part where Cynthia said I was her fiancé. I inquired more about that and she kept talking. At a point, she noticed the look on my face and suspected that what Cynthia said about me being her fiancé may have been a lie. She asked; why is your face like that? Isn’t she your fiancée? If I said she wasn’t, Lin won’t see any wrong in getting married to me. And if I got married to her, I would certainly end up as a PRADA, which I didn’t want to be a part of.

Throughout school days, I never belonged to a common campus cult, not to talk of full blown OCCULTISM. So I answered immediately; she is! ‘We are set to marry next summer’ I said. That’s why we need to leave immediately so that we can begin preparations. As you know, summer is here already. ‘Next summer? That’s just around the corner. How come she never mentioned it to me?’ Lin asked. ‘I wouldn’t know’ I replied innocently. The next thing she said was; ‘I need to talk to that so called Cynthia’. I held her back as she stood up from the couch we sat on. ‘You know you just had a little fight with Cynthia. I bet she’s still upset with you for bringing her here. Just give her some time to cool off, and then you can go talk to her’. She saw reasons with me and left to have the fun she came there for.

I went to Cynthia and briefed her on the situation of things. Even Cynthia was afraid and couldn’t believe that Lin and Chang could do that to her. From then, she lost trust for all except me, and that was a problem. We planned to keep our calm and act as though we knew nothing while arranging to leave the next day without anyone’s knowledge. She and Lin reconciled. Lin never knew I had told Cynthia everything and because of that she doubled her regard for me.

The whole pleasure thing came to an end. Lin excitedly came in to meet us. Apparently, she had taken a dose or two of what she went there for.

‘Cynthia hurry! We have to leave before my father gets to know we were here’ said Lin

‘Alright’ Cynthia replied and the left. I went to find Chang so we could leave as well. I found Chang discussing with a group of people on a round table. He quickly saw me and signaled me with his hands to come join them. That caught the attention of everyone on the table and they turned to see who he was signaling. All eyes were on me. I put away all my fears and joined them on the table.

‘This is my daughter’s husband to be’ Chang said.

‘Is he good enough for her?’ one of the men on the table asked.

‘He couldn’t be any better?’

‘In that case he’s already one of us’ another man said. You’re welcome son.

‘Thank you’ I replied.

It was all over and we left. On our way home I couldn’t think of anything else than a means of escape from Chang. After a long while of trying to figure out what to do and couldn’t come up with something, I quit trying and slept off in the car. Next thing I heard were echoes of children’s voices. They seemed so happy that I envied and wished to be a child again. That way, I would be free from these troubles that follow me everywhere, especially that of Chang and the PRADAS. Since it was impossible for me to be a child again, I decided to join them play for the last time before I journeyed to the land of no return which Chang was taking me to in three days. If Cynthia had not brought me to China, I wouldn’t have met Chang. If I had stayed back with Ogechi at the airport the day I traveled to America, I wouldn’t have met Cynthia. If Ogechi hadn’t let the whole superstar come between us, I wouldn’t have considered traveling. I was pursuing happiness but there I was, ready to be initiated into an organization I knew nothing about and marry a girl I haven’t dated before. But fact remains that I would be very wealthy. But what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul.

I was so happy playing with the kids, but a little distance away I saw some rich kids mocking a poor kid because he couldn’t afford candy but needed it. They would offer him candy, but when he stretches out his hand to get it they would draw back their hands and laugh at him. Then the poor kid would weep and weep while the rich kids would just keep laughing and having a good time. They loved to see the poor kid cry.

The poor kid secluded himself to an area short of people but could be seen by everyone. I watched carefully to observe the poor kid because I had taken pity on him. I wanted to go and console him and then buy him candy. Before I reached him I saw an old man in rags approach him and whisper into his ears. Whatever that old man said to that poor kid made him brighten up like he hadn’t been sad in two years. I really wished to know what that man told him so that I could tell it to the children I and Lin would have whenever they got depressed.

Immediately the poor boy jumped up and went in again to the rich kids. As soon as they saw him they offered him candy so that they could withhold it from him when he tries to get it like they had been doing. But amazingly, the poor kid wasn’t interested in the candy anymore. They offered and offered but the poor kid showed no interest in it. They thought maybe he needed more than candy so they went and brought chocolate, ice cream and all the things kids love, but the poor kid was not interested in any of them. Instead, he was interested in something as insignificant as doll.

The rich kids noticed that he was interested in their doll and they withheld it from him and gave him the former instead. When they had mocked him enough, they threw all their chocolate, candy, biscuit, and the rest they had on him, and then left the scene with their doll, just to let him have what he didn’t want while they starved him of what he really wanted. They were wrong! The kid only did what the old man told him to do in order to get what he wanted. When they were all gone, the poor kid found a large bag and packed all they threw on him into that bag and left. He ended up having more than he asked for. As he made away with the bag rejoicing, he saw the old man and thanked him for helping him acquire all those candy with his council. The old man waved him goodbye and turned to leave to where he came from.

I wanted to meet the old man to see if he could proffer a solution to my own problem, so I called out to him in a loud voice as I ran towards him. He saw me running towards him and also started running, thinking I wanted to harm him for helping the poor kid out. Wait! Wait! I kept screaming but he wouldn’t even look back. He kept running and I got so angry and screamed again to the top of my voice; WAIT!! Then I opened my eyes to see the driver struggling to keep the car on the right lane to avoid accident as other cars were horning ceaselessly while Chang was trying hard to hold onto something to avoid hitting himself against the window glass of the car.

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ Chang asked furiously as he looked at me as though he was going to unleash hell upon me. ‘Why are you screaming?’ he continued. ‘You almost got us killed’

Then it dawned on me that I had been dreaming all along. We were still on our way from the PRADA meeting. All that stuff about the candy and the kids was just a dream. Oh s##t! I couldn’t say anything than sorry to Chang. He yelled at me for about a minute of two before letting it go.

When calmness returned, I leaned back and started thinking about the dream I just had. I couldn’t seem to find a suitable meaning to it. But then, I meditated a little more on the dream until I got an understanding of it, and then I smiled. Chang noticed my smile and asked; ‘What are you smiling about?’ I looked at him mischievously and said; I WANNA MARRY LIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Can you make that happen?

Chang looked at me and tried to smile to what I said but couldn’t. He asked why the suddenness on that matter. Of all he said and asked, all replied him with was; I WANNA MARRY LIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Can you make that happen? I had hoped that just like the rich kids in my dream, Chang would keep what I wanted from me and present me with what I didn’t want. He enquired again to know what brought about this sudden eagerness to marry Lin. Seeing that Chang was slowly falling for my antics, Intensified it by saying; I want to marry Lin, I want to base in China, and I want to join the PRADA. That was supposed to speed up the rate at which Chang was falling until he fell and crashed but immediately Chang heard the word PRADA, he leaped for so much joy. He gave a horrible smile and said; Lin shall you marry, China shall you base, and PRADA shall you join. Surely, PRADA shall you join! Omor See me oo! Na who send me dream?

EPISODE 15

I and Chang got home to meet Cynthia and Lin at the sitting room watching some girly stuff on TV. Cynthia was obviously uneasy. I guess Chang was too high in spirit to observe that. I was walking with Chang all along, forming Rambo to convince him all the more that I was really willing to do all I told him. Even Cynthia did not understand me. I followed Chang to his room and he was kind of marveled at that action of mine. ‘You might want to go to your room, boy’ he said. No! I replied sternly. I really believed that what transpired in my dream was going to work for me like it worked for the poor kid. So I kept following hard after Chang. ‘I want to know all there is to know about the PRADAS. I don’t want to go in there too naïve’ I said. Tell me everything about the PRADA. ‘Are you sure of this?’ Chang asked. ‘I think you’re going so fast’. ‘Are you telling me or not, old man?’ I asked sternly. I believe that at that point, Chang was a bit confused and may have been angry that I called him old man, but he didn’t show such emotions. I was supposed to be afraid, but I was more than eager to become a PRADA. Something is not right. But what? Chang couldn’t figure that out, so he told me he was weak and needed to rest. ‘I’ll tell you all you need to know about PRADA tomorrow’ he said, and I left without saying goodnight. I borrowed that attitude from the PRADAS. They never say a word of greeting and never act familiar. I wonder what must have been running through Chang’s mind.

I wasn’t convinced that all that display before Chang was enough to get him to act in accordance with my plan, so I decided to try something rugged. At least, if my previous display wasn’t enough to get Chang to change his mind about me, this one will. Having convinced myself of the rapid result this very plan of mine was going to yield, I excitedly proceeded with my next move.

In the middle of the night I went to Lin’s room and asked for a piece of her. She objected. ‘If you must be my wife, you must let me have a piece of you whenever I ask for it, pending when we’ll get married. I’m not ready to wait eternally for our wedding night’. ‘But you said you’re engaged to Cynthia’, Lin asked. ‘Things have changed’ I said. ‘Ask you aged father and he’ll explain it all to you. We are getting married soon. But I can’t wait until then to have you. I need you now. I mean now!

Left for Lin, she wouldn’t resist. But for the fear of her father she objected. I knew all that. I just wanted to give Chang a reason to disqualify and send me away. I began to threaten Lin that I was going to get physical if she continued resisting me and she threatened to scream if I did so. ‘That’s exactly what I need nah’ I said in my heart. I proceeded towards her, bundled her and threw her down from the bed, unbuttoned my shirt and lose my belt. Guess what? The girl didn’t even sigh, not to talk of scream. Between her and me, she wanted it to look like I forced myself on her, but no one would hear of it. When it was clear to me that Lin was a wrong chemical, I made my way out of her room and she asked; What? Did I do something wrong?

I couldn’t sleep that night. By 5am I went Chang’s library and got a number of books about jets, estates, and mansions. I opened up all of them and kept on Chang’s reading table. When morning fully came, I heard Chang ask about me and no one seemed to know where I was. I knew he was going to look for me when morning came since he and I had almost become fellow PRADAS. After searching a while for me, one of the servants came to the library to find me lying on the books on the table like one who fell asleep while reading. I was just acting.

Chang was called in by the servant who found me. He woke me up and asked if I was drunk. I laughed mischievously and told him that I just found a reason to live. He asked what I had found and I showed him the books. ‘How do books about jets, estates and mansions give you a reason to live? ‘Guess Chang, guess’ I said smiling. I’m not guessing anything. Tell me if you want to or let’s go and have breakfast so that I can tell you about PRADA afterwards as you requested. ‘Excellent!’ I screamed. But before then you’ll have to answer some questions. ‘I don’t have time for all these, boy’ Chang yelled. ‘Please Chang, please. It will only take a while’ I said. Chang sat down and I asked;

What’s the price of the most expensive jet you know?

‘24 Billion Dollars’

‘What about the price of largest estate you know?’

‘About 50 billion dollars’

‘Okay. The largest mansion?

‘What’s all these about?’

‘Mr. Chang, just answer the question’

‘400 million dollars’

‘Thank you Mr. Chang. If you add all that money together, you’ll get 74 billion 400 million dollars.’

‘That’s right’, Chang concurred. Now what was that for?

‘Those are the things I’m going to buy after I marry your daughter’

Chang laughed and laughed and asked; ‘where are you going to get the money to buy all that, boy? If I remember correctly, you still an aspiring actor and singer. So how the hell are you going to achieve that?’ After he said that, he kept laughing. I waited for him to be through. When he was, I looked at him and said; WITH LIN’S MONEY.

Chang paused and looked at me firmly. I bet he wasn’t seeing me in the light he had seen all the while anymore. I went ahead to tell him how I hated martial arts and would sell off his martial arts academy when Lin inherited it. I made Chang believe that I had become greedy for Lin’s fortune and he suspended the idea of my marriage to his daughter. But no, he didn’t suspend the idea of making me a PRADA.

Cynthia couldn’t stay any longer in China. She just couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t understand Chang, she didn’t understand Lin, and worst of all, she didn’t understand me. She asked me to secretly leave Chang’s house with her but I objected. I told her I had everything under control. She didn’t understand at all but I told her to trust me, and she did. As a matter of fact, I had grown to become the only one Cynthia trusts.

I told her to make her intentions of leaving known to Chang. Chang wouldn’t stop her from leaving. He had no business with her anymore. So she did, and Chang bade her farewell. She asked for me to escort her to the airport. I refused. She begged but I still refused. She put up a fight with me for refusing to escort her to the airport and that called to the attention of everyone in the mansion including Chang. He asked to know what the problem was and Cynthia told him how heartless I was for refusing to escort her to the airport. Chang thought I was really ready to turn bad and was already acting like it even before turning bad. He pleaded with me to escort her to the airport and I yielded. I and Cynthia got to the airport, boarded a flight to America, and off we went. Whoow! That was entirely my plan, and it worked.

I wouldn’t know what happened when Chang and Lin discovered we were gone. I left China without packing any of my stuff except the cloth I wore. Thank God! We arrived at America and were so relieved. Lin called in later that day to find out where we were and Cynthia gave her the nag of her life. I don’t know if Lin got to say any more than hello, because Cynthia never paused while on the phone with her and it seemed as if she was rapping Twister’s music. No be small thing oo. I and Cynthia started a recap on our experience in China. She made fun of me and I made fun of her. Seemed like our experience in China brought us closer than we were before, and she was so comfortable with it.

I had been sleeping all day one of those days and couldn’t sleep early enough at night. I jumped out of my bed and made my way to the sitting room. There I found Cynthia watching TV. ‘You’re still up this late?’ I asked. ‘Yeah. I couldn’t sleep. What about you? You’re afraid to sleep alone in your room? She asked. ‘Maybe I should come join you’. I just smiled and waved that away, then I joined her to watch TV as we discussed. Cynthia then began to apologize for the slap she gave me in China. She was so tender with words that I began to admire her in a way I hadn’t before. She drew close to me and laid her head on my chest, telling me how willing she was to make it up to me, not minding how I wanted her to. She gave me a blank check, and my mind became as blank as the check. The fragrance of her hair was to die for. She was putting on that same gown she wore the night she paid an unusual visit to my room in China. The light in the sitting room was off, and the overwhelming darkness lacked the power to reveal much to my eyes, so my mind wasn’t troubled much. But then, she slept off on my chest since it took me too long to decide what to fill into the check she gave me.

I tried to wake her up unsuccessfully. After several tries, I decided to carry her all the way up to her room. On reaching there I dropped her on the bed gently, drew back and watched her stretch herself and wiggling like a worm on the bed while turning to a comfortable sleeping position. Unfortunately me, the light in her room was on, and it shone so bright that it didn’t even look like night. I could see all her gown revealed, and leaving the room became an issue. I longed for a strange voice like that which played in my mind in Ogechi’s case to play again so that I would have an excuse to misbehave and blame it on the devil. Haha, devil don suffer! But fortunately for me, it didn’t. Na wao. Abi devil dey sleep? When it was clear the voice wasn’t going to speak, I considered improvising. (WRONG MOVE)

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