MARY AND I (13)

Though I had no courage to go out at that hour, I still pretended to Rose that I wanted to leave until she begged me not to go and waste my life, she promised me heaven and earth to make sure that I was safe, she begged for forgiveness for not telling me whom Mary was and explained the reason behind it.

I felt like a king seeing Rose on her knee to apologise to me for the very first time since our relationship, I begged her too for forgiveness, I also took my time to explain how Mary lead me to seven seven hotel where I saw her with a strange man and I established that as the reason for my action meanwhile I knew within me that the madness started earlier in the day before the hotel scene.

In a nutshell, Rose and I settled our differences, we both apologized to eachother and agreed to deal with the lingering issue together since we believed that none of us was safe in the hand of Mary.

Rose could be her target since she was the only rival/obstacle she has, and my case, I could be penalized for breaking her heart, in fact she could get rid of us both for the reasons above. According to Rose, Mary can be compared to a serpent who cares not about others regardless of her relationship with the person.

Consequence upon the settlement of our differences we both prayed together like never before and agreed to travel home the following morning to see my mom as early as possible before it got out of hand.

Early in the morning, I woke up and dressed with the intention of going to my house to change my dress, suddenly I saw Rose crying and rolling on the floor of her room and within the twinkling of an eye there was a gathering of people, obviously they came to sympathise with her but I was surprised that I didnt know why she was crying and the reason for the gathering. The most annoying part of it was that everyone treated my like invisible. What the hell is going on here (I asked Rose) but Rose also did not respond to me.

I was there standing all alone and looking for answer to my question when Laide rushed, I wondered who told him that Rose was crying for no reason and people were there to sympathise with her but to my surprise, I approached Laide and advance a handshake to him as usual but he snubbed me, he also joined others to treat me like am not in existence.

I shouted to the top of my voice to stop the madness but no one look at my side until I heard Laide petting and asking Rose questions "how did it happen? We were together on campus yesterday, though he was moody but he didnt complain of any sickness, in fact, there was no sign of sickness in him"

It seems this guy is insane, what exactly is this stupid guy saying, how can he be asking such question when I am here with him (I faced him, Laide, are you blind? I am right here before you or who are you referring to as he?)

The whole thing look like April fool prank but the day was not 1st of April. I started feeling somehow and wished that someone could explain the situation to me......to be contd.

©LUQMAN A. ALAWODE

Jeez.... Hope its nt wat am tinking o. More data to ur fone dear

MARY AND I (14)

I knew one thing for sure that even if the whole world gathered to play such a prank on me, my mom will never join the wagon, not even when I just told her about some spiritual challenges the previous day. I picked my phone which I believed was in my pocket and dialed her digit several times but amazingly my mom too refused to respond to my call.

What the hell is going on (I was confused), this is becoming so unbearable, how could my mom, my own mother join these riff-raff or is something happening that I did not notice. While I sat down on the chair and looking at them as they were acting their drama, Laide picked something on the bed which he called my phone. I suddenly realized that he was talking to my mom on phone, he put it in speaker so others could hear the conversation.

Mom: Good morning my son, where have you put your phone since last night that I have been calling you
Laide: (In a very soft and sad tone) Mom, this is not Jude, it is Laide ma
Mom: Laide, how are you, where is your friend? His line has not been going through since
Laide: Mom, there is trouble ma, Jude...
Mom: What happened (she cut in) what happened Laide, where is Jude? Is he fine, is he alright, what happened to him? Please give him the phone let me hear his voice.
Laide: (he became a stammerer suddenly as he did not know how to break the bad news) we.......w....e were together on campus yesterday ma, though he was moody and I still called him in the evening only to hear this morning th.......at Jude gave up the gh.......ost.
Mom: What? (That was the last sound that my mom made on phone till the call ended).

Given up the ghost was what I heard that shed light on what was happening, I was shocked and heartbroken, I could not believe that I was dead already, I cried for help, tried to create attention hoping that God might use someone to rescue me but it appeared that I was operating on a different level. They were touching and rolling something on the bed which they reffered to as my body but I saw nothing, all I knew was that they had declared me dead already and everyone that comes around treated me as such.

I decided to take a walk down the street since I was alone in the crowd. There was a particular mango tree on the street under which Iyalaje sells palmwine and I do patronize her once in a while, not only because of her original palmwine but also because of the different issues that people do discuss there. I always love it especially if I see the likes of Charles and Tunde there, they were good at analysing politics and development of which those areas were my specializations too. Though I dont like sport as such but it was always fun seeing Adams, Uche and Rasqie analysing sport after some cups of palmwine.

I got to Iyalaje's shop though no one noticed my presence but I dont give a damn, I was only waiting for the next line of action from God if my soul would be restored or finally taken to heaven. I saw Biggie and his girlfriend but their line of discussion further broken my heart. In my entire life, I had never seen anyone envying the dead until that day. His girlfriend actually felt for me, she pitied my parent for such a great loss and expressed her sympathy but Biggie whom we grew up on the same street, attended the same primary school and got admission a year after me rubished her feelings and painted me black.

Everyone that knew Biggie and I together would call us friend but I never knew he kept grudges against me. The grudges started when we were in primary school, there was a year when I came 2nd in class and Biggie came 12th but in an attempt to please his mom he managed to clean off the first figure 1 which left him with 2th on the report card and his mom never bothered about nd and th.

The following day we met at a supermarket where my mom usually take me for shopping, I innocently congratulated him that his mom decided to motivate him for the first time without minding his result, he was blinking and winking his eyes but unfortunately I did not understand what he meant until his mom found out that he manipulated his result.

I thought that had already become a thing of the past but I realised that I was only fooling myself when he bad mouthed me in the presence of his girlfriend. I felt so bad, where I thought would be lively further worsen my condition, I was soaked in tears, shortly after Biggie and his girlfriend left, I saw Mary running towards Rose's house, she was weeping and running.........to be continued

©LUQMAN A. ALAWODE

cc: SalJay, richiearmany14 , drewsman sirblero Babysuccess02 OMA42 brownsugalin Larrysun Daty7 rapmike chistar01 Diamondwriter. Please I know that you guys are great writers, can you criticize this for me?

nice story pls fire on

MARY AND I (15)

Then there was this sudden darkness, I no longer see, I tapped my eyes and realized that I was not blind, my eyes were functioning perfectly also there was total silence and this very cool breeze which could be compared to an air-conditioner room. I was there for almost 30 minutes before I could see again, the reason for the on and off was far beyond my comprehension, I quickly ran towards Rose's house because I knew what Mary can do.

My guess was truly right, there was a serious battle between the duo, they were hurling abusive words and cursing each other, Laide tried to stop them but his effort was fruitless, none of them even considered my helpless corpse as if the fight will restore my soul.

I pitied Rose the most, I tried the little within my capacity to make her understand why she should not fight Mary but she appeared to be ready for the worst. Let me tell you, you cannot kill me the same way you have been killing people, you have no secret before me and you know it, you can kill everybody but as for me, he who liveth in me is more than the world in totality (said Rose).

Do I care if you have any secret, do you think I care if you open that your gutter which you called mouth and vomit whatever that is in it? You can vomit as much as you want, I dont care (Mary responded)

Just as she kept using the word vomit in place of talk for Rose, she started vomitting immediately, all the alcohol which she consumed the previous evening came out of her mouth including the fish pepper soup which she ate at the beer parlour.

Everybody was begin her for mercy even Rose was on her knee to apologise because she could no longer talk, every attempt she made to utter a word turns to vomit.

Mary turned to a villain heroine as no one could look her in the eyes, nobody wanted her to use any negative word on him/her, within the twinkling of an eye the scene of the incident which was Rose's house was empty, everyone left including Laide.

I was there helplessly, I was looking at Rose with tears on my eyes and hers, I wish God could just empower me immediately I could have turned her to goat or one worthless animal but I was handicapped.

Suddenly, Mary raised her head up and her eyes met mine, I nearly entered the ground on which I stood, her eyes were as red as ripe pepper, she frowned her face and what I saw was nothing but leopard, she looked so scary that even Satan cannot withstand such a look, she was a monster. I bowed my head down and went on my knee, I had forgotten that I was dead already and nothing could be worse than that.

Look here Jude, you may not be visible to others but I can see you, you think I am the type of girl you can play prank with? You have missed the road already, yes you are dead but I am going to kill you over and over again, I will make you useless that you will not be allowed here and not be welcomed there. Stupid fool (Said Mary).

I was not afraid of the threat by Mary but I was concerned about Rose. Listen Mary, (I was still on my knee shedding tears and taken pity on Rose) I did not force you in the first place but you lured me into it, I have accepted my fate anyway, in fact you can mould me anyhow you like but please for the sake of God, leave Rose out of this, she is.......to be contd.

© LUQMAN A. ALAWODE

drewsman:
nice story pls fire on

thank you bro

Tnx 4 d mention dear?

nice story.waiting for ur nxt update

BlissfulJeff:
nice story.waiting for ur nxt update

Thank you boss, it drops shortly, thanks for the encouragement

MARY AND I (16)

It was as if I was adding fuel to the existing fire as Mary continued threating us, she hit Rose with a dirty slap and she fell on the ground, her eyes turned brown, the lines on Mary's finger showed on her cheek like tribal mark. We thought we were already at the end of the road, we could no longer beg because Mary had already turned to a devil, all our plea has no influence on her, she was stone hearted and appeared to be determined to frustrate life out of Rose.

We were there helplessly for hours without no one to rescue us, she had maltreated Rose to the last extent when suddenly I felt a tap on my back.

Wake up Jude, its dawn already, this is 6:30 a.m or have you forgotten that we agreed to go and see your mom very early this morning? (Rose said)
The voice that I heard sound so confusing, could it truly be Rose that is waking me up (I thought), was I dreaming? (I asked myself). Since I slept with my tummy on the bed, I managed to change my position, lo and behold, I could see clearly, Rose had already took her bath and prepared rice and plantain that we will eat before leaving.

I was sweatning like someone who just finished a 90 minutes full time football match, I found the whole thing confusing as I do not understand which one was dream and which one was real.

Anything the matter Jude? Rose asked as she noticed the sweat on me and the fear in my face. Nothing dear "I responded" please how long have we slept, what is today's date, was Laide here some days ago and when last did you see Mary? (I asked her so many questions).

Are you okay Jude? Is everything alright, could you probably be intoxicated for the alcohol that I drank last night? (Mary responded), she joined me on the bed and felt my temparature to confirm if I was okay.

I am fine Rose, honestly I am fine, I just need to be sure if I am dead or alive, see Rose, this issue of Mary is obviously getting out of hand. I narrated the story of how the dream went to Rose, how people gathered to cry for me, how Laide consoled her, how they broke the news of my death to my mom, how I saw Biggie fabricating lies against me and most especially how Mary dealt with us and how she (Rose) nearly gave up because of the intolerable torture from Mary.

The whole narration was like a normal thing to Rose, she even told me that it could be as a result of what she told me before we went to bed the previous night until she heard the part that has to do with intolerable torture which almost frustrate life out of her.

Are you serious Jude? (she asked), this is going beyond what I thought already, in fact you need to get up now and let us go to Ede before things get out of hand. I must not die and you must not die either, I reject the bad dream, it is not our portion because we are covered by the He that is He, the omniscient and omnipotent for He said that we shall not die but liveth to fulfil His will in our lives. Get up Jude.

I jumped off the bed and walked down to the bathroom, I was about to start bathing when my phone rang, it was my mom.

Jude, please come and attend to this call before you start bathing, it is your mom. Rose picked the call and handed the phone over to me.

Me: Good morning mom
Mom: okomi Ayanfe, how was your night?
Me: Mommy, it was not fine, my night was not fine, I am coming home right away and I am coming with Rose so that you can pray for us together. Have you informed the Pastor? Please tell him that your son needs deliverance and he should gather many other powerful Pastors together because.

Stop scaring her Jude, what you are saying is scary and could kill a hypertensive patient (Rose interrupted as she collected the phone from me. Dont worry mom, it is not that bad but we will soon be on our way to visit you and do some prayers together (said Rose)

Mom: Thank you Rose, Jude nearly killed me. But are you sure that he is fine? To be contd

©LUQMAN A. ALAWODE

Kudos bro....Your narration is excellent..Kept me at the edge of my seat in the office..Your story na my office work for this week..Mention me in ur next update..

Hello dewalt. Good story you have here, your narration is good, your story is flowing well enough (no confusion on who is who for most part of the story that i have read). However, there are a few grammatical blunders here and there and in your last update you seemed to switch Rose for Mary.
Good work overall.

brunxy:
Kudos bro....Your narration is excellent..Kept me at the edge of my seat in the office..Your story na my office work for this week..Mention me in ur next update..

Thank you boss, it drops shortly

rapmike:
Hello dewalt. Good story you have here, your narration is good, your story is flowing well enough (no confusion on who is who for most part of the story that i have read). However, there are a few grammatical blunders here and there and in your last update you seemed to switch Rose for Mary.
Good work overall.

wow, am happy to read your advise and observation. thank you boss, I hope to improve on the weak points

MARY AND I (17)

I dressed up as fast as I could and ate my breakfast before we moved, mommy kept calling every 20 minutes to monitor our movement

Before we leave, let us commit our journey to God (Mary advised but I declined). Have you not prayed this morning? I pray every minutes and where we are going to is also about prayer. Please lets go, there is no time to waste.

The trip to Ede is about 140 kilometres which if the vehicle is in a perfect condition and drive by a competent driver should not take more than two hours. Our trip was successful as there was no hinderance on the road, I met my mom on a couch in the sitting room, she look dull, apparently she was tired of peeping through the window at the sound of any okada that passes by.

Welcome my daughter (she greeted Rose as if she was the guardian Angel that lead me home), she did not even allow us to sit for ten minutes before she ordered us to Church, she had informed the Pastor that I was coming and would need prayer. We got to the Church as fast as we could, it was so funny that the Pastor associated so much importance to my matter more than myself.

Welcome Jude, how was your trip? Thank your mom and your star that you decided to leave the school environment today, if not, the wishes of your enemies would have come to pass on you. Ohhhhhshirabababaa (he spoke in tongue). Jude, will you listen to me and act according to instruction (he asked).

Yes Pastor, my life is at stake, I am ready to do whatever it takes to make sure that I am safe (I responded)

Woe betide he who was not sent but delivered, I will tell you only what I saw without addition or subtraction for he who lies to attract attention shall be exposed one day and shall loose his integrity. It was revealed to me that you have a friend, a female friend per say, she was close to you but you keep seeing her in your dream treatning your live.

Yes Pastor, you are correct sir, I never knew that was a devil, I would not have moved close to her, please safe me, I must not die(I responded without delay).

She is not your enemy, she is never your enemy and will never be, it is true that she is powerful but her powers never work against you.

I looked at Rose and my mom, so who exactly are the enemies(I asked)

That is where you have a role to play Jude, you must fast and pray for seven days which starts today, you must stay indoor during the period after which the wishes of the evil will be a thing of the past.

The Pastor's advise was not a big deal to me, I was born and brought up in a Christian home and trained in a Christian way, I agreed to do the fasting and prayer as directed.

The real problem started suddenly when I remembered that I was yet to clear the cheque which was issued in my name, such a huge amount of money cannot be overlooked or joke with by someone of my age, calibre and exposure. It was as if a spell was casted against me as I stood up immediately and headed outside.

Pastor, Mom, Rose, please I will be back in a jiffy, I need to sort this cheque before I start the prayer, they all tried as much as they could to stop me but their effort was fruitless. I got out of the Church and saw a cab that was heading toward my destination.

Alas, I was in for a bigger trouble, I joined the cab which has two passengers at the back 'a guy and a lady', there was silence as the driver kept moving at a normal speed until we arrived at a Police check point. It was a disaster, the Police requested for the particulars of the vehicle and the Driver brought them out, the next thing I saw was that the Driver and the two passengers took to their heels, they ran as fast as they could.

Knowing what could happen if I was the only one arrested, I joined them in the race, I never knew that I could run as fast as I did until that day, I ran like a horse but unfortunately, an angry Police Officer pointed a gun towards my side and released the bullet, it hit me directly on the right leg but I could not shout, I managed to hid myself there until after an hour when they had combed the bush and saw no one.

I had lost track of my way out, I ran so much that locating the way out was difficult, I was there in the bush for good three days while trying all I could to get out, my phone was lost while I was trying to escape. There was no food nor water, my leg was worse than what a medical personnel could have handled. What a sad moment, my right leg was amputated and I became a one-legged Jude.

Mary did not kill me neither do Rose witch haunt me, the excessive love of money took away my precious leg.

THE END.

Thank you for reading
WATCH OUT FOR ANOTHER EXCITING STORIES: MY ENCOUNTER WITH CHIAMAKA AND WISHES OF THE WITCHES

© LUQMAN A. ALAWODE
08062442573
luqmanalawode@gmail.com

so thas it

Not bad, it seemed a bit rushed but good work overall

rapmike:
Not bad, it seemed a bit rushed but good work overall

thanks boss, the last part was actually rushed cos I just got a certain engagement and want to put the pen down for a while.

dewalt:
thanks boss, the last part was actually rushed cos I just got a certain engagement and want to put the pen down for a while.

i understand. Hope to see you soon.

sorry the criticism came in late, but i think you should work hard on making your fiction so real that your audience cannot fathom what your next line will be, cos d moment u jude died, i knew for sure it was only a dream but all the same you did an excellent work.

richiearmany14:
sorry the criticism came in late, but i think you should work hard on making your fiction so real that your audience cannot fathom what your next line will be, cos d moment u jude died, i knew for sure it was only a dream but all the same you did an excellent work.

. Thanks boss, learning