Baba Ni Jigi: Tales Of A Coloured Girl (part 6)

He was a mad man!!!
A lunatic had the envelope !!!!
****
Mrs seila rushed over to me and pulled me up. She was checking my body for bruises. I told her i was fine. The only thought that occupied my mind was the envelope. We had to get the envelope. Chasing a lunatic would seem like a wild goose chase, but the envelope had to be retrieved.
Mrs Seila suggested that we should ask around about the lunatic, we might be able to get information. There was an old woman just across the street. She sold "boli"- roasted plantain. She had the looks of an "olofofo", a gossip.
We proceeded to her small shed.
"Mama good afternoon". She shifted her gaze from the plantain she was peeling. There was a welcoming smile on her face. She responded:
"I saw everything that happened, you don't have to worry much. Giasa is a good lunatic. Your envelope will be returned, all you have to do is buy food and water for him. He will hand the envelope back to you. His shed is just a few blocks from here, let me finish with this set of "boli", i will take you there"
I wasn't not listening to anything the woman was saying, the "boli" had my attention. The plantain was a dull yellow, but as the heat from the burning charcoal simmered into it, the dull yellow faded into a golden light brown. The woman turned it, my mouth watered. I was hungry.
Mrs seila noticed my absent mindedness, and she knew what had gotten my attention.
" Mama we would have two "boli's" and ground-nut".
there was a spread of happiness on the mama's face. She wrapped the boli in separate daily times paper.
Their was a bench just beside me, i sat down and took a very large bite of roasted plantain...
****
The boli seller had kept her word. She led us to Giasa's den.
" I have kept my word, now i take my leave. Just toss the food and water to him, and your envelope would be tossed right back at you"
She scurried away, the echoes of her sinister laughter lingered in my ears.
The lunatics den was unusually clean and free of odor. There was a large stack of books resting on the wall adjacent to the entrance of the den. The floor was littered with biscuit wrappers and nothing more. The entrance had a curtain, but no door.
Mrs Seila beckoned for us to go inside or at least to make sounds that will announce our arrival to the lunatic.
I was scared to my bones, i had already forgotten all that happened earlier in the courthouse. There was a new challenge to overcome.
Mrs seila led the way, she clutched my hand very tightly.
I tip-toed behind her. I could feel my heart almost giving away with every step i took. It took us about fifteen minutes to reach the entrance. On a normal day, we would have covered such distance within a minute.
The curtain was a bright yellow, with images of cartoon characters. She peered into the den, and made a quick sweep of the den with her eyes. There was a tiny smile on her face when she turned back to feed me with information.
"He his not inside, and i can see the envelope. Its on his television set, let's make a quick run for it."
A lunatic had a televsion?
I could never have imagined that.
We entered the den hurriedly, and Mrs Seila took the envelope which was lying lifeless on the television set.
The den left me in awe!!! It would have passed for a normal persons room.
This was a strange lunatic.
We had gotten the envelope and were about to leave the lunatics den. Mrs Seila was tucking the envelope into her bag and was carried away for a few seconds.
I turned back and got a shocker. The lunatic was standing at the entrance, he had a vicious look on his face.
I took a quick glance at him.
There was a kitchen knife hanging loosely from the many pieces of clothes that he was clad in. Thick liquid dripped from the knife. A pool of red was forming on the floor.
Mrs Seila hugged me from behind, i could hear her whispering "the lord is my shepherd". I skipped to the fourth verse.
"Yea,though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil : for thou art art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me".
The lunatic was coming closer now. He could smell our fear.
The color of victory was bright on his face. He was going to kill us.
We were going to die.
Mrs Seila was still whispering her prayer, i had stopped. I was thinking now, what were we to do??
He was in front of us now, he was touching us. He fondled my breast, he grabbed Mrs Seila's waist.
He was going to have his way with us, the thought sickened me. My mind was blank, i couldn't think of anything.
Thy rod and thy staff!!
Yes, an iron rod was lying carelessly on the floor, just a few inches away from me. I would make a run for it. I would strike him where it hurts.
Just as i was about to make a run for the iron rod, he repelled from us with an horrible shriek. He scurried to a corner and coiled into a round knot.
He muttered gibberish. He was terribly shaken. He was scared.
"They say the devil dines with the lunatics".
Lucifer. The master was here.
Mrs Seila grabbed my hand and we raced out of Giasa's den, the moon was above us, the stars glittered...
****
The aroma of seasoned tomatoes and onions simmering in hot vegetable oil filtered into my nose. I opened my eyes, it was a new day. Jinadu was still asleep.
I made for the kitchen, i had to make myself useful to Mrs Seila, even though she had never asked for me to do any of the numerous house-chores that she busied her self with everyday.
"Good morning ma", she turned with a motherly smile.
"Kofo, how are you? I'm making breakfast", go and have your bath, and after that we would check what is in the envelope we went through so much trouble for.
"Ok ma".
I left the kitchen with a smile, it was a good feeling to be loved. I would talk to Mrs Seila about adoption, she should adopt us. She was the mother we never had...
****
Jinadu was on my laps, he was also very anxious to know the contents of the envelope. My mind wandered.
What was inside the brown envelope ??
Mrs Seila joined us in the sitting room, the brown envelope was with her. My heart skipped a beat.
"Now, Kofo and Jinadu, let's see what is inside the brown envelope." She removed the seal from the envelope and opened it very carefully.
The envelope contained A4 sized papers, their was a slight frown on my face. Jinadu was disappointed, he left the sitting room.
Mrs Seila beckoned that i should come sit beside her. She was going to read the contents of the papers to me.
The first one had a bold letter heading on it that read:
BLESSED CHILD ORPHANAGE
Certificate of Adoption.
Mrs Seila Shifted from her sitting position, and adjusted her eye-glasses. Then she read the paragraphs that followed very slowly.
Baba mi was not our biological father, we had been adopted by him.
The second paper read:

ATILA MEDICAL INSTITUTION FOR
THE MENTALLY CHALLENGED.
Mrs Seila read on, the second paper was an admission letter of a certain " BANIRE AJANI" into the medical institution.
"BANIRE AJANI" had been diagnosed with "DID"
-Dissociative Identity Disorder".

The third paper was a photograph of a woman. She had a bright face, she was pretty.
The fourth paper was a letter from baba mi, in the letter he gave a brief explanation of our adoption, and also made it known that the woman in the picture was our mother.
Mrs Seila tucked the papers back into where they came from, the brown envelope.
I could tell she didn't know the exact words to say, she gave me a warm hug, my eyes swelled with tears.
This was too much for me to handle, i wanted to go to the seventh heaven. I whispered a prayer :
Dear God, take me to heaven. Amen.

****
The week that followed was a problem free one. Mrs Seila had taken us to a museum, we also went to an amusement park. She did her best to make us happy, she was particularly concerned about me. Jinadu was still a kid, he doesn't understand the way of this life.
There were so many questions i wanted answers to, however the most pressing one was maami's illness, it was a mental one.
Does it mean maami is also a lunatic?
The admission letter had stated that she was admitted for
DID.
What is Dissociative Indentity Disorder
Even Mrs Seila had no idea about it. I needed this questions to be answered, baba mi was locked away in a prison facility, after recent revelations he was the last person i wanted to visit.
Maami on the other hand, was in a mental institution. I was confused.
Who was our biological father
The question screamed in the silence of my heart...
To be continued.
Written by : Odutuyo Adeyinka Sasa-Eniyan
Email : adeyinkatuyo@yahoo.com
BBM : 28228B46

Tnx bro... Patiently waitin 4or d nxt update