Inspired by a true life story.

Genre: Thriller

Our journey to Lorelo town for a traditional wedding became bitter when we encounter Matete fighters who kill anyone they see in their territory.

The book is available@Okadabooks, and smashwords.com

Copyright(c) 2018 Inuwa Usman
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the writer. Short extracts may be used for review purposes, with permission.
The characters, names, and places in this story are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
 
Cover template by Canva

CHAPTER ONE
"A person who rides a bicycle or horse does not know that the ground is hot."
 
 
"Egbe iresi kana ooo" (boil the rice over a fire.) The loud voice of the groom's mother got the attention of the women cooking. She was on a Buba dress chanting with the expression of joy.
"Egbe apo elubo jade oo (bring out the bag of yam flour.)", "Haaa! omi ti ooo ( the water is boiled.)","jowo ban gbe apoti yen (please help me with that stool.)", "isu iyan nko ( where are the yams for pounding?)", "haaa! awon omo yi, won ti da ewedu nu ooo (This children have poured away the vegetable soup.)", "jowo ba'n ra akara wa ( please help me buy beans cake.)" the groom's mother proclaimed.
The shrilled voice of the women spread from one point to another. I laughed vehemently when I stood beside the gate watching a Nollywood scene. That didn't bother me, because all I wanted was to feed my hungry tummy which I eventually did.
March 31st, 1999 was a blissful day to Adams family, a day of love and happiness. Noble men and searching young men were present at the groom's apartment all prepared for the five hours journey to lorelo town in kobiko state. Babajide, the groom to be was all smiles lifting his agbada repeatedly.
"Oko iyawo, haba, this your agbada go tear ooo." umar his best friend, an ophthalmologist uttered as we all boosted to laughter.
"Wetin, na my day be this, if the agbada tear I go wear another one" Babajide responded amusingly.
Some of the invitees were set, while some were scared to travel to the violated town. A wailing sound of jubilation spread to the whole street, whistle and lovely sound of the singing birds chanted a love song that caresses the heart. My late father once said "courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than once fear." Adams family is a noble household and I belonged there.
My name is Olawale Adams, a kid brother to the groom. My brother, Babajide was an epitome of integrity, a gentle man who I loved so much, just the way I cherished my mother. My mother runs her textile and shoe business from home, and because of her love for cooking, she also run a restaurant not far from the house. Our uncles refused to lead us to the traditional wedding ceremony, but Almighty God with his infinite mercy gave us a gift of a humble, good heartened step-father who was an Engineer. My late father once said "A ripe fruit will not hang forever on a tree branch." we all set to leave for Lorelo town in kobiko state at exactly 7:30am, we took positions and drove off.
Our legs felt like a fried plantain after some hours of journey, it was a roller-coaster drive but we pulled ourselves. We headed to Tamara town, a place surrounded with high mountains. We were aware of every movement because our thighs felt tendered with a sensation of pain. We pushed on towards the final lane of Goza; in front of us was a monster mountain. Our eyes grew wide and took a deep breath, not knowing there was a deadly hole right so close.
"Ye mogbe, na wetin be that?" I clamoured. Our jeep was too fast and lost control; it slipped into the hole and made us helpless.
"This driver sef, you no see the hole?" Shola, my elder cousin, a young politician vying for a chairmanship seat in our local government quarried the driver. The driver was speechless, and amazed with the giant mountain, just like we were.
"Babajide bo agbada re ka ti moto yi jade (Babajide off your agbada, lets pull out the jeep.)" Shola uttered.
We used all the strength we had to pull out the jeep, unfortunately, we all ended up exhausted. Shola called the driver all sort of names, and threatened to fight him if he uttered any word. The scene expanded, and as we were trying to separate Shola and the driver, we saw a silver pilot jeep approaching us.
"Is that not your step-father?" Umar asked my brother.
"We are running out of time, you all know that we have to be there by 12 noon." my step-father said.
He assisted us in pulling out the jeep with his friend which at the end we succeeded. "Is it that they are much stronger than us?" I solely asked myself. We looked at each other and after rounds of argument, we proceeded with the journey.
"Time! It slips away as easily as grains of sand on a wind- swept beach but those grains only trade places." With the jeep, we changed the same way-new location in the passage of time. The steering was incidental like breathing, the mountains came and go, our legs felt so feeble and begged for freedom, with the wind blowing determination to our hearts. Yes! There was a transformation in a state of bliss, a place of my dream. As we kept on progressing and moving to our destination, we heard a loud sound as our jeep struggled to steady itself. We looked around trying to locate where we could fix our back tyres, but we found no help as we put heads together to fix the tyres on our own. 11:15am, and the distance between where we were and Lorelo town was something to reckon with. The groom grumbled time after time and was eager to set his eyes on his woman. It disturbed me too because I was also eager to have her in my midst. She was a typical example of an African queen.
"The purpose of life is to live it, to task it, to experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." It was a free-flow, hectic, and sophisticated journey, as we chatted and sang to the song we were playing. Sighting places at different location was totally fun. I couldn't control my happiness because I enjoyed every bit of what I saw. As a photo journalist, taking pictures of nature and incidents was something I loved doing unlike my brother, a medical doctor who often spent his time with his patients in the hospital. As we were approaching the route to Mandala town, we saw some armed men not far from us, standing on the road, pointing their guns at us.
"Everybody come down." the armed men clamoured. We were scared as we struggled to get our balance. The armed men pulled us out and ordered us to lie down. I was so scared because I knew we were in trouble. I had experienced an armed robbery attack before while I was on an assignment with my crew at Jagala state. We were attacked and bitten thoroughly, and even took all we had and left us with nothing. My brother was uncomfortable, he did all he could to settle the armed men but all they requested for was our car and everything we had with us. We pleaded with them over and over again and at the end we managed to leave with our car. My step-father had already gone far before we were attacked, and he didn't know anything. We proceeded with the journey after the horrible incident, different strokes in different location in a passage of time. We speed up to beat the time, as we maintained absolute silence till we reach our destination.

More update coming soon...

Continuation....

"Awon ebi oko ti de oo, ema wo'ile (the groom's family is here, you are welcome.)" the alaga iduro (host) proclaimed.
They all welcomed us with all smiles as we sat on the white plastic chairs. The ceremony began; we brought in the items requested according to the custom and tradition. They were excess of food to eat and drinks to drink, they were prolific singers and dancers that entertained us, but all that didn't bother me. I was just half dead on my seat looking jaded and sick, listening to the scary voice of fear. I was lost that I didn't notice the coming of the bride.
"Olawale" my cousin yelled my name.
"Haha na when the bride comot?" I asked him.
"Ooh so you dey sleep?" my cousin teased.
"You see sleep for my eye?" I responded.
"Ok ooo, my own concern be sey make we comot for here quick quick because I fear here ooo." my cousin said in a low tone, sweating profusely. It was really funny seeing the frightening look of my cousin. I didn't tell him I was scared too as I pulled myself together.
"Bros I be no no sey you fear pass bush meat." I teased him.
"Bro no be so joo, my children still dey small, and I love my wife so much." he said.
"You for no follow come naa." I said laughing loudly, hitting the white plastic chair I sat on.
"Na true you talk, and my wife warned me sey make I no follow ooo." I couldn't control my laughter, as I saw my cousin sweating, shivering, and stammering; even those that sat far from us noticed him and saw me laughing.
At the other side, my mother was already prepared for a grand party. The chairs and the canopies were arranged properly, the Elere (musicians) had already set their music instrument; the invitees were available waiting for us to return.
Favourably, the traditional wedding started well and ended with all smiles. My brother was so elated because he succeeded in tying the knot."But I was told she has beautiful sisters, where are they?" I asked myself. I tried to mingle with one of them but to no avail, I ended up packing gifts and bags.
"Fear! A distressing emotion lifted by impending danger, evil and pain." you can imagine how scared we were when we heard gun shots from nowhere.
"Ye ye wetin be that? Shola screamed holding my right hand tightly, robbing his left palm on my shoulder. I pulled him closer, looking around, and gazing at faces of fear. We all gathered like alligators watching all angles to know those coming towards us. A wise man once said "Do not swim in shallow water if you do not want your back to show." We saw them running towards us like rugby players holding perilous object with the intention to kill. It was like a micky-licky scene, and all we did was to turn around and run for our lives. I didn't believe that I could run like Usain bolt. My cousin was a heck, running like a fat pig. We all ran to an apartment and locked ourselves for safety.
Everywhere was dark, so gloomy, even with the full light on. I could only hear voices, voices of people clamouring. "Where is my brother, his bride, his friend, and my step-father?" I asked myself with tears rolling down my cheeks. "Babajide" I called my brother's name with the expression of anxiety, but all I heard was the disturbing voice of my cousin.
"Bobo yi, Babajide wa ni alafia( Babajide is fine.)" Shola, my cousin said. My silence only lasted for five minutes. Deep inside of me was a heart killer that made me uncomfortable and scared of the unknown. My heart felt like a roasted fish when I heard a husky voice from behind.
"Matete fighters are deadly rebels, they are fighting for the land which doesn't belong to them, and they kill anyone they see in their territory because of the diamonds discovered recently. The government had warned them to stay off the land but they choose to disobey them and launch attack on government, and even kill anyone they see here."I was speechless, as I looked all directions with tears dropping like a tap water. All I thought of was my family; all I thought of was how to get out from the disturbing town. I struggled myself from the hands of my cousin and dashed out. I knew it was risky, but I took the bold step. Everywhere was silent and terrifying; all I could hear was the sensational voice of the birds. I was afraid seeing blood and human parts on the ground. I was shivering like a sick man, looking all angles if I would see my people. It was only me on that deadly way, walking helplessly, seeing vultures feeding from human flesh. Tears were all over my face, pleading to Almighty God to save my people from the beasts. As I walked towards the junction, I heard triple gunshots that sound so close and mean. A part of me said I should wait and fight the demons, the other part of me pleaded with me to run for my life. My late father once said "When the bush is on fire, grasshoppers have no chance to bid each other goodbye." Running for my life was a necessity, and was a decision I eventually took.
I ran so fast and firmly without looking back until I got to a corner to rest. "Ooh what a day!" I said breathing fast. I sat gently on the ground, massaging my legs with my soft palms feeling every pain, tickling my toes with the tip of my fingers. As I stood up from where I sat to move further, I heard footsteps right so close behind me with the feel of a palm on my left shoulder.

More update coming soon...

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