Book Description for DRIFTED TO DESTINY

Drifted to Destiny, Pains to Gains.
It's an attention grabber and a time robber. You need to finish up with your chores or already relaxing at home before you turn the first page. It will glue you literally until you turn the last page. Another gripping crime thriller with punctuations of romance. A trip through the heart of suspense.

Stancy Briggs, the priceless ravishlingly beautiful daughter of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs, falls in love crazily with Akpovi, the impoverished gifted son of a poor palm wine tapper.
Senator Dr. Tam Briggs will cut off the head of Akpovi before he has anything to do with his daughter, whom he has groomed to travel to the United States for her master degree program.
Stancy can’t throw her bright future away for a tattered non-entity, but, Stancy must stubbornly choose the future she wants to live in.





Chapter One



The serene mangrove forest suddenly gives way to the noise of a rushing wind. The surrounding trees sway in obedience to the command of the storm. Igberi doesn't notice the sudden change in his environment until the melodious songs of the birds with beautiful feathers cease almost at once in the forest. He has often glanced at the colourful birds as they skipped around and about the palm tree fronds. Igberi raises his head, turns and gazes at the palm tree that has hosted the birds to see what has happened; only to see the birds flying away to safety. The palm tree that hosted the birds is the tallest around, and it stands alone in the forest some distance away. The strong wind seems to have gripped the palm fronds by the neck, and is bending it until it would break.The birds have kept him company and given him a false sense of security, but the birds can't withstand the warning signs of a looming heavy storm.

Igberi's worry returns with a greater intensity after the birds have flown away, and the reality of the situation at hand becomes even more stark. He can now feel that his environment has changed. He has come to the mangrove forest to collect palm wine, and has hoped to collect a good quantity, having not come around to drain the containers on the palm wine trees for days. But the "harvest" has been so poor. He continues to go round, checking and collecting, somehow hoping that a miracle will happen and things will change. All the palm wine trees return very little amount of wine at the end of the rounds. Igberi increasingly becomes anxious, he staggers toward a tree stub and sits on it. He looks absorbed in his thought and unruffled by the relentless wind blowing so hard. He keeps on soliloquizing in the midst of the crazy wind:

"How can Tadia just send Akpovi back to Ogbia like that. She didn't even tell me in advance about it. Where in heaven and on earth would I get the money to register him for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in a matter of days?"

Tadia; Igberi's blood sister had come to Bayelsa three years ago and took Akpovi to Lagos, when things were really rough for him. The condition of things for Igberi haven't improved since then. It's even worse now.. He had felt really relieved, knowing that Akpovi was in Lagos with his sister by the evening of the day before. He had been cocksure that his son's education would no longer be truncated by lack of money until yesterday night.. Tadia had promised him that she would take care of all Akpovi's needs.

The lighting around him in the mangrove forest gradually becomes dimmer and dimmer, and Igberi intuitively looks up at the clouds. He stands up from the three stub quickly and begins to gather his belongings to leave the forest. The clouds have become so dark-blue, and are moving westward swiftly. He hurriedly secures the gourds containing the small amount of palm wine to a stick firmly. He lifts the stick and balances it on the carrier of his aged bicycle, that nestles against a tree. He uses a rubber rope and ties the stick on the bicycle's carrier tautly.

Suddenly a flash of lightening, followed by a flurry of others, zip open the sky in a ziz-zag fashion, and Igberi flinches. The lightening prepares the way for deafening thunder bolts that rock and rock the expanse in quick succession The crazy wind blows unabated as the thunder shakes the ground under his feet. Igberi isn't frightened, until a thunderous explosion sends some shock waves through him. He quickly climbs his bicycle and begins navigating his way from the forest. He pulls away as the thunder repeatedly hammers the earth. He rides as fast as he can and comes out of the thickness of the mangrove forest, in twenty minutes. He heaves a sigh of relief as he rides his bicycle through the path that connects to the expressway. He climbs the express road and heads home thoughtfully.

His son Akpovi is a boy whose life revolves around studying. He's intellectually too sound for his age, and he's gifted with natural abilities,. Akpovi was the most brilliant student in his class here in Bayelsa, before Tadia took him to Lagos. He had stopped schooling because Igberi couldn't pay the enrollment fee for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. In the years that Akpovi stopped going to school in Bayelsa, he borrowed books from his best friend, Danagogo, and studied on his own, hoping that one day, he would be able to sit for the examination. When Tadia came from Lagos to take him, he thought that the time had come. Now that he is back to Ogbia, Igberi wonders what the future holds for his son.



As Igberi continues riding home, his mind flashes on and off, on who can lend him the money to register his son for his Certificate Examination, apart from mama Nkechi. He owes mama Nkechi who has often rescues him in moments like this, a huge sum of money. She now draws her debt and Igberi can't go to her. Some of his friends who can help him don't consider him credit worthy. The future that looked very bright for Akpovi when Tadia took him to Lagos, now looks bleak. Igberi can't take the excuse that his sister has given for sending Akpovi back to Bayelsa without even a notice.

He begins to soliloquize on the express way as cars pass by : "I don't blame anybody, not even Tadia. I blame myself for mismanaging by youthful years, for squandering my earnings on debauchery. If I had listened to my dear wife, I know the class I would have belonged to now."

Igberi recollects his younger years when he was working with a multinational oil exploration company in the Niger Delta. The company first operated in Delta, where Igberi was hired, before the company proceeded to Bayelsa. He was among the privileged few that the company sent for training abroad, and was given an elevated position in the company, upon returning to Nigeria. Igberi became a strange man when money hit him. He would spend almost half of his salary womanizing and patronizing commercial sex workers on shore, before coming to Ogbia in Bayelsa, where he had settled with his wife. His wife noticed the way Igberi spent his money frivolously, and how he was making new friends in the bar, every time. She would beg him to save for the rainy days and for the future of their children, but Igberi wouldn't yield.

He gets near the unpaved road that branches from the expressway on his right, and slows down pedalling, his bicycle has no breaks. He swerves the bicycle into the unpaved road and steps hard on the pedals again. He can still hear the thunder roaring. The dark-blue clouds have spread all over and a chill breeze blows past him. He knows that a heavy rain is about to touch the ground, and he reinforces his push on the bicycle pedals to beat the rain. His compound is less than thirty minutes away. Even in the midst of the changing weather Igberi still finds the time to think and weep over the mistakes he made in his past.

"I remember my dear wife Margaret, when she was heavily pregnant with Akpovi. She would tell me to invest in landed properties that I would benefit from it later in life. But I was so stupid that I ignored her wisdom and insight. I remember that I even nudged her from the way when her persistence on the matter got me infuriated. Now, look at me now, I've become a laughing stock to those that even benefited so much from my reckless spending and wayward life then.".

Igberi isn't taking it easy on himself as he rides on. "Igberi! Igberi!! Igberi!!!", he calls his name aloud. " Where are the friends that used to borrow money from you? And when they couldn't pay back, you would say, ' forget about it'. What have you gained from the numerous women you kept as mistresses? What lesson have you learnt from being a professional drunkard? You fool! Yes me. I'm a fool. Margaret! Margaret!! Oh Maggi my dear wife, it will be well with you even in your grave. If I come to this life again, I would make you my wife again a million times over. You saw the tomorrow I didn't see".

Igberi draws closer and closer to his house and his hopes soar that he can beat the rain. It's just a few minutes away now. He spots a black coloured SUV in his front coming on the unpaved path, with a high speed and he slows down pedaling the bicycle. His line of thoughts gets punctuated by the SUV in front of him. The driver flashes the headlights as she draws closer. It gets Igberi confused as the driver isn't slowing down but the headlights keep flashing in the cold breezy weather. Igberi changes his mind over the SUV as the driver has come within centimetres away. He swiftly veers the bicycle to his right hand side to avoid a pothole filled with a stinking body of water. The SUV at that very time speeds past the water, splashing it all over. Igberi gets thoroughly drenched in the artificial rain of a foul smelling water.

Kudos,nice storyline

Mc6xty:
Kudos,nice storyline

He abruptly stops the bicycle using his feet as breaks and looks back at the SUV. The driver has put off the flashing headlights and slows down a bit. Igberi saw a young girl poke her head through the driver's window of the SUV. She wears the uniform of the National Youth Service Corps. She laughs and waves at Igberi with her left hand, while her right hand is resting on the steering. Igberi stands on the spot watching the SUV as it pulls away slowly. The driver re-engages the gear and the SUV is soon lost into the darkening weather. Igberi shakes his head in pity as he watches the SUV disappear. The offensive smell of his attire oozes badly. Igberi doesn't mind if the rain starts falling now to wash off the unbearable smell. The incidence reignites his current predicament and his untasteful past, resurfaces.

"That little girl couldn't stop and even say sorry to me, not to mention parting with something for me to wash off this mess. She was even laughing at me. Ah! Me Igberi! I can't take this. Who is this girl that doesn't know me in this town.

Igberi turns and resumes his homeward journey, this time even more thoughtfully. His feelings mix into anger and heavy regret. He takes his frustration on the bicycle and begins pedalling furiously, making the two gourds of palm wine hung across the bicycle's carrier, to dance in fury to the rhythm of the rider. The haggard looking bicycle let out a clang in protest as Igberi pulls along. As he rides on, the image of the little girl that is driving the SUV flashes up in his mind with her National Youth Service Corps uniform. It indicates to Igberi that she probably has just graduated from the university. It reminds him of the kind of future his wife Margaret had dreamed for Akpovi before she died. Margaret died while given birth to Akpovi twenty two years ago. Margaret had given birth to Ejiro, Igberi's daughter four years before the birth of Akpovi. He remembers the wishes of his wife as life drained out of her on her sick bed, having lost so much blood to bleeding after giving birth to Akpovi.

"Take good care of the boy if I couldn't make it", Margaret said with a weak voice. "If he grows up give him the soundest education available.. Don't let your rakishness and reckless living get in the way of his bright future . Live the remaining life in you for him".

Igberi replays the wishes of Margaret over and over in his head, and puts the current circumstances in perspective. A new spirit possessed him. He believes all of a sudden that Akpovi can make it, and be like the little girl that drives the flashy SUV. Who humiliated and smeared him with the mess. Igberi believes she did what she did on purpose, as he takes the last turn to his compound. He doesn't exactly know how Akpovi's future ambition can be curled back on track, but he somehow believes. Akpovi has always dreamed of becoming a very successful engineer, and he has started showing some brilliance in that direction already. Akpovi worked on Igberi's spoilt TV in the morning before he left home to collect palm wine and now the TV is back to live and functioning. From his infancy Akpovi has been fond of tearing things apart and piecing them together. Igberi tries hard to banish the image of the girl that sprayed the odorous water on him but it appears stuck.

The driver of the SUV is Stancy, the beautiful daughter of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs. She has come to Ogbia, her home town after her NYSC passing out parade in Port Harcourt. Stancy is speeding home to beat the rain, so as to save the materials she spread out in the sun from getting wet. She has been away with her friends celebrating the completion of the National Youth Service Corps. She was so involved in their party that she almost lost the idea of the time. It was the inexorableble thunderstorms that reminded her of home. As she drives on, her conscience pricks her that she didn't treat the palm wine tapper that SUV sprayed water on very well.

"God knows I didn't internationally do it. I saw him from afar and I started flashing the headlights for him to give way. I know I should have at leat come out to say sorry, but the looming rainstorm is chasing me", Stancy Briggs absolved herself of any blame.

As she draws close to the main gate of her country home, she blares the horn at maximum volume. The gate splits open in seconds and she drives in to the garage of Senator Dr. Tam Briggs' mansion. Stancy hurriedly alights and goes behind the mansion. She sees her expensive hairs and other items strewn about by the wind. She hastily runs around to pick them up and hurries inside. The first drop of what would be a heavy downpour hits her head before she skips onto the veranda. As she runs up the staircase to her room, the incidence that happened on her way home involving the palm wine tapper flashes up in her mind again.




Chapter Two






The rain begins to fall heavily as Igberi gets home, drenching him thoroughly. But even at that, the foul smell still clings. He quickly jumps out of the bicycle and rolls it to a corner and nestles it against the wall of his house. The house is a modest one with three rooms and a parlour, with its kitchen and bathroom attached at the backyard. Two tall curvy coconut trees sandwich a mango tree in the front of the compound. Igberi walks briskly to the corner of the kitchen outside and undresses himself to his underwear. He walks into the kitchen to get a bucket having stripped himself half naked. He almost bumps into his daughter, Ejiro, who is standing by the kitchen door, with a pot of soup in her hand. The rain has caged her in the kitchen, and she's waiting for the rain to subside for her to dash out to the room.
Ejiro says sharply, "Dede! Welcome back".
"Thanks my daughter".
"Eya!!! look at you. You've been coming in the rain. Did you run into the rain on your way home?"
"No my daughter, I was actually a few meters away from the compound when the rain began to fall. I need to soak my tapping cloths in water", Igberi says and walks inside to get a plastic bucket.
As he walks past, Ejiro perceives the offensive odour of the water that Stancy Briggs' SUV has splashed on him. She turns and asks, "Dede, did you rub anything on your body? The smell is bad"
"No Ejiro. It's about an ugly incidence that happened on my way home"
"What about it Dede? I want to know?"
"Ejiro, I would rather not talk about it. The incidence has renewed my desire to work twice as hard to give you and Akpovi a bright future".
"Dede, I insist you must tell me about it. Did someone pour you a sour soup or a rotten raw egg?
"Ejiro I said let the matter be. I might talk about it some time later, but not now".
"Ok Dede, let me boil some water for you to take your bath", Ejiro says and drops the pot of soup on the kitchen table.
She puts a bigger pot on the fire and pours water into it and has the fire stoked as Igberi walks out of the kitchen. Igberi stuffs the smelling cloths in the plastic bucket and pushes it into the rain torrent coming from the roof. He returns to the kitchen and stands away from Ejiro. The odour becomes unbearable to Eliro and she says, "Dede, I will run through the rain to the house with the pot of soup".
"It's OK Ejiro, I will stand here till the water boils and I will have my bath. The rain isn't slowing down, I think you have no choice but to run through it. I'll come to the house after taking my bath".
"Alright Dede".
As she throws her first step out of the kitchen, Igberi asks, "Where's Akpov by the way?"
"He left home since morning, soon after you left home to collect palm wine. He told me he was going to see his friend Danagogo across the street", Ejiro replies and dashes away maintaining her run along the wall of the house. She has taken the role of a mother in the house since the death of Margaret, Igberi's wife, and she plays the role so well.
An idea flashes in Igberi's mind as he empties the first scoop of water on his head in the bathroom. He remembers that his friend named Tara Bede, who now lives in Port Harcourt. Tara once told him that a certain five star hotel in Port Harcourt buys a litre of palm wine for as high as one thousand naira. Igberi warms up to the idea of going to start tapping palm wine in a virgin jungle to raise Akpovi's registration fee. A fertile place rich in succulent palm wine trees comes up in his mind. Igberi brightens up as he over-turns the remaining water in the bucket on his head. He grabs Ejiro's wrapper in the bathroom and wraps it around his waist. As he leaves the bathroom, Igberi is filled with the optimism that Akpovi will go back to school. The image of Stancy Briggs laughing at him, as she drove away still lingers in his mind. He believes that Akpovi will live the future that his mother had seen for him when she was dying. Ejiro notices that her father's outlook has brightened up as he steps into the room. Igberi drops the bucket outside near the doorpost and walks into the living room.
"Ejiro you'll wash the underwears in the bucket, I will used them tomorrow'", Igberi says,
"It's alright Dede. Your meal is ready on the dining table".
Igberi sits on a wooden chair and drags a bag containing some tools before him, and begins to drop them on the floor. He counts the tools as he inspects them.
"Dede aren't you going to have your meal now? You haven't even rested. What are you doing?"
"Ejiro I will eat the food. I just want to make sure certain tools are still in the bag. I will need them tomorrow morning for a fresh incursion".
"Your trap didn't catch any bush meat? Ejiro asks knowing the obvious already.
"The rainstorm chased me out of the jungle. I didn't get to where I set the traps before the thunderstorms hammered the earth and sent me scurrying"
Igberi finishes attending to his tools and walks to the dining table and takes a seat. As he bends down to sit, he looks up at the wall clock. "It's 6:00pm now, isn't Akpovi coming home? Igberi asks.
"Dede the rain is still falling cats and dogs outside", Ejiro replies
"The darkness is covering fast outside. He can run home in the rain and then change his clothes. The town isn't very safe these days". While the words are still in Igberi's mouth, Akpovi bursts into the house , with a sullen face and an umbrella in his right hand.
"Dede your son is back home!" Ejiro announces
Igberi turns around and sees Akpovi collapsing the umbrella in his hand. Akpovi walks near his father and says, "Welcome Dede".
Igberi notices his moody posture, and he beckons on him to come close. When Akpovi has come close enough, Igberi says, "My son cheer up. I have a piece of good news for you. You will live up to the meaning of your name. It's your mother that gave you the name, her wish for you will come to pass. Let me finish eating and I'll tell you about it".
Akpovi instantly brightens up and skips about Ejiro with broad smiles, mimicking Michael Jackson's dance moves.
"It's like you just hit a jackpot, what's this about? Ejiro asks.

"Guess what?"

Ejiro knows that what can possibly light up his mood, must be connected to his registration for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, but she didn't guess it.

"I don't know, can't guess it".

Akpovi says grinning from ear to ear, " Dede says he has a piece of good news for me".
"Oh, you haven't even been told about it and you're already in cloud nine, I pray that you don't get disappointed".
"What else would it be about? The SSCE registration is sure for me this time around".

Akpovi hears his father calling and he breezes out of the room to see him settling down on his favourite chair in the parlour."Dede I'm here", Akpovi responds after sitting on a wooden chair close to him".
Igberi clears his throat and begins, "You see, I waisted my youthful years doing things that neither added value to my life nor prepare the way to the future for me. You can see how I live now, struggling to make ends meet. Before your mother died she saw a bright future for you, and I want you to live in that future. I have disappointed her on three occasions when I couldn't raise the money to register you for the SSCE. My sister, Tadia whom I hope would be able to rescue me, and position you on the path to your destiny, suddenly stripped me naked". Akpovi shifts on the chair not knowing where Igberi is going with his lectures. Igberi continues, "I've decided that you will return to school. I saw the glimmer of the future your mother saw for you on my way home today from jungle. You see that National Youth Service Corps uniform, I want you to wear it".

Akpovi giggles on his chair and asks, "Dede do you mean I'll go to the university?"

"Yes my son".

Akpovi can't contain his excitement even though he doesn't know how his father is going to make all this happen. "Now listen to me carefully", Igberi stresses. "I want to expand my palm wine business". Ejiro walks into the parlour, and Igberi pauses for a while before he continues, "I'm spreading my tentacles to the other side of the mangrove. I'm making an incursion into the mangrove swamp at the left side of the Ariansa Bridge when going to Bomadi. That territory has been avoided by palm wine tappers over the years primarily because no trail has been blazed into the swamp. The swamp plays host to succulent palm wine trees. I'm going to blaze the trail into the swamp and start fresh markings on the palm wine trees".

Ejiro cuts into the conversation, "Dede that territory isn't only avoided by palm wine tappers because there's no trail into the swamp, I hear the territory is very dangerous".

"Shut up your mouth", Igberi counters "That's the excuse spineless and lazy men cook up".

"Dede I'll be going with you to assist", Akpovi says.
"No my son, you just returned from Lagos, I don't want people to think that I called you from Lagos to become a palm wine tapper. I have a job cut out for you now".

"I can't wait to hear it".

"There's a bag that contains plastic bottles at the backyard, you will wash the bottles clean with the iron sponge in the kitchen, and turn the bottles upside down till every drop of water inside drains out".
"It's alright Dede. Can I start now? Akpovi asks with enthusiasm.

"The rain is still heavy, you can do so when it subsides. I'm leaving very early tomorrow morning, so make sure you get the bottles ready.".

Akpovi shakes his head up and down vigorously and says, "Dede consider it done"

"I'm going to my bed to rise early tomorrow morning for the operation". Igberi says as he gets up from the chair. He walks into his room, says a quick prayer and hits the bed.




Chapter Three






The first cockcrow wakes Igberi up at 3:45 am. He springs up from the bed and goes to the parlour fully awake. He opens the door and goes out to refresh in the darkness, and carries a log of wood back to the house. Igberi brings out the bag of his tools and empties them again on the floor and separates the metal suspenders. He sits on the log of wood and feels the edges of each suspenders with the tip of his thumb finger before positioning them on the log to be sharpened. He draws a file from where it is tucked and begins to file the edge of each of the metal suspenders. He finishes with the suspenders and position his cutlass for sharpening. Igberi stares at the wall clock, it's reading 4:45 am.
He gets up smartly from the log of wood and drags his rickety bicycle outside into a cool breezy morning. The rain stopped falling in the middle of the night leaving a chilly atmosphere in its trail. Igberi rushes to the kitchen and grabs the bag containing the plastic bottles. As he leaves the kitchen with the bag, he grabs a loaf of bread and mulches on it while the bag is balanced on his head. He drops the bag outside beside his bicycle and goes in to get a kerosene lamp without its bulb. Igberi carries his tool bag out with the lamp flame dancing in the gentle breeze. He ties the tips of the tool bag and the bag containing the plastic bottles in a crouching position. He mulches the bread again after he has tucked the sharpened cutlass on the bicycle.
He walks into the house and goes to the room where Ejiro has hung his washed underwears and dresses up. The time on the wall clock displays 5:00 am. Igberi comes out of the room, fully dressed up in fresh tapping attire. The fresh tapping attire reminds him of the incidence of the previous day but he quickly shakes it off. This time is for action not for anger, not for regret. He walks into the room where Ejiro and Akpovi are peacefully sleeping, and draws out water from a covered container with a cup. He comes out to the parlour, takes a few gulps of water from the cup, and looks up at the wall clock for the last time before leaving the house for the operation.
He lifts the bag containing the plastic bottles on the bicycle's carrier and straps it on the carrier with a rubber rope. He hangs the tool bag on the left side of the bicycle's handle and hangs his climbing rope on the right side of the bicycle's handle, before he climbs his bicycle. Igberi sets sail with a popular song of Barrister Smooth. He continues humming the song into the fastly breaking dawn. His mind travels to the mangrove swamp and he makes a mental calculation on where to cut through to reach the palm wine trees in the swamp. The bicycle appears unusually responsive to Igberi as he rides smoothly through the unpaved road that connects the expressway. Igberi figures out that the rain might have washed the bicycle clean as the bicycle moves with a little noise and friction.
He gets past where Stancy Briggs splashed the smelly water on him on the unpaved road the day before. He didn't call the incidence to mind. He climbs on the expressway and matches on the pedals with purpose and vigour. Igberi maintains the new torque that drives the bicycle's chains for twenty minutes. It amazes him how the bicycle carries him today. Igberi looks to his right hand side and sees the path that leads to the mangrove forest, where the thunderstorms had chased him the previous day. It heralds his nearness to the Ariansa Bridge. He stops pedalling and rests his leather boots on the shoes of the bicycle. The bicycle runs freely down to the other side across the Ariansa Bridge for two minutes, before Igberi drops his left leg on the left shoulder of the expressway, to slow down to a halt. The morning is breaking clear and vehicular traffic is building up on the expressway.
He walks a few metres on the ground, and stands very close to the bush where he intends to start cutting into the swamp. As he rests his bicycle on the grass to adjust his trousers, a sharp rustling sound emanates from the bush. Igberi didn't cringe. He tightens the belt around his waist even as the rustling continues. He draws out the sharp cutlass tucked on the bicycle out with some panache, thereby making a loud metal sound. The rustling immediately ceases, and Igberi begins to brush with the cutlass into the bush. The day is gradually becoming established as the atmosphere is getting lit up. Igberi continues to brush his way into the swamp until he hears the sound of monkeys bickering in the thick mangrove. He stops and walks back to roll his bicycle on the bush path that he has opened up.