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AiteeAitee:
Divepen1
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Chapter 6
‘And I’m famished'. Simi dashed out of the chair as she dusted the dirt off her body again.
‘What did you see? Dezzy asked. Her frown popped out of every vein in her face.
‘Snacks!’ Simi rushed towards the snacks and grabbed the nearest, a wrap of Kuli-kuli, bought to supplement their garri, but she didn’t mind. Munching it, she turned and saw the look of disgust on Dezzy’s face. ‘What? You don’t understand how hungry I am…’
‘You just…’ Dezzy turned to Kukoyi for support, but he only shrugged, making Dezzy open her mouth in disgust. ‘She literarily just ate something a while back…’
Simi munched ravenously. ‘I don’t know. I think the longer I stay there, the hungrier I become…’
They looked at Simi, who shook her head while looking upward. All these she was forcing herself into shouldn’t have even been there in the first place. If she hadn’t followed Max to that museum, she would be free.
‘See how huge she has become since she got here. Dezzy smacked her own head and looked about, breathing heavily. ‘I just got to restock her the food and bought those stupid shorts for her’.
‘Please, those shorts are the best. And… Ah! I was never thin. Not everyone will like to be as tiny as you…’ Simi sat back in the chair, feeling energized to narrate her ordeal finally.
‘Baby girl, it’s all about exercise…’ Dezzy shouted, jumped, and spread her legs sideways to touch her spread hands. ‘See...I can do this…’
‘And who is to say I can’t’, Simi bellowed. Her desire to eat increased. Rolling her eyes, she returned to the snacks corner and got more wraps of sausages, sifting through them until she got a better brand than the last one she ate.
‘Yeah! Eat it. Family of rhinoceros’, Dezzy leaned against the wall.
‘Enough’, Kukoyi yelled. His eyes dashed from one person to the other. Dezzy’s eyes were now turning red even as she clenched her hands. Despite the little anger creeping into her mind towards Dezzy, Simi couldn’t overcome her admiration for the afro on Dezzy’s head.
Kukoyi, however, got into her view as he crouched opposite her. She could smell his the grass-like scent from his body spray. ‘Now, tell us what happened?’
Simi explained, taking her time to describe the things she saw.
‘See her!’ Dezzy lamented and partially covered her face. ‘We’ve just wasted a good time here… Thanks for nothing’.
‘Chillax, Simi’, Kukoyi called and beckoned for her to come nearer. Simi sighed and hobbled towards them. Dezzy’s disregard for her wasn’t even right, but what could she say? ‘You have to express something for us…’ Kukoyi paused. ‘The mission is not to admire Oranmiyan. God knows I want to see them too...’
‘Get to the point!’ Dezzy urged him.
‘The point is that…’ Kukoyi brought his Ipad and began to type out. ‘We need you to find a clue or something that will help us find this prophecy. So, we will be done and sell them away’.
Simi’s eyes were focused on Kukoyi’s hand as he rubbed his nose and typed with the other one. ‘I just want to be done and gone. I hope this never happened.
‘Too late!’ Dezzy said.
Kukoyi banged the wall. ‘Hey! Hey! Dezzy, you guys don’t’ need to be split hairs before you make the right suggestion. As I am pencilling the details in, we will make it work’.
‘Fishing expenditure’, Dezzy lamented. She rubbed her hair and sat up. ‘This is a fishing expenditure. We should have allowed Lambe lead the way’.
‘Lambe was leading us in the wrongest of all directions’. Kukoyi typed as he leaned against the wall.
Dezzy sighed and slumped back into her net. ‘They’re all the same: useless! I should have killed him.
Simi’s body felt like it was being sparked by electricity and that she was being shocked from her hair to the sole of her foot. She wasn’t sure she wanted them to know that she was feeling that way. So, she munched the last bit of the sausage and moved towards them. ‘I’m tired and need to sleep’.
‘You…’ Dezzy was going to say to her but turned towards Kukoyi. ‘She did nothing. Like nothing than disappear, eat, and now she wants to sleep’.
Simi didn’t heed her but instead laid in the net and began to countdown from 100. It was like several hours later before a bird roused her. Turning away from the ray of sun that still found its way into the house, despite someone’s effort to cover the window with clothes.
‘Yeah! That’s crested guineafowl’, Kukoyi said as she groaned.
Simi yawned and stretched as she looked about for Dezzy, who was fiddling with her knives. ‘I’m going back in.
‘You’re stating the obvious. I’m mapping out a plan’ Kukoyi turned towards them. He rubbed his bald. His head shone despite the tiny light coming to their hideout. ‘Someone’s has got to go with you through this storm’.
‘Good idea’, Dezzy cracked her fingers.
‘Are you sure?’ Simi’s heart raced. ‘I’m not yet good with this travelling thing’.
‘There’s nothing to worry about!’ Dezzy got up and moved towards her clothes. ‘All you need is food, and we can afford that.
Simi made a ‘tsk’ noise and rolled her eyes.
‘Oh! C’mon! Don’t go down that lane again. Kukoyi scrolled through his phone, glancing up and down at various times. ‘We need a leg to stand on as we get these things that have been promised us’.
‘Are you even sure we’re doing the right thing?’ Simi slumped into a seat.
‘What do you mean?’ Kukoyi wondered.
‘I mean… We’re only doing this because you heard about the rumour’. Simi drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Kukoyi stopped typing as he looked up. ‘We’re not acting on a whim. The information is out. We just need the unadulterated version of the prophecy. That’s the only way we can easily get the result we want. This thing has its life on its own.
Simi couldn’t easily think of Kukoyi’s words. Sometimes, she wanted to ask him for the meaning of what he was saying, but she always understood them through the context of his conversation. Moreover, he always had another set of words before she could ask him for the meaning of the first.
‘All in all, if we need to burn the midnight oil to get the answer we seek, I’m all in’, Kukoyi stated. He moved towards Simi’s net and sat on the ground near. Then, he placed a hand on her back. Seeing him there felt like she was sitting beside Ekele, whom she wished she met eventually. ‘Simi, give this your best. I know these are baby steps, but we can do it. We’re getting there!’
‘I’ll try.
By now, Dezzy had dressed herself in tight shiny leather trousers and boots. Her tight jacket cleaved to her body as if they were a little extension of her skin. The few seconds Simi watched her, she couldn’t be amazed by the speed with which she placed different sizes of knives at different places. Even at that, she still had some of the knives glaring on her bed.
‘Where did you get this?’ Simi moved near her and caressed the remaining weapons on the table. Some others were peeping from a black bag.
‘I think you’ll keep this in mind whenever you see her elsewhere! Kukoyi pulled out a large sheet of paper from his little bag and began to point different things on it. Simi left Dezzy’s side and moved to watch what Kukoyi was doing. ‘Dezzy used to be a dominatrix’.
‘Domi…?’ Simi turned from one person to another.
‘Dominatrix’, Kukoyi said. ‘She likes to flog or punish men to feel excited…’
‘Is she insane or….?’ Simi covered her mouth. ’Sorry… I mean, why will you do that?’
Dezzy’s eyes were now fixed on Simi, despite her hands hurrying through some straps in her body. A black baton laid on the side of the bed.
‘Hey, Dezzy’. Kukoyi looked up from the map he was drawing. ‘No hard feelings… I guess?’ He turned to Simi, who nodded like a baby. She didn’t know how that word had come out of her mouth.
Simi sighed. ‘I’m not even concerned. I just want to be done and free’.
‘That we can make happen…’ Kukoyi said.
Dezzy walked over to Simi. Her presence sent fear down the chubby girl’s mind. They were in all ways different from each other. Dezzy’s slim body and a touch of curves were made pronounced by her leather war cloth. Simi, on the other hand, looked like watermelon in a bag. She couldn’t even understand when she got that fat.
Now, she was staring into the flat tummy of a warrior-like lady and wished they could trade place.
‘Are you ready?’ Dezzy asked.
‘No’, Simi said and stretched. ‘I need to change this filthy dress to something presentable’.
‘Rhino, it’s not a fashion contest, and no one is looking at your fashion’, Dezzy shouted, but Simi didn’t heed her. Instead, she grabbed the bag they bought for her and pulled out a red top, jeans shorts, her black sneakers, and sunshades. When she was done, Kukoyi shook his head.
‘Are we ready now?’ Dezzy asked as she stopped pacing the room.
Simi exhaled sharply and nodded. ‘By the way, you just had to buy shorts that and dropping. I would have wanted something shorter.
‘Your goodies? Dezzy said. ‘You would be carrying this with you regularly now’.
‘Where will I put the clothes?’ Simi wondered.
‘Remove those rags you made me buy and put enough goodies’, Dezzy said.
‘I’m fine… Let’s go. I feel great’, Simi replied as she stared at herself again.
‘Errr… No’, Dezzy said. ‘Get the thing before I descend on you.
‘Mummy, calm down!’ Simi carried her bag and dropped all the content on the bed. That’s when she saw her blackhead warmer. ‘Cool’.
‘God!’ Kukoyi exclaimed.
Simi hurried back to the snacks and put enough in her bag.
‘Good! Now, let’s go…’
‘I’ll be waiting for you two’, Kukoyi said. ‘And mapping how we will do all these things. I don’t know, but I think we might have to move frequently and when that happens we must be ready.
‘Off we go!’ Simi said and held Dezzy. ‘I don’t know if this will work’.
She wasn’t even sure it would work. All that was on her mind was that she shouldn’t take them to the wrong place. It would be a waste of time, and she wanted to be done with this thing. The money and tiredness were enough for her. Moreover, she wasn’t even sure Dezzy would follow her if she disappeared. But one truth remained, as long she came with the warrior, she was assured of her own safety.
‘Is this part of what you saw the last time?’ Dezzy asked.
Simi opened her eyes as cold air danced through rustling leaves. They were surrounded by forest and were on a mountain.

AryEmber:
search for 'we are able'. Cant remember the author tho

By Sammyhoe, who has returned as a different person and has taken the story off Nairaland.

LarrySun:
THE JOURNEY TO A THOUSAND FLASH
Flash 27: The Full Moon
For Akintayo Akinjide (Divepen)

Thanks a lot. I feel really really honoured.

Lakesc:
Thanks for the update...

You're welcome. Thanks for dropping a comment.

germaphobe:
wow!!, i'm loving this. can't wait to see what powers the other two possess

Glad to see you love it. Well, their power will be revealed soon.

Chapter 5
Munching as if the sausage rolls were on fire, Simi narrated how she’d met herself in a tree to find Moremi. They listened with rapt attention. Dezzy was clearly angry that she wasn’t coherent enough, but Kukoyi pacified her telling her what Simi said.
‘How did you return to us?’ Kukoyi asked, who was typing into his tab.
Simi swallowed hard. ‘I... Maybe when I remembered Moremi story that the Igbo soldiers would soon get where I was, and… Dezzy’s… that I preferred this place than to face those hefty soldiers’.
Dezzy reached for her iPad.
‘I think we’re getting somewhere, Kukoyi said. ‘But that must be a dark time. I mean there wouldn’t be any form of civilization those time’.
‘I think so…’ Dezzy said and typed sporadically into her phone. ‘From Wiki, Moremi was born in 1200AD. Long-distance from our first sight of civilization. Erm…Oranyan’s wife. Another site said she was Oranyan’s wife’.
Kukoyi got up and paced the room. He turned swiftly towards Simi. ‘Maybe, Simi… And just maybe, Oranmiyan has something in hiding for you there?’ Kukoyi suggested. ‘Like a clue’.
‘A clue? There?’ Simi shook her head.
‘We don’t know the history, even those that feel they know believe it started as a rumor. The initiates are tightfisted about the information. Kukoyi paused. ‘This information spread down to different periods with more details than anyone can verify. Even Lambe that seems to know about all these things, said he couldn't remember many things. That’s why he drinks a lot, Dezzy said.
‘Are you sure?’ Kukoyi threw a cold glance at her.
‘I think so’.
Simi made a ‘tsk’ sound. ‘What are you saying now?’
‘What…?’ Kukoyi stared at her and paused for a while. ‘Of course, I’m saying there’s something. Like. Like. Like. Like a clue. Something to hold on to’.
‘Sure, she should go again’, Dezzy cut in and rose from her net. ‘You need to train your skills now’.
‘I should return to search for information. I can do that’, Simi replied. Immediately, the image of the Igbos in raffia popped into her head. She shook her head. ‘I can definitely not do that.
‘Let’s just get this over with’, Dezzy said.
‘But you…’ Simi stared into her eyes. Her cold feet weren’t a result of her fear. It was probably because she didn’t know the world she just escaped. ‘I will need something to defend myself with in case of anything’.
‘Sounds perfect’, Dezzy replied and pulled a knife from her boot. Kukoyi stared at her with wide eyes. Dezzy rolled her eyes, met Simi halfway, and slapped the knife’s handle into Simi’s palm. It was wrapped with black rubbers.
‘Let’s do this again’, Simi agreed.
Dezzy placed her hands on Simi’s knee. ‘You can do this. Need to monitor time. Kukoyi, do the same.
Kukoyi nodded as Simi closed her eyes, got ready to disappear, and wished to be with Moremi.
‘She came back thirty-two minutes ago…’ Dezzy said. ‘Let’s see how long you will be gone this time?’
A big fear clouded Simi’s mind as she got ready for the next thing to happen. Something swiped past her face, making her open her eyes. Like before, she was in a tree.
Clinging to it as if her life depended on it, she looked around and saw an archer shooting sporadically in different directions. Ready to shoot again, he saw Simi, frowned, and aimed at her.
Simi yelled. Without a second thought, she tumbled off the tree. The grass cushioned her fall.
‘Where am I?’ She murmured.
People ran in different directions, yelling, with weapons raised and sweat covering their bodies. She didn’t need anyone to tell her what that meant. Wet dry leaves with their stinky smell covered her, but all her clothes were dirty from this already.
‘Kill them!’ A young man shouted. His regal look made her wish she were born at that period because the man would have been fun to talk to, stare at, or listen to him.
Their yells of instructions were in Yoruba language, with some words she had never heard from anyone.
‘All of you… Go…’ The young man said.
‘Yes, my king’, a warrior said.
His glinting black body, marked at different points with charcoal and mud, made him wild. A thread of charms dangled around his waist. Even his arms were laced with the skins of a snake.
Simi remained rooted in her position. It felt like the only place she could stay without fear. When she should be looking for clues, she was hiding in the bush.
The moment everyone was gone, the young man looked about and buried a knife into the ground. Like a machine, his hand furiously dug through the ground.
‘King Oranmiyan’, a female voice called from afar.
‘Queen’, the young king, Oranmiyan, replied. With his face lit with excitement, he turned towards the voice. At that point, Moremi came into view, panting and expectant. If Simi thought Moremi was beautiful, she had not seen her in her war clothes, which pronounced her natural beauty.
‘What became of the knife?’ Moremi asked.
‘I hurriedly sent it to the future… For the last set of people…’ Oranmiyan said.
‘We need it here?’ Moremi said with pleading eyes.
Oranmiyan shook his head, lightly touched her cheek, and smiled. ‘We’ve won. You helped us, and nobody can ever forget that. The world will remember that. What we have left here is us taking care of the rest of their lives. My dreams are more than real’.
‘I really don’t know’, Moremi glanced about and stared at him. ‘Are you even sure they will see this knife?’
‘This knife is Oduduwa’s… This is the one I changed for him. I want the last ones to have this. That’s why I let the power remain on it…’
At the same time, sprinting feet became louder.
‘My lord’, the leader of the warriors shouted and came into view. ‘We got another one. He’s ready to talk for his life’.
‘Let’s go!’ Oranmiyan said and urged the Moremi and the leader to move ahead as he trailed behind them. When he got to the edge of the pathway filled with thick weeds, he glanced back at the place he planted the knife, then at Simi’s hideout, and then smiled and ran off.
Simi gasped. She wanted to race after them but remembered why she was sent back there. After ensuring she was alone, she crawled over to the spot and dug as fast as possible. The knife laid there. It was a replica of Dezzy’s knife. Simi grabbed it and used her other hands to dust her ripped jeans trousers.
Dezzy would be surprised by this, Simi thought and closed her eyes, hoping she got it right again.
‘She’s back again’, Dezzy shouted. ‘Oh! God! And dirty…’
Simi was astounded. ‘Oh! I’m never going in alone…’