₦airaland Forum

The Other Side

The shivers started just as soon as he got out of the water. His teeth chattered a bit uncontrollably. He knew he shouldn’t have stayed in the water that long but she had insisted and even though he had enjoyed every bit of their time in the water; he was paying for it now.
Stumbling to where their clothes were, he picked up a towel and rubbed his head quite vigourously before quickly cleaning off the rest of himself. He picked up his shirt and quickly put it on as warmth returned. Turning, he could still see her in the water splashing around; feeling his gaze on her, she turned and waved.
They really needed to get going, it was nearly 4pm and they had been here since noon.
“Babe, come out of the water. We need to get going!” He yelled out, arms folded as if to ward off cold.
“Why? This is so fun.” The lady in the water replied, turning around to lazily stroke the water.
“Well, I am cold,” he looked round noting how deserted everywhere looked. “Everyone has gone back and it’s nearly evening.”
“You don’t know how I have longed to swim in a village river. You really were lucky as a child.”
“It’s nearly four, my mother expected us back two hours ago. This is just our first day and you have a week to swim as you like, so please come out.”
“Okay dear give me five minutes. If you are cold then you shouldn’t be standing there with your shirt and just a swimming trunk, go and put on your jeans.”
Sighing, the man turned and walked to where their clothes were. He picked his jeans and put them on; perhaps he was being too hard on her. She had been so excited when he told her his village had a clear stream for swimming.

**

John was being a spoilsport, Rita thought as she watched him put on his jeans. They had nothing to do when they got back to the village house except eat and sleep in separate rooms under the stern eyes of his parents especially the mother who watched her barely hiding her dislike. She didn’t approve of a city girl especially one who didn’t know her roots.
“How well do you know her?” She had heard John’s mother ask him the night before.
John had laughed in reply.
“I am asking because this world is a strange place; you have to know a person’s root before befriending them much less marry them”
“Maaaama! She is an orphan now”
“Exactly my point, an orphan with no relatives?”
“Rita is a nice woman, fun and friendly, intelligent and respectful”
“Most women are nice too. My point is try and know more about her roots.”
“Okay mama, can I go to bed now?”

**

She was starting to feel cold and she had swum so far out. Time to get back but not before she tried to see how long she could hold her breath under water. She hadn’t counted to thirty when she came up for air. Gasping, she swam ashore. John was nowhere in sight, where had he gone? Her clothes were not where she had left them.
“Babe, John!” She called out.
Getting no reply, she looked around confused. Had she missed the spot where they had been? She couldn’t go back to the house with just her bra and shorts.

**

After putting on his jeans, he saw a scorpion trying to get into her clothes. Killing the scorpion, he picked up her clothes plus the towel and wrapper they had brought; and checked them for any insects. Satisfied at finding none, he draped the clothes over his arm; they hadn’t even eaten the lunch his mother had packed for them. They really needed to get going, he would be stern this time. First, he needed to take a piss but he couldn’t leave her clothes on the sand. He had better take the clothes with him.

**

“John!” Was he playing with her? She was sorry for staying long in the water but this wasn’t fair either.
Hearing laughter, she turned and saw a group of six young women walking leisurely towards the shore. They were chatting and didn’t notice her at first.
“Good evening,” she called out.
The chatter stopped and the women turned, looking at her curiously. Feeling self-conscious, she tried to cover her bosoms as well as she could with her hands. John was taking this too far.
“What are you doing here?” One of the women asked.
“I am looking for John,” she replied with the hope that one of them had seen him.
“We don’t know of any John,” the woman replied again.
“Mma Obiagelli’s son, that John,” John’s mother was popular or so she had been told.
“Oh? Who are you to this John?” Another woman asked.
What kind of a question was that? What had that got to do with finding John?
“Ma, please I am his friend and my clothes are with him.”
“Your John is on the other side,” the second woman replied pointing.
“Thank you ma, I came to the wrong side then,” she made to move back to the water.
“No, you can’t get to him that way.”
Now, they were really annoying women but seeing as she was a stranger, she couldn’t as well show her annoyance. They didn’t even offer her a wrapper to ward off the cold.
“Please, what way can I use?”
The women didn’t reply and looked at themselves in confusion. Then one of them walked up to her, “You cannot use any way, nwanyi oma but you can come with us.”
“Why would I want to come with you? I thought the village was a nice place where everyone helped each other out? None of you even bothered to offer me a wrapper to cover myself and then to point out a route seeing that it is getting late is another difficult task. Since, you probably won’t help me; I would have to use the water.”
“You cannot use the water because you are dead”
“What! God forbid! That’s a lie! I cannot die, I am too young! Who dies in a stream?”
She tried to run to the stream but the women held her back. Their grips were so strong, making her struggles pointless.
Finally, out of breath and weak; she turned and saw John coming but he wasn’t alone. He was stumbling and wailing, dragging someone with him. He was dragging her lifeless body.

The End