₦airaland Forum

Thank y'all for your comments and criticism. Its been a cool experience so far, but take a second to reflect on the just concluded story.
The devil wears okrika. The devil was a wolf, a wolf in sheep clothing. If we take it literally from the title alone, the devil was able to mix with the masses and successfully gain their trust because he was one of them. He was in a respectable position, he was a man of high moral standard and dignity. But it was all a disguise.
Look at our society, we have so many devils(wolf) in our midst putting on okrika (sheep clothing) but most times we are unaware just like the people of Amaife. We don't pay much attention and let our guard down that's why you hear painful stories of child abuse, murder, ritual killings, kidnapping etc.
The root problem or should I say one of the root problems is the mistake of 'assumption'. You assume okay, he/she is my sibling they can't abuse my child, he/she is my best friend they can't hurt me, he/she is my pastor they can't do this......
Bartholomew was a pastor. His father was 'the' elder, the father of the village and ironically he was 'the father of the village'
What is the takeaway from all these big grammar and the 70+ pages so far?
Trust no man, Follow no man but Trust in the Lord your God and follow Christ.
Being a Christian means what it means. Christ like, not your pastor like, not your celebrity like, not like anybody. Its a daily journey and with time you'd be able to discern the devils in our midst. Don't assume someone is as pure hearted as you and don't trust blindly.
Stay blessed FAM.
~Soul~

John Griaham * A Time to Kill
Nora Roberts * The Reef
Steig Larsson * The girl with the dragon tattoo √ The Girl who played with fire (currently reading)
Buchi Emecheta * Joys of motherhood (I always have something in my eye when I read this)
Tom Clancy * Clear and Present Danger.

Happy Birthday, more grace, wisdom, inspiration and greatness! stay blessed

°•°•°•

"Some serious wailing is really going on in there" Amara nodded in the direction of the clinic. Everyone could hear the distressed shouts.
"They need our help" Osi said. The young boy seemed to be getting better. At least the painful grunts had reduced and the fearful look of terror in the mother's eyes had reduced.

"They locked us out...we didn't lock them in" Dé John replied but he scratched his jaw thoughtfully "you know, they are really understaffed"
"Forget that, it looks like we may need to help our own first..." Dé Nwachukwu snapped as he hurried toward Osi.

Osi was still wondering why the old man rushed at him when he realized he was on his back, staring at the sky. He wondered about the dull colour of the sky, and wondered about the grey clouds, dusk had fallen. It was strange, but he found himself wondering why it was called dusk? Was it because nightfall came with a foggy atmosphere? Hence the name, dust....dusk?
These were the odd thoughts racing through Osi's mind as his eyes dimmed and the elder knelt over him.

°•°•
Just when it began to look like everything was under control, the antidote was calming everybody, the wailing had reduced and there was beginning to be a pattern that strongly resembled order. Commotion broke out suddenly as a young Lady began screaming and crying her voice sharper and louder than the background murmur of the crowd.
"Osi...Osi...open your eyes! Wake up....oh God....Osi!" It was Amara.
"Stop crying will you! Osi is alright, he only just stressed himself, now someone break that door!" There was something in the reverend's voice that made everybody comply with whatever he requested. Amara found her self drying her eyes and praying instead as Phillip and two other youths slammed a log of wood again and again ramming it against the door.

°•°•°•
Nkiru was in a state of dysphoria, she was restless, anxious and nervous. In a community where most of the medical cases where taken to the dibia, her workload had previously revolved around prescribing pain killers and the occasional vaccination for babies. But in the past 24 hours, she had performed a major surgery under 10 minutes, now she was supposed to pump poison out of the stomach of about 15 persons, not to mention the butcher who seriously needed her attention on the bench he was sitting.
"What are you waiting for? Start the damn process!" The doctor shouted at her as his eyes shut in pain and he clutched his stomach. Nkiru thought he looked exactly as one of the pregnant women she helped deliver had looked when a serious contraction had hit.
"Sir...is there..is there another tube?"
"What?! Do you want me to die? Another tube ke'?!What are you waiting for?!" The doctor replied through clenched teeth.

The other villagers were shouting louder now and getting closer.
"Help us...hurry up.. I can feel it...its in my stomach!" One of them shouted as he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
"Talk about a gut feeling.."Nkiru muttered, but she shook her head as a cold shiver ran down her spine. She hurriedly adjusted the chair properly until she was sure the tube would plunge straight into the stomach. And if it went in the lungs....... Well......
But she was interrupted before she could literally take the plunge. There was a loud thud on the door and the entire clinic vibrated into silence.
The thud came again, and again, and again, each strike louder than the last. The door shook violently, few more strikes and it was sure to crumble.
" More patients are coming...! How can I do all these on my own..I'm just one person!" She sounded frustrated. Frustrated and tired.

But when the door finally caved in, the villagers that rushed in had coconuts in their hands. There was a blackish green/ greenish black liquid and they began urging everyone to drink a little.
She saw Amara first. Her friend hurried to where she stood watching in awe the transformation that seemed to happen after they drank from the coconuts.

"Please he just fell down....his pulse is weak...please do something"
"Who who is it? Oh my God I forgot about Benedict!" Her eyes widened when she saw it wasn't the butcher but the young pastor. "Him! But he was supposed to be in bed!"
"Nurse don't worry about the other villagers....we'll take care of them, just have a look at this young man immediately." Dé Nwachukwu told her.
"Okay..please bring him over to this bench, there's also someone there that needs-"
"We saw him" Joy interrupted her. "Just tell me what to do, I can clean and bandage.. I know good first aid."
"Okay...but he's going to need stitching also" Nkiru said over her shoulder as she walked briskly, leading the two men who carried Osi to the bench were the butcher was presently stretched out on.
Joy increased her pace as she struggled to keep up. "Stiching...it shouldn't cause me any troubles, I'm a good tailor"
"I guess that's good enough."


°•°•°•°•

The storm is over, storm is over now..

Osi found himself singing along before his eyes fully opened and he came to. The music floated in the room and so did sunlight. He couldn't tell the source of either, although he suspected a small radio hung somewhere in the room and there was a small window behind his bed.
He closed his eyes as he struggled to remember everything that had happened the day before. Then it hit him suddenly and he had a hard time keeping up. The images flashed in his mind, frame after frame like a horror slideshow. And he could almost hear a fast rising intense instrumental in his head as each negative(which in more ways than one was a negative image)was placed under the amber light that was memory and the image developed in the dark room that was the clinic; The woods, the blade in his chest, the bright room, the clinic, the marketplace,the peculiar ordour of burning flesh, the sickening sound when stones struck bones, the palmwine, the poison, the....-
It was too much for him and he drifted off again.

°•°•°•°•

When his eyes opened for the second time the song was gone and so was the sun, but he wasn't alone. The Reverend was on the only chair, looking at him. Behind him Gregory was slumped on the bed in an awkward angle. He probably fell asleep while sitting and waiting for Osi to wake.
He didn't see Amara and he turned his head taking in every angle of the room, hoping to see her.
"She's gone, not long ago" the reverend's voice was soft and understanding and it drew Osi's eyes to the older man immediately although, he looked away quickly.
"It's okay son, what I saw there was real, there's no way I can be against that" Reverend Okorie said reading his thoughts perfectly.
"Her father had to almost drag her before she left your side" the Reverend studied Osi intently as he divulged the information.
If it could be done, Osi would have wrapped his thoughts with a dozen blankets. There was something about the reverend's gaze that made him feel his thoughts were naked, as though he could read it perfectly through his intense soul searching gaze, like he was doing now.

Osi changed the topic quickly "what happened, did the antidote work?"
"Yes, I must say that young Jelemba is really a smart lad"
"Yes...yea he is so.... no one was really hurt?"
The reverend didn't reply. Instead he stood up abruptly. "You know God works in mysterious ways...when I decided to have the youth church take over the crusade, I just did it on impulse. It was a split second decision I took when it became evident I won't be in the country and the evangelist would be travelling also. The deacon was the next option but somehow your name popped up and I was certain in my heart that was what God wanted.." He nudged the chair backwards roughly and the movement caused Gregory to jerk awake,he yawned as he tried to stretch which wasn't possible and began to untangle his twisted limbs.

Osi was aware the reverend had avoided his question and the possibility that lives had been lost while he lay unconscious gave him a sharp raw burst of pain. A burden of failed responsibility he was beginning to get too used to.
The reverend began pacing. For all his intense gazing and thought reading abilities,/he seemed unaware of the flashes of emotion mirrored in the young pastor's eyes.
"The faith has been damaged in this village son, terribly damaged. The people trusted and their trust was abused, they believed and were decieved and for that they may never believe again. Its our mandate to build again, to rebuild... And this time ensure that the house is founded on the rock"
"Wait.... I don't really get you sir...what are you saying?" Osi badly wanted to sit up. This was the kind of news you took while sitting down.
"We'd be opening a branch, foundation of life church here in Amaife" the Reverend stopped by the bed and touched Osi's shoulder. "And you're going to head the church"

°•°•°•°•°•
Early the next morning, exactly around 07:33am, there was a combined service in pa Kenneth's compound. Not everybody turned up, most of them would be going to another funeral later that day. And fankky most of them were not well wishers so they stayed away.
Father and sons were buried side by side in front of the compound after a half hearted prayer for their souls to rest in peace had been said.

°•°•°•
Amaife was a village rich in history and culture but not once in their colourful and adventurous past had the residents been utterly shocked as they had been in the past 48 hours. The streets were deserted, the market square was like a graveyard and it was like a cloak of misery hung on everyone's shoulder.

Barely two days before, death had walked in their midst and although a miracle had happened and the mixture had worked, death had still managed to lay a hand on some of them. And it was strange it would be the doctor and the very same person who first shared the poison then joined to help administer the antidote; mama Ezinne. She had refused to drink the antidote, even when she had become worse and the pain was unbearable. She had it in her hands but chose to continue helping others and not herself. She seemed to have accepted death and there was no going back for her. The doctor on the other hand didn't want to die. Infact he wanted to live probably more than everybody else, but he stubbornly refused to leave the chair. The man had been stuck in his ways, his belief in his own trusted methods had cost him the ultimate price. He blatantly refused the coconut and charcoal mixture when it was being given to everyone in the clinic, even after it was obvious it was working.
"Get that rubbish away from my face and pump my belly!" He snapped and hit the coconut being offered by Joy. The black liquid had stained the white tiles and someone had shouted something about wasting what could save half a dozen.
But the doctor wasn't having none of it, and when he started heaving and shooting projectiles from both ends and when he started reacting to the process of the ongoing gastric suction, No one knew if the reaction was caused by some internal infection gotten from the tube, maybe the tube got into the lungs instead, or maybe the poison was in his system for too long and had already broken down quickly thanks to the action of enzymes.
Whatever it was, the doctor had died on his chair, and it had been devastating and to be honest quite messy, because his autopsy would surely place cause of death as diarrhoea.

°•°•°•°•
Osi was getting very restless when Amara came by the hospital. His legs were itching him and he was feeling claustrophobic, even though the room was airy.
"Oh....Osi, you scared me.... So much!" She charged at the bed and grabbed him in bead hug.
"I'm sorry....I'm sorry" he struggled to sit up and she helped him.
"Where...where is everybody....the reverend?" They were the only ones in the room.
"They're at the marketsquare...the Reverend had to conduct a service for the doctor who was laid to rest today"
"Oooouch....he died....he died...oh Lord...who else?" Osi swung his legs to the floor, but he didn't stand up. "Who else died Amara?"
She began shaking her head but she stopped "No......oh I can't lie to you...mama Ezinne is also dead......and it could have been avoided" Amara said in a soothing voice. "Its not your fault Osi"
"Where.....oooh..." His voice trailed off and she put comforting arm on his shoulder.
"The villagers are having a meeting now in the market square, that's were the reverend is"
"And Gregory?"
"Yes...everyone, my father and Dé John too"
"Okay... Its needed, everyone would still be in aftershock, they need guidance...direction"
"Yes, but one thing that made us feel better was when the reverend said you'd be opening a branch here...it made me feel better" she looked at him directly, challenging him with the emotion in her eyes and Osi looked back, stared back boldy although he blinked alot.
After what felt like hours, he found his voice.
"Yes....I won't be going anywhere after all..it seems it was God's plan all along to get rid of the fake doctrine Bartholomew was spreading and have his real messengers here"
She smiled and he knew she knew he had purposely changed the subject. She decided to oblige him.
"How about your former colleagues, the ones who followed you before, the dark lady I can't remember her name...and Ovie...I can't forget Ovie" she remembered with a smile the afternoon he had accompanied Osi to her place. It felt like ages ago.
"Oh....They're coming alright... Probably by next week"
"And you won't be going back?" She asked again.
Osi suddenly felt a burst of emotions....the reverend was right....this felt right....it couldn't be wrong....the kind of beautiful feelings this fiery, spirited and determined lady awakened in him was too right.... He felt too alive. Deep down he knew it was real, cause she was the one.
He placed a hand over hers on his shoulder and looked in her eyes, and this time he didn't blink.
"I'm glad I'm staying too"


°•°°•°•

"Oluchi I heard what happened to your brother....how is he now" Dé Nwachukwu held on to Oluchi as she hugged him and burst into tears.
"He can't remember... Dé....he can't remember anything... Oh Paul....Dé imagine Paul my brother can't remember me"
"Its alright.... Its alright.... He'd come around" the older man patted her back gently as she sobbed harder.
"So...where is he now?" He asked looking over her head expecting to see him.
"He's at home with mama....it seems he's calm with her...a little bit at least"
"You see....he's getting better...trust me, no child forgets his mother...no matter what" Dé Nwachukwu assured her.

°•°•°•
"We start construction immediately" the Reverend announced as he shook hands with Dé John as they stood observing the plot of land.
"Yes...the villagers need this kind of stability immediately" the elder agreed.
"I have a good architect in my church, he's flying in from port Harcourt immediately.
" what's the name of the church again" the elder asked stroking his stomach. Since the incident he found his hands drifting unconsciously to his midsection.
"its the foundation of life church" Reverend Okorie replied.
"Perfect....perfect...lives have been crumbling..we really need a new foundation"


°•°•°•°•
" Oh mama....I'm feeling confused.... I'm remembering things I don't remember...." Paul grabbed his head..he slumped on the couch tiredly...the blow to the back of the neck must have affected his memory badly.
But wait a minute, Bartholomew had struck him on the back of his neck, not his head...how did he loose his memory...and to such an extenct?

"Shhhh....shhhhh....its OK nna'm rest your head"
His mother guided his head to her lap and he stretched on his back.
"Its okay..its okay my son, what do you remember?"
"I remember...my childhood...I see images of myself running around, playing ball"
"Hmmm...." His mother was quiet.... She continued stroking his brow. "What don't you remember?"
"I don't remember going to Lagos, I don't remember my father died 21 years ago...after Oluchi's birth...I don't remember any of it.....!"
His mother smiled. "That's good...they're to be forgotten....now tell me what you remember?"
Paul began to shake his head violently but his mother held his head firmly.
"Its okay...tell me"
"I remember my father...I remember the meetings....the night meetings...every Fridays in the next village, for the past 5 months"
"You remember his legacy he may be no more but his legacy lives on" his mother stopped stroking his brow and her voice shook sadly, just a little bit.
Paul seemed to stop breathing, he stammered, but his eyes remained closed. "No more?......,how come?"
"Your father was stoned to death hours ago...!" His mother whispered.
Paul's eye's popped open.
"You have a legacy my son" she repeated.
Paul sat up and stared at his mother with a strange expression.
"Legacy....what legacy..."
"I have a message for you.. wait here...you didn't really forget anything but things are not still as clear as try should be....I have something from him to you....to enlighten you dear boy...he was a great man!"
When she returned she had an envelope in her hands, she tore it open and handed him a piece of paper.

°•°•°•
The foundation of life church had its first service that Sunday. Surprisingly, the service (held at the market square) was full and overflowing.

Osi closed the service, he looked around as they shared the grace. The villagers were vibrant with a kind of positive energy. Despite the tragedy, there was a buzz of hope within them. Osi looked at Bukky as she led the dozens of people that had responded to the alter call. They headed to a secluded spot under a tree and she began speaking to them. Full of energy.
"Thank you Lord....thank you for the doctrine of truth....for the sword of truth that helped cut of the head of the beast that had been plaguing us in this village!"

Her voice drifted to Osi as she prayed and he put his hands in his pocket and frowned deep in thought.
For some reason he found his mind going back to history classes, to one of his favourite fields....the Greek methodology; the nine headed serpent known as the hydra, When one head is cut of, two more grows in its place.
It was strange he'd think about something like that now....too strange, or wasn't it?


°•°•°•°•
Epilogue
Stevenson left Amaife with his manuscript and his briefcase. He was going to publish his book but first he was going to fight for his freedom.

And so gradually the people of Amaife where going to rediscover their faith in humanity. Things could only get better. The devil that started by selling okrika and evolved to wearing okrika had been caught and justice had been served. Poetic justice had turned out to be jungle justice.
There won't be a devil wears okrika anymore...not in Amaife..not anymore.....that everyone was sure of.
But the devil also wears Prada. Everybody knows that!

The End

Happy new year FAM, almost done with the update, its going to be the last one hence the delay. Really appreciate you for your encouragement and comments. Its been fun and at the same time trying really and hopefully more thrillers are coming 2k18...Jah bless.

kayo80:
Evaj ael, tears actually rolled down my eyes reading this. Thanks. I really appreciate this.

Happy birthday boss, wishing you unlimited joy and blessings.

Ayomicome:
I already contacted a SARS to help me look for you mr souloho19,.......I guess i'll have to pay the guy off but you'll pay back ooo

I'm around bro, was never far. Compliments boss

Damibiz:
Bosz gv us smthing to hold body this xmas na

Compliments bro, don't mind the length o.

Oluwakemi65:
Souloho just dey enjoy Christmas ni.
no forget ur people for here oh.

E no dey possible na...compliments dear

Jazmiynne:
@souloho: Good to Go, Good to Go, #ByeByeToOtondo
Congratulations!

thanks dear, compliments of the season.

Bibi294:
Congrats Souloho on ur POP

Graçias mon ami, compliments of the season.

Compliments of the season, Jah bless you for sticking around.

Sudenly the twitching stopped, the spasmodic vibrations that emanated from Dé John's barrel shaped gut seized and a sudden stillness settled on the elder. For a painful second that threatened to stretch till eternity the villagers stopped everything they were doing, they stopped hitting the hospital doors with reddened fist, stopped shouting, chanting and even those brought to their knees by the poison stopped dying, they all looked at the elder as the stillness that originated from him spread within them.
Later Osi would replay it in his mind and it still wouldn't be clear, all he would remember is the shout. One minute he's helping the mother hold the young child (as Jelemba hurriedly grinds the mixture) and from the corner of his eyes he's thinking: Dé John hasn't moved..
And the next second, Dé John is on his feet and his fist is in the air, shouting... "I'm alive...it worked!"
If somehow time had paused for a second, those words were all it took to 'play' it. And it did just that in a frenzied pace.
"It works! It works!"
"Give me at once!"
"I need it..I need it now!"
The people turned from the door and crowded poor Jelemba making the young boy flinch away.
The reverend noticed and placed a reassuring hand on the little boy's shoulder. Then he began shouting, his voice booming like a microphone was lodged in his throat as he nudged the people away.
"We need to work as one..there are many coconuts and charcoal...we have to assist him" he boomed again and again, clapping his hands and gesturing like a coach might, to encourage dispirited players.
And it worked, everyone got busy. Some of the villagers who were not poisoned joined them and before long they were divided in small groups, lending a hand, everyone playing his/her part to get the antidote prepared. Sticks appeared, more coconuts were halved, the charcoal sack was emptied on the ground and before long, the stillness had been replaced with the repetitive grinding sound of the charcoal and utazi

Osi winced as he nudged the contents down the throat of the little boy. His chest felt perforated and basic arm movements as he administered the potion brought a wave of blinding pain that threatened to get him horizontal. Still he held on, positioning the child's head so the black liquid won't trickle down his chin. The bottomless fear in the mother's eyes, driving him, pushing him and forcing his lips to part in a prayer.


Mama Ezinne appeared amidst the crowd and she hurried over to reverend Okorie (who was definitely in charge)
"What can I do to help?" She asked the reverend.
Before he could reply, Dé Nwachukwu shouted "The only thing you can do is tell me what you put in the palmwine!"
"It...was grounded castor beans..."
"What is that?!" Dé Nwachukwu was livid. He marched threateningly to where she stood.
"I don't...I don't know...he only brought the powder form to me" she trembled.
"Castor...that would be ricin is it not?" Gregory asked as he broke off from his small group(tasked with ripping and shredding the leaves)
Mama Ezinne snapped her fingers and nodded eagerly "aha..yes.. rice....rice..."
But all focus was now on Gregory.
"How do you know all these things?" Joy asked with wide eyes.
But Gregory was on a roll.
"If it is ricin they ingested, then we have little time...they won't just drop dead without showing some kind of symptom...like diarrhea, for instance..."
"Greg..stomachs have been exploding and erupting and you're still looking for a symptom!" The Reverend was exasperated.
"What exactly do we need to know about this ricin whatever?" Dé Nwachukwu asked impatiently.
"Well, if the ricin has been ingested recently, it can be stopped by pumping the stomach or ingesting charcoal" he snapped his fingers as the idea hit him. "Which is why the potion worked for Dé John!"
"So the people in there have a chance with the stomach pumping?" Dé Nwachukwu asked, pointing at the hospital.
"Well in cases like these, survivors often develop long-term organ damage. Ricin causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, and victims can die of circulatory shock or organ failure" Gregory explained causing both Osi and the reverend to draw their brows in surprise, who knew they had a walking mass of encyclopedia with them all along!
"Well its up to us to stop the organs from failing...let's speed it up...hurry up....that group, grind the leaves, Amara...we need charcoal over here...You and you...more coconuts!" In his younger days, the reverend used to be the choir master, complete with the robe and drumstick and he seemed to tune into the act as he gestured and instructed and there was a bubble of activity wherever he pointed.


°•°•°•°•
The hospital was another matter entirely. Nkiru was the only experienced personnel and she had over a dozen poisoned villagers, vomiting and gripping their stomach in pain and wailing. She had a badly injured man whose chest needed immediate antiseptic and stitching, and what's more, she had the doctor, the man supposed to instruct her was sprowled on the chair (which had been stretched diagonally) and shouting for her attention.

Amara could only run in circles, she knew what to do and at the same time she didn't know what to do. It would have been funny if the situation wasn't so sad.
She knew that in gastric suction/lavage, the tube is passed via the mouth or nose into the stomach and small volumes of liquid, preferably warm saline solution is admisistered and removed. But this was her problem: she had to be sure the tube did not get in the lungs, that would be a disaster. Filling the lungs with water instead of the stomach. She could ensure it didn't happen through x-ray(but that wasn't possible, the doctor wasn't likely to get behind the light), or she could inflate the inserted tube with air while listening to the stomach (but she could hardly hear her own thoughts over the noise in the hospital) another method was by pH testing a small amount of stomach contents (but there was no litmus paper, no pH strip/meter and to be honest, she wasn't about to aspirate/suck stomach contents through the tube)
That brought her to yet another problem; The tube. The tube looked like something that had been used to transfer fuel during the recent fuel crises and Nkiru was hundred percent sure it was clogged.
She threw her hands up in helplessness, as the shouts from the doctor, the nasty sounds/smell that was the heaving and vomiting of the villagers, and also the butcher's shouts turned her head and got her dizzy.



°•°•°•
And outside a miracle was happening.

rachealfst:
souloho19
.

Compliments of the season ma'am..Jah bless!

this story would end this year...sabali FAM...just few more days. Gracias