NOTE: This is a series of stories. To read the previous stories, click here
"Are you coming in?" he asked again, snapping me out of my trance, "huh?" I asked. "You zoned out on me Sade, are you coming in?" he replied with the same smile on his face. "urrm why don't you change your shirt and let me drive us to find breakfast huh?". He looked uncertain then shrugged "what the hay, no problem, give me a sec". A few minutes later we were seated in a Pizza Place, I was gently sipping a cup of a bad coffee. There was a ground breaking silence between us. I struggled to maintain composure as different emotions ran through my mind. I wanted to slap him, I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to kill him, and I wanted to ask him why he had lost so much weight. He finally broke the silence "I didn't think you would come..." I avoided his gaze and replied "I didn't think I would come either" taking another long sip of the crappy coffee. "Well, that's understandable, how are you? How are you? How is sch……?" I cut him short and asked "What is this about Odun? Why did you bring me to see you? I have better things I should be doing, like not having breakfast with a ritualist for example, so make this worth my time, now spill!" I looked around to make sure my voice wasn't too loud, nobody seemed to be paying attention to us. He kept quiet again for what seemed like eternity then spoke "I'm dying Sade, earlier this year I was diagnosed with rare disease that causes my kidneys to shrink, even after getting transplants twice, the same thing still. It's no point though, I already know it's nothing medical. The Baba that made us rich already told us the repercussion if we allow any of the people we bring into that room you saw to escape, and you did. He said the God of Iron himself will take our lives. Tolu and Malik already died, I'm the only one still alive….." his voice trailed off as I remember seeing a headline on one of the major local blogs that read "OAU Big Boys Die in Car Crash" during the weekend, though I didn't open the story, Odun's testimony makes everything add up.
"We all have to pay for our mistakes one way or the other" Odun continued "So I have been trying to close loose ends since I realized, I might be dying soon." I sighed totally confused and unclear on a perfect response to give, I finally mustered up a question to ask "Why Odun? You were not suffering, your parents gave you all you needed, why did you sell your soul?" I stared into his eyes, but his face was blank. He started again "Sade Dearest, Some of these thing I don't have answers to. Societal pressure forces us into the stupidest things, I guess. Thank you for coming, I'm really sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry for everything". I couldn't even muster any word out of my mouth, especially considering if this was true it means he had chosen to die instead of offering me for the ritual, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks "Odun I loved you, always did, why were you so stupid, I never even asked you to give me anything under compulsion, why?" I was fully sobbing now. He crossed over from his seat and sat beside me, he used his thumb to wipe my tears as I rested my head on his shoulder. Some minutes passed and I broke the silence again "How Long before you know..?" I asked between sobs. " The Doctor said my current kidney would probably stop working completely this month and honestly I am no longer afraid of death, my parents don't know, haven't even told them I'm a dead man walking yet" he heaved a sigh and gave a sarcastic chuckle. "I missed you" he started again "every day after you left, I never stopped regretting and cursing that dark Saturday". I was now crying, heavily now, I didn't even care if the people in the restaurant were looking. He would gently "sush" me, caress my face and will me to stop. His touch as ever gentle as the breeze of a beach in the evening.
"I need to go" he said "I have another pointless doctor's appointment by 2" he added and smiled. "Do you need me to drop you? Or stay with you?" I asked looking into his eyes. "Ha-ha... I thought you had better things to do than have breakfast with a ritualist?" he joked lightly, I remembered how funny he had always been. "Don't worry Sade, I'm fine by myself, I will call you tomorrow, hopefully they will have network reception in heaven" he joked again, I smiled now. "Walk me to get a cab?" I nodded in agreement. He held out his hands to help me up.
I was driving home when a text came in from "Thanks for coming to see me, I just donated what's left of my bank account to charity. It wouldn't erase my sins but it feels really good on the inside to do. See you soon or maybe not. Lol...Will always Love you. Odun". I smiled wondering how he was still able to keep on making small jokes despite his predicament.
I got home and lay on my bed, cold, tired and very depressed. I was already drifting into sleep when a call came in from Odun's number "Hello, Is this Miss Sade?" "Yes, who is this?" "This is the Lagos State 747 response team, an accident just happened along St Nicholas Hospital involving the owner of this number and the taxi driver, we checked his last messages and phone calls and have been putting out calls to the last people he got in contact with to come and Identify the body…………….". The Voice trailed off behind my mind as the phone dropped from my hands and tears effortlessly streamed out of my eyes. The End.
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