Unfortunate Wedding Ring

UNFORTUNATE WEDDING RING

      It was obviously a beautiful Friday. But, to Oge, the day could not be more beautiful than the awaited following day being Saturday that was expected to usher in the long awaited wedding ceremony between the lady in question and a widely celebrated bachelor in the person of Chima. The 34-year-old Oge, reckoned to be a humble and marriageable spinster, had waited patiently for the D-day she was meant to join hands with her husband-to-be, Chima right before the golden altar of Saint Mathew Catholic Church, Rumuokwoso in Rivers State, which was the designated venue for the scheduled epochal outing. She couldn’t wait for the next 24 hours as she lied in her bed in her parental home, filled with fathomless ecstasy. As she anxiously lied, she couldn’t keep her sight off the wedding gown hung in her wardrobe that was kept widely open; the unending observation brought endless smiles to her roundish face, thereby showcasing her real angelic outlook.

      Few minutes later, her mother - Mrs. Alo majestically walked into the room; it was about 7:30am. “Oge.” the elegantly looking woman called, standing closely to her.

     “Yes mum.” Oge answered, still lying in the bed.

     “You are still in the bed..?” Mrs. Alo queried, couldn’t afford to sit. “Have you forgotten we have a lot to do today?”

     “Sorry mum,” Oge said. “Just that…”

      The 61-year-old mother of four gushed out huge smile. “I understand how you feel my daughter.” She interrupted, walked to the bed and sat down. “During my time, I was more elated than you are right now.”

      Oge happened to be her first child and only daughter.

     “Really..?”

     “Yes dear.” Mrs. Alo responded, nodding. Hastily recollected the past.

     “Tell me about it.” She curiously demanded elatedly.

     “Your daddy was my dream man.” quoth Mrs. Alo. “So, I couldn’t wait for the D-day.”

      Oge was very attentive.

     “And,” she rode on. “Being the first daughter to my parents just as you are, the heat was really felt by everybody.”

      Oge dished out a dazzling smile.

     “My dear,” Mrs. Alo called. “We can’t finish everything now.” She asserted. “We have a lot to do today.”

     “Mummy nah…” Oge murmured, wanting her to continue.

     “Please, get up, get up!” Mrs. Alo urged, stood up.

      Oge equally stood up immediately, grabbed her mum. Both of them walked out of the room holding each other by the waist.

     On his part, the 36-year-old Chima who happened to be a very successful entrepreneur was as well perturbed; in fact, his was greater. But, as a young man who had tasted life so much, he knew how best to handle it. As he stepped out of his room on that Friday morning having taken his precious time to admire the white suit meant for the occasion, the moment of anxiety was conspicuously written all over his face, just exactly like Oge’s; hence, his father Mr. Agbo who was seated at the (Chima’s) house’s front balcony asked him to come over and join him. He complied accordingly, thus sat very closely with him on one of the vacant coloured plastic seats sited at the arena.

     “Son.” Mr. Agbo called tenderly.

     “Dad.”

     “Tomorrow is your day.” The octogenarian enthused.

      Chima happened to be his last child.

     “You are right, dad.”

     “By tomorrow, you would be a complete man.” The old man asserted. “And definitely, your identity would change.”

      Chima nodded calmly.

     “I and your mum can’t wait,” quoth Mr. Agbo. “Likewise you.” He added in a jiffy, paused. “In fact, the entire family and of course the whole world, would be celebrating you tomorrow.” He proudly exaggerated.

      Chima smiled, remained quiet.

     “Mind you,” he proceeded. “Don’t over labour yourself today so that you would be very fit tomorrow.”

      Chima nodded.

     “Have a good rest after today’s finishing touches.” He emphatically advised.

      The bachelor nodded as usual. “Thank you, dad.” He appreciated, stood up.

     “Good luck, son.” Mr. Agbo landed, still seated.

      Chima calmly took his leave, felt very excited, though the innermost feeling he was nurturing could best be expressed by him.

      Behold, the D-day being the following day eventually unfolded. By 10am of that fateful day, the incoming couple found themselves at the venue of the event, St. Mathew Catholic Church precisely. They were like newly and specially created creatures meant for each other; the joy on their respective faces could be observed by all and sundry, even the virtually impaired.

     At 10:30am, which was the actual time for the ceremony, the priest-in-charge, Reverend Father Ebo graciously commenced the wedding mass. In his sermon, he reminded the congregants that ‘What God has joined together, let no man put asunder’. He equally took time to expatiate the essence of the biblical citation to everyone’s understanding.

     Approximately at 11:10am, tying of the nuptial knots, which was the real reason for the mass, began in a grand style. At this point, all the photographers in the church, including paparazzi and quacks, surrounded the about to be wedded couple comprising Mr. Chima Agbo and Miss Oge Alo. Fascinatingly, they were incidentally the only couple to be wedded in the church on that very day.

     “If there’s anyone here who is against this union,” Rev. Fr. Ebo announced as tradition demanded. “He or she should say something now, or forever remain silent.”

      Before he could finish the statement, a young woman holding about 2-year-old female kid in her left hand, dashed into the magnificent church building. “Yes, this wedding will not go on.” She fiercely hinted aloud from afar.

     It wasn’t even a ‘man’ as the cleric earlier cited in the biblical quote; a woman was the person wanting to put the forbidden asunder. One may wonder: where had she been all those while when the marriage banns were being announced in the church?

     Everyone present looked at her in silent awe, whilst Chima bent his head, felt ashamed and mesmerized.

     “This man here is my husband.” The intruder claimed, pointing at Chima. “And, this is his daughter.” She added, pointing at the kid with her right hand.

      The teeming congregants were in disarray whilst the supposed incoming bride passed out.

      The officiating priest, Rev. Ebo therein called Chima as well as the ‘august visitor’ into an inner chamber for further enquiries, whereas others concentrated on the fainted Oge towards resuscitating her.

      What transpired consequently ought to be a story for another day. Or, what do you think? Think about it!

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Laughable Error

LAUGHABLE ERROR

      It was exactly 6.05am on Saturday 29^th August 2009. To Chisom, the previous night could be best described as lovely and splendid owing to the fantastic dream he just had, though the 17-year-old teen had woken to face the reality of the day.

      The ‘reality of the day’, which seemed not unlike paradox, was that Chisom who was reckoned to be an exemplary and brilliant chap by anyone who knew him, just managed to secure two credits among the nine O’Level subjects he sat for in his just concluded Senior School Certificate Examination (S.S.C.E) that precisely took place between March and May of that very year (2009). Funnily enough, being a science student, the subjects he barely made credit in were Igbo Language and Economics. The most worrisome was that, as the best student in Mathematics among his peers, he got F9 in the subject.

      Since seventy-two hours back he saw the results, he hadn’t taken anything tangible as regards meals, neither had his parents who felt the pains more than he did. Prior to the said exams, as the first child of the family, his well-to-do parents couldn’t wait to see him secure admission in the tertiary institution of his choice, University of Ibadan (UI) precisely, towards studying Medicine and Surgery which was his dream discipline. But at that moment, it appeared his dream had been shattered unannounced.

      As he lay in the bed in that early morning of Saturday, rotating from one edge to another, all he could think about was the very day being Tuesday he checked the results online; the day in question was undoubtedly the worst moment in his life. As soon as he saw the results at the cybercafé he patronized on that fateful day, he asked the computer operator that attended to him to revisit the site and check the results again, stating that there was a mix-up somewhere; no doubt, no one who truly knew Chisom that wouldn’t equally insinuate there was a ‘mix-up’. Having confirmed the results online for the umpteenth time as instructed by him, he was therein seemingly convinced that those trashes were actually his. After settling his bills, he quietly stood up and began to count his steps back home like a walking cadaver.

     When he got home in the evening of that horrific Tuesday, rather than going to his parents who were seated in the sitting room to intimate them on the outcome of the outing as expected, he chose to do otherwise since to him he had virtually nothing to present; he went straight to his personal room snubbing their presence, looked soared, and irritating. Mr. and Mrs. Okonkwo couldn’t withstand the shock that emanated from the abrupt and unusual behaviour; having sensed danger, the latter followed him (Chisom) to the bedroom.

     As she got there, the results’ sheet was lying pitiably on the tiled floor alongside the bearer, thus she ignored the latter and quickly grabbed the former to see things for herself.

     “What..?” Mrs. Okonkwo shouted, standing as she glanced at the results. “Is this your result?” She asked emphatically, strongly looking at Chisom who was on the floor.

     Chisom was rather speechless.

     Mr. Okonkwo who entered the room on hearing his wife’s exclamation, quickly took the results’ sheet from her. “What is this?” He equally exclaimed, looking at his wife who stood very close to him.

     “Ask your son.” She instructed, frowning.

       Mr. Okonkwo looked at his son who was still lying on the floor. “Chisom.” He called.

       The poor chap couldn’t respond.

      “Is this your result?” He inquired despite Chisom’s silence over his call.

      Interestingly, Chisom nodded indicating that those results really belonged to him.

     “No, this cannot be your result.” the couple chorused.

      Chisom couldn’t utter any word, kept facing the ceiling as he lied like a forgotten goat.

      The scepticism lingered for several hours until the reality dawned on them. Since then till this Saturday August 29, 2009, the entire family was yet to recover from the colossal shock.

     As Master Chisom Okonkwo lay in his bed in that early morning, looking like one who had been betrayed as well as robbed, he was deeply consoled by the ‘fantastic dream’ he had the previous night. In that dream, he found himself rejoicing alongside his family members having successfully secured admission to study the course of his choice in his dream-university, Medicine and UI respectively.

     “Could it be real?” He thought as he knelt down to pray over it.

      After the morning devotion at about 6.56am, he didn’t hesitate to share the lovely terrific moment with his parents. The latter never doubted the dream because, ab initio, they had been of the indisputable view that there was really something wrong somewhere that would eventually be rectified in due cause. But how the rectification would be actualized was what they didn’t know or couldn’t explain.

      Owing to the dream, the following Monday being 31^st August 2009, they (the parents) were motivated to visit Chisom’s school toward discussing the issue with the school’s principal – Mr. T.O. Ayodele.

     “No, we must apply to the exam board for onward review of the results.” Mr. Ayodele assured. “I know Chisom too well; this cannot be his result.” He added.

      The following day being Tuesday September 1, on behalf of Chisom’s parents, the school management wrote the Exam Board requesting candid review of the chap’s examination scripts. The formal application was honourably received, thus the board in question replied the school in a jiffy assuring them that it would in earnest look into the matter towards ascertaining the actual error, if any, as well as making amends where necessary.

      Three weeks on, still in September same year, as God would have it, it was discovered that Chisom’s results were mistakenly allocated to another candidate. Fascinatingly, his actual results, in which he made alpha in all the subjects, were misplaced with that of one of the illiterate male students of the affected secondary school; needless to reiterate that the beneficiary of the human error happened to be a daft candidate who could not even defend the results.

      Consequently, the laughable error was duly corrected. Hence, Chisom’s data was updated with the original results whilst the fake excellent results were retrieved from the other candidate; various concerned institutions across the federation were equally notified on the change of impression.

      One month later, Chisom who had already gotten an outstanding grade in his JAMB examination was admitted into his dream university to read Medicine and Surgery. It was like a dream come true.

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The Possessed Maiden

THE POSSESSED MAIDEN

      Though it was conspicuously a sunny day, it seemed rainy and thundery to the willowy but pathetically-looking Deji who could be best described as a walking-cadaver. He kept strolling on the lonely ancient pathway otherwise known as ‘Street’ in disarray, looked rejected. As he stepped forward in his grey three-quarters chintz accompanied by its top and black leather sandals, he could recollect vividly how the abrupt mind-boggling jinx transpired on that Friday afternoon. By merely glancing at his countenance, or what have you, any of the few passersby could attest to the fact that he needed an urgent succour; but none could be of help. Nevertheless, the young man had to forge ahead, in spite of the quagmire, till he arrived at his destination.

      The ‘mind-boggling jinx’ was that the 37-year-old Deji just encountered an unimagined ignominious scene, few seconds ago precisely. As a civil servant, after closure at office, he had unusually decided to have an unannounced brief stopover at his fiancée’s residence situated closely before transcending to his abode which was about twenty kilometres (20km) away, only to witness what could aptly be described as a heist. He caught her red-handed with a weird man right in her bed the moment he (Deji) let the door open with the help of the spare of the door keys that had been in his possession. He actually saw the guest on the 36-year-old Dami, the so-called fiancée.

      Prior to the discovery, he persistently knocked at the door to no avail, thus he thought it wise to make use of the spare keys. It wasn’t that she refused to open the door; she couldn’t even hear the sound of the knock, probably owing to the superlative sensation emanating from the scintillating tango.              

      Dami alongside the ‘august visitor’ couldn’t believe her sight. The guest, who never knew she was engaged, hastily went for his wears, got dressed and dashed out. On her part, Dami kept starring at Deji in silent awe, felt electrocuted having managed to cover her nudeness with a wrapper that was on the bed.

     The most painful part was that, both parties were meant to walk down the aisle in three months time.

     Deji who couldn’t withstand the shock, fiercely dashed out and pitiably headed for his humble abode. He was meant to board a cab that would take him home; in ten minutes time, he was done with the ‘lonely ancient’ street, thus waited impatiently at the bus-stop for any available incoming commercial vehicle. In some seconds, one came seeking for passengers, hence he hopped in. As the cab drove off having gotten the required number of travelers, the thunderstruck and timorous Deji felt like fast-forwarding the time so the expected thirty minutes or thereabouts he was to spend on the tarred road would come to pass without much ado, to enable him embrace his apartment immediately. While in the cab, although very disastrous, he took time to recall every bit of the ugly scene and kept wondering why he could fall victim of such ordeal he only heard or overheard people discuss, or sometimes watched in the movies. In twenty-five minutes interval, he eventually got to his destination at about 5.20pm.

      When he walked into his self-contained apartment, having locked the main entrance, he lied straight on the tiled floor of the parlour never cared to undress. He felt not unlike strangulating himself, and even forgot food that made him to take the cheat unawares.

      Lest I forget, his prime motive of going to Dami’s place was to find something to quench the hunger that was ravaging his person right from when he was still in his office; he only took a light meal before leaving for the office in the morning.

     Within a twinkle of an eye, Dami joined him in the parlour; apparently, she followed him the moment he left her place of residence. Before she entered, she knocked severally at the entrance but he didn’t response, though he never imagined she could be the one at the door; hence, since she equally had the spare keys, she needed not to wait any longer considering how perturbed she was.

     “What are you doing here?” Deji shouted as she stepped in, furiously raised his head from the floor. “Have you come to kill me?” He added fiercely.

      She was speechless, stood still. Uncontrollable tears gushed out from her eyes. “Baby, I am sorr…y!” She managed to exclaim, knelt down.

     The pink maternity gown she put on was apparently also kneeling on the tiled floor, which augmented the unalloyed apology being tendered.

     “You are sorry?” Deji ranted. “You must be a clown.”

       She was quiet, kept sobbing profoundly.

     “You better go back to him,” Deji continued. “And stop bothering my peace.”

     “Who do I go back to?” Dami said calmly. “You know, you are the only one in my life.”

     “You must be kidding.” He asserted.

     “Baby, I really love you.” Dami reminded. “I really do, and you know it.” She enthused, paused. “Just that I don’t know what came over me.”

     She just spoke as if it was only on that occasion she cheated on him; she had done that severally. In a nutshell, cheating was something she observed as a tradition.

     But the contradictory fact was that, she truly loved Deji. The former’s love for the latter could be proven beyond doubts; as a well earned company worker, she was very supportive in various ways including financially and otherwise; above all, she couldn’t spend a week without seeing him. Her sole predicament remained that her libido could not be quenched by only one man. She was insatiably curious to have as many men as possible in bed, unknowingly to her fiancé. It was a disease that needed to be urgently cured by the man in question or anyone who genuinely cared about her. This implied that his unceremonious visit to her place was divine.

     Deji who was mad over the last statement ‘I really love you’, frantically stood up. “In fact, leave my house.” He urged, made attempt to force her out of the apartment having made her to be on her feet.

     She tried to resist it via an emphatic plea, but he eventually pushed her out. Left with no other choice, she hopelessly gathered herself and retraced her steps back to her residence.

     The moment she left, Deji who felt like ending her life when she was with him in the parlour, therein felt like calling her back; significantly, he still loved her.

      Indeed, they both truly loved each other. Even the parents of both partners knew they loved each other strongly that no amount of propellant could make them go their separate ways. But, who could unravel the mystery that was bedeviling the seemingly ‘god-sent’ relationship? It was a puzzle that needed to be solved by all means.

      Afterwards, Deji never bothered to share the bad news with any of his relatives or friends, not even his beloved parents; rather, he thought it wise to consult his spiritual director who he thought was the apt person that needed to get a glimpse of it.

      After all said and done, it was revealed that Dami was possessed, thus Deji reconciled with her on the ground that she would go to his pastor for deliverance. Thereafter, a holistic deliverance was conducted on her by the said cleric. After the spiritual cleansing, she was completely healed of the indelible disease that almost ruined her life.

      Three months on, they both walked down the aisle as planned. Tying the connubial knots ushered in jubilation all the way.   

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