ITOHAN

He looked at her sleeping form, and his mind was made up. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. The voice at the other end, had been expecting his call. Three minutes later, all the arrangements had been made, and he joined her in bed.

The next morning, Itohan woke up and couldn’t find Usiosefe. She was alarmed, considering the discussion they had before going to bed last night.
She got up, and went outside only to meet him coming into the compound, with a smile on his face. She felt lighter, maybe everything would be fine after all.


“You are awake, good. I bought us breakfast” he said to her. She took the nylon bag from him, and peered into it. She smiled, he had gotten akara and pap. Her favourite breakfast, she went in with him. He didn’t even let her boil the water for the pap. He told her he wanted to make breakfast for her.



Usiosefe sat down, and watched Nosa inspect a small locally made pistol which he had brought out of a bag.
 “Efe are you sure you want to do this, I am giving you another chance to pull out because of our past relationship”


Usiosefe looked at Nosa, and cast his mind back to the first day they met, over eight years ago when they had both been freshers at the university.

The years gone by, had not made a difference in the physical appearance of Nosa. Nosa had a very small stature, and could pass for an adolescent. The thing about him that stood out was that he had terrible acne, and didn’t have even a single strand of beard on his cheek.

“I am very sure, I am tired of being dependent moreover, what do I have to lose?” Efe replied

“Good, very good…. You are a very smart person, and I need not tell you of the implications of turning back. Come back tomorrow, so we would all go to baba. Then you can be sworn in” Nosa told him, dropping the pistol on a chair by his side, and bringing out another from the bag.

“Ehm Baba? Swearing in? I do not understand” Efe said

“It is nothing serious, we have an herbalist that takes care of the spiritual protection we need in this business. He also administers an oath of secrecy to new members. You don’t plan on betraying us do you” Nosa asked

“No... No... Of course not” Efe answered

“Then you don’t have a problem. You can go, I would give you a call. Take this” Nosa said, handing Efe a brown envelop. Efe looked inside the envelop, and it was filled with money.
“What is this for?” he asked

“As long as you are on our side, money would never be a problem to you. Have fun with that. Take your girl friend out, buy clothes, whatever you want” Nosa told him giving him a boyish grin.

“Thank you” Efe said, walking out of the room.



Itohan came into the room crying, but stopped in shock when she saw the amount of money Efe had in his hands.
Efe looked up at her, and a frown crossed his face.
“Why are you crying?” he asked

“Who has all this money?” she asked in reply
“You haven’t answered me” he told her

“My answer would be longer than yours, so just answer me first. Hope you have not done something bad” Itohan said, coming to sit by his side on the bed.

“No I haven’t. The money is mine. I and Osawe went to one of his uncle’s warehouse, and helped him supervise the offloading of his goods sometime last month. The man just paid us” Efe told her

“Really? How come I am just hearing about this now?” she asked him

“Well because I had even given up hope of being paid” he answered

“This is a lot of money. Hmmm for just supervising, thank God o” she said

Efe looked at her, and asked her “Why are you sounding like that? Is it a crime to make money finally?”

She moved closer to him, and put a hand on his shoulders “Of course it is not a crime, I just don’t want you doing anything illegal out of desperation”

Efe stood up, and threw the money to the floor.

“I didn’t do anything illegal, but even if I did, who would blame me? Have I not been through enough already? After suffering through school, with only my widowed mother to cater for me, I graduated, and no work… it’s been four whole years of job hunting. My mother had to die, because I couldn’t provide for her when I ought to. Just 30,000 naira, would have saved my mother’s life, yet no help. After she died, I couldn’t even afford a proper casket for her. Do you know how shameful that is? I am a man… a man and now you, I can’t even provide for you, much less raise money to marry you and now your parents are selling you off to a fellow man, who has money…. Tell me who would blame me if I do something illegal?”


Itohan stood up, and went to him. Tears rolled down his eyes, and she wiped them off “it is okay. Please don’t beat yourself up anymore”
Efe held her in an embrace, and forced a smile. “Poverty cripples a man…. Look at you, I should be able to give you the stars in the sky, or at least put food on your table every day. But No… because of poverty. Now tell me why you were crying”

Efe removed herself from his embrace, and bowed her head “They have chosen a date” she raised her head, to see Efe storming out of the room. She went after him.


The only sounds were that coming from the ceiling fan. Efe looked around him, this was not what he expected. He had expected one of those shrines they showed in nollywood movies, with a wrinkled old man in a red piece of loin cloth.

 Instead, he was in a well furnished living room, which was only devoid of electronic appliances, except the ceiling fan and split unit air conditioners and the light bulbs and wall sockets, one of which had a smart phone charging.

The room did have some scary furnishings, and things hanging on the walls. The centre table had cowries, skulls and some calabashes that looked at least hundred years old. Efe shivered.

He had arrived with Nosa and four other young men, who he had been introduced to as other members of the gang, in a jeep which had been driven by one called Uyi. The guy drove like a maniac on a mission. When they got into this large compound with lots of cars, he thought they had made a stop on their way to see Baba.

They walked towards one of the smaller buildings, which turned out to be the section baba used as his shrine, if that could be used to describe the house even.

The man who turned out to be baba, was well dressed and looked nothing like the herbalists he knew courtesy nollywood.
They all stood, while baba stared intently at the cowries in his hands, and made incantations.

Then Baba beckoned on him, and told him to hold out his hands, in the twinkle of an eye, baba had torn the back of his hands with a razor, Efe yelped in pain and watched as his blood was made to flow into a calabash.

Baba added a few concoctions into the calabash, and mixed it up. Then he told Efe of the danger of betraying his brothers and they passed the calabash around, each taking a sip. Efe took the last sip.

Efe was taken to a lounge, immediately after his initiation, where a party had been organized for him. There was liquor, willing women, loud music and hard drugs.

Efe sat alone, watching the women gyrate to the loud music, and once in a while one of the guys would come around trying to coerce him into joining in the fun. All he could think about was Itohan.

Nosa signaled to him, and he joined him outside. “You don’t seem to be having fun” he said to Efe.
“I am not used to this way of life and I have something on my mind” Efe replied

“A woman” Nosa said, patting Efe on his back. “Cheer up, the world is full of them. But if you choose to have just one, then make sure you have her” he continued.

“Our next mission is a personal one. And it concerns a woman, and a deal gone wrong” Nosa said, being serious suddenly. “In this case, the woman is my only sister. Was…”
“Was?” Efe asked

“Yes was…..She took her life, few weeks ago, and someone is going to pay. Are you with me on this?” Nosa asked
“Yes I am, one for all, all for one” Efe replied, in the way he had been taught to. They shook hands, and went back inside.



Owie hummed, as she beaded Itohan’s hair.Itohan was beautifully dressed, and her skin glowed. she was indeed a beautiful bride. In her mind, she thought about how lucky her friend was, to be getting married to someone so handsome and rich. To be getting married into the royal blood line. Itohan hissed again, and shifted in her chair.

“You know I have loved you all my life. This is a good thing and your parents have done their best, to get you a husband that would give you all the comforts of life, you should be rejoicing my friend” Owie said

“Rejoicing, that I am being led by a leash, and sold to a stranger? Or rejoicing that I have been wrenched away from the only source of happiness I know?” Itohan replied, with tears flowing down her eyes

“You would grow to love your husband too, and as of this night, he would cease to be a stranger” Owie replied, trying to soothe her friend.

“I will never love another. I know I am being led to my death” Itohan replied, sobbing uncontrollably as drums began beating from a distance

“Your husband is here” Owie said.




The guys came down from the car, and the tallest, Yuwa scaled the fence. Less than a minute later, the gate was opened from inside, and they walked in. there was a man tied up on the ground, no doubt the gateman.
The compound was one that spoke of wealth and knowing what he did about the owner now, Efe knew the inside of the mansion would be even more luxurious.

When they forced the door of the sitting room open, Efe was amazed at the show and splendor of wealth. He stood in the sitting room, looking around while Nosa and Uyi climbed up the stairs.
Efe understood why Nosa was bent on avenging his sister.

The man had been using Nosa and his gang to run his drug syndicate, and was dating Imade, Nosa’s sister. He ended up breaking her heart, and she committed suicide.
 Efe felt sad that by morning, all this luxury would be tainted by blood and murder. He heard three gunshots, and rushed up the stairs.

He found the room where Nosa and Uyi were, and was undecided as to if he really wanted to see what had happened inside. His curiosity won, and he walked into the room.

On the bed, was a man sprawled in an unnatural manner, obviously dead and by his side, Itohan lay bleeding from a gunshot wound to her stomach.

His eyes met hers in shock, and her eyes widened in recognition. Uyi pulled the trigger one more time, and Itohan's eyes stared at Efe in death.

A piercing scream filled the still night........