MY ENCOUNTER WITH A WITCH GIRL

One fateful day, as I sat in front of my mother's provision store waiting for customers to sell to. Then, just across the road, I sighted this young girl, whose eyes had being fixed on me. I looked at her and realized that she didn't want to stop staring. I turned my eyes away and concentrated fully on another direction, and when I turned back again, her eyes were still fixed on mine. I couldn't take it anymore so I decided to confront her, atleast to find out why she had all her focus on me.

I quickly crossed to the other side of the road to meet her. As soon as I got to her, I questioned why she had being staring. To my utmost surprised, the young lady didn't reply me. She didn't seem to notice I was even in her face.

She turned away and continued walking I found that very disrespectful considering the fact that I seemed older than her especially in age and physique too. I quickly dragged her back and chided her for daring to walk out on me. She still didn't bulge or reply but made even more effort to continue her journey

I was beyond angry, but NO, I would give her the benefit of doubt. I then gave her a stern warning telling her how she was lucky I was in a good mood, else she would have gotten a swollen face from me. She still acted like she didn't or couldn't hear me and continued quietly on her way. I immediately gave up on her.

As I immediately turned to return to my earlier position at my mother's shop, I sighted Hella, who seemed to have being watching the drama ensuring between the young girl and me.

Immediately I got to her, she quickly queried what I was doing with that WITCH girl.

"Witch? What witch?" I asked terrified, as hella began to narrate how the girl I had earlier stood with, had being responsible for many misfortunes and evil activities that usually took place in their area because of the evil cult she belonged to. My jaw dropped.

"Oh my God" I raised my hand to my head almost weeping. I have just bought problem to my self, by not minding my business. If only I had ignored the girl's stares, instead of going ahead to threaten her.

What if she decides to kill me?

I felt like urine was about to start dropping from my body, as I turned to look towards the direction the girl had followed. She was now a distant away.

And as if chased by a dare devil, I dashed towards her direction. When I got almost close to where she was. Just few distance from her, I screamed a "hey" at her.

I hoped and prayed, she would turn back to look at my direction. She didnt.

I screamed it again, and this time, she turned back slowly to suddenly see me waving my hands of apology at her. I was apologising for whatever wrong I had done or said to her.

I was seriously scared of being harmed let alone killed by her. She paused, and looked a bit longingly at me, before turning her face away to concentrate on her journey.

I took that as acceptance and somehow believed she had forgiven me. s few minutes at the same spot. And after a while, I turned back home to meet hella who have being waiting and wondering where I had dashed to.

MMADI'S DELIMA

One day, my sister, Mmadi returned home one afternoon weeping bitterly. My mother took a closer look at her and discovered some blood stains on her clothes. She immediately got disturbed, as she questioned her what had happened.

Mmadi narrated how she had gone to fetch water for drinking, and on getting there, she had being asked to go to a particular boy's room to get the key to the tap.

When she had entered, she immediately saw a hefty man inside who was dressed almost naked. He suddenly started beaconing on her to come closer, promising not to hurt her. When she had refused, he quickly caught her by the limbs and pushed her down. Someone closeby heard her screams and quickly pushed open the door to let mmadi out although he had injured her.

My mother quickly tied a wrapper sharply on her waist and made to the house of the phidophile. As soon as she got there, all hell were let loose as she began to call everybody out to come and witness what the said guy had done to Mmadi. She also got him arrested, but with pleadings from many quarters, the guy was released after paying huge sums of money.

My mother sternly warned us again never to go close to that compound or anywhere around that boy or any other boy. She even scolded Mmadi for going into a stranger room to get key, warning her that a person could be easily killed that way, hence it should be never happen again.

Mmadi still had another encounter with another boy again. It was the brother of one of the boys I had disconnected their electricity in the compound,l had gone to play. The eldest brother was in the same class as Mmadi. He once wrote a love letter to her telling her, how he loved and cared about her, also teasing her with some romantic names.

Mmadi collected the letter and hid it under her clothes, forgetting it there.

While Mmadi was fast asleep the letter fell out, as mother busied herself killing mosquitoes to pass out time, since she found it difficult to sleep herself.

Mother saw a folded sheet of paper slip out of Mmadi's side, and she quickly picked it up to see what it was for. When she noticed it was a letter, she quickly opened it to read through the contents.

Mother was highly disappointed at Mmadi. Why did she conceal such a letter? To what end? Mother wondered. Maybe she had a secret plan, mother concluded. Why else would she collect such a letter and make attempt to conceal it from others. Maybe she was interested in a relationship with the boy.

The next morning, mother woke Mmadi and the rest of us up. She showed everyone of us the letter, asking us to read it out. Mmadi felt embarrassed and ashamed as some of us couldn't hold the laugh that almost choked us. Mother scolded Mmadi for hiding the letter and also warned her to be weary of men.

After that day, Mmadi avoided the boy and never talked with him again. Maybe she took him for an enemy who had written something that had shamed her before others or she was only trying to heed mother's advice of being careful of men by avoiding him. One couldn't tell.

Whenever I saw the boy during P.E at school, I always tried to hold myself from laughing especially when I remember the contents of the letter.

MY DELIMA

We usually had P.E every Friday at school. The senior primary students usually had theirs after the junior classes were through with theirs.

The leader incharge of our own games was Miss Seyi. She was the most favorite teacher of almost every pupil. She was flexible, funny, playful and lively. She usually ran like a deer, so fast that no body could overtake her, especially when we played the game of 'fire on the mountain".

One time, she was chased by the most senior and fastest student in the whole school, yet he couldn't overtake her.

In this game, everyone of us would be told to squat and make a big circle. One person would be asked to be running round the circle while the rest of us would be chanting "There is fire on the mountain, run run run run". When the song gets to the last sentence "the fire is out" the person running round is expected to drop the whip he is holding, directly on any person he chooses, to chase him. The person he drops it on, will immediately pick it and begin to chase him, round the circle until the first person runs and occupies the same position the second person was occupying before. If he is overtaken before he gets to the spot by the second person, he will still be the one to continue running again. That's after he or she has being flogged with the whip the purser is now holding.

Aunty seyi was a good runner who never got caught or flogged during the game. She was also very beautiful. She hardly used makeup and still stood out more pretty than other teachers who did.

left home for school very late that morning, specifically due to the extent of cold that fateful day.

Early that morning, my mother had woken us up to take our bath with hot water. The cold was so much that even with the hot water bath, my body became stiff and numb, and my knees were quaking uncontrollably from the cold.

My mother quickly got a hot balm and messaged my body thoroughly . The balm was so hot that the cold automatically ceased but It made me restless because of the pain of the peperish balm on my body and I began to cry.