Chapter 18

The Prince removed his cap, moved the thick woven curtain aside and entered into his mother's hut. Her room was quite big and was lit by several oil lamps. He found her sitting on a woven mat in the middle of her room, with her ankles crossed in front of her and she had a small black pot in her palms and thin smoke was rising from inside it from the incense that burned within.

Adewale watched her for a few minutes as she moved her lips so quickly yet quietly, saying an incantation with her eyes closed. Soon, she began to move her upper body in circles like one under hypnosis. He also didn't fail to notice that she had decorated her body with chalk markings.

She lifted the pot above her head three times then inhaled the smoke once. When she finally opened her eyes, she placed the pot down in front of her, reached for a pot slightly bigger than the tiny one she had dropped then she opened the pot and pulled out a live snake much to the shock and terror of her son.

The snake hissed, flicking its tongue in and out, trying to crawl off in a suspended way from the Queen's hands but the queen wrapped a firm hand around the serpent's mouth and another close to its tail then she brought the twisting animal to her mouth then bit down hard on the belly till she drew blood.

The snake wriggled and writhed in her grasp in pain but she didn't let it go until she had torn a chunk of flesh from its stomach which she chewed with blood-smeared mouth. The snake was half-dead now and she squeezed its blood into a small gourd before she returned the lifeless animal back to the pot.

Her son swallowed hard and made a face of disgust. He even placed his hand against his belly as nausea began to crawl up but the Queen remained indifferent. She lifted her eyes to look at him after she was done chewing the raw flesh of the snake and swallowing it then she smiled warmly at her son with blood dripping from her chin.

"Oko mi, joko. (My husband, sit down.)" The Queen instructed.

Prince Adewale reluctantly sat down from across his mother but did nothing to hide the disgust he felt.

"You look very worried, what is it?" The Queen asked softly after reading his countenance.

"Maami, I just did something terrible. Very terrible." Prince Adewale nervously confessed.

"What did you do? If you have raped another virgin, worry not, we will simply send some presents to her family to mollify them." She said.

"Maami, it's not that... This one is much worse than that... You might even lose your son soon!"

"May the gods forbid!" The Queen spat. "None of my children will die before me, especially not you, my favorite! Adewale, tell me, what have you done this time? You are totally consumed with trepidation! Your fear is almost palpable that I can touch it."

He hesitated then swallowed hard. Leaning towards his mother and lowering his voice, he said, "Maami, I just raped and murdered Osun's daughter."

"Osun's daughter?" The Queen narrowed her eyes now. "How's that possible? Her kind does not mix with our kind!" She was a bit skeptical.

"Maami, well you know that Adigun got lucky and she has been the secret to his overnight success ever since then..."

"So, you raped and murdered her?! Why would you do such a thing?! Do you know what you have done to yourself? Do you have any idea what you have just brought upon this family, Adewale?"