Chapter 69
“You are dead to me! You do not even exist as far as I'm concerned! I'm better off without you and I shall prove it to you that I don't need you or your stupid powers! You can keep your kingdom! You can keep enslaving your unhappy maidens and denying them the right to love whoever they want!
You are selfish and you should have died instead of my mother! You are ruthless and you are not worthy to be called a goddess nor deserve to be served by the people! You don't care for your own! No, you don't! You are a terrible grandmother and I'll make sure that you never see me again!
From a revered princess, you have reduced and demeaned me to a nobody! You get off from watching your own kind suffer! You have taken my crown and my powers from me just to prove your baseless point!"
Ewatomi indignantly yelled then changed her mind about not wanting her powers anymore and she sought to go get it herself as she stubbornly said, "In fact, I don't need your help! I'm coming in there myself to take what's mine! And you can't stop me! You can't stop me, OSUN!"
Although she said the last two sentences in doubt, she splashed through the water and waded into it until she was waist-deep then she dove in and was completely submerged. But in a matter of minutes, she emerged from underneath and came swimming back as fast as she could, crawling back to shore, coughing and panting for breath as she remained on her hands and knees, backing the river.
She was still unable to breathe underwater for long, neither could she find the door of the portal leading into her world. Collapsing on the wet bank, chest-down, her knees and legs still in the water. she remained there for a while and finally let go of all her restraints. For the very first time in her life, she wept.
As her tears rolled down the side of her eyes and soaked the ground, she watched a crab crawl sideways along the bank with food in its pincers, until it disappeared down its burrow. Slowly turning on her back to look at the sky where the sun was already slowly traveling to the west and setting, she screamed at the top of her lungs. "I HATE YOU!!!"
Unknown to her, the Queen Mermaid of Ghana who had been secretly watching her from the river, behind a bush of tall reeds, turned, silently sunk into the water and in a twinkle of an eye, she shot with lightning speed underwater and was gone.
★★★
"Iya, why? Why?" Labake asked Osun after watching through the magical mirrors and seeing Ewatomi get off the bank and started to trudge home in a downcast manner, water dripping off her hair and wrapper. "I have never seen her this despaired."
"Yes, Iya, do something!" Adunni pleaded, placing her palms together in front of her. "You can't possibly watch your only granddaughter perish."
"I'm not going to retract my word!" Osun stubbornly stated. "You two ought to know me better than now!"
"But the exile is almost over. She has just seven months left." Labake said.
"Then let her wait until then!" Osun snapped. "If she's wise, she'd stay away from the princess and her friends!"
"Iya, you saw what happened! She was with the priest and wasn't even looking for trouble but they came after her!" Adunni stated.
"And about that priest, I don't want them together! She is treading her mother's path and I won't allow that! Love with humans do not end well!" Osun said.
"And yet, you took a chance with Oyediran." Adunni murmured.
"What did you say?!" Osun barked and Adunni quickly lowered her head and apologized.
"Iya, even though you won't let her come back home, please just give her another twenty percent of her powers." Labake pleaded.
"No!" Osun yelled. "That girl has not changed! You heard all the despicable things she said to me, didn't you?!"
"She only said those out of frustration and despair." Adunni said. "Do not take it to heart, Iya."
"I love her so much but she must learn her lesson! There's no way I'll allow the Head Mermaid to use her as a weapon! That anger has to go!" Osun stated.
"But what if the Head Mermaid is right?" Labake asked. "What if Ewatomi's anger is the only solution to put an end to these Mermaid hunters?"
"My daughter shall never be a weapon! When those hunters come, I'll take on them myself!" Osun said boldly, chin lifted. "If they have been wreaking havoc in the waters, I shall teach them the true definition of havoc when they dare enter my waters! As for Ewatomi, my answer still remains no! I shall not give her back her powers, neither shall I fight for her! She ought to be able to handle Kikelomo herself!
The only time I'll step in is if Bukunmi decides to take on her, herself! As for the priest, I don't want him with her! I acknowledge that the sky god is greater but that priest is still a man all the same! Love brings nothing but pain, betrayal, tears and sorrow and he shall not subject my grandchild to that! I don't care how you two do it, but those two are not to fall in love! Never! I shall not bury another daughter!"
"But Osun-" Adunni started to say.
Osun cut her off. "Silence! I don't want to hear about this anymore from you two! None of you are to disobey my orders or go against my wish or I shall banish you too! Have I made myself clear?!" She roared.
"Yes, Iya." They bowed their heads in resignation.
★★★
A Week Later...
Kikelomo who was taking an evening nap under the shade of a tree on a mat outside her house, slowly sat up when she heard the heavy beating sounds of wings. She was all alone and her wing of the palace was very quiet since she had dismissed her guards and the maids.
When she turned her head to find where the sound was coming from, a large owl appeared and alighted on her roof then folded its great wings against its body then dropped a sealed, small gourd of snake blood from its talons down at Kikelomo who caught it in her hands.
"Great grandmother." She spoke, looking up at the bird.
Suddenly the owl spread its wings, flapped it and lowered itself from the roof to the ground in front of Kikelomo, turned into Bukunmi and sat on a mortar placed upside down.
"I'm upset with you!" Bukunmi said, her face hard with displeasure. "You have disappointed me, daughter of mine."
"Why? What have I done?" Kikelomo asked, baffled. "Have I broken any law that I know of?"
"Why does that girl still breathe this air after fortifying you more than ten years ago?! Do you think that I gave you all these powers just to show off, seduce men and oppress whoever you choose to?"
"Why else did you make me beautiful if it's not to ensnare men and get them to do my bidding?" Kikelomo asked.
"To destroy Ewatomi! I gave you this power to end her life once and for all but yet, you and your dumb friends go around flaunting your backsides! Is that all you all are good for?! Kill Ewatomi and bring her heart to me! I shall hold her bloody heart in my hands the same way her grandmother ripped out my beloved son's heart! I have not waited this long in hiding just to watch her flourish! She is at her weakest time in life! Her powers are almost gone! This is not the time for you to idle around and sleep! Go bring me that girl's heart! I want to see Osun suffer! I want her wails of sorrow to be music to my ears! She has neglected her granddaughter and this is the perfect time to strike!"
"But I sent my friends after her. They almost had her until a strange man in grey hair and beard came to her aid!" Kikelomo replied. "I don't know what he did to them but it took three days for my friends to recover from the effects of that powder! They had burns!"
"I don't care what they had! Do not let anybody stand in your way! You are stronger than you think, and a mere powder will do you no harm! I'm giving you three weeks, Kike, three weeks to do that which I've appointed you to do or I shall seize these powers from you and your friends and render you all useless! I didn't give you powers to flirt with men whenever you want, I gave you powers to destroy just one person- and that's Osun's granddaughter! If that priest has become a distraction to you, then I shall snuff him out!"
"No, grandmother!" Kikelomo quickly exclaimed in fear. "Please do not touch him. He's the only man that I've ever fallen in love with. I shall do what you have asked me to do, but please, touch not a hair on his head...all I ask is more time. That girl is good at hiding and only comes to the village when she wants to. Three weeks is too small a time for me to find her, please."
"Fine... I shall have mercy on him. But do not fail me. If you don't find Ewatomi and bring me Ewatomi's heart in three months’ time, I shall share this burden..." She pointed at her hunchback. "...with you and your friends! For wasting my precious time, you and your friends shall share in Osun's curse! For now, I want the blood of more priests.
While you wait to ambush Ewatomi, give me the blood of those men in white! Their prayers trouble me and give me sleepless nights! While at it, make sure that for no reason should you let them utter the name of the son of the sky god's or you shall perish faster than you can imagine. I don't know what is attached to that name but it commands the heavens. Lure the priests into bed with you and once they have tasted of the poison between their thighs, they are forever doomed!"
"All of them?" Kikelomo asked in dread. She cared less about the other priests and didn't want Vincent to be a victim. In fact, she had her own plans concerning him which she had decided to keep from her great grandmother and her friends.
"Spare none of them!" Bukunmi stated.
Kikelomo swallowed hard then lowered her head in a submissive bow. "I shall do as you have commanded."
"Do not forget my warnings!" Bukunmi reminded, rising to feet, she shapeshifted into a bird and swooped into the sky. When she was gone, Kikelomo heaved a sigh, unsealed the small gourd and drank up the blood in one gulp. After tucking the gourd under her mat, she lay down again to continue her nap.
★★★
Vincent woke up three mornings later, got off his bed, yawned and stretched his body and arms. He was walking past the window towards his hanger when he paused, retraced his steps and approached the window after taking his glasses and slipping them on. On the almond tree at the back of the window which was almost as high as the house, he saw Ewatomi sitting on a branch, facing his window.
"Hey, it's you." He said with a smile, pleased to see her after three days. He had been very worried that something bad had befallen her after she was chased by snakes. "It's a good thing you are safe..." He observed her body then added. "No visible snake bites. If I knew where you lived, I'd have come check on you, but like your father said, no one can find you when you don't want to be found... that's creepy, you know?"
"Took you long enough to wake up." She said dully, ignoring his show of concern. "You have got to work on your snoring. Try not to sleep on your back for too long." She advised.
"Well, thank you for the tip." He said with a small embarrassed smile. "How long have you been sitting there waiting for me?" He asked.
"I don't know, but way before dawn." She answered. "I couldn't sleep. I've been restless for days, so I decided to come here."
"What's with you and trees anyway?" He asked, shaking his head in wonder. "Climbing trees is not a girl thing, you know?"
"Don't be myopic. Trees are not made for any particular gender. I like trees...climbing is fun..."
He looked down the window to the ground and shuddered at how far it was. "I'm kind of scared of heights. It baffled me how you get so comfortable sitting all the way up there."
Just then she closed a book on her lap and stared at him as she held it up so that he could see it. "I've been trying to read this for the past two hours now, but I can't even put the letters together..." She said in frustration. "...but it's impossible... Will you teach me how to read it?"
His eyes widened a bit in surprise and he quickly turned his head to glance at the table which however only contained his rosary and lantern. "Hey, that's my bible...how did you get it?"
"I simply took it. I wanted to see if reading it would make me feel better, but apparently, it's useless to me since I can't even figure out what it says."
"To learn how to read, you'll have to start from the basics first." He said, bending down and leaning on his arms on the window frame.
"If I can read, would I be able to talk to the Sky God and will he answer me?"
"Well, yes, but you have to accept Jesus as your Lord and personal savior first if you want the Sky God to answer you." He answered.
"Who's Jesus?" She gave a perplexed frown now.
"God's son." Vincent answered.
Ewatomi lifted her brows with a wry smile. "I guess the Sky God has a wife then.”
"No, he doesn't... He does have an earthly mother, Mary, who was selected by the Holy Spirit to bring him to earth, but God Himself, has no wife."
"Hmmm... I think my life is similar to this Jesus." She said thoughtfully. "I was put in Ireti's womb so that she could bring me to earth. She's not my real mother... So, what was Jesus banished for and what was his offense? Does he also have anger issues?"
Vincent chuckled. "No, he doesn't. Although Jesus lived on Earth for thirty years but he wasn't banished from heaven, rather he willingly came down to earth to sacrifice himself for us."
"He died?" She asked in shock.
"Yes, he died after performing a lot of wonders and miracles, many of which no one has ever done before. He was crucified for our sake, tortured and then nailed to the cross for our sake but he resurrected on the third day."