The Legend Of Dayo is running…

AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

THE LEGEND OF DAYO

SEASON 1: THE EMERGENCE

CHAPTER 8

The Nasty, Nasty Mr. Ibu

Over the next few days Neji Helen paid particular attention to the strange deformed boy in their storeroom.

She wondered how he always appeared so neat, so calm, and so composed.

True, her father bathed him once a day, and she herself helped him to his other needs whenever he rang that silver bell, but there was something extra about him that she just couldn’t fathom out, a kind of regal composure that defied the mind because he was so deformed.

And then, of course, there was that troubling encounter with that frightening and absolutely crass Jhon Moziz.

She kept asking herself if she had dreamt it all about her time with the strange Grand Oracle of Dayo.

Was this deformed young man really a prince of some unknown wealthy land known as the Dayo Empire?

And was it true that she had to sleep with him to bring out the true prince? Was that even remotely conceivable? And what would happen if the real prince didn’t come out at the appointed time that Jhon Moziz had intimated?

It was not like the young man repulsed her, no, he didn’t.

But Neji had always promised herself that she would only make love to a man she was in love with, and only in marriage!

So why was she feeling so agitated over the proposition the strange Jhon Moziz had laid at her feet? Was she being wicked to the young man, after all that he had done for her family?

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Could she even make love to a man for the first time in her life based only on the fact that she was grateful? Wouldn’t she be selling herself short, in a way?

There was no chemical freshner in his room, but the air around him always smelled nice and pure, a phenomenon that continued to baffle the whole family.

Her mother, freed from her pains, was gaiety itself, and Neji had to admit that indeed, since the young man came to their house, everything had changed for the better.

Happiness, health, wealth…everything!

And of course people were noticing it!

Mrs. Ibrahim was now a constant visitor at the shop, using one pretext or the other to enter the shop and snoop around, sometimes buying nothing, but her shady little eyes roamed everywhere and missed nothing.

One late afternoon, five days after her strange encounter with the ghastly Jhon Moziz, Neji Helen was in the kitchen preparing dinner with Uche Joseph when she heard raised voices inside the store.

Uche jumped down from the counter where he had been sitting.

“What’s that?” he asked with a frown.

“Loud voices,” Neji said with sudden trepidation. “One sounds like father’s.”

The two of them stopped what they were doing and rushed quickly to the main store.

Neji saw that her parents were behind the counter, and there were a number of people in the store, including Mrs. Ibrahim and a stranger.

The stranger was short and opulent, dressed in expensive foreign clothes and glittering black mirror shoes. Around his neck and wrists were golden chains, and on his fingers were golden rings.

His stomach protruded rather alarmingly, and jammed on his head was a Stetson hat. He was smiling coldly, almost meanly, and gold glittered in his teeth.

Neji walked past the other people in the store, and noticed that their expressions were also not friendly at all.

She and Uche stopped in front of the counter, and she spoke to her father, whose face was looking very worried indeed.

“What is going on, Baba?” Neji asked in an unsteady voice; she could see the fear on her parents’ faces.

“This man says he’s the father of the young blind man,” Olusegun Osuolale said, and he sounded sad. “He came all the way from Kano, and he wants to take him away.”

Neji’s heart missed a beat, and she became scared immediately.

She could see the fear on her mother’s face too, and for a moment none of them could speak.

The stranger smiled widely, but his eyes remained mean, and he stretched out his hand toward Neji.

“Oh, hello, you must be Neji,” he said brightly. “My name is Alhaji Ibu. And the boy is my son. He went missing two months ago, you see, and I’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“And who told you he’s here?” Neji asked quietly, and the man’s smile faltered a little as his gaze swept over Mrs. Ibrahim quickly.

“Well, your neighbours, you know, they all told me that he’s with you,” Mr. Ibu said.

“That cannot be true, Mr. Ibu,” Neji said quietly. “He’s not well, you see, so he’s not been out ever since he came here. So nobody has seen him, no. If you can’t tell us how you knew he was here, then we can’t really believe your claim, can we?”

The smile vanished from Mr. Ibu’s face in an instant.

“Now, don’t get smart with me, young lady!” he said angrily. “I don’t like smart-asses! If you have my son, bring him to me now!”

“And I keep telling you that you have no proof that he’s your son!” Olusegun Osuolale said. “Give me proof, and then you can take him away. I even asked you his name, and you weren’t sure of the name you gave me. First you said Adekunle, then you said Oliseh!”

“Adekunle Oliseh!” Alhaji Ibu shouted angrily. “Can’t I mention any of his names? Do I have to mention his two names at the same time?”

“But that is not his name!” Neji said softly.

“What do you mean that’s not his name?” Alhaji Ibu blurted out. “He’s deaf, blind, mute, and a hunchback! How do you know his name is not Adekunle Oliseh?”

Neji licked her lips suddenly with indecision.

That one had stumped her, and as she hesitated Mrs. Ibrahim jumped in with a highly agitated voice.

“Ah-ah, Mr. Olusegun Osuolale, what is this, huh?” she said with sheer malice. “This man came to town and has been asking around for his son. He asked if there is a particular family in this village that seems to be suddenly blessed, and somebody brought him to my house. But I told him I’m not the one, because I know a family that is being blessed as if they have juju!”

“Mrs. Ibrahim!” Grace Opurum cried, aghast. “What are you talking about now?”

“Don’t ask me nonsense, Grace!” Mrs. Ibrahim said. “That your son, Uche, the one who was dullest in his class, coming last in every exams, is now first in class all of a sudden! Devil pimples that have been attacking Neji your daughter, are now gone! Arthritis that has been destroying your hands and feet…gone! Your store is prospering! Now don’t tell me that’s not blessed!”

“Ask Alhaji Ibu if, two years ago, he wasn’t a beggar on the streets of Kano before he met Prince Temi,” a voice said suddenly behind Neji.

She groaned with sudden fear and almost fell down, and then she looked behind her, and saw the spirit of Jhon Moziz hanging in the air behind her.

He was still in his dark robes with the hoodie, and he was holding his staff!

Inside the hoodie there was nothing, only black space…

The Grand Oracle of the Dayo Empire had returned!

“What is it, my dear?” Grace Opurum asked with sudden concern. “You look as if you have just seen a ghost!”

“Get hold of yourself, maiden of the earth!” Jhon Moziz said sharply. “I’ve allowed only you to see me! All the rest inside this abominable space can’t see me, not even your parents!”

Neji licked her lips slowly and, trembling, turned to face Alhaji Ibu.

“Were you not a mere beggar on the streets of Kano before you met the boy you’re now claiming is your son, Alhaji Ibu?” Neji asked quietly.

Alhaji Ibu exhaled with sudden shock, and a great look of fear came across his face, and he took a step back, glaring at Neji with absolute horror.

“W-wh-what d-did y-you ju-just say?” he spluttered.

“He was a sorry beggar!” Jhon Moziz said angrily and with much disgust in his voice. “A year ago I selected him to take care of Prince Temidayo, and I blessed him with the Cloud of Goodness! He began to get a lot of money, and he married three women. As soon as his first wife gave birth, he threw Temi out of his home because he thought he was now rich and didn’t need a deformed man in his house!

I was furious at his ungratefulness and how he treated Temi, and so I attacked his house with the Cloud of Evil, and he has lost almost all his money! Now he wants Temi back, just to make more money!”

Neji turned slowly and faced the nasty man.

She licked her lips, and then she spoke firmly.

“You were a beggar when you saw the boy,” Neji said in a hard firm voice. “His presence turned out to be good to you, because you began making money until you were rich and powerful, and married three women. You threw the boy out of your house, you ungrateful man, when your wives began to give birth. After sacking him, you began to lose all your money, and now you want him back, not because you love him, but so that you can make more money!”

Alhaji Ibu’s face drained of colour.

He made spluttering sounds in his voice, and then he turned, his face horrified, and fled from the store, his opulent buttocks wriggling rather unpalatably as he half-ran out!

Mrs. Ibrahim glared at Neji with shame, and then she also turned round and quickly walked out.

The other people in the shop relaxed, and soon the tension went down.

“Well done, Earthling Maiden,” Jhon Moziz said, and when Neji turned she saw that he was transparent again, and a moment later he disappeared.

“What do you keep looking at in the air?” Grace Opurum asked with concern. “Is everything okay with your, dear? You’ve seemed pretty distracted the whole week.”

“And how did you know all that about that Alhaji, huh?” Olusegun Osuolale asked, his voice worried, and a look like fear still lurking in the depths of his eyes.

“We’ll talk about it over dinner, Baba, please!” Neji said, and rushed from the shop.

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