(Episode 4)
After a slight hesitation to listen to Diana, Oto sank down beside her and stared fixedly at her best friend.
She suddenly became squeamish at what Diana had said about being in a relationship with Omodot.
"What do you think I should do?" Oto asked softly.
"Pray about it, tell God to help you with signs." Diana replied.
"How am I going to do that?"
"pray to God. Marriage isn't something you should rush in like that. Diana replied.
Oto became speechless for a while. She saw senses in Diana's advise and thought to abide by them.
"I will pray about it, I also feel this is too sudden." She retorted calmly.
The two women went their separate ways afterwards, Oto had gone back home. She stood on the front porch of the house, enveloped in her mother's big sweater, with a wool cap pulled down to her eyes, staring intently at the stand of trees that lined the entrance to the house. She was waiting for Omodot, it was the first day she was going to introduce him to her mother and her stepfather.
As each minute passed, her uneasiness grew.
Her mother walked down to her with outlandish appearance, "When is he coming?" She asked.
"Soon, he is on his way already." she replied softly.
Not long, they'd seen a yellow jeep driving into the compound. Her mother was impressed at first sight. Such a fine car, she'd thought. It was only big boys who drove such cars in a small town like Uyo.
They watched in silence as Omodot packed the car by the house. When he alighted from the car, Oto's mother was bewildered by his appearance. He was dressed in a black suit and a shirt. His well polished shoe pointed out before his trouser.
"Good afternoon ma'am" He greeted Oto's mother, almost prostrating.
"Ah! fine boy, my daughter has told me so much about you." Her mother said excitedly, uncontrollably smiling and staring at husky looking Omodot, whose height was quite bewildering.
"Thank you ma'am." He replied with a smile at the corner of his mouth.
"My husband is waiting to see you," She said, as she led the way to the sitting room.
Omodot turned to Oto and took her wrists in a loose clasp and pulled her hands toward him. She didn't struggle, but followed him passively as they all walked behind Oto's mother into the sitting room.
They'd exchanged pleasantries, and Oto's mother loved him at first sight. He was just the kind of man she wanted for her daughter, a fine rich man who had everything any woman wanted.
After the first introduction, Oto was unsure if Omodot was really the man for her. Diana's advise played in her head severally. She was afraid of a second heartbreak, and needed to pray to God. She wasn't really a devoted Christian girl like her friend Diana, but she was going to try her best. She was going to read her bible and pray every night.
And on the first night of her prayer, she'd asked God to show her signs if Omodot was really the one for her. But that night, she'd seen something different and unusual. It was a dream, almost a nightmare. She'd seen herself in the dream, walking in Omodot's hands, and being walked down the aisle in a black simmering dress.
Why a black dress? She asked herself in the dream. But she was suddenly dumbfounded when a white bearded man came out from a smoke filled hole and handed her a small pot.
"Drink from it and tell me how it tastes." The old man said.
She held the cup firmly in her hands, and as she was about to take it to her mouth, a loud voice came in from the crowd, "Don't drink it!"
The calabash fell from her hands, and a big, black tortoise crawled out slowly from the broken pot into the crowd of boisterous crowds.
A gust of wind rattled the auditorium window panes. Oto could hardly sustain the intensity of Omodot's gaze. It took every ounce of will to drag her eyes from his. He tried to touch her, but she took a quick step back and asked, "Who are you?"
But he was mute, his eyes changed scarily, his eyeballs wasn't seen anymore, only the whitish part of his eyes. She panicked when he turned into a tortoise, then she yelled aloud.
Waking up into reality, her body was filled with sweat. She was panting rapidly like she was running a race.
She went back on her knees and began to whisper words of prayers. Diana was right. She thought.
*******************
The next morning, she'd told her mother of the dream she had.
"It's just a dream, get over it and prepare to marry that man." Her mother said.
"Diana said I should pray more..."
"Leave Diana out of this. She is only being jealous that you're marrying before her. Don't you have sense? Have you not been seeing in nollywood movies, how friends betray and jealous friends because of a man like Omodot. Whatever advise Diana gave to you, she should give it to herself. " Her mother said.
She'd expected an argument from her mother. She knew that she was never going to believe her nightmares. She was shivering, her face was already pale and pinched with cold from the room Air conditioner.
Her eyes were uncertain and full with anxiety, she wasn't sure if her mother was right, or her dream was.
Comments
Post a Comment