Lineage

Bankole Ajayi Part 4

Tonight's meeting was different: a member of the group reported that her stepfather had flogged her for abusing the gateman and she wanted to teach him her father a lesson. She overheard him on the phone talking about a business deal, and she wants that business deal to fail. She knows he had invested a lot of money into it. Her mother keeps talking about how there was no money because of her stepfather's business. In the circle, Lydia told them to call her father's name three times.

They did. "Segun! Segun!! Segun!!!" they chanted.

And suddenly he was standing in their midst, looking confused and afraid. Then Lydia told the girl to say exactly what she wanted to happen to him.

She said, "Segun, for flogging me, this your business will fail, you will lose all your money."

Then all the kids as if under hypnosis picked up a hand full of sand and threw it on Segun.

"Be it so! Be it so!! Be it so!!!" screaming at the top of their lungs.

Lydia clapped three times, and he disappeared.

Then Lydia spoke to them, saying, "No one is allowed to flog or hit you. None will go unpunished if they do. The fact that they are our parents or guidance, does not give them the right to abuse us in any manner. It is child abuse! We protect each other."

They all cheered her, happy to have such an ability to punish adults for 'wrongdoing'.

A few days later, the group gathered, there were whispers; this was unusual. Most times they just sit and stare at the other kids playing. Bankole asked Tinuke what was going on. Tinuke reminded him of the member who wanted to punish her stepfather. He had completely forgotten about that. Now the memory flashed in his mind like a dream. The girl just told Lydia that her stepfather lost the deal and Lydia told her that his suffering has just begun. Today the landlord would come to ask for rent and the landlord will not be merciful. It perplexed Bankole at her wanting to punish her stepfather.

He asked Tinuke, "But won't that mean she would also suffer too, he might be unable to pay her school fees?"

Remembering once his mother could not pay his fees on time. It was so embarrassing always being chased out of the classroom or being flogged worse of all was missing classes.

"I mean, if he is rich she would enjoy?" added

Tinuke explained that it was not important to the girl. The important thing was punishing her father and his prolonged suffering. When someone hurts them, they hurt back. Bankole wasnever one to enjoy seeing others suffer so it surprised him that he had notbeen bothered about what happened at that particular meeting until now. He doesn'trecall all the details anymore but remembered the confused man in their midst. Now he wondered to himself, do they do any good works?

"I was wondering if we could use our powers to do great things for people, inventions, creativity you know, we can be geniuses and then become rich, we could be able to tell the future, find the cure to sickness and diseases, we could even rule the world?" He asked Tinuke.

Before Tinuke could respond, Lydia answered.

"Yes, we can choose to do all that, but we will not. You see, long ago White people they had the same power, and they made great inventions and did great things. But now they don't have the power because people no longer believe in them, people no longer fear them. For as long as people believe in us and fear us, we would remain powerful. See our teacher she fears me and would not dare touch any of us because she knows my power. If we do all those nice things you just mentioned, then they would stop believing and then we become nothing."

Bankole had to ask, "But people would call us evil and hated and people will keep praying against us."

Lydia smiled, looking around in the group.

"Yes, let them pray and they are praying all the time, but that is because they believe in our powers and fear us. See our sister here, her stepfather would soon start going for prayer meetings because he is afraid."

And with that, the bells rang for the end of break time. Bankole going to his class thought 'with the power to fly he would not be allowed to do things to help people.' Just then Lydia stopped him and asked about his mother. Bankole froze. He replied that his mother was doing okay.

"Well, I hope to meet her soon," she said, and she walks away.

Bankole was scared, he feared for his mother. What kind of group has he joined? he thought to himself

Tinuke whispered, "No one can hurt your mum unless you let them."

Those words comforted him, but not completely because he had noticed a change in his attitude towards his mother. Bankole would snap at her, disobey her and he was changing and he could not explain why. He recalled vividly an incident that brought to his attention the changes he was undergoing.  he was watching his favourite TV program and his mother asked him to go put his books away and wash the dishes. At first he completely ignored her, then she raised her voice and commanded him to get up and go do as she had said. He turned his head sharply towards her direction, looked at her with all rage and hatred. If looks could kill, his mother would be dead in that instance. He kept this intense gaze for five seconds, his Mama felt fear in her heart, she had never seen that type of look in her son's eyes. She lowered her voice and told him he could go do it after he had finished watching this program. The softness of her voice seems to calm him or woken him from a trance. He was back to himself. He got up immediately apologies to his Mama and went to do what he was told to do. While he was packing up his books, he saw that he had not done his homework again. Bankole had not been doing well in school. He found it difficult to concentrate and often forget to do his homework. After he was done packing up his books, he went to do the dishes. While he was doing it he got angry again, anger towards his mother and then the feeling left him. He then went back to finish his homework. He had to force himself to concentrate to get the homework done.