EFE (Book 1 in The N. A Series)

Chapter Eleven

Eleven

She was having a fever.

'What the hell could she be seeing now?' He complained as he hurled her into the bathtub filling with ice cold water.

The water helped Efe's high temperature for a while. She stayed sick for two whole days. One minute she was hot as the sun, the next she was colder than Antarctica. Which gave Ayo a load of work. Eventually, he had to call his brother for help. He watched over her while Ayo went to sleep. They both couldn't be sick at the same time.

Meanwhile in Efe's head,

Place: St. Michaels school.
A week after the incident
Time: 3: 26

Efe's school closed by 3pm, David didn't go to school that day. Mr Richards avoided her and so did everyone at school. She heard whispers about herself and what she did but what nobody knew was that she didn't even understand what happened. She wasn't in control, it was like she was watching through a screen as everything happened. Even Hope, her best friend, didn't want to associate with her. She was extremely broken, so when some people suggested they all went to the river after school, she didn't think twice about saying 'Yes!' Her dad wasn't going to pick her up from school because her mom, Mrs Chioma, was at the market. So, she could easily lie that she was tired from trekking and had to rest that was why she took time.

It was settled. The plan was formed in her head and besides she couldn't miss out on a little fun with her friends after last week's drama. They finally wanted to play with her again, it was a relief for the ten year old. Her school was an unpainted story building with more subjects than teachers and it was shaped like a large 'L'. A large river flowed ten minutes away from St. Michael's school, those ten minutes plus another ten minutes walk to find a bike to get back home. Efe calculated, in all she had about an hour to play and get home.

Efe laughed and played, she was happy again... but not for long. The children took turns in diving from the cranky red bridge and into the steady current below. The three boys jumped in first then it was her turn. She dived in successfully then swam around and climbed back up the bridge to do it again.
Hope and two other girls hid something from her sight in their school bags. Efe  thought they didn't want to share their snacks. How selfish of them, her tummy grumbled. As she was about to climb the railing to jump, somebody hit her across the head with a bamboo stick.

"Ahah na! What is your problem?" Efe frowned and pushed him away, stars danced in her vision.

The girls ran to her with their bags. Then she saw what they were hiding. It wasn't biscuits. It was ropes. They tied her hands and her legs together tightly with the old ropes and large stones, then threw her into the water ignoring her cries and pleas. The water rushed up her nose and stung her eyes. Efe opened her mouth to shout but more water rushed into her as bubbles escaped. She watched them laughing on top of the bridge. The girls tore her books and pretty orange school bag while the boys burned her brown and white uniform and sweater. She was choking and losing air as the water invaded her. The current pushed her under the bridge, out of their sight as the witnessing fishes flew the scene.

Fear seeped into her core. There was no room for the feelings, betrayal or anger while she died slowly. Efe struggled with her binds but it only made her sink faster. Soon, her eyes closed and she went limp under the water. She hit the ground.

Luckily for her, someone dived into the water after the children left. He had seen everything that happened. He too struggled with the binds but then went on to untie the stones first. He could feel the little girl becoming cold. Or was it just the water?

The stones came off quick allowing him to swim back up with her. Frightened for the young girl's life, the Samaritan pressed her chest over and over then blew air in through her mouth. Once Efe coughed up the water. Fear seeped back in and she panicked. When she did, a deadly force shot out from her to protect her. It came in contact with the wet man and instantly fried him. She didn't even notice.

Efe took deep breaths to regulate her breathing until she felt better. Then she staggered away from where she sat. Not turning once to notice the dead body that saved her. She found a big sweater on an old motorcycle near the foot of the bridge, she pulled it on. Thankfully, it reached her knees. Efe searched her torn bag for her money but it wasn't there. She was going to have to walk home in her condition and she was going to do it bare foot too. She hissed at her damaged sandals.

***************

Place: Home
Time: 6: 49

Mr Obinna Richards waited outside the fence for his daughter with a whip in his hand. He believed she was a witch and always quoted Exodus 22:18  'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live' . Knowing fully well that the scripture meant for him to kill her, he didn't have the guts to do so.

Efe was so focused on getting into her house that she didn't notice her father speaking or raising the horse whip to strike her. Blood dripped down her spine from the slim wound on her neck. Efe stopped ready for more strikes. She didn't even care again.

Obinna cursed his gods. What kind of child was she? Who did he offend for such a curse? Wasn't being poor and an alcoholic enough?
He wanted to take his anger out on her. He raised the whip to strike her once more but a hand caught it and it wasn't human.

It was the hand of the little aura girl from the other night. The hand extended from Efe's back. She drew the whip from her Father's hand and threw it to the floor. Efe turned around but the hand was gone, her eyes glanced at the whip on the ground then at her father.
"If you are not flogging me today. I want to go and eat oh" Efe said lowly.

"Get out of my sight" He spat "Witch"

She rolled her eyes and went into the small house. A small box television sat on an old wooden stand in the hot palour, the ceiling fan did next to nothing to cool the house, it only gathered dust. Efe changed out of the sweater after a bath then sat to eat yam porridge where David was watching a nollywood movie 'See me see wahala part 4'.

The next afternoon,

Efe's mother had already gone to the market. It was a saturday. Efe dressed her brother, today they were going to help their mother in the market or so they thought. Their father drove them through another road, a lonely one. After some minutes, they saw a man standing next to a truck, he held leashes in his hand. Mr Richards came out of the car to meet the man, David was fast asleep in Efe's lap. The man handed Efe's father a big nylon; it's contents were shaped like a big wine bottle. Obinna nodded in their direction after they had a brief conversation.

Images rapidly flashed through Efe's head.

Some men dragged her and her brother out of the car then put the leashes on them. She was powerless...
They both cried, thrashed around and screamed for their father to help them...
But he didn't, they were put in cages and taken away...

"Papa!" "Papa!!!" "Paapaaa!!!!"

She woke up!