THE COLD WAR

THE DAYS OF ADVERSARY

Adenrele struggled to fight back the tears that flowed freely from his eyes.
       "Be resilient, man." He braced himself up.
         "Màámi, I promised I would always be there to fight for you, but look at me, I was far away when that bastard was devouring you."
      "You don't talk about your father like that Denrele."
      "I forbid that drunk is my father màámi." I don't have a father, you are all I have. Please, don't leave me." He burst into tears, holding his mother passionately by her hands.
       "It's quite unfortunate that i find myself in this kind of family."
      "My son, I wish I could stay a little longer with you to fight the battles before you." she shook her head.
      "But éléduà is always there to contend with your adversaries. It's not a coincident that He created you in this time and placed your feet solely in this family. He intentionally placed you here for a reason." She paused.
      "For His perfect will to be done through you."
       "Màámi, let éléduà(God) do His own, and let me do my own. No one, not even you màámi can change my perspective about God and life."
         "Denrele, yé má k'ágídí bórí(Don't be too obstinate)."
     "I love the young man you have become, but please, work on your weakness in preparedness for the day of adversary because If you faint, your strength is small. Your world awaits your manifestation, my son."

      Those were the last words of Mama Denrele.

       "I promise you Màámi, I will avenge your death." He sobbed uncontrollably as he watched his mother lay lifeless on the mat.

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

      A couple of days before, Mama Denrele rushed into the house to serve Baba Denrele the cup of hot water he demanded for.
      "Má bìnu ọkọ mi(Don't be vexed, my husband)". she pleaded as she handed the cup of water over to him.
     "You want me to shout to death? You are a liar."
         "You and your son will die ahead of me."
      He spilled the hot water on her face, pushed her to the floor, and threw the cup at her.
       He nonchalantly walked out of the house, neglecting her cries and pleas. 
       Inauspiciously, Denrele was far from home. By the time he got home, his mother was in a worse condition and every attempt to revive her failed.

          *************************
    "Denrele, open this door before I pull it down." Derenle's father gibbered as he  hit the door vehemently.
        "This man is not grieved about your death Màámi."
      He picked up a photo of his mother.
    "It's gradually getting out of hand màámi, and I can't help it."
      He opened the fifth bottle of beer before him, crunched some tablets, and poured it into the bottle.
         "Màámi, two souls will join you today- bàámi and I." He filled up the stainless steel cup with  beer, emptied the content in the cup into his mouth in one gulp.
      Suddenly, the room appeared hazy, he tried to rise up from the chair but he fell back flat on the floor. After much attempt to find the bottle of beer, his hand successfully hit it, pouring half of the alcohol on the floor. He grabbed the bottle with his frail hands, and took the last shot.
        "Aargh!"
He slowly walked towards the main door as though he was carrying a boulder all alone.
       "Oh, how could I have forgotten my weapon." He staggered back to the room, and picked up two empty bottles.
       "I'm ready to take up two offences; homicide and suicide, but I don't care." He threw his hands up in an euphoric manner.
      "Bàámi, you're only talking gibberish. You better save this energy because you will need it in hell." He unbolted the door, and sat on the wooden table in the center of the parlour.
      "How dare you Derenle." His father flung the door opened, but Derenle remained silent.
      "ọmọ àlè(bastard)." His father woozily walked to him and raised his hands to slap him, but before his hands landed on Denrele's cheek, he caught his father by his hands and slapped him instead. His father fell to the floor.
         "I hate that I have you as a father Bàámi. My hatred for you grew worse when you killed màámi. You weren't for once grieved about the death of màámi. Well, it's too late because we are ending everything right here." He smirked.
        "I mean, right now."
He smashed the bottles against the wall.
         "I will kill you just as you killed màámi."
         "Denrele, Jọ(please). You can't do this to your father." He groaned.
      "The man who brought the monster in me out deserves to die a mysterious death. You don't deserve a peaceful death."
    He placed the broken bottles on a stool adjacent him. He reached out for the electric iron, connected it to a closed circuit, and waited for some minutes for it to get heated.
      His Father frailly crawled to the stool without Derenle's notice, picked up the bottles and stabbed his back.
          Denrele, with his last strength attempted to drop the hot iron on his father's chest but he could, his father stabbed him again.
       That was it. Derenle fell to the ground, pressing his body against the fragments of the bottle that had fallen on the floor when he initially smashed it against the wall. Blood gushed out from his body as from a spring. On seeing this, his father creeped out of the house, leaving Denrele alone in a pool of blood.