FROM LONDON WITH PAINS

CHAPTER SEVEN

'The ancestral queen of our land is angry with us!' Torumbe, the high priest of Dunukofia, bellowed.

Snake and Akpi nodded their heads in agreement. Still kneeling, with their heads bowed.

'We need the blood of one of her descendants, to appease her.' Torumbe spat into a calabash.

'The great Agwo Torumbe!' Akpi hailed. 'But where can find one of her descendants, they were either killed or captured in the war.'

Torumbe circled fiveperiwinkle shells round the calabash which he spat into. He made some incantations.

'The gods have spoken.' Torumbe said, gazing into the sky. 'You must bring her here. It must be a female.'

'Her?' Snake and Akpi asked in bewilderment.

'Where? The great one, who is...'

'A long time ago, our ancestral queen mother was captured and taken to a strange land.' Torumbe began.

'Our Lolo is angry that we didn't protect her! She cursed our land and women, making both barren.' He jumped up and broke into a strange dance. 'The gods have spoken. You must find her! Find her descendant! The curse will be broken, only when the land tastes her blood.' He returned to his sitting position, and spat into the calabash.

He gave them one week to search for the so called descendant of their ancestral queen mother and dismissed them. Snake and Akpi scrambled up their feet and went out of the shrine with their backs.

Outside the shrine, it was dark. The vicinity reeked of putrid waste and rotten eggs. They quickly walked away from the shrine, heading towards the nearest main road so as not to be spotted.

You're beating him! Go girl!' David squeaked in a high female like voice.

'You never told me I was competing against a pro!' Basi gave a deep chuckle.

Adaora had come to return David's notebook which she had borrowed earlier on from him. On getting to his house, she met David and Basi in a game of cards and was invited to join them.

David's mother called out to David from her kitchen. He excused himself, leaving Basi and Adaora alone in his living room.

This time around, she felt caterpillars in her tummy, biting hard. She was extremely conscious and aware that Basi was looking at her. An awkward of silence hung between them.

'Uhm...' she finally stuttered.

'Tell me a bit about yourself.' She spoke slowly, afraid that the wrong word might come out. He smiled and asked what she wanted to know about him.

She wanted to know everything about him! Why his name was Basi, why he smelled and looked so good. Did he have the same feelings for her as well? And did he have a girlfriend too.

She summoned her courage and asked:

'Well, do you have a...'

'Whaaazaap! I'm back! Anyone miss me?' David appeared out of nowhere.

She was somewhat relieved that he had saved her the stress of completing her sentence, but sad that she wasn't able to find out if Basi had a girlfriend or not.

Basi announced his exit, as he had to pick up his younger brother from school. Adaora left shortly after Basi.

On her way back home, she received a text from Friedrick. He was inviting her to the movies. She gave him an affirmative reply via text.

The rest of her day was filled with nostalgia. Thinking about her short conversation with Basi.