Mama C looked much older than Mama Agnes expected. Her cheeks hung down her face like empty balloons. She wore a faded blue wax print wrapper over a lime green long-sleeved blouse. Her cheeks each had two vertical lines on them; her tribal marks. Mama Agnes wobbled out of the keke, deliberately giving the driver a torn two-hundred naira note. The man was about to argue, but she interrupted him. "If I died today, would you have seen the money for me to pay you with? I should even slap you or dent your head with this yam!" The man shut his mouth and stuffed the money inside a small yellow jerrycan.
He left, making sure to bombard her face with exhaust fumes. Mama Agnes picked a stone next to her and flung it at his face. Mama C looked down on her, waiting for Mama Agnes to finish venting out her anger. Mama Agnes arranged her shawl and wrapper before turning to Mama C.
"Good evening Mama C, Landlady sent me here." Mama C coughed and spat beside her. "Eh, I know she called you. We will use my car, let us go to a butcher's place to pick something. You can take one of the sweets inside if you want." Mama C slowly stood up, hobbling to Mama Agnes cautiously. She led Mama Agnes to the parking lot, where they stopped near a small grey Toyota Camry.
Mama Agnes was disgusted at how dirty the seats were. A bucket of moldy KFC chicken scattered empty packets of ketchup and pieces of chewed chicken all over the back seats. The front seats looked surprisingly clean, but Mama Agnes knew better. As soon as Mama C opened the car, she pulled out a tissue from her bag and wiped the seat with it. She chucked it out of the window when she sat down. Mama C stared at her the whole time. When Mama Agnes was settled, she jammed the accelerator and reversed out of the parking space. They ended up bashing into a lorry and denting it. A few bags of maize slammed down on the ground. Some bags burst, and grains scattered across the littered, dusty floor. Mama Agnes quietly recited the Lord's prayer before Mama C entered into the main road.
When they finally reached their destination, Mama Agnes's clothes were soaked in sweat. She had never seen an old woman race a danfo bus on the road while a lorry overtook them from the speed lane. She felt it was right to thank God for her life because no amount of juju could save her life. Mama C wobbled out of the car and opened her boot. A large cloud of dust and ten mosquitoes flew into her face. "Big woman like you is scared of mosquito? See my face and the small black spots on them? Na mosquito cause am." She helped Mama C drag out a large, slightly bloody sack. They closed the car and entered the building. Mama C sprinkled some yellow dust from her bag in front of the entrance.
Mama C opened the door, and they dragged the sack inside. Mama Agnes stumbled over a small ceramic bowl, and also because she saw Iya Dorcas and Landlady in the room. Landlady's skin was bruised and covered with scars. Iya Dorcas looked slightly thinner; her eyes drooped, her cheeks reduced, and her skin looked dry. They sat next to each other, sulking and fidgeting with their clothes. Mama C shot a secret look at Iya Dorcas. Iya Dorcas immediately stood up and went through another door at the back of the room. Mama C directed Mama Agnes to a chair and pushed her down. Mama Agnes prayed to God to keep her life for her, so she could meet Nneka the next day.
Mama C hobbled to Landlady and slapped her cheeks seven times. She barked at Mama Agnes to open the sack. Mama Agnes sprung out of her chair when she saw Iya Dorcas walking inside with a large, bloodstained machete. Mama C already locked the door so she couldn't run away. Mama Agnes's knees quaked, and her hands felt numb. "Landlady, so na you dey wound like this? It's like you finally met your match in this life. Agnes, remove the head!" Mama Agnes pulled out a rotting, maggot-infested, sticky head by its withering hair. She dropped it in front of Mama C and scuttered to the back of the room. Mama C thrust her hand into the rotting brain. It was semi-liquid and a mix of grey and green, and it slid through her fingers and dripped on the floor. Mama Agnes pulled out the next item from the sack and handed it to Mama C. This went on for five more times until the bag was empty.
The basin was now full. Fish heads, sand, the brain, garri, salt, and goatskin half-filled the bowl. Iya Dorcas poured a bucket of water into the basin and stirred the mixture with a large wooden spoon. She punched Landlady's mouth hard, and drops of blood fell from her mouth into the bowl. Mama Agnes wept with each blow on Landlady's face. "Let this poor woman she has been sending see the weak side of Landlady!" Iya Dorcas nodded and let Mama Agnes to a cushioned chair. She poured a glass of juice for her and left to stand next to Mama C. Her hand trembled as she held the glass; it almost slipped twice. With each second that passed, the chances of escape slimmed for Mama Agnes. Landlady looked like a bruised pig at this point. She could only curse Landlady in her mind, furious that she was dragged into this mess.
She could only pray to get out of this alive.
Iya Dorcas looked at Landlady, then she looked at Mama Agnes. "Agnes, get comfortable very well. I will now explain what is happening. I know this is confusing and rushed for you, but I will explain everything soon. Let Iya Dorcas just take this basin inside, and we will talk." She turned to Landlady, brought her lips close to her ear, and barked at her. "Why don't you start explaining what happened, eh?!" She pushed Landlady's head and slapped her face. Landlady glared at her before speaking. "Mama Agnes, I am...partly responsible for your daughter in law's disappearance and-" Mama Agnes crumpled to the floor immediately. The glass of juice in her hand shattered. Her eyes watered, and her body folded. The fact that Jide almost lost his life to Landlady's schemes weakened her heart.
If not for God, she would have died of a heart attack there.
She heard another loud slap and Landlady's shout. "-your son's attack! I was partly responsible! I have someone behind me that has been funding the missions I've been sending you on! I never made the missions, they made me do it! They made me take some things that increased my power drastically! I'm not as powerful as you think! Iya Dorcas knew about this all along, but she chose not to act until I touched her children! She was going to sell them to a female politician, who was barren for thirty years, for five million naira-"
Iya Dorcas slammed her stirring stick on Landlady's head. "And what else did you do!?" Landlady spat out blood. "I killed the woman, staging her death as a car accident. I didn't want Iya Dorcas to have the money because I knew she wouldn't share it with me! I also tried to attack your granddaughter-"
The last thing anyone saw was Mama Agnes flying at Landlady with a giant shard of broken glass.
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Boot: A car's trunk
This is getting more interesting for me to write! I think it was about time I exposed Landlady's weakness and schemes. Please vote⭐⭐, comment, and enjoy!🦆🦆✨✨❤❤❤
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I Know My Mother👩🏽(IKMM)✅
Mystery / ThrillerAfter Nneka's father almost loses his life and farm, her mother mysteriously vanishes. She then moves to Lagos to live with her grandmother, but she soon finds there's more to her grandmother's life than she knows. While hawking, she meets a boy...
