The Devil Wears Okrika

Chapter 32

Dé Nwachukwu swung the powerful beam from the torchlight on his daughter. She looked frightened and her eyes were red and puffy. There was a clear bruise on her cheek from where Batholomew had struck her.
Dé Nwachukwu gritted his teeth in anger. But then he pointed the beam on the body she was kneeling over.
He recognised him as pastor Osi immediately.
He also saw that he was bleeding profusely.
"Don't worry, he's not going to die." He assured his daughter although it looked like he was dead already.
"We need to get him to the clinic fast"
He leaned over Osi. His eyes were closed and out of fear of what he might discover De' Nwachukwu didn't check his breathing.
But he noticed the nasty wound to the chest was deep and he was losing more blood by the second.
Dé Nwachukwu had been wearing his normal indoor wear (which consisted of a singlet and wrapper) when he had been having dinner earlier. Now he didn't think twice but removed his singlet and pressed it to Osi's chest to try and stop the bleeding. The cloth became red immediately.
"We need to lift him...he can't walk...Amara get a grip, he's not going to die" He cautioned his daughter as fresh wave of tears fell down her cheeks and she sobbed uncontrollably.
Together they hefted Osi up. Actually Dé Nwachukwu had more of the weight as they wrapped Osi's hands round their shoulder and hefted him up. His feet dangled lifelessly dragging on the floor and Dé Nwachukwu feared the worst.
He looked over his shoulder at the second body on the floor.
He could recognize pastor Batholomew also. He also thought he was dead but he didn't ask.
For one his daughter was not going to hear. She was talking to Osi, telling him all sort of things and begging him not to die.
Secondly, 80% of the pastor's body mass was entirely on him. He was tasked with carrying Osi through the woods and he couldn't waste his little energy by talking, the good thing was the village clinic wasn't far away. He desperately hoped they would be able to treat Osi and not refer them to the hospital outside Amaife.

.·.·.·.·.·
They hadn't carried Osi for five minutes when they came across Joy and Oluchi. The two girls were accompanied by Benedict the butcher and about a dozen youths.
They all had weapons.
They were all angry.
"Where is he...where is Bartholomew?" Benedict demanded.
"He's back there...please help me with this man...he's dying...he saved my daughter"
Sheer youth came into play and Osi was balanced horizontally on the shoulders of four young men.
They hurried towards the village clinic with Dé Nwachukwu and the girls in tow, urging them on and saying "time is of the essence"
"Precious time has been wasted"
"Please hurry"

.·.·.·.·.·
Benedict burst into the clearing with his machete in his hand and so much rage in his heart.
He couldn't believe his beloved Chinaza had been raped and killed by their pastor...he had one motive and that was to severe Bartholomew's head from his neck the minute he saw him.
His machete was good at separating meat at the abattoir, splitting the bones and separating the joints of cows and goats.
It would surely pass through the neck cartilage swiftly.
The men held wooden torches: sticks with the end dowsed in kerosene and set on fire and the flame burned brightly, illuminating the shadows.
They pointed the torches in every direction, the men spread round the clearing...kicking every suspicious looking bush, striking the ground with their sticks and machetes....
But there was no sign of Batholomew!
"Spread out...spread out!! He's somewhere here, we must find him and kill him tonight!!" Benedict shouted filled with rage.

.·.·.·.·.·
The devil could not run, walking took all of his energy...he had been struck into unconsciousness when Amara had hit him with the branch and the youths would have met him in his unconscious state.
But his brother had come to his rescue and he helped him, instructing him to place one foot in front of the other and he obeyed although it felt like his head would fall off.
Presently he could hear the sound of water flowing and he deduced correctly that they were at the stream.
"Where...where are we...." His voice trailed off
"Shhh...Shhh...You're safe...I'm taking you to daddy...father would protect you"
Sofiri assured him as he tightened his hold around his shoulder. They waded through the shallow part of the stream and crossed to the other end.

.·.·.·.·.·
The only medical center in Amaife, popularly called 'The clinic' was a small bungalow building that was inadequately staffed with just a qualified doctor and two nurses which didn't really matter because until recently majority of the cases they should have received went to the dibia.
Their luck was in and when Amara entered the clinic ahead of her father and her sister, she was glad to see Dr. Ambrose talking frantically to one of the nurses.
She couldn't hold herself, she called out to him "Doctor...doctor please do something...the man that was brought in just now...please attend to him, please do something..!" Her voice shook badly and she sounded desperate.
Dr. Ambrose looked at her. He recognised her immediately. "Amara...you mean you know the man that was stabbed?"
"Yes he's...he's my friend"
Dr. Ambrose looked sorrowful.
"I'm sorry...so sorry, he lost too much blood...he was d.o.a"
"D.o.a...?? What's that?" She held her breath... If she didn't know what it meant, his expression explained it clearly.
"It means he was dead on arrival" Dr. Ambrose explained solemnly.
Her whole world turned upside down.

.·.·.·.·.·
"Father.....we really must send him away from here...we only managed to escape, the youths are really searching for him...we should sneak him out now that we have the chance" Sofiri told his father as they sat on low stools and watched Bartholomew stretched out on the mat on the floor.
"No...That is to risky...its better he stays with me for some weeks....till people think he is no longer in the village then one quiet night...when things have calmed a bit we'll take him out and he'd go to Lagos or maybe to the north"
"Hmm...You're indeed wise father...I believe you"
His father poured a fresh glass of whiskey in his mug. He had been woken from his sleep frantically by a frightened Sofiri and he needed the hot liquid to calm his nerves. He was an old man after all.
There was silence that seemed to stretch for hours as both men were lost in their thoughts. The only sound was the swallowing noise as the alcohol was consumed rapidly.
After a while Sofiri asked "How long have you known?"
His father sighed "I always knew....I know I played my part in turning him into the beast he is today."
Another silence stretched between them again, longer than the last.
Finally the glass was emptied and his father stood up. "You should go home...go to your wife...put your home in order. Everyone is going to be looking at you closely as the only family he has" he jerked his head to where Bartholomew lay sleeping when he said 'he'
Sofiri agreed and stood up.
He didn't want to tell his father he thought it was his wife's fault by inviting the stranger to his house earlier. That would be a mistake...if the devil was bad then the devil's father was much worse.

.·.·.·.·.·
"I knew I couldn't protect you much longer" his father said to him......
The devil struggled to sit up. His head still ached but the throbbing had reduced significantly.
"Papa..." His throat was dry "you....Okudili...?"
His father nodded "yes...I was at the vigil and went to relieve myself when I ran into him...he was glad to see me and said he knew who was behind the killings...according to him he had seen you in a compromised position more than once with Ozioma but he only just put it together earlier that night..He believed I could help him and keep him safe from the youths and expose you. I agreed and I took him deeper into the shadows and it was good he was very drunk...the rest was easy. The dibia on the other hand was too risky. He knew you were my son, that was a loose end I couldn't allow"
Batholomew was silent. He knew what was coming next.
"You've been very sloppy boy...very careless and amateurish..."
"I'm sorry...I couldn't hold myself the lust was driving me crazy, it was killing me inside papa"
"Nonsense! Control is power son and power is control. Every member of the Kenneth lineage always lives to a ripe old age...I'm living proof of that!"