Mama tripped on a small stone and fell on her face. As she struggled to stand up, she saw a thick brown liquid flow out from under the cloth. The liquid bubbled and reeked of decaying feces. Baba Jide spat on the floor. A large brown and yellow liquid splashed on Mama's shoe. Baba strode to the sack and yanked it off the floor. "Blood of Jesus!" "Shut up! You want to kill me here!?" Mama whimpered and prayed for God to keep her safe.
A man's butt attached to his thighs and stomach stained the floor with feces and blood. Intestines and half a liver hung from the edges of the stomach. Small pieces of chipped bone fell off the bones loosely lodged in the thighs. "I get am fresh from my supplier."
Baba helped her up, chuckling and coughing. "Make you no dey fear too much. Na armed robber be this. Him kill twenty people and thief more than one hundred and ninety million! He even kill my aunty." Mama froze and made herself comfortable on the floor.
Whatever Baba wants to tell you, sit down and listen.
Baba pulled out a small foldable fan from his vest and handed it to Mama. He stood up and "Shabababnabatehifamanadada..." Mama watched in horror as tiny black leaves sprouted out of the stones.
"I sabi book since I was a small pikin. Every time I go school, dem dey praise me, give me nickname 'Wole Soyinka.' I go this local school, Success Life Foundation. They treat me well there, like one big Oga. I dey enjoy for this life." "They didn't beat you? What about your parents?" He snapped his fingers in the air fervently before spitting on the floor. Mama was surprised at how well he could speak Pidgin.
He rolled up his shirt sleeve and stretched his arm towards her. Three deep, dark vertical gashes lined his arm. Mama noticed two gashes were peeling off, while the other was purely scar tissue.
"Is that how they used to beat you!?" He chuckled and scratched the open wounds. "That one was a small thing." As he scratched, the skin broke, and a white liquid mixed with blood oozed out. The smell was unbearable. Mama picked out a packet of pain relievers and popped two in her mouth. The various disgusting smells she endured was driving her over the edge. Baba pulled his sleeve down and chanted into the air.
The body on the floor shook slightly. Baba clapped at Mama's blank face. He pointed at a loose chunk of rotting flesh on the floor. "You see that piece of meat on the floor? Pick it and wrap it in that torn cloth on the floor. You will keep it with you until I tell you to go to Victoria Island. You will go to Ocean Basket, and give it to one of my girls there." His voice suddenly sank to an impossibly deep tone. "Your time here is up." Mama scrambled off the floor, snatched her bag, and fled the shop.
She couldn't stop crying all the way home.
Baba Jide called her the next day and told her to prepare for her mission. "You'd better carry my package. You're not going to Ocean Basket; you're taking the road there. Yemisi is waiting for you at the junction with a palm oil seller." Mama packed her black bag with a pocket knife and some rat poison in a spray bottle. She locked her windows and doors before climbing into the keke in front of her house.
"Madam, please hold my waist tight so you will not fall. I'm going very fast o! At least you have heard now." Yemisi's role in this errand was the only thing on Mama's mind. Maybe she was forced to work for Landlady, like her. The okada rider's vest was dancing in the wind as they sped past a lorry. Without warning, the bike climbed over the road into the sidewalk. The okada rider ended up running over two sachets of pure water from a young hawker. The water splashed on her face. Her makeup started running down her face.
The driver abruptly stopped in front of a palm oil stand on the side of the road. A tall girl walked over to Mama. She wore a long black hijab over a purple skirt and black sneakers. Unevenly applied honey-colored foundation caked her dark-skinned face. The bright pink lipstick on her swollen lips intensified the highlight she packed on her face.
Mama wasted no time in jamming the flesh pack into her dry, rough hands. Yemisi pulled out a small brown wrap from her purple bag and waited for Mama to collect it. Mama smiled like a fool while fantasizing about what she would do with fifty thousand naira. "Let me have your number so I can call you later." They hastily switched numbers before the driver sped off.
*Three days later, on NTA(Nigerian Television Authority) news channel.*
Two girls returning from their classes discovered the body of a young, dark-skinned Muslim woman in an abandoned building. The legs and hands of the victim are missing, and her private parts are bleeding still. Her left breast and three teeth are also missing. Please stay in your homes, and be wary of any suspicious activities.
Mama's phone beeped loudly. She shakily picked it up and almost fainted when she saw the contents. It read:
"Now you dey see with your own eyes what happens when you try to disobey. I have used her for a poison, and to enjoy myself a little. If you like, go and tell the police. You and your son will die very painfully."
Yours always, Baba Jide.
Her eyes watered as she watched the screen. Jide was never safe anymore. From then on, they would never be safe.
She knew that for the rest of her life, she would have no choice but to obey.
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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...
