Kingdom, chieftaincy, and or chiefdom. These are a few words that didn't disappear from Cameroon's vocabulary despite the coming of modern technology. The coming of modern technology came with modern politics and modern titles. Titles like; president, governor, and district officer and the likes, became like magic spells in most Cameroonian mouths. Having a family member having any of those administrative titles promised a glowing future for the whole member. But in the Western Regions of Cameroon, despite being a president or governor, the chief held greater power. Hence, chiefs were given the utmost respect. To a certain extent, they were even feared compared to the president of the country. It is with that spirit of fear that Priscila and Alfred marched toward the palace. They walked at an hour when everyone was supposed to be asleep. Everyone except those at the palace. Actually, from what Elder NGANKOU revealed to them, the palace has two fronts. During the day little actions or decisions are made. The real front was the one at night. Decisions, meetings (both natural and supernatural), and transactions were the order of the night. When the couple arrived at the gate to the palace, the guards didn't waste time asking questions. They were immediately brought to the chief's presence.
"ZENU, the banished prince and his wife DJEUDAM, the sacrificed one and great priestess have arrived." The forerunner announced, opening the door to the chief's personal quarters. Two steps into the chief's personal quarters and the couple found themselves on their knees.
"You sure are vexed dad. What a welcome." Alfred answered difficultly. Something was forcefully dragging them to their knees and pinning them down. No human struggle was possible to escape from that grip.
"You sure are bold of coming back, stupid prince of mine." The Chief screamed. And with his scream, the pressure increased. A huge explosively cracking noise was heard. It was the sound of the floor shattering because it couldn't withstand the pressure. But within that explosive noise, another sound was generated. The sound of bones breaking at multiple areas simultaneously. But that sound was muffled by the loud explosion of the floor.
"My chief, Is that how sour your heart has grown? Won't you even listen to our plea?" Priscila begged, hoping the chief's heart will be softened by the cries of a woman in pain. But the calculation was off the mark. Had it been any woman, maybe the chief would have listened but it was Priscila. The priestess, who ensnared the prince into committing such a shameful act in such a sacred. That was how the chief looked at Priscila.
"Don't you utter a word you witch, or else I shall end both of you now." The Chief growled. Normally, if the chief's anger was at its peak, they would have been squashed as their legs stepped into his quarters. But something was refraining him from doing so. Despite being angry, part of him was happy seeing his son safe and sound. But that was just a tiny part of the whole. The rest was bitterness in its raw form. With that bitterness, he left them under that crushing power for a few hours before releasing his grip. When the grip was released, the couple was lying in a few centimetres deep pit. They were drenched in their own sweat and were plagued with pain due to some broken bones. They were breathing heavily and also coughing out blood.
"You wanted to speak with me, right? Then come closer. You are too far?" The chief asked.
"You can't be serious old man. Do you hate me that badly?" Alfred answered.
"If you don't want to come then so be it. You can go back from where you came from."
"Enough," Priscila screamed angrily. "We will do as you wish."
"I always knew you were a smart girl." The chief clapped. What will parents not do for their kids? It is with that thought in mind that Priscila and Alfred marched towards the chief despite every inch of their body aching. When they were close enough, the chief ordered them to stop. They were already at their limits. Their bodies weren't young to withstand such torture. So, they did not only stop but collapsed when the chief gave a halt to their painful march. When Alfred regained consciousness, 1 week had passed. He couldn't even sit up, talk less of lifting his pinkie. His eyes scanned his surroundings but his brain couldn't recognize a thing. 3 individuals entered the room and noticed Alfred was conscious. 2 of them were women and each held calabashes. The man among them ordered one of them to go fetch the king while he proceeds with the healing ritual. Alfred just had his eyes to watch. The healer, with the help of the remaining lady, gave Alfred soup to drink. This was to make him sleep. And as Alfred struggled with the incoming urge to sleep, his father entered. His father looked at him sorrowfully. And as Alfred slowly slept, he heard his father asking: "Can you fix them … ?"
"Don't worry your grace…" the healer responded. When Alfred reopened his eyes, he was like knew. He was rejuvenated. Every issue with his body was cleared. He felt like he was in his thirties. He stood up and saw Priscila deeply asleep. He decided to take a stroll, judging the change in scenery of the palace. He was banished when he was 27years old (the age when he violated and married the 17year old priestess). He was now 55years old and was seeing back the palace 28years after. Hence, he didn't recognize any of the servants and guards. But anywhere he went he was greeted with much respect and his title; prince. He felt so much relief at being back. He enjoyed the palace looks, the trees refreshing the air he was breathing, and the natural relief surrounding the palace. And he gazed at the mountains, Joseph's picture miraged itself in the air. That was like an alarm reminding him not to forget what his goal was. And with that alarm, he rushed back to his room to check on Priscila. To his greatest surprise, he saw his dad bowing down to Priscila. He entered calmly and gently tapped his dad on his back. His dad skipped up and began crying like a kid, embracing Alfred. Alfred was not only surprised but disturbed by his father's behaviour.
"What's happening here?" Alfred asked, patting his dad on the back
"I am sorry…" Chief NANA wept. "I shouldn't have severely punished you like that, though I knew your predicament."
"You knew?" Alfred screamed.
"Yessss." His father wailed, wiping off his snort on Alfred's dress.
"Have you gone senile? Stop that old man." Alfred pushed back his dad gently.
"Those are the after-effects of using the power of the spirit of dominion. You won't be able to hide your true feelings for at least a month." Priscila answered.
"So, you knew that my dad was using that power when we were being crushed?" Alfred questioned.
"Yes. That is why I tried to calm him down. But he was genuinely angry. Hence even if my voice reached him, he threw it off."
"OH Boy," Alfred exclaimed.
"Yes Boy." Chief NANA joined, laughing loudly. "Anyways. Bring the boy here as fast as you can. In the meantime, rest, enjoy and merry as your bodies recover slowly." With that, the Chief left the hall, skipping like an overjoyed kid.
"Well, that was easier than we thought," Alfred said, coughing a little.
"Really? Having your bones almost turned to mash was easy?" Priscila sarcastically inquired.
"You just had to say it like that," Alfred responded, laughing at themselves. They had survived a painful trial (that almost cost them their lives), received 3 weeks of treatment, and got their request miraculously granted. All that called for laughter. And so, the coupled laughed till they fell back asleep. And so, they recovered peacefully. Hours became days, days became weeks, weeks become months, till they had spent their fourth month in the village. In their 4th month, they had totally recovered. As they were packing their things to come back to Yaounde, someone was leaving her house late in the night and running towards her bae. When Joseph heard his door bang loudly at 11 p.m. the first thing that cross his mind was to insult the person at the door. He ran to the door and angrily opened it. But the person in front of him made his murderous pulses vanish. Risa was standing in front of the door, heavily sweating and gruesomely panting. He had run from the point where the taxi dropped her, till Joseph's room without stopping. Joseph intuitively guessed that something had gone wrong somewhere. Immediately she entered, she removed her top wear.
"Wow, what's happening babe?" Joseph shouted closing his eyes. "Don't just strip in front of me like that. What if things begin crossing my mind?"
"Look at me, babe. Open your eyes and look." Risa urged. Joseph opened his eyes and began trembling.
"How come? Did you remove it?" Joseph asked, scratching his head and circling the room. This was unprecedented. How come did Risa's stomach become flat? It showed no signs of pregnancy. Her bosom had still maintained its volume, showing milk was being brewed in it. Proof that Risa was pregnant. But then her stomach was something else.
"I didn't do anything. I woke up this morning and discovered it like that." Risa spoke, touching her now flattened stomach and wondering if it was just only a dream. But unfortunately, it was real as reality can be. Risa had inexplicably lost her baby. Joseph couldn't say anything. He knew deep within him that Risa wasn't lying. She didn't carry the baby up to the fourth month, go for all those clinical consultations just to abruptly eject the premature baby. Joseph began being scared. This situation was far from normal.
"Was there anyone that was not happy with your pregnancy?" Joseph asked.
"Only one person."
"Let me guess, Leon?"
"Right on the bat." Risa nodded. When Risa realised what Joseph was trying to tell her, she wore her shirt very fast and left Joseph's room.
"Where are you going to? It is past midnight and the area is dangerous." Joseph screamed.
"I don't care. He has to tell me what he has done to my child" Risa responded, sprinting as fast as she could. She luckily boarded a taxi and arrived home very fast. With the same speed, she skipped the stairs and landed in front of Leon's room. With all the anger she had been building, she banged the door with all her might. When Leon opened it, she pushed him and closed the door. She scanned the area and saw a wooden broom. She picked it up and pointed it at Leon's face.
"What did you do?" She calmly asked. For some reason she was capable of controlling her voice output.
"That's rough little lady. You knock at my door and accuse me out of the blue? Is that how low you consider me?" Leon asked, rearranging his posture.
"No time for your mind-hacking techniques. If you don't answer me now, I am hitting your crotch with this wooden broom." Risa answered, moving towards him.
"Let's calm our spirits and dis—" Leon painfully stopped, after receiving a hit on the left rib cage. He painfully coughed as he supported the spot that was hit.
"I told you I wasn't out to hear your nonsense. Tell me what you did?" Risa asked. "If you try any philosophical speech, I will hit you till you explain."
"Noted. Just let me recover my breath. Can I at least do that?" Leon humbly asked
"I can tolerate that."
"You are a darling," Leon said, with a smirk on his face. Risa didn't notice that smirk and hence she didn't know that Leon wasn't recovering his breath but murmuring his spell. When Risa noticed his lips moving, it was already too late. She began feeling drowsy, and couldn't hold the broom firmly. The ground seemed to be the ceiling and the ceiling the ground. She lost her balance and fell to the floor. Immediately she fell, blood began oozing from her vaginal track.
"Well, return to sender. It is not as though you needed the baby or something." Leon spoke, skipping Risa in her own blood and leaving his room. Everything in this world obeys specific laws. Everything in this world follows a fundamental law; the law of conservation of matter. Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Indeed, Risa's baby had not vanished but had been transformed into another form. That form was only known by Leon. And by cancelling his spell, he reinjected the baby back to where it came from but with a different aspect. That contradiction led to a vivid flow of blood. Hence, it looked like Risa's womb received a tremendous amount of shock, flushing out the child it was carrying. That had a secondary effect. Risa was just from losing a huge amount of blood and was in a life-and-death situation. Leon immediately went to Risa's mother's room and woke her up. The information from Leon was enough to wipe off the lingering sleep from her eyes. As she was going to confirm the situation with her own eyes, she immediately phoned her husband to inform him too. When she arrived at the scene, she didn't know what to say. She just pulled her from the pool of blood and began cleaning her. Leon on his part went and called a taxi. When he climbed back, Risa was cleaned and ready to go to the hospital. It was 2a.m when they entered the taxi heading for the closest hospital. In the taxi, Risa's mom called Joseph to fill him in on the situation. She also called her husband to tell him the level at which they are with Risa's case and urged him to be in Yaounde very early the next day. When she dropped the call, she turned to Leon.
"What happened? How could she have lost so much blood?" Risa's mom asked, at the brink of breaking into tears.
"I don't know what to tell you. She came to my room complaining of stomach aches. Before I could react, she collapsed and blood began flowing. I don't understand too." Leon sadly explained.
"OH, Lord! She should have lost her baby." Risa's mom began crying. Leon did his best in comforting her but it wasn't enough. Upon arriving at the health centre, Risa was bought directly to intensive care. She was placed on oxygen and immediately a drip was connected to her. The doctor reassured them that her life wasn't in danger, giving the family a bit of rest. They collected some blood samples and did some tests and around 5a.m, the doctor came back to the family.
"Is your daughter allergic to some food?" The doctor asked.
"Not that I know. Is there an issue?" Risa's mom inquired.
"Yes, we discovered acute food poisoning traces in her blood. This had as effect of causing a miscarriage of her pregnancy. That is why she lost so much blood."
"OH God." Risa's mom began weeping. "So, it's my fault. It is all my fault."
"You couldn't know that. Don't blame yourself madam" The doctor calmed her. Leon's scheme had worked perfectly. Of course, modern science couldn't trace the spiritual aspect of Risa's affliction. All the incantations Leon chanted that physically made Risa suffer were translated into acute food poisoning. With that Leon was safe. Even if Risa wanted to say a thing, it couldn't work against him, for the doctor had already settled the issue.
"But though she is stable, she is not completely safe yet." The doctor continued. "I think you know what I mean. She needs a blood transfusion as soon as possible." Risa's mom didn't know what to say or where to begin. This was another round of emotions packed with adrenaline. Naturally, all those who were at the hospital were tested for blood donor compatibility. But unfortunately, despite being compatible, they had several infections in their blood. Risa was O-positive and could receive either O-positive or O-negative. Risa's mom sat overwhelmed by this restless night. All she could do was close her eyes and pray. She cried, prayed and hoped for a spark of solution. Joseph arrived and met Risa's mom crying. She was inconsolable.
"Have you called daddy? Tell him to come with other people from the village. Maybe we can find some donors." Joseph proposed. But Risa's mom had already done that. And as they were speaking, Risa's dad landed with a delegation of 4 people. They looked very healthy and full of blood. Those 4 healthy men had their conditions. Even though someone's life was in danger, they didn't look at that. That was another blow to Risa's mom who immediately passed out. As they were taking care of the mother, the doctor rushed to their stead and gave them a lease.
"We transfused the last O-negative blood sac left. If she doesn't receive another in an hour, she will be a goner." There wasn't time for argument. Those men were made to eat all that they wanted and drink what they asked for. When they were satisfied, their blood was collected for testing. Unfortunately, they had diseases that could instead harm Risa. With all that, 45mins had passed and still, Risa's case was uncertain.
"Test my blood," Joseph said. "We don't have time to wait for another family member."
"My son. We can't ask that of you. And you have not yet eaten or prepared for such." Risa's dad spoke.
"I don't care. Test the blood. We shall check that after." Joseph insisted. His blood was collected and tested compatible and positive for transfusion. Two blood sacs were pumped from him and one was immediately transfused to Risa. Joseph almost passed out during the collection, but yet he didn't rest. He immediately picked up his phone and called for his twins. They did not waste time and promptly landed at the hospital. They each contributed a sac of blood. When the third sac of blood was given to Risa, her colours became brighter. When her mom came to herself, she only had her ears to listen and her eyes to cry again. She didn't know how to thank Joseph. With Risa's life out of danger, everyone could rest a little. After a few hours of resting and refreshment, they were informed that an extra sac was needed. Joseph called for three other people to come to his aid. Luckily among the three, one was positive and the last blood sac was obtained. With that, Risa's life was finally out of danger. During all the commotion, the fainting and all the rest, Leon had discretely escaped. He was nowhere to be found. At around 3p.m Risa finally opened her eyes. She saw a familiar crowd gazing pitifully at her. All this delegation was there just for her.
"M…o….m? D….a…d? Is…. Where…." Risa difficultly spoke, unable to say so something constructive.
"Don't sweetie." Her mother shushed her. "Rest. You need that." With that, Risa's room was emptied and those who wanted to go somewhere else, left the hospital. Joseph stayed with Risa's parents, sleeping on the chairs when tired. The trio stayed in the hospital for several days, overseeing Risa's recovery. And after much patience, Risa could sit and speak fluently with them. She had recovered enough punch to leave the hospital (but she still had a few monitoring days left). Her mom seeing her daughter lively smiling and laughing, burst into tears and began asking for forgiveness.
"What's the matter, mom? Why are you begging for my forgiveness?" Risa asked, surprised by her mother's reaction.
"The doctor's result showed acute food poisoning. That led to the miscarriage of your pregnancy and all the other torments. I should have known if you had any allergies." Her mom answered, wiping off her tears. Her dad just pulled her out of the hospital room, patting her back as they left. Joseph was left to keep Risa company. They stared at each other for a few minutes before breaking the silence.
"So, he is the one who did this?" Joseph's asked
"Who else? But we can't explain how. The doctors have given their verdict." Risa sadly answered.
"Well, you are alive. That's all that matters." Joseph responded. He didn't know what to say or ask. All the mystics surrounding him and his entourage were a bit too much. Risa had lost her child before having a miscarriage. How is that even possible? Even if he wanted to remove the baby, why use such methods? All these questions coursed Joseph's mind making him space out for almost half an hour. What brought him back to the plane of mortals was Risa's fingers snapping.
"Sorry. I was lost in my thoughts." Joseph surprisingly answered.
"I could see that. But that's normal. I was just telling you to go and take a deep prolonged sleep. You need it."
"You are right. This body needs some time to recover." Joseph agreed, kissing Risa on her forehead and heading for the door. He waved Risa's parents goodbye and took off from the hospital. When he landed in his room, he crumbled on his bed. He didn't feel an inch of tiredness while he was at the hospital. But when relieved of Risa's condition, the adrenaline rush rapidly faded, calling back a storm of tiredness. He had just given two blood sacs and had not eaten enough. His bed literally absorbed his fatigue and his body. His body hit the bed at 8p.m and woke up at 10a.m the next day. That sleep streak was still not enough. He dosed off again. What woke him up this time around, was a sweet smell harming his nostrils and stimulating the brain cells responsible for hunger in the human body. Joseph was extremely hungry and that tasty smell wasn't helping him. Fortunately for him, the smell seemed to be moving closer and closer. In his delirious hungry state, he heard the smell knock the door. There wasn't any sense of logic in his brain. He needed to satisfy his stomach. With the little desperate energy he possessed, and a brain in a childish state of reward, Joseph rushed to the door. He didn't want to know if it was a human, an animal, or a spirit behind that door. From the moment that creature had the source of that smell, he will gladly let that person in. When he opened the door, he felt embarrassed in front of that creature coming to his hunger rescue.
"What are you doing here mom?" Joseph asked, with his stomach loudly growling.
"Is that how you welcome your saviour?" His mother laughed.
"Oh, my saviour, welcome to my sumptuous niche. Would you mind gracing us of your presence?" Joseph politely proposed.
"When said this nicely, who am I to refuse?" His mother answered, entering Joseph's temple.
His mom was carrying a nylon bag, marrying the form of a pot. That was the smell Joseph was getting. That was the smell that woke him up from his sleep. When he received the bag, he didn't even care to remove the pot from it. So long as his hand could reach the food, the world was ok. He grabbed a stray spoon on his reading table, opened the pot and began digging. His mom had cooked a delicious pot of fried rice with an exaggeration at the level of the obstacles. Joseph devoured the pot of rice. A pot that could be enough for five persons was cleared in less than 20mins.
"I knew you would be hungry, but not to this extent."
"It was becoming rough," Joseph answered, piping down a jar of fresh water.
"I can see that." His mom answered.
"How did you know I would be hungry?"
"The twins filled me in on the situation. I knew you wouldn't eat well knowing how selfless you are." His mom responded, laughing at the gullibility of her son. She kept looking at Joseph. From time to time, she smiled and sometimes she sighed. Joseph was still pondering on her presence. She could have sent someone else. Why come personally?
"Was the meal to your taste?" His mom questioned.
"You bet it was," Joseph answered, stroking his over-extended belly.
"Good. Good. Good. Since you are refreshed, pack up the necessities. We are leaving for the village in a few hours." His mom said, pulling his suitcase from beneath the bed.
"What?"