She glanced at Stephnie from her head to her toes with her mouth bent to the left in anger.
A few seconds later, she continued talking harshly without any hesitation, “I may not be too good in my calculations, but I can say what you are putting on is well over $50,000. And that to me is an extravagant and incredible folly. You have eaten Mike to his bone and that was why he couldn’t survive it—what witchcraft tactics? Looked here, your craze has come to an end—” She hissed and walked away when she spotted Madone at the far right corner of the unfenced compound walking towards them. She never waited for Stephnie to respond, but instead glanced at her in scorn and walked out on her.
Stephnie was carried away by Suss's uncensored words. She didn’t know when Madone walked up to her. She turned around when she heard a voice, and now there was no mistaking it, it was Madone’s.
“Hello Stephnie, I’m glad you came. The elders are already seated. Let me walk you to the venue, after me.” He started walking ahead.
Stephnie was surprised at his utterance. He seems very receptive, and she finds it hard to believe it was Madone, who just spoke. She stared at him for a while, then looked around, and spoke carefully, “please excuse me; I will like to see my friends. They are waiting for me. I will be with you shortly.” She hurried to the front of the house where the Jeep was parked. Her feet were heavy and her skin poured out sweat. Her mental alertness was up, but the smell of something missing hung strangely in the air, and her nostril seems not to figure out anything unusual. She hurried for Donnie and Janny.
Stephnie exchange eye contact with Donnie and Janny.
A few seconds later, she told them of the elders' meeting, and if they would like to come with her. They agreed and went with her.
Madone was still waiting where she left him and was surprised to see two lovely Ladies coming with Stephnie. His eyes illuminated with sparks…sparks of lust, but checked himself, “I see you got company, that’s nice. Let's hurry, the elders mustn’t be kept waiting, it is against our tradition, and culture, so let’s increase our strides!” Stephnie watched and walked ahead once more.
Stephnie was appalled at the chameleon character that seems to be telling Donnie and Janny the contrary of himself.
Her brain started working again but suddenly went dull as they approached the meeting venue.
She noticed a firm burning sensation crawling through her legs to her stomach as she stepped on the meeting ground. The hot sensation started rising and suddenly it entered her throat and formed a stony block that melted gradually and form a pastry.
A few seconds later, she noticed she couldn’t talk. She cleared her throat several times, but that didn’t help either. She was scared to demand water, for fear of being poisoned. She tried again to clear her throat, this time harder, but it was so stiff, she didn’t know what has come over her.
And now, she wasn’t paying so much attention to elder Johnson, who had long finished his preambles and warming up for questions. It was when the question finally came, she came around.
“We have heard from Madone, who represents the Dickson family. However, we know you are part of that family. We want to hear from you what exactly transpired. I mean your side of the story. What happened?” He asked as he stared at Stephnie.
Stephnie looked disturbed, she couldn’t utter a word. Elder Johnson was not too sure, Stephnie heard him. He calmed down and spoke audibly, as he tried hard to make his question clearer, “Stephnie, I will love you to listen very carefully. You have been accused that you murdered your husband, Mike, and are also responsible for his missing Organ. When we heard that accusation against you, it was too heavy for our ears to carry, and that was why we summoned you to hear your side of the story. You have been a good wife, and have been married to Mike for about three years or thereabout. We the elders refused a one-sided report. What went wrong?” He thought he had been able to reframe his question.
Stephnie struggled to utter a word, but it seems so impossible. She stammered, but couldn’t find the words. Not even a sound.
Donnie and Janny were amazed that Stephnie didn’t say a word. They were confused, and wanted to help her do the talking, but were instructed to keep quiet.
Elder Johnson waited patiently for Stephnie to speak, and after a full stretch of thirty minutes, he spoke out again, “I see you are not talking Stephnie, and that means you are guilty. And, I must confess, the offense is grievous. However, I will give you some time to clear yourself or face the penalty. As you know we have our tradition, and our tradition is very important to us. A woman who killed her husband is an abomination. Mike was a son of Alliya and that makes you our daughter.” Now looking angrier, he licked his dried lips as he gazed at Stephnie. “I will give you some time to talk, but, I must be honest with you, you have a limited time to clear yourself or make us believe you did it.” This time, he was looking impatient.
Stephnie’s eyes widened, her heart raced, and her throat sinks. The words refused to come out; every internally struggled word seems not to pass her shivering lips.
What’s going on?
Her thought slipped, and her ears screamed as the echo of Elder Johnson's words hit her again, and again. She fidgets as she adjusted her buttocks on her chair. Her legs crawled helplessly on the ground which seems to be tearing apart before her very eyes. She tried to stammer, but not a single word came out of her mouth.
Twenty minutes later, on seeing that Stephnie was still speechless the elders stood up and shouted in unison, “To the shrine of Alliya you go, a curse on the one who kills.” They all pointed their hands at her.
They took Stephnie to the shrine where she was forced to drink out of the water used in bathing Mike’s corpse. The shrine priest then pronounced a curse, “if you are responsible for Mike’s death, two weeks from today you will never recover from an incurable sickness before meeting your tragic end. The killer must never go unpunished; she deserves death and nothing less. Go your way woman—the gods will judge.” He shook his head in sadness.
Janny couldn’t believe Stephnie was subjected to such inhuman treatment, never had she heard where a woman drinks the water used in washing the corpse of her dead husband. She couldn’t contain herself either, “what is this? This is shit—a big mess.” Janny was getting so mad about the whole scene playing out before her eyes now. She can’t understand why this was happening. The more she looked, the more she felt tears dropping to the dusted ground from her eyes.
Donnie couldn’t help it either, as she watched in bewilderment. Whether Stephnie was responsible or not, she couldn’t tell. She spun around and glanced at Janny, who was taking cover behind her, “be careful how you talk, they have our culture and tradition here, mind your words. Be quiet and just be an observer, okay.” She frowned at her.
Janny looked at Donnie in dismay.
What is she talking about?
Her eyes widen in horror as she reasoned the words of Donnie, then she shot back, “what stupid tradition, can’t you see what Stephnie is passing through; this is silly if you ask me?” she flared.
Donnie was pissed-off. Janny could see it in her, she drew back a little just wondering what was on her mind, “I didn’t ask you to talk Janny,” came Donnie’s cold reply.
Janny knew it wasn’t getting any funny either as she watched Stephnie passing through a lot of barbaric stuff all in the name of tradition. She simply cannot comprehend the horrors her eyes were seeing. She tried hard to control her emotion but was fast becoming shattered. She held back her breath at some points, and with her tiny fingers on her hair, she whispered, “this is crazy, really crazy. This is women abuse in the highest order. Why are women so treated? They are often the underdogs. Can’t you see, a woman lost her husband, and she must be blamed or held responsible for it and called all sorts of abusive names like a witch, a killer, a villain, and all that, that’s bush shit. This is simply a women's rights violation, I can’t take this anymore!” she looked disturbed now. She walked further away from the scene, and then her eyes away from the crowd, who seems to be delighted that their tradition was respected, and held in high esteem.
Thirty minutes later, they were done, and Stephnie was deserted like an abominable leper. Donnie ran forward on seeing the crowd spreading out with most of the people walking swiftly away from the Shrine. She smartly held onto Stephnie, who was now weak and helpless.
Donnie couldn’t figure out what exactly went wrong, she knew at some point everything went berserk. She helped Stephnie into the Jeep quietly, but with thoughts unfolding in her mind.
Terry was fast asleep in the back seat and unconscious of the happenings around him.
Cardiff quickly started the engine and drove off.
Janny Hilton was terrified; she wondered why Stephnie never fought back, but went through the ordeal quietly.
They drove out of Alliya in silence.
Stephnie never waited for Mike to be buried, she knew they never wanted her around after the shame, all they wanted was to accuse her of Mike’s demise and it seems they have succeeded.
As Cardiff drove out of Alliya, Stephnie noticed a strange movement of burning sensation crawling down her throat region to her stomach, and much later, through her legs. And suddenly, the burning sensation that was like a solid blood clot vaporized invisibly from beneath her right foot.
Stephnie could feel the sharp exit, and suddenly she got her voice back.
When she spoke, Donnie and Janny were perturbed. They wondered while she had kept mute ever since. They lacked the courage to ask but waited patiently to hear her out.
They knew this was strange. Stephnie can’t be dumb before the elders and refused to say what she knows about Mike’s death.
What exactly happened at Alliya?
Why was she mute, and now suddenly able to say talk?
Was she scared of the elders of Alliya? Or—
Every thought came like shock within them, but they all preferred to be quiet about it.
Stephnie cleared her throat several times, and spoke up whispering, “Where are we going?” her eyes were everywhere now.”This is not what I wanted, let’s go back. Cardiff reverse, drive us back to Alliya. I never did it. I never killed Mike. They used a sorcerer against me—”
“That’s enough, Stephnie. Please, you must hold your peace. We will talk about this when we get to the city.” Donnie, who seemed surprised about how everything unfolded back there at Alliya now struggled to calm her down.
Did she say a sorcerer?
They used sorcerer against, Stephnie?
Donnie’s thought suddenly drove wild!
And now she was beginning to think—
Cardiff was surprised, he gradually held his brake, “I thought you wanted us to go home, to the city, and—” He looked back seat using his rear mirror.
Donnie interrupted sharply, “we are taking you home to the city, Stephnie. It was a pity you had not been yourself at Alliya. I mean your real self. It will be alright when you get home. It will be just fine, okay.” She glanced at Cardiff and urged him to drive on.
Cardiff quickly changed gear and drove off leaving the air behind filled with a huge cloud of dust.
Janny had been looking out of the window. “Alliya stinks, not like other villages I have visited. There is something strange about it. The name is like a kick at my back. The shrine smells of all manner of rotten sacrificed foods. It disgusts me greatly. When will these people know there is a living God?” She stopped talking when she noticed Donnie glaring at her.
They made the rest of their journey in silence.
They never wanted to spoil their day with an unnecessary conversation that will yield nothing, but bring hurt to the tender heart of their friend, Stephnie.
Cardiff's thoughts came alive again as he drove.
He could not understand why Stephnie refused to stay and see Mike buried.