Cardiff's thoughts stayed alive as he drove—
Mike's family seems to hate her, he thought miserably. One thing was sure, the traditional rite at the shrine was demonic and now, he wondered what the future holds for Stephnie.
Mike, he knew was a great man. He remembered having an appalling observation that will always have him on his toes each time, he pondered about it.
They were on a journey when it appeared, they were about to collide with a huge upcoming truck. And as he struggled to maneuver, he felt a cold breeze pass through the window with a remarkable speed, and when he looked at the back seat with his rear mirror, he didn’t see Mike.
His seat was empty!
He had managed to escape the accident, and how it all happened was still a mystery to him.
He noticed seconds later, that Mike was on his seat reading his newspaper, and never said a word. That was the very first time; he knew his boss was not ordinary. He had some supernatural powers too difficult for him to comprehend, but since then, he had kept his mouth closed.
Donnie was equally in her world of thought; she was surprised Stephnie couldn’t defend herself despite all the false accusations heaped on her.
Could it be that she was guilty?
Is she in any way responsible for Mike’s death?
She tried hard to push these fighting thoughts out of her mind, but the thoughts kept racing through her mind. She tossed her thoughts again.
Mike is too big for Stephnie to work on so easily.
Stephnie can’t possibly have killed Mike.
No, it can’t be, she shook her head and relaxed her back quietly on her seat again.
Mike’s missing sex organ.
The thought of it brought her almost fading thoughts back to life again. Yes, Mike’s sex organ was missing too. No woman in her right sense or even her abnormal sense will dare a thing like that. She thought in shock. That is simply a no-go area for a woman, who loves her man. It was astonishingly ridiculous for the elders to have thought, she did such a nasty thing.
She struggled with her thought for a while and gave it up much later as she closed her eyes in defeat.
Janny was in deep thought too as she watched Cardiff drive slowly through a curve. The treatment meted on Stephnie amazed her greatly. She couldn’t believe such treatment ever existed. It was simply archaic and wondered why some women should be subjected to such cowardly humiliation. It is simply a violation of human rights packaged in the name of tradition.
She knew it would take the strong hands of education to purge the system of these outdated customs and traditions that do not meet the challenges of our fast-civilizing world, rather these traditions tend to rope the modern age back to the stone age. She thought bitterly placing her right hand on her forehead as if coming down with some sort of headache.
No, it was not only the shame and humiliation of women folks in most regions of the world that was making her sick but the barbaric nature in which it was handled. She hoped that the callous situation all in the ungodly name of tradition will change.
Stephnie was not left out in the world of thought either.
Her mind was active now.
Her mind was fully engaged. She didn’t know what went wrong. She was prepared to give her defense when everything went berserk. She had noticed her nerves were weak, and her throat was loaded with substance she never knew how it got there. Never in her life had she seen such a wonder. She recalled the more she tried to speak, the harder it became for her.
What did Madone do to her?
He used a sorcerer!
He had put on his good self when they meant, but it was now obvious it was all a game of disguise.
She had been careful not to eat, drink or partake in the broken cola nut passed around, but this attack beat her imagination.
It was like a dream; better still, a nightmare, except that it wasn’t.
She knew she was wild awake. She tried hard to figure out what went wrong. She knew if she continues thinking, she might never come near it.
It looked like she was blindfolded, and only after all have been said and done, that she could see.
Why was that so?
She struggled to exercise her mind to it.
Her thought suddenly slipped when they approached the City.
Cardiff was already a few minutes away from the City. He had been wondering if his services will still be required. Only time will tell, he thought sadly as he drove calmly, but steadily as he had always driven, Mike.
************
Jeffon knew something was wrong. Stephnie can’t be dumb just like that.
What on earth did Madone do to her?
All of a sudden, the ever-outspoken Stephnie couldn’t talk, couldn’t defend herself, and couldn’t say a word before the elders. This was so strange, and he knew this was not ordinary, it had certainly gone beyond it, and it was only Madone that can explain what a hell he did.
He had expected her to defend herself before the council of elders, but amazed, she never did.
It all looked like a joke, but a joke too costly. That brought her so much shame and dishonor before the eyes of the people of Alliya. And if not for Terry, no consideration would have been given.
Stephnie must have been manipulated in a way, Jeffon thought angrily.
He could see it in Madone's eyes, those burning eyes of his whenever, he had done something evil. And this time, he wouldn’t get away cheaply with it, he swore.
He dashed straight into the house, put on his blue shirt design with a piece of the local fabric, and put on a red cap to fit. He came out of the house rather ruffled as he called out to his wife, Beatrice. “I’m coming very soon. I want to see my brother Madone, and if anyone asks about my whereabouts, tell him I will be back shortly, okay.” He left hurriedly without waiting for her reply.
Beatrice had never liked Madone. He was too cunning and heartless. She had never wanted her husband to have anything to do with him.
Jeffon had always seen the look of hatred in Beatrice's eyes anytime he mentioned the name of his brother, Madone.
He was always careful not to look into her eyes, anytime he told her he was going to see, Madone. He never liked the look of hatred revolving around her beautiful eyeballs anytime he mentioned Madone to her, and that was certainly not strange to him because Madone was undoubtedly evil.
A few minutes later, Jeffon ran into Madone’s house, and called out loudly, “Madone, Madone—” He was looking angry now and searching everywhere for him. He must have an explanation for what happened to Stephnie, he thought.
Madone came out from his bedroom and stared at Jeffon thoughtfully, “what is it Jeffon, hope nothing is the matter. I can see you are furious. Please don’t give me those awful looks. I hope it is not your goat that is stolen this time. I can still remember, it was your chicken the other day!” He puts on a mocking look.
The look in Jeffon's eyes made Madone know he must be wrong.
The look burned with anger and now he was already feeling the heat of his anger around him.
Madone spoke up again, this time; he was on top of his voice, “What is the matter with you? You came in here banging hard on my door, and shouting all over the place with a scary and embarrassing voice. Are you mad or what? I was sleeping, and having a wonderful dream when you came in roaring like a wounded lion. You woke me up Jeffon, and now you are standing mute before me with your face squeezed like a forest wizard!”
Jeffon stood stiff; he was fighting hard to absorb Madone’s annoying words and suddenly flared up. “What did you do to her?” He eventually broke his silence.
Madone was getting more frightened. He wondered what Jeffon was talking about. He had never been so bold to look at him this way. His heart throbbed with pain, but he knew, he must defend himself—man to man. Frowning at him, he lowered his voice, “I do not understand what you are talking about, and why not drive your point home quickly? Honestly, you are scaring me with that burning look of yours. Come on, calm down, and let’s talk like men. Besides, I didn’t touch your wife or—” he forced a smile.
Jeffon shouted uncontrollably, “Just shut up Madone, you disgust me. I ask again, and this time, I want a direct answer from you. Tell me, what exactly you did do to Stephnie, I mean Mike’s wife? She wasn’t herself yesterday, and she left without seeing her husband buried. What a crazy life are you putting up with! I can now see what Mike had seen in you, years ago. I thought he was being rude to you, and all that, but that is certainly not it. He was smart, real smart perhaps smarter than me. You know what Madone? I am sick of you and your insatiable quest for wealth and this is fast making you insane—” his eyes redden.
Madone raised his right hand high up with his eyeballs bulged out in fury, “please don’t start, how dare you talk back at me like that? Listen, everybody wants to be rich at some point in their life, and I know you are no exception. So tell me, what is the big deal in this matter?” He lifted #his eyes to him.
He drew closer to Madone, Madone withdrew back quickly for fear Jeffon might act foolishly. Jeffon's thundering voice echoed as he drew closer to him, “what did you do to her? Answer me quickly, or else one of us will drop dead now! I regret having you for a brother, you smell evil and you are evil, answer me—” his voice became dangerously low.
Madone was greatly disturbed. He had never seen Jeffon with so much swelling anger. He tried hard to control his words to avoid a clash, “okay, just calm down, I will tell you. Yes, everything. I made her dumb, you were right about that, she shouldn’t say anything, else she would have lied to the elders, and that won’t be good for our intention and you know it, Jeffon? Don’t tell me you don’t, can’t you see we succeeded, since she couldn’t talk? It was concluded she was guilty. If will push her out tomorrow nobody will raise a finger, not even the elders because it was obvious, she did it!”
Jeffon glanced at Madone with scorn, “what are you talking about Madone? I see you have gone mad. She did what, Madone? I hope you don’t mean to tell me, she murdered Mike in cold blood. We both know the truth, and we have made inquiries.” He pointed his fingers at him angrily.
Madone was a little relaxed now on seeing that, Jeffon was talking. He walked freely around the sitting room. He knew he had to select the right words to calm the aching nerves of Jeffon, otherwise the unexpected may just happen.
Madone cleared his throat roughly, “what exactly is the truth?” He demanded angrily.
Jeffon shouted, “there is no denying it, Madone, don’t pretend, we were at Dawayi shrine, and what he said is still fresh in our minds, he said Mike’s wife's hands are clean. Why are you doing this to her or is it because she had no one to fight for her? Listen, the gods will. I warn you don’t go too far about this. The hen knows how to count its eggs when it noticed more of its eggs are missing. You have committed an upset already. You desist now before it becomes too late. You must stop this useless running around, and consulting sorcerers. Let that woman live in peace—” He glared at him, this time with so much hatred.