KAMBILI

Chapter 1... Erinma is Born!

"I'm afraid o!" She whispered as he made to lock the door after them. Uche looked his wife deep in the eyes and truly saw her fears. His head told him one thing but his soul screamed another. The weather outside was cold and dark, a lonely night that would have any sane person holed up in his house wrapped in warm clothing before blazing fire.

But tonight he was neither a normal person nor a frightened one. He needed to remind himself what tonight held for him, for them and no one was backing out till the deed was done. "Nonye, I'm not afraid. We do this now or never, you understand it?" His wife nodded with understanding completely wrapped in fear by the glint of fierce determination visible in her husband's eyes.

His body language shouted desperation, one capable of crushing anyone on his path. The man neither drank nor smoked so this wasn't any external factor propelling him, it was something deeper, very new to her. That made her more afraid 😟.

Uche led Nonye into the cab waiting for them outside their one bedroom apartment in downtown Peckham. It was a solemn ride which ordinarily was a short one but felt like a journey from London to Lagos on foot 👣.

Baba Issa sat motionless on a mat in deep meditation that left one in awe.

For one hour the anxious couple sat across him face to face yet the priest would not move or blink. Soon they got lost in their own separate thoughts too. After what seemed like eternity, Baba came to with a visible stir that caught Uche and his wife off guard. "I give you one last chance to leave here and go home and never return." The priest spoke sternly at last locking gaze with his visitor. "Baba no!" Now Nonye had to tap him. "Are you sure?" She mouthed her, eyes bulging with surprise at her husband's demeanor. He nodded his response refusing to pay her any mind. "It's now or never walahi!" He told the priest who bid him come on the mat. Uche was asked to sit beside him and as soon as he did, he lost touch with reality. Unknowingly to him, he had embarked on a soul travel. To him it was but for a few minutes but to his frantic wife, that statue like position was for three full hours.

***

It was 5am when they entered into their apartment again. Nonye began to weep like a child once she heard the key turned on the door. "What have we done?!" She asked over and over again admist heart wrenching sobs. "Uche, what have we done?!!" "The right thing woman!" He roared in a very frustrated tone of voice. "This is the best decision of my life. I haven't come here to this mean cold land to die slaving for another man just because he's white and I'm black. Enough already!!!" She looked up at him from where she was on the floor crying. "This is not a joke sir, we've just played God!" "So?!! So? I ask you? Did God design one king and the other a slave?" He fired back, his emotions so raw, so out of control. "Well if He did, I just undid that tonight. I'm sure you can understand why?" His heavily pregnant wife cried all the harder though mindful a nosy neighbor might hear them and make unsolicited report. Uche watched her muffling her wailings with hands over her mouth and he felt the first flinch of remorse for the first time since the night began. By the time he saw trickles of blood sipping through her fingers clenched between her teeth as she cried non-stop, he went to her. She moved away from him. "Don't come close please." she protested weakly. He sighed and held her to himself till her small struggle abated. "We're rich Nonye, that's all that matters now, please understand." He cooed in an attempt to console her "We just sold our souls to the devil Uche, don't you understand?" She fired at him. Suddenly she felt him stiffen involuntarily. Hurriedly she looked up at him, knowing instinctively that something was overly wrong. "What is it?" He looked away and wouldn't meet her eyes when she demanded what the matter was. "Did you sacrifice me on that altar?! Talk to me!!!" She screamed now completely uncaring that the neighborhood would be awakened. "No! God forbid!" "Don't you dare call God into this man! What have you done, tell me before I shout down this town!" It was satisfying to see a rush of human emotion stir in her husband as he shakenly began to explain what had happened in a less confident during his soul travel. "I didn't do anything with you my wife, I want more out of life but not at your expense please and will you stop shouting?" "Talk" she barked at him her blood and tears stained face going crazily wild. "Ok ok. When I got there, I basically had options to make to arrive at the same results," he paused to swallow spit stalling for time and trying to arrange the story in a way it would be easier for his wife to digest. "Yes go on..." She prompted thankfully in a lower pitch. " I had options to use myself or you of course, but that wasn't wise to do. Who would inherit the money?💰 Options of a lifelong spiritism was available too but I thought that might spring too many suspicion. So I choose the only other available option which was..." He faltered feeling heavily the weight of his own words. "What did you do?" Nonye was whispering now afraid out of her natural mind. "I chose our unborn child!" He spoke at last breaking down heavily. She was thankful as a blanket of cloud enveloped her.