The Godmother

Episode 35

He looked at her and shook his head. ‘All these things
you’re saying are esoteric.’

‘Esoteric or not. They will come to pass. When you have
this dream, my dear Tope, it means you have three days
more. Just three days in your present form. There will be a
transition, and you’ll have me forever, just as you desired.’

The following morning, he felt much better. Thank God it
was weekend. That Saturday morning, Rita woke him up
with kisses.

‘Is my darling husband feeling better now?’

He smiled warmly at her. ‘Yes, my dear. I feel much better,
now.’

It was when he was having his bath that he remembered
the dream he had about Iye. Now, what kind of dream was
that? The dream looked so
real, as if it indeed happened some years ago. What was the
meaning of ‘transition’ that she talked about?

He suddenly stopped his bathing. Wait a minute, this was
not an ordinary dream! In the dream, Iye predicted what
had happened to him. But the
most frightening part was that she said the moment he had
that dream, he had only three more days to go. Three more
days!

He wanted to dismiss the dream, but the more he tried to
do that, the more he had convictions that it was for real
and that something was
about to happen to him. After his bath, he wore t-shirt and
jeans. He was supposed to meet Zay that morning, but he
changed his mind. Around
eleven a.m., Zay called him.

‘I’m eagerly waiting for you, darling,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make it to
your place today. I’ve decided to take a rest. That tour
really sapped my energy.’

‘Oh sorry, baby. I think I understand.’
Rita noticed that he was indoors throughout that Saturday,
and concluded that the baba’s medicine was indeed
powerful. She must really
appreciate the old man and must also show appreciation to
Aunty Wunmi for taking her to the right place.
That night, he dreamt of Iye again. It was a very brief
dream. She was happy as she appeared to him. ‘Two more
days to go, my darling Tope,’ she said.
This time around, when he woke in the morning, he
instantly remembered the dream. He became jittery. ‘God,
this is becoming something else,’ he
told himself. Something told him he must do something.

After his wife had gone to church, he called Zaynab.

‘It’s like I have to see that alfa again.’
‘What’s the problem, dear?’
‘There’s a problem. I’ve been having a nagging dream about
that lady. I need to let the alfa know.’
‘But there’s nothing to be afraid of after what the alfa has
done.’

He sighed. ‘I strongly believe I need to see him. Let me just
see him and tell him the dream. Don’t bother yourself, my
driver would take me
there.’

About forty minutes later, his driver parked in front of the
alfa’s house. As usual, his orderly and the driver would stay
in the car while he would
go in to see the man. To his consternation, he was told that
Alfa Ousmanou had traveled to Senegal.

‘What! When will he be back?’
‘Maybe in a couple of weeks,’ he was told.
Couple of weeks! If the dream was anything to go by, he
would be long dead, by then. He went back to his car and
put a call to Zay.

‘I was told the baba has traveled to Senegal and may not be
back until two weeks’ time,’ he informed her.

‘Well, two weeks is not too far away it to wait,’ she said.

‘It is,’ he quickly interjected. ‘Listen, that lady is saying I
have two more days to live. Two more days!’
‘And you believe that?’ she asked almost derisively.

‘I think I do. Let me ask, is there no other powerful men, or
even women you know? I must see somebody on this
exigent issue right away!’

She appeared to be thinking over it. ‘Give me some
minutes. I’ll do some findings and get back to you.’

‘Alright. Thank you.’
He was driven back to his house. It was few minutes to
noon. He was so agitated that he was restless. He paced
around his sitting-room,
thinking. Maybe he should call Iye and apologize, his mind
said. Or at least, he should call her and hear what she had
to say.

Luckily, he had not deleted her number. He unblocked it
and called her line. The service provider said the number
was switched off.

D–n! He tried the second number he knew belonged to
her and it was the same result. D–n, d–n!