With The Devil

Episode 5

Cont’d:
By the time I woke up the next day,everyone has gone to church.

As Catholics,my mum usually attends the first mass of the day,so,she was the first person that came back that day as usual. But as the expression on her face shows,she wasn’t happy that I didn’t go to church..She then quipped in that I should make sure I attend the evening mass..And that was it!
…………..

“So which one dey go?” Ebenezer asked me.

“I really have no one in mind. I rarely go out myself,so I wouldn’t know actually which one is better” I replied.

“Na wa to u o,upon say u be nwa aba,yet u no sabi all this things!” He quipped in jokingly.

“Na u sabi!” I replied back!
This made me remember one incident that happened in my boarding school days. We were in Ss1 then.

Ekene,Fenian and I wanted to go and buy certain things for our upkeep in school,so as I mandated, we decided to take permission from the auxiliary then,and it was granted.

Of the three of us,I was the only one not from around that local government, am an outsider! As is inherent in local peeps,they both bragged that they knew every in and out of the village we were in in particular, and have vast knowledge of its surrounding vicinities. I felt safe going out with them,but when they exceed their bragging limit,I would remind them that I had earlier told them that we should have sneaked out instead of taking that permission. The permission card is time limited,sneaking was unlimited and your whereabout will not be in jeopardy..sU-Ckers!
……………

We finished our business outside school,bought everything we want,went to our normal joint and ate good food before we started coming back.

The time was within 2pm and 3pm.
On our way back,we saw two girls like that going to hell-knows-where and my friends said we should follow them. Yea,just follow them,after all our permission ends at 6pm.Already, we didn’t want to go to afternoon prep but we wanted to meet up with Games period.

Back to the issue,as we followed the girls they kept going and I would always remind my pals whether they can retrace us back,they answered in the affirmative. Long story cut short,we entered enemy territories lost,all the things we bought was collected from us,the small remaining change for bike back to school taken,and except for the benevolent gesture and kind treatment given to us by a stranger,we would have been objects of a search party…All because Ekene and fenian claimed they are areas..
………….

So,we went swimming in the place were both agreed,which was “Terminus” near our school.

As we reached there,dressed up in our swimming attire,and as I was about to dive in into the pool,guess who was there in reality and flesh?

Pretty!
[]I got off the pool immediately, and due to my myopia,I had to get closer enough to get a clearer view and stop myself from imagining things.

It was her.

Yet,she didn’t do as if she knew me nor has been haunting me with series of flashes and unexplainable shift in realities I have been having,all because I saved her that.
“Michael why u dey look girl like this na? Loveth and Ujunwa and Blessing and Onyinyechi never do you?” Chinonso,one of my course mates and friend that likes making jokes but serious caricature said out loud,to the amusement of others.

I didn’t even notice when she came.
‘You guys wont understand kept ringing in my mind’ as I joined them in that pool again.
I went under,to the deepest part of the pool,telling them that I can stay more than three minutes,to which they replied is a lie!
I went in,swam to that deep end,and relaxed there,calmly seated at the floor of the pool.
I was there,with my breath held intact,I saw her again. I dismissed it as one of my imaginations and closed my eyes.By the time I opened them again,I heard:
“Welcome” in chorus,yet it was whispered by only one voice!

I wanted to climb or rather swim up,but I couldn’t.Then I heard the voice again saying:
“Stop struggling.. You will be fine!”.
I calmed down,and relaxed myself,and then Pretty came to me,held my hand,kissed it and told me:

“Open Ur eyes!”…. And I did.
All this while,it didn’t even occur to me that I was still inside the pool.So,as I opened my eyes,I used my last strength to hit the floor of that pool and propel myself up..
“Come guy,u be witch?” I heard Chinonso say out loud as I came out.
“Wet in dat one come mean?” I asked.
“Show him na Ebenezer!” He retorted.
He showed me the timer that was reading the time,and it showed that I have been inside that pool for close to 8mins,and that when they thought something was wrong and came I inside to ascertain,I made a gesture to them,showing them am fine..
I got frightened internally,even though I didn’t express it.
“That girl nko?” I asked.
” She has left since na! You no see say she been dey here before we come.” Ebenezer replied.
“At least you don know say I swim pass you,Rivers boy!” I joked.
“Guy you be witch I swear!”
He said!