The Missing File – Chapter 3 Part 4

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“Nazaretha, Nazaretha, Nazaretha…” He was called and his body was tapped softly and hard several times but he still didn’t wake up until some quantity of water was spattered on his face.

He opened his eyes slowly on the three seater sofa where he laid, the first thing his eyes met was the wall clock, it was 11am. The time didn’t make any sense to him at first, he thought it must be wrong until he began to hear a faint sounds of a nearby church’s choir humming the closing hymn. That was when he realized that it was a Sunday and that the time must be correct.

He tried to get up but couldn’t. An heavy headache accompanied with his empty stomach restrained him, then his mind flashed back to the event of the last night.

He saw Mighty Joe helping him to light it and encouraging him to take a drag, then two and then more, slowly. He couldn’t remember how many drags he took but he could remember hearing Mighty Joe hail him and commending him for being strong, saying that there was a large quantity of supper awaiting him.

“I’m coming, I’ll get you something to eat now.” Mighty Joe said, awaking him from his reverie of thoughts.

Then he saw Mighty Joe face clearly and came to the terms that he wasn’t even in his father’s house, then all the circumstances that led to his coming there returned to his mind, he also recalled his ordeal with Ibukun the last night. Mighty Joe was the one who spattered water on his face, it looked like he was just returning from an outing. He was putting on yellow shirt on yellow trousers, a yellow handkerchief was also tried to his forehead, then the dressing was completed with a yellow supra. Nazaretha thought at first that it was yellow day’s celebration at Mighty Joe’s church but then he recalled that there was nothing like yellow day and that Mighty Joe wasn’t even a churchy person.

Mighty Joe left the living room and went into the room first. He returned a minute later after taking off his shirt, the handkerchief tied around his forehead and his shoes. He went out into the kitchen and returned three minutes later with a tray of rice, a cold bottled water, five-alive juice pack and a glass cup. Mighty Joe had always given him good food but today’s own was different, maybe because it was Sunday or because Nazaretha needed the food after the last night’s ordeal.

The aroma from the food gave Nazaretha enough strength to sit up, Mighty Joe placed the food on the centre table and dragged it to his front, Nazaretha began to consume it immediately.

Mighty Joe began to walk back into his room, he paused at the door and glanced back at Nazaretha who was devouring like an angry lion. He shook his head slowly and made a faint evil smile, if only Nazaretha knew what would have happened to him the last night.

*

It was after finishing the food and taking into his stomach two cups of juice and water that Nazaretha came back to his senses. The guilt of missing Sunday church service for the first time in his life overpowered him, he was sad and he felt weakened by the thought of it. He thought of what prayers he could have made in church that would have allowed God intervene in his father’s case and even help me in getting Ibukun, but he had missed all of them now just because he took something strange the last night.

“Are you going to remain there all day?” Mighty Joe said when he returned into the living room after thirty minutes and still found Nazaretha sitting in the same place.

Nazaretha sighed and got up, he picked up the tray and proceeded outside to the kitchen. He returned four minutes later after taking care of the dishes.

Electricity had just been restored when he returned and Mighty Joe was putting on the TV in the living room. He turned back when he noticed Nazaretha’s entry.

“Bro, you don baff?” Mighty Joe asked.

“No, I never baff yet. I no get clothes wey I go wear na.” Nazaretha replied.

“Go baff abeg,” Mighty Joe said, throwing a towel, new sponge and soap to him. “Water dey for my drum outside, I go find clothes for you before you come back.”

Nazaretha obeyed and left for the bathroom. After a total of fifteen minutes, he returned to meet Sunday and Chinko inside Mighty Joe’s living room.

“Oh boy! Dem don dey find you o,” Chinko said immediately Nazaretha stepped in with only his boxers on, trying to dry his body with the towel.

“Who dey find me?” He asked.

“Your mama and everybody,” Chinko replied.

Nazaretha raised a brow and gave Chinko a questioning look, desiring to know what he meant by ‘everybody’.

“Your sisters, your Pastor and church members,” Chinko said, understanding Nazaretha’s voiceless language.

“How you take know?”

“I go your church na,” Chinko said.

“Wetin you go do for there?”

“Na me and Sunday go, we think say you go come ni,” Chinko replied, tapping Sunday who was busy with his nokia phone.

Sunday was jerked off by Chinko’s tap, “wetin una talk?” He asked absentmindedly.

“We dey discuss your papa na,” Chinko said.

“Wetin una dey talk?” Sunday ignored his remark and continued with the game on the Nokia C1 phone.

“Shey we no go Nazaretha church today?” Chinko asked, tapping him on the knee again.

“Yes, we go na,” Sunday said after pausing the game. “Omo, that your Pastor first pikin fine no be small. Her backside big like caterpillar,” he remarked, licking his lips.

“You no go sense, sinner!” Chinko jeered at Sunday.

“See this one o, no be you first show me the girl when she dey waka?” Sunday said, laughing.

Mighty Joe who had been listening quietly to them and smiling got up and went into his room, he returned few seconds later with a neatly folded trouser and shirt for Nazaretha.

“Me I just dey show you say na usher.” Chinko retorted. “I no say make you dey look her back.”

“Na lie, you wey your ‘thing’ don stand,” Sunday accused, “you think say I no dey look your trouser?”

“Una two be werey o,” Nazaretha mocked both of them. “Na girl back una go dey find for church.”

“Walahi, no be girl. Me I like your Pastor preaching no be small.” Sunday argued.

“Make una tell me who dey look for me jor,” Nazaretha said, applying cream to his body.

“Una Pastor wan pray for your family, dem con dey find you,” Chinko said. “Why you no come sef?”

“Na something happen jare,” Nazaretha replied in stressed voice, showing his unwillingness to discuss the reason he was absent from church.

“Well, me I hear your mama dey tell the Pastor when dem come out of him office say na tomorrow go determine your papa fate.”

…to be continued