Read Episode 16 Of The Immortals’ Code
ISHIβS RESIDENCE
Ishi was on the most comfortable couch in the sitting room, his faced turned up to the ceiling. The television was on and tuned to a popular news channel but the volume was turned down. He was dressed for work even though he had no desire to leave his house. There was, by and large, no push in him to do anything else. He felt weak in his bones and joints and tried hard to do away with the tremors coursing through him like mild electric shocks. He had been that way since he left Victorβs place in Ogombo. The load of information he got and Victorβs suicide left him dazed. Etim and Lanre had assured him that Victor was half-rambling and most of the things he predicted were not going to come true, especially the sequence of events following the simultaneous bomb attacks, but Ishiβs mind had not been bated. It was clear to him that his life and the world around him were going to change and there was nothing he was going to do about it. His mom and aunt got it all wrong; he was no savior to his family.
βIshi?βΒIshi looked down from the ceiling to his sister standing before him. She was dressed to leave the house.
βFine eyes, whatβs up?βΒ
βI want to go to the salon. Come and drop me. Are you okay?βΒ
She sat beside him.
βIβm good. Can I talk to you about something?βΒ
βSure.βΒ
She put her handbag aside.
βAbout momsie.βΒ
Leah frowned a little, the light in her eyes dimming for a second.
βTell me about her.βΒ
Leah picked her handbag again.
βReally nothing to talk about. All I have to say, you already know. You visit her all the time.βΒ
βDoes she ever talk about popsie or me or any of us here in Lagos?βΒ
βMommyβs not sane. She says a lot of things and I donβt take her seriously. See, me I didnβt come to Lagos to spend my leave talking about her o.βΒ
βI know but just tell me some of the things she says about any of us.βΒ
βUhmβ¦the usual. Dadβs a bloodsucker, a vampire, a murderer, he pounds babies in a mortar, a cannibalβ¦all that stuff. Then, Aaronβs soul has been sold to the devil, heβs a sorry mistake for a first son. The whole of the Igwe family is cursed and theyβll all dieβ¦βΒ
βHow about me? Does she talk about me?βΒ
βIshi, you know she doesnβt remember you. As in, why do you even bother? After all the times you visited and she stared at you blankly and kept asking who you were. She doesnβt remember you.βΒ
βAt all?βΒ
βAt all. Why are you asking all these questions sef?βΒ
βNothing. You know what? Just take my car key and go to the salon. I want to stay in today.βΒ
βIshi, are you alright?βΒ
βI am.βΒ
βOkay o.β She stood. βBut with the reports of these bomb attacks in Obalende and Berger, Iβm scared.βΒβ
βJust go. Nothing will happen to you.βΒ
Leah took Ishiβs key and left the house. Ishi tapped his phone screen to life and speed-dialed Kyenpia.
βEresoyen, whatβs up?β Kyenpiaβs voice hit his ear, chirpily. βYouβre now calling me after boning my calls.βΒ
βHeyβ¦morning. Ehmβ¦are you at the office yet?βΒ
βNope. But Iβll be in a few. Hope kosi wahala?βΒ
βCan you please come down here? Iβm at home and I need to talk.βΒ
βOkay. So I should bone work today?βΒ
βYeah. Iβll have you covered.βΒ
βYouβre the boss. See you in a jiff!βΒ
********
Lanreβs dogs were in frenzy at the sight of Kyenpia as she approached Ishi at the backyard. He tried to keep them calm but they broke away from his hold and ran towards her at full speed.
βIshi, see o! Stop these dogs before I break their heads!βΒ
She stood still and waited for the dogs to get to her before she began hitting them on their heads with her handbag simultaneously whilst scolding them. The sight was hilarious and Ishi found himself laughing. Kyenpiaβs presence in itself was enough relief; the flush on her face stilled his tremors in an instant.
βHi.β She walked to him and hugged him. βWhatβs wrong?β Her hand went to his forehead and she frowned. βYouβre having a fever?βΒ
βYeah. Just a little. Itβs nothing really.βΒ
He pulled a plastic chair and she sat.
βHave you taken something?βΒ
βYeah, paracetamol. How are you?β he asked, looking at her tummy.
βWeβre fine. Baby started kicking. Yay!βΒ
βReally?βΒKyenpia nodded.
βThatβs good.βΒ
She waited for him to ask for permission to touch her tummy as he usually did but he only smiled, held her hand and led her into the house.
βSo, why no work today?β she asked.
βLike I told you, we need to talk.βΒ
He took her to the privacy of his bedroom and spilled the issues that were weighing on his mind. He omitted the part of the impending doom awaiting the country but he spared no words when he explained in detail what his family really was and how they were the originators of the Cabal. To conclude his story, he showed her excerpts from the journal Victor had given him, bits of written information in his motherβs and auntβs writings, revelations that left Kyenpiaβs blood cold.
βI heard about the massacre of the sixty-something orphans in 1978. Someone gisted me about it and they said it was a fire incident that happened when the children gathered to meet with the First Lady for a charity lunch. Are you saying your dad was responsible for their deaths?βΒIshi bent his head.
βHe single-handedly killed them and set the place on fire. It was a sacrifice, Kay. The man I told you about, who shot himself this morning, he worked for the NSS then. He and his colleagues were at the scene after the fire went off and they discovered the heart of each child was removed.βΒ
Kyenpia was horrified. She mouthed something Ishi didnβt hear.
βItβs all in the journal. I browsed through; Iβve not read it all in detail. I couldnβt.βΒ
βIshi, these are serious crimes, serious allegations. Itβs your family weβre talking about here. Are these accounts true?βΒ
Ishi looked up. βIβm praying, hoping itβs not true but even if Victor was lying, I know my mother wouldnβt lie. Davidβs mom couldnβt have been lying too.βΒ
βSo this is why Igwe disowned your dad?βΒ
βNo, he was disowned a long time ago, after his younger sister ended up dead with a knife stuck in her stomach.βΒ
βOh my God.βΒ
βAccording to the story, it was just two of them in the house. My dad denied it but Igwe knew he committed the act, so he disowned him.βΒ
βWow.βΒ
βAs written by my mom, she suspected my dadβs bloodlust came from the traumatic experience of watching assassins kill his mother in front of him. It happened in 1953, I think.β
Ishi leafed through the journal and pointed at a page.
βHereβs what she wrote: he told me they came in the middle of the night while they slept. They entered the room where he and Luke and his mother were sleeping. They shot his mother and were about to kill Luke when Igwe came in, shot one of the men and injured the other. Igwe took the injured one out, leaving them in the room with the dead body of the other. It was then his mother stirred. She had not died. She said she was thirsty and asked for some water to drink. Samuel rushed out to get her a cup of water. He returned and held her head up while she drank. He asked her why there was so much blood coming from her stomach, she replied βitβs because it is washing away all the bad things from my body. Blood washes away bad things.β So he was happy she was bleeding. Her blood, he said, flowed like a warm river. But then she died. The blood had washed away both the bad and good. From that moment, he had not been the same. He developed a mad lust to see, touch and taste blood, to witness that unexplainable moment when the soul leaves the body; and if he found nothing to satisfy that lust, he would cut and watch himself bleed almost unto death. How many times have I rushed him to the hospital because he cut himself? Yet they say I am the mad one.βΒ
Ishi stopped. He leafed through the worn pages of the journal. He found another page.
βI had a miscarriage,β he read. βThe baby died inside of me at six months. I knew the moment it died. I had a dream. A crow visited the house and came in disguised as ashen smoke. It had fingers that found its way to my bedroom and flung the door open to pounce on me but I woke up. That evening the baby died. The third miscarriage in two years, after Aaron. I felt Samuel was killing them but I didnβt know how. That day I waited for the baby to move but it didnβt. For three days, it still didnβt. I told Samuel about it. He was supposed to check me to know if the baby was really dead since he was a doctor and he knew how these things went but he didnβt. He was supposed to take me to the hospital but he did not. Samuel gave me something warm to drink and I became weak and couldnβt feel my body. I fell to the floor and he lifted me and took me to the room in the guest house with the red door. That room was evil. It room had the souls of murdered people trapped in it. I could hear their screams as he laid me on the table. I thought he was going to kill me. I thought I was going to dieβ¦ He cut me open and took the baby out. He left me alone in the room for a long time while I almost bled to death. The medicine he gave me stopped working and I felt pain. Terrible pain. I couldnβt scream; I was too weak. I prayed for death because I was certain he would leave me. When I started to pass away, he returned and stitched me up.βΒ
Ishi put the journal away.
βOh my God. This isβ¦wowβ¦ Your dad mehn, heβsβ¦
βInsane, devilish, heartlessβ¦ I feel that no words can be used to describe him. As a Christian Iβm supposed to forgive him for what he has done to my mother but I canβt.βΒ
βNo, you canβt forgive this, Ishi. Youβre going to be saving a lot of lives if you report it to the proper authorities.βΒ
βProper? Authorities?βΒ Ishiβs laugh was mirthless. βThe only person who can testify against him is my mom.β Ishi sighed. βAnd sheβs lost her mind. Painful irony of life.βΒ
Kyenpia pushed into Ishiβs bed until she was resting her back comfortably.
βI think you should release these notes to the public.βΒ
βAnd what would that accomplish?βΒ
βHeβs a respected doctor. It would ruin him.βΒ
βAnd the rest of my family?βΒ
βThey have hidden his secrets and theirs for too long, Ishi. They canβt go on like this. I feel disaster is coming to them. You have to be the voice of truth for them and for everyone theyβve hurt and destroyed. If they canβt be prosecuted, then they should be exposed.βΒ
Ishi said nothing. He stared at the journal abysmally while his fingers did a slow flipping of pages.
βI know Iβm speaking like the ex-journalist that I am but Ishi, you canβt just sit down and do nothing. You are different. Will you cover up their sins as everyone else has?βΒ
βNo. But for now, Iβm worried about you.β Ishi looked at Kyenpia. His hand touched her feet which were crossed together and his eyes lingered on them a little. βConcerning you and the baby, my family is not the problem. In fact, they have this huge party to welcome you and they will love you. The problem is not them; it is their staunch enemy, Davidβs grandfatherβ¦βΒ
βKentoro Abassi?βΒ
βYeah.βΒ
βHeβs in good terms with Leo.βΒ
βIt still didnβt stop him from murdering five members of my family.βΒ
βSerious? Thatβs news to me. When did this happen?βΒ
βIt is speculation and weβre praying that theyβre not dead but five family members have disappeared since 1986. In fact, Captain disappeared for a whole year and returned almost dead. Pastor Jacanβs twin brother, Silas, is gone. Captainβs mother, Uncle Maxβs wife and one of Igweβs mistresses and her daughter.βΒ
βNone of them were found.βΒ
βNo. We suspect heβs repaying us for the disappearance of Davidβs mom whom he believes Captain murdered. Kyenpiaβ¦Kentoro is not a man to be toyed with and I would love if you disappeared from the scene for a while.βΒ
There was no response from Kyenpia even when Ishi deepened his touch on her, massaging her feet.
βAnd if youβre leaving, you have to go far away, not somewhere they would think to look.βΒ
Kyenpia was disturbed at his words, and everything he had revealed to her began to drop on her like heavy boulders. Her successfully quelled morning sickness came to her in a rush and she felt the need to empty her bowels. She got off the bed and ran into the bathroom where she threw up. Her body wretched and violent spasms she knew had nothing to do with the nausea racked her. Her panic system had just been activated and she was afraid for her life and her babyβs. It was an unusual feeling, for Kyenpia had not felt fear in years. But this was beyond just a feeling of terror; it was more. Kyenpia had only one word to describe the heavy, dark presence that wrapped itself around her. DOOM.
βSorry.β
She turned in response to Ishiβs voice, after she flushed the toilet. There was a fresh towel in his hands waiting as she rinsed her mouth and washed her face. When she turned to accept the towel, he put his arms around her and drew her close.
βI love you. I donβt want lose you, Kay. Letβs be wise here. Allow me keep you safe from all of this.βΒ
Kyenpia felt her heart slowing and coming to a regular rhythm against his chest. His embrace calmed her and the wholesomeness of his body close to hers left her calm. She could see through his eyes that her future was going to be secure in his care.
βIshi, you and I were held captive by Islamic terrorists in Damaturu for four days because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But we survived. I survived and even made friends amongst the unlikely people fate threw me in withβ¦βΒ
βKyenpia, donβt do this.β Ishi held her tighter. βDonβt say what you want to say.βΒ
She touched his face. βYou know my story, of how my mom died after she gave birth to me and left me in the scum of her blood and death for two days and I still survived. You know how I went through hell when my sister died and I was all alone and became the clichΓ© example of the Lagosian that slept under the bridge and did whatever she needed to do to get by. You know how I rose above all that and got an education to get me where I am today… Ishi, you know I am a survivor. But you want me to throw all that precious history away and go and live somewhere in Antarctica or someplace no one knows?! Haba!βΒ
βKyenpia!β He shook her without meaning to and apologized afterwards.
βIβm not going anywhere. Tell the bodyguard that you people put to be following me around (yes, I see him) to up his security. I will not die. I will have this baby here in this country!βΒAnd with that, she left a peck on his lips.
βThat was for strength.βΒ
She said and disengaged from him. βCome and call me a cab.βΒ
ZORA HOTEL/IKEJA/ EVENING
Akin stepped out of the bathroom, cleaning his hands on a towel and smiling at his guest who was perched on a chair by the window. He sat on the bed, facing her. βSo what is the problem, madam?β
βItβs Jacan.βΒ
His guest, Omoayena, stood up and paced restlessly. βI think he knows.βΒ
βKnows what?βΒ
βAbout everything.βΒ
Akin rubbed the sides of his mouth.
βItβs about time.βΒ
βI just got back home from work and he was asking strange questions like βare you happy with the marriage?β and stuff like that.βΒ
βAre you?βΒ
βYou know I am.βΒ
βSit down, Omo.βΒ
βWhat am I going to do?βΒ
βSit down.βΒ
Omoayena sat. βI think I should just tell him the truth.βΒ
βThe truth?β Akin presented a frosty smile. She nodded and he asked again, βthe truth? Okay, let me make this easy for you.βΒ
He put his hands together and rubbed them in a circular motion. βI am Jacan, your husband of ten years and you are Omoayena, my wife.βΒ
She tried to interrupt him.
βJust flow with me here me. I am Jacan, you are my wife and you have this deadly secret to tell me. Soβ¦ go on and tell me what you have been hiding for a decade.βΒ
βAkin, pleaseβ¦βΒ
βGo on. Tell me like youβll tell him.βΒ
She struggled but failed to speak. βYou canβt, can you?βΒ
βNot with this.βΒ
She pointed at her bulging abdomen.
βDonβt use that baby as an excuse!βΒHe sprang up and towered over her.
βFor ten years I have waited like a little boy waiting for an ice cream truck to become his! I have been there for you even when Jacan was there and didnβt notice you! I made love to you in ways no man can ever dream of doing! I have loved you and kept your secrets and all I ask in returnβ¦ All I ask is leave the foolββΒ
βHeβs not a fool!β She faced him boldly. βJacan is a good man and I love him!βΒ
βYou love him? And me, what about me? Iβm just a ten year-old fling?! We have a plan, Omo! Stick to it for Christβs sake!βΒ
βPlan? Our plan was shattered five years ago. We were over five years ago. Five good years!βΒ
βOur plan was shattered? Really? Then why didnβt you tell your husband the truth then?! Why are you still keeping the affair a secret?!βΒ
βBecause you are blackmailing me, Akin! Youβre still blackmailing me!βΒ
βNo, Omoayena. No, my dear. I didnβt put your dirty laundry in my closet! You did!βΒ
She held her chair for support and eased back into it with tears brimming on her lids. Akin leaned forward and spoke in lucid tones.
βYou will have that baby for him and you and I and our kids will leave. Weβll go to Asia as we had planned and we will not come back. Do you hear me?βΒ
Omoayena sobbed quietly and he grabbed her hand. βDo you hear me?!βΒ
βNO! It is not going to happen!β She yanked her hand away.
βWhat wonβt happen?βΒ
He inclined his head to one side, his eyes twitching as he awaited her response.
βI cannot leave my husband, Akin!β She stood up and backed away from him. βWhat we didβ What weβve doneβ¦β She shook her head. βI canβt live like this. My conscience burns me. I canβt sleep at night. Do you know what they call a woman like me?β She asked with a fading voice. βAn adulteress. I deserve to be punished.βΒ
βWhy? Because you followed your heart?Β Pshaw! Spare me, abeg.βΒ
βDonβt you have a conscience?βΒ
βNo.β He scratched his beard. βI donβt even know what the word means.βΒ
βI thought as much. How do you stand on that pulpit to preach?βΒ
βWait, why the questions now? God suddenly found the way to your heart?β He sneered. βYou are a sinner, my dear, and your husband is no saint. When you go home today, ask him why they call him Jacan. Ask him about his past. Ask him why he became a pastor.βΒ
She began to walk to the door but he held her hand and pulled her back, looking into her eyes threateningly. She held his stare until he let go of her.
βDonβt go yet.βΒ
He picked his phone from the bed and got busy with it. Seconds later, her phone beeped and she fished for it inside her handbag. When she got it out and looked at it, her eyes widened in fear.
βHow didβ¦?β
βTell Jacan and those pictures hit the internet first thing tomorrow morning.βΒ
βYou wouldnβt.βΒ
βAre you daring me?βΒ
βAkin, please, for the sake of the kidsβ¦βΒ
βAre you referring to my children?βΒ
She allowed herself a moment of weakness, releasing into tears that left her body heaving. But she pulled herself together as she placed her phone back into her handbag. Fear still hung around her eyes when she looked deep into Akinβs and said, βmy children have had only one father and that is Jacan. Do whatever you have to do, Akin. I canβt live a lie anymore. I have to tell him the truth even if it will kill me.βΒ
βYouβll regret this.βΒ
She walked out. He went to the door, opened it again and slammed it angrily.
********
Omoayena stepped out of the hotel, wore her sunshades and looked around before getting into her car. Jacan, who was in a cab, parked in a hidden spot across the street from the hotel, watched her until she drove away. Then he got out and crossed the street, making his way to the shabby excuse of a hotel. He hurried in and walked to the receptionist, a lazy boy at the front desk.
βGood evening, sir,β the boy managed, not diverting his eyes from a caged television hanging off the wall. It was a Chinese movie playing.
βEvening,β Jacan greeted.
βUmβ¦a pregnant woman just left this place now. Please can you tell me the person she came to see?βΒ
The boy eyed Jacan and went back to his movie. βIβm sorry sir, I cannot do that.βΒ
Jacan took out a thousand naira note from his pocket and slid it on the table, towards the boy. The boy spotted the note and directed his full attention to Jacan.
βEmβ¦I think itβs room 2-0-something.β He took the note. βIβm not so sure.βΒ
Jacan slipped out another note but held onto it. The boyβs fingers moved forward again.
βRoom 202.βΒ
Jacan snatched the note back and hurried towards the stairs. The boy cussed as Jacan made his way up. On the second floor, Jacan walked to Room 202 and knocked.
βCome in!β Akin answered from within and Jacan burst in. Akin was sprawled on his bed reading a newspaper. He blessed Jacan with a smile that showed no surprise at his unannounced appearance.
βGet off that bed,β Jacan ordered.
Akin smiled again, this time in bursting impertinence.
βItβs about time.βΒ
********
Ishi had spent most of his day on his knees. Not that he could really put his thoughts together to ask God for a specific thing. There was so much to antagonize about and he wasnβt so sure begging for mercy on behalf of certain blood relatives was the best thing to do. So he recited Bible verses as prayer points and tried his best to put aside Kyenpiaβs kiss that still lingered on his lips. If what Lanre said about her feelings for him was true, was the kiss her way of confirming it?
After a light dinner, as he sat to watch a rerun of a tennis match he had missed, the thoughts of Kyenpia returned and Ishi allowed himself the fantasy of believing she was deeply in love with him but was too afraid to let go. The fantasy was but short-lived because his front door burst open at that instant and two armed men stormed in. They threw the blanket Ishi was wrapped in aside and dragged him off his comfortable couch. Lanreβs dogs behind were incensed at the intrusion. Truth was, they had been barking for a short while before the men came but Ishi had been so engrossed in his thoughts to notice. A van was waiting outside and Ishi was shoved into it. The last sight he saw was the crescent moon and the lone star beside it.
Interesting!
This is wat i call gbam! Spellbound
I hope Ishi is okay o
Hmmm, this Immortal Code na wa for the intrigues o. One thing after the other just been revealed. Cant wait to read the next episode.
Eh!!!! What did I just read??? Ishi had better be okay.
Sally boo, always d rocket!!!
The plot thickens. Thanks for this episode Salz
Ishi kidnapped? Things are starting to heat up. Why do i feel his dad is behind it?
Wow!
Mehn!!!
Too much intrigues, chai!
At the end of the day, it’s all about power, prestige, control and what have you.
Nice one yet again Sally
I didn’t even remember Ishi was kidnapped! Thanks for bringing the story back