GHOST WORKERS(3)

GHOST WORKERS(3) 👻👻 

Genre: Speculative.

Duration: 5mins

The dark finally arrived. Having studied the time pattern of those men, Ejaita knew they commenced operation by 1a.m and don’t go beyond 4. 

At about midnight, he drank part of the mixture left with him and took on his ghost form. 

By 2:30am, while the men were busy with production,  Ejaita gained entry into their  storeroom. When he was done gathering all they’d stored, he sprinkled the mixture, and was let out.

By 4:15am, the effect had worn off. He went up the ladder, watched patiently the activities of machines that seemed to be running themselves.

It was showtime by 5:05am, when the effect of the mixture wore off the men and they became visible. They paced around frantically on realizing they were trapped, turned their storeroom upside down to at least drink and switch into invisibility mode. 

Ejaita went over to the local police station to file a report. Three armed policemen were assigned to go with him and get the men arrested. 

Daylight had almost completely eased away darkness when they arrived the building. Ejaita opened the main entrance and was surprised to see only three men in view. He was sure they were more than that. The 3 were clamped down and handcuffed. One of the officers was stationed at the entrance while the others went from room-to-room to fish out the rest. Ejaita stood gallantly at a corner with Casper by his side, looking around with keen eyes for the slightest  movement. 

A short while after, one of the officers matched out 3more men. Ejaita was astonished when it turned out they were more than 5.

“Hey dwarf, seems you've got a kindred amongst the gang,” said the other officer as he goaded out two more men into the opened space with the tip of his rifle.

Ejaita’s jaw dropped when he stood face-to-face with an older representation of himself. Just that he was a caricature of the man.

As the gang were being led away, the man pleaded with Ejaita to come see him at the station.

Ejaita was still looking bewildered when the staff began arriving. Everyone celebrated him and sang his praise. He signed out and headed home. 

On getting to his house, he opened the door and noticed an envelope that must have been slipped in through the thin slit underneath. It wasn’t addressed. He tore it opened and therein was a letter from Esohe. It read:

Dear Ejaita,

I would have loved to do this in person, I stopped by at the house but you weren’t in. I apologize for the way my mother treated you the last time. You have been on my mind since then. I hope to see you soon. 

Your friend, 

                Esohe.

But for her mother, Ejaita would have gone straight to the canteen to see her.

He took the sweet memory of her to bed with him. She was going to be the last thing he would think about before he slept when the man he met a while ago came to mind and stole away his sleep. 

After about an hour of willing himself for rest to no avail, he left the house for the police station.

Being the man who singlehandedly nabbed the gang of thieves who had successfully evaded arrest for over two months, Ejaita was accorded extraordinary respect when he arrived at the station. On request, he was allowed to see the man in private.

Ejaita was seated staring his look alike eye-to-eye. He was still trying to deal with the awkwardness he was feeling when the man revealed he is his Father. His face burnt with anger as he pleaded for his forgiveness.

“Sir, the only person you offended is my mother, and she has passed on. As for me, I never knew you, what’s the use?” 

“I offended you as well. And you must find it in your heart to forgive me. If not, both you and your half-siblings will never live a normal life.”

“What do you mean?

“Since I abandoned your mother while she had you in her womb, I have bore terrible consequences for my action. First, the woman I married bore me 3 ugliest children that ever lived. Compared to them, you are ten times better looking.”

Ejaita glared at himself in amazement.

“That must really be terrible,” he said.

“ Terrible, is you painting light the situation. Those 3 beastlike creatures have lived indoor all their twenty-something years. I tried stabbing one of them, but the knife didn’t go through. I threw one into the famous Achumba river, he was the first to welcome me when I returned home. Also, I have not always been this short. I just woke up one morning to realize I had shrunk overnight.”

“How can I be of help?” asked Ejaita after a moment's pause.

“Good. From inquires gathered, my first offense was desecrating the shrine of the gods by copulating on its altar. That wouldn't have been a big deal since it wasn't intentional. Abandoning the seed conceived was my major offense. I was told you alone can appease the wrath of the gods. I have searched all over for you. Today is the happiest day of my life.”

“Let’s get going,” said Ejaita without contemplating.

The man raised his shackled wrists at him.

“I will be right back.” 

He stormed out of the room. He was almost at the entrance to the office of the policeman-in-charge when the door clicked open and the man stepped out with the manager of the liquor company.

“And here is our hero, ” said the dark, average height manager, gesturing at Ejaita. “But for you, the company would have sunk to its depth. Mr. Ejaita, can we ever compensate you enough?”

“The best compensation you can give to me right now is to release one of the gang to me.”

With the manager's agreement, the officer granted Ejaita’s request  on the guarantee  that he would return the man.

The man lived  three towns away. His spacious compound was as silent as a grave. Thick weeds demarcated both sides of a narrow path through which they got to a bungalow.

At a knock on the door, a tall, slim woman opened. Though in her early forties, her weathered face was as though she was twenty years older. She  brightened up when she saw Ejaita behind her husband.

“You are welcome,” she said softly, stepping out of the way.

As Ejaita walked into the body of the living-room, he nearly jumped out his skin when he saw the three persons the man talked about, wished he had prepped him ahead by being more descriptive. 

They were two males and a female, stunted just like him, with big, rounded head bearing egg-like eyeballs barely staying within their sockets, wide ears that covered the sides of their faces, nostrils a pestle could fit in, very long hairs sticking out of every available pores on their skins.

Ejaita had never seen a girl with such incredible breasts  They were like two full-blown pregnancies. It was a horrific sight indeed. It took all the nerves and fibers in his body to keep from fleeing out the door. 

As soon as the man picked what he had come for, Ejaita couldn’t wait for them to get on with the mission. He never imagined he would see his hometown again. He thought of his mother every step of the way. They stopped in front of a compound. It was obvious they had arrived at their destination. A palm tree with red wrapper twirled around it was on the right, and another like it on the left. 

“Stop there!” a firm voice from within brought them to a halt.

“Only the special one of the gods is allowed to come in. I have waited all my life for this day. Welcome back Ejaita.”

Ejaita proceeded alone from there. He wondered how whoever it was that spoke knew his name. On entering into a mud house, he saw a man with skinned haircut, thick beards and mustache covering most of his mouth. He sat in the midst of many graven image clad in a white wrapper hung around his waist.

“The eyes of the gods have been with you since the day you were conceived.”

The man took him through all he encountered since he and his mother left town.

“Whatever good anyone did to you was taken as done onto the gods and he or she was bountifully blessed for it.” 

Ejaita remembered Rukevwe; the site engineer. After the construction was completed, he landed a big contract that took him abroad. Esohe said her mother didn’t spend a dime in the setting up of the canteen.

“And those who hurt you faced the wrath of the gods.”

Ovie and his father came to mind.

“Have you been told what you are here for?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

The priest called in a young boy and sent him to Ejaita’s father to collect money and buy all the necessary items needed.

He was expected to lay naked on the altar for three days and nights during which he would take just a kolanut in the morning, afternoon and night. After which he would cleanse the shrine by dipping a branch of palm leaf in schnapps drink that had been poured in a calabash and left to ferment all through the 3days.  

At the end of the rituals, Ejaita felt light. It was as a result of the fast of course. He was given concoction to eat and schnapps to drink over it. His father stayed out there all through. He returned him to the station as soon as they were through and headed home.

Ejaita was so fagged out he slept for 12hours at stretch. Sunlight was shimmering in through the window when he awoke. He glanced at the clock and noticed it was quarter of nine. Casper raised his head from underneath the table, growled at him and began barking. Then he noticed his upper and lower limbs had elongated. He jumped out of bed and went for the mirror. He was shocked at his fine looks. He tried on his trouser and it fitted as short, cut off the sleeves of his shirt, wore it and raced to the station bare footed. 

With the crowd he met at the station, it was obvious something was happening. He looked and saw his father in their midst, tall in torn shirt and short. Beside him were his half-siblings, about his height. They were the most beautiful humans he ever met. 

At the canteen, Esohe was standing by the selling cubicle when she noticed the frantic movements of patrons. She was still wondering what was wrong when Casper emerged and leaped onto her. They both went down. The dog stood over her,  licked her face all over. She held onto his fat neck as she helped herself up. The dog stood pacing the floor back and forth at the stares of everyone, barking pointedly at the entrance. Esohe sensed Ejaita was somewhere around. She hoped he wasn't in trouble as she followed the dog. 

Outside the canteen, was a tall, charming, handsome man in sky blue long sleeve tucked in white trouser.  He bent and rubbed the dog’s back as he ran onto him. 

Esohe was confused. The man before her was nothing like Ejaita, except for some facial resemblance.

“It’s me, Ejaita.”

Esohe drew close, but she still couldn't believe. 

It took Ejaita narrating what happened to him in the last few days and some one-on-one private discussion they shared in the past before she was convinced.

“Esohe, please make me the happiest man on earth by becoming my wife, ” said Ejaita, looking into Esohe's dark eyes, holding her slim hand.

Esohe was dumbfounded. She pulled him into the canteen and took him over to her mother at the front.

“Mama, meet my friend.”

The woman looked at Ejaita, his face was familiar.

“You have met him before. He is the same weird looking dwarf you saw the other day, ” said Esohe.

"How come with the transformation?” 

 

“It’s a long story ma,” said Ejaita.

“Mama, he has asked me to marry him.”

In a long pause,  the woman contemplated if to give her consent or not.

“Plssss mama."

Some patrons who stood by were listening to the conversation.

“Plssss mama,” they said, mimicking Esohe.

Her mother burst into laugher. Excitement filled the air as she nodded a ‘Yes’

“Let’s go for a stroll,” said Esohe, taking Ejaita’s hand. 

All eyes were on them as they walked hand-in-hand out of the canteen, with Casper by their side, wagging his tail along.

THE END.

©2020

Eruditegoks.