The Priest chanted some incantations silently and released the powder into the air. She thanked the Priest and gave him some money before she left for the door. She seemed angry while the Priest was glad making a destructive charm just once again.
Mr Patrick, a medium-height man of about 35 years came out of his factory in a fitted air-conditioned Honda Accord, looking young and energetic though slightly frowning perhaps at the gateman who delayed him a bit by refusing to open the gate on time. A handsome looking man with tall slim legs and an erect posture, he wore a blue-black suit on a pant trouser. His presence is convincingly obtrusive with the manner in which he wields his managerial powers with great tenacity over the workers. A good picture of his personality can be summarized in one phrase ‘an authoritarian’. He is the General Manager of Creutz-Feldt Group of Companies. He is in charge of managing the welfare of the workers, recruitment and promotion of staffs. His authoritative character is also obvious through his sexual relationship with female staffs. Miss Aduke Thomas, the secretary of the company, is one of his victims. She had been abused quadruple times by Mr Patrick who pressurized her for sex before he nodded his approval to her promotion to the post of the secretary.
Six months after the episodic assaults from Mr Pat, Aduke wrote a letter of resignation to the company. The letter should have been received by the Managing Director himself, but she was referred to Mr Pat whose supposed credibility is trusted. On receiving the letter, Mr Pat was shocked by the content of the letter which reads thus:
10th Oct 2001
The C.E.O,
Creutz-Feldt Group of Companies,
Ogbomosho, Nigeria.
Dear Sir,
LETTER OF RESIGNATION
Due to my series of exposures and experiences in this company I wish to move forward in my career. I would have loved to remain in the company, but my recent ordeals are antagonising. I have been assaulted in so many ways which the purview of this letter cannot cover. I hereby wish to resign from the company.
Yours sincerely,
Aduke Thomas.
What is the meaning of this letter? Are you resigning because of me? Who is assaulting you? These questions were too much for Aduke to answer; she kept mute with her visage lowered. Mr Pat continued, what do you think the MD will do if he sees this letter? ‘’ I love you and I want to continue this clandestine relationship of ours till we move to the next level’’. She broke the silence in annoyance and roared like a lion sighting its prey. “What are you talking about? You deflowered me, exploited me and made me commit heinous crimes against my fiancée just because you want to help me retain my job and promote me, you can take your job, take this office and everything, but leave me alone!”.
This long exchange of words lingered for about 30 minutes when the door suddenly opened. The scene and its raging theme subsided when Alade, Aduke’s long-time fiancée, entered with their wedding invitation card in his hands. “Aduke! Aduke! Aduke! So this is what you’ve been doing. You’ll turn me down whenever I ask us to mate not knowing that you’ve been feeding your boss with my to-be possession. I am ashamed of you. This wedding is cancelled and everything that ever transpired between us is henceforth over’. He slammed the door and left angrily.
Aduke lost her job and partner in the long-run because of Mr Pat. She left for the village to meet her father’s brother named Ajadi who is a herbalist. She narrated everything between herself and Mr Pat to him and coaxed him to prepare a charm to make Mr Pat mad and die after some weeks. The herbalist inclined without hesitation and released the charm. The charm took instant effect on Pat who ran mad in a matter of seconds. People got hold of him and tied him in order to stop him from escaping to the street. After several weeks of mental derangement without cure, the countdown for his death drew nigh. He was transferred to his village by friends to be cured by the same herbalist who charmed him.
After consulting the oracle, it was revealed by the oracle that the mad-man has blood ties with Ajadi. Though strange, Ajadi was reminded by the oracle of his lost son of 20 years ago whom he looked for to no avail. The oracle also made him know that he made his son mad while avenging his niece’s wrath. He exclaimed “ha, mo gbe o! So I charmed my son because of my niece”. However, the charm is to reach its climax in three days’ and eventually result in Pat’s untimely death.
All efforts to reinstate Pat proved futile. The concoctions and medications to revive him did not work until Pat kicked the bucket on the third day. Ajadi wept sore for the death of his only child. “Anyway, Aduke’s father is dead and the connection between Aduke and I is therefore breached”, thought Ajadi. He decided to kill Aduke for causing him such a horrible error. He had prepared the charm for Aduke’s death when the policemen came to arrest him for supplying a gang of armed robbers with charms and weapons. The armed robbers were caught and his name was mentioned as their Godfather.
On hearing the arrest of his uncle, Aduke ran to the police station where Ajadi was reprimanded. She cried and pleaded for the bail of Ajadi. Fortunately, Aduke was able to get bail of his uncle with a huge amount of money. However, Ajadi continued in his bid to kill Aduke not regarding the stress she went through to bail him. He planned to release the charm after his case in the court. Unfortunately, however, the judge ordered for his execution after finding him guilty of aiding crime and other criminal offences.
In the final analysis, Aduke lost her hard-earned job, Alade her beloved partner, Mr Pat her adulterous cousin and Ajadi her wicked uncle.
Consequently, these questions come to my mind; can we really blame Ajadi for his actions? What helped Aduke escape the death hunt? Is there anything to gain in fornication, considering its usually unfortunate outcomes? Was Alade wrong in cancelling the wedding with Aduke? What is the role of fate in this piece?
