“I can’t wait for all of this to be over.”
“Me neither,” Okem said, shaking his head.
“Albert’s statement is the only thing required to close the police inquiry,” I reminded him.
“I pray when he eventually regains consciousness and is able to speak, he’ll do the right thing and put an end to this madness.”
“Only God knows what Albert will do. The guy is full of surprises.”
* * *
I hadn’t been to Luenah in a while, and with all that was going on, I felt bare without its influence. The last time I was there, my grandfather had mentioned that nothing was ever as it seemed. I had confirmed that to be absolutely true, just like all his other predictions. All the same, something didn’t sit right with me. How did Papa become entangled in all of this? And what could it possibly have to do with my purpose? I had been groomed to be queen, and there I was queen-in-waiting to two men, one lying unconscious in the hospital, and the other at a crossroads, waiting for the decision of the kingmakers. Neither man had taken the staff in real life, although one not for lack of trying.
One quiet afternoon, a feeling of restlessness overcame me, so I walked around my room, arranging and rearranging my closet as I hummed a tune. Next, I cleaned my bathtub which had received a thorough cleaning by one of the servants earlier that day. I was willing to do anything to keep myself from thinking about the issues that were constantly cropping up in my head. I wished to be in Luenah more than anything else, as I pondered what my personal truth could be. Rather than wait to be summoned, I lay on the settee and tested the limits of my power. A familiar force erupted inside my chest, pulling me with as much intensity as I ventured towards it. My feet had found the narrow path to Luenah. The sun was bright and high up in the sky, unlike the pitch darkness I experienced one of the times I was there. I reached the tail end of the path and sauntered into Luenah. To my surprise, rather than the seashore, I found myself atop a hill overlooking a wide stretch of fields. The shrine was in the distance, its resplendence in full view, an assault on the senses. I swathed a bee off my face. The sun’s rays on the rolling hills caused the tips to sparkle like gemstones. While I admired the sheer beauty of my surroundings, my grandfather stepped out of the carriage about three yards away from me. Excited to see him, I ran down the hill and entered with glee.
“Congratulations on making it to Luenah by yourself. You completely let go of doubt, and your chi agreed with you.”
“Thank you, Papa. I never knew this was at all possible. Had I known, I would have come earlier.”
“Now, you must have come for a reason. What do you seek?”
I went straight to the point and asked him what had been plaguing my mind.
“Why you, Papa?”
He paused a little.
“Coming to live with me was no coincidence, and neither was Okem’s.”
“Why Okem?”
“Don’t you see why already? Our destinies are intertwined. And by our, I mean all three of us.”
“I can see that now. But, I also feel you’re still withholding something from me.”
“You’re right. I’m still withholding some things, but I had to wait for the right time to tell you everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. It’s time, but before I do, I need you to promise that you will act with wisdom in getting the issues resolved the proper way.”
“I promise to do as you ask, Papa.”
“For starters, how do you think I left the earth?”
“If I recall correctly, I didn’t see you before I left for school that day as I usually did, and that upset me a little. By the time I came back, they told me you never woke up from sleep the night before, and I was devastated. That was when I found out you had passed overnight.”
“That’s right. I was already dying when you and I sat at dinner the night before. They poisoned me.”
My head turned suddenly as my bewildered gaze searched his face.
“They? Poison? Who?” I muttered.
My grandfather nodded his head slowly.
“I’m here today and not on earth with you because of Ozumba and Ekema. Together, they plotted to take my life, and they succeeded. However, they would not have been able to do that without the help of someone very strategic in the household. Think about this. Ozumba and Ekema had no access to me, I had never met Ekema, and I never saw Ozumba after the day he brought Okem to live with us—”
“What are you saying, Papa? That someone else was involved? There were only five of us in the house that day: me, you, Okem, Grandma, and Ifedi.”
“There you go,”
I was aghast.
“Papa, please don’t scare me.”
“It was Ifedi.”
“Ifedi? Don’t tell me that, Papa. Are you saying Ifedi is a murderer?”
“Yes. She was right in the middle of it.”
“Oh my God,” I screamed, feeling confused.
“That might be the hardest part for you to believe, but that is the truth. Unknowingly to your grandmother and me, Ifedi came to serve at our house through a reference Ekema had provided. Ifedi was carefully instated in our home to help them carry out their evil schemes.”
I heard my heart thumping in my chest as I listened to my grandfather. At first, everything he was saying to me sounded implausible. But as so many thoughts crossed my mind, and I recalled that Ifedi had come to live with us right about the time Okem moved in, a shiver ran through my spine.
“She administered the poison that killed me,” my grandfather continued.
I coughed to clear the congestion that suddenly built up in my throat.
“No...
