AGONY OF THE DEAF
(Faded Feelings)
Episode 19 & 20
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Written by Author Nath
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Both light and shadow are the dance of Love. Love has no cause, it is the astrolabe of God’s secrets. Lover and loving are inseparable and timeless. Although I may try to describe love when I experience it, but now I am speechless. Although I may try to write about love, but now I am rendered helpless. My pen breaks, and the paper slips away at the ineffable place where lover, loving and loved are one. But all I know is that every moment is made glorious by the light of Love. Motherly love which Charlotte had for her son is part of it.
She stood in front of the largest building regarded as the royal house in the new land the Hugos found themselves. She wasn’t standing alone; Guillaume was right beside her, and other hugos queued up in two rolls from the entrance of the royal house to where their number limited. All were quiet, having the sound of the wind pass through their ears.
“Don’t you think we should let him know.” Charlotte whispered to Guillaume.
“No, it’s better to keep him in the dark until it’s successful.” He replied with a higher voice.
Just then, Claude stepped out from the royal building and all bowed down respectfully. He was well dressed like he use to; coperate black and white attire. He looked at them for a moment and began. “Life is about accepting the challenges along the way, choosing to keep moving forward, and savoring the journey. I have to journey to the realities of my dreams, our dreams and happiness. We all have to be patient. Creating your dream life is based on your internal happiness, love, perseverance and patience. It is an everyday process. You just have to trust yourself and enjoy the journey. I promise to be back.” He walked down to his mother and embraced her. “I’ll be back, I have to go make our future straight.” he whispered on her shoulder.
Charlotte patted his back without saying a word, not that she had nothing to say but how to say it was a war. Though everyone has their own ways of expression. We all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle. This brings silence and silence brings anxiety, curiosity and peculiarity which Claude observed.
“Is everything okay, mother?” he asked her.
“Yes, son. I hope you find true happiness in your life.” she finally said.
Claude turned to Guillaume who exhaled and quickly said, “Grace is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace but mere justice to approve goodness. Rather it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless and helpless men whom it may save, sanctify and glorify. May that grace find you.”
Claude nodded his head.
“Remember who you are and where you began.” Guillaume continued. “Do not look where you fell, look where you slipped. The axe forgets but the tree remembers. Trust yourself and strive by yourself. Once you carry your own water, you’ll remember every drop. Don’t set sail on someone else’s star because wood already touched by fire is not hard to set alight. Fare well, your highness.” he humbly lowered his head.
Claude matched forward in the midst of his subjects with a bag behind him. All stared at him sadly especially his mother who had turned to bid her son farewell. It was as if she never gonna see him again, she felt it within her but didn’t know how to explain it.
“Guillaume, I’m having some kind of feelings that something will happen to my son.” She told Guillaume as both watched Claude leaving the land. “I can’t be silent anymore. I need to tell him my decision.” she added.
“What has your decision got to do with his safety?” Guillaume quried.
Charlotte remained silent while Guillaume tried to give her more reasons to be silent by saying, “It is the fate of a woman long to be patient and silent, to wait like a ghost that is speechless, Till some questioning voice dissolves the spell of its silence.”
None said a thing again until Claude totally went out of sight.
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In Lagos city, a car pulled over at Claude’s old apartment. A huge man in suit came out from the front door, opened the back door and Ogechi stepped out on a roggered black attire with her sunglasses on. They unlocked the apartment before she entered, observing the interior building like a ghost. When she walked into the room, she saw Claude’s travelling bag still intact. On a table, she saw his comb which she picked up, drew out some of his hair particles that were stucked on it and put it inside her back. Quickly, she left the apartment. She did the same thing with Eniola’s hair when she went to their lodge.
Late Chief Emekus basement was saturated with an intoxicating smell harnessed by Ogechi who was making a deadly potion. One could see her standing full naked before a boiling pot. The color of the vapour was abnormal; red vapour evaporated from the pot. Beside her naked body was a book of the hugos from which she was trying the recipe. Lastly, she added the hair particles gotten from Claude and Eniola’s comb, she stirred the content of the pot, brought it down and filled a quantity in a bottle.
“Long awaited.. umm..” she glanced at the book. “Uhmm.. long waited derugo is ready” she said with a deadly smile on her face.
On the other hand, at Claude’s new apartment, a knock came from the door. Quickly he rushed to it and opened but couldn’t believe his eyes. “Nnanna!” he happily shouted and embraced him.
Nnanna walked into the apartment with him. Like a banker in a suit, he dressed, seeming charming like the prince of Persia. “Dude, I’m so happy to see you?” he sat down on one of the cushions.
“Me too, Nna” Claude brought out a bottle of wine. “What are you doing in Nigeria?” he popped the bottle open and began to pour a quantity in a glass cup.
“Ogachi is the new CEO of Chief’s companies across Africa. So she summoned all of us for tomorrow.” Nnanna replied, taking the glass of wine from him.
“Okay” Claude also sat down with his own wine while silence took over. It seemed like the same thing was running through their minds. So Nnanna swallowed hard, sat up from his seat and intensively looked at Claude.
“I want to ask you something and I will like you to be sincere.” He broke the silence. “Did you ki|| chief?” he asked.
His question did not only remind Claude his past but also generated tension in the room. Notwithstanding, he answered as an afterthought. “It was a self defense.”
Nnanna exhaled and leaned back to his seat. “This is all because of your blood and love. How’s she?”
“Eniola is fine. She’s in the village. We’ve been through a lot.”
“Yes, you’ve explained to me. As a friend, I’ll keep supporting you until you end up with her even as she’s deaf and dumb. In as much as you’ll be happy, you’ll have my full support.”
Claude stood up with the wine. He took a stap away from his seat with a hand in his pocket. “Yes, she’s my happiness and I love her. I’m just worried and scared because I don’t want to subdue her to any pains again. We’ve really been through a lot.”
Nnanna also stood up. “I don’t know what love is, but I know one thing; When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, sickness, or by thwarted friendship – when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally scared and speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us.”
Hearing that, Claude turned to him in a way both gazed at each other. “Thanks, man” he said.
“Don’t worry, after the meeting, we shall figure out how to set you up financially.” Nnanna dropped the glass of wine and shook his hand.