18 Sleeping with one eye open

Ego has been sleeping with one eye open since her escape from the forest. After what she thought were just a few minutes, she felt the presence of someone in the room. The person sat down beside her on the bed; tapped her softly on her hands and whispered into her ears "Ego, wake up, it's me!" She warily opened her eyes to see the old lady smiling cheekily beside her on the bed; she was dressed in a white wrapper that covered from her breast down to knees. The covering from her breast to knees shows that she is an elderly or married woman. The choice of a white wrapper shows that she is a priestess or a spiritual person. The wrapper was also decorated with broken mirrors and cowries. Her grey hairs looked so unkempt and tattered like the roof of an abandoned hut.

She was so shocked and terrified at the sight of the old lady that she fell off the bed. With a horrified voice, she threw a series of questions at the woman, "What are you doing here by this time of the night? How did you even get in? What do you want from me again? She paused to take a break before continuing

"How did you even know I live here?"

The old lady answered none of the questions; instead without uttering any word, she offered help by stretching her hand toward her on the floor. Ego ignored her and turned away slightly like a child rejecting a bitter herb. Seeing Ego's reaction, the old lady started providing answers to the questions she was asked.

"I came in through the door while you were asleep, I wanted to surprise you," she said with a weak smile that exposed some of her dirty old teeth".

Ego gave no response to her gesture; instead asked her to continue with answering the questions she was asked.

"I left my hut late in the evening that was why I got here by this time, I thought your village was closer, or maybe I'm no longer able to walk as fast as I used to; when I got to the other side of the village I was directed to this place by some women". She paused and took a deep breath before continuing "You are quite popular in this village I must add".

Ego could no longer take how the old lady was acting as if nothing was wrong; does she think that she was happy seeing her or in any mood for her unnecessary sarcasm; is it not obvious that she is not in the mood and means business? She had to put on her serious face to send a clear message that she isn't joking. With her "serious face" and still on the floor she asked her in an angry tone "What do you want from me?"

The old lady was goggle-eyed at Ego's rhetorical question, but she responded in a low tone with her head slightly bowed down like someone in shame "Can't one come to visit a friend again?"

Ego did not respond instead she just raised her brows while twisting her lips in a look that said "really?"

The old lady fully understanding what that meant continued "Well, I came to check on you" she paused a little then continued "You left in a hurry without even saying goodbye".

Ego stood up from the floor, tied her wrapper firmly across her chest; and then folded her hands just below her firm breast before she began

"So, you are going to pretend like you don't know what happened to me? What you did to me?"

Now the old lady was more surprised and perplexed;

"I don't know what you are talking about child" she then reached for Ego's hands and said in a calm tone

"Come and sit with me child and tell me what happened to you in the forest?"

Ego obeyed by going to sit beside the old lady; she was rubbing her both palms against each other as she recalled the awful incident that transpired that very night. She told her everything, right from when she went out to urinate, to her race in the forest looking for her and Ogologo; how she, the old woman, convinced her to join her in a safe house that turned out to be a place where she was tried and accused by her in-laws and a priest; how she was given poison to drink that almost killed her, how she woke up in a dark box and; how she finally woke up in her hut three days later.

"It must be the fever and the fear from what transpired before I found you in that shallow grave," the old lady said as she held Ego's hands in consolation.

Now Ego was lost. The whole thing was no longer making any sense. Was she trapped in another nightmare, she wondered. "What fever? Which grave? What are you talking about?" She asked the old lady as she removed her hands from her grip.

She placed her right hand on Ego's shoulders as she whispered into her ears

"I don't think any of those things really happened to you, the fever was probably messing with your head and mind; making you see and hear things that weren't there".

"I was not down with any nonsense fever", she said as she touched her neck with her left palm to check her temperature "I can still remember everything and it was all real. I was not just hallucinating; I'm certain of what I heard and saw. She shifted away from the old lady to the far end of the bed and buried her face in her palms saying out loud

"Am I going crazy?"

"My child, don't be hard on yourself, you are not going crazy; it was the fever. I can assure you". The old lady said firmly.

"How can you be so sure and you made mention of a shallow grave" Ego said.

"Yes I did, I found you in it deep in the forest". The old lady said looking away.

"So I was buried alive in the forest," She said wondering aloud. "It must have been those men that placed me there?" she continued in her cerebration.

"Let me just share with you what occurred that night; maybe it will clear the air for you to understand that there is nothing wrong with you". The old lady said in a weak tone.