1 CHAPTER 1

Tokoni aren't you done yet? Do you want to sell all those pictures you are taking?"

sister Susan shouted from under the tree she was standing. She used her handbag to shield her head from the sun like the tree wasn't already doing it.

"Sister wait a little bit, I'm almost done", I replied her.

It was the close of sunday service and the weather was very hot. The hotness of the sun was enough to fry an egg. Yeah yeah even tho not exactly that hot but it was very hot. It was my usual routine to take pictures after service every sunday.

As a fine and popular girl on Faceboiok I had to keep my followers updated, and besides every other person would also upload their sunday pictures, I couldn't afford to be left out after all my dressed to kill. The sun was in my favour because the higher the sun the better the picture quality.

"Tokoni you take pictures every sunday, It won't kill you if you don't today. I'm really starving, you know I didn't eat before coming to church"

Sister Susan shouted again.

Sister Susan and always being a kill joy. She played the "I'm starving card" like I had told her not to eat anything before coming to church.

"Okay, Okay fine"

I said rolling my eyes as I walked up to Amaka to collect my phone. She was the person taking me the pictures.

"Amaka bye, see you next week sunday"

I called out to Amaka before entering the tricycle sister Susan boarded.

When I and sister Susan reached home we were surprised uncle Mike hadn't returned home from work. Uncle Mike was sister Susan's husband.

He worked at the Golden bread bakery as a security man which he normally goes to work in the evening to return early hours of the morning. It was 12:49pm and he hadn't returned.

Sister tried calling him several times but he missed all her calls. She called the security office and she was told he didn't report for work yesterday. Immediately fear gripped her, she didn't even say a word to me before going up into her room.

I knew she was worried because they had a fight yesterday before he left for work but I was un bothered about the situation. All I cared about at that time was my empty stomach that was crying and pleading for food.

I dropped my bag on the parlour chair then moved to the kitchen to boil rice so I could eat with the left over stew from last night.

Sister Susan didn't leave her room not until it was 4:26pm. I was laying on the parlour chair pressing my phone when she announced that she would be going to check on uncle Mike at the bakery.

Just then an hard knock was heard on our front door. Before I could stand up to go check the door, sister Susan came running down like one who was chased by an evil spirit and swung the door wide open.

A dark short boy called Timi from the next compound was found shaking his head and trying to catch his breath.

"Timi what is wrong? Who is chasing you?"

sister Susan asked immediately but Timi couldn't reply her.

He was finding it hard to speak. It seemed he had ran a long distance. Sister went out of the house to the street to see if anyone was chasing him but the street was normal, no unusual movement.

"Timi what happened"

Sister Susan asked again.

"Uncle, uncle, uncle Mike"

Timi stammered pointing outside.

"Yes, yes. Uncle Mike did what? What did my husband do?"

sister Susan asked in a high tone, looking at the direction Timi was pointing at. At that moment the fear in her eyes became very visible.

I then stopped pressing my phone, stood up from the chair I was laying and walked up to the both of them at the door.

"Timi what happened? If you are not ready to say anything let us know I beg, my sister was on her way out before you came in"

I said giving Timi an ugly stare.

"Uncle Mike is dead, he was found hanging from a tree. He committed suicide"

Timi finally let out. Sister Susan's eyes went wide. It was as if something very hard had hit her on the head. She held Timi by his trouser and started shaking him.

"Which of the uncle Mike? Because it can't be my husband. My husband can't commit suicide. Tufia, it can never be my husband"

Sister Susan shouted.

"Sister calm down"

I said freeing Timi from her grip. I tried to hold her but she pushed me away.

"Tokoni did you hear this stupid boy ? He came to tell me that my husband, Mike committed suicide. Godforbid!! Timi it is your parents that will commit suicide and not my husband"

sister shouted then she walked inside the house. On reaching the stairs she turned back and went outside towards the gate. She began shouting and scratching her head like someone who was mad, she ran out the compound into the street then ran back in and sat on the ground.

Her shouting and the little display she did outside the gate got passerbys and neighbors to gather around.

She stood up and tried to leave the gate again but she fell back to the ground and fainted. Immediately some neighbors gathered around her and tried to revive her while Timi led others to go fetch the body.

I was left speechless and cold gripped me. It was as if I just came out of a refrigerator. without saying a word or trying to join the others to revive sister, I went straight to my room, locked the door and sat in on the floor beside my bed.

"Tokoni is a murder, she is a murder.

A pretty little murder.

Tokoni is a murder, she is a murder.

A pretty little murder.

Tokoni is a murder, she is a murder.

A pretty little murder.", I heard the tiny voices in my head sang.

"No no no"

I shouted as I covered my ears with my hands in hopes of blocking the voices out but their kept on singing.

I felt like crying but the tears weren't coming out, it was just as if the tears were locked up in me with giant padlocks and the keys throwed away.

I wanted to scream and shout but my voice was lost. The song got louder and louder in my head and it seemed like the ventilations in my room got smaller by the seconds, I found it difficult to breathe.

I began sweating heavily and my body started scratching. I stood up to leave my room but in my head the room turned up side down and I fell on my bed.

"Please stop", I managed to scream.

"Child of bad luck, child of misery, child of bitterness, child of misfortune. You have brought your bad luck into the home of your sister and you have killed her husband"

The song stopped and I heard one of the tiny voices said. This time around it wasn't tiny, it was loud and it seemed angry.

"No no no! I didn't mean to kill me, It wasn't my fault"

I said in a weak voice, still covering my ears with my hands and laying on the bed.

" You killed him, You killed him.

Child of destruction, child of greed, child who lacks knowledge you killed him.

You have turned your sister into a widow at an early age because of your lust for the things of the flesh.

Why Woyintokoni? Why Woyintokoni?"

another of the tiny voices said. This one sounded like someone who was in grief and sorrow, it seemed like it was crying.

This time around I was so weak to the point that I couldn't say anything. I could no longer feel the parts of my body, I could only hear my heart beat like a wounded puppy. I layed still on the bed like a lifeless body.