Chapter 13

4:15 AM.

"Alakata, Alakata…Oh great and mighty Mukenge, ruler, and leader of our ancestors and us, Mukenge the great and thunderous one, shrouded in darkness as thick as tar. Let your mighty fang go forth…Alakata, Alakata" Uncle Joe with eyes closed, jerking his body in a trancelike dance spoke the words he intended to use to cover up his evil.

Nem Taseng and his wife though still moaning in pain from the physical damage he had inflicted on them, he was going to let the Mukenge finish them off by eating their flesh.

He had always wanted to explore the full power of Mukenge but Nem Taseng was weak. Well, not anymore.

A few moments after he started speaking black soldier ants started seeping into Nem Taseng's parlour through the spaces under the door and through the cracks in the walls. Before long, the ants had covered Nem Taseng's body and were devouring it. The sound of their devouring was so loud that Uncle Joe could hear it and it sickened him.

Only bones remained when the ants moved from Nem Taseng's body to his wife's body. Uncle Joe waited for the ants to finish their job and then he went into Nem Taseng's bedroom, got the bedsheet off the bed, and wrapped up the bones, picked clean by the Mukenge.

He was now the priest of Mukenge to wield and use it as he saw fit. He smiled as he walked back to his house carrying the bag of bones. Only Uncle David would miss Nem Taseng and his wife or even dare ask questions but he knew what he would tell him. As for the uninitiated village folk, it was forbidden to talk about the inner workings of the Mukenge. All they will ever know will be rumours and speculation concerning what happened to the former priest.

Some people said there was a cave deep in the forest that a former priest and his wives or wife went into to receive their eternal reward from Mukenge. Others said the former priest and his family entered the tree in the Mukenge shrine and were carried to another distant village to be the priest there.

Uncle Joe's smile broadened.

*

"Papa I had a bad dream," Amanda said rushing into Uncle Joe's room. It was 5:00 AM. Uncle Joe had placed the bag of bones under his bed and was trying to sleep when he heard Amanda's scream.

"You dream again na wheti?" Uncle Joe asked with slight irritation. He longed to sleep. The festival was tomorrow and he had just become the new priest - he had many arrangements to make.

"I no fit remember but it di frighten me" Amanda replied curling beside her father "Some bad thing want happen"

"Bad thing like wheti?" Uncle Joe asked "You don start that your dreams them again?"

"I no know, I see auntie and Big Mammy and they be don vex with you. They no like thing that you di do. They be really vex"

Uncle Joe's eyes widened as he heard what Amanda was saying. He sat up so he could look at Amanda's face directly. He could not see much in the dim light but he knew she was crying.

"No worry it was jus' a dream" Uncle Joe said but he did not think it was just a dream. Amanda had dreamt the death of her mother before it happened and being the type of man that he was, Uncle Joe took dreams seriously.

"Did they say they want to kill me?"

"I no reach the end of the dream" Amanda replied meaning she could not remember everything in the dream

"Okay, no worry, sleep you hear? Nothing go happen," Uncle Joe said not believing his own words.

He laid back down and waited for daybreak.

Amanda's dream could only mean one thing, Uncle Joe thought. Big Mammy and his sister, Asanga's mother were mad at him for Nem Taseng's death and possibly his hatred for Asanga. He would need to go into the spirit and talk to them but in the meantime, he had to keep Asanga at bay.

He eyed Amanda beside him; she was already dozing off again. He stood up and opened a small wooden cupboard beside his bed. The cupboard contained Mukenge artifacts. Among these artifacts were three tiny wooden statues. One for the priestess, one for each of the handmaids, and one for the bodyguard. Asanga's statue would not be functional since she had rejected the priesthood, but it would not stop him from destroying her.

He grabbed Emily's statue and started caressing it. "Take the sugar; feed it to your mother. Let the wrath of Mukenge go with her"

He said it seven times then returned the statue to the cupboard.

*

Otafion rushed towards Asanga with the sugar cubes in hand and since Asanga had her back toward him, she did not see him coming. Ruth saw him coming but did not realize what he was about to do until he did it.

He grabbed Asanga's cheeks with his right hand forcing her mouth to open and shoved in the sugar cubes.

Asanga resisted. She used her right hand to knock away Otafion's left hand that was about to deliver the sugar cubes to her mouth but it was not early enough. One of the cubes touched her lips and clung to it. The other one fell to the ground and bounced like a ball.

The cube that clung to Asanga's lips changed into a transparent liquid, seeped into her mouth, and forced its way down her throat. Asanga coughed and spat out what she could but the liquid seeped to have a mind of its own and was determined to get to her innards.

She dealt Otafion a blow to his right eye. He had paused what he was doing and was now focused on the way the sugar cube had changed leaving himself vulnerable to Asanga's assault.

He reeled backward clutching his eye and groaning in pain but he quickly recovered and made a move to pick up the other sugar cube. Ruth intervened.

She grabbed him from behind his neck as he stooped to pick up the cube pulling him back up before he could pick it up. Otafion ignored the fact that Ruth was a member of his church and delivered two blows to her with his right elbow in a bid to shake her off.

Ruth clung on. She used her teeth to inflict damage on Otafion's back. She pulled as hard as she could intending to tear some flesh off Otafion's back with her teeth. When she saw her actions were futile because of Otafion's clothing, she changed her focus to his left ear.

Otafion screamed in pain as blood gushed out from his ear. He grabbed Ruth with all his might and flung her to the ground in front of him. He then delivered two kicks to her abdomen that caused her to squirm in pain.

Asanga had recovered from the choking effects of the liquid sugar seeping down her throat and had found a dislodged pavement stone. She grabbed and rushed toward Otafion who had pushed Ruth aside to pick up the sugar.

The University of Buea required every student to take a discipline in sports in the first year. When Asanga was a freshman, she had wanted to register for basketball but when she went to enroll, she found that the line for students to enroll was too long. She found that the line was endless for most of the other sports. Then she saw a man seated alone with his list in his hand. When she asked him which sport discipline he was enrolling for, he said judo. Asanga reluctantly enrolled but it turned out to be interesting. The Judo teacher was a francophone but he found a way to explain what he meant as he taught Asanga and a handful of other students who had enrolled.

With time Asanga grew to love Judo and looked forward to the class which was held every Thursday afternoon. She had even considered going to represent UB in the University games, which were to take place in Ngaoundere that year but she changed her mind when she found out that you could only get to Ngaoundere by train.

She had mastered both defense and attack moves, so with Otafion in front of her hurting Ruth, she dealt him two consecutive punches with her right and then left fists on his spine, just near the waist. Otafion groaned and spun around to look at her. Asanga hit him in his sternum and then again in his neck causing the wind to stop flowing into his system.

Otafion reeled backward, clutching his neck. He had never imagined that Asanga could hit so hard. He coughed blood-stained phlegm.

Asanga followed him with a kick that sent him tumbling to the ground. She turned to Ruth.

"Are you okay?" Asanga asked

Ruth only groaned in pain. Asanga tried to get her to stand but it seemed Otafion's kicks had inflicted too much pain on her.

"Come on we need to get out of here," Asanga said, then she noticed something.

The ants were no longer climbing up and down the walls; they were matching toward where she stood.