Setting the book down, Dzidzor thought and thought about gods. Even the white men have interesting thoughts and ideas about gods. However, she hated how everyone seemed to glorify this Christian god. From her research he just created the world, killed everyone and did enough to fill a book with 66 chapters and then withdrew, except of course to burn his son, who happens to shown himself only on toast and clouds.

Whether the white men knew or not, they were wrong about the gods. She didn’t know about all about the gods either but she knew enough and that is definitely not how gods work. Gods are not tied down and tormented by human emotions such as lust, especially since their bodies are literally the ground beneath the feet of man, the very air we breathed, the plants, the food.

Before she could think about the concept of demi-gods, an offending ray of light blinded her. She lifter her eyes in defense and sucked her teeth at the offender.

“Get out of bed”

“And do what?” She covered her face with the pillow.

“I’m serious”

“No!”

“Dzidzor!”

“Nkosi” She bore the pain on brightness on her offended eyes just to stare Nkosi down.

“You’ve shut yourself from the world for the past 2 weeks” Nkosi said rummaging through her closet for clean clothes.

“Last time I checked the world abandoned me” she said shielding her eyes with the Lord of The Rings novel.

“Well, I don’t care” he threw a black t-shirt and jeans at her, along with clean underwear. “You will leave this room and you will… leave this room!” Nkosi said with finality in his voice.

“Did you just hold my brassier and panties Nkosi?” Dzidzor said with amusement.

“I’m not in the mood” Nkosi said, strangely firm and aggressive “Get up, bath, brush your teeth, make sure you are fully cleaned and dressed and come downstairs and if I come back up and you’re in bed we both won’t like what will happen next”

“You’ll kick me out?” Dzidzor asked challenging Nkosi with a little bit of dread.

“Oh no. But you won’t like it”

He said with finality shutting the door. Dzidzor reluctantly got out of bed and removed her sweat stained and smelly clothes. She was ashamed at herself for not bathing in more than a week, but she has gone longer before.

Then without her knowledge she had a flashback about life back at Kpando. It hurt.

It hurt her so much she slapped herself to stay awake. Then as if by cue, she drifted to her hunter.

Who had abandoned her for 3 years.

Although this was not comforting, she allowed her brain to dance around the thoughts of Kafui until she was done dressing up.

Going downstairs she smelled something amazing. It smelled like cakes and pastries, sugar and milk and eggs. She run down the stairs and grinned loudly when she saw the feast.

Then her smile turned upside down when she saw Esi.

She looked as radiant as ever, her long hair tied into a bun decorated with ribbons and shiny stones. She wore a simple sun dress with low heel shoes and her nails were long and beautifully painted.

But Dzidzor was not ready to face her right now despite the food. As she turned to leave Nkosi was right behind her.

“Sit” The warning behind that single word made her sit.

Nkosi served her black tea creamed with milk and about 3 pancakes with rock buns and a fried egg “Eat”

Not up to annoy Nkosi, or make eye contact with Esi, she stuffed almost half of the first pancake into her mouth.

“Hi”

Dzidzor did not say anything.

“I said hi o”

Dzidzor hummed in reply.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Are you okay?” Dzidzor thought that was a stupid question but she kept in ignoring her.

“I’m sorry for being rude…”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t understand”

“We stopped talking because I insulted your culture, I came looking for you, you drove me out with…” Dzidzor breathed in again trying not to remember the girl “And now you are here. What do you want? It’s obvious you don’t care about me”

“Do not assume people are like you Dzidzor” Nkosi said, sipping tea “Just because you are distrustful and spiteful of people doesn’t mean people are like you”

“The day human beings are nice to me I will not be a spiteful and distrustful person”

“I had no idea I wasn’t human. Or Esi, or Bright. If we are not human then what are we?”

Dzidzor bit the other half in annoyance.

“I am sorry I didn’t speak with you all those times but I was going through a lot” when Dzidzor did not speak Esi continued “I found out I was betrothed to some guy. I was angry and I wanted to do this for my people, I didn’t want to run” Esi’s voice cracked “That’s why I did… that with that girl, to see… I don’t know. I don’t know what I did I’m sorry”

Dzidzor gulped down the tea like water. Nkosi sighed and refiled her cup.

“So, you really won’t mind me?”

“I’m angry at you Esi, don’t expect everything you did to go away just because you said sorry”

“You hurt me too!”

“Two wrongs don’t make a right”

“Ewuradze Yesu you are so annoying!”

Dzidzor said nothing and bit into the egg.

As Esi swore in the background, Bright came in.

“Hello all. Oh! Esi, I did not expect to see you”

“Hello sir!” She said with false cheerfulness.

“How is she?” he asked Nkosi.

“Sit Bright, we have to tell her”

Dzidzor’s head shot up. “Tell me what?”

“Is that Lipton? Oh, my goodness this is nice” Bright said genuinely happy to be there. “Nkosi please pass the pancakes”

“Would you like carnation or ideal…?”

“Tell me WHAT!?” Dzidzor screamed, causing a strong wind to blow inside the house, almost knocking down the kettle of hot water, unfortunately, the can of ideal milk wasn’t so lucky.

Nkosi stared wearingly at her and got up to take a new one, meanwhile Esi and Bright were rattled.

“I need you to understand some things,” Nkosi said sitting back down “Listen, shut up, don’t talk. Understood?”

The Nkosi she knew was kind and calm, never rattled by anything. He always treated her with kindness and respect and was always gentle, cool ice water to her raging fire. This time he was the sea, roaring and dark, willing to soak her through and through until she behaved. In his defense, she had been testing him these past days and I guess she hit a nerve she wasn’t supposed to.

Dzidzor nodded, unwilling to test the waters.

“The woman who called herself your mother was not your mother. She was slow in having children, meanwhile your father was walking with the whores of the land. One of them got pregnant and the one you call mother pleaded with your father to make the whore keep the child so that it could be given to her at birth. Your father agreed. You were born and your actual mother was used as a sacrifice to the gods, no one knew her name. The day you were born the chief visited your father’s house to discuss business with him and then two of this most hated enemies died. You were not always treated badly. For 7 years of your life, you were almost nearly worshipped. Until you spoke. Your first sentence was ‘Ametor Lisa tiam’, ‘Ametor Lisa has chosen me’. Your father thought it was because he sent you to the shrine often so you picked it up. But you kept on saying it, clearly and more elaborately, describing him in great detail. Your father got jealous of you, he wanted to be Ametor Lisa’s right hand man, not you. So, he hurt you and beat you, so that you will be defiled. Unfortunately for him, that is not how humans are left unclean. Nothing was working, so he sent you to powerful Vodun, most of them were in the council. There are some people who believe are initiates are curses, because of the unbelievable power they can wield. They are like gods on earth, working and walking like actual gods. The other Vodun do not like them, others due to others, others better still because they do not believe that no human should be given such great unnecessary power. I believe it was a simple matter of control, and jealousy. The vote was to kill you. As your father lifted his hand against you, you spoke in Lisa’s voice and threatened every soul there that if you died, they would wish to join you, but they wouldn’t, they would suffer immensely. But nothing was said about taking care of you.”

Nkosi paused to allow Dzidzor to talk, when she did not, visibly shaken by the words coming from his mouth, he continued

“When Kafui took you away, no woman has given birth in that home, the children are wayward, stupid and being killed like flies and your father has been sick the whole time. Everyone thinks you did it. The only way to clear your name and bring you back to Wagadu is if you plead with Ametor Lisa on their behalf and apologise to the council”

“I will never do that!” Dzidzor immediately retorted, her head spinning from this new information. She knew it, she knew that woman couldn’t have been her mother. The way she was abused, no mother could sit and watch while her child went through what she did. The suffering, the pain. Her chest wanted immediate leave of her body.

“Then you can stay here for as long as you like. I will teach you all you need to know…”

“So, this is it?” Dzidzor said as the tears that were clinging to her eye balls fell “People do things and I get blamed for it? People do horrible things and yet I am always the bad one?”

“Dzidzor…”

“Don’t, just don’t” As Dzidzor got up to leave, Esi held her hand.

“My father…’ Esi swallowed, “My father told me...”

Then it clicked.

“Your father was among the people who wanted me dead.”

“That’s why I’m here. I want to help you. These people are evil people, I want nothing to do with them”

“And why are you here?” Dzidzor said to Bright.

“Believe it or not, I care about you. I want to help”

“Help with what? There is nothing to be done. All I have to is to wait for death to come for me. I have nothing left”

“You have everything” Nkosi said “When you have friends who will lay down their lives for you”

“My hunter left me” Nkosi got up to embrace her when she broke down crying. “He left me and he never came back”