MY ENCOUNTER WITH A GHOST
'Blood of Jesus' I screamed and passed out. That was the last thing I remember.
"You're awake" a young beautiful lady whom I assume is a nurse walked into the room with a tray of needles, syringes and drugs. 'I assume you don't know how you got here. Let me call your mother and tell her you're awake'.
I followed her every movement with my eyes till she left the room. 'I hope that woman didn't follow me here', I thought as my heart started beating really fast.
' Nwam ooh, you're awake. Chineke nárá ekelem nílé ' my mum said as she lifted up her hands while looking upward and thanking God.
' What really happened?' she asked while looking at me with inquisitive eyes. 'You just started screaming the blood of Jesus inside the market and then passed out. I know you saw something and I want to know what it was'
'I... I... I.... Achọrọm ị ñu mmiri' I stammered while trying to clear my throat and wrap my head around what I saw earlier
' Nsogbu adirọ. Let me buy pure water outside' my mum replied while fixing her skirt and walking toward the door.
Left all alone, I noticed a fly perched on my left arm and a little movement of my arm, let if fly and perch on the hospitals mosquito net just over my head. All I could think of even as I watched the movement of the housefly was 'I HAVE SEEN A GHOST! GHOSTS ARE REAL'. Will she come back to haunt me? Will she appear in my dreams? Will I see her again? These questions kept ringing in my head as I reminisced what I saw in the market
'Ada, ngwá drink this one ' my mum gave me a bottle of water as she came in and sat down immediately while I drank the water and she watched me.
' Ngwá tell me, What did you see'?
' I saw Aunty Ngozi'
'Which Ngozi'
' Brother Okwudili's late wife '
' Ọbara Jizọs' She screamed and stood up visibly perturbed. ' You mean you saw Ngozi'? Why didn't you call my attention'
' I was not sure she was the one. Might have been someone who looks like her'
' how did this happen? Biko start from the beginning'
' When you left me to buy 'okporoko' from that Catholic woman, I decided to buy crayfish from Mma Martina. I soon noticed someone that looks like Aunty ngọzi buying bonga fish from the woman in the next shop. I just focused on what I wanted to buy and dismissed it as a coincidence. After all, people can look like each other.
' I pray that woman will buy crayfish today ooh' Mma Martina said
' which woman?' I asked. She pointed to Aunty Ngọzi ' that woman looks like my uncle's late wife. Her name was Ngozi'
' is that so?' Mma Martina asked while looking up at me ' Nwanyị a, her name is Ngọzi too. She said her husband's name is Okwudili and she owns a restaurant. Little wonder she buys so much crayfish every two days'
I started thinking what kind of coincidence this could be. I mean everything I just heard is what Aunty Ngọzi was before she passed. I focused my gaze on her while hoping that she'll lift her head and look in my direction, let me be sure I wasn't daydreaming. After prizing the fish she wanted to buy and paying for it, she collected the fish now tied in a black nylon, put it inside her Bagco bag and looked up. Our eyes suddenly locked on each other while she walked toward me with a big smile on her face.
' that's Aunty Ngọzi' I thought because she had the exact same birthmark near her right eye like uncle's late wife. She smiled thesame way and even walked thesame.
My heart started beating erratically and it seemed as if my feet was planted in the ground. I was too shocked to move or even run. My mouth suddenly became dry. I was just saying 'the blood of Jesus' inside my head but I couldn't say it out loud.
She walked close to me and said 'hello Ada, missed me?'
That was when my tongue seemed to have suddenly loosened and all I could say was ' Blood of Jesus'.
That's all I remember "
'Hmm, so it is true?' mum mumbled while lost in thought
' what is true?' I couldn't fanthom what she was on about.
' some women in our church group said they had seen her buying things in the market but I didn't believe them. Ka Chineke n'apu ekwensu ike ' She replied while taking her seat again visibly lost in thought.
Will I see her again?
Will she come back for me?
How will I tell brother Okwudili I saw his late wife?
This is a serious thing for me
