Dear friends chapter five of the Holy Man is out...have been taking out time to put work together .. Hope you've been following the series thanks for reading
Officer Adams was the meanest officer Wunmi had ever met. He wasn't rich yet he viewed himself as the richest man in Umuda. He wasn't even handsome but he thought he was every woman's crush.
The fifty year old man was short and pot-bellied, his belly so round it swelled from behind his shirt like a balloon. Even the buttons on his shirt did not agree with his stomach because they kept flying off when he buttoned them too tight. He was dark skinned and had a burnt cheek, a burn he had got from some rebellious youth who wanted to teach him a lesson.
The first day Wunmi had introduced herself to him, she had wished she had not. At first, she was afraid he would link her surname to that of the popular Mr. Edward Bello, her father, the man who had done certain crimes he is now paying for. But no, it was with detest Officer Adams had introduced himself to her.
"A Yoruba inspector...Great..just the perfect person we need in Umuda" He had said, sarcastically. "Let me tell you, Inspector, I am the boss here and I do not like yorubas"
Her assistant was Mary Anyali, an old looking spinster who was actually in her late twenties. She looked older because she had spent her childhood years in the depressing slums of the North and hadn't experienced what it means to have all the money in the world. She never smiled and hardly spoke. But Wunmi still liked her because she portrayed a remarkable and commendable gentleness. Co-workers at the Police station said Mary was actually sad because the man who had supposed to marry her had wickedly called off the wedding, two days to it. Wunmi wished she knew the man. She'ld make him pay by beating the daylights out of him.
Wunmi had been given the late inspector's house. She didn't actually believe in ghost but living in the house of a dead man with all of his properties still there, was one thing.
"Why are his belongings still here?" Wunmi had asked.
"He has no relatives, just like most of the police officers here" Mary answered sadly, her eyes boring into Wunmi.
Wunmi sensed her eyes seemed to be locked on her but they looked faraway, like they were seeing things Wunmi wasn't seeing.
Wunmi felt a shiver down her spine. Okay, she had felt she (Wunmi)) was the weirdest woman in the world but now she had realised that Umuda citizens surpassed her.
No one had to know about her father. If they knew, they would think she was just like him, a broken insane billionaire. But she wasn't like her father, no, not in any way. She knew her own goal in life, her father had missed his along the way.
Saturday night was extraordinarily cold but it was during this cold night it had occurred to annoying Officer Adams that Wunmi and her partner had to go on patrol.
"Why does he hate Yorubas?" Wunmi had asked Mary as they strolled down Umuda's farmland, torchlights in their hands, their guns strapped to their waists.
"A Yoruba corper jilted him two years ago. She had promised to marry him if he gave her his car. The next day, he never found her nor his car"
"Well, that's foolish of him. Serves him right" Wunmi said.
"We all say that"
"How many years have you lived in Umuda?"
"Six years, I was transferred from Borno"
Wunmi realised her tone had gone bitter so she didn't bother to push any further. If she wasn't ready to share her past with anyone, it was no problem. At least, she (Wunmi) would never tell anyone who she really is.
"How about you? Where are you from?"
"Lagos. I joined the police force five years ago"
Five years after being free from her father's bondage.
"Lagos is a better place for officers. Borno is nothing to write home about"
Suddenly, they stumbled upon two figures behind a farmer's barn. At first, Wunmi couldn't make out what she was seeing but then she realised they were people, a girl and a boy.
When Wunmi and Mary had stumbled upon them, they had been kissing but their appearance had interuppted them.
"What is going on here?" Mary asked in a commanding tone.
Ooh, they are obviously farming, Wunmi thought to herself. She raised her torch to their shocked faces. She was astonished as to who she was seeing. Not at this time of the night, alone with a boy.
"Janetta?!"
Then Mary let out a loud gasp. Her torch was on the boy's face.
"Francis!!"
*** *** ***
Francis was very handsome, Wunmi thought and she could sense why Janetta loved him so much but then she had later figured out why their relationship must never be told to her parents. Francis was the priest's nephew and he was also a monk!! A holy monk!!
She followed the young boy as he led her into the dark, silent church, quietly. He had not spoken a word since they had left the farmland but Wunmi could sense he was trying hard to plead with her not to do this.
She didn't want to do it. She didn't wish to report the poor boy to his uncle but Mary had said she would because Francis wasn't meant to be dating a girl, not to talk of kissing her in the middle of the night. Wunmi had stepped in and said she would take Francis instead while Mary escorted Janetta home.
"No!! Inspector Wunmi, his Uncle would kill him!!" Janetta had cried.
As they got to the church's podium, Francis turned around and gave Wunmi a convincing and handsome, pleading stare.
"You do not have to do this"
"I'm not making a choice, Francis. It's something I must do"
"My uncle is insane"
"He wouldn't do anything irrational"
They met the Priest of God behind his desk, writing. He looked up as they came inside. Francis had not knocked. Apparently, he did that most of the times.
Father Paul was stunningly cute. Infact, he was a knock-out. He had short dark hair that were as dark as the night. His eyes were dark and fierce and when he looked at you, they seemed to stop your heart from beating. His facial features were perfectly created like God had taken special care when he was creating it. Suddenly, Wunmi found her heart beating hard as his eyes moved from Francis to her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and time seemed to freeze. It was until he cleared his throat that Wunmi realised no one was talking. Wunmi made a warning note to herself. He was a man of God and she shouldn't bring herself to be awed by his beauty.
But what a waste of beauty. He could have been an actor, a model or a singer not spending the rest of his life behind a desk and leading the lost sheep to Heaven.
"Evening" He greeted.
Even his voice seemed to have an effect on Wunmi.
"Evening, I am inspector Wunmi, the new inspector in Umuda"
Paul looked at her like it was the dumbest thing in the world to be an inspector.
"Nice meeting you, Inspector Wunmi. I am Father Paul James"
"I have heard of you" Wunmi said and wished she had not.
Paul raised an eyebrow in question. Again, he looked very cute.
"Wunmi, warn yourself" Wunmi thought to herself.
"People have a lot to say about me but I believe in what God says about me. Sorry, don't mind my bad manners. Have your seat"
"That won't be necessary. I have your nephew here and I'ld say I found him in a wrong place at the wrong time"
Paul's expression changed and he glared at Francis. Francis didn't even bother to look up.
"You mean, not at the monastery?"
"I found him with Janetta"
Paul looked like he was on the verge of springing out of his chair and pouncing on Francis. But he seemed to calm himself.
"Is this true, Francis? Answer me, is it?!!!"
"Wait, Father Paul, before you go so angry with him, he is just an innocent boy"
"Innocent my foot!! I have warned him but I thought he took to my warnings!!!!"
"Francis doesn't deserve any of your wrath. He is just passing through the stage we all passed through when we were his age. It's a teenage thing"
That seemed to tongue tie Paul and Wunmi suddenly remembered what Janetta had told him about what Paul had done when he was eighteen. Francis looked eighteen to her.
"Thank you, Inspector Wunmi for bringing him to me. You can go back to the monastery, Francis"
Francis looked like they had just told him he was the President of America's son.
"Go, Francis, I won't repeat it"
Francis hurried out, not believing his luck.
Wunmi made to leave to.
"No, don't go, Inspector. I'll like to have a talk with you. Have your seat"
Wunmi sat down, taking in the piles of scriptural tracts, novels and pamphlets on his table.
They sat in silence for a long time, so long Wunmi began to feel impatient.
"You do believe in God, don't you, Inspector?"
The question was unexpected.
"Well, that's a weighty question. I clearly do not believe in divinity"
Paul widened his eyes as if Wunmi's belief was the most important thing to him.
"Why is that?"
Wunmi wasn't ready to go into personal details with this man of God.
"Nothing much. I do not believe in things I don't see. Even my profession underscores that"
Paul chuckled.
"But do you know the greatest thing is believing in things you do not see. It places you above others who choose to be ignorant"
"I am not ignorant, Father. I've just made up my mind not to believe in anything that does not save"
"Christ saves"
"Sadly, he does not save everyone"
Paul studied her for a moment.
"Did you lose someone? A loved one? Father? Mother? Sibling?"
His question dropped a bitter pill in Wunmi's heart. She hadn't plan to respond but she found herself doing it.
"My mother"
"I am so sorry, Inspector Wunmi but we all have people who need to go in our lives"
"But my mother didn't need to go!! She was innocent!! She believed in him! Why couldn't He save her? She didn't deserve death" Wunmi said, not realizing she had raised her voice.
"There are a lot of things you need to understand, Inspector and it will take me days to make you"
"You shouldn't waste your time, Father. I am a die hard atheist and I wish to remain one. If you will not mind, I have a patrol to continue" She stood up to leave.
"Tomorrow, eight o'clock, we have our morning service. I'ld really love it if you attend"
Wunmi looked at him and said nothing.
"We are very different from each other, Inspector and for different reasons. While you wished your mother hadn't died, I was happy my father did"
That statement startled her and for once, Wunmi could see past those dark fierce eyes of Father Paul. She saw sadness, bitterness and pain. He had clearly had a bitter childhood and the man was simply seeking peace in religion.
"I'm sorry, Father Paul but I can not promise you I'll be at the service tomorrow. Goodnight" Wunmi said and walked out of the office.
As soon as she left, Father Paul reached for his drawer and brought out a sheet of paper. He took his pen and glanced at the wall clock. It read one o'clock.
Nevertheless, he began to write and wished the person he was writing to would understand him.
He hoped she would....