Mistake episode 4

Mistake 4 (the end)

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Makuo had a very good friend. Her name was Linda. They knew each other from their secondary school days and had maintained a true friendship over the years. Apart from her family members, Linda was the only person Makuo discussed her predicament with. Linda had cried with her and suggested solutions as well. She also participated in praying for Makuo's freedom from the forces tormenting her. They had become more than friends; they were sister not related by blood.

In Makuo's dream, an event which took place when they were in SSS 2 was clearly replayed for her. It was as if she was watching a movie only that she and her best friend, Linda, were the chief actors in the movie. Back then, Linda came to her bosom friend with a sad face. That was after the biology teacher taught them about reproduction. In that class, human reproduction was the topic and the teacher talked about puberty and menstruation. He stressed that in humans, menstruation starts from between the ages of eight and fourteen years. He further said that any time earlier or later than that is not medically normal and the person should seek for medical attention.

Linda was almost sixteen but she was yet to experience menstruation for the first time. With the teachers teachings, she became sad and somehow scared. When Makuo noticed her countenance, she inquired to know why she was sad. Linda told her about the delay in her menstruation and her fear that something could be wrong with her medically. Makuo assured her that it was nothing and told her that people's body systems differ. She tried as much as she could to relieve Linda of her worry. Linda was a bit relieved and hoped that Makuo was right. About two weeks later, Makuo and Linda were in the midst of their classmates jokingly exchanging yaps when Makuo casually said "look at this one claiming to be a woman when she has not experienced the pains of menstruation for the first time. Abeg keep quiet when women like us talk". She meant that as a joke but their classmates took it up and started making mockery of Linda. They laughed at her and called her 'small girl'.

Linda started crying as her heart broke. Her worry which she told her best friend in secret had become the topic of her mockery. She cried bitterly. When Makuo saw that Linda was hurt by the supposed joke she made, she made attempts to stop their classmates from making jest of her, but they wouldn't listen. They rather intensified their mockeries and Linda cried the more. When Makuo saw that their classmates wouldn't stop their mockeries, she went back to Linda and tried consoling her. She told her that she meant what she said as a joke and was about putting her arm around Linda's neck when Linda pushed her away. In her heartbreak, agony, anger and with painful tears in her eyes, Linda said "you see this thing you did to me, you must be disgraced when it will hurt you the most". Makuo didn't mind what she said, she rather continued making efforts to make peace with her best friend. Coincidentally, Linda saw her period one month later and by then, she had reconciled with Makuo and they had become good friends again. But she didn't reverse the curse which she unintentionally placed on Makuo, and it stuck.

The curse lied dormant until it was time for Makuo to enjoy the bliss of life, until it was time for more respect to be accorded to her name. Then it struck in the most unimaginable way. After the cause of her disgrace was revealed to her, another scene where Linda was praying for her was shown to her. She didn't know what that part meant but she believed that would be her salvation from the curse. She woke up covered in sweat and started crying. All this while, the cause and solution to her problem were right before her and she couldn't identify them. She quickly called Chima and Linda on phone and told them about the revelation she had. Immediately Linda heard that it was what she said that had been tormenting her 'sister', she started crying.

Linda left all she was doing and headed to Makuo's family's house. When she got there, her eyes were already reddened from crying. She blamed herself for Makuo's problems. She met Makuo crying in Chima's arms. Makuo's mother also sat by the side crying. Immediately she entered the house, she went straight to Makuo, hugged her tightly and resumed crying. Makuo also intensified her cry while Chima looked on with misty eyes. As they held each other crying, Linda started apologizing. "I'm so sorry, Makuo. I didn't know I've been the cause of your problems. How could I have been so selfish? How could I have laid a curse on my sister? I'm so sorry", Linda kept apologizing and blaming herself. As if something struck her, Linda asked Makuo to kneel down and see did.

As she knelt before Linda, Linda started cancelling all the negative words she had spoken into Makuo's life and professing good things into her life. She called on the heavens and the earth to bear witness as she cancelled every curse in Makuo's life and replaced them with positive proclamations. As she professed, she cried in pain and agony as she did when she unintentionally placed the curse.

After a while of praying for Makuo, Linda knelt as well, held hands with her and continued blessing her life. She continued until she couldn't talk anymore. Her voice had been lost from crying and shouting. Makuo's mother came and held both of them, and concluded the prayer. There was no physical manifestation but Makuo felt the curse been lifted off her. She was sure that she was free. After the incident, she gradually assimilated back into the society and nothing happened. Two months passed and she didn't feel the strange force compelling her to do irrational things. She was very happy, Chima was happier, his woman had been rescued from the grip of the dark force. But his family wasn't having any of it.

They (Chima's parents) never believed that whatever that was possessing Makuo had left her. They swore that their only son would never get married to someone who had the tendency of infecting their future generation with bad blood. All efforts made by Chima to make them understand that Makuo was under a curse mistakenly placed on her by her friend and had been liberated fell on deaf ears. They insisted that no person with dented personality would share in their bloodline. When Chima saw that reasoning with and threatening his parents wouldn't yield any positive results, he proceeded to having a court wedding with Makuo. A move Makuo and her parents protested, but Chima's stubbornness prevailed. He relocated to another state with Makuo, wedded her in a court and they started living as husband and wife. He hoped his parents would come around when they start having offsprings.

Eighteen months into their marriage, Makuo had complications while giving birth and died in the process. Her child, a boy, luckily survived and was named after his mother, Makuochukwu. It has been nineteen years since Makuo's death and Chima has remained unmarried. I hope he finds a reason to love again

TOCHUKWU ANOZIE

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