TWO WORLDS (2)
Adigun returned to the hut after fetching the herbs. With a few twigs, he was able to start a fire to keep himself warm for the night but he presumed that Enitan didn’t really need any warmth. After grinding the herbs and making it into a paste, he applied it to the cut on Enitan’s temple. When he was done, he sat away from her with his back against the wall while she remained on the woven bed and listlessly stared at the fire which kept making cackling and bursting sounds as it burned. Soon, she fell asleep and Adigun had enough time to scrutinize her now that he was sure that he could do that without seeming too forward.
Every detail of her body was marveling and he didn’t fail to notice just how beautiful she was. In fact, if he was to be just, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was rather sensual with long black hair, long eyelashes, a small nose, high bony cheeks and perfect lips that seemed pale. Her slender neck was obvious and her breasts which he could not fully see were so full and perky. Though, he couldn’t tell if she had any nipples because her hair covered where her nipples ought to be. When he let his eyes descend lower, It was as if her ribs were lined with several gill-like flesh, that anytime she breathed in, her chest and the gills at her side expanded then narrowed again and closed when she breathed out. Her belly was flat but she had no visible navel. She had wide hips with dorsal fins at the side, and he noticed that just where a human woman vagina was meant to be, there was a small slit shaped like a vulva, only narrower, with folded flesh lining the opening, and he instantly knew that was her womanhood.
The rest of his eyes moved down towards her tail which narrowed then spread into big double thin-flapping ends. Despite himself, Adigun felt heat rising in his groin. Yes, he was a Yoruba man and during this era, he was entitled to more than one wife but he was so poor that he couldn’t marry a second wife. In shame, he grabbed his groin in a squeeze and rushed out of the hut, breathing hard as he tried to control his lust. How could he even nurse the thought of sleeping with such a creature? Was he insane? She might be a beautiful woman but she was not human at all. Besides, what if she could read his mind and find out that he was lusting after her? What if she got upset and cast a spell on him? He was sure that even the village Chief priest would never be able to break the curse of such a powerful being.
Just then, the distant crow of a cock startled him and he looked up to the sky and found out that it was almost dawn. Going into the small hut to fetch his lamp, he quickly hurried home. When he reached the house, he began to look around for the fish which Enitan had promised that she’d transport on his behalf, and much to his amazement, he found fourteen large baskets filled with fish at the back of his house. Adigun was amazed and this made him more convinced that the mermaid was indeed powerful. He went into the house to wake up his wife and asked her to follow him to the back of the house. At first, she was groggy and reluctant, but immediately her eyes fell on the fish, the sleep instantly cleared and she gaped at the baskets in awe.
“Oko mi, (my husband) how is this possible? You mean you caught all this in one night?!” She asked in amazement, finding it hard to believe.
Adigun nodded. “Osun was really generous to me.”
“Of course she is.” His wife concurred. Immediately, the excited couple began to speculate how much cowries so much fish would fetch them. Adigun quickly put his wife to the task of selling them as he told her that he had another business to tend to. By daybreak, most of the villagers had gotten wind of the news of Adigun’s catch and had immediately flooded his compound to confirm the claims for themselves, and indeed, they realised that not only was the catch bountiful, the fish were as big as a man’s forearm. When they asked where he had gotten so many big fish, Adigun’s wife proudly told them how the river goddess had decided to bestow good fortune on her husband.
Placing two baskets of fish in a cart pulled by a donkey, Adigun rode to the palace. The Kabiyesi who had long heard of his fortune immediately honoured and blessed him, telling him that since he had been so lucky to win the affection of the river goddess, Adigun was welcomed to the palace anytime. People from neighbouring villages also heard of what had happened and they began to troop in, in their numbers to buy the fish. Adigun was so thrilled by the instant fame and wealth he had gotten that before noon, he and his wife were done selling the remaining twelve baskets of fish. Fellow fishermen began to query Adigun on how he had won the favour of the goddess. There were questions and statements like:
“What did you sacrifice?”
“What did you do?”
“Did you see her?”
“What part of the river did she direct you to?”
“Did she give you a lucky charm which attracted so much fish? If she did, show it to us.”
“Tell us what to do to? You can’t keep this secret all to yourself!”
“Let us share in your fortune, be a good man and don’t be selfish!”
Among all these men was the Kabiyesi’s unruly son, Prince Adewale. Prince Adewale was rather very cruel and was infamous for his vicious and rebellious nature, that the people feared what would become of them if the Kabiyesi was to join his ancestors and the prince was to ascend the throne. In fact, he was despised by all, especially because he was a serial rapist. Most men had to follow their mothers, wives, sisters or daughters to the farms just to protect them from being ravished mercilessly since the Prince and his selected guards were known to prowl the farms early in the morning or late in the evenings, seeking their vulnerable preys.
Whenever they found a lone woman going to the stream or working in a farm, his personal guards would instantly attack and force her to the ground, spreading her legs open and pinning her there while the prince would ravish and rape the woman to his satisfaction. The villagers loathed him greatly, besides his obnoxious mother, the Olori who supported his every deed. Even his father, the king was tired of his waywardness. All his efforts to stop his heir apparent from serially raping woman had fallen through. He had even sought the help of the gods through the village Chief priest but nothing had worked. The prince was more like a lost cause
Thinking that getting the prince married would solve the problem, the King immediately married two beautiful twin sisters on the prince’s behalf and handed the wives to him, but immediately the prince was done deflowering the two sisters and having them to his fill for a fortnight, he lost interest and soon went back to his old habit of raping women. Four months later, the king married two more virgin wives for his son but that didn’t stop the rogue from raping more women.
The king added a young widow to his son’s harem of wives a few weeks later but when the Prince refused to deviate from his terrible ways, the king had no choice than to throw in the towel. He dreaded his death and wished his wife would give him another son whom he could make king after his inevitable demise, but not only was the Olori too old to take in after seven children of a male and six females, she never for once scolded her overpampered son whom she never failed to dote on and sing his oriki.
Now, the prince excused Adigun from the crowd of curious fishermen and said with a sly smile. “I’m sure that if you can’t tell the others, you’ll definitely tell me. For as your future king, I deserve to know what it is you did that made you so special to Osun.”
Adigun refused to be tricked by the prince’s gimmick. “My prince, just like I have just told the other men, I’ll tell you the same thing. I did absolutely nothing. Fortune only smiled at me, that’s all.”
Refusing to be deterred, the prince secretly pulled out a purse of cowries and handed it to Adigun. “I’ve heard of the myth of how beautiful the women from the water are…” He gave a mischievous chuckle as he gave Adigun a sideways knowing look. “…and I don’t mind adding one to my harem of the five wives that I already have. Not only would she be my Olori despite being the last, she will always bring me good luck and riches too.”
Adigun stared at the purse in confusion, knowing fully well what it contained. “My prince, what is this?” He asked still.
“A bribe of course!” The prince flinched his brows at Adigun with a wide smile on his face. “And a very good one at that! You see, what’s in that purse is enough for you to marry a second wife, and I’m sure that you have been dying to have a new one warm your cold bed.”
“I’m sorry my prince, but I can’t take this.” Adigun said apologetically, took the Prince’s hand and placed the purse back in it. He was totally disgusted but he hid it. “Besides, I’ve already made quite a fortune from selling the fish that Osun gave me.”
The Prince’s smile suddenly vanished and was instantly replaced with a displeased one. “Are you saying that you’ll not tell me, me Prince Adeola and the obvious heir apparent to the throne of this kingdom, your secret?!” He flared.
“My Prince, I’ve no secret whatsoever. I’ve told you, Osun only favoured me, that’s all.” Adigun said and walked away and the Prince’s eyes angrily followed him. He hated to be turned down or denied something he really wanted and this pauper was refusing to share his secrets with him. His four guards who had stood aloof while he was discussing with Adigun instantly surrounded him now and the prince quietly said to them without taking his angry eyes off the fisherman’s back.
“He’s definitely hiding something; I can sense it… From now on, keep an eye on him and maybe we’ll be able to figure out how he got so lucky.” He told his men.
★★★
After excusing himself from his wife, Adigun snuck back to his farm and much to his surprise, the swamp had dried up to firm land, every trace of water was gone and several trees such as palmkennel trees, mango trees, orange trees, pawpaw trees, banana trees and a field of corn and cassava had magically grown on the farm. He stood outside the farm on the red bushpath and looked around in doubt, wondering if he was in the right place. He was confused about everything that was going on and he thought that he was probably beginning to lose his mind. When he saw the small hut, he was convinced that he was in the right place. Carefully making his way to the hut, he looked into it and realised that Enitan was still within but she was awake now.
“Where were you?” She asked and from her countenance, it was obvious that she was in great distress.
“I went home to sell the fish and thanks to you, I’ve made a lot of money.” He showed her his skin bag which was almost filled with cowries. “Are you okay?” He asked when he saw her grimace.
“The more time I spend away from the river, the weaker I become. Right now, my skin is dry and I need enough water or I might dry out and die… Take me back to the river…”
“I can’t take you back to the river now.” Adigun answered even though he was nervous about the situation.
“Why not?” She gave him a perplexed look.
“After the villagers saw my fish, most of the fishermen have rushed to the river to try their luck! Right now, the river is crowded. If anyone should see you, there’s no telling what they’ll do. I can only take you back to the river at night when they have all retired to their huts.”
Enitan sighed in despair now and her tail softly swished side to side then rested against the wall. “Then fetch me some water immediately. You have to at least pour ten big pots of water on me before I can be comfortable again.”
“Running to the river to and fro would be very difficult, besides, I could be easily followed by a curious fisherman. I would have fetched from my swamp but my farm is no longer the same way I left it this morning.”
“It is my doing, but I’ve left you a little pond not too far from the hut, please make haste and make do with that. I can barely breath anymore.” She said with some difficulty and Adigun dropped his bag and hurried to do as he had been told. He would return to hut with a full pot and splash the water all over Enitan then would run to fetch another. By the time he was done, water was running out of the hut and the walls were damp from it, but what mattered was that Enitan looked refreshed again and her scaly skin shone, bringing back its colour and doing away with the paleness and dryness.
At night, Adigun returned her to the river after she shrunk in size again. She had grown to like Adigun from just the few hours she had spent around him, and she told him that she would like to see him more. So whenever it was almost dawn, Adigun would return to the river and carry her to the hut in the clay pot and make sure to return her back to the river before dawn. Every four days, she made sure she filled his canoe with enough fish which earned him more money because of their bigger sizes.
Enitan made Adigun flourish so well that he soon became richer than the king, but this only made the covetous Prince more furious. Adigun earned more money from harvesting and selling his farm produce, although, he had banned his wife from ever going to the farm. As days passed into weeks and weeks into months, Adigun built himself a bigger house, employed a lot of servants and purchased a lot of livestock but he also made sure that he extended his generosity to the Kabiyesi and the poor.
He was not only grateful to Enitan but he had also fallen in love with her. He realised that despite the fact that she was not human, she had such a good heart and this made their relationship bloom. One night, she pleaded with him to spend the night with her. Worried about what excuse he would give his wife, Adigun made up his mind, went home and told his wife that he would be away all night. Assuming that he probably wanted to go reel in his new catch of bountiful fish, his wife bid him goodnight. She was now enjoying the life of luxury, thus she had nothing to worry about.
As Adigun started to walk back to the farm, he discovered that he was being secretly followed by two men. He could not figure out their faces in the dark but he suspected that they had been sent by the Prince. Sneaking into the bush to hide, he saw the men run by in search of him, thinking that he had probably noticed them and fled. When he was sure that they were gone, Adigun carefully stepped out of the bush and continued to the hut. When he reached there, he saw Enitan combing her long hair as if preparing for him. The slit under her pelvic had opened up a bit like a flower about to bloom, and knowing how long he had anticipated this moment, Adigun quickly took off his clothes and got on the bed with Enitan, but he was confused on how to go about it or what position to lay.
“My kind actually mates in a standing position in the river or sea. We curl our tails around each other and fuse our organs, but since you are human, that might be a bit difficult for you. Let’s do it the human way.” She explained and gestured to him come over her in a missionary position. His lust was full-blown that his throbbing erection was desperate to get some relief.
Adigun obeyed, and suspending his body above hers as he braced himself on his palms, suspending himself above her in a pushup way. Locking gazes with Enitan, he guided his phallus into her slit and shuddered from great excitement as he sunk into her inch by inch. It didn’t feel like a human woman’s vagina but the pleasure it gave back was definitely better than a mortal woman’s. He heard Enitan moan softly in response as he started to thrust in and out of her. He felt a warm liquid flood his phallus from inside, lubricating his thrust and then her opening closed up and wrapped its lips around his phallus, pulling him deeper until he had sunk down to his base. He made love to Enitan on his hands and knees, and when he finally ejaculated, he felt like he was on intoxicated from the sheer pleasure of it and one would have thought that he was under the influence of a strong drug.
When he finally pulled away from her; like a happy dog who wags its tail in excitement, the end of her tail kept lazily flapping up and down against the bed as she also experienced a queer orgasm. For the very first time, Adigun laid down next to her and put his arm around her and it was obvious that the duo were in love despite being of different worlds. Enitan’s intention was to get pregnant and this required Adigun to make love with her severally.
In a matter of weeks, Enitan, with joy in her heart, finally told him that she was with child and her gestation period would be eleven months. While all these was going on, Enitan spiritually blocked her mother from perceiving what she was doing, and the more she visited and stayed on land, the more she lost her powers but she never told Adigun this. She continued to do what she could to sustain the wealth of the human she had fallen in love with and had gotten pregnant for, but little did she know that there was evil lurking around the corner.
To be continued…
© Angela Okoduwa
