The Encounter
The following day, the story of the stranger and his encounter with the snake had gone round the village. Everyone came to meet Fernando Po to ask him about his experience and how he had been able to scare of the snake. The general feeling was that Fernando Po was not just strange, but brave.
It was not unusual days afterwards to find small children gathering around Fernando Po as he walked down the streets shouting; "Fernando Po!" Fernando Po! Fernando Po!" as he walked down.
Few days after his arrival in the compound of Nebo, Fernando Po had noticed Dupe, the beautiful lady as she walked out of their apartment one evening. Her beauty was irresistible and he followed her to where she was going. Perhaps if he spoke to her, she would keep him company, he reasoned.
He discovered that she was going towards a lonely round and he followed her. Dupe walked on until she got to a place under a tree and sat down to sing on her own. The song was captivating and Fernando Po could not help getting close to her .She looked at her cherubic face. What a beauty! He watched her singing for a moment without distraction. When he could no longer bear it, he thought it was best for him to call her attention to his presence. He did.
"Oh my God...what are you doing here strange man?" Dupe asked with fear.
"I have come here to see you. Do not be afraid. I mean no harm. But your love is electric and magnetizing," said Fernando Po adding "I actually live in your neighborhood and trailed you here. I have been watching you since I came to live in the same house with you".
"What do you want from me strange man?" asked Dupe
"I cannot hide my feelings for you. I love you", said Fernando Po.
"Hmm...You love me?" She asked.
"Yes I do?" said Fernando Po.
"You are new in this town strange man. You have not heard that men find it difficult to love me. And I don't know why. They seemed to run away from me', she added.
"Maybe they all knew I was coming and you were waiting for me, "he said.
"That is not the reason," said Dupe.
"The men were afraid of me," said Fernando Po.
"If you know my story, you will not come near me, "she warned Fernando Po.
"What story? What haven't I seen in this world? Nothing shocks me anymore," he added.
"Not until you hear that the three men who intended to marry me in the past have gone into a world of no return. They are dead! " Dupe said
"I am not that kind of girl and I do not know why,"she added.
"I love you and I am ready to do anything for you. Nothing will scare me away from you even if you intend to do that," promised Fernando Po.
"Listen to my story before you make promises,"said Dupe.
"I was born thirty five years ago. When I was twenty years old, I met a very handsome man who wanted to marry me. He was thirty years old and he had everything that a woman would look for in a man. During our courtship, we found out that an invisible object with a shrieking voice trailed us. We did not get to see it but it was there hovering over us. Then we chose the wedding day. I can still remember the events of the night before the wedding day vividly. The groom was stepping out of our house when suddenly a big snake came from God knows where and bite him. Before the herbalists could get something to revive him, the venom had gone deep inside his body and he died".
"Is that all. That should not frighten any man? Fernando Po asked.
"I am just beginning. When I was twenty-five years old I also tried to marry a man. That did not work out too. It appeared that what happened to the first man had begun a new pattern in the second man. On the eve of the wedding, the man was coming into our house when suddenly a big block fell off from the balcony and hit him right on the head. It was as if that was what the village was waiting for. As soon as the news went round the village that another suitor had died, the villagers labeled me,
"The silent killer."
"From that moment onwards, no man in this village wanted to have anything to do with me. It was as if there was a conspiracy, all the families did not want their men to be near the silent killer. When I was 30 years old another man came out of the blues from an unknown town faraway. He was not from the village and the villagers could not convince him to run away from me. So, we tried another relationship. This time around, I decided to elope to another town so that the watchful eyes of that voice that seemed to be trailing me will be avoided. But one day, I was sleeping when a voice echoed in my dreams;" I have pushed his boat into the sea!"
"It sounded weird but it was true .By the time I woke up to reality, someone was knocking at our door. This man was a fisherman who came to inform me that the boat in which the man who would have married me this time had capsized into the sea. The news went far. I gave up on marriage. So you this man if you still have parents I will advice you to run away from me. I do not know why but they call me the Silent Killer. I am not a killer but I know there is something super natural pulls the strings somewhere else".
Fernando Po listened with rapt attention and when she finished her story, he shrugged his shoulder to indicate that he was ready for the worst.
"I have lost both parents," said he.
"I beg you man please avoid me. Men avoid me like a plague" she pleaded.
Fernando Po had made up his mind and was ready to follow the lady with the smashing beauty.
It was almost dark and both of them returned home that day. No one saw them together else they would have gossiped that Silent Killer was plotting to kill the strange man, Fernando Po.
So silently, "Silent Killer" as she was secretly referred to in the village was having another affair with this strange man no one knew where he came from. If the villagers knew they would have gone to his parents if he had any to plead that their son was going to commit suicide. Because both of them lived in the same house, it was easy to hide their relationship. Fernando Po still hid away in the small pigeonhole close to the kitchen where chickens retired to sleep at night.
One day, both Dupe and Fernando Po decided to be alone. It was decided that when everyone had slept, Fernando Po would sneak into her apartment and run back unnoticed before the cockcrow.
When it was after midnight, Fernando Po sneaked into Dupe's room. No one saw him and both lovers were quite happy thinking that this time around, they would be able to carry on with this relationship without any hitch.
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