The Husband From Heaven Part 4
by Tunde Akingbade

The Strange Mat

There was an old woman who was Dupe's grandmother presiding at the celebration. Dupe was standing in front of the guests while Nebo the landlord of the house where Fernando Po lived was standing near her.

"Today, I join both of you together as husband and wife without questioning," said the old woman and both Dupe and Nebo affirmed that they have agreed.

"From now on you, Nebo must guard her jealously from other men everywhere she goes. Any man that comes near her to woo her should suffer from your wrath ruthlessly," the woman said and everyone present chorused "Amen!"

Fernando Po was so dazed that he did not realized when he asked the mat some questions.

"So, Dupe is already married in the spirit to my landlord? Is this why all the men who wanted to marry her died in strange circumstances?" He asked.

"Keep quiet. They must not hear your voice. The living is never seen among the dead and spirits," the mat ordered.

"When we get back to earth you can ask questions. It is forbidden that you should talk here. Human beings are not allowed to talk here. For me it is allowed because I am not made of blood," said the mat. 

"I have given both of you to each other. Cudgel on the head of whoever wants to separate the two of you," the grandmother prayed again.

"I will tell you what you have to do if you really want to marry that lady. Boil three eggs everyday and keep them in the corners of your room and you will see the wonders that will happen afterwards," said the mat. 

"You can see now why it is difficult for the lady to be married," said the mat as it carried Fernando Po on a return flight back to his room on earth. Fernando Po was dazed and could not utter a word as they flew back through the clouds and the winds. 

He however did not tell Dupe all that he saw when the mat carried him to heaven. But he continued to boil three eggs everyday and kept them in his room.

One day, he returned home from work and discovered that a strange thing was moving hurriedly out of his room. He ran in the direction wondering who could have entered his room when he was not around without a key. He did not see anyone near his door but as soon as he looked up, he saw a big snake crawling away quickly and heading towards the direction of the landlord's apartment.

He ran towards the direction but before he got there the snake had disappeared. While the unfolding event was again strange, Fernando Po was confused because he was not sure if the snake actually entered the apartment of Nebo, his landlord. He decided not to go out that day again and thought the best thing to do was to let Nebo know so that the snake could be killed at once if it was still in the landlord's room.

In the evening, Nebo was taking fresh air on his balcony when Fernando Po spotted him. He was very happy and thought he had since the man he wanted to see to let him know about the danger the prowling snake now posed to everyone since it appeared it had escape from his own room downstairs to the landlord's apartment. 

"Good evening sir," Fernando Po greeted the landlord.

"How are you? Nebo asked "I hope its fine with you?"

"Yes. I am alright. I have been trying to see you all day," said Fernando Po

"About what?" Asked Nebo.

"About the prowling snake. I saw it earlier in the day possibly escaping from my room and I tried to chase it. I am afraid I did not know exactly where it escaped."

"But I suspect that it went towards the direction of your room," said Fernando Po. 

He hardly finished what he was saying when Nebo flared up in anger.

"What is your business about a snake? Are you the first tenant to live here? You are the only one that lives here that sees snakes," said Nebo.

Fernando Po kept quiet and walked away with shock about the reaction of Nebo. 

Now more than ever before he had regular consultations with the magic gourd containing the alligator pepper which his father gave him since his the time he was flogged by the men that emerged from the walls that later prompted him to embark on the voyage on the mat. He had made several consultations afterwards and everything pointed to the fact that Nebo was not an ordinary human being. So, he had been very watchful.

One night, Fernando Po was fast asleep when the strange snake that used to visit his room crawled in unnoticed. The snake first surveyed the room and stared in the direction of Fernando Po as he slept on the bed.

"I am sure the useless man is sleeping. He is even snoring can you imagine that? Human beings don't have a place to lay their heads, yet a dog is snoring," said the snake.

The snake went towards Fernando Po's legs and suddenly saw some eggs in a corner of the room.

"Eggs! Eggs! I think I should first eat those eggs before attacking the stupid man," said the snake crawling towards the direction of the eggs.

When the snake got to where the eggs were, he carried one of the eggs and swallowed it. 

Unknown to the snake, they were cooked eggs. They could not digest in the stomach of a snake.

Within few minutes the snake shouted. The noise was so loud that it woke every body up. Fernando Po ran up from the bed but he did not see what was going on because it was dark. The whole villagers who heard the loud noise ran to the scene with their lamps. Dupe also came there to see what was going on. When they pointed their lamps in the direction of the sound and the moaning, they saw the face on Nebo but other parts of his body looked like that of a snake. They wanted to run away but Nebo who was struggling to transform back to his human structure called on them to assist him to call the best medicine men in the village.

"I have gone on a useless voyage today," he screamed for help to the amazement of everyone.

"This is unbelievable," the villagers said

"So you are the snake that usually feasted on eggs in the village," said Dupe.

"He not only feasted on eggs, he was your husband from heaven who had been preventing men from getting close to you," said Fernando Po.

"This is strange," said Dupe.

"Please help me. Don't let me die!" screamed Nebo.

"Help me call Dosu," the medicine man. "The egg I wanted to swallow is giving me stomach upset," 

"Before we help you, you must tell us what you have been doing to Dupe," said Fernando Po.

"We never knew he was the devil himself masquerading as a human being," said a woman 

"It was not my fault .Her grandmother willed her to me many years ago before she was born. Her grandmother owed me some money and she could not pay me. So she said that any first girl born by her daughter would be given to me. She did but when this girl, Dupe became matured she refused to listen to her grandmother that she should marry me until the woman died," pleaded Nebo struggling to wriggle out of the half snake and half-human form.

The whole villagers including Dupe were shocked to hear this from Nebo, but Fernando Po was not shocked because he had seen it all the day the mat took him on the voyage through the clouds to heaven. 

Nebo slumped and died later as he was narrating his story while still struggling to become a full human being. 

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