Forbidden Choice

By Ihebom C. Reginald

Elvis and Peter are chosen by the gods. Elvis is the spouse designate to a powerful river goddess known as mamywater while Rev. Fr. Peter is predestined high Priest of Nguma*, his village deity. Growing up and becoming educated, both of them refused to accept the pre-natal decree that imposed a social and religious status upon them - status that does not permit them to make an alternative choice. FORBIDDEN CHOICE tells the story of how both of them will challenge their own destinies and by doing so, they provoked the anger of vengeful gods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: May 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479780624

Ihebom C. Reginald

Ihebom Chijioke Reginald was born in Owerri,ImoStatein easternNigeria. After his Primary and Secondary education, he proceeded toItalywhere he obtained a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Law, with a bias in International Law. In 1984 he returned toNigeriaand was posted to theuniversity ofIbadanas Graduate assistant for the National Youth Service Scheme. He presently lives inItalywith his family and works with the Fiat Group.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Ihebom C. Reginald.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2013900927

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4797-8061-7

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4797-8060-0

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4797-8062-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. Date: 06/28/2013

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Contents

Book Card

Chapter One       A Prologue

Chapter Two       Chizz’s Perturbation

Chapter Three       Enchanted

Chapter Four       Elvis Visits Chizz

Chapter Five       Elvis’s Birthday Party

Chapter Six       Betrothed To Emeka

Chapter Seven       Emeka Meets Chioma

Chapter Eight       Emeka’s Dilemma

Chapter Nine       The Duel For Elvis

Chapter Ten       The Choice

Chapter Eleven       Epilogue

Glossary

Special Thanks to Mrs Alison Onyenekere and

Dr. Michael Nnamdi Ogwuegbu for their invaluable contribution.

Dedicated to ever living memory of my father, Basil;

to my mother, Maria;

to my lovely wife, Regina and the children

BOOK CARD

Story Line

The gods have spoken! They have decreed their choices. Elvis is from birth, betrothed to mammy water, goddess of the sea, while Rev. Fr Peter is predestined to be the high priest of Nguma,* his village deity. As they grow up and become more enlightened, both of them refused to accept this prenatal decree that imposed a social and religious status upon them—status that denies them the possibility to make alternative choice. Forbidden Choice reveals how both characters will eventually challenge their so-called destinies, and by doing so, they dared the anger of the vengeful gods.

CHAPTER ONE

A Prologue

Chiz z with a sudden feeling of trepidation realised that a man fixedly stared at her. She observed that the man followed her movements with a curious interest. This awareness made her less focused on the remaining part of the morning lectures on criminal procedures. Her attention was intensely divided between the lecturer and this other fellow who kept eying her from where he sat some desks away. When the class ended, she stole briskly away and moved towards the next class which was to hold in a building on the other side of the campus. She was aware that despite the surging crowd of students, one of them was fast closing in on her. And when she looked over her shoulder to prove her suspicion, she caught an inviting smile of the man on her heels. He was in his mid-twenties, and he was undoubtedly the same person who had earlier distracted her attention in the lecture room. Chizz felt disconcerted and opted not to return his smile, instead, she quickened her steps. In her nervousness however, she missed her footing. Items that included books, writing materials, and a file that she held close to her chest, slipped off her grip and fell on to the cemented path.

The man hastened to her. ‘Sorry about that, permit me to assist you.’ The seductive smile was still lingering on his handsome face as he spoke to her.

‘Thank you,’ she stammered.

Was he making passes at her? Or was he just being gentle? It was still early in the day for Chizz to figure it out. The young man squatted close to her, assisting her to pick up the items that littered the pavement. Chizz was dressed in a skimpy denim skirt that revealed her fine proportionate legs. As he was leaving, he bumped against her body in their closeness and their gazes locked. Neither of them said another word in their present mood. It was an interlocking moment of engrossment when the world around them seemed to halt. The episode was bizarre and at the same time sinister. The young lady was transported through a flurried fit of trances, trances that culminated in déjà vu. The stranger that squatted with her suddenly became a familiar face. She must have met or seen him somewhere in the unfathomable past. She must have previously squatted with him somewhere; it must have been right there, in the same position and circumstance. It all seemed a repeated experience to her. Was their encounter circumstantial? Could it be destiny? Just then, Chizz remembered her uncle, Obasi. He was the incumbent chief priest of Nguma shrine. Obasi had foretold his niece’s present encounter with the stranger. He had foretold that she was going to meet a person who might cause her a lot of grief. But despite remembering her uncle’s warnings, Chizz chose to ignore them. She was convinced that the stranger’s countenance implored her to help on something, something that she could not immediately put her finger upon. And she did not feel that he was just a playboy who only attempted to seduce her with sweet nothings.

‘I have to go,’ she managed to say, getting up from her stooping position. ‘It’s very gentle of you to help me.’

‘The pleasure is all mine,’ the stranger replied as he also straightened up. ‘I hope to see more of you, do have a nice day.’ He concluded, with a voice that was both sweet and caring.

Chizz forced a smile and then continued on her way joining the crowd of other students. But the stranger’s admiring gaze still accompanied her graceful departure. His expression was full of positive appraisal and also full of personal desire. The impact of their encounter was thick like the early morning fog, the kind that will not permit enough visibility into an obscure future. It was the beginning of a series of other such efforts by the stranger to capture her attention. Chizz was not very sure that she can resist such future advances because of the way she already felt towards him. She had this uncanny feeling that her recently concluded marriage may not survive. She also felt indignant over an imminent scandal that will ensue if she entered into a relationship with a man that had just walked into her life.

CHAPTER TWO

Chizz’s Perturbation

A sudden attraction to some stranger was inexplicable to Chizz! This was because she usually had a firm grip on her feelings towards men. She was the type who ordinarily was considered to be balanced and very capable of reacting positively to the dictates of both her inner feelings and her overall reasoning! But her love life at the moment was fuzzy. She was not in the full control of a situation that presently faced her. Could she be directly responsible for her present emotional predicament? People who know her very well will be amazed at her present emotional crisis, which stemmed from a deep personality conflict. The crisis had made it difficult for her to smell the poisonous garnishing of inexplicable attraction to a complete stranger! She was therefore unable to follow her usually good instinct to a logical conclusion. The same instinct that warned her not to jeopardise a very recently concluded marriage, just because some handsome stranger walked into her love