The Pact

By Chris Iwegbu

Obinna Kelechi graduated, first class, from the university but was unable to find a job. His financial circumstances were of the very worst kind and couldnt possibly be worse.

Luck seemed to smile at him at last when he met Joshua Babatunde, a very wealthy and charming personality who later became his closest friend.

For some time, everything went well, and Obinna Kelechi finally seemed to have gotten the break he has been seeking through his new friend, Joshua Babatunde, who provided him with all he needed to lead a far-better life.

However, all that glitters is not gold as there was a very big price to pay. In addition, some very disturbing facts later emerged about Joshua Babatunde.

Obinna Kelechi suddenly finds himself trapped and needed to break free.

The story culminated in a final showdown between the forces of light and darkness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514477779

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Chris Iwegbu.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016904710

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-7776-2

                Softcover        978-1-5144-7778-6

                eBook              978-1-5144-7777-9

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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/31/2016

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Chapter 1

O binna Kelechi left the 4 th floor of the office building known as the Bureau House in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, having just attended an interview for an advertised job---a job he desperately needed. The building, which housed a number of small and medium sized mostly ailing businesses, itself was in dire need of renovation. Obinna walked wearily down the roughly tiled stairs not caring to use the elevator. He knew the elevator does not work. His facial expression was pallid and wore a gloomy aspect.

He experienced an occasional irregular twitching of his facial muscles. This was something he was used to, but on this very occasion, the twitching was accentuated and more frequent, perhaps caused by the unsatisfactory manner the Interview was conducted and more importantly by the hunger pangs which gnawed pitilessly at his stomach.

It was almost forty-eight hours since he had his last meal---a very frugal meal of dry corn bread and one unripe orange. Languidly, he moved down the stairs as though in a dream, more or less dragging one foot in front of the other. His knees knocked occasionally though he was slightly bow-legged. His entire bearing gave an impression of a very despondent man with little hope in the world.

Obinna stood approximately six feet and one inch from the ground. His severely lanky frame is suggestive of a desperate want of adequate nourishment and care. He looked much older than his forty-two years. His head was of massive proportion, somewhat incongruent with his lanky body. Within the enormous head lies a very sharp brain; a brain he had put to good use in his education by graduating with flying colours from the University. He had graduated at the top of his class almost two decades ago in the field of Philosophy. However, in spite of his excellent qualifications, Obinna was unable to find a job. His luxuriant hair which was once very dark had all virtually turned silvery grey. It was recently cut short with money he had borrowed from a friend after much entreaty to enable him look more respectable for the interview and possibly more employable. His eyes were large and coffee-brown in colour---restless eyes---never missing anything in his resolve to find any opportunity for a job.

Lacking money to buy newspapers, he would stand for lengthy hours at news and magazine stands free-reading articles with keenly alert eyes and mind for job advertisements. His one and only care in world was to get a job and enjoy some of the good things of life---at least the ones money can confer the ability to procure.

As for relationships with the opposite sex, Obinna found it difficult to maintain any. Naturally shy and awkward with women, he would rather be elsewhere than with a woman. Nevertheless, he had been in few relationships all of which had ended sadly because he could not meet up with even the least demands of the ladies.

His last girlfriend, Monica, a thirty-year old fun loving woman, had simply walked out of the relationship without attempting to tell him why. Obinna did not bother to ask because he knew the reasons. She simply stopped communicating with him. That was about a year ago but the last thing in his mind now was to get another girlfriend. Job before woman he had told himself repeatedly.

He reflected angrily over the Interview he had just attended. Although, he had given satisfactory answers to the questions he was asked, he knew he stood very little chance of getting the job when the Chairman asked him who was backing him for the job. Obinna had replied very calmly, Nobody. The way the Chairman shook his head with disdain instinctively told Obinna he stood no chance of getting the job. He had been through these kinds of interviews several times in the past that he knew what the outcome would be just by studying the expression on the faces of his interviewers. Obinna's eyes ran across the desk, rapidly scrutinising the faces of all the members of the interview panel seated at the desk. He could faintly perceive the subtle scorn and mockery in their eyes which caused his heart to sink. The sinking of his heart drowned the last vestige of hope he might have had left of getting the job.

After a slight pause, the Chairman had said very grimly to him, Thank you for coming, we shall contact you if need be.

Obinna felt a painful pang in his chest as his heart missed a few beats. His first thought after the Chairman's remarks was to reach out for the Chairman, squeeze his scrawny neck and choke him to death. These kinds of thoughts do suggest themselves to Obinna from time to time when he feels insulted, even slightly, by anyone else because of his circumstances or perceived an infringement upon his rights. However, he has never yielded to these brutish thoughts.

With a great effort, Obinna drew himself up from where he was seated, mumbled his thanks and shuffled out of the room. As he backed the panel of interviewers and walked towards the door, he seemed to feel the presence of a thousand hostile eyes peering through the back of his massive head.

At the end of the Stairs, Obinna stepped into the street, took a deep breath and filled his lungs with fresh air. How refreshing it felt to him to be out in the open air than breathing the damp air of the Bureau House. However, he felt ill with a dull heaviness in his head. He had woken up in the morning, feeling slightly faint with a headache that has persisted all day. Ignoring this symptom, he quickened his strides slightly as he walked down the crowded street, eagerly observing the various commercial activities being carried on in the streets.

He stood watching and listening to the various passing vehicles with their blasting horns on the road. At the opposite side of the road, not far from where he stood, was a magazine stand. Instinctively Obinna started walking towards the magazine stand, attempting to cross the road, when he became suddenly lightheaded. His heart raced wildly and cold perspiration broke out on his forehead. His facial muscles started twitching very rapidly. His vision suddenly dimmed and quickly progressed to total blackout. Obinna screamed for help as he fell face-down, senseless to the ground.

Chapter 2

O binna opened his eyes and looked very slowly around him. He became slightly agitated as it dawned on him that he was lying down in a hospital bed. He could strongly perceive that typical antiseptic odour that characterizes hospitals. The dull ache in his left arm drew his attention to the arm and was surprised to find an intravenous infusion or drip connected to it via tubes and fastened by plasters. The label on the infusion reads, 5% Dextrose Solution . Not sure he knew what that meant, he looked away from his arm and his eyes strayed to one side of the room.

He saw a chair beside the bed. Seated on that chair was an immaculately dressed man who appeared to be dozing. He could hear the faint rhythmic snores from the throat of the stranger. He looked carefully at the stranger but could not recognise him. Then gradually the memory of what happened came flooding back to him.

He remembered the Interview, how he had been walking on the road, how he felt suddenly ill . . . and What next? He asked himself. That was the last thing he remembered . . . , How did I get to this hospital and onto this bed? These questions and many others were begging desperately for answers in Obinna's mind. He deliberately cleared his throat loudly with the intention of making sufficient noise to wake-up the stranger.

Perhaps the sleeping stranger might have some answers to the questions plaguing my mind, he thought.

The stranger woke up instantly and looked in Obinna's direction. Seeing Obinna sitting up in bed, the stranger smiled sympathetically at Obinna, exposing a set of excellently white teeth.

Good grief! the stranger exclaimed, You are awake, standing up, the stranger said, My name is Joshua Babatunde but my friends simply call me Josh.

Obinna looked earnestly at Babatunde and said, Pardon me Mr. Joshua Babatunde, but who are you? . . . and perhaps you know something about how I got into this hospital?

Yes, replied Babatunde, I brought you to this hospital. Babatunde continued, his voice ringing out his words in very clear accents, I was drinking beer with some friends of mine in a bar near the Bureau House when there was sudden panic amongst the crowd in the street. Babatunde paused for a little while to study Obinna's apparently bewildered face.

However, the friendly smile on Babatunde's face seemed to reassure Obinna, warming his heart and putting him at ease. Certainly, this stranger has pleasant ways about him, he thought.

Babatunde resumed his narration, "Amidst the crowd, you were lying face-down and very unconscious. In the ensuing confusion, people tried vainly to resuscitate you, yelled for help and tried to figure out what else they could possibly do to bring you back to consciousness. I saw what was happening from the bar where I was drinking and perceived the helplessness of the people trying to help you. Immediately I approached the crowd in my Toyota Camry car, lifted you into the car and drove you as quickly as I could straight to this hospital."

Obinna looked intently at this obviously kind man. He noticed that Babatunde was good looking with a very handsome face. He had a pencil-line moustache, was very fair in complexion, had a small narrow mouth bounded by two thin lips with a nose that looked more European than African. His eyes were brown and tinged with blue. Babatunde was gorgeously dressed in native attire and wore a very sweet smelling perfume. He looked very well fed, obviously rich, and apparently successful with an air of authority around him. He looked like someone who is generally very well satisfied and happy with life. He was tall but not quite as tall as Obinna. Obinna, in his assessment guessed that Joshua Babatunde was probably about the same age with him however, Babatunde looked obviously much neater than Obinna whose appearance was haggard for many years want of adequate nourishment. And perhaps because of his good looks, Babatunde appeared much younger than Obinna.

All these thoughts were racing through Obinna's mind, and as is Obinna's wont, he found himself slipping gradually into his usual melancholic state with bitter jealousy already taking root in the innermost recesses of his heart.