208 How Strange!

Leon had been in a foul mood ever since he learned about Nana’s death and Ella’s pregnancy.

His father’s death didn’t come as a surprise to him because everyone knew that Rex had a few days to live. He had mentally prepared himself for Rex’s departure but not that of his priceless Nana.

As if Nana’s sudden death wasn’t enough blow, to his aching heart, he now found out that his precious wife had been lying to him about something so sensitive.

He couldn’t even believe the daring words that came out of Ella’s mouth when he confronted her. It was as though she had already made up her mind to hurt him in a thousand ways.

“Why, Ella? Why did you choose to do this to our young love? Didn’t I love you enough to be very free with me? Was I that terrifying, that you couldn’t open up to me? Where did I go wrong in loving and trusting you? Leon mentally stroked himself.

He also couldn’t accept the fact that Ella chose to open up about her pregnancy to his father and Nana but not him. This made him wonder if Ella truly loved him the way she calmed she did. Or could it be that he was just a means to her goals like Yvonne kept saying?

“What if there are other things she is hiding from me?” Leon massaged his forehead in frustration.

In other to clear his mind and assemble his thoughts, Leon decided to take a long walk to the beach.

When he got to the beach he was surprised to find it deserted.

.....

“Could this be as a result of the scary storm that hit Islafub last night?” Leon queried his thoughts as he scratched his head for answers.

historical

He was still lost in his thoughts when his wandering eyes caught sight of an approaching procession of about twenty old folks all dressed in white.

These old folks were made up of both males and females; all with glistening silvery gray-white hair, which kept fluttering in the wind, as the ocean breeze blew calmly.

They were chanting a tranquil but sorrowful song which has emotions dripping from every tune and lyric.

Their faces were marked with artistic white face paintings of different sea-dwelling creatures and they were all walking barefooted.

Each of these old folks held a glowing orange lamp, with flickering lights. And they swayed the lamp from side to side, dancing in such perfect uniformity, like a flock of swans flying in beautiful formation.

They seemed focused and hypnotized by the song they were chanting that they didn’t spare Leon a glance for one second. They passed him and kept moving forward dancing strangely as though they were performing a ritual sacrifice.

Leon felt his soul drift out of his body to join the procession, as he watched and listened to the song the old folks sang. They were singing in a native language that he couldn’t understand. But he found himself humming to the tune of the song until he couldn’t see or hear them anymore.

“How strange!”

Leon drew in a breath of fresh misty air before pushing them all out.

He shook his head to cast out the spell of the song he had stopped humming and looked beyond the horizon of the sea.

The gentle, beautiful, calming waves brought stillness to his soul.

He watched as the distant waves slowly rolled and crashed repeatedly; with their white caps cresting over and plunging back into the water.

“I miss you Nana and I miss you, dad!”

Leon whispered and advanced towards the seashore. Then he gently took off his shoes and moved further into the water until his ankle was submerged in it.

Feeling the cold water caress his toes and send its chillness up his body, placed him in a peaceful state.

The raging storm within him was gradually replaced by the distant squawking of the seagull and the gentle refreshing ocean breeze.

He didn’t even move from his spot as the advancing wave rose and crashed, splashing sprays of salty water on his body and face.

As Leon moistened and bit down on his lips, his thoughts drifted to Ella once more and he wished she was currently by his side. This made him feel hurt all over again.

He couldn’t believe the fact that he had watched her cry a few minutes back without cuddling her in his arms like he usually did.. And the worst of them all was the way he walked out on her without feeling any sign of regret.

‘Could it be that my anger has outweighed my love for Ella?’

Just then, his phone vibrated in his pants pocket.

When he brought it out to check who the caller was, his forehead furrowed when he saw that it was Yvonne. He was hoping that it would be Ella calling to apologize to him for hurting his feelings and also telling him that she would consider terminating the pregnancy.

However, when he received the call, Yvonne was screaming at the top of her voice that Ella had a knife on their mother’s neck.

Instantly, Leon lost the peace he had worked hard to build as a blind rage enveloped him.

Without thinking or even acting rationally, he ran down to the house to stop things from escalating.

Unfortunately, to his disappointment, when he got home, Ella was nowhere to be found.

Even when he searched their bedroom, Nana Esther’s room, the garden, and the entire bungalow, Ella was nowhere to be found.

What angered Leon the most was the fact that Ella’s mobile line was switched off.

“Where is my wife?” Leon demanded angrily as he stormed out to the sitting room where his mum and sister were feigning fright and tears.

“I have no idea!” Yvonne replied while avoiding Leon’s monstrous glares. “I thought she was in her room! She thinks she owns this house and she even told me that I do not have a say because I’m no longer a Treshvire by marriage.”

“Enough, Yvonne! I do not have time for your drama!” Leon scowled as he spoke. “You told me that my wife had a knife to mum’s neck. But, from the look of things the both of you are fine. The only people missing here are Ella and Ivory. So, where the hell are they?”

“Your sister was telling the truth, Leon!” Marissa came to Yvonne’s defense.

“All Yvonne wanted to do, was to fix breakfast for us. But, your insane wife denied her entry into the kitchen, while raining insults on her. And, when I came to her defense, Ella drew a knife at me, threatening to kill the both of us.”