He carried her to his room and laid her on the bed.
"Put off the light, Jay."
"Why?" he asked as he began to undress.
But she insisted so he complied, thinking she was shy about exposing her body as some ladies were.
By then, he was so much in the throes of desire for her, he was ready to do anything she wanted.
He quickly shed the rest of his clothes and soon, all that could be heard in the room were Reena's soft gasps as he placed light kisses all over her, her scrumptious body and butter-soft skin igniting his passion even more to feverish levels.
After that first night together, a besotted Jay, who wanted her around all the time, made her move in with him.
"I want to see you at my doorstep whenever I come home from work."
"And what happens when I'm on night duty?" she asked.
"Then you'll have to stop night work."
"Says who?" she retorted.
He grinned at her.
"Your husband-to-be, " he said.
"When did that happen? I can't remember accepting to marry you."
He pinched her nose playfully and hugged her.
"You will, babe. Soon!"
***
Being with Reena was great and Jay could not be happier.
Except for a few peculiar traits she had. At first, he had waved them off as a harmless habit of hers.
But as the situation persisted, he became concerned.
One night at the club, he voiced his worries to his friend Okey.
"She does that?" asked Okey, looking quickly at Jay.
"Yes. It began about a week after she moved in with me," Jay said, thinking back to the night a month earlier when he had woken up to find Reena talking and arguing with what looked like someone in her dream.
"Let me go! I don't belong to you anymore, Zura! I have another now! Leave me alone!"
Her hands were raised as if struggling to push something or someone off.
Jay, confused had shaken her by the shoulders roughly.
"What's the matter, Reena? Wake up!"
Her eyes had snapped open and she had gazed up in a dazed manner at his face.
He had made her sit up and had asked her if she had had a nightmare or something.
She had looked round the bedroom which was dimly lit from light filtering in from the corridor.
Then she drew him close in a tight embrace and said: "It was nothing. Just a bad dream. I love you, Jay. No one can separate us now."
"Love you too, babe. I'll always be here for you."
That was just the beginning. Since then, that incident had occurred several times, making Jay worried for her.
Okey was talking.
"Hmmm. That's really deep, Jay, talking and fighting with someone in her sleep. And it looks like it's a man from what you've said," Okey said.
"I believe so. She calls him Zura or something like that. When I asked her who he was, she said she didn't know him- that he just keeps bugging her in her sleep."
"This is serious o! I think your girl has a 'spirit' husband. You know, some of these 'ogbanjes' or ladies with 'marine' spirit do. That's why they find it difficult getting married in the 'real' world and end up single or divorced."
"What? Are you saying my Reena's an *'ogbanje'?" said Jay heatedly, taking exception to his woman being labelled as such.
Okey took a shot of his drink, wiped his lips then said:
"The signs are there. I have a cousin who used to behave in a similar manner. She could not stay with any man for long as her 'spirit' husband was always disturbing her.
I think you need to take your girl for deliverance at the church to break whatever 'covenant' she must have made with another man before meeting you," Okey suggested.
Jay shook his head, finding the whole idea strange. His lovely Reena, an 'ogbanje?
"I can't believe this!"
"I know," said Okey. "Some people don't believe such things exist but this is Africa- all kinds of paranormal stuff happen here. Take my suggestion seriously for your own good if you want to take this relationship further or you just want to have fun with her and move on."
Later, back home that night, Jay lay on his bed deep in thought. Reena was at work so he was alone in the house.
'Okey could be right,' he mumbled to himself, remembering other strange behaviours of hers. One day they had been at the beach for a day of swimming and fun- Reena did not like to swim so he often took to the water alone.
They were sitting on the sand, drinking and chatting when she had sighed and said:
"I miss home."
"What home?" he had asked, wondering if it was her small apartment she had been renting before moving to his place.
She had shaken her head, a faraway look in her eyes.
"It's not that. Anyway, you won't understand." And she had changed the subject.
He thought about her aversion for fish and had even banned it from being cooked in the house.
Her dislike of being seen naked even with a body with beauty queen statistics; her penchant for talking to herself even during the day as if discussing with an unseen being, her mood swings: one minute cheerful and happy and the next crying for no reason...
Were these just peculiar habits or was Okey right?
Was Reena a...?
To be continued
What do you think Jay will do next? Will he dump her or try to help by taking her for deliverance? Details coming soon! You all have a great day!
***
Note: 'Ogbanje' (in Igbo) is a child believed to die repeatedly and be continually reincarnated and born to the same parents.
It's literary meaning is, 'children who come and go.' The equivalent in Yoruba language is 'abiku'
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