JEALOUSY IN DEATH

42.

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42. Lucas

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Bobo was back home and they were managing without Desiree. Lucas had told him she traveled and he'd asked if it was to heaven, he had reassured him that it wasn't. He knew it was stupid to lie to the kid but he just didn't know how to tell him the truth.

Lucas now got off work earlier than usual and he spent most nights catching up on his piling work load. It was almost impossible to be a part time architect but he had to make it work and get used to it. He was back home early as usual that afternoon and was in the kitchen cooking. He moped his brows as he checked the turkey in the oven. He went back to the potatoes he was peeling and his phone rang some minutes later, the call was from Biyi who told him he was near his house.

Lucas mopped his hands, turned off the oven and went to the gate. He saw his brother with a middle aged women and he stared curiously. She looked professionally put together and when she extended her hand, he shook it. Biyi hugged him and they walked inside the house.

"Make yourself comfortable, Mrs...?"

"Just call me Chinwe."

"Okay. Biyi can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure, let's go."

"Who is she and why did you bring her along?" Lucas asked when they got to the kitchen.

"She's a medium."

He was perplexed. "Are you fucking high? What do I need her help for?"

"Isn't it obvious? We can know once and for all if your nanny was lying."

"I know you see this in movies but Biyi, it's all a lie. How much did you pay her?" he asked his retard of a sibling.

"Not much." Biyi shrugged.

"You're gullible. I don't know what else to say to you, except I'm disappointed by this charade."

"You're the gullible one. Can you have an open mind, for once?"

"By believing in ghosts and mediums? What the fuck is wrong with you, man?"

"Just give her a chance. Damn!"

Lucas thought about it for a second then looked at his watch. "You'll go get Bobo from school if she takes too long."

"Of course, he's my nephew."

"Let's join her. I can't wait to use this as a joke amongst our friends."

"You might just end up eating those words."

Lucas sat tentatively on the couch and waited for the medium to begin.

"Your brother says you're skeptical about certain things. Can you just keep an open mind?" Lucas nodded. "What I do exactly is act as a medium between the living and the dead. They communicate through me to their loved ones."

"Sounds like fun," Lucas said with sarcasm.

"Not all the time. I need a moment, I can feel someone coming through."

Lucas looked at his brother who was watching the medium with so much attention. She'd better be legit or Biyi wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Okay. Do you have anyone that died from a fire accident, like a relative or friend? I see this person coming through but with a haze of smoke around them which usually means their death was fire related."

That got his attention. "Yea, my wife."

"That makes sense because I can feel that special kind of love that comes from a lover or partner. She's having me talk about forgiveness but not as if you hurt her, she just keeps saying 'forgive yourself, it wasn't your fault' and it's coming with this feeling of understanding." She gesticulated wildly as she talked.

Lucas sighed and Biyi held his hand. "My brother has never stopped blaming himself for his wife's death. He thinks he should have done more even though at that instance there was nothing left for him to do."

"Well, she's telling me to tell you to forgive yourself. She doesn't blame you and she has this huge smile on her face when she brings you up." The medium was smiling. "Her energy is coming through so strongly that I can't stop projecting her feelings and that's why I'm smiling."

"Yea, she was always very happy," Lucas said. "She had this openness about her that just drew you closer to her person. She was everything good with the world."

"She's having me talk about a child because I can see her doing this." The medium did a rocking movement with her hands and Lucas cleared his throat as he began getting emotional.

"Erm, we have a son together. She passed few weeks after she put to bed so she never really got to know him."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." She paused to give him time to collect himself. "She's making this joke about his hair."

"Oh, wow." Lucas smiled. "He braids his hair."

"I think she's happy about that. There's this warmness she's exuding that can only come from a parent," she paused. "She's also joking about you not being strict enough."

"She's right in that regard but he's a great kid."

"I see. She's drawing my attention to something." The medium was snapping her fingers.

Lucas watched as the medium bowed her head in utter concentration. "What?"

"I don't know if you know this but she's telling me she comes through."

"Comes through? What does that mean?"

"Is your son psychic in any manner?"

"I'm not sure..."

"I see a clear picture of a woman and a child holding hands and communicating. Has he ever mentioned talking to his mother?"

"No." Lucas sat upright then remembered what Desiree had said. "His nanny told me he talks to his mother but I disregarded it because I thought she was lying."

"She isn't."

"Wow, I never actually believed her."

"Most people don't believe and that's okay but the dead are always trying to communicate, we just have to be open and intuitive enough. It's usually the little things, like alarms going off, items moving and the likes."

"I think I believe now, there are some things you said that were quite spot on."

"She's coming in with so much information. She's showing me sand, like the dessert. Does that make sense?" She looked at him for affirmation.

"It does. She schooled in the north and one time I when went for a visit, she took me to the sand dunes in Yobe. She was always involved in those kind of stuff but I ended up falling sick because I couldn't take the heat."

"She's making a joke about it."

"She used to do that a lot when she was still alive."

She smiled. "Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Biyi spoke this time. "Does she communicate with the nanny? There's a nanny that talked about some spooky incidents."

"You don't have to answer that," Lucas quickly added.

"A nanny, a nanny, let me see." She bowed her head once again. "Something is coming through but I feel her hesitating, this is weird..."

"Is she saying anything?" he asked curiously.

"She's looking away like in shame and at the same time she's laughing. She's talking about a prank, nothing too serious according to her. She's saying she was only protecting you, is there something she did?"

"My nanny told me recently that she smells smoke."

"That should be her because that was the first sign I saw when she came through."

"It all makes sense now. The oven also goes off on its own whenever we leave the kitchen."

"If she died in a fire accident, it's easy for her to want to help by making sure the appliances go off when no one is around."

"That's strange. I thought it was a mechanical issue and I think I get it now since she died in the kitchen."

"It's very common for them to want to help even when we necessarily don't need their help."

"What we really want to know is if she ever took the key or locked the door to make the nanny look bad," Biyi jumped in.

"That happened? Let me see...I feel her getting embarrassed again but she's reassuring me that she did it to protect you."

"I appreciate that but she doesn't have to keep doing it."

"I think she gets the message. There's a feeling of remorse and I keep hearing her apologize."

"It's okay. She was always protective of me, I would have likely done the same."

"She's bringing up her son again, she is concerned. She wants you to take care of him, is he sick?"

"No, he's just sad because I fired his nanny, although I told him she traveled."

"There's this feeling of abandonment she says he's going through. He is really sad and she says he is talking to the nanny like he does to her, as if she too is dead."

"She's not dead. I'll sort it all out, let her know I'll make things right with him."

"She heard and she's smiling again, she's thanking you for reaching out. I can feel the sense of fulfillment coming through."

"I'm glad I finally did, I can't believe it took me this long. I want her to know I'll always love her, tell her that."

"She knows, they know some of our emotions even before we vocalize them. She's insisting that you celebrate her and she wants you to be happy."

"Will be." He rubbed his chest. He was hurting so badly but it was a good kind of hurt. He missed her dearly and there was nothing he could do about it but celebrate her as she asked. "Thank you for this, it's a wonderful job that you do really. This just made me so much better, I feel physically lighter." Lucas was singing another tune and he was happy Biyi convinced him to keep an open mind.

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"The future?"

"I see you in a better place. There's this aura change, it's not specific nor glaring enough but I can sense that you'd be happier."

"That's amazing. I guess I'm now a believer." Lucas laughed.

"In the absence of anymore question, I think I should be on my way."

They all stood and went towards the door. Lucas saw her to the gate while Biyi stayed behind.

"Thanks again," he said as they shook hands.

"You're welcome and I'm glad I could be of service."

"Bye."

She waved and he went inside.

"She lies unprovoked, that was what you said," Biyi attacked.

"I admit I was wrong, but how was I to believe my dead wife was trying to protect me by scaring my nanny?"

"You owe her an apology and I won't be giving you ideas. This is on you."

"You've done enough. I need to get Bobo."

"And I need to bounce. Update me if anything changes."

"Sure. I love you, brother."

"Come here, stubborn. I'll always have your back."

"And I yours."

Biyi smiled, they hugged and bonded. Lucas got the car key when Biyi left and drove out.

Author's Note

Credit goes to all the clairvoyant/medium articles and channels I read and watched while researching this chapter. I couldn't have come up with all this if not for the information readily available on the Internet.