CHAPTER THREE.
"Sir we have confirmation that everyone in the list is successfully registered and accommodated, what's the next step?"
"Observe"
"Oh...okay sir....em ...sir what do we do about the ....with this crowd it might get their attention if....."
"Nothing...just observe"
"As you wish sir"
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"Men..this place is dope oh, let me ask if we can get room service, you go have your bath first" Sheila out of excitement skipped out of the room.
Shaking her head, Lily picked up toiletries from the bag,but as she stretched her hand to open the bathroom door she was assaulted by flashes of images and screams so loud she nearly had a black out. Staggering from the door she made her way towards the bed, panting and sweating she looked around the room feeling nauseous and fear at the same time. That was how Sheila found her five minutes later.
"Hey, what's wrong...Lily! You look like you've just seen a ghost, what happened?"
Poor choice of words Sheila, Lily thought seeing as she had indeed had a vision of the last occupant and the crime carried out in this very room. After she realized she often got flashes of images when touched or in crowed places, she had come to observe that most things she saw were the worse things or rather sins a person committed. It also works with objects that a person had touched as seen with the bathroom door few minutes ago, shaking her self out of the funk she was in, she forced a smile at Sheila. "It's Nothing just a terrible migraine, maybe I need to lie down, get some rest".
"Yeah you do that, when it's six or seven I can order for dinner, oh yeah they do room service, also there are some drinks in the fridge here, let me check if I can get you something"
"Oh okay, thanks as long it's not alcohol" closing her eyes Lily sighed quietly as she pondered on the things she had seen in those few seconds. The thing about her "gift" or curse as she often refer to it was that she can glimpse a person's worse sin or action upon a touch or if she comes in contact with any objects that they had previously handled. Growing up with a gift like that especially here in Africa was just asking to be persecuted, people fear what they don't understand like an incident that happened when she was five.
"Aunt Maureen I saw Uncle Kelvin doing daddy and mummy things with Aunt Rita" little Lily explained as she patted her doll's glossy hair.
"What do you mean daddy and mummy things?" Maureen who was best friends to Lily's parents asked with a little frown on her face, sensing where the child was going.
"Mummy says a man and a woman can only kiss if they are daddy and mummy and that is how they have a child together but Uncle Kelvin and Aunt Rita were on the bed, why did they pull off their clothes is it because you washed Uncle Kelvin's clothes but....."
Even before Little Lily could complete her words Maureen already zoomed out of the house.
Few hours later a very angry Kelvin barged in asking to speak to Lily's parents.
"Ah Kelly what's wrong this one you are shouting for us to come out, hope all is well hope you and my sister has not started again oh" Raymond Lily's father asked with a little humour, seeing as this was a cycle they experienced nearly every month.
"Where is Lily I need to ask your daughter where she saw me sleeping with Maureen's friend Rita? I believe you did not train your daughter to go about wrecking people's home oh?"
"What?! My Lily? Wreck your home what are you talking about she is just a baby, come sit down and explain to me, I don't understand..."
"Please spare me that, if you and your wife did not discuss things like that how would a baby know eh?....speak of the devil,come here Lily who told you I slept with Aunt Rita?"
"Mind your tone with my daughter young man" Raymond said as he hugged Lily who innocently walked in to get her doll's bag.
"But Uncle Kelvin I saw it" Lily protested as she felt that she was wrongly accused.
"How? How could you have seen that? Kelvin asked hostilely as it was impossible for this child to have seen the scene she described to his wife as the incident occurred seven years back on his bachelor night party 2 years before she was born, not even Raymond his best friend knew about this, so it was impossible for him to have told his wife Sylvia who was Maureen's childhood friend.
"When you carried me I saw it, I see it everyday it's why I ask Aunt Maureen"
With opened mouth and a look of horror Kelvin walked backwards to the door." You saw it when you touched me? What is this? Raymond?" Seeing that Raymond wasn't as shocked as he was it dawned on him that he was aware of this. "Witchcraft! Your daughter is a witch Raymond" with that he hurriedly ran out. After that the rumour spread around that environment where they lived, even Aunt Maureen stopped coming around, people avoided them, her school could no longer accommodate her,suddenly finding fault and seeing things where there was none about her, so her father decided to relocate to another state where they stayed and kept to themselves. Though her parents tried their best for her, taking her to churches where deliverances were conducted, spending money for so called seeds and sacrifice all to no avail, it was probably the reason she was not keen about spiritual activities such as this one. Therapies also produced nothing at the end she could do nothing but to manage her symptoms and hope that one day all will be fine.