Johnny was overwhelmed by his friends' behavior. He was silent for 10 minutes, his eyes wide open, serious and moved. Suddenly, a voice in his head said: "Little one, what's up? Hehehe, what's your problem? You want to play the Nazarene, huh?" Johnny remained silent, his arms trembling.
"You think it's everywhere we preach what? Your brothers will have their money, the Lambo, and you'll be eating peanuts with bread, what?" Johnny still didn't respond.
"Heee, don't get me angry, hienn! Faut daba môgô, we'll gain time, chap! Ahuii, tchèeee! Little one, tchaipo la!" Suddenly, a smile appeared on our friend's face. His eyes were even wider. Through his laughter, you could see all his teeth. Even the ones that hadn't grown yet were starting to show with their out-of-pair canines. He started to drool...
"Ahh, yeah! Better enjoy it to death, yeah!" Johnny whispered. Then, he lowered his head for 2 small minutes. When he lifted his head, his two friends were frightened and immediately were joyful and galvanized by Johnny's reaction.
"Paaayaaaaa!" Johnny screamed.
Our friend succumbed to the spirit of greed that had spoken to him. The young greedy people in front of the power of money were powerless. Their powerlessness would be brief. But quickly, reality began to take over their childish dream.
It was a party in the village. Johnny was making an effort not to draw attention to himself from his grandmother and his cousins and cousins of the village. On the other hand, DJ and his girlfriend quickly bought a motorcycle to get around. DJ was the one who kept all the money he had earned. The physical appearance of Johnny's two friends changed. DJ pierced his nose and ears. He even put dye in his hair, which was yellow-black with a braid on the side that hid his left eye. And his girlfriend, she not only pierced her nose and ears but got tattoos all over her body.
Every night, the three young people would meet at a maquis to enjoy their money until they made donations at the maquis.
"Ohhh, DJ, play 'Colle la petite' by Franco! You'll get 30k with me!" Dior Junior alias DJ exclaimed.
"Waitress, two champagnes on our table! Chicha is finished, hienn?" Roxane replied.
As for Johnny, he was dancing in front of the mirror with his bottle of Sprite on Ninho's single, "Goutte d'eau". He was the laughing stock of the village and all the surrounding maquis. Johnny, who was still a virgin, didn't care about girls. He found them useless.
"Ohhh, Johnny, I present to you Vanessa! She's good, hienn? Tchèee, look... Do a 360, my little one, letter!" DJ said.
"Leave me alone, man! I'm not interested..." with a "I don't care" attitude, eyes almost closed, head to the side, and mouth pursed...
"Stop bothering me, man!" "Heeeee, the Jesus, it works, boss!" Roxane replied.
The three young people had put their conscience aside and let greed speak. Days went by, it was a week, after a month, after two months, the money started to run out.
One day, Johnny was far from the noise, lying under a tree, wondering if he would be struck dead by the man in the coffin. Suddenly, he was overcome with fear. Then, he decided to stop and find a way to end it all. Our young man wanted to abandon the pact. So, he decided to go see his grandmother to find a solution, because his conscience was playing tricks on him. He decided to take a break. But when he arrived home, his cousin Landry told him that his grandmother had been disappearing every night at midnight and returning the next day at 12pm.
"But when she leaves, doesn't she tell you where she's going?" Johnny asked.
"No, oh!" Landry replied.
Johnny thought: "What is this? This again?"
"Okay, if she comes, I want to talk to her," he added.
Johnny decided to rest. He headed to his room, mouth wide open, yawning, eyes almost closed... He rubbed his eyes all along the hallway to his room. Once in his room: "Yeah, I'm gbôlô, hienn!"
Johnny fell asleep for just a little while, mentally, and woke up with big eyes like a fish, surprised. He saw it was still dark outside... He tried to look at the time on his phone. He could barely see the screen. Everything was blurry and had a white background... After forcing his gaze, he saw two big zeros.
"Ahuuii, what's with these zeros? Heee? Is it midnight? Faut croire, hienn?" (local Ivorian language).
He heard the living room door. The noise went towards the exit of the house. He pulled the curtain of the room to see the window. If it was his grandmother.
"Ahuuii, where is the old lady going at night?" Surprised, Johnny decided to follow his grandmother to see where she was going.
"Ahuuii, the old lady, and what kind of sorcerer clothing is that? The old lady is not clear."
"I'll see what's going on."
Johnny followed his grandmother to the village river in the forest, frightened by the wild noise of nature at this late hour. Johnny continued and hid behind a tree and watched his grandmother.
Just as surprising as it could be, Johnny's grandmother started screaming, facing the river: "Ohhh, our ancestors! I call upon you! Come see me! I'm here for..."
She repeated the phrase four times. Finally, Johnny thought it was absurd.
"Ahuuii? Yeah, old lady is tchepo, serious! Me, I'm... The night, really, old ladies, the same?"
When he turned his back, he faced a scene. Suddenly, he felt chills all over his back. His head became heavy like a 300-kilogram anvil. He heard a voice behind him, a man's voice.
"What's this again, heee? Yeah... The old lady put me in what?" (local Ivorian language).
When he turned around, Johnny's eyes widened, and his mouth opened wide. So overwhelmed, he had tears in his eyes. He started to feel his underwear getting wet because he had urinated.
"Ah...ah... But... Ehhhh! God who sent me here?" with a trembling voice.
"If they've seen me, I'm dead, batar! Heee, yeah, wait, I'm going to..."
Johnny's grandmother started talking to the man who had appeared out of nowhere. She wanted to know if her sacrifices had been accepted and in case... Who would be sacrificed in the big family?
"Ooooohhh, my little girl! You know we've never refused you anything... But this time, Mamnon has been awakened and called without sacrifice. So, we can't do anything for you this time."
"A batar! Is that the guy's name?" Johnny thought.
"For the demand of who will die, we can't give you the name. But an event will happen next week, at the next hour, meet with him."
"What?" Johnny said!
Immediately, Johnny took flight towards the house, so frightened. He didn't have the courage to go home. Since he had some money left, he decided to sleep in a hotel.
"Good evening, sir! Pdn a room?" all out of breath.
"Ahuuii, what's up, little one?" the man at the reception said.
"Order, you, you're looking for your money", or "well" Johnny replied.
"Air conditioning or..."
"Orrrr, ya old man, what's wrong with you? Jesumatise!" Johnny replied with a voice of anger.
The man handed him a key. Once in his possession, Johnny ran towards the room indicated on the door. But being so frightened, he went to try to open another room. He heard: "Hhheee, who's there?"
Johnny looked at the key, he saw number 20. He continued to search in the recitation and found the room. Once inside, he ran to the toilet and vomited. Then, he threw the key in the toilet and flushed it, telling himself that without the key, no one would be able to enter the room to harm him.
After listening to the conversation between his grandmother and the so-called Mamnon, what will the young boy do? We will know in the next chapter.