Chapter 4 A BIRD IN A

"...May you find better freedom in the next world..."

The royal limousine. A long white, eighteen seater vehicle, with eight windows and ten car doors. On the car bonnet, was the Naija flag - green, white, green - and there was a lion shaped gold crest, with black ribbons tied to it. The ribbons signified to passersby that royal family was attending a burial. In this case, the burial of princess Enya, Amanda's sister. A black SUV car followed behind the limousine. When the cars entered the premises of St Maril's church, ten muscular men in black suits, with gun holsters in their belts, stepped out of the SUV. They formed two lines by the limousine. Five men on each side, like a formation. The two men leading both lines, opened the car doors in ease for Princess Amanda and Queen Shark.

Amanda was a woman in her thirties, a brown oval face beauty, light brown pouring hair and brown eyes that had lost their usual spark. She stepped out of the vehicle with stylish composure, like her shoes were softening into the ground. Such methods of movement that made commoners believe princesses didn't walk but they levitated. Her natural curving figure showcased through her black gown, and cooperated with the black hat and transparent veil over her face. Her mom, Queen Shark of two kingdoms, Ile-Ife and Oyo, alighted from the car after her. Her mom was a plump shapely woman, dressed in black, fanning herself with a hand fan. Both women attracted the eyes of everyone, security guards and burial attendees.

Pastor Frank approached them. A man of average height, carrying a constant smile on his face.

"My Queen. Princess Amanda. You're most welcome." He said.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this, and for letting us use your church." Queen Shark said.

"Thank you pastor." Amanda added.

"It is my honor to serve the royal family."

The St Maril church building was shaped like an arrow shooting to the sky, with colored glass windows, and an ash painted cross displayed on the front wall. The piano - ting, ting, ting - floating in everyone's ears, inspired a churchy atmosphere. The compound was a clean combination of interlocking brick for the ground, different lines of blossoming hisbiscus flowers, beautifying the environment and a statue of Jesus, nailed to the cross.

The Queen's relatives made up majority of the burial attendees. They came towards Queen Shark like a swarm of bees, starting conversation with the customary greeting of My Queen or Your Highnesses. Amanda threw her face away from them and if they pressured her for conversation, she gave single word answers. The conversations were predictable as they were shameless. Like a tune Amanda had heard before, she had seen it many times, but it still made her sigh in silence. Fake condolences followed fake complements before a subtle appeal for royal favor. It was the effortless manner of relationship among royals, almost like they were born with it, because they had to have been. Amanda watched her mom thank them all for coming, and promise to look into their interests.

Entering the church hall, they met Aunty Ose, an elderly woman, whose white hair and eyebrows seemed to match the thickness of her gown.

"Aunty Ose, you came." Amanda gave her a hug.

"It must have been a long trip, you didn't have to..." Queen Shark said.

"Oh stop it, unfortunately I can't stay long, but I had to come. Where's your husband?" Mrs Ose asked.

"The great King Shark..." Queen Shark sighed in a manner that dug up her inner annoyance into her eyes. "I don't even want to talk about him."

"That's sad, really sad, even in death he doesn't forgive her. Look at this place..." Aunty Ose looked around the hall. "No decoration, no crowd, no nothing, almost like she wasn't a princess. It's alright, the both of you did the proper thing, that's what matters."

"Thank you." Queen Shark smiled, as Aunty Ose held her hand and put an arm around Amanda.

"binu jẹ alagbara-sorry, be strong." She said.

It warmed Amanda's heart to see at least one person, whose eyes understood that the day was not a happy one. It was a day where their broken hearts were risked to the open, and her mom's neutral face was a mask to avoid the rumors. Anything relating to princess Enya was a feast for tattling mouths and gossip loving ears. It was a day where the present employed the wounds of the past.

The church hall had open windows, bright big lantern bulbs, some flower vases, a line of pews on the left and right, with a road through the middle, leading to the altar. The altar was a long table covered with white cloth, bearing a golden shiny cross on its top. In front of the altar was a wooden platform, like a wooden podium. Amanda sat with her mom, in the front pews on the right.

"Is he here?" Queen Shark asked.

"Who?" Amanda glanced at her mom.

"Enya's husband."

Amanda glanced backwards "No I don't..."

Just then, Rogers strolled into the hall. He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand, and if anyone paid attention to his suit, they noticed some disobedient threads here and there. His hair was as rebellious as his tie, hanging around his collar, like a spoilt dog leash, and his shirt had enough milky color to appear white. Disapproving eyes were on him from all directions. He embraced it and moved forward. The Queen's relatives were crafting their next tale, with their heads shifting together as they spoke in low tones. Rogers sat in front, on the left, close to the pastor, he whispered something.

The ceremony began with an opening prayer. Everyone stood, and Pastor Frank said some quiet words, with his eyes closed. After prayers, solemn hymns were delivered by the St Maril church choir. A group of women wearing pulpit gowns. They held their hymn books and sang the melodies with pitch perfect voices. The songs were slow and whispered about death. The weight of the moment, strained Amanda. She held her lips together and swallowed saliva at the height of her tears, though a little leak occurred. Her thoughts were standing there. At the beginning.

The hot afternoon, when she paid a visit to Enya's school hostel. She caught her sister stark naked, sexually intimate with another girl, locking lips and caressing. They were so engulfed in forbidden pleasure, that Amanda wasn't noticed. On that day, Amanda felt like ice water had been poured on her. She couldn't move, neither did she speak. Her eyeballs grew bigger, while her mouth opened, on its own accord. She left and stayed quiet about it. It was her sister.

A secret was not a big deal, until Enya's tentacles extended to King Shark's palace. There were no barriers. Enya's girlfriends were trooping in and out the palace at night, faster than official palace visitors. And then it happened. The thing about rumors is that they spread so much, that everyone forgets the starting point, and no one ever knows the ending point. But Enya's story wasn't a rumor. It was raw truth. She was a lesbian, and it was unheard of in the history of royals. A taboo. A strange phenomena. The news escalated like breeze, through out the kingdoms. Every mouth was tattling about it.

"She is a devil! That is why we have petitioned." One of the chiefs had uttered. His cultural disgust, was harmonious with all the elders.

King Shark didn't hesitate, once the truth was out in the open. He made a public display of Enya's banishment, disowning her as well. Amanda recalled the weakness in her bones. The world turning upside down, as she watched her youngest sister's boxes, tumbling in the streets like thrash. The local villagers, paupers who would never see a princess's face in their lifetime, they insulted Enya and made fun of her. But Enya refused the shame and she fired back at them.

Amanda wanted to stand with her sister. She wanted to put forward her voice, but what others might say, made her standstill. She couldn't do as much as her other sister, Preye, who helped Enya call a taxi. The over riding truth, was that the kingdoms operated in black and white, with nothing in between.

The sorrowful songs ended and the choir members returned to their seats. A portrait of Enya, fitted in a glass frame, was carried into the church by two guards. It was placed at the foot of the wooden platform, in front of the church altar.

Pastor Frank led the recitation of the Lord's prayer and everyone repeated after him, when it ended, they all sat down. Pastor Frank walked over to Queen Shark and Amanda.

"Your Highness, Mr Rogers is requesting to take the eulogy." He said.

Queen Shark's face was static, as if Pastor Frank's words had escaped her. "Allow him." She replied.

"As you wish my Queen."

Pastor Frank left and Amanda turned to her mother.

"Mom, are you really okay with it?"

"It's fine."

For some reason, Amanda knew her muscles tightened, as Rogers stood in front of them. Both of his hands, were on the flat top of the platform.

There was no surprise for Amanda, staring at the wardrobe malfunction, between Rogers's suit and his tie. On their first encounter, after Amanda spent months searching for Enya, and finally finding her sister in Rogers's house. His dressing had showed no sign of a man who cared much for his appearance. Enya had introduced him as her husband. Amanda had stared at him, like a man from another planet. How did a lesbian marry an actual Naija man? She had thought.

Even back then, Rogers had red eyes. But standing at the podium, his eyes were harsh red and his face was plain. There was also sign of a slight zigzag cut on his forehead, which she attributed to his rough life as a police man. Rogers said nothing for some seconds, and Amanda suspected he was dealing with his thoughts. Then he began.

"Myself and Enya, we married in Port Harcourt high court. We had no friends, except my best friend. Okoli. He's no longer alive, but he served as a witness to our marriage..." Amanda noticed Rogers wasn't looking at anyone. His gaze was rather farway, above everyone. "The first night I shared with Enya, as husband and wife, she told me, she was not a fan of masculine stick." He ceased talking and laughed in a dry manner. It sounded more like a wounded animal whimpering.

"She was a funny girl, with plenty trouble." Rogers shook his head and smirked. "Her trouble was the kind of trouble, that can bring down any man. And one thing I liked, she was bold, very bold girl, with mind. Girls don't have mind like that."

The words hit Amanda, as either the random talk of a drunk man, or an intentional offload of his emptiness, but she was trapped in listening. Her eyes fixed on him.

"The first time we met. She walk up to me, took my bottle of alcohol, drank it and kiss me on the cheek. Then she walked away. That's the moment that I just know, that this is my kind of girl." Rogers solidified his face, but Amanda caught a spark of emotion in his voice.

"I heard all the things you people said about her. Some of you that said those things, some of you might be here today, attending her burial, based on whatever was in your mind against her. But all those things, don't concern me." Rogers stared at the audience. "Because for me, Enya was a bird. The most beautiful bird. And her soul was pure. She did not pretend for anybody, and that was what made her extraordinary. My greatest regret, forever in my life, is that I did not protect her." He looked in the Queen's direction, tension swallowed down Amanda's throat. "My Queen, thank you for this burial ceremony."

The Queen gave him a nod and he bowed to her. Then he picked up his bottle and there was some murmuring as he strolled out. The man who loved a lesbian woman. Amanda couldn't wrap her head around it, but she had read his pain. As tangible as she knew her own.

"He was the only one who was there for her, much more than any of us." Queen Shark said to Amanda. It was tough to admit her mom was dead right, because they had succumbed to the pressure. Telling themselves banishment was better than death, and they had kept Enya at arms length, reducing her presence in their lives.

Pastor Frank stood up and faced the audience. "Is there anyone else, who would like to say a few words, about the deceased?" He was looking at the Queen and Amanda.

Amanda turned to her mom. "Mom." Her tone was low.

"I can't." Queen Shark's voice was super low. Underneath the veil, Amanda noticed the wateriness in her mom's eyes.

"I have something to say." Amanda said to Pastor Frank.

Pastor Frank beckoned her to come forward with a smile. Amanda made her way to the platform. As she stood, she realized the challenge of saying so little, of someone you knew so much. It was like trying to summarize her sister's existence, into very few words. Like diminishing a large chunk of Enya's life.

"I always saw my sister as a bird, just like her husband said. Actually, I saw her as a bird in a cage..." Amanda smiled briefly. "It might sound funny, but honestly, it's the truth. I think my sister's greatest wish in the world, was to spread her wings and fly. All she wanted was to be free and I think that was always the problem. That those of us around her, could never really understand the depth of her desire for freedom. Or maybe, we just didn't know the kind of freedom she wanted and we couldn't relate..." Amanda's heart swelled up and her tongue became heavy. "Deep down, I believe we all seek some sort of freedom, just like my sister Enya. Wherever she might be, I wish her a better freedom, than she found on earth."

Amanda saw a smile on Queen Shark, as she returned to her seat.

Pastor Frank took the closing prayer, with everyone standing and closing their eyes. Afterwards, the royal relatives returned to flocking around Queen Shark, creating a chaos of conversation, and Amanda excused herself from the church hall.

***

She found Rogers in the compound, sitting on a plastic chair, where the sun couldn't touch him. He was drinking from his bottle, keeping his head up and staring at the sky. The security guards were shifting glances his way, though he seemed to be unaware of everyone. Amanda watched him and bounced her options in her head. She could speak with him or not. Her feet moved and she stopped herself. It was worth a shot, she concluded and went towards him.

She got close and his side eye noticed her. Then he raised his head from the position of rest. "Princess." He stood up.

She had a half smile on her face. "What you said about Enya, was really nice. I was scared you were going to say something..."

"I only said my truth."

She nodded and rested eyes on his shirt. The milk white color would pass as quality humor for her teenage self. But that was then, when she judged men by their taste in dressing.

"Before her death, Enya told me the kind of man you were, and how much you cared for her. She really appreciated it. Thank you for being there for her."

"I loved her."

His blank face made Amanda take a deep breath before speaking.

"She also told me you were the best police officer at tracking a person's movement. I don't know if...you could be of help to me-"

"I'm sorry my princess, my focus right now is finding the man that killed my wife, and making sure he is punished. I can't be involved in anything else."

Amanda revealed her interest in knowing Enya's killer, although it was pointless and would change nothing. She was more interested in what she could change. But Rogers had such a detached gaze, that killed every urge in her to speak further. She left without telling him of her youngest sister's disappearance. I'll have to find someone else, she thought, and returned to her mom.