EPISODE ONE: THE GOLDEN CASKET
> "Wear this white lace and lie in the golden casket; the Baba said if you stop breathing for just one night, I will own the biggest shipping company in Lagos," Madam Ngozi cried, holding a thick velvet pillow tightly over her 8-year-old daughter's face.
"Mummy, please! I will be a good girl! Don't k!ll me!" Ada screamed, her small hands frantically scratching at her mother’s wrists.
"It is just for tonight, my baby! Do you want Mummy to remain a beggar? Do you want those useless women to keep laughing at me? Stop fighting!" Madam Ngozi shouted.
Her eyes were wild and desperate. She pressed the heavy pillow down harder.
It all started six months ago when Madam Ngozi’s import business collapsed.
Her husband had passed away, leaving her with massive debts. One by one, her rich friends in Lekki stopped picking up her calls. She was mocked at society weddings and forced to sell her gold jewelry just to pay Ada’s school fees.
Ngozi could not take the shame. She wanted her power back. She wanted to rule the billionaire circles again.
A former business partner directed her to Baba Ekun, a powerful native doctor whose shrine sat deep in the swamps of Epe.
"You want to control the seas? You want ships bringing dollars to your name every morning?" Baba Ekun had croaked, blowing white chalk dust into the air.
"Yes, Baba. I am tired of suffering. I will give whatever it takes," Ngozi answered, kneeling on the dirty mat.
Baba Ekun laughed a dry, wicked laugh. "The goddess of the ocean does not take cowries. She takes pure breath. Bring your only daughter. Buy a casket of pure gold. Let her wear a white lace dress. She must stop breathing inside that casket before midnight. When the sun rises, the shipping lines will be yours."
Ngozi shivered. "My Ada? My only child? Will she wake up?"
"She will wake up in the spirit world," Baba Ekun snapped. "Do it, or poverty will swallow you and your generations!"
Greed and pride swallowed Ngozi's motherly love. She used the last of her savings to secretly order a custom-made, gold-plated casket and hid it in her private bedroom.
That Tuesday evening, she sent her houseboy to the market and locked the main gates.
She bathed Ada, powdered her, and dressed her in a beautiful white lace dress.
"Mummy, are we going to a party?" innocent Ada asked, smiling and twirling in her new dress.
"Yes, my baby. A very big party. But first, we have to play a sleeping game," Ngozi lied, her hands shaking as she led her daughter into the master bedroom.
The golden casket was gleaming in the center of the room.
Ada stopped. Her smile vanished. "Mummy... what is that box?"
"Enter inside, Ada. Lie down," Ngozi commanded, her voice turning cold.
"No, Mummy! It looks like what they put Daddy inside! I don't want to play!" Ada started crying, backing away toward the door.
Ngozi grabbed her daughter by the hair and dragged her toward the box.
"You must enter! You are my investment! You must pay me back for the pain of carrying you for nine months!"
She threw the terrified child into the cold, golden box. Before Ada could climb out, Ngozi pinned her down and slammed the thick velvet pillow over her face.
Mmph! Mmph!
Ada kicked the sides of the metal casket. Kpa! Kpa!
Her legs thrashed wildly. Tears of madness streamed down Ngozi’s face as she used her entire body weight to hold the pillow down.
"Die so I can live, Ada! Just die!" Ngozi whispered.
The violent kicking slowly began to weaken. Ada's hands fell away from Ngozi's wrists. Her small body went completely limp inside the golden box.
Ngozi removed the pillow, panting heavily.
Ada’s eyes were closed. Her chest was no longer moving.
She slammed the heavy golden lid shut and locked it.
"It is done," Ngozi breathed, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "By tomorrow, I will be a billionaire."
But suddenly... GBOSA! GBOSA!
A loud, frantic banging echoed from the bedroom door.
"Madam! Madam open the door! Fire! The house is on fire!" the houseboy screamed from the hallway.
Ngozi froze. Smoke was already creeping in from under the bedroom door.
If she opens the door, the boy will see the golden casket. If she doesn't, she will burn alive with her daughter's corpse!
To be continued... On Big Tee Stories
WILL NGOZI BURN WITH HER GREED?
IS ADA REALLY DE@D?