DEN OF CLEVERNESS 2 Episode 3 by Nathaniel Anuma

DEN OF CLEVERNESS 2 Episode 3 by Nathaniel Anuma

Ken flung his school bag behind him before Jade could come closer. “I have to go now” he passed her, opened the door of the room then hurried towards the gate.

Jade didn’t need to go after him rather sat on her bed with a sore expression on her face. It became obvious to her that Ken was hiding something because a common laptop must not set one on an impromptu and uncomfortable motion. “I must find out” she stood up.
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His heart pounded like one who escaped from death. His legs simultaneously had the scratches of the ground as he approached the door of their house where he nearly fell down due to fear and anxiety. He pushed the door of their house with a force, closed it and leaned behind it, still breathing heavily. The sitting room was a bit dark until he opened window curtains and brought out the magical eyeglasses. The beeping sound had stopped but the red light maintained its intensity. He gradually raised it up, wore it and felling his legs vibrating. He saw a kid on a swing that eventually fell down and died by hitting her head on the ground. The time and location of the incident appeared as if he was watching a movie. He took it off to see the red light gone.

“What does this mean?” he soliloquized. “I thought.. I thought i have to say someone’s name first” he dropped the eyeglasses with an evidence of fatigue expression which was seen on the manner in which he collapsed on a couch found in the sitting room. “What have I gotten myself into?” Just then, he heard his phone ringing for the sixty times. He rushed into his room then picked the call when he saw Mercy as the caller.

“Where have you been?”

“School. I didn’t actually go with my phone”

“We need to talk”

“Hope there is no problem”

“Ken, is that a question?” Mercy’s voice grew intense. “You saved my life as if you are a god, all you could ask me is if there is a problem. I need to know who I’m dealing with”

Ken exhaled deeply and sat back on the couch. He began with not just a calmed voice but also fragile like one who cannot kill an ant. “Mercy, I want you to understand that what I do is for the interest of your safety. So please, can you do me the favour to remain silent about what you saw today?”

“What if I don’t coz I need to know how you knew..”

“You’ll put yourself into more trouble” he interrupted.

Just then, a knock came from the parlour door which prompted the young boy to hang up the call, flung the magical eyeglasses into the bag then zipped it up before the stranger entered. That was Mr Nnanna. Ken looked at him from his shoes to the tip of his head. He didn’t like him at all.

“My mother isn’t home” he said mannerlessly.

“I have nothing to do with her anymore” the man stepped forward then the sound of his shoes stretched to every corner of the sanctum.

Ken glared at him. “I’m not surprise because you have already toy with her feelings. You know what? I hate you”

“Then why did you come to save me today which is why I came. There is something behind your drama on the fly-over coz not all beings can predict the next line of action”

“First, I didn’t come to save you. I came to save your daughter. Secondly, there is nothing..”

“Yes, there is something and I must find out” he interrupted unabashedly.

Ken glared. “Are you clever enough? Has your life ever depends on the capacity of your cleverness? I guess no. So go home and think again on what you must find out”

His words were like a harmless smoke, yet, intoxicates and kills. Mr Nnanna couldn’t think straight again after the statement that came like a bomb yet to explode but gets any eyes who sees it frightened and eventually faint before the explosion.

He found his voice then spoke in proverb saying, “A good lawyer knows the law, the clever one knows the judge”

“When you say one thing, the clever person understands three” Ken challenge.

Mr Nnanna moved closer with a deadly glare. “Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.” He tapped his shoulder. “My dear, don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you” he began to walk out. Just at the door, Ken called on him.

“Sir, a clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.” he challenged again.

“We shall see” Mr Nnanna slammed the door, feeling very embarrassed by a boy he was old enough to be his father. Though he admired his cleverness but sworn to prove to him that he does not only get what he wants but also clever than him.
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Ikuku journeyed to seek for answers to the magical eyeglasses the next day. He was a man with full capacity and fearless in a jungle of beasts. Above all, he was kind and seek for the truth and justice. He could be seen in a rocky cave that serves as a road to Irie, the den of cleverness, supporting his movement with his staff. The place was a bit dark due to lack of appropriate radiation. He met a dead end where he needed to pass through but had to answer a riddle that encrypted on it. It says, ” Who is that with a neck and no head, two arms and no hands?”

The old man bent his head down for some seconds, raised it and said, “Shirt” the door opened like a rolling stone. He continued walking along the cave until he began to see burning fire on sticks by the side of the road which illuminated the place thereby displaying his shadow. Suddenly, he stopped at the sound of a faint voice that came out from nowhere saying, “What killed a father kills the son”

“He is an innocent boy” he replied as an afterthought.

“That’s why he must not allow anyone take the eyeglasses from him otherwise die”

“What about those that wants him and anyone who knows about the eyeglasses killed?”

Silence creep in.

“Hello!”

No one answered then Ikuku continued his journey, moving faster than initial. After several hours of walking, he arrived at the very den of cleverness: Live tortoise on the floor, creeping around the vicinity without destination. A confusing image of a human whose Ikuku couldn’t comprehend if it was that of a female or male hung in the air. Suddenly, a man came out from it. His head was like that of a tortoise while the rest part of the body had a human identity.

“What you seek is not here, but I can be of a little help if you answer my riddles correctly”

“Shoot” Ikuku got ready coz he knew it wasn’t gonna be easy.

“George, Helen, and Steve are drinking coffee. Bert, Karen, and Dave are drinking soda. Using logic, is Elizabeth drinking coffee or soda?”

Ikuku thought for a while. “But the name Elizabeth wasn’t mentioned”

“Logic”

“Logic?” he repeated then bent his head. Obviously he found the riddle hard. After waiting for some time he said, “Can you repeat yourself, please?”

The man repeated.

“Elizabeth is drinking coffee” Ikuku answered as an afterthought, staring at the man who said nothing. “Well, did I get it?”

The man folded his hands. “Yes, but why coffee?”

“Because the letter E appears twice in her name, as it does in the names of the others that are drinking coffee.”

“Correct” the man unfolded his hands while Ikuku took a deep breath….

DEN OF CLEVERNESS 2 Episode
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TO BE CONTINUED