Chipo decided to visit her dear grandmother. Her family was named the Gondo family, a beautiful name for a wonderful majestic bird. Although they were known for their devilish and evil ways, they helped one another especially when it came to fixing and bewitching other people. Chipo’s grandmother, Mbuya Chigutiro was feared by the whole village for her witchcraft. She apparently had three goblins that she used to bring death and despair to her enemies. No one ever insulted her or got away with any mischief against her. It is said that a man once touched her buttocks in public and to add insult to injury he swore at her using some of the most vulgar language one could ever hear. Ambuya Chigutiro just looked at the man, clapped her hands twice and spat to the ground. She smiled after all her theatrics and made her way home. The man did not live to see another day. First, his fingers fell off; he complained the whole evening and on that very same day, he complained of a terrible stomach-ache. When an autopsy was performed it was found that the man did not have a single intestine in his stomach. Somehow most of his digestive system had vanished. The people who had been present at the buttock groping incident got frightened when they heard about what had happened to the man, some were even afraid to speak about it out of fear. They just knew deep down that Mbuya Chigutiro had something to do with the man’s death. Very few people crossed her after that, the very few that did, always suffered a mishap of some sort.
Chipo knew she was in good hands if she needed any magical tricks to make her plans work. So she made her way to her grandmother’s homestead, it was located in a very flat and open area. The homestead was surrounded by long green grass that covered a very wide area. But the homestead itself was vegetated, with different green shrubs and long trees with thick trunks. Some of the trunks were so thick, fully grown men could possibly fit inside. Chipo grew a bit intimidated as she got closer, this was after all a very dark place where black magic was practiced. She followed the pathway through the grass, walking slowly, tiptoeing closer and closer. As she entered the homestead, Chipo saw a small silver snake slithering towards her. Her heart did a few somersaults when she noticed that it also had two heads. She opened her mouth wide, trying to scream but no sound escaped her vocal chords. The snake hissed and spat onto the ground as it drew closer to her. Mbuya Chigutiro stepped out of her round little thatched kitchen and shooed the snake away. It looked at Chipo with great hatred in its eyes and proceeded into a gang of shrubs so green.
“Do not fear my child that is my snake. Its task is to protect my homestead and I, as I am its master,” Ambuya said in her hoarse voice. She was short and very old too. But she could walk without the help of anything besides her thin brown walking stick. “I was so afraid Ambuya, thank you for coming out at the right moment,” Chipo responded with a whisper. “Never fear my child, these things are yours too. It would never attack one of its own; its duty is to protect you too. A bit of your blood flows in its body.” Chipo wondered how her blood could be in that snake, “How is that possible?” Chipo asked. “My blood is your blood too. I can see my statement has confused you a little. Worry not my child, these things become clearer with age. You will know more when I teach you my way of doing things,” Ambuya said with much wisdom in her words. The two proceeded into Ambuya’s kitchen, sat on the floor and greeted one another. A small but fiery fire was burning at the center of the room. A pot made of clay painted red was sitting atop the fire. It seemed as if the fire barely licked the bottom surface of the pot, it looked as good as new but its contents boiled angrily. This caught Chipo’s attention; the burning flame itself drew Chipo’s attention.
“You rarely visit me, Chipo. But the funny thing is out of all my grandchildren, those rare visits are the most I have got.” Ambuya told Chipo with a curious look on her face. Chipo smiled a shy smile…
She took the fact that she had visited the most as something to feel special about. “I will try to visit more times Mbuya. It is just that things can be difficult at times. I am usually busy so I do not have time to visit, but from now one I will put my best foot forward and step into your hut more often.’’ Chipo responded as a good grandchild would. Ambuya giggled loudly and clapped her hand once, and then silence followed. Chipo looked around the hut to see if there was anything new since her last visit. A string that stretched from wall to wall had various carcass remains hanging from it. There was a snake (Ambuya seemed really fond of snakes), a rat and another animal she could not recognise. Herbs hung from a specially built wooden rail that was leaning against the wall. The room amazingly, was not as smoky, only a single plume of smoke escaped from the fire, rising lazily, hazily through the thatched roof. A subtle smell of some herb gently waffled in the air. The environment was very gentle actually for a ‘supposed’ witch.
“Mbuya, there is this big problem that I have,” Chipo started. “My neighbours are some of the most irritating people I know. They bore me so much, especially their son. He thinks he is so special and the family’s shining light but there is nothing there. He is just another loser in my eyes.” Ambuya Chigutiro squinted her brown eyes until they were the size of baby peas. She stared at Chipo for long time; she was studying her and carefully looking at her face and then looked deeper into Chipo’s soul, searching and digging deeper. She was searching for that fiber that was required to carry out evil deeds. Chipo began to feel so uncomfortable that she avoided her grandmother’s eyes at first, and then finally looked down. “My child, are you ready for this thing that you ask of me? Do you have it in you to carry out the foulest of evil and still be happy with yourself? Will you not suffer haunted nightmares after carrying out this deed? You should also realise that once you’re in, you cannot go back.” Ambuya forewarned Chipo. “This path is not for the faint hearted, you will have to be strong and unflinching.” Chipo wanted to cause pain to these people, it was a funny feeling because they were friendly people but she found them pretentious and full of themselves. She wanted to punish them for what she perceived as being proud and she was determined.
“I am ready Gogo. I can do this, show me what to do and I will not let you down.” Ambuya looked at her granddaughter once more. “Okay, I will give you a trick my child. Listen carefully my child. I will give you a special ointment that I keep in my other room. You must make sure you get a piece of clothing that belongs to that boy. At midnight, make sure you have a fire lit, spread the ointment I give you onto the boy’s piece of clothing and then get a drop of your blood onto the same piece of clothing. Before you throw the cloth into the burning fire, spit into it and say a prayer damning the gods. After that, throw the cloth into the fire, the fire will rage for a second, and that will be confirmation that the magic will work.
You are to carry out this ritual in complete nudity all by yourself. He will become your slave after that and he will do all and everything that you require of him. Just make sure that you use him as you please after midnight and before the sun rises. If you try anything funny at other times besides these, the magic will not work and you will embarrass yourself. Is that understood?” Ambuya asked. “Yes, understood,” her granddaughter, replied. “Good. Now, I want you to stay the night. Let me prepare something delicious for you my child.”
Chipo did not rush in her act of sorcery, she actually took her sweet time, and not that she was scared. She was just unsure whether she was ready to torture her own soul as her grandmother had warned her. Chipo did not know whether she was ready to step into that dark realm forever. The boy next door, Tonderai, would wave at her while she sat in her yard and she always ignored him. Did he really deserve to have such evil acted out on him? But the more she saw him smile and the more she saw him strive to better himself, she became even more bitter.
The day finally came when she decided to carry out the ritual her grandmother had shown her. She would be in control of Tonderai and no one could do anything about it. He would be her slave, doing all that pleased her. The only problem she had was getting her hands on a piece of clothing that belonged to Tonderai. She couldn’t just barge into his family’s homestead and pick whatever she wanted. This had to be a discreet affair that no one should know about. The gods always looked after their own, it so happened that on the day Chipo planned on carrying out the ritual, a whirlwind blew across the village. It was such a strong wind that clothes were blown off Tonderai’s family’s washing line. Tonderai’s white school shirt blew straight into her face. She looked at the shirt in awe, sniffed it like a wolf and ran into her hut to cut a piece off. She hid the piece under her pillow and ran to the edges of Tonderai’s yard to throw it back where it belonged.
The gods were on her side, she was untouchable. She felt the luck course in her vein and said a silent prayer of thanks to the gods. She locked herself in her kitchen hut and began preparing a meal for the evening. Chipo decided to cook a meal of sadza and delicious chicken stew with a side plate of green vegetables. This was going to be a great night. The gods were on her side and there was no way she could lose. One would be confused if he saw Chipo in that moment. All the doubt and remorse that had clouded her head previously had vanished; she was now a single-minded woman. She knew exactly what she wanted…
She was never a beauty but she looked weird today, something about her was off. Her eyes were cadaver grey, with neither light nor life in them. She smiled a crooked smile that struck dread. She suddenly grabbed his manhood and cut it off. In the real world, Tonderai woke up with a jolt and a scream, wondering what exactly was going on. He was drenched in sweat, his sheets soaking wet. It took him a couple of seconds to realise that it had been a dream, a nightmare. Why was he dreaming about Chipo though? All he enjoyed was looking at her powerful legs and shapely buttocks. Beyond that, he had no reason to dream about her. He told himself that it was just a dream and went back to sleep. Within minutes, he had fallen asleep – the world kept spinning; sinners continued sinning and the evil creatures outside kept on roaming.
Chipo had a pretty big garden for someone who lived alone and depended on her brothers for help. The fact that the whole garden needed weeding did not make matters any easier. Chipo was busy weeding with a hoe in her hand. She had been in the garden since early morning but she felt like she had not done much. Many people had walked past the garden that morning. A few of them had offered their greetings even though it was mostly out of being polite. Chipo had a very small fan club, if one could call it such. In fact, only her family seemed to care about her. Her only friend, Brenda, a beauty might I add; had been married two years ago by a foreign businessman, so Chipo was all alone.
The sun was blazing hot; her upper body was drenched in sweat from all the weeding. Her feet were covered with dust and she could feel a slight pain in her lower back. She was thirsty and she was hungry, she then decided that she had done enough for the day. She had expected her brothers to make an appearance but they had not arrived. Chipo made her way back to her hut; she still remembered what she had done. But she did not know what to do next; she didn’t know what her next step ought to be. As she got closer to home, dragging her feet and feeling the tiredness all over her body, she saw Tonderai’s mother in the distance. At that very moment, a beautiful idea crept into her brain.