Genius

Before Amara died, Ikenna was the kind of man who prayed about everything. He prayed before eating, before travelling, before making decisions. Every Sunday, he sat in the same pew at church, his Bible resting on his lap, his daughter beside him. When people asked him why he trusted God so much, he always gave the same answer. God had never failed him. Then, one Thursday afternoon, his daughter went to buy something from the provision shop and never came home. She had taken her yellow bucket with her because she planned to fetch water on her way back. By evening, the bucket was found beside an unfinished building near their street. There was blood on its handle. The following morning, a farmer discovered Amara's body in a drainage channel behind the building. She had been assaulted and killed. Ikenna identified her at the mortuary by the small scar above her left eyebrow. He had kissed that scar a thousand times when she was younger, telling her it was proof that heaven had marked her for something special. Now he stood in a cold room, staring at it, waiting for someone to tell him there had been a mistake. Nobody did. At the funeral, the pastor spoke about God's mysterious ways. Ikenna listened quietly. When the pastor finished, he approached him and asked a question. If God knew what was going to happen to Amara, why didn't He stop it? The pastor spoke about free will, the brokenness of the world, and how human beings sometimes suffered things they could never understand. Ikenna nodded. He went home and prayed. He prayed until his knees hurt. He prayed until his voice became hoarse. He prayed for justice. He prayed for strength. He prayed that the people who had done this would be found. For the first time in his life, he prayed without knowing whether anyone was listening. And then, three weeks later, the police arrested two men.