Post by I AM ETIMBOK (@iametimbok)

I sell second-hand clothes at Yaba market. Business was very bad that Friday, and I had not sold a single shirt.

Around 8:00 PM, while everyone was packing up, a very tall woman in a black gown stopped at my stand. Her face was covered with a dark scarf, but her hands were pale and ice-cold.

She pointed at a plain red jacket hanging on my rail.

"How much is this?" she asked. Her voice sounded like two dry stones rubbing together.

"₦5,000, madam," I lied, hoping to make quick money. The jacket was only worth ₦1,500.
Without arguing, she brought out a clean ₦10,000 note.

"Keep the change," she said. "Just take off the jacket and wear it on me yourself. My arms are too weak."

I was so happy about the easy money that I didn't think twice. I took the jacket, opened it wide, and slipped it over her shoulders from behind.

The moment the cloth touched her skin, her body felt completely hollow, like dry grass wrapped inside a dress. She didn't say thank you. She just turned around and walked into the dark alley behind the market.

I put the ₦10,000 note inside my front pocket and started packing my bags.

Five minutes later, my chest started to burn. It felt like someone poured boiling pepper inside my lungs. I dipped my hand into my pocket to bring out the money, but my fingers touched something wet and hairy.

I pulled it out in shock.

It was not paper money. It was a thick bunch of wet, human hair tied with a black thread. Stuck in the middle of the hair was a piece of paper with my own handwriting on it:

SOLD: ONE CHEST AND TWO LUNGS.

I screamed and dropped the hair on the floor. I tried to run, but my legs were heavy, like lead.
I looked down at my own body. The red jacket I had just sold to the woman was now on me, zipped all the way up to my neck.

When I pulled at the zipper to tear it off, my skin tore with it. The jacket was no longer cloth. It had become my own flesh.

From the dark corner of the alley, I heard the woman laughing.

"No refund, my friend," she whispered into my ear, even though she was standing twenty feet away. "You already spent the change."

0 likes · 0 comments · 0 shares