INDULGENCE 2

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Many a family meeting had convened over Ene’s issue. Tonye had become a fixture at these meetings.  Ene remained adamant. He couldn't help but blame her parents; they should have been more attentive. 


He would come back from the meetings brimming with resentment but almost certainly Miss "Life is one big party" had something up her sleeves that triggered his insatiable hunger for her. 
One time it was absinthe. He had never had it and wasn't particularly eager to find out exactly why it had such a bad reputation. Tonye is naturally cautious....but she was wearing the tinniest edible gummy panty. Tonye had been ordered to take a bite as soon as he walked in. From then on, he was a goner. He watched trance-like as she knelt before the coffee table, where her paraphernalia was assembled. He remembered wondering if the edible underwear would hold up. Well, It did until the absinthe was drunk.
She put a special perforated table spoon across a wine glass with the green liquid in it. On the spoon, she put a cube of sugar over which she slowly drizzled cold water. The sparkling green liquid turned opalescent milky green. All of this he observed from the effect of the caress of her voice; "As the water liberates the essences of absinthe, so will it liberate your mind, Tonye". The atmosphere had an unnatural charge like she was putting a voodoo spell on him..She didn't need to. She handed him the milky green drink. It was bitter at the first taste but more herby with subsequent sips and quite refreshing too. He suddenly felt super alive. All his senses were on super charge. How is it that he heard for the first time the exquisite composition of the drawn out guitar riffs of Bon Jovi's "Bed Of Roses"?  Eating the alcohol infused edible underwear afterwards was erotica in more ways than one, the tips of his tongue tingled as he took bites off her and shared with her. Her hands on him was spine tingling, his hands on her, spine tingling; the sexual charge was on a stratospheric level. Wow, no wonder. Absinthe equals magic. Ene equals magic. Tonye was lost. 

On this night of profound feelings and sensations, she gave him the only explanation that she ever would about her distillery dream. She was challenged by absinthe. That was it. 


Mrs. Oga’s love for Tonye knew no bounds. She’d given up on her wild, weird child’s chances of ever meeting a man brave enough to cope with her eccentricity or even that Ene herself would ever be interested in settling down.

She pleaded with Tonye to make her see reason about the distillery idea. It really riled her father up. When Tonye could think rationally, it riled him up too. He tried to appeal to Ene’s better judgment but she remained adamant. He insisted that she at least clue him in on her business plan. She insisted, he wouldn’t understand. He lost his temper and gave her an ultimatum, she begged him to have patience. “The end product will justify me”. 
He succeeded however in getting her to dry up. This was good for his ego. Poor Tonye always felt that as far as they had come, Ene would still heed the call of excitement and leave him without much thought at any time. Her agreeing to dry-up seemed to him a positive statement. Dele, his psychotherapist friend guided her through clearing the common societal misconception that an alcohol problem is a sign of moral weakness. “As a result people feel that to seek help is to admit some type of shameful defect in their nature. While in fact, alcoholism is a disease that is no more a sign of weakness than is asthma.”

The sessions were good for her. She appeared more stable and was keeping clean. The sessions were confidential so all he knew was that she was responding well. As part of her therapy, she "shared" with me how she started drinking. She had started drinking actively at thirteen years old. Being an only child of filthy rich and equally busy parents, she’d been left very much to her own devices. The Oga household was a full one with servants, relatives and all. Despite this everyone pretty much left Ene on her own.

In the past, alcohol abstinence to him, made no sense. Jesus turned water into wine after all, why did he, if we were not meant to enjoy it? He’d been a social drinker, who could hold his drink pretty well. He was a larger man and on a good day could do five to six bottles of beer and still drive home safely. He enjoyed his beer really good. Ene had cured him of that. She’d woken him up to the reality of alcohol. He’d seen all too clearly the dangers, to underestimate its stealthy approach and possession.

Tonye found Ene eerily sophisticated and blasé for a twenty four year old. Her adventures were often over the top, involving globe trotting types. 

She’d recounted the final ritual of the Bacchanalian initiation process in Las Vegas.  The three day celebration and thanksgiving to Bacchus the god of wine. The last day fell on the 14th of June (the anniversary of the lift of the ban on absinthe). This day was chosen for the final initiation rites.

The bacchanalian’s believed that the spirit of the god Bacchus was in essence all about youth, vitality and power. On the third and last day of the frenetic celebration, the six new Bacchanalian’s were blessed and commanded to go forth and excel. That night was the feast of the Bacchanalian. She never really said what they did but later, the younger set had an after party.  Ali brought forth bottles of a 70 percent proof, $2,500 per bottle, ninety two year old herbal liqueur; the Pernod Fils. Ene and Ali would have been the death of each other. According to her, they drank till six am the next day, doing the rounds of clubs and casinos. These people believe that honouring Bacchus releases abundance on  every aspect of a persons life. Honouring Bacchus is revelry.
Tonye never could shake off the feeling that there was a part of the story missing. The original Bacchanalian festivals were not just about alcohol, they were orgies, yes with a lot of sex....., but that was all the information she volunteered about her creed.

TO BE CONTINUED.....