CHAPTER ONE - ERINNE VISIT.
" Konko Nne are home ?" I heard the tiny voice from the small fence I used to stop Ogabi goats from entry my compound. Despite several warnings Ogabi had refused to build a hut for his goat and he kept letting them roam the streets and finding my compound as a shelter due to the warm they get from resting under my mango trees. Each visit from the goats always leave me in tears as they will visit my garden in the backyard and ensure to cut my vegetables and uproot my cassava, they take no mercy in going into my mud kitchen using their horns to break the walls and mess up the compound with their poo. When I tried talking to Ogabi wife politely like my fellow woman she had made jest of me in the market making me cry and questioning my Chi I remember her words " Mbua you have no children and my goats came to keep you company, you should be thankful than complaining." Those were her words I cried for days and didn't step out of my hut . Even the village chief didn't take me seriously when I reported to him that made me look for money and fence my compound with the help of Man shalline the village Thug.
I went to open the gate and my eyes beheld my beautiful niece Errine, " Nne oma my big mummy good evening " she said throwing her arms around me as she gave me a big hug " Muji is this you o chimo" I exclaim as I held on to her body like my life depends on it " when did you come back and see how beautiful this Youth copa clothes looks good on you " I said as she burst into a hearty laugh turning her back for me to see her very well. Errine was a very beautiful girl with her wonderful structure that fit in every place it should, she has a very fair complexion we had nickname her "escape from albino" when she was born, with her big buttocks and breast like the childhood picture of Nwanyi Asaba that we were told about Errine had a very flat stomach and straight legs that made her exceptionally beautiful for her age. She had big white eyes long teeth with a very big space in the front which is always referred to as gap teeth and long black hair. Errine is one of the most beautiful girl in Eshi and I feel proud that she is also one of the first graduate. Yes Errine had just graduated from the cross river state university of science and technology as a mass communicator, and it was a thing of great celebration in our family because Errine was actually the first to graduate in my family the Obi otu family "come sit while I hurriedly warm the afang soup I made yesterday for you, I know you will love it" I said offering her a sit as I dash in to get a cup of water from the mud pot in the kitchen " this water is so cold like it's from the freezer" she said after taking a big gulp "yes na even before the white man brought the freezer Africans already had our freezer and this is where I got water for you from" I replied as we both burst into laughter " true Nne we Africans also have our own beautiful history before the white men came and it gladdens my heart that some of you are still holding on to this so we the younger generation can see and also know" she said. I look at her with so much admiration and feel so glad that I have insisted that my brother send her to school. Errine have always shown so much wisdom for her age right from a very young age , Errine was the born a month after my mother's burial, I had arranged my things to go back to lafia the next morning since all the burial rites of my mother has been perform. While I was parking my luggages into a bag with the help of her pregnant mom Nancy I noticed the uneasiness in her and that she frequently visits the bush toilet we use " Nancy are you okay" I asked with so much concern " Aunty Mbua I don't know what is going on but I have been having this urge to use the toilet yet nothing comes out" she replied me weakly "ah let me go call onyi Michael the village midwife" I said tying my wrapper firmly across my waist and dash to call onyi Michael.
The next few hours ushered in my beautiful niece into the world and she was handed to me, looking at her pink face and tiny lips as she cried I knew my mom was back and I loved her from that moment, the months that passed by saw me and Errine having a strong bond , when Okaja the village priestess came to tell us that Errine was my mom reincarnation it gladdens my heart more I might not have had a good relationship with my mother due to the way she treated me but this time I knew she was given a second chance to be a perfect mother I know no one is perfect but my mother will be perfect this time, she deprived I and my sisters the love of a mother but this time I knew she wanted to make it right and yes Errine has loved me so much that I haven't even noticed that I have no child of my own. " Nne what are you thinking" she said bringing me back to reality " thank you for the meal it was delicious as always, I think you should have been a chef you will have made a great one" she said I know she was trying to make me smile she always does " what is a chef?" I asked " big mummy chefs are those people who make meals in all those restaurants, they go to a culinary school to learn how to cook some specialized in intercontinental or African dishes while some do both but the most important thing is that they are very good and also well paid" she lectured me " ehh you mean people pay money to learn how to cook? What are their mother's doing? This must be women who refuse to join their mother's in the kitchen when cooking, hmm you see the price" I replied wondering why woman will pay money to learn how to cook in my father's house it was an abomination for a woman to not know how to cook " that's not true big mummy they just want to learn how to make different delicacy not just limited to their cultural food and who told you only women learn how to cook even men do" she said chewing the piece of meat in her mouth " tuewh men learning how to cook, the world has really changed for men to go learn her to cook during my time it was an abomination for a man to near the kitchen talk more of cooking, they sit with our fathers playing game or go to the farm instead while we the women do the cooking" I replied " Nne the world has changed both gender can cook it's not subjective to anyone cooking is a survival skill, what if a man find himself in an island won't he look for what to eat , moreover don't women also go to the farm then , this were just lies used to subject poor women to slavery." She said drinking the remaining water. " You are right my child and I am happy that you are educated and will know how to set standards for what you can accept and what you can't some of us really suffered from this African mentality " I said wishing I had gotten so much knowledge about life when I was her age. " Okay Nne I will start going home my father was still in the farm and have not seen me when I decided to come show you my national youth corps uniform, I also want to say a big thank you for standing by me and encouraging my father to send me to school even when he wasn't really interested and I am happy I didn't disappoint you " she said making me burst into tears.
CHAPTER TWO__ MY FATHER'S COMPOUND.
The whole compound was as quiet as a graveyard, all the children hits in their mother's huts as no one dare to run out to avoid papa rage. It was just for my little cry that made passerby knew that they are human living in that compound. My father sat in the mpie a small hut that is built with bamboo and covered with thatch roof his friend Akam walk in pick a small bench and sat facing my father " Otu this is not the end of the world you will have your own son soon" he tried to console my papa " when" my father roar shaking the whole compound "Akam when I asked this is the third wife I have married yet no cry of a male child who will succeed me, you advice me to marry Anne because of the way all her siblings have plenty sons but immediately she came to my house she joined the bandwagon this tiny thing crying is the third female child she has given birth in my house". My father said admist crying you heard him right he called me a tiny thing my father has not touched my tiny hand or come to see the face of the new child he had forcefully brought to the world in his quest for a male child I am his twelfth daughter from his fourth wife who said in a corner crying her eyes out and refusing to breastfeed me until the other wives yelled at her while Nne Betty was concerned for me and my mom The second and third wife were there to feed their eyes and tongues as they made jest with their eyes wondering why my mom who was proclaimed as my papa most beautiful and most loved wife was here feeling neglected and depressed their joy knew no bond as they danced at the downfall of the Messiah ( my mom) and from that day my mother only looked at me with so much hatred and disdain for not coming to her rescue and help her retain her glory and husband love.
Three days after my birth while Nne Betty held me and the second wife Nne Franca was weaving my mother hair my father and a group of elders and some women walk in carrying loads on their head singing and ushering a new bride into the family my mom was shocked and fascinated by papa attitudes, he has not even visited her room to see their new child yet he has the nerves to go marry a new wife my mother looked at other wives and saw that they were not showing any emotion or looking shock it means they knew yet kept quiet she stood up from her sit with so much rage and wanted to go to stop them when Nne Amaka held her " where are you going to? Was that not how you were brought in too stop this before you will have to kneel before the community women tomorrow" she said pushing my mom to a sit " why didn't you all tell me, don't I deserve to know what is my crime" my mother said bursting into tears " nothing that is how we also felt when you came in , you should be grateful he was patient until your third child how about us that had just the first and we were dumped like we didn't mean a thing " replied Nne Franca who wanted to continue working on my mother hair as my mother shoved her away. " Stop crying and look after your kids, you knew our husband will still marry more wives so this shouldn't come as a shock " Nne Franca said as she and Nne Amaka left my mother and joined the crowd in welcoming the new wife into her hut.
Nne Betty came close to my mother and held her in a warm hug " I know my husband is desperate for a male child but what I didn't know is that he can be so mean in his search, I understand exactly how you feel and I tell you, you have the right to feel this way take your kids inside and act like you didn't see them. He told me about his new marriage last night I couldn't summon the courage to tell you knowing how hard it will be for you Please forgive me " she said handing me over to my mother and led my sisters and my mom inside before going to join the others. That night my mother cried and cried herself to sleep even my innocent little self wasn't spare as I cried as if I knew what had happened and refused to sucked even when my mother tried to feed me.
The early hours of the morning saw my mother running to my papa mpie to confront my father who was sitting on his wooden chair with the left over keg of palm wine and a cup , my father a man in his late fourties fair in complexion with his big tummy broad shoulders and long legs that were hidden in his oja a traditional wrapper worn by men did not even look at the direction of my mother " good morning my husband" my mother greeted kneeling on the ground her eyes swollen from her cry and lack of sleep her hair looking unkempt " Good morning Anne, do you need anything" my papa said looking indifferent " what is my crime that you have refused to come see me and our child?" My mother said with tears rolling down her cheek " your daughter you mean, I will come see you when I wish" my papa replied " when you wish obiotu, am I the Creator that gives male children? Is that why you didn't even seek my permission before going in to bring that shameless....." What followed was a resounding slap that shut my mother mouth " how dare you talk to me in such disrespectful tune , you dare call my wife a shameless woman" my father was shouting out loud Nne Betty was already on her knees begging my papa reminding him my mother was a new mom while Nne Amaka and Franca just stood there watching with their hands akimbo. " Just thank your Chi and your senior wife today you and your bunch of useless daughters will have seen yourself in your father's house, if this is the way your mother talks to your father you will never try such the next time you try this I will cut your tongue and feed it the dogs, my papa said dusted his wrapper and walked into his hut to meet his new wife whom I guess is enjoying the chaos and drama going on.
Nne Betty led my mother who was sobbing loudly into her hut, she brought breakfast and encourage my mother to eat. " Anne you didn't do well if we all have put up a fight so you think you will be here " she asked my mother calmly my mother couldn't say anything but shook her head. " But I love my husband I can't see him slip into the arms of anyother woman" my mother replied Nne Betty the calm beautiful woman in her late thirtys burst into laughter " and you think I didn't laugh my husband, you think I didn't cry myself out seeing the husband of my youth who promised me eternity marrying that loud mouth Bala my one time friend all because I couldn't give him a male child, I do not blame anyone except my Chi who let me face every humiliation I got" she said that was when it dawned on my mother that she wasn't in this alone and all her joy and love has been built on another woman pain .
Days turn into weeks and weeks to month everything seems to have gone back to normal if not for my papa lack of affection towards us and my mother who in turn bullied me and my sisters for a crime we didn't know or commit I was her worst enemy she had build so much hope on me being a boy and was so disappointed and she couldn't hide it. It disgust her to see my papa and his new wife sitting in papa mpie drinking palm wine and eating bush meat sometimes in company of the other wives they will laugh so loud when ever they see my mother coming and this only made her hated us more, one day she had taken me to her mother house to explain situations to her but Mama Nukwu did not understand my mother and has just kept yelling and abusing her " are you a witch, why are you so pained that your husband married another wife who will give him a successor, if the other wives have acted this way will you be there,if you are a witch tell me now don't let the village women hear of this and force you to swear before katigari , I will not let you shame me oh how many wives did your father have eight Anne eight how is Obiotu own now different? Your husband has the right to marry as many wives as he wished " my grandmother had said my mother was speechless not even her own mother understood her pain she had just dismissed her without listening to all she had to say even if papa had the right marry many wives should he neglect some to satisfy some was he supposed to also reject his own child and my blood my mother picked me up and headed back to her matrimonial home knowing fully well she had no one to talk to.