Sorry this came late. Work!!! Thanks and enjoy!
…………… It was switched off. I called repeatedly yet no success, so I sent a text. No response either. I didn’t stop trying until I slept, phone in hands.
Gullibly, I dressed up to set out in the morning. I was shocked to see the door to my parent’s bedroom ajar. It was too early. I took off my shoes and tiptoed down the stairs, daddy was sitting at the base of the stairs.
“Don’t you think it’s rather early young woman?”
I nodded in shock.
“Where to? Isn’t it too early?” he asked.
I stuttered but explained the meeting to him. I could lie to everyone but daddy. I got away with it with mum, so much so dad had to personally advise her not to take anything we told her to heart, but she kept falling victim. Daddy gave me a short three minutes pep talk and advised me to be civil about my not being interested with whatever it was Etim’s mum was taking me to Baba Buray’s place for. He also advised that it was time I involved her son to confirm who exactly the man was. He left me in deep thought.
I missed her call.
Yes. Mrs. Ubon – Israel. I purposely didn’t pick it. I wanted to call Etim first but he wasn’t picking. I wanted him to at least know that I was with his mum, abi? And so I sent him a text.
*******************
We left Lagos for Ibadan at a quarter past six. I couldn’t just imagine how Agaptus managed to stay awake driving us to Ibadan, ‘cos I felt drowsy, only that I’d be a fool to close my eyes when I didn’t have the slightest clue on where we were going. On our way, Agaptus kept giving me uncomfortable glances that made me soon realize how much trouble I was embarking on. He would look at me, look at the direction of my phone and mutter words only he could hear. I stole a glance at mother in-law (MIL), but she was wide awake, just looking out of the window. She was way too quiet. I thought to ask him what he was saying immediately we stopped and alighted at Baba Buray’s place at Felele, but MIL instructed him to go refuel before he even had a chance to switch off the ignition.
“Go to the filling station at Challenge.” She ordered, leading us in. hmmm. We entered the lovely duplex, decorated with different types of flowers on the outside and lavishly furnished on the inside. We were welcomed by the bark of Baba Buray’s dog. A medium sized black retriever.
“That’s Eniyansoro.” She said smiling
And that’s important because? “Oh!” I said out of nothing to say
When we entered the living room, my mother-in-law took off her shoes and bowed to greet him, I was wondering why, but just decided to kneel and greet him instead. “Welcome. How are you?” He managed in clear English. How was the trip?”
I nodded, still sizing him up. There wasn’t anything suggestive in the environment but it wore this eerie feel.
“A ma bere ise naa lai pe. Se e ti shalaye gbo gbo nkan ti mo ba yin so ni ijosi fun?” ‘We shall begin the process very soon. Have you explained everything I told you the other day to her?’ Etim’s mother nodded her head.
“What?” I was livid.
“Don’t worry.” She cut me halfway, “Just do what he tells you to do”.
Inside a squared leathered ottoman, he brought out a calabash, and asked for my palms. With a distasteful squirm, I looked at my mother-in-law.
“Ma, what is this?”
“Mojola, do as he says and don’t ask questions.”
See me see wahala o!
“I’m sorry ma, I don’t understand what is going on here, and I can’t give him my palms.”
“Shebi e ni pe e ti so gbo gbo e fun, abi? O se wa je pe ko fe gboro si me lenu” (I thought you said you explained things to her, so why is she not obeying?)
“Baba, ma ba soro, e jo e ma binu.”
“Ma, I’m sorry but I thought it was an elder of your family you were taking me to see to pray for me…”
“Yes he’s an elder,” She interrupted. “And I have made him family; he would pray for you and do some necessary things, especially for a productive marriage between you and Etim.”
“Ma, I cannot do this.” I annoyingly replied her. “And I’m sorry, please I feel so uncomfortable here, can we please leave?” Thank God the Baba wasn’t persistent or he didn’t chant some things that made me numb. He just folded his arms and looked at me with disgust.
“You will have to bring her some other day, but you would have to pay again, `cos I would have to throw the things for the ritual away.”
Ritual? What…!!!
I was in shock! This woman brought me for a ritual. Wait o! Next thing now they’ll say I should go bath somewhere.
As we were leaving, she instructed Agaptus to head straight to Shade Eleja, a spot where fish was being killed, cooked and sold. She asked if I wanted to eat and obviously fuming, I told her I was okay, and all I just needed to do was go home. She ignored me and went in to get herself fed, and then finally left for Lagos. She acted like nothing happened and was quiet all through the trip back.
“For your own good, do not tell anyone what happened today!” She looked straight at me, her tone scary.
I didn’t know what to do. My mother will scream if she even has a slight clue, `cos from the get-go she didn’t even welcome the idea of me marrying outside my culture and would use this as another excuse of wanting me out of the marriage. Yes o, mummy wouldn’t care it was two more weeks to the wedding. She’s a believer of, `better back out now and feel ashamed, than go on with it and suffer’.
After they dropped me over at my place, I just walked into my room, lay on my bed and cried. And then I did the natural thing of falling on my knees to pray.
Etim interrupted my prayers from his hard fist on my door`. He had been calling and sending messages but I was so locked up in my thoughts to remember I hadn’t switched on my phone after we left Baba Buray’s place.
“Are you okay?” He hugged me, rocking me back and forth. “Why are you crying and all coiled up?”
Do I tell him? I was marrying this man in a few days and we already had all kinds of dark secrets between us
“But I sent you a text.” I whispered.
Yes you did but it was a blank, it’s one of the reasons I came over and since you weren’t picking up your calls either.”
Blank? How?
I looked at my phone and there was no record of any text I sent to Etim on my phone. With a dazed look, I looked up and tried to relay to him what I sent as the text.
“Well, your mum and I…”, as I started to talk, I felt a tickle in my throat and I started coughing so hard it started to hurt. I couldn’t speak. Quickly my eyes reddened and my throat peppered. In a few seconds, everywhere blackened.
Ameh & Oyster!
Photo by unesco.org
Pearls & Oysters 