Chapter Thirty Six:The dead have rights

"O nweghị that right! I don't care o! Why would she take what does not belong to her!" Obi's voice rose as her father tried to caution her about the incident that had occurred earlier.

Mr Uzoma Okechukwu  had walked in on a complete chaos. His wife and Obi were at it like two bulls fighting over dominance and his other children were screaming and tugging at their respective candidates, with tears streaming from their eyes.

He had been on his way from the palace when Chukwudi met him halfway to report the war going on in his house. The two of them walked as fast they could to avoid much damage.

They were late because Obi's hands were on his wife's waist while the woman was trying to pull her away from her body. Okechukwu did not know for how long they had been that way but he quickly tore the two of them apart with the help of Chukwudi.

He had been the one who grabbed Obi and held her steady while Okechukwu pulled his wife aside. In the bid to pull them apart his wife's hand struck Obi's nose and she shrieked.

She struggled frantically to escape Chukwudi's grip and retaliate but he didn't bulge. "Chukwudi hapụ m aka o! Hapụ m aka! Ọkwa ị hụrụ, Chukwudi I'll bite you! Leave me alone!"

Chukwudi ignored her attempts of jumping out of his hands, he noticed that Obi had been bruised and he wanted to keep her from inflicting more injuries on her body in the name of fighting.

" Obi biko nu, ozugo. What are you teaching these young ones "Chukwudi admonished

" I am teaching them to fight for their rights, to fight for what belongs to them. To protect our mother's things from that intruder, Do you even know what she did? "

After Okechukwu moved his wife into the house, Chukwudi released his grip on Obi. Tobe and the girls rushed to her side to offer her support. Obi noticed the blood that trickled from her nose and walked away from the scene leaving behind Chukwudi and her siblings.

She went into mma's hut who was woken from sleep from the yelling and fighting that went on.
"Obiukwu ọ gịnị n'eme ebe ahụ what is happening !" The old woman enquired

"O nweghị" Obi replied coldly fishing out a clean cloth to abate bleeding from her nose. She raised her face and looked upwatd in the bid to stop blood from trickling down, which eventually stopped.

"A nụrụ m na Okechukwu batara, kedu ebe ọnọ I heard Okechukwu came back, where is he?" Mma spoke reaching out to her box of snuff beside her bed.

Obi confirmed what mma  spoke and the old woman told her to relay a message to her father. She went out of the hut and came out to meet her siblings at the verandah. She accompanied them inside the house and they changed and had their bath. Her father and his wife were still in the room that he used to share with her mother and the thought made Obi's blood boil.

She decided to prepare dinner that she intended to eat with only her siblings but as she cooked her half sisters kept peeping at her. Obi had not thought of their feelings in what was happening but a part of her did not want to treat the children poorly. One of the girls smiled at Obi before the elder ones dragged her off.

Obi's father had not spoken to her since the fight happened and she bristled at every slight opportunity that his voice resonated in the house.
Obi's siblings buried themselves in their home work and Obi got the things they'd be using for school the next day together. Chukwudi dropped by later in the evening and handed over roasted chicken to Obi as a a peace offering.

She had still been thanking him for his gift before her father summoned her at the backyard. His wife had seemed to effectively avoid Obi at all cost and Obi gave her thorough glaring each time she caught a glimpse of her.

Tobe, ifenna and her half sisters had trooped to mma's hut and Obi could occasional laughter that rang from her hut. Mma had been gloomy all week and Obi was happy that the children made her happy.

Her father was seated on one of the cane chairs that she usually sat on with Obiefune. She wished that he was around to light up the darkness that hovered around her. She was slowly losing herself and rage was taking over.

The man's body was bare exposing his protruding belly which had grown bigger. Obi remembered the times she used to play with her father, the times she would pat his belly and even blow on it to cause noises that amused both of them. Her father being naked then meant he sought Obi's attention.

She would scratch his back while they shared stories and laughed. He often pulled her aside to tickle her and tap at her nose. When her siblings came she barely did the same with the man but each time she did, she enjoyed it.
She worshipped her father and was happy to have borne a semblance to him. He had toes just like hers and the dots that played on her nose were also present on his.

Obi cluelessly walked behind her father with thoughts of her childhood filling her head. The old man must have noticed the same thing because he relaxed his back and waited for Obi to proceed with the ministrations she usually offered his back.

Obi's eyes grew misty as the image of the child she had been played across her mind. She reached out to touch his back but the tears hindered her from seeing his it clearly. Her hands began to shake uncontrollably, tremors racked her body as the night grew colder with her standing behind her father unable to do anything.
She became frustrated and out of her exasperation, a new anger sprang up.

Her father had left them and it he hadn't left, her mother would still be alive. Obi stepped away from his back and it was then that one of her half sisters ran to where she stood and scratched the man's back. Okechukwu looked back not as relaxed as he had been, he was assessing Obi and she could tell that he was disappointed that she didn't touch him.

The child quickly ran off leaving Obi angrier than she initially had been, her hands fisted into knuckles and she slowly made her way to the chair and sat creating enough space between them. She was no longer child, he made sure of that by leaving them.
"kedụ?" The man asked her with concern written all over his face
Obi only nodded tearing her eyes away from his face. She had noticed that he was not as he used to be and his hair had begun to grey.

He cleared his throat before speaking the second time. "Obi what you did today was wrong. Janet needed a wrapper to use after I left..."

Obi flared up and interrupted him

"She does not have that right! I don't care! Why would she take something that doesn't belong to her "

Enraged at her adamancy at being reasonable Okechukwu's anger rose.

"She didn't know it was your mother's, she saw it your room and she assumed that it was yours"

Obi scoffed " And that makes it right? She disrespected my mother by using her clothes and because my mother is.." Obi hesitated before completing her statement "dead, she can't stand up for herself but I will"

Her father was becoming irritated with her tone and she could tell with the way he gritted his teeth to avoid losing control

"You are just a child! What do you know about rights? This was an honest mistake!"

Obi couldn't stand the fact that her father was defending the same reason why her mother was in the grave.

"An honest mistake? You brought her back to this house to disrespect my mother! She has not been laid to rest and you intend to share the bed that my mother!... Used to lie on with her!. I don't know who repulses me more... You! or her!"

Okechukwu's face softened and he grew quiet." I came to make arrangements for her burial, she.. She only wanted to help "

" Help? " Obi laughed" help! She came to help and you came to make arrangements. Are you listening to yourself? Would you be making these arrangements if you hadn't left us! How convenient of you. Is this how you get yourself to sleep? By taking care of her burial arrangements?
If you had not left, there won't be need for to her come to Enugu to get you to defend your stupid land! Now you're telling me about burial arrangements. That accident might have claimed her life but you killed her just as much as your greedy brother!! "

Obi felt a slap across her cheek and bursted into a hysterical laughter." I saw you slap her just like this when I was young, I just wish she had walked away from you on time, maybe she would still be alive "Obi reached out to her stinging  cheek and caressed it

" Obiukwu you don't know what happened, all you do is to insult me and undermine my authority In my own house. Your siblings won't even come close to me, I.. "

" Oh now you want my siblings to come to you! Remember you left them, I didn't! I told you, you ceased to be my father the day you walked out on us and I'm very sure that that feeling will stay the same way. If you really want peace in this house, you'll send that woman back to Enugu with her children, I'll let you go on with your burial arrangements and  when you're done, I'll try to forget that she lay on my mother's bed even before her corpse hit the ground . You can leave as well, we were just fine before you came"

Before turned to leave before she remembered what mma had told her.

"Mma wants to see you, I bet she didn't know about my new siblings". With that Obi walked away leaving her father lost for words.

The next week was filled with burial arrangements and Obi's father handled most of them. He went to her mother's village and performed the necessary rights. He made arrangements for her corpse to be brought home amongst other important things that he settled.

Janet and her children left the day after Obi's argument with her father. Obi avoided her father as much as possible but after talking with mma Chukwudi she tried to get her siblings to relate with him.

Mma Chukwudi had taken Obi to a gathering of women and they all spoke with her and handed over to her things from her mother's dealings with them. They officially denounced her as their member that day. Obi was made to pay a token to them which was used to procure kola and drinks which she wasn't sure what it was to be used for.

They also made an arrangement on the day they'd process around the village with her mother's picture to create an awareness about her demise and also announce to people the date of the burial. Obi usually went to the farm where she stays with Obiefune.

It was the only place that didn't remind her of her mother's death. She'd speak to the tree as if Obiefune was there and laugh at ways that he teased her. She also thought of Chioma and how she would react to how different things were now.

She had not told chioma about losing her virginity and maybe she'd tell her eventually when they returned. It was only remaining a week before they'd come back, they could meet her mother's burial or not. But the most important was that she still had friends to help her through her hard times.

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Chapter Thirty Seven :The Wake

Ọnwụ eme m aru

Ọnwụ eme m aru

Wee bụrụ nwanne anyị laa

Obi marched around the village with the women as they processed around the village chanting sorrowful dirges. Obi had a picture of her mother in her hands, a black top with one of her mothers wrapper tied to her waist as tradition demanded. She was at the front with women leaders of their village as they marched around creating awareness for her mother's burial. Prior to that her father had given her money for certain traditional rites to be carried out.

A number of things were purchased for the women which included :half bag of rice, drinks, kola and other condiments used to prepare food. At first Obi was annoyed at the fact that those things were to be issued out, all those demands made burying someone difficult. Mma Chukwudi explained that the women normally cooked what was given them on the day of the wake because they usually made themselves available for the family  the whole day and it would be unfair to starve them.

Earlier that day, the women were directed to her mother's kitchen where they performed a rite called "ivo ekwu". It signified that the woman no longer cooked for her children due to her demise and they were sending her things away with her. Obi watched as they spoke over the fire place, some prayed while others spoke as of the woman's items could hear her.

They took the "ekwu" and cast it into the bush. She was instructed never to use that instrument again. Their father had lamented about not being able to get a hold of her uncle abroad and feared that he was not alive.

He had gone with Obi to her mother's home town "umune". She met her great uncles and aunt and they prayed for her. Some rites were performed there but most of them felt reluctant to accept things from them. Obi understood that it was because they were the ones more pained by her mother's demise, they had lost her mother at an untimely age.

Her siblings stayed with Chukwudi while she attended to her duties, he was the only one she could trust after the dream she had. Obi still wondered how she sleep walked that day and it often came to heart to find out the meaning of the dream, someone must be after them.

Dee Ogbo had always been a recluse and barely showed support in anyway which made Obi suspect he had a hand in her mother's death. Something about the dream kept her wondering, the feminine hand must have meant something, was it Janet?. She stood to gain a lot from her mother's demise.

Mma was brought out of her hut to partake in some things but she wasn't stressed, the woman had aged.
The women who surrounded were in the same attire, a white Lacey shirt and a blue wrapper, holding leaves of plants on their hands. Obi was the youngest and the only odd one. She didn't know the words to the song they sang but she marched along with them.

The songs attracted bystanders and people ran out of their compounds to witness what was going on. Some would look at the picture, shake their head out of pity and offer Obi a certain look to encourage her. Amongst the by standers that they passed were Akubueze and his goons and he nodded at Obi when their eyes locked.

Some women they passed would keep their hands over their heads our of shock and the ones who did not know her mother enquired about her.

"Chai! Ewoo! Hewu! Leei!"

there were numerous exclamations as they moved on.

Iwe iwe iwe     iwe!
Iwe iwe iwe    iwe!
Iwe n'ewe anyị!
O iwe n'ewe anyị
Anyị ahụghị nwanne anyị   iwe

Ọnwụ bụ onye ohi
Ọnwụ bụ onye ohi
Wee bụrụ nwanne anyị gbalaga!

The women alternated the songs as they moved on stomping their feet. Some made hooting sounds while others made strange animal like sounds.

The last song they began as they matched towards their compound, most of them were exhausted and barely responded as their leader began the call. Some no longer stomped their feet and she could tell that the aged ones amongst them were eager to sit.

Obi's compound  had been filled with canopies and seats,for guests who would be attending the wake. The women went to their seats while Obi went inside the house to keep the picture she had moving about with. It was her mother's picture of when she was young. The twins were the ones who were lucky enough to resemble her.

At the backyard some women were cooking food for the guests. One of the women, daa Veronica called Obi and enquired if they had cooked their dinner. She brought out meat and food and gave Obi. Tobe, the twins and Chukwudi ate the food with her, while they kept some for her father. The woman was very thoughtful because Obi was too exhausted to cook.

Obi prepared her siblings for bed as more people trooped to their compound. The church had come and declared the wake open, Obi heard when the priest made a prayer, after they sang hymns for a little while. She was too tired to go out, so she just watched from the verandah as they prayed and sang.

The priest and her father headed to their house and she had to drag out her sleepy siblings so that they could prayed for, by the man of God.

The life band began to play songs immediately after the church activity was over. They sang from traditional songs to secular and Obi paid little attention to them. Deep down she was sad even though she wore a smile. She was present at a wake that she wished she didn't attend.

That was not the only that ailed Obi, earlier that day she had bumped into Mr Obidike's driver who told her that both Obiefune and Chioma were set to leave for the states the next day. Obi was distraught, Obiefune had promised to come back, even Chioma now they were abandoning her.
She was not just going to say goodbye to her mother the next day, she was also saying goodbye to her friends in a way.

The drums were up and loud and certain people danced to the traditional beat. Women with endowed hips shook their derriere at the center of the compound gaining lustful attention from male folks.

E ji nụ agba nwoke ibe!

Those were the only words Obi could make out of what the men sang. Chukwudi was in the house with her siblings playing with them while Obi found herself walking around aimlessly.

A heated argument began in the women's tent and Obi rushed to find out the cause.

"eji cha we akpa bịa nṅa! They came with looting bags"

A stout woman accused. Obi wondered why some women would come with bags to the wake as she accused. "anu efusuiala nri agwụ!the meat has finished, even the food! ".

One of the women yelled. Somehow some of the women were hoarding food and meat which they were supposed to share. It then occurred to Obi why they kept sending a little boy called Chukwado to buy polythene bags. The nylons he brought ranged from big to small and Obi wondered the use till then. "Who knew the quantity those with the big nylons took?"

Obi headed back to the verandah but the couple standing close to the coconut tree caught her attention. He knew the boy too well, Chibueze. He was popular for being good at dancing and Obi suspected that the girl he was talking with had probably snuck out to the wake just to be with him. They were completely lost in their own world and she didn't for once receive any condolence message from them.

The verandah where Obi left became crowded, people had begun to spray their wrapper around just to sleep. Obi decided to enter their house through their backyard and quickly checked on mma before heading to their back door. At first when Obi stopped, she thought she had been imagining the sounds that came from the other side of mma's hut.

A woman was moaning loudly and she could hear loud  pants from a voice that sounded masculine. Obi listened again and confirmed that two people were actually getting intimate close to mma's hut. Enraged Obi went to the reservoir took a bowl of water and threw it in the direction the sound came from. She heard the party yelling and she was pleased with herself. Obi had to find out the culprits and she was surprised when she saw daa Veronica and a young man she didn't know leave. Obi was shocked by what she saw, daa Veronica was married even though rumors were that her husband was impotent.

She was still in shock and was startled when mma started cursing the people disturbing her sleep.

"utu  gị dafukwa , ewu! Anu ọhịa.May your penis fall off, goat! "

Obi laughed upon hearing her voice, the old Woman was clearly disturbed. Obi recalled that where those two had been was the exact place Obiefune had first kissed her. She closed her eyes and recalled how his lips felt on hers. She quickly admonished herself for remembering him again, he had left her and would probably start a new life in America, most people who went never came back anyways, her uncle was a typical example.

Obi could see the canopy  where her father would be in, he was probably drinking with the men. Obi walked into the house and saw her siblings sleeping on the chair with Chukwudi. She carried the twins in and came back for Tobe.
She lay awake on her bed counting down till the time the cock would crow. She could still hear people struggling to get food and the band kept singing. Obi had learnt  a big lesson that day, it was that not everyone who came for the wake that actually came to sympathize with the bereaved.

She managed to force herself to sleep and she dreamt about the night she made love with Obiefune. Obi woke up panting, she remembered that in her dream she didn't take the pill Obiefune gave her and she began to panic. Her period was due in two days and if it did not show, it meant that she would be living her worst night mare, she had taken in. Obi shivered at the thought and grabbed her Bible to pray. Maybe this time God would actually hear her and keep her from taking in.

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Author's notes

This chapter was written from my mother's description of certain things that happen during a wake.
I hope I did justice to her description!

What do you think about Obi's dream?