‘It’s okay Nne! O gini? Will you kill yourself because of Emeka? Hai! Chineke!!! Pull yourself together and let’s face it o! Crying and wailing won’t solve anything’! Nneka pulls me up and continues to wipe my eyes with the edge of her wrapper! Through my tears I smiled because I could just see Ehimen her husband telling her to please wear some sort of shorts or something and stop behaving like an old woman tying wrapper all the time! Cute and God fearing man! Her cousin has always been lucky, while she has never been. Nneka could sneeze out children if she could but her Chinwe…………..*sighs* even my thoughts exhausts me!
‘Nne kedu ebe’m ga ebido ebido? Where will I start from?’ I spread out my hands like a typical Nigerian would do when faced with difficult situations! Nneka sighs.
‘Isn’t that why am here? Before the elders get here, lets cook up a story and later Uncle Chibuzor can tell them the whole truth.’ She couldn’t even look me in the eyes. Chai!!! Nneka won’t judge me too or would she? Nahhhhhhhhhh………. She wouldn’t!
‘But that would be postponing dooms day Nne. Biko ka anyi gwa ha ugbu a ka’m nwe ike e na arahu ura abali hapu echiche biko. Let’s just tell them now biko so I sleep well this night. Ah!’
Nneka laughs, gets up and knots her wrapper well. She looks at me like I have finally lost it, hisses and walks to the window. I grab a pillow and put it behind my head, my eyes still on her. I wish I could read minds so I could see what was going on in her head. Alas…..I spoke too soon!
‘You shock me Chinwe I swear to God!’Nneka finally blurted……… now am really shocked! Where did that spring from????
‘That’s a strong word Nneka please let’s turn it down a notch.’ I said trying to be calm because I was already a ticking time bomb, if the wrong wire, which are my nerves right now is cut, it would trigger the bomb and am …….kaboommmmmmmm
‘E be like say you never know wetin dey happen or your brain still dey booth’ I sprang up! ‘Nneka akpa rikwa na’m biko o! Don’t insult me please!’ Nneka laughed hard in my face and shoved me aside and sat down. I was fuming! If I was a white woman, guess I could have been purple, green, red all at once.
‘ Emeka cheated on me all the time, yes I know that and I was blind but…..’ trust Nneka to jump in.
‘ Mechie onu gi osiso! Mechie onu gi before mechie ya! Shut up your mouth before I shut it for you!’ She shouts and steps forward like she was really going to hit me. I take a step back and fold my arms across my chest like a 5yr old stubborn child.
‘Who is talking of cheating? That’s just an addendum to his crimes! With which mouth are you going to tell them that your husband is your sister in law son? As if that is not bad enough, she got pregnant by your so called senior brother in law! If you like speak all the English in this world; it won’t make it sound better! It’s an abomination! It’s a taboo! Its incest!!!!!’ she stands up and screams in my face. I hit her across the face so hard her earring flew off her ear! I was screaming, she was screaming, we where both upset and very very angry. I knew Nneka wouldn’t relent so I had to just stop myself from hitting her again and I sat down!
‘You where warned but you wouldn’t listen. Rush rush rush that’s all you know!!!! nngwannu rush now nah? Why are you sprawled on the floor crying like your heart would break? Mama has been serving you tea and cookies, well am here to serve you 3 days cold fufu and cold bitter leaf soup!!!!’ She stoops and pokes me hard so I could look at her until she was sure our eyes were locked. ‘My name is Reality and my father’s name is Life! Miss Reality Life! So wake up!!!!!’ she pushes me again and stands up, picks up the empty tea cup, knots her wrapper and walks away from the room, slamming the door so hard the figurines on the table danced. I wiped tears from my eyes…….or was it blood? *bitter chuckle*……..no matter the situation in life, you can never shed blood…….was that Emenike in Elechi Amadi's "The Concubine" or was it Okonkwo in ‘Things Fall Apart? Passing out on the floor,I recalled, its the latter.
