Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Aura of celebration filled the atmosphere. The people clamored for this sort of day. All legs matched to Njoku’s courtyard. His in-law has asked him to prepare the ground, and invite his relatives.

The groom of his daughter, Chijioke has confirmed Nkoli’s chastity. Nkoli is now a full-fledged woman. She has offered her pride in womanhood to her husband. This was what every man desired. Every man desired that when he aimed at udala tree, the result should not be rotten or broken fruit. When the aim was right, one shot was enough.

Chijioke was a lucky man. He has every reason to celebrate. It was always a good thing a man finds a cause to dine with his people. The ceremony of giving the girls a hand in marriage was a preliminary one. Everything the groom did on that day was with doubt. Marriages in the community were like going to a store to buy some oranges. When one diced orange, he had two chances. It is either the orange is rotten or palatable regardless of its outer beauty.

The people welcomed the new customers for its flexibility. In the old days, this sort of ceremony was mandatory as chastity before marriage was. The mothers were always at every slightest doubt, running their check. They understood every girl has a hymen from birth. The hymen disappeared when a girl went in with a man. They did this check quite often.

The old order assumed every mother was diligent in keeping an eye. Even so, every bride still underwent a thorough check. This check by independent persons was an appendage to the marriage rites. Despite all this, dubious people still played foul.

The mother might say to the anatomist, “I know I have done worse as a mother. I will pay you ten basins of cornflour if you do not announce to the world my daughter has no shield.” Or “I know a friend who has a fine suitor, I will stand on your behalf, and make sure all is fair with you.” This was all that incited the incidence which led to the abolishment of the old laws.

The story of Afamuefuna has gone viral as the pioneer of the new order. The girls saw him as their hero. His bravery has inspired the freedom they now enjoy. They now have rights to their own privacy. If not for him, who would have imagined stripping in front of her mother? No girl would survive having a fellow woman caressing her cleavage to find out what nobody knew. The worst would be checking the hymen.

Afam performed all the rites on his wife’s head according to the custom. He carried her into his courtyard and began his honeymoon. During this period, he had no time to tend his farm. Afam was a good farmer. The pleasure of a new wife did not steal his mind from his farmland.

The excitements lured many, and they lost their crops to weeds. Afam was always counting when his farm would be due. He even kept a record of the last weeding he did. His wife would not let him move an inch, not to talk of going to work. When his farmland was due, he engaged the service of his friend. Uzor was a very close acquaintance to Afam. But for whatever reason, he accepted to help on a wage. This was a service one got free from his friends once in this sort of condition. Uzor was not erring for the first time. He had disappeared the day Afam was to carry palm wine to his in-laws.

Afam could still contract other laborers and compare the wages. But Uzor’s wage was reasonable as he had allowed some discount for the sake of their friendship. He entrusted his farm work to Uzor. He knew Uzor must have finished tending his own farmland at the time. Workmen would not say to a customer how busy they are with their own work. Instead, they would collect another and add it to the waiting list on their timeline.

Uzor went and did the work as agreed. In a little while, he hoed off all the weeds. He went through the job so fast that his friend found it very difficult to believe his sincerity. He needed to make proof before paying up the wage should Uzor want to play his mischief. A person of his caliber was capable of anything.

“I will have to inspect the work,” Afam said.

“If you must see for yourself, come let us go,” Uzor responded, drawing his feet to lead the way. Uzor’s action was enough to have convinced Afam. Instead of agreeing, Afam drew him back, patted his shoulder, and said, “easy young man!” This was all that triggered Uzor’s anger. He saw it as an insult for his peer to make him feel like a little child.

“Have you forgotten I have a new wife?” Afam asked, stretching his body. “You will not know what it feels like having a woman under your roof.”

Uzor gnashed his teeth as he decoded Afam’s talks. His gesticulations were like a sore, but his last words were like adding salt to the cut.

“What I have come for is my wage, and not to have you insult me.”

“If you want to have a taste, go and marry, agadi-ekwe-nka.”

“Look at him, priding himself as a man. This thing you are enjoying was what I have tapped a long time ago,” Uzor thundered back. He snapped his fingers to the rhythm of his words.

“Do I hear you right?” Afam asked with an aroused curiosity.

“Wake up my friend. I have had your wife,” Uzor said.

“What did you say?” Afam asked again.

“I have had Ulo.”

“My own Uloma?”

“Yes”

The delight in Uzor’s voice angered Afam. He withdrew his machete and slew Uzor. On Seeing what her husband had done to his friend, Uloma dashed out.

With much anger, Afam stormed Uloma’s parent’s courtyard to confront them. He left the dead body lying in his yard. Uloma’s father suggested going to swear an oath. He could tell how grievous the matter was from Afam’s face. Ogwu deity was the final resort. The shrine was where every disagreeing party went to resolve their differences. Afam insisted the visit must be prompt, else he would do something as fierce as death. They approached the diviner and requested swearing an oath.

The priest drew a wide circle and gave the Ofor to the head principal, and he went inside and swore his oath.

“By the spirits of our ancestors and by truth, I have no knowledge of Afam’s allegation.”

When Afam saw Uloma’s father come out and passed the Ofor to his wife, his eyes widened with surprise. The priest threw a firm objection. The Ofor must pass through the hands of the men before it got to the women. Afam collected and went into the circle to swear his oath.

“By the spirit of my father, I swear Uloma was loose before I married her. I have married her out of Ignorance.” After making his statement, he handed the Ofor to Uloma’s mother who then went inside the circle.

“If Afam’s claim is true, he has cloned my daughter. Afam has used my daughter for evil medicine. He must produce the Uloma I offered him for marriage.” She finished and remained stuck within the confine of the circle.

The priest of Ogwu asked her to come out, but she could not. The Ofor has caught up with her after making false statements. She remained in the circle for a very long time, trying to no avail to jump out. When she exhausted all her energies, she began to confess. Then she slumped and died. What a wasteful death. Nobody is taking her body to bury. Her corpse belongs to the shrine of Ogwu deity.

People of the neighborhood reported the case of the slain man lying in Afam’s courtyard to the Igwe’s inn. The Igwe summoned Afam to explain how come about the dead man in his yard. Afam pleaded guilty and went on to narrate all that transpired between he and the deceased. Then, he called Uloma’s father and the diviner as witnesses, and they all affirmed his story.

Everyone who heard the news affirmed the wisdom of the gods. The Igwe freed Afam. But his punishment would be to carry the weight of the dead on his head. A mere mortal could not have had an inkling what to do with mischief. From the incidence, it is clear the old law has outlived its functions. They can no longer live under a custom that has grown into a bloodsucker at nighttime. The Igwe summoned his chieftains. This convention led to the working of new customs. People from the old customs found it appealing to classify the laws by their orders. The former became the old order, and the latter was the new order. Afam remained single for the rest of his life. Uloma never returned to him, and no woman accepted his hands in marriage. Nobody wished to live with a murderer of his own clansman. Only the younger generation saw his exploits as heroic.