"Mama oh! Mama..." Chioma cried loudly as she hurried out of the mud house.
"Chii, what is the matter?" Her mother, Obiajulu queried, holding the broom she was sweeping the compound with earlier.
"Mama.. It is our papa.. He is vomiting blood!" She cried.
At first, Obiajulu felt numb with shock, before the words finally registered, as they repeated twice in her head.
She flung her broom and hurried to the hut, Chioma hurriedly followed behind.
Before they could get to the hut, he was already dead!
He was poisoned, and the worst part of it is that he got poisoned by someone he trusted most, when he had gone to Mama Ekene's joint to drink. Unknown to him, the drink that was served to him was poisoned.
Chichetam had gone early to the stream with her friend. On reaching home, she saw crowd of people at the compound.
She sensed that something was amiss, but what could that be?
She got more worried when she saw her mother with other women beside her, consoling her.
She quickly lowered her pot, and the first thing she could find herself say was: "What happened?"
She dropped her pot pad at the usual place and asked again, the second time: "What happened? Why is no one talking to me?" She cried.
Some women were shaking their heads pitifully, while some focused still on Obiajulu who was crying profusely.
"Mama Oluchi.." She called a woman who was among the Consolers beside her mother. ".. What is going on? Someone should please talk to me." She pleaded.
"Cheta nwa.. It has happened oo, what we never expected has happened.. Your father--- he is dead oo."
Boom!!
Chichetam was thunderstruck. She gaped blankly at Mama Oluchi and the next --- she fell hopelessly to the ground, wallowing in tears.
"Papa oh!" She wept.
Why did her father have to die?
Just yesterday, he had promised to buy her a new dress since her last birthday wasn't celebrated, but now he is dead?
The world kept spinning around her. Her beloved father was dead!?
"Papa m oo!" She continued crying.
Few women left her mother's side and hurried to her. Young boys and girls held her by the hand and shoulder to avoid her hitting herself unmindly to the ground which in return might not only hurt her skin, but send her sick.
Were they joking? No! Of course not, 'cause there was her mother too killing herself to death.
Chioma was not left out of the drama, as she kept crying beside her mother, oblivious of what was happening.
"Mama, is Papa not going to wake up?" She asked.
But as expected, her poor mother was too dumbfounded and worn out with the uncontrollable tears that kept dancing down her cheeks like a river.
She didn't answer the innocent little Chioma. All she did was to raise her hand to heaven and throw a rhetorical question to no one in particular:
"Ogbuagu where are you? Why did you decide to leave me alone to this horrible world? Come and take me with you oh!"
Although Chioma was just four years old, she knew that all was not right with her mother, she moved closer to hold her but instead she received a push from her weeping mother, which sent her to the ground. Her knee brushed against some stones and incurred some bruises.
"Mama!" She cried.
Some young girls were asked to carry her away.
On the part of Chichetam, she was too stubborn and had not listened to her Consolers who kept urging her to stop crying already....
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Life became difficult for Obiajulu and her children since Ogbuagu died. Obiajulu now goes from one house to another, asking if she could do any minor work; like weeding their farms for them.
When some agrees, Obiajulu would take the children with her to the farm and weed it in return for little money which they would pay her....
One fateful morning, Obiajulu went to the farm to weed and as well harvest some of the matured crops.
On reaching the farm, she met three husky men, harvesting and destroying some of her crops.
"What is the meaning of this?" She shouted in an alarmed voice to the men who bothered not to give any response to her question.
"Are you deaf!? I am asking why you're doing this to my farm!" She half-yelled.
Seeing that no reply was coming from them, Obiajulu tossed her basket and hurried to stop them from causing more damage to the crops.
In a swift motion, the shortest and ugliest of the three gave her a heavy push, and with a scream, she fell to the ground.
Not minding the pains resulting from the push, Obiajulu stood up aggressively, adjusted her wrapper, and started screaming for help as loud as her voice could.
"Why are you making fuss here?" Came a voice from behind.
Obiajulu swiftly turned back, and behold it was her husband's brother 'Ikenga.'
"Nna anyi good morning, thank God you came.. Nna anyi Ikenga, I came early to harvest what I and the children would eat, then I saw this strange men harvesting and destroying my..."
"And so?" Ikenga cut her short. "Do you need an Angel to tell you that this field is no longer yours? Or don't you know the customs in Ugwuagba? No son, no farm; period." Ikenga declared to Obiajulu's amazement.
"You..." Ikenga began, pointing to her face; "... bewitched my younger brother and sent him to hell, and now you think you will inherit his only land?"
"Nna anyi Ikenga, I don't understand where you're driving at.." Obiajulu was confused.
"Will you understand? Anyway I don't blame you.. I blame my brother Ogbuagu, who chosed a witch amongst every other qualified women in Ugwuagba community."
Ikenga noticed the guys watching them instead of doing the job they were hired for.
"Boys what are you staring at? Push away this intruder.. And last warning to you Obiajulu.. This field is no longer yours." He stated, and watched as the thugs dragged Obiajulu out at his order....
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Maazi Ikenga pushed his wooden gate open, hitting his staff noisily to the ground. Without getting to their mud house contructed in form of bungalow, he began to shout his wife's name:
"Oriaku! Oriaku! Oriaku!" He shouted.
