cooed, eyes wide with awe. “Wh…who. Where di... di... did youuuuuu geeeeettt thiiis?”
I was tempted to imitate her, but the burning sting from the knock on my head reminded me not to.
“Pa bought it for me,” I said, proudly.
“It is ve…. ry b…b…beautiful.”
I smiled back at her. “Thank you, sis.”
Looking down, disappointedly, almost as if she was going to cry, she commented dryly, “Pa only brings one for you. He doesn’t like me because I…”
Quickly, I stopped the sentence with a firm hug. “Pa loves you, very much,” I reassured her. He would do anything for any of us. He also paid for all of Yenla’s treatments and didn’t tolerate anyone who called her names. If I told him that she felt that way, he would be very hurt.
“It is my birthday today, you know,” I tried to explain.
She dropped her gaze to the floor, a shameful look in her eyes. ”Ha . . .ha . . .ppy birthday, Yento.”
“Beriwo.”
I smiled at her, thanking the gods that this was over.
My own mother or sister didn’t know it was my birthday because we didn’t have calendars at that time. Besides, most of myfamily members’ consciousness was far less active outside of farm-related things. They were sharp when it came to farm tools and harvest periods but other simple details, like peoples’ birthday or respect, wasn’t really their strong point, so it never really surprised me when they forgot my birthday every year.
Anyone who has a sister would tell you that a simple hug hashes out all the differences and the next thing we knew, we were walking towards our house, arm in arm, hopping and singing gleefully. The entire compound was awake now.
“I rany’a
,” they called out, cheerfully.
”Eh’no,”
we greeted back, in our high pitch sing song voice.
“Ven dze le?”
one of them asked. This was basically a polite way to find out how we were faring.
“Kijung fayii,”
we responded, indicating that all was well. We finally reached the entrance of our compound. What I would see upon my return will never stop shocking me till this day.
Pa’s third wife, Ya Buri, a fat woman with eyes bulging out of her head, was outside causing a ruckus. I am not sure why she opened her mouth so much when she talked considering her lips were as thick as cow skin, or
ncanda
. Sola did not inherit her mother’s unfavorable lips.
“It is not fair o!” she wailed overdramatically. From everyone’s facial expressions, they thought she was overreacting as well. Her reaction was so over the top that it seemed as if she had lost a child.
“Our husband has clearly shown us that he prefers his first wife. After his long journey, he only went to her chambers!”
My eyes immediately shot to Kadoh. She had a priceless look on her face. I couldn’t wait to see her reenacting the whole scene later. How I loved that girl!
Pa tried to calm Ya Buri down but to no avail. Her turkey thigh arms wobbled as she tried to express herself. Sola eyed me hatefully, especially after seeing the glowing
sha
η
g
on my neck. How she would love to own one, I calculated vainly. Well this one was mine! My special
sha
η
g
from Pa! Eat that!
Jealousy is one of the many downsides of polygamy, and Pa was a reasonable man so I think he regretted marrying so many women, especially THAT one. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to escape.
I can’t really tell you all that transpired because, at the time, I was in another world. I envisioned myself travelling from land to land, trading kola nuts.
In my dream world, I was tall and beautiful, married to one man, a man whom I really loved. He was NOT a
wir Nso
! We had two children, maybe three, and I slept in the same room as my husband. My
sha
η
g
was with me everywhere I went, and so was Pa. We ate, hunted, and did everything else together. In that world, Ma did not exist.
-6-
NGWAH WO LAH.
Pa didn’t tell me about my other birthday present like he promised because he had to travel on an
I was tempted to imitate her, but the burning sting from the knock on my head reminded me not to.
“Pa bought it for me,” I said, proudly.
“It is ve…. ry b…b…beautiful.”
I smiled back at her. “Thank you, sis.”
Looking down, disappointedly, almost as if she was going to cry, she commented dryly, “Pa only brings one for you. He doesn’t like me because I…”
Quickly, I stopped the sentence with a firm hug. “Pa loves you, very much,” I reassured her. He would do anything for any of us. He also paid for all of Yenla’s treatments and didn’t tolerate anyone who called her names. If I told him that she felt that way, he would be very hurt.
“It is my birthday today, you know,” I tried to explain.
She dropped her gaze to the floor, a shameful look in her eyes. ”Ha . . .ha . . .ppy birthday, Yento.”
“Beriwo.”
I smiled at her, thanking the gods that this was over.
My own mother or sister didn’t know it was my birthday because we didn’t have calendars at that time. Besides, most of myfamily members’ consciousness was far less active outside of farm-related things. They were sharp when it came to farm tools and harvest periods but other simple details, like peoples’ birthday or respect, wasn’t really their strong point, so it never really surprised me when they forgot my birthday every year.
Anyone who has a sister would tell you that a simple hug hashes out all the differences and the next thing we knew, we were walking towards our house, arm in arm, hopping and singing gleefully. The entire compound was awake now.
“I rany’a
,” they called out, cheerfully.
”Eh’no,”
we greeted back, in our high pitch sing song voice.
“Ven dze le?”
one of them asked. This was basically a polite way to find out how we were faring.
“Kijung fayii,”
we responded, indicating that all was well. We finally reached the entrance of our compound. What I would see upon my return will never stop shocking me till this day.
Pa’s third wife, Ya Buri, a fat woman with eyes bulging out of her head, was outside causing a ruckus. I am not sure why she opened her mouth so much when she talked considering her lips were as thick as cow skin, or
ncanda
. Sola did not inherit her mother’s unfavorable lips.
“It is not fair o!” she wailed overdramatically. From everyone’s facial expressions, they thought she was overreacting as well. Her reaction was so over the top that it seemed as if she had lost a child.
“Our husband has clearly shown us that he prefers his first wife. After his long journey, he only went to her chambers!”
My eyes immediately shot to Kadoh. She had a priceless look on her face. I couldn’t wait to see her reenacting the whole scene later. How I loved that girl!
Pa tried to calm Ya Buri down but to no avail. Her turkey thigh arms wobbled as she tried to express herself. Sola eyed me hatefully, especially after seeing the glowing
sha
η
g
on my neck. How she would love to own one, I calculated vainly. Well this one was mine! My special
sha
η
g
from Pa! Eat that!
Jealousy is one of the many downsides of polygamy, and Pa was a reasonable man so I think he regretted marrying so many women, especially THAT one. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to escape.
I can’t really tell you all that transpired because, at the time, I was in another world. I envisioned myself travelling from land to land, trading kola nuts.
In my dream world, I was tall and beautiful, married to one man, a man whom I really loved. He was NOT a
wir Nso
! We had two children, maybe three, and I slept in the same room as my husband. My
sha
η
g
was with me everywhere I went, and so was Pa. We ate, hunted, and did everything else together. In that world, Ma did not exist.
-6-
NGWAH WO LAH.
Pa didn’t tell me about my other birthday present like he promised because he had to travel on an
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