She came in to the compound through the entrance from the back. She could come in from anywhere. After all, she was not a stranger. She had gone to the neighbours, whom she had not seen for long, to ask them about their welfare. They too were her kinsmen—distant and close relations. She also had some measure of authority over them as ada that had come from her husband’s home and then in her own home. She was to respect others who were her husband’s kinsmen and was referred by the wives of his brothers as my ‘husband’, because she was a direct descendant of their husbands and the children called her nnukwu ada or adannaa.
That morning, the sun was still young and her brother’s third wife was in the heart of the large compound where the sun had reached turning over and over the body parts of her new born who was born with jaundice. It was bad sickness for a newborn that could kill if not well treated. It was not called by its name, but colour sickness that only the newborn carried. The boy was three months old or more, by a head count and had not been named or circumcised. Circumcision took place after eight days of free delivery, but in his case, he was too sick to go through the knife. He would die. It was also a sure truth that he had not been counted as a human since his chances of survival were slim. Oguo, who was consulted to see him at the point of his birth, told his father that his feet had frequently been washed out by the rain in the boundary of the dead and the living. The struggle to save him continued and rested with his chi, who was still vigilant and kept him alive all these times. Many sacrifices had been made to the gods to save him. He was a boy, was for the clan, and could not just be neglected. If it were a woman, some soft steps would have been taken.
Eight days after a child is born, the mother or father, depending on whether it is a boy or girl, established a chi shrine on the child's behalf. And from that point to the age of puberty, the child, with the help of parents, sacrifices to it. As for this child, there is no arrangement, as he has to be watched closely whether or not he will survive.
“How is he now?” she asked, examining the child with an expert hand.
“Welcome, my husband. He is fine today,” she replied the old woman, offering to kneel.
“Rise, my wife. You are good. If not that you just delivered, I would have thought you are pregnant,” she said with a brief smile.
“No,” she replied, smiling.
“You did not treat iba well when you were pregnant,” she told her.
“I did my husband. Nnediugo helped me greatly. She is inside, ask her. I don’t know why it came back with this child.”
“I’ve often told you all here that when you are two bodies, don’t forget to come to me. I am old and have passed through these experiences. If you had come, I would have done something tangible to help,” she said again, examining the child in the manner of an experienced woman.
“It is very difficult to cope with a child with colour sickness. I know many of my rivals who nearly collapsed in caring for their own. Even in any circumstance, he is still to be cared for. My daughter, you did not treat iba well, or you said you did?” she asked again to confirm the truth.
“Ask her,” Emenike roared from his obi before the woman could answer. “I caught her eating snail meat with her rival in few months of her pregnancy.”
It was believed that snail meat would make the new baby when delivered to drip saliva all the time
“I did not ask you, Nna,” his sister told him.
“I have often said that I treated iba well, my husband. But I never knew at the beginning that I had iba in my body. I would have come to you. I know the problem that comes from a child with colour sickness. Is it better that I am suffering now?” the young woman kept saying as she angled for sympathy.
“I should warn you, my daughter, to be careful. Being blind does not prevent one from dreaming. You are old enough to know the right things to do and even what to eat. Getting pregnant is a gift from Chi Okike and one should not play with it. You are still young, the youngest of these women. No. The third or fourth. You should learn to ask your seniors vital questions. Have I spoken well?”
“Yes, my husband. How is everyone from the land you come from?”
“They are well, my daughter. I saw your sister, Ekemma, at the market yesterday and she sent her greetings when I told her I would go to Umudi to see my people.”
“She is well, too?”
“Yes,” she answered.
She touched the child in his lungs with her first finger and pressed it deep into his body, and she noticed that it still had green afloat. She touched him again and examined it with all carefulness.
“It will come down. The early sun will bring some help. You should not go in yet until the cock crows for the third time from now. Take care of him, let me go in and see Nna.”
Nna had been a family name Emenike had been known by since his childhood. Though it was a name for every young man, but his own was called with interest. She called him by the name as she walked in, in slow silent steps.
“Nne, come to the obi. I’m here. Your brother is here. Come in. It was my longing to see you that brought you here today. I have thought of coming to you.”
She got to the seating obi and touched his brother at the back and they smiled. Something was transferred. The blood of one’s sister. The joy of one seeing her brother for the first time after some long-time visit. They looked each other in the face and touched themselves tenderly.
“It is good you are here, nne. I thought you have forgotten the only palm nut you have. I wonder how you would grease your mouth.”
“Nna, I did not forget,” she said, sitting down close to him. “When I came in last night, it was late and I slept and early this morning, I went to see the neighbours and now back to spend the whole day with you. I did not forget. If I forget you, then it is as good as I am dead. You are just the mirror through which I see in this compound or have you forgotten?”
“I have not, Nne,” he said.
When she looked at her brother and listened to him speak, she felt a glow of pride. He was happy, truly happy, that her sister was there. It was an honour for him he now occupied the large obi and his sisters who had tended him and saw him grow to a man capable of many things, should be proud of him at least.
“How is my in-law?”
“He is fine, as at the time I left home yesterday afternoon. His kind of old age is something I do not understand. His elder brothers are still active in strength and heart. As for him, he is always from one sickness to the other.”
“One’s agreement with his chi and that of others are not the same. You should know the problem of old age. No matter how well we want to carry ourselves, when old age comes, we must submit. The aging process is an unavoidable problem. You know how strong he was. Who can beat him in fight?” he said, laughing loudly.
“You are right, my brother. How is the entire family and the house doing?”