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IFEGI-OKU (WEEK 22) - "At Last-The Rules of Us" Part 3 of 5 |
WEEK 22: AT LAST – THE RULES OF US, Part 3 of 5
"Amaka!" yells Wife Number Three
"I'll break your neck for standing there.
Go and bring wood for our evening's meal
Before Snatching Darkness falls on you!"
Breaking her thoughts, the little girl hops
Disappears into the surrounding trees
We find her there, bent down low
Choosing choice woods for her mother's hearth
She works quickly collecting wood, for
The heart of the forest is her least-liked place
The heart of the trees with its Forest People
Talking and watching, watching and talking
The wood piled up, she lifts to her head
To balance on the cloth atop her head
She turns around and there beholds
Obi in the thicket, looking at her
Ifegi-oku screams and skitters away
Dropping the wood-pile in her haste
"Stop there!" Obi booms, loud as noise
Rooting Ifegi-oku as still as ice
She closes her eyes, her heart thumping
Hears leaves crunch beneath his steps
Obi approaches and stands before her
She swallows hard, her eyes still closed
Obi stares down at his 24th child
Willful she is, that much is clear
He lays a hand on her birdlike neck
Ifegi-oku tenses, ready to scream
"Easy, easy," he says, very gentle
She opens her eyes for his voice is kind
Father and daughter stare one at the other
His eyes move to the bruise on her neck
"Your father should not have hurt you thus."
"My father, I am certain, was not himself.
My mother says there are queries aplenty,
A girl like myself had better not ask.
"I'm sure it's the asking that rendered him mad.
For this I am sorry – my father, please forgive me."
"Your father forgives you if you'll hear him out."
"My father need not ask, my will is his."
Shaking his head, Obi lets her go
"Amaka, you lie, your will is not mine.
Too confident besides, a sin in a girl.
But I didn't come here to speak of that."
(to be continued)
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