Olokun pt1 (the wind of destiny)

Neither An End Nor A Beginning

Chapter 10

AUGUST 28 1908

The day was clear and beautiful, thanks to Osanobua and all his assistant gods who allowed it to be so, it was both a strange and a happy one. Strange because, never in the history of Obti had there been such a shameless show of affection by a woman, yes it was a shameless act which was worth the bush path, farm, river and market stall gossip, but that did not make it totally bad. And just as if Olokun had whispered to Ivie that she had just given the entire market a free show, she quickly came back to her senses, gone was the; ‘throw caution to the wind attitude’, the sensible woman had returned and Ivie becoming aware of the strange stillness around her, immediately realized she had just made a spectacle of herself before the market, and she was not all too pleased about it, so she immediately broke her embrace from the arms of the man she loved even though she would have rather spent more time there but she did not want to increase the amount of strange whispers that would travel the village, the spectacle she had just put up was more than enough already. Clifford was amused even more by this, he noticed it then, that she was not a totally carefree woman, she was a woman who had many sides, and he could not wait to see all of them. Leading him into her wooden stall with a grip too firm to have come from such frail long hands she said, “Forgive me for that what I just did master, the thing is, you have an effect on me that no man has ever had, when I see you, it's like I should just open you up and stay inside never to come out”, “You need not apologize Ivy, for I feel the same”, Ivie blushed a light shade of pink both from gratitude to the gods, because he shared her feelings and from embarrassment because her attitude was a taboo, it was never heard of in Obti that a woman confessed her feelings to a man before she knew his intentions towards her, what would her parents think if they saw her now, she knew her mother would give her a look so disdainful that it was better the ground had swallowed her up and there would not be an end to it in her house, and so she took him into her stall and then after much pestering, she was able to convince him to tell her about his childhood, she found out that he was born on a farm in Atlanta Georgia to a middle class family, he was the last of eight children, three of whom had died in the civil war, the remaining four who were ladies were married with children and he had come to Africa because he wanted to make a name for himself, when he was done talking, he asked her about herself, he laughed loudly when she told him that she was a connector, and that she had the power to change the course of things, she felt hurt, but she did not take it to heart, for she was excited, it was not butterflies that she felt in the pit of her stomach, but frogs, large jumping bullfrogs, at the end of the day, she hugged him and whispering to his ears said, “Clifford, take me to the inner chamber of your house, so I can show you how much of a woman I have become”, Clifford would have none of that, he loved her very much but he would not join the bandwagon of callous white men who took advantage of black women and ran back to their country, leaving the women with unwanted children and no support whatsoever in the raising of the children, he would do right by her. So he broke the hug and looking into her deep green eyes said, “No Ivy, I cannot take you to my house till you are ready”, “Who says I am not ready Clifford? Of course I am, I am ready or is it that you do not desire me in the way that l desire you?” “That is not the case Ivy, I desire you, even more than I can admit, you are in my thoughts, I wake up night after night desiring you down there, I know you felt my desire when you held me close”, “Then why do you not want to take me to your inner chambers?”, “Because you are still a child Ivy, you are not even a woman yet, how can I desire you?, Yes you have the best breasts I have ever seen, yes I would follow your legs into the depths of hell and yes I would like to take my last breath while I plunge deep into your honeyed depths but still I cannot because I love you and it would be wrong to let my groin control my judgement”. Ivie would have none of that because she was a beautiful woman and a proud one at that, so many men would have given a hand and a leg to have her touch their hands and yet here she is giving herself to this man and what did he do, he threw her gesture in her face, having a fiery temper like her father, she pushed out of her way and stormed out of the shop, This of course did not escape Clifford, he quickly ran after her in order to pacify her, “Ivy wait, he called out to her, when he reached where she was, he held her and said, “My love I have a preposition though, as you can see now, I have no money how about you wait for me to gather enough money to take care of you and pay your dowry?”, “You make me laugh Clifford, do you think we sell our women in Obti?, You and I know that your problem is not the dowry but fear, you are scared that I will be crushed under your weight, Why don't you share your weight with me first before worrying that I will be crushed?”, “Ivy, it is not like that, the truth is I will be leaving Obti tomorrow and I won't be back till I finish my studies in Oxford”, “Then I will wait for you, I will wait, even if it takes you a thousand years to come back, even if I am aged and weak, I will sit in this stall and wait for your return”, “Are you sure you can wait?”, Clifford asked, perplexed “I am sure ”, Ivie replied hugging him, in those arms, she felt safe and secure and in those arms, she could drop the facade of strength and be a woman, but Clifford wanted more, he wanted to nibble on those beautiful full lips, he wanted his tongue to go through her teeth and lick the roof of her mouth, he wanted to suck that tongue, for memory sake, it would be ten years before he would see that beautiful face again, it will be long before his Adam's apple will bob up and down from looking at those watermelon sized buttocks of hers, and clench his hands at the sight of those breasts that looked as ripe as Avocado.

And so leading her towards a bush path, he held her towards him and said, “Can I kiss you Ivie?”, Ivie's bones became stilled like a fire had just gone through her spine, her n*****s stood erect, it seemed as if her cunt had just hardened twice over and the joint between her legs flooded. She had to let him kiss her quickly, now that he had thrown caution to the wind, she had to let him do it quickly before he started thinking about it and acting like a gentle man. Clifford had to strain his ears to hear the strangled “Yes” that came through her lips. And so he kissed her, nibbling at first at her lips because he wanted to savor their sweetness, they tasted like limeade, sweet in a tingly way, he wanted more, so he kissed her fully, basking in the melody of her moans, he reached for her breasts and squeezed, her n*****s were erect and tight, not too small in his hands but the right size, Ivie liked what he was doing, he could tell from her moans and from the way that she removed his hat and clung to his hair like it was her lifeline just as he reached between her vanilla essenced thighs underneath her calico dress reason came back to him. God what was he about to do, just as he was trying to remove his hands, Ivie caught it, placing it back there and leaning on the tree which he had not noticed was there, “Don't stop Clifford, at least not yet. I want you to calm this heat between my thighs with your hands”, Her voice was ragged and husky, “I am not sure I will be able to hold back if I reach for it Ivie, and besides someone might see us”, “Then take me with you to inner chambers”, “That's not possible, because I don't have a private house, talk less of a personal chamber, I share a room with the welfare officer in the King's palace, please my lady let me bid you fare well quickly at this juncture, for it is night already, I need to prepare for my journey to the great land of Britain, the boat to Lagos leaves at a very early time.”, he ended, taking his hands from between her thighs and drawing her closer to himself he gave her a kiss on her head quickly and raced into the night.

Ivie told no one about the incident but she vowed in her heart that she would wait for him, when she got home she met an unpleasant surprise, the village chief was in their living room talking with her father, avoiding his eyes she greeted her father and walked briskly to her mother's room, she found her beaming over some coral beads and fine cotton clothes, had her brother and Izeh arrived from the big city with the rest of their luggage?, No if he had, he would have been in the living room with her father, she hoped that her hunch was wrong, she deeply hoped that these expensive clothes and jewelry were not from the Chief. “Good evening mother” she said bringing her mother out of her happy reverie, “Good evening my child, why are just returning?, your father was just about to go to the shop and check on you when the Chief came”, “I am sorry mother, I had an unexpected engagement”, “Hmm if you say so”, her mother replied. Sitting on the bed, she ran her hands through the beads, they were really beautiful but there was something about them that did not feel right, “Mother who brought these beads and this expensive cloth?, Was it a gift from Father?”, “No my child”, her mother replied with a conspiratorial smile, “It was the chief, are they not beautiful?”, Ivie became angry ,“Mother do not tell me that you and my father have started receiving gifts from various men behind me?”, “There is nothing wrong with what we have done, my child. You are ripe for marriage, your large hips, breasts and buttocks are not invisible. Think about it my dear, it is a good thing, the richest man in Obti has asked for your hand, many people would give their all just to be in your shoes, you have to be grateful”, This only aggravated the issue, “Mother why are you doing this, is it because of the money, so you would actually allow me to marry the man who is responsible for the backwardness of this village, you would allow me marry a man who desecrated Olokun's resting place, a man who is in league with the black witches?, I can never do that, not for all the Abada in the world”, she said angrily, “My child, your father and I are only concerned with what is best for your future, this union is a very advantageous one, because it would help to strengthen your hold as a connector on the village, people will come from far and near to receive healing at your hands, the river will flow even better, the earth will yield a bigger increase than it already has, our markets will be fuller and your father will have a place in the palace”, “Inasmuch as I would love to experience all these things you have said mother, I will decline from your offer because it is a must for all connectors to marry the one whom their hearts choose, and my heart has not chosen him. “Her mother moved to her side and holding her said “Your heart will choose him once the mating is complete, please my child do this for me and your father, not just for the present but for the future”, “Mother there will be no future if I am joined with that man, I am in love with someone else please do not push further”, “Okay o”, her mother said lifting her hands in mock resignation ’“What is his name”, “His name is Clifford and he is a white man”. Words cannot express the amount of shock that Omo felt, what had her daughter just uttered?, A white man?, A pig's belly?, Had the beating her father gave her that day not removed such thoughts from her head?, This was doom lurking in the shadows, her enemies had finally gotten a way to bring about her downfall, but as far as she was concerned, they would not succeed, she was a warrior and she would vanquish every evil plan against her and her family. “Ivie you better forget about this nonsensical thoughts that are going through your mind, they are evil thoughts that can ruin your reputation and take away your powers, You know it is forbidden for us to have any connection with the pig's bellies

Your father must not hear about this or he will take you to the Orogodo river and offer you as a drenched sacrifice to Olokun”, “I do not care about whatever consequence I will suffer at the hands of my father, besides he is Olokun's choice for me, I dreamt of this day even before the winds brought the scent of his skin across my nostrils, there is nothing anyone will tell me that will change the motion of my heart beats towards him, or that will make me joined with the Chief, I would rather drown in the Orogodo river than to have anything to do with any man that is not Clifford, whoever wants me to marry the chief would have to search for my bloated body in the river”, she ended defiantly, turning her back to her mother, Omo was filled with fear, turning her daughter towards her, she said “Ivie Omonigho, you oh child will not be the death of, please bring your voice down, I do not want your father to hear your thoughts on this matter, or to know that I have told you about the reason for the chief's visit..............”, She was startled as Agholor, cut her short and she flinched“ The matter that they say, Baba will not here, Is still the one that he will settle”, Looking at both their faces, he asked amusedly, “Why is your face like that of one who has seen a snake Ivie, and why are you avoiding my eyes and shuffling your feet Omo? Are you planning my death,” he asked as he sat on the cane chair that was opposite The spring bed he shared with Omo in their room “No my Lord” Omo replied, standing up and helping him to remove his shirt and then massaging his shoulders, “I was just telling Ivie that......”, “I know what you were discussing” he interrupted her “At least I heard about a certain Kileefore and my daughter's thoughts about that about that snake that thinks he can buy me with those imitations, Oh are you suprised Omo?,”He asked as she stopped massaging, “I am surprised that after so many rains of selling Abada in Ekpon, you could not recognize imitations, Ivie bring those clothes and those beads so your mother can see them”, he instructed as she rose up quickly and gave the clothes to her mother, as for your choice of a husband Ivie, I do not argue with you or object, I only ask that you tread with caution so that your enemies will not laugh in your face, you and I know what those people with a skin like the belly of a pig do to our women, you are a connector and I believe that you will act using your head and the power of discretion given to you by Olokun and not your heart or your raging emotions”, Ivie and Omo were shocked, Ivie could barely close her mouth, Agholor was not surprised, he knew that they had not expected his decision, he had consulted Olokun, and Eziza through their priests, and he had received the same answer, Ivie's life would never be complete, if she was not joined in marriage with the man with the skin that was as white as the belly of a pig. “Why are you both looking like people who have seen ghosts, please one of you should bring my kola nut”.