Olokun pt1 (the wind of destiny)

Problem Child

CHAPTER 8

JULY 12 1907

Anyone who took a cursory gaze at the Agholors would feel nothing else but envy for the family who had everything going well for them, they would raise they hands and give nothing else but thanks to Osanobua who raised the lowly family to a status that was second to none other than the chief himself, they would praise the chief's effort. Honestly if you looked at them from the outside you would find a family that had nothing not to like; The man of the house had a lucrative job as the head foreman in the coal mine, his wife had the biggest Abada and textile stall in all the land, his children were the shining stars of the only school in the whole region and to top it all they had the second most beautiful house in all the land reckoning the chief's house, they were the envy of everyone in the village, and their house was the paradise of the village.

Seeing how perfect their lives were it would be an insult if anyone said they lacked anything, that person would be hung with his entrails in the town square for all to see. But if you really took a close look, you would notice that they lacked a lot of things; their lives was not as perfect as it seemed, it was filled with a lot of problems and like the elders say it is only the man who wears the shoes that knows on which toe it pinches him; firstly, Agholor's job was not as perfect or lucrative as it seemed in fact if he had been given an opportunity he would have chosen to work as a wood cutter in the mahogany sawmills deep in the forest than to to rise every morning and spend the whole day slaving in a prison of ash and smoke; yes the money he earned was very much, it was enough to feed two families, yes he had a very rich barn and his family had the best clothes money could buy on their backs but was it worth it, was it worth the thick bloody spittle that came out with of his mouth each time he coughed, those thick dry coughs that were becoming frequent and were defiant to all the herbs given to him by Iyamu, was it worth the aches and pain that attacked his back and ribs each night without fail, he blessed the Lord for his wife and his children, they were the only reason he could rise every day and still manage to make sense out of the madness he called his life, he was grateful; yes, but that was only because of his wife and family, other than that, he regretted ever stepping his foot in this village worse of all in the Chief's house, the chief was not as good a man as he seemed to everyone and his so called integrity was a mirage, he was a cheat, liar and a thief, he constantly deceived his people with false promises of a better future in the coal mines but all that awaited them was a deep hungry and bottomless grave, he made them slave in the mines and took away their wages, giving them scraps and making them feel like they owed their lives to him, he acted like he was a benevolent person but he was a greedy man who wanted everything for himself. At first Agholor ignored everything he did, he ignored the fact that he hoarded some of the coal that was mined and sold it at the black market for a higher price and kept the proceeds for himself, he ignored that he boasted to everyone who could hear that he was the wind of progress that had blown on the wretched lives of the Agholors but the straw that broke the camel's back was when Igbinedion started allowing innocent people take the fall for all his mischief at the coal mines, at first Agholor had turned a blind eye to what he was doing since most of the people whom he accused were people who had either committed one crime or the other but what had really hurt him was when the chief started involving the children of those whom he had either have an argument with or disagreed with his way of running the mines and those who owed in his crimes, he would accuse people of crimes which he committed, he would swap their bags and stash coal in them, by the time they were searched at the gate, the chunks would be found in their bags, though they were innocent which was common knowledge to everyone, no one dared to speak up, anyone who did would face the same fate. Agholor was unhappy, and one night when he could not bear the crushing burden of the guilt anymore he opened up to his wife while she massaged his aching bones, but as usual she told him to be patient and turn a blind eye to the chief's crimes, this of course only fanned the flames of his anger, “Patience you say, how can I be patient?, The gods will add a bigger punishment to the one I am facing right now if I continue to watch that evil man deprive those people of their hard earned money and still let them take the fall for his crimes, it would have been better if he just took away some of their pay, but now he steals and gathers great wealth for himself and also makes the people whom he steals from to get punished for his crimes and yet you tell me to exercise patience and to close my eyes to all his crimes?, My love, I can do anything for you but there are some things a man of honor cannot bear”, His wife smiled, she understood everything that he was going through but she also knew her husband was not a patient man, and not one to take the right decision, she knew he followed his heart and not his head, and this was a situation in which one needed to follow his head and she would make sure he took the right decision, “My Lord if I say I do not know how you feel, then I am a liar, I feel your pain, too but unfortunately I will tell you to think like the tortoise in this situation, remember the tortoise always lets you feel like you have won and just when you are about to celebrate your victory, he strikes.”, “So you are telling me to watch him lead those innocent people to the gallows for his sins?, What kind of father would that make me?, How will I tell my children to follow the part of honor when I their father failed to follow that part?, Tell me woman, since you have all the answers.”, “Do not misquote me, my Lord. I did not say that I have all the answers, but look at it this way, you are just a passing stranger, you have but a few rains to spend here, even if the people decide to take your side, which we both know is impossible how are you going to prove that your intentions were genuine and that you are not doing it because you want to take his post for yourself, and besides we have but a few rains left to stay in this village, so please my love, the father of my children, my husband please turn a blind eye to it and bear all the pains that you are feeling for now, very soon my love we will go back to our land and we will have peace of mind.”, “Okay my love, if you say so, you know I always do what you ask,”, “Thank you my love”.

One would think that Omo had no problems seeing how she had spoken to her husband, but that was not the case, she had a lot of problems too, both in the village market and in the church, some because the other women were jealous of her relation to the chief's wife, others because people were not satisfied with their quick rise in the village but most of all because her daughter was different the other girls in the village. Yes she had the biggest Abada stall in the market, and customers flowed in and out of her shop like the Orogodo river but that was because her sister was the chief's wife, and because she had gone around the market and parts of the village to tell people that best clothes were found in her sister's stall, she saw the looks that the other Abada sellers have her each time she counted the money that she had been paid, she heard their gossips and bitter complains, even when she had helped her neighbor's child who had almost fallen into the ditch, she had not gotten any words of appreciation or any words at all, the woman just picked up her child and walked into her stall, sitting and seeing Omo still standing there she said, “Why are you still standing there looking with an open mouth, do you want a fly to enter inside it?, She asked with a sneer on her face, “No she's waiting for you to make obeisance at her feet, you know she's the chief's sister-in-law, therefore we must bow at her feet and lick her buttocks”, said the woman whose stall was at the right side of her stall, as if this was an invitation, the woman on the left said “No she is waiting for us to place our wrappers on the floor for her to step her foot on, you it's a taboo for the chief's sister-in-law to step her royal feet on the ground, her feet are too sacred for the earth”. Omo was more than hurt by their statements but being a wise woman, she decided not to give any of them what they wanted, She just turned and walked away. She would not give them the satisfaction of arguing with them, neither was she spared from their biting remarks in the church, she had stopped airing her view in the weekly women's meeting, nor was she spared from their questions concerning the colour of her daughter's eyes, some asked her whether she had laid with a white master in her sleep before mating with her husband, or had she squeezed the juices from pumpkin leaves into her daughter's eyes. All of these remarks she had ignored as the jargon of a tribe of people who had a lot of problems, besides the time of rest would soon be over, she had ignored their insults for ten rains, or years as the people here said it, the next seven would be easy, and besides the remarks were not as frequent as they used to be so why would she be bothered.

As for the children, everything was okay, Izeh was looked down on by some people but thanks to Omonoba and Ivie, their words and actions were like rubbing sandpaper on wood, they only made him more popular and the people always ended up with a bloody nose from either him or Omonoba, or an injured pride inflicted on them by Ivie's sharp tongue, most mothers told their children to avoid them but this fell in deaf ears seeing that they were at the top of their respective classes and the white masters and mistresses, always asked their friends to go to them for help in their studies and they were so good in their studies that the white priest had chosen them as some of the students that would go to the grammar school in the big city, the news had been celebrated with a small goat which was sacrificed to Olokun in appreciation for her mercies, unfortunately it was only Izeh and Omonoba that were allowed to follow the priest to the big city, Ivie would not go, not just because it was general belief that too much western education was not good for a woman but because she was a connector, promised to Olokun, Iyamu had clearly instructed her parents to never allow her to stay far away from them, so they had placed her in the best tailoring shop to learn how to make clothes, her parents had expected some complains from her, seeing that Ivie was a very head strong child who did only what she wanted, but they had gotten none, she had quietly obeyed her parents and had continued to learn the trade.

Everything went smoothly for them, even when Ivie became 17 rains, there were no strange occurrences, until that fateful day. The day she turned 17; she had run home that day heaving unsteadily, her mother immediately took her into the house for fear of their nosy neighbors who always wanted to know what was happening so as to fill their ears that was always hungry for gossip, after settling her down and giving her some water to drink she asked; “Ivie, Omonigho, why are you running?, What evil beast chased you home or was Iye being mean to you?”, “ Is there a day that hag is not mean, she is called the dark witch of Ekpon by everyone when she is not in the shop, anyways mother, I was not chased home by a beast, and neither was Iye being mean to me, I ran home because I was excited, mother, I saw him mother,”she replied smiling and taking her mother's hands “Who did you see?” asked her mother who thought she had seen her brother Osazuwa whom she had not heard from in seventeen rains, oh how she missed her sons, even Okai, who had allowed the Ogiso to deceive him into banishing his father, she wished she could see them and hold them. She was brought back to reality by her daughter's gentle shove, “Come back to me mother”, she heard her say, clearly embarrassed, she said, “Sorry my child, so tell me why did you raise my heart and dash it on the ground?, “I already told you mother, I met my mate, the man I am going to marry”, her mother was appalled this was very strange, Ivie had never looked at any man before and even when other girls swayed their hips invitingly, Ivie would snort at them and join her brothers in wrestling other boys to the ground, this was strange, how had her child become a woman in such a short time?, She had to get to the root of this, and she privately hoped that her daughter was not falling for those hungry looking boys who would not do right by her because if that was the case, her father would skin him alive and feed his hide to him, “So who is this man of yours”, “His name is Clifford, he is a new master that came into the village, and that is a good thing mama, since I have finished standard school and I am about to finish learning my trade” Omo almost urinated on herself, this was worse than her fears, Agholor would flip if he heard this. He did not flip, what he did was worse, he went into his barn, got a whip and flogged his daughter, she almost died, she fainted and her father who was very angry with her suddenly regained his senses. Omo was terrified, so terrified that she did not know when she grabbed his shirt and started shouting, “Agholor, what have you done?, How about you kill me too?, You know you are not supposed to hit her, yet you hit her with no compassion, please kill me too”, he quickly carried her and started rushing to Iyamu's house, he was met on the way by Iyamu who asked him to go back home, he was dressed in his priestly regalia and was carrying a bag. When they got home and he had given her some herbs, he looked at them with heavy eyes and said, “Agholor, Olokun wants her daughter back, we must journey to Obti this night or else Olokun will take her whole”.