Olokun pt1 (the wind of destiny)

A Strange Child

Chapter 4

JULY 12 1890

Some say the reason for her unfortunate life and death is the words of misfortune her father said on the day she was born, others say it was because of her stubbornness, everyone had different opinions about her from the day of her birth to the day of her death, her name was; Princess Ivie Agholor

She was born on a rainy July morning, in a time when Obti land was still a great kingdom, a time when white men bowed at the feet of the black man and stabbed him at the back at the same time, a time when the Portuguese brought along shiny mirrors and took away able bodied men, women and children in their big ships to a land that had never been heard of. She was born on the day that the king, her father found out from the dying connector that the white men were not who they claimed to be, and that the disappearances of his people was not just a handiwork of the black witches but of men whose skin were as white as the belly of a pig, and that the cloud of gloom which hovered over his kingdom would not become clear but would fall as dark, thick and red tears, she spoke of days of evil with no bright future in sight, a look of pain in her eyes as she breathed her last.

The Enogie and his cabinet of Ogele were filled with worry, and fearful thoughts as her body was taken away for its burial rites, her flesh burnt and her ashes spread over the great Orogodo river, sending her back to Olokun her mother.

Some moments later a maid came to inform the king that his wife was in labor, this only increased his fear and suddenly he felt a need for the toilet, rushing unceremoniously to the outhouse at quick intervals only to find out that nothing was coming out.

He went back to the palace and paced, the words of the late connector going through his mind like the beat of an ominous tune that would not stop, the arrival of a new child did nothing to brighten his mood or allay his fears, rather it increased them, even the soothing words from the cabinet of Ogele were like water poured on a rock, the labor had already become a long one, it had started at the time when the sun had just arrived from the east, now it was almost at the west and still there was no shout of; “ Ayooo, Osa Uwese( Yes we thank the gods)", nor “ Eww hmmm, Osa Uwese ( Hmm, well we can only thank the gods), no shout of joy nor sigh of sorrow, no sudden rush from maids up and down the palace compound in search for bath clothes or calabashes of hot water. Why was this child taking so long to arrive? Or had the rain of blood prophesied by the late connector started falling? The king greatly hoped that it was not the case. The evidence of his worry and trouble was on his furrowed face and visible for everyone in the palace to see, the atmosphere was so tense that you could even cut through it with a knife and it was becoming unbearable for the chiefs. Seeing that no one tried to clear the air, the Ogiso decided to try, after all the clearing of a large farm land started with the swing of a cutlass, “ I remember the first time my wife had a child, it was like the whole of Obti was going to war, immediately the ancestral water started dripping from her thighs, she started screaming that the gods had punished her by making her urinate on herself like a child of two seasons, all my efforts to calm her down were of no use, she had decided to race to Olokun's shrine to ask the goddess for forgiveness, she did not even bother to put on her sack", this of course was greeted by laughter and understanding nods from the members of the cabinet, even the Enogie stopped pacing and resumed his seat on his throne, seeing the success of his story telling on the eyes of the members of the cabinet, he continued;" I was so ashamed and afraid, being a young man, but I knew that it was a taboo to chase a pregnant woman so I started pacing in front of my house, it was as if the sun had gone from the east to the west ten times while she was gone, by the time I raised my head up, she was standing before me, dressed and carrying our first son in a bundle of plantain leaves". Before he could continue shouts of; “Ayooo Osa Uwese" could be heard from the birthing hut, before the king could rise, a maid ran into the palace, and kneeling she said; “May my eyes never see your end great king of our land", before he could answer she added, “A goddess has graced the earth", and swiftly ran out to complete her tasks. In Obti land, it was believed that the sons and daughters of the king were gods and goddesses and their births were always celebrated with a lot of fanfare and sacrifices, particularly to ward off greedy witches from stealing their souls and turning them into pieces of meat for the soups they prepared in their covens, during such celebrations the juiciest and meatiest parts of the slaughtered animals were sent to the door posts of every notorious witch to stop them from making mischief during such ceremonies, but of course their bellies like that of hell was never satisfied and no matter how much meat was given to them, they still committed little acts of mischief like causing rain on the day of the naming ceremony or dropping rotten decaying animals around the fire hearth, all these were brought to a minimum by the connectors who tied up their powers and let them have whatever little power they felt would not cause too much havoc.

As the king and his cabinet walked towards the birthing hut, the head midwife ran out like one who had been chased, goosebumps and cold sweat running down her skin, she could not even raise her eyes to look at the king as she shivered, the king would have none of that, no one would wear a long face in the palace without a proper explanation for it, “ What troubles you Itohan?", he asked in a serious voice, “ Nothing my Lord", she said averting his eyes and smiling nervously, the king was not fooled and was clearly not in the mood for smiles of evasion or deception, “ Speak woman, do not try to fool me, for I can see the fear and the sweat running through your skin and do not think of speaking a word that is not true", “ I swear by my father's grave my Lord, I speak no....“ “ Swear falsely one more time and even your father's grave shall reject you, the road which your ancestors have taken will drown you and throw your bloated body into the depths of the forgotten lands, lie one more time and I will ask Ogun the god of Iron to destroy your useless body and by the time Eziza the god of the whirlwind is through with you, your pieces will not be enough to pick the teeth of Azeh the great witch!, Now speak before I start cursing you!" he thundered, cutting her off. At the sound of his words she knelt and bursting into tears said; “ The words are too heavy for my lips my Lord, I fear that saying them would even make your wrath to be kindled against me the more", “ The king has asked you to speak or do you not fear for your life", the Ogiso intoned, looking up and not bothering to rise she said; “ It is the child, she is but a strange one, different from her brothers", the king knew that there was more to her words, so he asked; “ How so? Is she born without eyes or lips, or nostrils?", to which the midwife nodded the negative, “ Does she have no legs or hands, or is she born with different organs in her private region?, “ I fear it is more than that my Lord", “ Then what is it?", asked the king, “ My Lord, I fear that she is an accursed one", “ Accursed?, How, and by whom?", “She has eyes as green as grass and skin as white as a pig's belly". The king was shocked down to his bone marrow, but he said in a voice too calm for the words he had just heard; ”Rise and leave, you will be called if you are needed", then storming like one under a spell towards the birthing hut he shouted, “ Come out of that hut!, come out you adulterous woman and tell me how I have wronged you!, come out and tell what a man can give that I have not given you, come out and tell my why you allowed another man to pass through the bush part that I cleared, come out now!!!", he said with a loud voice. The Queen was saved by the arrival of the Olokun priest who was clearly not in the mood for pleasantries, “Stop this foolishness, Agholor", your wife has not committed a******y and your child is not accursed, she is a connector", he said turning to leave, then turning again as if he had forgotten something, he added; “Do not behead the midwife, she only said what she noticed”.