Sun After Clouds

Beautiful Maiden and Adamant Father

Wole’s would-be wife and Rolake's would-be mother, was the pretty Alake. She was of average height, not too fat or too slim. Her honeyed complexion would glow whenever she stepped out on a sunny day. And as if the harsh sun was aware of her beauty and shy of biting into her skin, no matter how many times she walked beneath it, it would not darken or burn her skin like other people. She had dimples on her cheeks, prominent nose and full pink lips which added to her brightness whenever her face broken into her accustomed smiles. Affectionately, men would gaze at her figure-8 shape whenever she catwalked passed them.

She was a daughter of a wealthy chief in the neighboring village of Ladele, so the rays of royalty lingered so much on her looks. She and Wole had come into contact when the former went to work as a part time labourer for the wealthy Chiefs of the village.

A no-nonsense and braggart Chief, Gboye, Alake’s father, was one of Wole’s employers.

Most wealthy farmers in the villages had two or more wives, but, surprisingly Gboye had only one. As a result of that, his friends who were mostly chiefs would tease him, calling him a weak man. But in actual sense, Gboye was not a weak man at all. A man who was born with no ray of hope, from a very humble background and had worked earnestly to make himself rich over the years, could such man be described as weak?

He had explained the reason for his monogamy stance to his friends one day thus:

"Do you bite the hand that fed you when you were hungry after your stomach has full?’’

His friends shook their heads to the question.

And he continued thus:

"With perseverance and diligence, Aweni had stayed with me when I had no single yam tuber inside my barn. Her good destiny, hard work and words of hope had merged with mine to grow my wealth over the years. Now that I’m wealthy, should I make her sad by bringing a woman who would rival her? Marrying another wife is what she had feared and hated so much. And I had promised her never to try it, swearing with Ogun—the god of iron. Now, should I go ahead and marry another wife, to break my vow to provoke the anger of the vengeance god? You all know how ruthless and vengeful the god is, don’t you?’’

His friends had no option but leave him alone ever since. They thought no one could be wiser than someone who says, "thus will I do my thing’’.

His wife, Aweni had had only three surviving children, two female and one male. Like most of the men in the villages, Gboye would not belief in female education. He thought house-chores, marriage and child-births are the major purpose of women in life. And those three things, he had argued with anyone who supported female education, that they do not require a formal education. It would be a waste of resources, he had said, to send female children to school. So, he had sent only the male child whose name was Banji to the school in Bamibola, believing he would be the light of education in his family.

Being the eldest of his children, Alake, was expected to get married immediately she reached puberty stage. But nothing of such happened. She had long passed puberty stage, but did not show any sign of getting married soon.

Many Chiefs’ sons and rich young farmers, in and out of Ladele, had come to seek Alake’s hands in marriage. Abruptly, she turned all of them down just because of Wole. But because their relationship was deliberately kept away from the public, no one knew why Alake behaved that way to her suitors. So, majority of her suitors could not help but concluded that pride or egocentrism over her beauty had made her rejected them. They equally thought she had remained adamant to marriage to keep maintaining her status as the most beautiful maiden in Ladele. Hence, they had composed the poem in her name to embarrass or shame her into marriage.

One evening, Gboye and Alake’s mother, Aweni, summoned her before them. They were worried how she had turned all her suitors down, and how young men had coined the offensive poem in her name. Therefore, they wanted to inquire when she would be ready to get married. Perhaps, most of her age-grades were long married and given births. They also wanted to know why she had been resolute to marriage proposals.

"I shall get married soon, father and mother,’’ Alake said to her parents amid sheepish smiles, looking so nonchalant, "the time hasn’t come yet. Everything has time under the sun. Exercise more patience with me, I beg of you."

"You’ll get married soon to those young men you chase away on daily basis?’’ asked Gboye sarcastically, looking at her mischievously with the tail of his eyes.

"I beg your pardon father!’’ snapped Alake, her brows folded, almost touching each other. She totally detested what her father said. "None of those men is my choice for husband! It would be over my dead-body to marry any of those arrogant men, full of foolish pride.’’

Gboye opened his mouth but no words flew out. He was flabbergasted and heart-sank by Alake’s reply. He thought if well-to-do young farmers and sons of chiefs were not good enough for her, who would? His daughter was obsessed with marriage, did not want to get married at all, he concluded.

"My daughter, you’re not getting any younger.’’ Aweni lectured Alake, surprising at the insulting way she had spoken of her suitors. "All the young men who troop here on daily basis were all maidens’ dream husbands. If they raise their shoulders in pride, it’s because they’re wealthy and worthy of it. That doesn’t mean they won’t be good husbands to you. Our elders say a ripe orange which refuses to drop for a noble man to suck; it’s an ordinary bird that will suck it. if you reject men of noble births when youthful water glistens your skin, when you get older and signs of wrinkle start showing on your face, its men of insignificant that will be coming for you…’’

"Let her know!’’ cuts in Gboye. He just found his lost words. Fixing his hot-coal-like eyes on Alake, he ranted, "your mother here was not up to your age when she gave birth to you! I think your wish is to remain a maiden forever, a queen of maidens with no crown on her head! But that can’t happen in my compound. You can’t stay in my home forever, Alake! You’ll have to get yours soon!’’

"My daughter, your father is right,’’ Aweni corroborated. "No single honour for a matured and ripen maiden without a husband. She would be looked down on like a queen without a crown.’’

"I don’t want be unmarried forever, father and mother.’’ Alake said in a calmed, fainted voice, fainted by a sudden shyness. "I have someone I want to marry already. ’’

"Yes, that’s my lovely daughter!’’ Gboye exclaimed elatedly, smile brightened his anger-darkened face. He felt calmed now, proudly adjusting himself on his seat, his shoulders raised high. "You are now talking with senses. I know you can’t let us down. But you don’t need to pull our legs before showing us who is you husband-to-be. You’ve come of age and we have been expecting you to bring a good suitor all this while.’’ He brought his mouth near Alake’s ear, and spoke in a mellow, soothing voice now. "You see, my beloved daughter, marriage is a beautiful thing and shouldn’t be a secret affair or something to be shy of. Your mother and I gave birth to you, and its expedient for us to rock your children too, yes, before we join our ancestors…’’

Alake was nodding endlessly as her father was talking. She felt pleased that she was making him happy now.

"So, why should you been hidden your husband-to-be for us this while?’’ Aweni inquired as Gboye paused, her face brightened with joy. "Who is the lucky young man? Tell us my dear daughter.’’

"Hmmm…’’ Alake muttered aloud, "it is Adewole, mother.’’

"Which Adewole are you talking about, young lady?’’ Gboye asked in a danger-suspecting voice. From his face, joy began to fade gradually.

"Wole who works on your farms, father,’’ Alake responded proudly, her two shoulders rose up and her eyes fixed straight towards her parents as she spoke. In Wole, she thought she had made the best choice her parents would really appreciate and proud of.

"You must be out of your mind!’’ Gboye suddenly and unexpectedly barked in full rage. "What will you do with that wretched boy, eh? Tell me now, what would you do with him?’’

Alake shuddered and her heart started beating fast. As would a drinking bird, her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. She didn’t know what to say next. Her upper teeth bite into her lower lips in confusion. Her father’s rejection of Wole as her future husband came as a sudden arrow to her heart. Everybody had said nice things about Wole in the village. Even her parents had extolled how humble and diligent the young man had been before that day. Tears began to form on corners of her small, beautiful eyes.

The conversation ended on a sad note for all the family that day. But would Gboye evcer accept Wole as his future in-law?