MENE OF KESEGENE

Once upon a time, in the land of Kesegene there lived a young old woman. Mene was quite beautiful for her age, standing straight and tall like the village goddess, her village goddess. She was the youngest Lakiki goddess in the history of Kesegene. It was on her sixteenth birthday that the Lakiki goddess rejected her twelve brothers and placed the ofo in her hands. Her father was shocked, she was excited, her mother was terrified. She wept bitterly while the other two wives watched in scorn. Did Mene know what it meant to be Kesegene's priestess? Did she know that she will no longer live with her family? That she will wear twenty five cowrie seeds on her head and none must drop? Did she know that she will not get married? That she will have no children? Mene was lost in euphoria. At age sixteen she was already the number one personality in Kesegene. Now she would have all the fruits she wanted, all the lappas and no one will be able to question her else they would grow sores that do not heal. For four market days, it was the talk of the village that Mene, every man's dream wife was now married to Lakiki. She moved to the sacred shrine and locked herself for three days so that Lakiki would be made known to her. After three days, in the presence of the villagers, the chiefs rubbed palm oil and native chalk on her forehead and swore allegiance to their new priestess. Everyday that passed, Mene became more quiet, more withdrawn. To the people it was normal, all who Lakiki chose became quiet. They believed it was what they knew and saw that made them reserved. It was indeed what they knew and saw. Who would've known that the name Lakiki which meant "the woman who has been made man", was not ordinary? Who would've known why Lakiki chose more females than males to serve her? Who would've known why Lakiki did not allow her priestesses to marry? Who would've known that Lakiki chose only married men because she wanted to marry their wives? Who would've known that the goddess Lakiki was a man? The more Mene knew the more she wished she did not know. The more she saw, the more she wished she did not see. The goddess Lakiki was a ravenous man, she did not get tired of her wives whether they were eating, sleeping, washing or bathing. Everyday, Mene prayed that Lakiki would marry a new priestess. And so, when Mene was twenty, she was forty and when she was twenty five, she was eighty. And when she was eighty, the last cowrie dropped. And now, here lies the sovereign one, our priestess Who on Lakiki relied on Who never said a stupid thing and never did a wise one.