THE ROOM MY MOTHER KEPT LOCKED

The Secret Behind

They were crying, “Meow… meow… meow…” They sounded as if they were suffering. I was frightened and wondered where they had come from. There were six of them, they were tiny. They looked like kittens, but there was something frightening about them. They looked unhealthy. I became afraid to lock the door. We called my aunt, and she came over. I showed her the kittens. She looked at them and said, “Why did you reveal your mother's secret? Do you want to cause her death?” I didn't understand.

“What do you mean?” She answered, “That is your mother's wealth. Your grandmother wanted to pass it on to me, but I refused. That's why she gave it to your mother.” Her words frightened me even more because I knew nothing about chuma ulete. My aunt spoke harshly to the kittens, and they suddenly became quiet. Then she told me, “Bring me a padlock. We need to lock the door.” I gave her the padlock, and she locked the room.

We cooked some food and returned to the hospital. I also told her that the neighbours had seen what was inside the room. She said, “Oh no. The whole village will know. You've embarrassed your mother.”

I asked her, “I didn't know any of this. But why would she do these things after becoming a Christian?” My aunt looked at me and asked, “After everything she has done for you, shouldn't you be grateful? She raised you in a life of comfort.” Her words made me feel even worse. I couldn't stop thinking, why would my mother do this? Where would we put our faces after this?

On our way back to the hospital, my aunt and I took a motorcycle taxi. Along the way, we came across about eight women sitting together. When they saw us, they started laughing, “Look at the born-again Christians!” I started crying. I couldn't hold it in anymore. When we reached the hospital, we tried to feed my mother. But she vomited everything. She swallowed only two bites before throwing up something dark.

We eventually returned home. By then, the story about the money had spread throughout the entire village. Everyone knew even today, the rumors have not died down. After she had spent three days in the hospital, the doctor called us aside. He told us, “Don't waste all your money here. Your mother is not going to survive. Her condition is extremely serious. If you can, take her home and look after her there. Or take her for prayers. I don't recommend keeping her here any longer.”

So we took our mother home. As soon as we arrived, we tried to take her to her bedroom. But she suddenly started jumping around and shouting, “They will beat me there! I don't want to go! They will kill me!” We had no choice but to take her to the house where my late father used to sleep. There, she started vomiting blood. There were large clots in it. Then she said, “I agree. Fine. Enough. You have punished me.” She began mentioning the names of people from the village. We knew all of them we were left speechless.

We couldn't understand what we were hearing. Some of the people she mentioned were people we knew as ordinary villagers who spent their days working in the fields and struggling to make a living. Then my mother died, She passed away covered in blood, and we didn't even know where to begin cleaning her. I remembered that before she died, she had given me seven million shillings and told me to keep it for a shipment.

After her death, we entered the room. Inside, we found a piece of paper with Arabic writing on it, a cow's horn, a black cloth, a red cloth, some nails that we couldn't tell whether they were human, and some hair. I was terrified, my whole body felt like it was trembling. That day, I felt as though I was living through a dream. I kept asking myself whether what I was seeing was actually real. My aunt collected the items and placed them under the bed. Then we locked the room with a padlock.

The money was used to buy three cows, which were slaughtered for the funeral. My aunt told me that the money could not be used for development after the person who owned it had died. There is much more that happened, but in short, we buried our mother. The pastor came to the funeral, we finished the burial ceremonies, and everyone went on with their lives.

One thing I learned from everything that happened is that when many people say the same thing about something, you should at least take the time to investigate. Sometimes, there may be some truth hidden behind the rumours. If I had known earlier, I would have advised my mother to become a true Christian and abandon the things associated with chuma ulete. But by then, it was too late. People even blamed me, saying that I had caused my mother's death by entering that room.

My mother left us with a painful history that still follows our family to this day. Whenever you go to the village, people still talk about what happened. And despite everything that happened, all the property is still there.

I continued with my life. After moving from one region to another, I tried to start over and leave everything that had happened behind me.

Two years later, in the place where I had settled, I met a man. We fell deeply in love, and with time, our relationship became more serious. Eventually, we got engaged and began the journey of an official relationship.

But that journey was far from easy. There was so much more to it than I ever expected things that would test our love and make me question many things about my life.

The year 2023 was the year my beloved husband and I had planned to finally have our wedding. We agreed to hold the wedding at his family home because we had already built our home in Dar es Salaam, while his family was from Mbeya.

We organized everything and prepared for the big day. By then, we had already been blessed with one child, so we were simply completing our marriage through a holy wedding ceremony. His family home was in Sai, in Mbeya. I believe people from Mbeya know the place very well. But before we travelled, I had a bad dream.

In the dream, I was in a forest. I had lost one of my shoes, and the people I was with had left me behind. I was crying and asking myself, “How am I going to get back home alone when I don't even remember the way? Why would they do this to me?” When I told my husband about the dream, he simply said, “Let's just pray. Maybe it's the devil trying to interfere with our plans.” We went to Kariakoo, where we had a tailor making my husband's suit and another one making my wedding dress. We went for the fittings, and everything looked perfect. Both of us agreed that the clothes had no problems at all.

We also went shopping for my sister's house girl and our little daughter before going back home. I remember how exhausted I was after all those preparations. At the time, I was also two months pregnant. When we got home, I told my husband, “I don't feel like bathing today. I just want to sleep like this.” He laughed and said, “Then at least wash your feet.” We started teasing each other. He told me, “Me, I can't handle you.” We laughed, and I told him, “If you keep teasing me, you're not getting anything tonight.” He quickly replied, “Who am I to challenge the boss?”

We laughed and eventually went to sleep.

Two days later, we started our journey to Mbeya. The journey went well, and we arrived safely. When we got there, I went to the salon to check that everything was ready. My husband also went to the barbershop for his preparations. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to buy something in Kariakoo. I needed a particular type of shoe, so my husband took me to Mwanjelwa to look for it. It wasn't even the hot season, but I wanted it anyway. I guess I just wanted everything to be perfect. We returned home.

The following day was finally here. It was Saturday, the day of our wedding. I went to the salon while my husband went to the barbershop. Later, we met at the church. Thank God, everything went well. We got married safely. After the ceremony, we went to take photographs with our beloved daughter, who was four years old at the time. My sister took our daughter home because I had to return to the salon to have my makeup done for the reception. We decided it was safer for our daughter to go home with her because the wedding reception would end around midnight. I said goodbye to my little girl, “Bye, my baby.”

She was crying and wanted us to go together, but I had to leave her behind. We arrived at the reception at Mafiati, and everything was going beautifully. We celebrated, danced, and received gifts. Then it was time for the introductions.

We were standing together when I suddenly saw the MC walk over to my husband. He whispered something into my husband's ear.

I immediately noticed my husband's face change. He suddenly looked very serious. The microphones were switched off. Then the MC announced, “There is an emergency. The bride and groom need to leave.” My heart started beating very fast. I had no idea what had happened. My husband left with the MC and my father-in-law.

I left with my mother-in-law and some of my relatives in another car. I called my husband. He didn't answer. I kept asking everyone, “What happened? What is going on?” Nobody wanted to tell me anything. They only kept saying, “Wait until we get there. You'll find out when we arrive.” My heart was racing the entire journey. I couldn't understand what had happened or why everyone was suddenly so serious.

When we finally arrived... I saw something that left me completely shocked.