The news of Echi’s short display of insanity spread through the village, and Olanna was the first to admit it after a bitter argument with a neighbour that ended with her calling him a fool. Neighbours came in groups, so did relatives. One after the other, they asked about his mental state, they asked whether he was chasing a naked spirit with palm fronds or he had been visited by a lover who he had broken her heart with his treachery before his marriage. Olanna declared all of them false. She called them lies that were formed by her husband’s enemies to desecrate the name he had made for himself in the village. What annoyed her the most was the way the people she called his friends twisted words to fit their hate for her husband. A hate she had just discovered now. She also had her share of the hate too. There were rumours flying everywhere in clusters. Rumours that his short-lived madness was caused by her witchcraft, and this false rumor transpired among those she called her friends. The few who chose not to believe any of the things they heard about the previous night, condemned Echi for disgracing his manhood.
A neighbour passing by the hut at night, was the first to spot Echi. She decided to eavesdrop when she heard shouts coming from inside his hut. What her eyes saw next was unbelievable. An insane man curled up in one corner, repeating the same words over and over again. She waited for morning to come before she escalated hard-earned information to a village with one of the best gossipers. This neighbour had been involved in an earlier quarrel with Echi over her missing hen, which she claimed was with Olanna, but Echi refused to believe her while saying his wife was not known for theft.
“I suspected he was mad before yesterday’s event,” the neighbour said.
“I am not surprised at all. It flows in the blood of the family,” her companion replied.
*
Isiewu sent for his son to bring him some herbs. He was planning on using the herbs to solve a young woman’s case of infertility. She had come earlier in the morning to complain about her husband’s decision to marry a second wife if the last effort he put inside her did not yield anything. Isiewu, as usual, was lively and full of grace as he studied the woman’s curvy body. It was evident to him that the woman was not from Umuolu. She had tribal marks on her shoulders Marks drawn in a strange way to depict a python. A dying python. He had promised her before she left that her solution would be ready before evening. It was one of those assurances he made with a huge smile on his face before saying that all would be well.
“Why are you still standing there?” asked Isiewu.
“I am tired. I can’t do any work again,” said Nweke.
“Are you mad? Are you sure you are not mad? Are you sure you have not been mad before?”
Nweke kept quiet. He was Isiewu's first son. The one that should have been a joy to the old chief priest of Umuolu, but he was not. He was a very dull lad with bulgy eyes that seemed to always fall and fit in his eyes at the same time.
“I blame that your stupid mother that brought shame on me by sleeping with a he-goat of a man in that stupid he-goat house of his.” Isiewu anger was fierce.
“Father, she is dead. Let her soul rest in peace.”
“Will you shut up your mouth. What do you know about rest in peace? Have you ever been dead before?”
The peace Isiewu felt, knowing full well that everyone had accepted what happened to Echi was an unimaginable false desecration that could not happen to men of Echi’s status, was divine. He felt further relief knowing he was not a part of the rumour that had circulated around the village. Although he did not want anyone to pry into Echi’s case, he did not show it.
He sat quietly, chewing a soft chewing stick while spitting at intervals as he thought of the previous night’s event. The question that bothered him the most was how the neighbour was capable of spreading such information without consulting him first. Two centuries ago, the neighbour would have been cut into pieces if it turns out the news was false. That was why men and women consulted with the chief priests before spilling such information, but things were different now. It couldn’t be heard that Umuolu killed a woman for spreading a lie. How would other villages think? Would they say to one another that there was a division in the land? Would they say let us strike now while the snake takes a tour? He knew deep down inside his diviner’s soul that Echi’s madness was not a rumour; it was real. Real madness that only comes by the scent of a maiden ancestral spirit with a bitter death.
He thought of what his son said. He knew he was spending too much time on Echi’s case, but he had no choice other than to continue because he was already too deep to go back. Too far away to pull out. And what was better than proving his potency as the most revered diviner in the whole of Umuolu, and the best diviner that existed in the whole village? It was this kind of job that gave him his name. It was this kind of job that brought him to where he was now. It was this kind of job that demanded huge sacrifices and confirmed his position as the spokesman of the gods.
“I am Isiewu. The great and only living breath of the gods. I am the son of Isiogwu that can present an ancestral masked spirit with the heart of his son. I fear no mortal. I am the only one who can put the grasshopper in its place when it is let out from its bag. I am the living mockery of the gods,” Isiewu soliloquized and made short laughter, which was not audible for the few guests in Echi’s hut to hear.
Echi woke up in the middle of a busy afternoon in his compound, looking like a sacrificial goat. He demanded a seat, and it was given to him immediately. Visitors, whose doubts were cleared after they had seen Echi behave like a normal man, started leaving slowly in small groups when they could not see any sign of insanity that his neighbour claimed he had. The men, especially the older ones, remained for a while, still searching him closely to see if they could notice a change of attitude or an awkward display that was not normal. They didn’t see it. They admitted that his neighbour was lying just like the rest of the visitors that had left did when he greeted them in the traditional manner, and they responded, but unlike the rest of them, they made sure they laid individual curses on her before bidding him goodbye.In the night, after Echi proved beyond any doubt, to be calm, his mother visited him. It was one of those unusual visits that would make him hit his head hard wit
Isiewu came in at midnight when Echi and Olanna were already fast asleep. His eyes were wide like a night cat, and his lips were tightly pressed together as he studied the moon through the small window in Echi’s hut and smiled. It was the right time for the sacrifice.“Which sacrifice?” Echi had asked when Isiewu told them that they should prepare themselves for an atonement sacrifice.“We need to do an atonement sacrifice to the spirits hovering around you,” Isiewu replied.“Can’t the sacrifice wait for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Must it be done this night?”Echi and Olanna awakened after Isiewu entered their hut.“There is a strange feeling I had that made me return back after I had left. The gods told me that your life will be in danger if we don’t do the sacrifice this night. We have to do this sacrifice right now,” Isiewu said.Outside the hut, Isiewu grabbed a female
Akunna arrived the following day. He was a man whose pride was his height. It was often said that, during his creation, the high god among all the other gods had decided to bless his mother, who had been patiently waiting for a child with him. The best way the high god felt to appreciate her good deeds was to give her a son who was as tall as the iroko tree.“How was your journey?” Echi asked when Akunna arrived.“It was smooth. Father send his greetings,” Akunna replied.“I hope you brought something for me?”“I did. Let us go inside.”They entered the hut with Echi leading the way. From the expression on Echi’s face, Akunna knew he was surprised by how tall he had grown over the few years, although he had refused to talk about it. Echi brought three pieces of kola nuts. He gave two big pieces to Akunna and reserved the small one for himself.“How is your wife?” Akunna asked
Akunna’s death stunned the whole village because it had never been heard that a man slept in another man’s house for the first time and died on that same day. A lot of accusing fingers were pointed at Echi. The signs were clear on the wall. Akunna had died from food poisoning. The only way the people of Umuolu could know the truth about the nightmare that had occurred in Echi’s compound was to consult the chief priest of their land, Isiewu.Once again, duty called. The villagers quickly summoned Isiewu to investigate the cause of Akunna’s death. He answered the call with his son by his side and promptly set to work. By noon, Isiewu finally announced to the village after peaceful hours of silence, that Akunna had died an evil death and needs to be buried inside the evil forest as soon as possible.This shocking news sent shivers to the bodies and minds of the people of Umuolu because no one could remember when last any
Despite everything that had transpired between him and Isiewu, Echi still managed to feel happy. He was happy that all his years of prayers had been answered. He was elated the gods had finally paid him for all his faithfulness. When he got home, he was surprised to see a lot of people in his hut. The first person he recognized was his mother, who was sitting close to Olanna. His mother was rubbing Olanna’s stomach. Not too far away from his mother was his father, who was smiling widely.“Bring them some kola nuts,” Echi said to Olanna.“No! Leave her alone. Let her rest,” Abali replied.The few women who came to visit clustered around Olanna, each wanting to see the big bulge in her stomach.“You have become a man today,” Echi’s father said proudly. His voice was low and crackly, but he managed to let out his words in a clear and distinct form.Echi laughed. “The gods have proven my potency as a man.”
A wave is like a trembling man suffering from an unending seizure a panic attack with a glowing beam. Isiewu came the next day when the moon was taking a long stride and leaping beyond the boundaries of Umuolu to another part of the world. His footsteps sounded loudly, followed by a rattling sound caused by the staff he held in his hand. He struck his stick several times on the ground as he got closer to Echi’s compound. His movements were slow and steady. Precise.It was often said that when Isiewu walked in a hurry, he was being chased by his personal god for disobeying the task given to him, but when he walked slowly, especially when he wore his dreaded raffia cloth stained with blood in its centre, he was believed to be under the influence of Igweka-ala’s reserved spirit. Beliefs were essential to the people of Umuolu. They were the foundation of their existence.“Greetings to the eyes of the gods. You are welcome,&rdqu
Olanna watched as the midwife left the room, gasping for fresh air. Bubbles of sweat flowed down from her thick hair and ran through the wrapper that covered her breasts. Her arms were involuntarily twitching, and her energy was dying down slowly. Once or twice, the midwife had noticed the first child head popping out from Olanna, but that was all. She didn’t see any baby come out with a frenzied cry.Olanna leaned on the bamboo bed with her legs spread wide apart. The bed was covered with dried leaves, which helped to relieve her back from the excruciating pain she was feeling. The midwife was talking to Echi outside, and she could hear her explaining to Echi about the complications that were occuring. She moaned as the midwife came back inside and adjusted her wrapper.“You must push harder this time. Let us go again,” the midwife said.Olanna nodded in agreement as she felt a strange sensation come upon her. She pushed the first
Many years had passed since Olanna walked through the surface of the earth with a gleaming smile that struck the heart of Echi. But nothing changed much. Echi and his three sons still managed to live through the years of her absence, still managed to cope with their daily lives with the absence of a woman in their household, still managed to go to farm, laugh, eat and sleep as if everything was normal. The only thing that was different and strange to Echi were the eyes of his sons. Eyes that asked about a mother who they only saw once during their birth.Echi was sitting alone in his room after breakfast, remembering how he had brought the body of Olanna to Okezie alone, in the same night she died. He remembered how he had wrapped her body in their marriage wrapper and fled with her corpse away from Umuolu before the village drums would be rolled to announce the death of another villager. That was the night when for the first and last time, he saw the face of hi