The ceremony for the official adoption of Ibekwe into the village of Umuise took place in the village town square. It was a ceremony that was done when a new person is introduced into the village. For the new individual to be a bona fide member of the village, a ceremony had to be held in honour of that person. Since Ibekwe was not born or related to anyone in Umuise, it was expected for him to undergo some initiation rites before he could fully be a part of Umuise. Umuise consisted of a large number of huts but the number of people in the village were very few which made it very possible for everyone to easily identify one other without much difficulty. Many indigenes of Umuise had been killed in wars that occurred a century ago during the time of Ibekwe's great-grandfather, Echi and because of that reason, almost everyone in the village were related somehow. Only a few interrogation and careful understanding of the family tree, someone could easily see how he

"Okoli! Are you out of your mind?" Nnadi asked as he approached Okoli."Did you call me back to ask if I was mad?" Okoli retorted.Nnadi shook his head."I know that you are a hard-working man. I know that you worked very hard to cover last year mistakes but the Okoli I know would never stoop so low to make a bet with a man like Obisike. You of all people should know that Osinala family is not a family to joke around with. He is the richest man in the whole of Umuise and every man knows that.""I hope this is not why you are shouting at me," Okoli said then bit his lips, "if you want to be a good friend, you should start encouraging me rather than telling me things that I already know about. I want to make that fool know that I am not a coward.""No one cares if you are a coward or not.""If no one cares, I do.""If you don't want to start another fight with Akwaudo, you know

Okwudili had not been at peace with himself ever since the last quarrel he had with his brother, Okoli over a piece of land that their father had left for them to share. He moved from one side to another, in his room, as he thought of the way his father counselled him when he was worried about something. "Okwi!" His father would say, "what troubles your mind and has kept you in distress?" In those days, Okwudili would shook his head and tell his father not to bother himself. He would assure his father that he was fine. It was his own way of letting his father know that he was a grown up man. Okwudili wondered how quickly time passed. He wondered how the unity he had once shared with his brothers had totally crumbled into a piece of regrets and malice. He knew that as one grew older, things changed. But the way things were happening in his life right now, he knew that the change that was taken place was neither for his go

The hoarse voice of a troubled mind came out from nowhere, startling Okwudili. A simple answer was all it demanded. "Who is lying?" Okwudili shifted from one side of the bamboo bed to another as he wondered who had spoken to him. The room was empty except for him and his dark, lifeless shadow that was cast on the wall by the palm oil lamp that was almost dead. He grabbed the lamp and walked towards the window to see who had dared to come into his compound at midnight. He saw nothing. He staggered back to his bed, trying to assure himself that it was just his own thoughts deceiving him. "If you don't tell me who is lying at this moment, I will make sure that you are beaten properly." Okwudili got up from his bed again. He was alert. He could ignore a man playing around with his pride anywhere in the village but he couldn't manage a man who would come to his own compound to threaten him with words. He

The two children murdered on the day of Ibekwe's adoption ceremony were the sons of Akwaudo's sister, Chinelo. Their bodies were found lying without hope in the centre of the village town square by a small girl who was on her way to the stream to fetch water. Dead. All eyes went to Okoli's family because it was the day after a ceremony was done in honor of their family but those staunch eyes were quickly averted when Osisiakalaka came to the scene and declared in front of everyone that the children had died a good death and Chinelo shouldn't cry but rejoice because they were with the high god, Chukwu and having a better life that she would never provide for them. The only person that knew what had happened to the children of Chinelo was Nnadi. He was the only one present when the children were taken away by a masked man on the day of Ibekwe's adoption. He was the last law-abiding indigene of Umuise to set eyes on the children before they dre