SCENE START
SETTING: The courtyard of OGUNLANA'S house. Several weeks have passed. The air is heavy with the scent of rain that refuses to fall.
CHARACTERS:
OGUNLANA: Looking weary, his hair whiter than before.
OGUNSHOLA & OGUNWEMI: Dressed in heavy layers to hide their shame, their faces pale and pinched.
OGUNWUMI: Radiant, wearing a necklace of iron beads given to her by Ajaka.
AJAKA: Appearing as a noble suitor, calm and powerful.
BABA JIDE: Peering over the compound wall, holding a half-eaten roasted yam.
[ACT 1]
(OGUNLANA sits on a wooden stool. The two eldest sisters stand like statues behind him. AJAKA stands in the center of the courtyard, several chests of brass and fine cloth at his feet.)
AJAKA: Ogunlana, the moon has cycled, and my heart has not changed. I have brought the bride price. Not just for a wife, but for the soul of this house.
OGUNLANA: (Sighing) Lord Ajaka, your wealth is undisputed. But my daughters... Shola, Wemi... why do you turn away every suitor? The Weaver's son came yesterday, and you, Shola, threw water on him. The Merchant's nephew came for Wemi, and she did not even leave her room.
OGUNSHOLA: (Voice trembling) They were... they were beneath us, Father. We are waiting for better.
OGUNWEMI: Yes... we are not ready. The omens are bad.
OGUNWUMI: (Stepping forward, her voice clear) Father, they are not waiting for better. They are waiting for a miracle to wash away the shadows.
OGUNSHOLA: (Eyes wide with terror) Ogunwumi, be silent!
OGUNWUMI: No. I have watched you both wither like salted leaves. Father, I cannot wait while my sisters cling to a lie that is eating them alive. I wish to marry Ajaka. I will marry him now, even if it brings the whispers of the village upon us.
OGUNLANA: (Standing up, shocked) You would leap over your sisters? In this land, the elder is the gate! If you open the gate out of turn, you invite the spirits of chaos!
OGUNWUMI: The gate is already broken, Father! Ask them what happened at the stream! Ask them why they cry in their sleep!
OGUNSHOLA: (Screaming) SILENCE! You little traitor! You soot-faced serpent!
BABA JIDE: (From the wall, mouth full of yam) The truth is like a boil, my friends! If you don't lance it, it turns into a limb-killer! And right now, this house smells very... phew... ripe!
AJAKA: (His voice resonating with divine authority) Enough! Ogunwumi has spoken. She will be my bride. If the traditions of men stand in the way of a God's desire, then the traditions must bend... or break.
(OGUNLANA falls back onto his stool, overwhelmed. The sisters retreat into the shadows of the veranda, their eyes burning with a new, dark purpose.)