"Nothing." I look up from the sackbag which we call "Ghana must go," I've been at this for hours since first light today. I hear Mom calling me from our room and I drop everything.
I don't even bother to arrange shii, I just shove everything back inside and alight from the side of the bed in which I am sitting. I wipe my tears and shove the enormous sackbag to the corner of the room where it had been when I first entered. I straighten my clothes back and sniff in a snort or two ready to go respond to my Mom.
"I'm not a cryer... I'm higher," I open the door to the room to go out to respond to her but my Chị (the voice in my head) says to me, "Girl that ain't where you met that sackbag."
I'm like "Hm?"
"Nne, you met that sackbag in her cupboard, what the fuck is wrong with you? This is her own personal room not yours, oke!" I widen my eyes, she's like so for real right now. I hasten back to the bag not far off. I jack it up to the cupboard and with my leg I fling the door open, I bend shoving the entire shii into the lower compartment with such reckless abandon. I dust my hands and close the doors clicking them shut with the keys as I had earlier met it.
I make for the door and shout out a response closing it behind me, "Maaaaaaaa!"
She, like every African parent in the world screams my name right back at me again even after I had responded to her instead of screaming back the fucking errands to me like how a normal teenager expects their parents to act. I don't reply because I no dey follow her do that kain nonsense. May she shout dey go na, she and who dey play such ụmụ nkịlịka play? What insignificance! I hiss.
I casually walk up to the room a few steps away, taking my time and I open it up. Mom is still lazying about on the bed. I shut the door with a loud thud as I enter, she rolls over and arises from the bed, she looks at me.
"Adaora is it not you I have been calling ke mgbe (since)?" She looks away looking for something and I eye her repeatedly.
"Mom, I'm here now o, what do you need?" I sit down on the sofa.
She turns to me sharply, "You must be very silly! What sort of tone is that? So me and you have become mates right?" I roll my eyes as I sit on the sofa next to the bed. I cross my legs and reach out for my phone on the table.
She studies me a bit, her blood boiling but her composure intact. She takes a deep breath and lies down back. I hiss and uncross my legs, crossing it back as if to try and get her attention, I was. I wasn't actually doing anything on my phone, I just on the home page flipping from grid to grid. She arises again and looks at me.
"Je sịbe mmịlị ọkụ ká igbe orịị," I look at her. Shey this woman no sabi say I dey vex for her abi wetin? She still dey tell me make I go boil water for Orịị, Tea. I dey vex for you and you get mind wan drink tea, "Adaora onwedị ihe na eme gị na ịsị? Ọrọ ngị ka nnagwa?" I stand up reluctantly, looking her up and down, she grabs her phone and rolls back across the bed turning away from me to the wall.
"Mom, shey you said you wanna travel today to Arewa?"
She rolls over to face me again, "Yes my Love but Yalwa Wadatau Delu the daughter of emmm, her most esteemed Matriarch Gwaggo Delu from Jihar Jigawa, yes Yalwa her daughter, that I'm supposed to be visiting in Jihar Kaduna today, she lives in Kaduna province, Jihar Kaduna, Kaduna State, yeah, so she said she'll be unavailable this week, that I should come on Wednesday next week, ubochi Orịe which is what I'm going to do quite frankly, so till then I'll take the opportunity to rest this remaining week."
"Ok Ma," I make to leave.
"Today I'll actually need you to pay an impromptu visit to the ụmụ unọ afịa anyị dọ na Ogbeogonogo Market so you can supervise what the Girls have been up to," She calls back at me. I hiss abit and turns back to face her. I wanna challenge and say I'm tired but me sef no even get strength for that one, this Woman just dey talk dey go, "...and especially those Boys, you are to visit all thirteen of them alright? All thirteen shops ok?"
"Yes Mummy," I reply as I grab the door.
She takes a deep breath behind me, "Adaora," She calls out.
I turn around to behold her, she had this look in her eyes, me sef no really send. When you do finish madam you go calm down answer my questions, "I love you so much."
"Ọgini kwa?" I exclaim to myself.
"I appreciate you sincerely, all you've done for me and that you have been doing, Ada, I don't think I'm anything without you and for that, I owe you everything, thank you my Ada," I look at her as I'm fixed to the spot where I am, I felt my heart melting but mbá, I'm not going to fall that easy...
"Awwwwn, Mummy..." I rush to her and pull her into a hug, "I love you too my Queen..."
"What are you still standing there doing this Girl?" She flips, I snap out of my thoughts. Chai! Imagination. She's done being sentimental sha, she's back to her regular self.
"Mom, I love you too and I appreciate you, deeply," I say still fixated to the same spot by the door.
"Good. Now, ngwa nụ, ngwa, ngwa, ngwa ngwa, let's get a move on, ọsịsọ, go and boil the god-damned water for tea."
I leave the room, locking the door behind me. I move downstairs immediately. As I enter the kitchen I see Nwaobi pouring himself a glass of wine, Dad's wine that he usually keeps for his alcoholic visitors, the ones he always pesters to leave cos they come in semi drunk, they request for these typa drinks, they get more drunk and some almost mess themselves up before Dad finally calls a taxi driver to come get them and take them home. Drunk ass old foolish Men. Dad pays taxi drivers heavily to make sure the fools are back home safe and sound and he proceeds to call their family after he drops the calls of the drivers to ensure the safe arrival of his visitors.
That was before, now he forbids me from letting them inside, I just have to tell them he ain't home, that's with Mom's permissions of course. But sometimes it's hard pulling the lie cos they all know Dad is a stay home Man, he makes millions from home and they're all in Mom's name.
The idiot in front of me takes another shot of it, the sixth kó seventh...
"Early in the morning young Man," I say to him going over to the cooker.
He turns to look at me, his left forehead bandaged in an 'X' form, Mom's signature style, "E concern you? Ogbasara gị?"
"Nwaobi you're sixteen, that drink is labeled twenty two na ekpe, on the bottle, with a very high alcohol percentage, dude, Dad doesn't even drink that, that drink is not for you, your liver and kidneys are not yet matured enough to handle such amounts of alcohol this Man, take an energy drink from the fridge or some shii or better still grab a cup or two of the palm wine, nkwụ ọcha which Akpadike nwa be ndị be Ogbogu tapped from the village for Mom and leave this diabolic poison of ostentatious living alone, this Boy," He grabs the Ekpe (bottle) shoving it under his pits and he grabs the Iko ajaọkụ (glass cup) with his aka nnị (right hand). With his aka ekpe (left hand) under which the bottle is, he grabs the rag with which he uses to wipe the counter which he had spilled some alcohol on and tosses it aside. The entire kitchen was on a choking atmosphere of the alcohol, nauseating.
He turns to leave but not without saying "Excuse me," in the rudest bass tone he could manufacture. He walks out on me as I'm still talking and I immediately do what every good, smarter and yes very annoying elder Sister or sibling at all would do. I rush out casually to go inform Dad what he was up to.
The beautiful thing about family is that they're very annoying. Annoying in the sense that like for example, in this case now, Nwaobi is quietly, slowly but surely damaging his arụisike, his health, his lungs, ngụ, his liver, imeju, his akụrụ, kidney and other shii, the kind and guyly thing to do as his gee was to keep quiet and hail him. The "normal" thing to do as "na abụ m nọ guy Girl" is to make sure the parents don't find out not like he's afraid of them or anything, but the family thing to do was to loud it, to cast him update, to report, to snitch, to rat. The best thing for me to do as his elder Sister, the Girl in this context aka the one that is wiser as per I'm a Woman and the more mature one is to go and tell the one person that'll handle him good so he can scream and that was Chimebuka, our Father.
I walk up to his Obị in the backyard and greet him.
"Nna m, ekene m gị ọnye isi. Ndị Nne m na ndị Nná m, ekene m ụnụ ọ, enu igwe na anị na ụmụ ụnụ niile, Nneụwa, ekene m ụnụ nchá ọ!" I call out as I get to the door of the hut, "Chị m, ekene m gị, ụtụtụ oma, Nne m, I dust my feet on the Earth, otịto dịlị gị, ụnụ ncha niile, otịto dịlị ụnụ ncha!" I call out to my Chị and birth element.
I was born on an Afo market day so as Áfó is associated with the Earth, Afo bụ ala/anị, I'm an Mgboafọ, an Earth child. The Earth is my birth element. Afo is my birth market day. Anị is my birth deity, and so on.
I'm barefooted even as I was leaving the house because I knew where I was headed was a sacred, consecrated land.
Our Father's Obị where the shrine dwells is holy ground and every morning, the entire compound becomes holy ground so we don't mess around, especially Nwaobi, he knows better than to do so.
The family shrine, the ancestral home, Iba be anyị dị na Ọnicha Ado na Idu (The Ancestral house that is in the Outskirts of Ile Ife and the Kingdom of Benin) is the home of the Ancestors and the abode of the family deities. We dare not make unnecessary noises there when we visit. The only one permitted to speak was the one to lead the igọ mmuọ mó igọ ọfọ, veneration of the spirits or veneration of the deities and that was Mom followed by Aunt Ngozi then or any other older Lady in the family. The rest of us were to only whisper if we were to speak and reply 'ịsee' which meant 'so shall it be' or 'may it be unto me or my soul as it has been spoken.'
I continue looking at Dad who suddenly opens his eyes sharply without turning to me. I see he's got a mouth full of dry gin, he spits it all at the Ikenga (moulded images of our family deities) sitting around.
"Ndị Obị na Ekwe, ndị Nze na Ọzọ ndị be anyị, ndị Egede na ndị Mgbu, ndị Nne anyị jị Nza, Ndị Ọsụ sị na be anyị, ụnụ ncha niile sị na be anyị na edụ anyị niile, ekene m ụnụ ooooooooo!" He calls out.
"Iseeeeeeeeeee!" I reply. From the outside I continue, "Enyị mba karịrị mba, ọhamadịike ana afụ anya, osịnanwata bụrụ ọgaranya, okịrịkịrị gị ka ha na gbakọta ma ha fụ ebube gị, ọnye gboo mgbochịe, dịike na ọlu! Ọnye Nna, ekene m gị."
"Enyịịịị Nwaaa, oga adịlị gị na mma, bata bịa bụlụ oche ka ịtukwulu ani. Nwa, Enyị Nwa, né ọjịị bịa lie. Belu ọjịị ka ịdịgịde, Ne ọjịị kalụ ka ọdịkwuelughị na mma Adaugo"
"Ndị be anyị ekene m ụnụ o," I greet as I enter. I feel a heavy presence envelope me, I stand fixated in a spot not of my own right. Dad notices and reaches out to me pulling me closer to himself, "Dad I would love to sit and venerate the great ones, ndị niile bụ anyị ụzọ mana I just came to report to you Sir that Nwaobi is consuming a high level of alcohol Nna. He shouldn't even be having it..."
"Leave my presence!" He commands.
"Oo Nna m," I turn to leave immediately. The hut was sort of cool as I entered, an incense burning gently by the corner of the shrine emitting a bitter sweet smell, bitter at first but sweet as it is taken in. Dad is sitted on a small stool at the side adjacent the traditional incense burner. He is on a white cloth wrapped around his body from waist to shin. On his left leg is a red ankle bead and two are on his hands. On his neck is nothing and right below his right eye white chalk, nzụ is used to mark his eye. As I leave I'm enveloped by a hot smoking feeling but as I cross the door I'm free of it. I understand his anger just became the atmosphere of the hut. I touch the wall of the hut, it's boiling hot, I quickly deep my hand in an ọba mmịlị dọ na akụkụ, a calabash of water closeby.
His temperament and feelings dictates the temperature and atmosphere of the hut, his Obị. The power that was given to him by the Gods I suppose.
I make to quickly rush back to the kitchen to do what Mom had sent me to do but I'm surprised to see Dad heading up the stairs fully clothed in his green wrapper and blue pyjama top with which he was on going to bed last night. He had just transmigrated kọ teleported from the shrine to here with a change of clothes before I could even step inside. Classic African spirituality, classic Ọmenala. In his left hand is a long slim cane, the hand and leg beads are gone. Even though we were all used to it by now, I'm still awestruck sometimes... Actually, you can never get used to it, it's full of surprises, Ọmenala nke ndị Igbo be anyị. I chuckle.
As he gets to the top of the stairs he turns and says, "Dumebi, go and do what your Mother sent you to do and make sure you do it, and make sure also you go to the shops which she has sent you to, ọdị mkpá, ọjịje gị ga eme ka ofu ife mọ ịbụọ dabanye," I nod in response, even the eye chalk thingy is gone.
"Ibekachi!" He calls out as he continues going, his voice full of annoyance, "Ibekachi!" He turns back to me as I'm about to head to the kitchen, "Dumebi, please also ask your Mother if you can make me a cup of Atị, Coffee, I need it as soon as I'm done bathing, I'll just quickly come and collect it before entering the study ok? Thank you my Love."
"Ngwa nụ Nna, I will."
"Daalu," He hastens up to go and deal with the Boy.
Yup, I'm a good big Sister, no covering up and all sorts of nonsense for me. Loyalty na water for my side but Discipline, na the ntụtụ wey dey my head. Besides at my big age, above twenty we shouldn't be covering up for such evils that will affect us later. And me I'm solid twenty eight, turning twenty nine this year, at big big twenty eight, twenty nine sef, I should be lying, mba nụnu, no na! Ọbuzi egwu ụmụazị nụ, hịịya! That's child's play na. We can't be playing such play with small children.
Nwaobi is nothing but a small child, he just turned sixteen, c'mon! Pikin wey you no train today go later use train jam you tomorrow. Let's do better, we're the new generation, clock it!