in the rise of the dark

pluvious

It started raining very early in the, I'd slept off by the door, not knowing when. Officially to me, I am left alone in this mean world. Babu's gone; at the thought of my father, tears began to drizzle away from my eyes, baba and Sarahdina became a strange family, Lotanna is where he wanted to be, Amaka, well never knew her before now. All my memorable past with Sarahdina played back in my head, then I moaned in pain. Then I began to hear the voices that called us taw'am, till the word taw'am, became a song in my head. I was lost in memory, in a deep thought. The rain gave birth to cold, and the cold added so much to my travail. Some how I don't know how, some ways which I can not  explain, my grieve subsided and a reality check occupied me.
What if they decide to kill me, what if they want to blaspheme me, what if they gets me trapped to danger, what if whatever? I became afraid of even my name but decide to play along per eventually they came public with their acts.
Though the rain was heavy, the sound of the wind from it was deafening, still I can hear the grunting of a scathed piercing through the door, it definitely coming from one of the rooms, but right now am not in the good form of reasoning, others can do something about it, is just one. Am better here than there, and beginning to believe that is just my head, until I began to hear legs and voices murmuring in the building. Or, is it my head? Honestly am confused and in a tortured thoughts. I drag myself drably to the bed, splurging my body on it like a slattern. Before I could think of what to do with myself laying on the bed, a terrified voice poured a thunderous  cry on the building, that got all racing to the balcony. Sarahdina, did not come out, so also Amaka, it was Juliet's, the maid. Her first duty everyday, as I was told, is to get the head of the family to bathe once it's 8am. That she had gone to do, informing the old man that his water is ready, but she instead founds the old man been devoured by a scathed.
The previous day when Ubadinanwa fell, we should have knew, that something happened, we did not suspect a thing, he did not say a thing, and the old man is gone with him. While everyone was using a long stick, and other stuffs they could find to push the young man back into the room, Robert showed up and stab him through the chest, which caused a loud roar. The rain continued to pour, the sun managing to light the earth through the pluvial and darkened weather, everyone was awake. I wanted to confront baba, as I badge into his room, my high and hot blooded veins cooled off, when I saw Amaka catting under the old man, covered with a bedspread. I walked out as soon as they saw me, and they stopped the second they saw me.
I opened my door to walk in when Uche followed me in.
- you are a king and should decision every situation as one, don't kill yourself over things or persons that should kill themselves over you, if Cain killed Abel, then anyone could've done so, but remember Uche will always be behind you and with you, this is me pledging my allegiance, but know it that when the fire stopped burning, you must bring Ubaha-afor back to Ede-ukwujiafor. -
He walked out immediately and left, the breeze was so unbearable. I thought I've closed the door, but found Sarahdina standing by it staring down at me. I wanted to hit hard at her, but Uche's words came crashing in again "you are a king, and should decision every situation as one". I entered the bathroom, opened the shower, pretends to be bathing, she left the room while I returned to lock the door, then finally went to take a good showering of my emotionally reddened body, hmm.
I can't place my head at what I've done wrongly to offend those I have always seen as family, not just family but number one family.
No breakfast, everyone was seated mourning the lost of the head of the family and Ubadinanwa, on the same day. Baba, went and sat on the chair the head of the family usually would seat, the first thing I observed, and no one raised an eyebrow, even though I could hear some sympathizers murmuring about it in Ibo language.
For more than ten minutes no one said a thing, so I stood and calling on the attention of everybody, I told them  about the need to anyhow possible build obstruction upon obstructions around us, in order to wedge any form of another onslaught of the scathed.
- who made you our leader here, you this glorified bastard? And how dare you speak without being asked to? -
Norbert stood before me shouting down on me.
- sorry, it was just a suggestion -
- and I will wasp you if you utter any more rubbish suggestion here. For your information I am the leader here now and every order comes from me, take it or leave Umuaja -
Uche called Norbert by his name, and asked him, if he meant it calling a "nwadiala" bastard.
- biko Eze ndi bastard okwuru si gini -
In Ibo land "nwadiala" is any child of a maiden of any family, and they are more respected than the child of the men folks, because, their mother was given to a stranger as her lord, and thus she can not share from the family property except that stranger's, who may have or not. But that is not to say that the family cannot give her anything if they wishes to, they can, but never the landed property, if they do the landed property, most a time the family wipes off leaving only such woman children, so no matter how much a daughter is loved, she never get to inherit a landed property, unless if it comes as a gift, but never as a inheritance. And because the female child or her children, don't inherit a thing, she or her children have the full right to enter any of the father's property at anytime and take what ever they can physically take, mostly edibles. Nobody dares to send a nwadiala away from his or her grandfather's home, because the mother is a co owner of the home, but somewhat got sent on a journey with a stranger. It is also okay for a woman to decide not to get married, and a fair share of the family properties she would get, but the second she had a child, married or not, the property or properties ceases to be hers. But the properties remains hers or the children's if she wills such child or children to her family. Forever, it remains hers if is a male child. But peradventure anyone comes to claim the male child, the property ceases to be hers, but so long as there's nothing of such, it sticks. In the case of her female child, the property remains hers, until the child gets married will the property ceases to be hers. On the same hand no one from a family must do any evil to their female child or her children, and no one dare use a derogatory word(s) on them or their children. The Ibo tradition protects the female child more than the male, but the male child holds the staff of authority.
That informs why Uche asked Norbert again, if it's a nwadiala he is referring to as a bastard, and instead of apologizing, he answered him by calling him, the head of the bastards. Of course, Uche himself is a nwadiala. Every Ibo man is a nwadiala somewhere and must accord his own nwadiala the respect due them, if not he loses the blessings that follows nwadiala. A curse automatically follows anyone who manhandles, the female child of a family or a nwadiala, their cry, grieves reaches heaven, because they are supposed to be part and owners of the family, although there's one property that no one dares to drag with a nwadiala, and that is the coconut on a coconut tree, as long as there is a coconut tree in a family, the primary owners of the coconut on it is the nwadiala, though anyone is free from the family to pluck it at any time.
Uche hears and follows me and my words, because am from a royal family I know that, if not, he is way older than I am. The son and daughters of the male child is called nnocho or nnaochie for the male, and nneche or nneochie for the female. A nwadiala is not allowed to go to war, and if he so wishes to go, a defence is built around them. No matter the offence by a nwadiala, he or she is guarded with a very serious jealous, and completely defended with flesh and blood by his or her mother's siblings both male or female mandatory and traditionally so, they must not be soled out. As long as their foot are on the land of their maternal home, they are safe.
I stood up after Norbert's comments, to rest my head on the bed in my room.
- and where do you think you are going to? -
I stopped, turned and looked at him with so much rage, I went back to the seat.
- no one should serve Somadina lunch today, and if he eats a grain of sand this afternoon, whomever that cooks the food is dead. -
I am confused, what and how, especially, where did I go wrongly?
I was contemplating this when an old man ran into the building shouting, " abiala han o, ha abiala o " (they are here) ". The first place my eyes went was Norbert's, and I caught him red handed signaling with a nod to Sarahdina.
- get your weaponries, we are going to save our great land -
He screamed to my face to go get my spear, Uche was going to get a weapon for himself.
- you are not invited to this party Uche -
I climbed up the stairs to get the spear, and as I was about entering the room, I looked downstairs and saw Uche waving a finger at me. Waving a finger in Ibo language is warning one to be careful. I nodded my head and went in. I came out almost immediately, Norbert's room is by a ridge of the building and standing by his door, one will not be seen. I took my chance and eavesdrop on him.
- you say this guy beats you, and gave you this mark, see we own this place and its safe, I will take good care of you, just let delete him from the equation, and I promise to be a dream fulfilled husband to you, especially as the world is currently ravaged. We were going to send him away anyways, unless you want to risk the life of your father and that of yours, he is a nwadiala, so I can't hurt him -
- is selling out not killing? -
- do you want to do it or not? -
I did not get her answer because a call came from Uche. I understood, so walked away from his door, using the stairs I saw Robert about climbing it.
- Norbert -
Robert called out at him.
Uche did not come with us, he stayed back with baba. Only eight of us went, Ubadinanwa died and Uche was commanded not to come with us. Lotanna was dumbfounded, and just played along.
Getting to the ridge of Obelede, where the old man said they are coming from, Norbert divided us into two groups. Amaka, Lotanna and Robert to the west, Sarahdina, Norbert and me to the east, and the other two he sent back home to safeguard home according to him. The scathed were not much, but dealing with them in the rain so torrential is no mean fit. From the west they are not really much, but from the east, they were close to 20.
- They are not much, when you are done go home, and when we are through we are gone -
I led the line and singlehandedly took out the scathed. I looked at him, they were just standing applauding me, Sarahdina was holding a pestle, while Norbert a spear. I got to them, so we could go home.
- don't you think we need to check and be sure the place is clear? How did they even get past the refuge dump -
I looked at Sarahdina, and she was cool and not moved at all. We walked together to the dumping place, and as I was about to turn away from the dump, a heavy blow from a thing knock me down, I did not pass out immediately, cause I felt something tied around my legs, but I couldn't move but slept off, when I felt the scathed covering me up, they smell more terribly than a rotten egg. Though the rain, helped the odour of the refuse to increase, the rain I believe helped in keeping me alive.