THE TROUBLES OF A BEAUTY

When Mama Died

      "Nyagu!", Mama called. She had been sick for a long time now and wasn't getting any better. I had to stop whatever I was doing to attend to her. She was all I had in the world.
     When I got to the room, I almost shed tears of joy. She was lying on her mat, looking all smiley. I went close to her and asked,"What is it?", she replied,"The time has come." confused, I asked, "what time?". That was when she told me she was going to join Papa, my father. She reached under her pillow and brought out a ring. She said, "Remember me .'' with these words, shut her eyes. Everything went black.
     Later I found myself on a mat surrounded by neighbours. Most of them tried to comfort me but I couldn't be comforted. Mama's body was taken out to be washed and prepared for the burial. I was taken through so many rituals intended to keep her ghost from haunting me. I was washed with strange scented herbs and my feet were wrapped in dry grass. This reminded me of my puberty rites  last year when I was sixteen years old.
       That fateful day, I went to the river with my friends to fetch the day's water when Zana, my best friend called me aside and said, "Nyagu, your cloth is stained with blood from behind." I was so scared I quickly fetched the amount of water I needed and ran home without even bidding my friends goodbye.
        When I got home, I told Mama what had happened and she told me to stop panicking because it was only my menarche and that I had to take a bath to wash the blood away. I didn't even know what menarche was but I kept quiet and  went to do as she said.  I was afraid of blood so I did not even want to touch it. Blood always reminded me of my father's painful death.
       After the bath, Mama wrapped two pieces of white cloth around me. A smaller one around my chest and the other from my waist, down to right above my knees. She then removed the waist beads I had been wearing since childhood and replaced them with a string of plain white beads.       
           She marched me to the village shrine and asked me to kneel before the sacrifice mound then she said,"Inele, my daughter will be a woman in seven days and she will need your guidance. Give us your blessing to start with her coming of age rites and ward off any evil spirit that will try to ruin it."
      Mama slaughtered a guineafowl, sprinkled the blood on my head and poured the rest of the blood on the mound. She then laid the dead fowl on my lap and asked me to stroke the head thrice and lay the fowl on the mound. I was still clueless as to what was happening but as usual, I did as she said without complaint.
          She led me out into the priestess's home and told her I was prepared for womanhood. Mama told me I was going to stay with the old priestess for sometime together with a few other girls. She asked me to be of my best behavior. When I asked her for extra clothes, she told me I wouldn't need them. The priestess kept me isolated the whole day, running series of tests on me  to find out if I was still a virgin. Luckily I was, unlike some of my age mates. She sent a message to Mama to tell her I was pure.
         The following day, I was released from isolation and allowed to mix freely with the other girls. I was beyond shocked when I met those I was going to spend that week  with. Most of them  were my friends but few of them were my worst enemy and her comrades.
         Loyanu and I had been very close friends until we were fifteen years old. I told her I had a crush with Dajo who was eighteen by then. He was so handsome and brave. He was the best hunter among the boys in his age group so it was natural that almost all the girls were in love with him but he was the quiet type and was mostly seen alone though he spent some of his time with the boys in his age group or with Loyanu, some friends and I.
         Unknown to me, Loyanu also had a crush on him. She visited him secretly and told him that I could not be trusted because I was going round the village telling people that he was brave only because he was using magical powers from a talisman he wore around his waist beneath his loincloth. In order to make him believe it, she went round spreading the lie. Anyone he asked about it answered in the affirmative until someone told him it was Loyanu who was spreading those lies. Dajo and I became friends again but for Loyanu,that was the end. I  couldn't trust her so I decided never to befriend her again.
        Seeing her in the priestess's house annoyed me because I didn't like to walk on the same path with her not to think of being with her under the same roof. I decided to ignore her and went to chat with my friends. They all agreed that they went through what I went through in the shrine. All of a sudden, Loyanu walked up to me and said out loud in an authoritative voice,"Nyagu, how is that boyfriend of yours? I thought he had broken your virginity considering the number of hours you spend with him in that hideout of yours so how come you are here?"
       "I don't have a boyfriend so I don't even know what you're talking about," I retorted.
Before she could utter another word, Rili, the priestess came in and asked,"What is the matter?" everybody kept quiet and pretended to be busy. She said,"Anyway, the Sun is setting and it is time to prepare the evening meal. As young ladies, you shouldn't wait to be asked for food before you start cooking. Lets go out to cook. You, go for firewood. You two,you will set the fire when she brings the firewood. The rest of you, go prepare the ingredients."
     Loyanu and I were the ones setting the fire which meant I was going to be stuck with her the whole evening. I believe that was Rili's way of making us cry because there was no way a person wouldn't cry from making a fire with firewood. The smoke from it had a way of drawing tears even from the most hard hearted person's eyes. We kept glaring at each other throughout the chore.
     Before we  went to bed, Rili told us we had some rituals to perform to beautify ourselves. She told us that as women, we had to always look radiant. She led us to the back of the house showing a path in the moonlight. We followed the path to a river bank. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.
    She ordered us to pick specific stones and herbs from the river bank. We followed the path back to the house then Rili ordered us to crush the stones, wash the herbs and heat both in coconut oil. We scrubbed ourselves with the mixture until our skins shone.
       The following day, Rili educated us on how to treat our future husbands and all men in general. She taught us about our bodies, menstrual hygiene and how to dress and act like women.
         The next day, I was told Mama was sick but I had to go through the rites till the end. The days passed by and Rili taught us about the traditions and customs of our people, songs and dances and cooking of some meals. We learnt about home making, womanly secrets and the art of pleasing our future husbands.
         It was finally the last day. I couldn't wait to go home because I wanted to see Mama but I couldn't wait to get away from Loyanu and her crazy schemes. She was literally crawling under my skin.
         All of us initiates were dressed in colourful clothes, our bodies adorned in colourful beads and our skins decorated with intricate designs. We were marked one after the other and pronounced women amid jubilation from the men. The men carried us on their shoulders and danced all the way to our homes. Dajo carried me on his shoulders and from the corner of my eye, I saw Loyanu glaring at me but I ignored her.
      When we got home, Mama welcomed me and Dajo greeted her. She was in a deplorable state so the moment Dajo took leave, I questioned her but all she did was to smile and say,"The time will come."