EJIMA

CHAPTER 65

She opened her eyes to the pounding noise of the mortar and pestle. It sounded distant at first, yet the tantrum on her head, registered like two stones, rubbing over one another. It was a dark room, candled by a dim light, burning wastefully by her right. Horrible-looking creatures hung on the ceilings. Skull of animals, different types and breeds. The soapy smell also made her rub her nose, she couldn’t help but think of some dead fish, left by the riverside to decay. Not that it affected her much, the headache and the occasional blurring vision left her in doubt. Maybe she had hit her head on something. It was hard to tell. But she remembered lying on the cave bed and begging Uche for her life. He had not freed her, the blood lust had driven him into stabbing her continuously with his dagger. And she had...is this the land of the dead?

“You are awake.” 

The pounding noise ceased as an old woman appeared, smiling weakly at her. Her hands were a tendril of veins clutching every corner as they tried to hide underneath the horny-colored skin. The snow-white hair also contrasted with the crease that rumpled the flapping skin. Maybe she was the gatekeeper of the devil, or perhaps the devil herself. Ejima jerked back.

“Who are you?”

“Relax," the woman smiled, "it's been years, I would have been surprised if you still recognized me." Her smile broke into a sad one as she moved away. “You lost too much blood. It’s still a miracle that you made it. My husband found you in the forest. When he brought you in, I thought you were dead. We both did. But here you are. I wee chi oma.”

Ejima tried to sit, but the pain in her side made her flinch. It was sharp and was gone almost immediately. She remembered everything. Uche had killed her.

“Where am I?” She looked past the woman, towards the animal skin hanging on the wall. There were at least six of them, different skins from different animals.

“We are in Ame. But far from the rest of the village. You don’t have to worry, only few people pass through this route in months. And given your history and status, I don’t think anyone is going to miss you, no offense” 

“None was taken,” Ejima said, as a sudden cold wrapped her. She was staring at the wizened woman now. Her accent was strange, and the shash hanging on her shoulders suggested that she was not from around here. Yet the woman seemed to know everything about her.

“Where is your husband?”

“Off hunting, why?” The surprise in the woman's tone made Ejima rub her nose. Many thoughts went through her memory as her weak gaze etched on the only door in the room. Would running away be a good idea?

“I would love to thank him for saving my life.” Ejima hissed and returned her attention to the woman. Even if she wanted to run, she was too weak to try. The least she could do was defend herself, should the woman try anything funny. But thinking about that also made her relax. Despite the oddity, something deep down told her that she would have died in her sleep if the woman wanted to kill her.

“Don’t worry. Focus on getting better. There would be plenty of time to do that.”

Ejima rubbed her nose again as she watched the woman. She was picking the content in her mortar into a small leaf, and the fishy smell gave Ejima a bad breath.

“What is that thing?”

“Medicine.” Was all the woman said as she poured the content into another leaf, bigger than the first. With her bare hands, she crushed the bigger leaf and the powdered content into another container and added water to make a paste. “Aloe vera and the gill of a fish” She added as she walked towards Ejima, “Would kill the bacteria, just in case the wound has been infected.”

“I feel fine,” Ejima grunted, disgusted by the foul smell. The woman laughed.

“You have not changed a single bit. Same old you.” She nudged Ejima’s hands away as she unlaced the sackcloth she had used to cover the face of the wound. Notwithstanding Ejima’s protest, she added the paste and used fresh sackcloth to replace the old one.

“Now, that looks perfect,” She smiled and walked back towards the only table in the room.

“Thanks.” Ejima breathed in as she rubbed the sackcloth. There were other scars on her hands but it was not as bad as she had presumed. “You speak like one who knows everything about me. Yet, your accent sounds strange and I can’t remember our acquaintance. Have we met before?”

The squashing noise of the water ceased as the woman stopped washing her hands. Her shoulders had slogged and even though Ejima could not see her face, she could almost imagine the sadness that draped the creased horny colored skin.

“It was never meant to be,” The squashing resumed for a while before the old woman returned her attention to Ejima, “You deserved better. The village should have treated you better.” She shrugged before wiping her wet hand on her clothes.

“That hasn’t said a thing about you.”

“About me,” The old woman dragged the stool closer to Ejima’s bed. “Tell me, do you remember, Mmechi, the hunchback?”