Unthinkable (BWWM)

Chapter 2: Meaning Of Your Surroundings.

Naomi

"Oh come on you stupid chicken! Get off the clothes!"

Wait, what just happened? -I can hear Nkomo's voice. I became aware of my surroundings realizing that I was daydreaming while I was making my way to Nkomo's home after breakfast. I have always been a daydreamer. My mother constantly cautions me of how dangerous it might be. Also, she does not forget to stress on how it displays as a disrespectful gesture towards anyone especially my elders, but I love daydreaming. It always kept my mindset healthy from this lifestyle that we live in, a very nice and subtle distraction and it made me appreciate the quality time that I could have to myself, even if it means shutting the world out for a couple of seconds. However, every time I drown in these fantasies, something distracts me from it, as if a hand is trying to save me from drowning in the sea of fantasies.

Nkomo was yelling as she tried to get the chicken off of the clothes she was hand washing. For a moment, I thought the chicken could understand her but would ignore her and just make her more mad by jumping to the many clothes it could reach, but then it ran off having enough of Nkomo's bickering. I held my laughter, but evidently failed as I saw Nkomo's fuming face.

"It didn't do anything to you!" I jokingly defended the chicken, as I tried to catch my breath from laughing. She is solely involved in this chicken, I have to say it fascinates me.

"Are you kidding? It is stepping on the already dirty pile of clothes with its muddy things called feet!"

That's it. I can't do it anymore. My body gave out and I was already on the ground laughing.

"These chicken have a lot of attitude and they know I do not tolerate that!" She clarified as she kept blabbering of how these domestic, non-harmful farm animals should have respect for her. As her eyes met mine after I had a lonesome moment of laughter, her eyes lit up.

"Oh! By the way, I forgot to tell you. My older sister Shanna is getting married this next weekend," she said excitingly as she washed her hands off from the cloth soap on her hands with a clean, plain water next to her in a bucket. She wiped her hands dry with her skirt and went to the front porch of her home, grabbing two stools for the both of us.

"What! You didn't tell me!" I said while trying to figure out what I would wear to the wedding. I sat down on the stool she handed me and she sat next to her laundry, so she can resume her morning task, I sat directly in front of her adjusting my hair into a braided ponytail behind me. 

"Sorry, I forgot. The elders were at my grandmama's house yesterday before we got there and they had an awfully unfamiliar man arrive with them. I should have figured it out. My brother-in-law to be," Nkomo said in a thinking stance. I remember I hadn't seen her since this previous weekend because she told me she had family matters and would fill me in as soon as possible. 

"He was set to marry my sister and the elders offered their blessings towards them so they will be officially married in the next weekend... ," She continued as we both proceeded to her washing task whilst conversing about marital concepts in her family. The Kamba tribe have arranged marriages for everyone. It is nearly impossible to find true love on your own and convince your family that your spouse is the right one.

The Kamba elders are the ones in charge of who you marry. It is said that they are the ones who know better and because they are older, they are wiser. My parents used to tell me and my siblings stories of how they were arranged together. They explained that the elders knew them since they were children, and they claimed my mother to my father at the age of 9. My mother nor my father knew that they were promised to each other until they were 25 years of age. At that age, were they considered mature enough to marry, settle and have a family together. I am currently 21 years of age and it frightens me knowing that I could be promised to someone in this village. It could be someone I might despise, or someone I talk to in a regular basis. I never liked the idea of arranged marriage at all. If I could, I would just decide to stay unmarried for the rest of my life but the downside would be that I would not conceive a child. I do love children, but I am willing to give that up if it means I am arranged. All in aIl, I do not have a choice. It is wrong to go against our tribe's rules. Its consequences are inevitable. If my own mother even knew my thoughts, she wouldn't even look me in the eyes.