In the Loving Arms of Servitude

2. House on Fire

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Nne gradually approaches home; a small bungalow with no fence around it. Most of its oxblood paint is already washed out, revealing patches of the mud-brick wall underneath. The edges of its zinc roof are so ravaged by rust, that it nearly looks diseased; like it could wither away at any moment. The yellow paint on the inner walls of the veranda has also been mercilessly defiled by an assortment of blemishes. This building is a bit of an eye sore. But it is Nne's home, and she is proud of it. Attached to the side of the house is an improvised kitchen with a zinc roof supported by several wooden pillars. And a few metres adjacent to this kitchen, there is a modified cuboid zinc bathroom by the latrine. When viewed from the front, the bathroom slightly blocks the giant heap of refuse decorating the bottom of a cluster of plantain trees in the backyard. The formidable harmattan wind seems to have already expunged the foul odour of the refuse from the atmosphere. For the past month, this dumpster has provided shelter to many destitute rats seeking refuge. And its vile stench most times is unparalleled.

As Nne draws nearer to the house, she notices that there is no smoke coming from the kitchen. This is odd. Uju should still be preparing supper by now. 'Or is she already done?' Nne wonders. Then looking sideways, she spots her neighbour, Mazi Okafor sitting in front of his house, struggling to subdue this year's Christmas chicken while sharpening his knife for slaughter. The poor fowl does not seem to be ready to exit this world just yet, but resilient Mazi Okafor is not taking 'no' for an answer. Instead, with deadly force, he pins down the wings of the humongous cockerel with his legs and plucks out some of its neck plumage.
Mazi does not go to church. However, he celebrates Christmas even more elaborately than many Christians do. He may not put up decorations, sing carols or do anything of the sort, but he always makes sure that his family has an annual mini-feast, comprising jollof rice, chicken, akpu, Isi ewu, ofe onugbu and the like. Most importantly, he never fails to buy his children their Christmas cloth, because not doing so would be tantamount to a criminal offence, as far as they are concerned.

"Mazi! Nnọnu o!" Nne salutes him.

"Tah! Ka!... Ehen... Ezi nwanyị! Good evening o!... Kedu ka ị mere? " he echoes, raising his head up to greet her.

While unlocking her door, she responds, "Adị m mma..." afterwhich she asks, "...Nwunye gị? "

"She dey inside. She dey cook." Mazi replies, as he slowly begins to cut off the neck of the devastated chicken while it struggles with reckless abandon.

Thereafter, Nne enters into her living room and calls out, "Uju! Uju!!... Where is this child?"

"Nne, she'll be back soon!" a tiny voice echoes from outside the house. Upon hearing it, Nne walks out to the veranda and finds a rotund teenage girl standing there, with her hands crossed in front of her like a waiter. It's a bit too dark already to properly make out her face, but Nne seems to recognize her piping voice all too well. It is Amaka, one of Mazi Okafor's daughters, Uju's bosom friend and partner in crime.

"Where did you say she went?" Nne queries.

"Nne nnọnu o!" Amaka tries to deflect with a greeting, but Nne presses further, unconcerned by her guileful salutation, "Ke ebe Uju nọ???"

Amaka replies reluctantly, tilting her head down a bit, "She... she went to fetch water."

"Amaka!... So you are telling me that Uju is still out there at this hour... ?... when I told her to fetch that water since three-thirty this afternoon???" Nne queries, already seething with rage. Then in frustration, she continues to lament with a fearful annoyance, "But why would she do this nau?... See how late it is right now... Chai! Dis pikin no go kill me before my time o! "
Thereafter, she goes back into the house while Amaka keeps standing there, unsure of what to say or do. After a few moments, she echoes at Nne while rushing towards the kitchen to kindle the fire. "Don't worry, Nne! I'll go and make supper for you now."
Nne does not reply.

After about thirty minutes of cooking, Amaka stands up again and goes to look down the street, to check whether Uju has appeared, but she still has not. 'What is taking her so long?' Amaka wonders. 'I hope she is safe. It's almost eight o'clock, and Nne is worried sick right now!'
Thereafter, she comes back to add some more firewood and then fans the flame some more, until the glowing face of its fiery heat resembles that of red-hot coal.

After scattering the dried merluza into the porridge, Amaka tastes it again. "Hmm... It needs more pepper." she asserts, afterwhich she stands up from the stool and goes into the house to get some pepper from the cupboard. Shockingly, upon entering the living room, she freezes in utter horror at the sight before her; the sight of Nne lying on the floor, almost lifeless beside the dilapidated sofa. The dim light from the lantern on the cupboard only permits her to see very little, but she might be looking at; no, she is definitely looking at Nne's head pulsating in a gory puddle of her own blood while she gasps for breath. 'Good heavens!!! Did she have a heart attack??? Did she trip and hit her head??? What on earth happened???' she wonders.

Nne's body is almost entirely still. Only her head and feet are still moving in slow pulses, as though desperately trying to hold onto the very fringes of her life force as it slips from her fingertips. Her eyeballs look like they are about to tear through her cornea, in a bid to escape the aura of death pervading her entire body. Nne is dying. And Amaka becomes mortified, confused and nauseous at the same time. Her limbs are utterly frozen. And a burning stream of electricity begins to flow up the canal of her spine into the crown of her head. 'She isn't. No... Dear God! She can't be!' Amaka cogitates sporadically, within that split second. As she takes in another deep breath, hot streams of tears and watery snot begin to pour out of her eyes and nose simultaneously. "Hhhh... Nne... #GASPS... Ke...dihe mere? Ewo! Ewo!!!.. Nne biko!.. #sniffs... Nne biko o!!!... Nna moo!!! Nne mooo!!!... Somebody help! Someone please help us!!!! Oh my God... Oh my God!!! Haahh..." Amaka keeps screaming on and on, as Nne coughs her last.

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GLOSSARY
Mazi- Mr. / Mister/ Sir
Christmas chicken - The live chicken bought to be killed and eaten during Christmas.
Christmas cloth - New clothes bought for children to wear on Christmas day.
Jollof rice - A dish cooked by mixing rice with tomato sauce and/or onions, vegetables etc.
Akpu - A thick fluffy pudding, made by pounding cooked cassava.
Isi ewu - A peppery soup, made with goat meat (mostly the head).
Ofe onugbu- Bitter leaf soup
"Mazi! Nnọnu o!"- Good evening, good Sir!
Ezi nwanyị!- Good woman / Good Ma'am
tah! , Ka!- exclamations
"Kedu ka ị mere?"- How do you do?
Adị m mma- I'm fine
"Nwunye gị?"- And your wife? / And the missus?
"She dey inside...She dey cook"- "She's inside... She's cooking. "
"Ke ebe Uju nọ???"- "Where is Uju???"
"Dis pikin no go kill me before my time o!" - "May this child not hasten my death!"
Merluza - The fish, Merluccius bilinearis, also known as the Hake.
"..Ked...ihe mere?.."- "..What...happened?..."
"Nne biko!"- "Mother please!" (Nne please!)
"Nna mooo!"- "Oh Daddy!!!" (My Father)
"Nne moo!"- "Oh Mummy!!!" (My mother)