In the Loving Arms of Servitude

3. After her Death

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Uju starts to get quite relieved, as she finally approaches home. My my! She has an interesting story for Amaka today, about how she was attacked by a cobra. Well at least, she thinks it was a cobra. 'Chai! No be small thing o!' she echoes within herself. This is the last time she will ever think of going out to the stream so late. "Tufiakwa!!!" she exclaims. 'Nne must be so angry right now.' she starts to worry within herself. She knows full well that there is no excuse for her disobedience. And she regrets not going earlier, as Nne had instructed, but she was so exhausted this afternoon; not that she had done any work though. It was just one of those moments. While she keeps going, she plans to not bother explaining herself. She decides that she will simply receive whatever scolding or punishment Nne has in store for her, in silence.

Upon getting closer to the house, she starts to notice the presence of a small crowd gathered outside. She begins to hear some low key chatter, but doesn't understand why. Getting closer still, she hears some women crying, some wailing and others sitting on the ground sorrowfully. This makes her feel quite uneasy, because such a sorrowful crowd gathered in front of a Nigerian house can only mean one thing; a tragedy has occurred.

'What on earth could have happened?' Uju wonders. None of the voices sound familiar. At least, that's a good thing, or isn't it? She begins to get even more afraid. Her fears heighten the most when she finally enters the compound and sees more people bemoaning and lamenting on the veranda; all clustered up like ants at the door mouth, "Ewoooh!"... "Chai!!!"... "Ihe arụ!"... "Which kind life be dis?"... "Kai!"... "O nyere obiọma"... "Chineke mee?" ... "Heeew!"... "How ee take happen?"...

Almost immediately, utter devastation completely pervades Uju's senses. Adrenaline starts to gush within her entire being, just like before; only this time, it is fear mixed with agony, sheer anxiety and bitter sorrow. She would rather have to face a snake right now, than this; whatever this is.
'No!' Surely, it cannot be what she is thinking. Uju decides to believe that maybe their house was simply robbed or something; as though that would be better. Or maybe their fence finally collapsed after the unexpected downpour yesterday; that ragged old thing! Or maybe in fact, it was all a dream; fetching water late, the snake, everything. She begins to consider the possibility that she is still fast asleep even right now; still on that long bench in the veranda. Maybe in the real world, Nne has just returned from evening mass, and is about to wake her up with lashes from her cane. 'Dear Lord!' Anything would be better than this.

Uju keeps standing perfectly still amidst all the clamouring, but no one pays attention to her. She just keeps standing there, fidgeting in perplexity. It is almost as though her soul is floating outside her body, watching her lifeless yet erect and petrified on that spot; stuck, with the jittery jerry-can of water still on her head, and unfettered streams of tears slowly effusing from her constricted eye lids. She finally snaps out of her trance, after feeling a firm grip on her shoulder. The palm holding her is trembling, but at the same time, firm. She manages to turn her stiff neck sideways, to see who is holding her. It is Amaka, her friend.
"U...Uju." Amaka whimpers, snorting and sniffing, while at the same time weeping profusely. "Nne... She... #sniffs... She's... #gasps... Oh God!..." Amaka's already swollen face becomes covered in even more boiling tears. She continues, almost squeaking like a bereft mouse,  "... She... She died... #SNIFFS...Uju. She died today... #gasps!... Oh God!... #SNIFFS... I'm so sorry..."