Against All Odds

Chapter Forty One: One Step Forward another step backward

Obiukwu stared at the moon as mma told the tale of how the tortoise received it's cracked shell. It seemed as if the moon stood still and it's light caused clouds to part. Her mind ricocheted to when her mother used scare to going to church with the tale of a woman who decided to go farm on a Sunday with her child. She was disobeying the last commandment and even though her child tried to convince her otherwise she was adamant.

Her mother had been forcing her into a pink gown and Obi threatened not to go, if it meant looking like a clown.
When her mother urged her to wear the cloth Obi began to cry, that was when her mother realized that she had to change her approach. She made Obi wipe her tears and told her the story which scared Obi.

"God sent the moon to swallow the two of them?" Obi questioned terrified.

Ehe nụ, ma nne ma nwa, yes both mother and child" The fear caused Obi to step into the gown and her shoes unaware of what was happening.

"B.. but the child didn't want to go, God should have left him"

Her mother zipped her dress and turned Obi to face her "He didn't want to do it, but he did it anyway. Whenever you feel something is the right thing, do it not withstanding the consequences. Don't let people make you falter, he probably followed her to farm because she was his mother. Sometimes even parents make mistakes, that's when the child has to stand firm by their decision. "
Her mother stood up and took her by the hand but Obi was still shaken." Do you think God will punish me for this eh? "

Obi's mother laughed pleased with the result of her tale." Mba, God is very merciful"

That day Obi sat at the front row and paid rapt attention to the sermon, she didn't want to be engulfed by the moon. That night when Obi stepped outside to call her father to eat, she forced her eyes not to look up. And when she eventually did, she saw the dark figures in the moon and assumed it was the two individuals. She made a little prayer to God and begged him to release them.

This was the same tale Obi used on Tobe when he decided that he did not want to attend children's church after he claimed it smelled like urine.
Obi monitored the moon and the colored circular ring around it. The cold breeze blew against her skin and Obi decided she needed to cover herself. She went into mma's hut and fished out one of her wrappers then walked out of the hut.
She didn't want to think of the memories made with Obiefune in that same hut so she kept her mind on mma's shaky voice.

Ngwá ifenna kedụ ihe ị mụtara, What did you learn? "Mma enquired

" anyaukwu adịghị mma, Greed is not good" The little girl responded with confidence. The tortoise was punished because of his greed and those birds took the wings that they gave him, without wings he couldn't fly, so he fell from the sky and landed with his shell. "

" Greed breeds other bad vices" mma told the children

Obi sat between Tobe and the twins, her brother slipped his hand into hers and smiled at her. Obi didn't know why he did, but she was touched so she squeezed his hand back. It was then that Obi knew that her decision to marry Benjamin was right. She was going to move heaven and earth just to make sure her siblings were Okay. It was at that moment that she felt a liquid slip out of her private part.
Obi smiled because she knew what it meant, it was a sign that she was fine. It had probably been delayed because of her sickness but she made sure she took her medication.

Mma began to sing a folklore that Obi thought was amusing because it pointed out a crime committed where no one was found guilty because it happened by accident.
All the children had to do was reply with "nwankaego".

"Apụ rara Obi

Obi mara ukwa

Ukwa dagburu nwakaego"