Forlorn Ecstasy

CHAPTER 5

The tall, plentiful Palm trees provided a shade in the forest as we made our way to Ayido stream.
Ebere ignored all my attempts to ignite a conversation and I knew it was because I had refused to hold hands with her.
Even though I happily kept my hands to myself, my mind still trailed back to the odd, coarse feeling of her hand in mine.

The hissing, snake-like sound from the whistling palms and the crisp noise of our shoes against the dead, dried leaves on the floor of the forest, made the silence between us bearable.

A heavy, harmattan breeze blew, raising dust and we closed our eyes quickly.
The wind produced a clanging sound from old aluminum house roofings and rustled the leaves of the udara trees, causing the udara fruits to fall from their stalks.
Ebere folded the hem of her skirt to serve as a temporary container and began to pack the strewn udara on the forest floor.
I joined her, managing to pick one.

♡☜☆☞
The stream was crowded. Each group of people engaging in their different activities.
Women chattered loudly as they washed their clothes by the bank of the stream. After washing, they spread it on some onugbu plants not minding the after effect of the green-coloured matter produced by its leaves, on their clothes.

Teenage girls took turns in filling their earthen pots and metal containers with water.
Some small boys of Tito's age, in their tattered underwear, roughly moulded little pots, spoons and birthday cakes with the wet clay surrounding the stream. They used broken broom sticks as improvised candles for the birthday cakes.
Several older boys and girls were swimming in their clothes and Ebere removed her rubber sandals and joined them.

I washed the udara fruit and ate it, wondering how Ebere had eaten all of her's on the way.
The little boys running away from their friend made me laugh my head off. He was chasing them with a croaking frog in his hands.

Ebere waddled towards me after swimming for sometime, her hair wet and her eyes a bit red.

"You no swim?" she asked

I picked a stone and tossed it into the water. "I don't have my swim suit with me."

"You no swim?" She asked again and I was not sure if she understood my first reply or if she was giving me a chance to change my mind.

"Never mind, I'm good."

She held onto some rocks and lifted her body out of the water, making sure her dripping clothes did not wet some of the almost-dry clothes which were washed earlier and spread on the rocks.

She slipped on her sandals and squeezed her soaked clothes, attempting to get all the water out by twisting it in a firm, awkward manner and each time she let go, removing her hands, the clothes stuck to her body like boiled Okra.

The harmattan breeze became severe on our way back home. Ebere's clothes dried on her body half way through our journey.
She was so cold, her teeth were chattering. She wrapped her arms around herself and began to lament about how she regretted swimming today.
She looked at me, envying my dry clothes, jealousy and resentment twinkling in her eyes.

She broke into a song in Igbo, waving her hands and shaking her head dramatically.
A song that in English, translated to how wicked the heart of man is and how a companion watched her put her hand into the burning fire. I wondered if she had heard it somewhere or if she composed it herself.

And while she sang, she placed more emphasis on 'companion' and 'wicked', giving me side looks as she said them. Each time she did it, I couldn't stop the guilt building up in my chest.

The reason I didn't swim was because I couldn't trust the cleanliness of the water but her sudden demeanor and change in attitude made me know what was going through her mind. Apparently, she thought I didn't swim because I knew there would be a gruesome cold afterwards but I hid it from her and watched her swim.

A/n
I know it's a short chapter,lol.
Please do the needful *winks* ;vote and comment. Leave your feedback. It means a lot.

Udara- a tropical fruit. African star apple or agbalumo in Yoruba (I hope I spelt it right)

Onugbu - bitter leaf. Used to cook bitter leaf soup

PS; I don't know when next I'll update.