EJIMA

CHAPTER 13

It would have been a frosty night if the sound of the ikoro had not beaten down the serenity and dethroned it from its place. Not even the people dancing around the fire could tell the maturity of the cold night. They had forgotten their wine calabash, for the first time in history. These men who love palm wine more than they loved their lives, had left their wine on the bench all because they were dancing. Unbelievable.

Jidenna smiled as his almond eyes darted away from the gyrating men to the boys who knelt in front of the Dibia. The palm leaf that lined their lips made them look like an agent of death. Even though they looked tough and held a gaze that was stone cold, he couldn't count any of the five who hadn't fallen under his prey. Those bulging muscles that lined their skin were intimidating, but the boys were weaklings and would do anything to keep their reputation and ego.

Jidenna yawned but covered his mouth when he caught the expression on his father's face. They were cold and...

He swallowed and looked away. The last time he had stared into the dark eyes of his father, he had ended up seeing them in his dream. It wasn't a pleasing sight if you were wondering.

The Dibia opened a small bottle and was spraying the white content on the men. If the whitish substance was meant to do anything, the men did not show, for they seemed unfazed by the Dibia's gestures.

"Igwurube, okala Mmadu okala mmuo (igwurube the demigod)" The Dibia said. His hoarse voice rumbled like the voice of a stormy weather, almost shaking the village square.

What am I doing here? Jidenna shifted on his small stool. The answer hit him again for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night. He should have been in bed right now, cleaving to that wondrous journey to the dreamland. But his father had dragged him to this useless ceremony. Transition into adulthood, it was so-called. A name that would not make his age shift from seven to twenty in the next ten years.

He hissed under his teeth, as the dibia squeezed the neck of the white hen and sprayed the blood on the heads of the men, kneeling before his shrine

This Transition ceremony, in Umuwa, was for men. Women were not allowed to see or hear about it. Their only role was to make the food and stay indoor while the boys transcend into adults as if the girls in the house would remain babies forever. Well, as long as he was concerned, the ceremony was just another way the Dibia was using to collect more chicken and yam tubers from the people.

Jidenna yawned widely again, this time not bothering to cover his mouth. His eyes were becoming heavy and he could feel the sleep knocking on his door. If only his father would let him retire home. This was the best time to transcend into the wonderland. His mates were all at home, enjoying their sleep. While was he the only one to suffer this wickedness?

"How many times will I tell you to always apply the mosquitoes repellant cream? I na anukwa nti?" Maduka asked.

"I don't like the smell, papa. It gives me a running stomach," Jidenna said, but continued to scratch the itching spot on his lap.

"Running stomach," The man grunted and shifted on his small stool, "Remind me what that means again, because I have been applying that cream since I was just your age, yet I haven't woken up any day to chase my stomach."

"That's not what I mean papa," Jidenna said, struggling with himself to keep down the amusement. It would be perceived as disrespect if he laughs at his father. Not that his father cared, but they were in the public, and the village councilmen were sitting just some paces away from them.

"What then does it mean, Jidennaya? Well, suffer the wrath of the mosquitoes, I would punish you severely if you eventually fall sick."

Jidenna swallowed. That was not an empty threat. His father does not make jokes about punishing him. He had underestimated those words once, and his back had suffered the consequences. He was not ready to experience that again.