You are a Woman

You have always been held back. Your earliest memories were of your mother reprimanding you – “Girls don’t climb trees. Stay here and play with your doll.”

You looked out of the window longingly. You saw your brother placing his leg on one of the weak branches. You watched as he fell to the ground, screaming, “Mummy! Mummy!” You wouldn’t have fallen off that tree. You knew all the branches well and when your mother left for the market, you climbed to the highest branch and looked at the scenery below. You knew where you wanted to be – at the top. But they won’t just let you.

In the school’s drama, your teacher said you would act the role of the sick patient rushed to the hospital. You stood and shook your head from side to side. “No, I want to be the doctor. I can do it better than him.” You said, pointing at the boy who had been given the role. “A man-doctor is better. Don’t be disobedient.” She chided.

Then you were grown and you thought – “Finally, I can make my dreams come true.” After your bachelors degree, you enrolled for a masters degree. After that you continued with a PhD. Your mother, family and friends of the family came knocking – “Have you gone insane? What would you do with all your studying without a man?”
Get married – their verdict.

You felt anger well in you. You were not a man-hater – Nah, very far from that. You have had your share of love and heartbreaks but you were not bitter.

Maybe you would marry one day, maybe not. But no one has the right to make you feel incomplete.

You are a woman but first a human.

Naked Evil – Episode 2

“I just can’t! I can’t understand the rationale behind this evil act!” Gbenga fumed.

It was exactly a week after the death of Chief Ajayi Williams and the event was still enshrouded in mystery. Gbenga, who was Chief William’s first son, had just arrived from the US and he expressed dissatisfaction with the way the matter was being handled by the police.

Big Mummy told him how the policemen had arrived on that morning for their investigation.

“Who was the first person to discover the body,” one of the policemen had asked. When Baba Adamu was pushed forward, he shivered like a fowl that had been drenched in the rain.

“I no know weda na me first see oga o. One woman wey dey sell ogi for don pass and …”

The round-bellied policeman quickly cut in – “Please spare us all those unnecessary stories. Answer the question!”

By the time they had finished with questioning everyone in the house which included Big Mummy, Small Mummy and the two maids, Baba Adamu looked as if he was close to having a convulsion. He begged to be allowed to return to his village for a cleansing rite.  He claimed it was an abomination for him to have seen a corpse early in the morning. The policemen refused, saying he might be needed during the course of their investigations.

“So you haven’t heard anything from the police after that time?”Gbenga asked.

Big Mummy’s only response was a deep sigh as her eyes shifted from one object to another in the living room.

Gbenga made a decision.

***

When the private detectives hired by Gbenga came in from the United States, different people were displeased for different reasons. Chief Williams’ family thought Gbenga was over-stretching the matter.

“It is only Olodumare that stamps the day a man comes into the world and the day he leaves, so why have you made it your job to start hunting for shadows, ehn?” said Baba Odunlade, the eldest male in the extended family.

Big Mummy held on to Gbenga’s arm in a bid to restrain him but she failed as he sprung to his feet. “It’s balderdash for you folks to think God supports passivity in the face of injustice. Dad was cut down by some people and even if it’s the last thing I’d do. I’m gonna find out who they are!” Gbenga ranted. They all watched with slackened jaws as he walked out of the room.

Big Mummy fell to her knees – “Please my elders, pardon him. He is a just a young man with hot blood running in his veins. Please, I will talk to him.” She pleaded. Small Mummy watched the display with batted eyelids. She looked distracted as she studied the varnish on her long acrylic nails.

The elders stood up and draped their agbadas close to their body like dogs retreating with their tails between their legs.

“Hmm, our wife, stand up. We understand his pain but we hope his story won’t end up like Folorunso who climbed a palm tree with ropes made from banana stems.” Baba Adaralegbe said.  Baba Odunlade left the house murmuring under his breath about the consequences of sending one’s children to foreign lands where they learnt alien cultures and forget how to respect their elders.

When Rob and Steve; the private detectives arrived at Kanti police division II, the policemen on duty first felt flattered by the presence of a white man and a black man who spoke through their noses. “We have examined the body for physical manifestations of violence and other markers of …” Superintendent Yerima started but was cut off by Steve.

“Can we have the reports to your investigations? We hope we can work together.”

Superintendent Yerima called for the file on the case which appeared in tattered loose sheets. As the men flipped through the sheets and rained questions, the air inside the police station came to a standstill.

“Did you check for fingerprints on the body?”

“Was the cellophane covering the body dusted for hairs or any other genetic material?”

“Do you have records for profile crimes or criminals associated with organ castration?”

Superintendent Yerima had, had enough and he yelled in frustration. “Wetin be your problem sef? Abi you think na America you dey? Dis is naija! Abeg free me jare.” Such was his irritation that he did not realise he had switched to pidgin to the confusion of his listeners.

“What do you mean?” Rob and Steve asked.

Inspector Yerima regained his composure and he told the men in stiff tones that he was not under any obligations to cooperate with private detectives, foreign ones at that. “I hope you have taken permission from the appropriate quarters and you intend to stay within the confines of the provisions of Nigerian law. Or else we would be after you.” He finished in a grim tone.

“Thanks for your time.” The men said, as they left the police station. They knew their special treatment was over.

There was a lot to be unraveled in the weeks to come. Things that would shock the ears that hear them.

Naked Evil – Episode 1

Baba Adamu stretched out his creaky limbs and inhaled the sweet aroma of dawn. As a little boy, growing up in Amoru village, he had begun every day with this smelling routine. In the rainy season, the air gave off a titillating scent of fresh leaves and wet soil but during the dry season, he could taste the dust in his mouth. With a chewing stick in the corner of his mouth, Baba Adamu moved to the back of his one-room apartment to empty his bladder against the wall. Mid-way through the streaming, he remembered Big Mummy’s rebuke – “Baba Adamu, there is a toilet for you at the Boy’s Quarters. Please, stop urinating outside.” But old habits indeed died hard. Baba Adamu liked to aim his pee at the wall and watch how the wetness was absorbed. After shaking the last drops off, he lifted his head and his line of vision came in contact with the gate.

Then he saw it – a bulky load propped against the gate. The gate was not like the full armoured-tank types that featured plentifully in the estate; it was a mass of straight iron bars that allowed a free view into the beautiful mansion of the Williams family. Baba Adamu moved towards the gate with a sudden feeling of trepidation. Who could have brought such a large package and left it outside the gate so early in the morning? Could it be attached to one of those rituals that rich people participated in to sustain their wealth? He thought. He finally decided and opened the gate while intoning the praise chant of his lineage in his head – “Am I not the son of the great hunter, Ogunbodede who used his bare hands to kill a lion?” His hands were sweaty as he bent down to remove the black cellophane around the package.

The scream that escaped his throat echoed throughout the house and brought its inhabitants rushing to the terrace. Big Mummy was in her flowing white nightgown that gave her an eerie look especially with the remnants of the pasty anti-acne cream still on her face. Small Mummy was clad in a revealing negligee that clung snugly to her body. With her tousled hair, she looked like a grumpy teenage girl shaken out of sleep.

“Baba Adamu, what in the world made you scream like that? Abi you don’t know some people are still trying to sleep at this hour?” Big Mummy shouted. “What’s wrong with this old man?” Small Mummy muttered to herself. Baba Adamu stood rock-still at the gate with his jaws sunken in his chest. In their heightened curiosity, both women rushed out to the gate. It was a harmonious blend of shrills and guttural sounds as they beheld the corpse of Chief Williams. Small Mummy tore off the cellophane to reveal his full figure as if the action itself would change the circumstance. That was when they noticed the other shocking detail – his penis had been sliced off. Who could have done such an evil thing? That would be the dominant question on many lips for some time to come.

N.B – Watch this space for episode 2 next week. Thanks.