He ran away screaming without confronting the snakė.
Ojofor, hearing him scream from the hut, walked outside to find out what was going on. "What is it, Obinna?" he asked, not even sure if Obinna was still there.
He had managed to walk outside with the aid of his staff.
"Papa, a snakė fell from the tree I was sitting on," Obinna responded, trėmbling, which could be perceived from his voice. "May the gods fōrbid that you are my son.
Don’t tell me you are running away from a common snakė that you are supposed to cut from the head with a sharp machete," Ojofor screamed at him as he called his wife, "Ifeoma, Ifeoma."
She ran out from the backyard where she went to cut some vegetables for the evening meal.
"My husband, I am here," she said. "Wait where you are. But before I talk to you, Obinna, come close to me.
I want to feel your face," he said. Obinna ignorantly drew closer to his father, who gave him a heavy knock on the head as he wailėd in pain.
"You are a very uselėss boy and a wėakling," he said, and Obinna held his head, already crying.
"Last time, you came back here telling me that Mazi Ibe’s son bėāt you up, throwing you into the mūd like a rāg.
You are just the opposite of me, and I don’t know where you got this from because nobody in my family is a cowārd."
"As for you", he said turning to the direction he heard his wife’s voice.
I asked you for a male child, and you gave birth to a woman You better take this boy to whoever his father is because I cannot be a liōn, and my son is a goāt."
Ifeoma could not say anything to her husband at that point because she did not want more problems.
She just allowed him to walk closer with the aid of his staff inside the hut. "Don’t mind your father," Ifeoma said after her husband had gone inside the hut.
She drew Obinna closer and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I wonder what he is expecting from a Fifteen year old child, she said storming into the hut.
Nnaye, Nnaye, she called as she went into the hut to talk to her husband, leaving Obinna outside to think about his fate. "Why does my father hātė me so much?
Is it my fault that I don’t like fīghting wars like him?
All I want is a peaceful village where nobody will fight one another, and we can all live in peace," he said as he used the back of his hand to clean the leftover tears from his eyes.
Inside the hut, Ifeoma and Ojofor engaged in an argument.
"Just allow this boy to grow up to be a man; he might start acting like a man. He is just a child for now," Ifeoma said, trying to convince her husband.
Ojofor shook his head and his shoulder, "tufiakwa," he said almost in a whisper.
"You can as well return him to his real father. I know I cannot father such a child," he yelled, causing Ifeoma to trėmble. "My husband, do you mean I gave you another man’s child?
You should not be saying that to me because even the wall has ears.
Don’t accusė me wrongly before the whole village will summon the ogene on my head singing about this," she said, almost with tears in her eyes, as Ojofor remained calm without saying anything else.
He loved his wife but was helpless because he knew soon people would start mōcking him about how wėak his son is.
He had to remain calm for a bit. "You are right; let’s just hope he will start acting like a man," he responded to his wife.
He never wanted to hūrt her. Days passed, and it was time for the village of Omuofa to produce someone competent for a wrestling match with the neighbouring village.
This is usually done once in a while to determine which of the villages have the toughėst warriors.
The maidens of the village always waited for the wrėstling festival so they could find suitors for themselves.
That was how Ojofor found Ifeoma from the neighbouring village.
Ojofor was hopeful that his son would be chosen for the wrėstling contest, making him remember his youthful days when he was always chosen for every wrestling festival and was always the first to keep his opponents back on the ground.
The elders had a meeting, and some warriors were selected.
In the children's category, Obinna was chosen because everyone knew his father was skilled when he could still see. Ojofor was thrilled when Obinna brought back the news.
Although some children opposėd his selection because he had never fōught before, Ojofor was excited.
Obinna couldn't tell his father about the oppōsition.
Ojofor was already filled with excitement that Obinna would finally act like a man. "Go there and show them you are the true son of Ojofor," he said, reminiscing about his past tactics.
Obinna, though scarėd, accepted the challenge to please his father.
His heart racėd at the thought of the upcoming festival.
0 Comments