Chapter 10: Ota Mmiri
This stream is the only source of drinking water to the villagers. A small portion of it is barricaded from the main source with rocks and a channel is created to allow just clean water. This is to prevent contamination when someone fetches from it, the others have to wait for it to settle back down before fetching.
This barricaded portion is not for swimming nor is it for washing; offenders are banned from using the stream. The villagers also wash their clothes and other home utensils there too. Hunters go there to butcher and wash the blood off their kills. But they do not wash them in the stream directly; they fetch water, take it as far from the river as possible before washing because it is an execrable act that is not taken lightly by the Alusi of the river or the villagers.
Nworie River provides the villagers with fresh fishes and serves as a means of transportation to other nearby villages; as the villagers sail through it with wooden canoes made from iroko trees and some with bamboos tied together. Clay is gotten from the depth of the river and mixed with a large quantity of salt, moulded into small balls the shape of tennis balls and kept under the sun for days until it dries up. Once it solidifies like stones it becomes edible and it is mostly taken by expecting mothers and children. This grey coloured chalk-like stone is called "nzu". You find it being shared in mass numbers once a woman gives birth. In fact, pregnant women are constantly being asked by children and other women "When are we coming to lick your nzu?"
The villagers also go there to have their bath. Nworie Stream is divided into two by tall trees and plants that grow by the bank of the river. Women and young girls bath in one part, while the men and boys bath on the other side. The barricade made by plants is so thick that you can hardly pry through either side. If a man mistakenly enters the female section of the stream and is caught; he will be given the beating of your life as all the women in the stream at moment will combine forces and beat the living daylight out of you. If the individual runs away and is not caught, his name is gotten and handed over to the Eze who issues a more severe punishment.
Some men who are brave enough have gone to the female division of the stream pretending that they lost their way. The women, of course, will deal with them; in the course of their struggle for escape, they will touch and grab what these women are trying so hard to hide. When asked by their peers how the experience was; they say "It is a beautiful sight to behold as you get to see everything uncovered and wet in various sizes and shapes but that the beating is not what anyone should go through twice in a lifetime".
It is said that the women once walked over a foreigner until he collapsed and conked. Seeing that the foreigner has fainted, they quickly with a calabash got water from the abundance of it behind them and wasted it on him till he was resuscitated. They asked him what he was doing on Miri Umuwanyi. That was when he told them that he was a messenger from their neighbouring village Umuarim sent by the king to deliver sound warming to their Eze about a pending war that was coming for both villages. But when females mistakenly enter the section reserved for the men, you will see all the men that are naked quickly take cover from shades of trees and with leaves or simply dive into the river to hide their nakedness; while the ones not nude will be attending to the lady that lost her way or even pretend to.
This same stream is also believed to possess some supernatural powers and has an Alusi named Ota Miri governing it. This female deity of the water does not harm the villagers; in fact, no villager that did not break any of its rules has ever drowned in it; even if the said villager cannot swim, it will gently push out the person to the bank of the river. But this same river is known to swiftly deal with foreigners. Before a non-indigene enters it, he or she must first appease the water goddess with a sacrifice or an offering. If not the said person is entering his or her death no matter how good a swimmer he or she is.
It was now night and Ego couldn't return home; even if it was not dark already she was too tired and too hungry to walk that distance home; so she had to spend the night. The old lady prepared a delicious pot Ofe-una and Eba for dinner. Ego enjoyed the food so much, it affirmed the belief that old women can cook way better than women of the younger generation because of many years of gathered experience; she ate to her satisfaction and thanked the old lady. She took out the dishes and had them washed properly before coming back into the hut; Ego sat on the bamboo bed while the old lady on the local stool, both of them resting.
"Nne, thank you once again oh…, your food was so delicious," She said taking a little bow as a sign of respect.
"You are welcome my daughter but you deserve the thanks. All the times I've been to that forest to fetch firewood in the past, nobody had even greeted me talk more of helping me carry the load; but you did and you are still here keeping me company, can't remember when last I had that", the old lady said.
"Nne, it is nothing and my conscience would have continued to prick me if I had allowed you to carry it yourself", she said with a smile.
"So what is your name and where are you from"? The old lady asked
"My name is Ego and I'm from Umudibia" Ego replied.
"That is quite far from this place, I hope your people will not be worried that you didn't return this night?" the old lady asked.
"I live alone" Ego responded.
The woman was shocked at her response "You are not married? Really?" she inquired.
"My husband past away a few years ago" Ego replied.
"Eiyaa! What a pity. So you are already a widow at this age? Why didn't you remarry?" She asked again.
"I don't feel like getting married for the second time" Ego replied confidently.
The old lady couldn't understand why a young and beautiful lady like Ego would not want to remarry, so she asked her "But why not? You're young and beautiful. I can't believe you don't have suitors! Your husband doesn't have brothers?
"I want to live the remaining days of my life in my own terms. I don't want to be under any man again. And besides what do I need a husband for when I can fend for myself; moreover, I'm barren. No man would want a woman that can't produce children for him. I was lucky in my first marriage, Nnanna was very patient with me, saying we could certainly have children and he never for once said any hurtful thing to me about it. I don't think there is any man out there that can love me the way Nnanna did" Ego said soberly.
"The marriage was childless?" She asked
"No, I wasn't even able to conceive, I could not give him children". Ego answered quietly as tears gathered in her eyes.
"So since you lost your husband, you have been alone?" she asked
"Yes, I have been alone doing everything by myself". She said with a tremulous smile.
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