บท 41: Banished
"Wait! What does this old woman look like?" she asked.
"She was on white, her hair gray and unkempt. I can't really remember right now what she looks like. Do you want to know whether it is the same old woman?" he inquired.
Nodding she said, "Yes, but your description is not enough to enable me place a match".
"Alright, I wish I could still remember her face" he stated with one side of his cheek raised up.
"No… don't worry. Please continue" she said.
"Still hidden and processing the thought, I suddenly began hearing a strange female voice thundering in my head screaming
"Ndu-bisi! Ndu-bisi! Ndu-bisi! I can see you. I know who you are; where you're from, your beginning and end I already know".
It was really horrifying. I shut my ears with my hands but was still unable to shut the voice out. She kept saying strange things about me that I can't recall now. When I could no longer take it, I took to my heels, running for my dear life. The wailings of the babies turned into loud laughers; like they were laughing at me".
"Hmmm!" was all she said trying to picture what the young man just said. It was really horrifying but it came as no surprise to her, it is expected. After all, that's why it is the evil forest.
"That's not all before I ran away, I took a quick look at the woman but to my greatest surprise, none of them were there. It was like they had disappeared into the thin air".
"Hmmm!" Ego said aloud again wondering what she would have done if it was her that encountered all these weird and strange happenings in a single day.
Perceiving from the look on her face, Ndubisi knew exactly what was going through her mind, so he said "You see there are so many strange creatures and spirits of dead people roaming this forest. I totally believe you, that old woman might have been a spirit. You should be thankful that I saw you when I did" he concluded.
Ego felt relieved to have found someone that has a similar experience and as such believes her. Above them all, she was thankful he saved her life. For these reasons and some yet unknown to her, she likes this young man. And when you like people, it is natural to want to know everything about them.
"Can you tell me about yourself? Where are you from? What you were doing before you came down here?" she asked.
"I'm from Umuofia, a village far from here. I am the only son of Mazi Azubuike, a wealthy trader who had two wives; Ogadimma my mother is the second while her mate Odinaka gave him three girls.
I have always had an interest in nature; I wanted to explore, conquer and go for adventures, so I became a hunter. I learned from my grandfather, but my father was against it. He wanted me to learn a trade and continue the family business."
"Sounds like a beautiful family" Ego said smiling.
"I wish it was," he said after a long hiss.
"Why do you say that?" She asked.
"There was so much hate, mistrust, and jealousy. My father's elder brother Echidinma was jealous of him because he was wealthy while he was a common blacksmith and a poor one for that matter. My mother, on the other hand, had a mate that was jealous of her for having a male child that would inherit all the wealth. I was having issues with my father, who wanted me to be a trader by all means".
"So, how did you end up living in the forest?
"One day, after a nasty altercation with my father, we both lashed out threats and abuses on each other. I stormed out from his presence in anger and traveled to visit a friend for a week. When I came back, I met people crying at our house. I asked what was wrong and was told that my both parents have been assassinated by some unknown robbers. Before I could even begin crying I was grabbed by some youths and against my will pulled to the Igwe's palace where I was asked by him if I was the one that hired assassins to murder my parents.
I told him that I knew nothing about their sudden death but unknown to me, my uncle had gone to report to him that I had threatened to kill my father and had succeeded. He said, "I took out my father, so I can inherit his possessions and have the liberty and resources to travel around squandering it all".
My stepmother backed his story and accusation with a detailed report of all the threats I lashed out on my late father. I was heartbroken and felt alone in the world, no one had my back, not even my half sisters or cousins; they all seemed to be in agreement and wanted me out by all means.
I was made to swear before our chief priest who I'm sure had his palm greased by my uncle. He found me guilty and for some reasons best known to our king, instead of going for the eye for eye punishment decided to banish me after branding me an Osu. I was not to return to that village again for any reason; if for any reason I did, I will be put to death if caught" he said in tears after catching his breath.
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