Choosing Sides

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The cycle of life wouldn't be complete without death. Maybe sometimes we only experience the harsh stings of death so that we learn to value even the least significant of lives.

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"What is wrong with her?" Daa Agatha enquired as she felt the top of Obanma's head. The little girl was shivering and had been wrapped in a blanket by her elder sister who seemed disconcerted by the situation.

Their mother had been taken to the hospital earlier by their uncle, she slumped in her bedroom after a brief meeting with  her husband's kinsmen.

"She's burning up, she has been this way since mother was taken away"

"Chineke! Ọ bụ di osise! * she's convulsing!" Daa Agatha yelled, suddenly petrified.

The shivering had increased and the little girl's eyes rolled, leaving only the whitish part of her eyes visible.

"Get palm oil! Weta eloaku o! Get kernel oil oo! Hewu he ke na ọ bụ ngiri oo*what is this? * The older woman lamented

Adaugo ran into their house and searched every nook and cranny for the substance but her exploration was ineffectual.

"Get me a spoon! Mee osiso! Where is the eloaku?"

"we don't have any o" Adaugo declared almost in tears.

Daa Agatha fixed a spoon into the mouth of the struggling girl while Adaugo ran out of the house in search of the kernel oil.

Onyedikachi could see Iheanyi's compound from where he stood in their storey building. Iheanyi's house was a bungalow and so were so many houses in his stead.

His mother had been speaking with their ụmụnna about the grave injustice that was committed against his family.

A meeting had been scheduled with the king of the land, in which his family and their relatives would be in attendance as they stipulate the penalties which Iheanyi's family would face.

"Nna I jee na be ha ọzọ, I ga afụ ife m ga eme! Fa ncha bụ ndị ogbu mmadụ!
They killed your father! What did he do? He only went there to wish them well and that man murdered him!"

Onyedikachi and Arinze tried their best to comfort their mother. She had sworn bitterly to make Iheanyi's family pay after their father's corpse was taken to the mortuary.

Onyedikachi could see the ruckus about the compound below. A woman kneeling outside the compound with a child in her hands.

He knew very well who the girl was and surprisingly he felt curious and quite concerned after he got a deeper look and realized it was obanma.

His mother's words resounded in his ears while he took steps to get down.

"You are not to speak to them

! You are not to stay around them!

Visit them!

You are to stay away from their family inugo!

They killed your father! It has been their plan all along"

Arinze had sworn in that very moment to treat their neighbors as enemies. And even Onyedikachi had to concur to the same thing even though he was slightly perturbed with such declaration.

Onyedikachi often dreamt about the day of the shooting.

His father had been helpless and he had been there.

He met Arinze downstairs playing with wheels that had been constructed from old bicycles, he seemed particularly interested in the girl in front of him.

Onyedikachi on a closer look noticed that he had only joined in to been peek whenever  the girl bends down to ride her own wheel.

Onyedikachi was embarrassed by the act and quickly called his brother to attention.

"What are you doing? Olivia! Take your car home". It was known that the children regarded such playthings as their own vehicle.

The girl who was about Onyedikachi's age made no remarks but quickly grabbed her wheel and ran along.

"Why are you an enemy of progress?" Arinze enquired throwing the object  a distance from where he was and grudgingly Marched up to where Onyedikachi stood akimbo.

"Eh Onyedika! Did Olivia tell you she wanted to go home?"

"I saw what you were doing to the girl, or do you want mommy to find out about it!"

"Nwa a, ị ga abudi ógbènye bụrụ amusu! Enemy of progress!
I was simply teaching her how to ride a wheel" Arinze replied with a smirk

"You can't teach her from behind! "

A presence made both lips get clamped shut, Arinze's knuckles fisted backed up by a heavy frown on his face.

Obanma's brother had been the one who showed up at their house. The boy looked worn out and frightened as he approached the brothers. He was still panting from running.

" Biko do you have eloaku? " Chijioke pleaded

"Maka gịnị! Are you mad? You even have the mind to come here after what your father did to my father you bastard!"

Onyedikachi quickly held Arinze back as he charged towards Chijioke.

"Biko nu, my sister is dying and she needs it. Obanma she.. She.. Biko. I wouldn't have come if I didn't need it."

Onyedikachi could see how glassy the boy's eyes had become. It must have taken a lot of courage and desperation for him to have showed up before them, but he knew that he couldn't help him.

" Adaugo went to buy but I'm afraid she'll probably not make it before she returns. Daa Agatha said it's becoming worse biko nu!" Chijioke fell on his knees pleading.

Arinze pulled free from Onyedikachi and grabbed the boys collar.

"We do not have eloaku, get out of our compound before I kill you with my bare hands"

"Onyedikachi please no.." The plea was stopped by a punch that landed on his stomach.

"Get out of our house, you murderer! Leave!" Arinze clearly impressed by his brother's action stood aside while Chijioke writhed in pain, tears flowing endlessly from his eyes accompanied with sniffs.

"Onyedikachi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out of their compound before slamming the gates shut"

Arinze nodded at his brother in approbation and Onyedikachi tried to mask his guilt and discomfort as he made his way upstairs. He knew their mother had been watching them above.

Arinze narrated the whole incident to his mother and she was satisfied with the way the situation was handled.

They had bottles of eloaku lying around in their kitchen but couldn't give them because of the rip in their relationship.

But what would his father have wanted? Would he have agreed to letting a child die because of their father's sin?

"Ifugo nụ ya, Agbacha ọsọ Aghọ maili. Whatever one sows he shall reap. They have not even started paying for their sins." Their mother bitterly swore as she handed the bottles of eloaku to Onyedikachi

"Take them to the Backyard and break them. Seeing them lying around here might tempt me into giving them. Their family doesn't deserve our help. You did well today Onyi" She patted the boy's head and walked away.

Arinze tried  to follow Onyedikachi but he quickly convinced him not to. And instructed him to get his school uniform from the tailor who was supposed to amend it.

The outfit had been sown by the village drunk okwudili, who had somehow, made their uniform tighter in the crotch causing them discomfort and limited movement. Okwudili was the best tailor when sober but somehow sobriety only came to him after being beaten to pulp by angry customers.

Arinze practically shuddered at the thought of having to bear the pain of wearing that uniform, then swiftly set out to repair it.

Onyedikachi broke 5 bottles of the eloaku, he was at the sixth when an image of Obanma being taken to the grave occurred to him.

He stared at the bottle with tears, he hadn't meant to beat Chijioke up.

Onyedikachi quickly snuck out of their house, running through the bushy backyard till he got to Iheanyi's compound.

Daa Agatha was in tears and Obanma was still struggling but her siblings were no where to be found.

Onyedikachi ran to where they were and handed the bottle over to the woman.

"Oh thank God. Chineke emela so Adaugo finally got one."

Onyedikachi quickly nodded in acquiescence as the old woman grabbed Obanma and held her in between her legs.

" Please nwa m come and help me. Make sure you drop it into her eyes when I force her eyelids open ịnụ. "

He did as he was instructed and shook as she cried out in pain having felt the stinging sensation in her eyes which was supposed to happen.

It took a while before the young girl returned to.

"Ọ gịnị mere ya? What happened to her? " He enquired holding obanma's head in place as she gently snored

" Osise o, I think her twin brother wants her to join him where he is "

Onyedikachi's eyes widened in shock.

"Tụfịakwa! Join him? But ọ nwuola, he's dead!"

The woman sighed then gathered the little girl into her arms as they made their way into the house.

"Twins have a bond that can be  inseverable sometimes, why do you think Nnamdi's twins died off"

Onyedikachi shuddered at the thought of the beautiful girl dying and vowed silently to keep her alive. He handed the bottle over to the woman and she applied the dark oil all over Obanma's body, covered her with a blanket and thanked Onyedikachi who ran home the same way he came.

He slowly shut the gate and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Why did you go there?"

Onyedikachi startled and terrified turned slowly to see his brother standing  beside a tree, anger blazing from his eyes.

"They killed our father! Your  father!  And you still went to help them!"

"Obanma was dying!" was all he could blurt out.

"Do you think they would help you if you were in her shoes? I am telling our mother, maybe she'll speak sense into your stupid head" he smacked Onyedikachi's head and marched upstairs.

Apparently he hadn't met with the tailor and returned to tell his brother but met their backyard gate ajar.

Arinze's threat wasn't empty because Onyedikachi slept that night with  sore buttocks. Marks of the whip his mother used boldly displayed on his back and buttocks forming stripes just like a zebra's. Except his, was a hue of red colored lines.

He knew deep down that his heart should be filled with remorse and regret after the sermon his mother gave him,but he would do what he had done over again because somehow he felt that need to keep the girl alive. It was not about the good of the heart, he had beaten up an innocent boy to please his family.

Onyedikachi woke up panting after he dreamt of the mad man chasing him around the village. It had been the same man that had slapped him in the  bush but this time when he caught up with Onyedikachi he whispered certain words into his ears, laughed hysterically and left.

Onyedikachi agreed that he needed to be delivered in church from the evil spirit that marked him,because the man was indeed evil.

How else had he infiltrated his dream?

When he remembered that words were whispered into his ears, he thought of the strange words but unfortunately could not remember them.

Obanma is still alive!

The thought seemed to calm his terrified nerves but the sting that came afterwards as he tried to roll onto his back, reminded him that the battle line had been drawn.

Somehow the two families had already begun fighting and his own side had been chosen for him with the aid of a long cane.

But would he fight?

The thought lingered in his mind until he dozed off.

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Author's notes:

Hello everyone! How are we?

This week has been filled with NYSC activities and trying to settle down in the State I was posted to.

I had my first CDS Clearance and honestly I wouldn't want that experience to repeat itself. It was horrible, being pushed and pulled in the bid to get cleared.(Guys my wig almost fell off in public 😕)

Anyways we've been assured that it will get better.

That by the side, hope we enjoyed the chapter.

How do we see Onyedikachi? ☺️☺️☺️