Chapter 5

Few months later, Ntone stood by the roadside waiting for a vehicle that was going to Calabar. Her mother and brother stood beside her with smiles plastered on their faces. Nna Awor was however torn by several emotions. The news of Ntone’s admission into Achievers University to study English and Literary studies was a dream come true. Even though the girl’s performance in the WASSCE and JAMB examinations had been outstanding, she couldn’t believe her eyes when the admission letter was delivered to her. Surprisingly, today, Nna Awor’s eyes had too much water in them.

“May the Almighty protect and keep you.” She patted her daughter on the back.

“Mama, you’ve said this prayer forty times now.” Nkoro teased as he was careful to mask the sadness he too felt at his sister’s departure.

“Were you really counting?” Ntone laughed, reaching out to hold her mother’s hand. “Don’t worry mama. I’ll make you proud.”

“Yes you will.” Nna Awor replied.

Ntone smiled gratefully at the woman who had single-handedly raised her through thick and thin. She felt like one plunging into the unknown. This thought sent a chill up her back.

The trio watched as the endless stream of vehicles whizzed past. They must have waited for about fifteen minutes when a vehicle that was flagged down by Nkoro slowed down to a halt in front of them.

“Calabar,” Nkoro shouted.

“Enter.” The driver, a very dark man, responded.

Ntone hugged her mother and brother tightly before joining three other passengers at the back seat of the Toyota Camry. The driver got out of the car and thrust Ntone’s ‘Ghana must go bag’ into the boot of the car.

“May the Almighty continually be with you and may you be successful in everything you do.”

“Mama, I thought you prayed this one already at home.” Nkoro said, playfully nudging his mother’s elbow.

“Don’t mind him mama.” Ntone shouted as the driver started the car. “Can’t you see that he’s trying very hard not to cry?”

The smile on her mother’s face grew wider. It was comforting to see her smile in spite of the tears that betrayed the uncertainty of the future. Nkoro’s eyes were bloodshot as he waved his sister goodbye. He also hoped for the day that he would leave the village like his elder sister.

Just before the vehicle swung into motion, Ntone let her eyes wander across the road. Agbor was crossing the road and a big bowl of water rested on her head. Her protruding stomach confirmed the truth of the news that had gone round the school. The pregnancy had prevented her from sitting for the WASSCE. Their eyes met for a brief moment and then Agbor looked away. She had tried to warn Agbor that her friendship with Joan would yield no good result but her friend had paid deaf ears to her advice. She waved at her mother and brother for the last time before the car zoomed off.

●

Back in the hut, Asinya had a vague expression on her face. Nta Egede’s powder had been totally ineffective.

“Useless!” she spat out the word with venom. The medicine man had given up after his realization that Ntone’s spirit was too strong for his medicine. A streak of tear brushed against her left cheek. She quickly wiped it away with the back of her palm. It was useless to cry over spilt milk. As she recalled the large sum of money she had paid the medicine man, she cautioned herself and retreated. His medicine had failed! Two thousand naira had gone down the drain. Throughout the previous night, dreams of Ntone returning to the village in a presidential convoy persisted. She saw Ntone step out of a big car while many people struggled to shake hands with her. She was even one of those struggling to have a handshake with the girl. The crowd had been so great that she was squeezed in from different directions. When she thought that she was close enough to shake Ntone’s outstretched hand, she stretched out her right hand. Someone must have pushed her for she landed hard on the bare floor and then woke up. She groaned in her reminiscence. That dream would never come true. She reminded herself countless times.

“Is Asinya home?” a familiar voice called out.

Asinya pretended not to hear. She was in no mood to speak to anyone, not even her best friend. Even though Evelyn had married Ndogho, the hunter, a couple of years back, their friendship had remained unbreakable. Like the old saying went, ‘Birds of a feather flock together’; both ladies had been able to preserve their friendship by continuously interweaving strands of evil deeds together. In times past, they had served as accomplices to each other’s misdeeds.

It was Asinya who hired two young men in the village to lie against the girl Ndogho had been betrothed to for many years. In the village, one person’s affair was often everyone’s affair. It was in this vein that the entire village knew that Ndogho was betrothed to Evelyn’s cousin, Ettah. Ettah who was far younger than Evelyn lived with Evelyn’s mother. Evelyn could not accept the fact that she would remain unmarried while the younger girl found herself a husband. When she lamented her predicament to Asinya, the latter volunteered to help. She bribed the young men to lie to Ndogho that Ettah was having an affair with one of the village chiefs. Ndogho who was of a fickle mind believed everything the men said. Ettah’s tears could not convince him. Desperate to keep her lover, Ettah had solicited help from her older cousin, Evelyn. Evelyn was to plead with Ndogho to take her back. Evelyn was only too glad to help. Two weeks later, Evelyn’s belongings were taken to Ndogho’s house. A medicine man from the next village had given her the ‘turn around spice.’ A man’s heart completely turned around if he ate food containing it. When Evelyn went to plead with Ndogho to take his fiancée back, she went along with a plate of food that had been carefully sprinkled with the ‘turn around spice.’ Even though Ndogho rejected the shallow pleas to accept his fiancée, he couldn’t reject the food. According to Usuku, the medicine man who gave her the spice, a few spoons of rice containing the spice would do the job. Ndogho had however eaten a whole plate of rice containing the powdery black substance and as expected, his heart completely turned away from Ettah. Evelyn became his heart’s desire. When his relatives tried to caution him against marrying the schemer, Ndogho threatened suicide. Ndogho had even paid Evelyn’s bride price to a greedy uncle of hers when her mother and elders in her family refused to have anything to do with the union. Ettah had left the village to stay with a distant relative at Etung. She couldn’t bear the looks and small talks that went round whenever she moved around the village. Asinya and Evelyn had achieved notoriety as accomplices to each other’s shenanigans.

The wooden door was slightly thrown back when Evelyn touched it. She poked her head inside, grinning mischievously at the sight of Asinya crouched on the floor beside the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Evelyn asked, casually walking inside the hut. She had gained a lot of weight over the past two years that movement became increasingly difficult for her. The villagers said that she had grown fat from excessively eating the game her husband brought her.

Evelyn was relieved to find Asinya alone in the hut. She sat on the bamboo bed causing it to creak while she reached forward to pat her friend’s back.

“Where is everyone?”

“Hmm,” Asinya sighed, stretching both legs in front of her.

“Speak up my friend. What happened?”

A moment of uneasy silence passed before Asinya spoke.

“It appears you’ve not been in this village for a while or else you would have known about my misery.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t really been in this village for a while. I went to visit my sister at Nkoh. She just gave birth to a baby girl.”

“How are they doing?” Asinya asked, almost in a whisper.

“They are fine.” Evelyn’s voice was brisk. “Tell me. What happened in my absence?”

“After judiciously following Nta Egede’s instructions and paying countless visits to his shanty in order to destroy the ‘witch’ who happens to be my stepsister, she was still able to pass all her examinations. The straw that has finally broken the camel’s back is that she is presently on her way to Achiever’s University in Calabar where she recently secured admission to study English and Literary studies. Nta Egede’s medicine failed.” She clasped her hands in a display of sorrow. “I paid him two thousand naira for nothing.”

“This is terrible. Is it really true?” Evelyn asked no one in particular. Her mind was already working. She also had a special hatred for Ntone. Unlike the other girls in the village, Ntone wasn’t a part of the shenanigans that had become the way of life in the village. Almost everyone knew that Ntone behaved in accordance with certain standards that were probably higher than those of the villagers. Evelyn hated her for this because it made her look good and somewhat important. A thought had already formed in her mind and the grin on her face was an indicator that she was up to no good.

“Then we have to see Usuku.” Evelyn said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Do you think Usuku can succeed where a powerful medicine man like Nta Egede failed?”

“You forget so quickly my friend. Wasn’t it Usuku’s medicine that turned Ndogho’s heart away from Ettah and endeared him to me?”

Asinya suddenly rose to her feet and perched on the bed beside her accomplice. The grin on Evelyn’s face grew wider. She knew she had scored a point.

“I do not want your stepmother to meet me here.”

Asinya grimaced at the mention of the word ‘stepmother.’ Though the woman took her to live with her when her mother died, it still didn’t qualify her to be called her stepmother. Her mother lived a miserable life until she died because her father had married Nna Awor instead. She had completely detested her after that.

“Please don’t call that ‘witch’ my stepmother.”

“Okay. I’ll be on my way now. When you are ready to see Usuku, you know my place. I’ll take you there and if her spirit is too strong, we will ask Usuku to kill her.” Evelyn rose to her feet and walked towards the door.

“Thank you, my sister. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Asinya rose to her feet to see her accomplice off. When she sighted Nna Awor and Nkoro moving towards the house, a lump stuck in her throat causing her to change her mind. “The earlier, the better.” She thought.

“I will see you this evening.” While she declared this, Evelyn responded with a surprised nod.