Chapter 2

TERMITES FALL, HUMANS FALL

The rains had flushed the memories of the tales away from the children's minds as they ran around throwing mud at each other. Chukwudi had ended up with more bruises on his body than a mountaineer who fell off a cliff. He had run through the bush at night with thorns and hard branches of trees biting into his skin. His mother must have been pleased with the outcome because she brought Mma a whole box of her favorite snuff the next day. The story which was wholly about a disobedient boy must have done its job.

Chukwudi's body was masked with rounded bitter leaf mixed with some other weeds to help him heal but it didn’t deter his troublesome nature .He had been sitting quietly in the verandah watching his mates enjoy the rain, something he too was drawn to.

Their compound was a large one with different houses scattered around. Mma's husband had been polygamous and every house with its location was a symbol that denoted which number the wife was and her rank in the family. The first house which was by the right and the most beautiful was Mama Ogbo's house. She was the first wife and his son had been fortunate to study and become a renowned businessman. He had built the house for his mother after he claimed he made his first million. Dee Ogbo as many called him was the first born of the extended family. He had refused to get a wife even though he was almost 50. Members of the family accused him of making money through rituals and bachelorhood was the price to pay. Dee Ogbo was a miser to top all his flaws and often shied away from lending help to his brothers, he preferred to dine alone.

The second house by the right with so many guava trees around was Mma's house. Obi's father had built a bungalow of four rooms which he couldn't paint. The plastering job had eaten a huge hole out of his pocket but as soon as he got the house roofed, he gave up plans of painting. Mma refused to move into the new house and preferred her mud house to the room Obi's father had built, no amount of plea changed her mind.

The last house was Mama Nkem's house. She had the highest number of children in the family and most of her daughters were not so lucky to get suitors. She had accused Dee Ogbo for using witchcraft to bind the other members of the family so that no one would surpass his wealthy status.

Obi's father had four siblings; two brothers and two sisters. Chukwudi's father was the youngest of the boys and had passed away two years after Chukwudi was born in a railway accident. The children wore very little clothing as they sauntered about, throwing mud at each other while dancing in the rain.

Their mothers often yelled at them to come inside the house, so that they wouldn't catch a cold but they turned deaf ears. If only they could remember Mma's tales.

Minutes after the women spoke, a huge bolt of lightning tore across the sky and the sound of the thunderclap accompanied it. Tobe ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He was the youngest male sibling of Obi and he had an uncanny fear for thunder.

As the poor boy ran in fear, clutching his underwear which was almost at his feet he called for his sister Obi to rescue him. He had barely made it to the veranda after he tossed the underwear aside before the mud affected his feet and he landed flat on his behind. The other children laughed so hard at his misfortune while Obi rushed to his side to check for injuries.

Obi scooped up the boy and patted his back, scolding him lightly for running around half naked in the rain. If only children cared about modesty. Tobe's had not been the only immodest one .

Tobe's cries had brought his mother out of the house. She watched the children who were still playing and shook her head in disapproval.

"They are all causing problems for their parents. Ụmụaka! (Children).Tomorrow their mothers would start rampaging the markets in search of good herbs to heal cough and catarrh. They've forgotten that school will be resuming tomorrow"

She turned to Obi who was still patting the crying boy "What happened to your brother? "

"He slipped on the mud and fell " Obi replied her eyes on Tobe who was still in tears

“Were you not there? Why did you let him out in the first place?" She took Tobe from Obi and walked into the house. Obi was always held accountable for the deeds of her younger siblings, something she had almost gotten used to. Obi was left alone with her cousin Chukwudi in the veranda.

"Just see the way your brother almost lost his manhood today, as the only son of your father you people should always cover that important part" Chukwudi began in the most annoying way

"Just imagine if his thing got squashed" he gestured with his hands what he meant and fell into a fit of laughter. Obi was far from amused with the hint of her brother's scrotum being crushed and gave Chukwudi the biggest scowl.

She always knew her cousin to be troublesome and avoided him in every way possible. But it seemed the devil could not be avoided

"Do you know that your mother is very ugly?" Chukwudi spoke again, this time garnering Obi`s full attention. She hated the hind remark made about her mother

She ignored his comment for the second time and buried her attention in the termites that had begun to creep out from the soil. The flying little ant-like creatures that the children called "aku" often flew short distances before losing their wings and falling to the ground.

The boys chased the flying ones while the girls covered their ears with fear that the creatures would enter their bodies through the opening in the ear.

"Let us leave your mother first, you are ugly. You are like a boy, then you also bear a boy's name. Your father must have been very disappointed when you were born. He definitely wanted a boy just like me, but a huge mistake was made and you came out. He couldn't change that,so he chose so he gave you the name Obiukwu" this time Chukwudi was rolling on the floor in laughter, something she didn’t share with him.

The subject of Obi's name was always sensitive to her. She wished her name was feminine just like her sisters but there was no way to undo the act. She often wondered why her father gave her that name but never got the courage to ask.

She walked to where Chukwudi lay, and gave him a huge knock on the head. Enraged, he engaged her in a pursuit, she ran out of the compound trying to escape his fiery wrath, a mistake that even she realized as soon as they took off. Running into their house would have been a quicker to evade him, but Chukwudi would find ways to get his revenge The track road that led to their church was just in view as she ran quickly, hoping that her speed would get her far from her troublesome cousin, she further sprinted. If she could get to the church, there would be someone who could save her from him.

She ran with her neck constantly turning to check the distance Chukwudi had covered. With her absent mindedness she ran into a boy and their heads smashed together in a force that brought the pair to the ground. Obi fell writhing in pain while Chukwudi ran back with a smirk on his face.

Karma had done his stupid cousin well!

The boy got up and didn't even care about helping her off but continued running toward the direction he was headed in the first place. A young girl who Obi hadn't noticed before held out her hand and drew Obi up. The girl was about her age, light skinned and very beautiful. The young girl tried to suppress her giggle after she scanned Obi from head to toe. Obi managed to shake off her dizziness, thanked the girl and went to search for her wrapper.

She was beyond embarrassed with the way she appeared, maybe that's why the boy even ran away without tendering any apology. The wrapper she had tied on her neck had left her body and she was just like the children who had been playing in the rain. Worse even, because puberty had begun to show through the tiny bulbs that developed on her chest.