Chapter 8

HAVE A TASTE

The sun had almost been swallowed up by the skies, birds were migrating to their homes after the day's journey. The soft wind which danced with the leaves on the trees especially under the mango tree in the backyard, where they sat peeling the cassava tubers often made the work bearable as it made contact with their skins at instances keeping them dry.

Obi's two sisters had run off to play and even though Tobe grumbled from time to time, she insisted that he stayed behind. Obi often felt Obiefune's gaze on her but she tried her best to not to look away from her work, thoroughly embarrassed by their encounter earlier. Obi had stomped away from the siblings with the books encased in her hands while she craved for truly proper clothes. Chioma, well aware of the irritable state Obi was in, opted to do anything that kept her away from her friend at every instant.

She was either gathering the purple colored peels that slipped of the cassava with every slice of the knife and packing it to the barn very close to Mma's hut for the goats to feed on or she was answering to Obi's sisters who needed supervision. The tension between Obi and Obiefune made them quiet and besides encouraging Tobe she made no attempt to acknowledge Obiefune's presence.

"Aah! Aaaiiioooo! Ooooom!" Tobe had begun to yell. He mistakenly cut his finger while he sliced away the cassava. At the sight of blood Obi ran to her brother, this was exactly what she was avoiding but she needed help and company to clear the heap of unpeeled cassava that was harvested from the farm. Tobe began to sniff while Obi fished out a piece of cloth and tied his finger to abate bleeding. Obi tried to coax Tobe into staying with her even after his cut rendered him not useful to her.

"owu onye ogbu? Is he dumb? Daa(big sister) just stay with him let me see if I can play football with the other children". Obi glared at her brother fighting the urge to scold him but the boy fell into tears. She couldn't help but think he deliberately cut his hand to evade the work cut out for him.

"Just let the boy go, it's not as if he's helping you here" Obiefune finally spoke feeling a certain level of pity for the boy who was clearly uncomfortable being around them.

Obi ignored him sinking her eyes to the cassava she was peeling refusing to acknowledge his presence or his words. They weren't in school anymore and she didn't have to listen to him.

"Bia Tobe abi, stand up and run to your friends" he spoke again, this time ready to face whatever words she had to spew at him. The boy didn't even let him finish before he raced off leaving behind the knife he had been using and yelling out a ridiculous thanks on the way. "Thank you onye ogbu!"

Obi glanced towards the path her brother had run off to, accepting that it was too late to bring him back she sat back and continued with her work. Obi could hear Chioma giggling with her sisters as they squashed palm kernels and extracted the nuts.

She could hear Chioma yell often as she tried to stop the girls from chewing the strong shell of the kernel. She'd supply them with more nuts every time she said "were" take.

Obiefune strode from the side he had been seating and settled where Tobe had left. He picked up the knife and a cassava tuber and began to peel, taking with the peel a huge chunk of the white fleshy part of the cassava which was the main part required in making garri. He would get a sizable tuber and reduce it to mere sticks in the name of peeling and Obi fought her mouth from speaking even though she was irked by his wastefulness. He kept at this till the words left Obi's mouth with a resignation that she was only talking to him to increase the quantity of garri they would get from the tubers.

"Ozugo! (That`s enough)Stop wasting the cassava, I didn't ask for your help, did I?"

Startled, surprised and clearly amused that his plan had worked he looked at her.

"I thought something sliced off your tongue"

She only glared at him and continued to peel more cassava tubers. "I'm trying to help you here, at least be polite and engage me in a conversation. It is probably too hard for you to say thank you, since you're not accustomed to appreciating help rendered but be polite to a visitor helping you out" Obiefune added

Obi was well aware of what the boy was trying to do and was ready to disappoint him. "I won't let you get me upset this time" she silently assured herself

"I am your visitor, are you always this rude to your visitors?"

Obi bit back a response and scoffed ,still reluctant to give them complacency of watching her rave of how horrible he was

"I'm not surprised, for a girl with a boy's name..." Obiefune was cut off by a threat that even he found frightful

"If you finish that rubbish statement, I'll hurl this tuber of cassava at you, senior or no senior. I'm ready to face the consequences so dare me. You are not my visitor, I'd never invite someone who is as inconsiderate and mean as you are to my house even if the king of this autonomous community commanded so! "

Obi's words got to him and he continued to peel the cassava with her but rightly this time, afraid that she would carry out her threat. Obiefune couldn't understand why it was so difficult for the girl to be nice to him, not that he had made a good impression but he was trying hard to change that. He had come all the way to apologize and she was making things so difficult.

He looked up at her and saw a mosquito on her neck, he contemplated on telling her or killing it himself afraid that she'll miss it he walked to where she sat and slapped her neck.

Obi out of reflex hit him on his groin with a cassava tuber that brought him to the ground. She recovered from the shock and felt remorseful for the way she attacked him, she knelt down to rain pleas on him.

Clearly in pain and unable to speak he showed her his hand, with the smeared blood on his palm and a tiny black insect squashed. Obi felt so bad about what she did. With the way Obiefune was writhing on the floor she was scared that what she did was serious. She did not want to assume that she squashed anything just like her mind was pushing her to believe.

She wrapped her hands around him hoping that the pain would subside. After some minutes, Obiefune finally got up not without groaning from time to time making Obi worried. He continued to help her peel the cassava making sounds as he continued, sounds that drew out sorry from her lips as often as it pleased him to hear.

Clearly enjoying the attention he was receiving from Obi Obiefune sat around her even though there was no more cassava to peel.

He watched with enthusiasm as Obi balanced clearing the cassava peels and constantly checking up on him. The pain had receded but he was enjoying the motherly attention she was giving him. He missed being smothered with motherly attention and envied Obi`s siblings

She had offered him water to wash his hands and even helped him wash his hands when he had groaned a little.

She even offered him food and bathing water, hot water to relieve him of his pain. She kept apologizing and begged him not to tell Chioma about the incident and that was where he roped her into his plan. Making her feel guilty would get him a favourable answer about spending the night at her place, he only had to convince his sister who would be eager to spend the night.

Obiefune knew that as the sun descended into the clouds that it was time to go with his sister. But something about the compound that was so alive and being around Obi made him stay back. He watched as Obi acted as mother, sister and friend to her siblings and his sister too. She had given her sisters a thorough bath and forced Tobe to do the same, after they played.

Chioma assisted her in bathing the giggly girls who went to the sand minutes after being clothed. She prepared lunch for everyone, rice with red oil, fish and scent leaves . Something about how Obi took charge of the house in the absence of her parents made him admire her.

He had already begun to like the little things about her that nobody probably noticed. The fact that her eyes would blink irregularly when she laughed or the beautiful way her body was shaped. Her thick brows and the three black birth marks that formed a mini v on her fair nose.

Obi had caught him staring at her once in a while but he quickly averted his gaze to something else. No wonder his sister barely stayed home. "You can't sleep here! Your parents what will they say? If it was only you there'd be no problem but Obiefune is here too" Obi whispered to Chioma as she brought the news of their sleepover.

"My parents are going to be in the hospital till tomorrow afternoon. Our house will be too boring besides you told me your mom is coming back tomorrow evening. I really want to hear Mma's tales. I promise you Obiefune will behave". "The two of you will leave very early tomorrow morning, before anyone sees you. When the children question you, tell them you came with your parents and they wanted you to learn a thing or two from Mma"

Obi had barely finished her statement before Chioma pulled her into a hug and her younger sister Ifenna beckoned on her to clean her up. "Obi bịa kwasia m ike!!" It was not a request and she knew better than to hesitate because the little girl had not been properly potty trained.

Chioma watched as Obi cleaned the glass gloves which she inserted into the metal lanterns. She lit the lantern with a matchstick and kept one in the veranda while the other she took to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She paid attention to everything her friend did and learnt a thing or two from her.

Chioma was excited to help her out and enjoyed the dinner of eba and uha soup which they took even though it contained chunks of fish, far from what she was accustomed to. It was a whole new experience for Chioma. Obiefune was coerced into feeding the girls by Ifenna and Obi couldn't help but notice the good side he had. Dark tShickness had engulfed the compound and even trees couldn't be made out at this point. Chukwudi's mom had been tasked with taking care of Mma and after the old woman had her dinner she beckoned on someone to help her open her snuff box. Chioma and Obi were preoccupied with washing the plates so Obiefune was the only one left to do the job.

By the time everyone was ready for stories in the old woman's hut, they realized that Obiefune was acting strange. He was shirtless and seemed to babble every nonsense that came to his mind. His sister noticed his absurd behavior and when they questioned Mma she admitted that she offered him the snuff and he took it." Asị m ya kpotu nwa obere" (I told him to have a taste)

Obiefune clearly did because he was laughing like a mad man in the middle of the night