Chapter 3 Suitors

Nmachi in deep thoughts watched as her friend, Ukokwe seperated the melon seed from it's coat. Not that she couldn't do the seperation and was watching her to learn rather she was day dreaming of how she was going to do it with Echezona.

One would think that she was going to tell it to her friend what was going through her mind but she has kept it to herself for days.

"Nmachi," Ukokwe called her but she didn't respond even though she was staring directly at her with her hand under her jaw while she stared.

Ukokwe carefully dropped the tray on which she was seperating the melon and clapped her hands in front of her,"Nmachukwu!" She shouted her name in full as though she was miles away, making Nmachi jump in shock.

"Hmm, what have been thinking about?" Ukokwe asked with so much concern about the well-being of her dear friend.

Sighing deeply, Nmachi shook her head before picking up the tray Ukokwe had dropped and placing it on her laps to continue from where her friend had stopped.

"I'm talking to you," Ukokwe reminded her but she remain silent.

Nmachi lifted her head high a little, looked to her right and then her left, just in case there was anyone hanging around especially her -mother- parents.

Although there was no one in sight, Nmachi was still not satisfied with the safety of her environment, so she lowered her head and pulled Ukokwe close, "It's Echezona o," Nmachi whispered softly into Ukokwe's ear.

"What about him?" Ukokwe asked her while sitting up from the position Nmachi had kept her while she whispered near her ear.

Nmachi carefully gave Ukokwe a run down on the discussion she had with Echezona beginning from how he called her out till when her mother called her back into the compound.

"Chim o!" Ukokwe exclaimed in shock but Nmachi was quick to cover her mouth with her palm so that she doesn't attract her anyone's attention especially her mother's.

"Oooh m! What is wrong with you?" Nmachi shouted at Ukokwe in annoyance that her scream must have alerted her mother.

Ukokwe adjusted on the stool she sitting on,"Sorry, my friend. Ndo." She apologized for her reaction but Nmachi hissed.

"If Nne comes here because of your shout, I will not be happy with you." Nmachi warned her before concentrating on the melon she was picking.

"Ndo nu, I was only surprised that Echezona would ask you for such a thing besides if Nne com-"

"Ehe, If I come what will happen?" Nwabuko, Nmachi's mother asked in a loud voice which scared them as they jerked on their stool and the resounding noise from the stainless tray which fell from Nmachi's lap filled the air, pouring the melon to the ground.

"Nne, I was just about leaving," Ukokwe said while getting up from the stool before turning to her friend and mouthing her apology.

"No, Uko. Don't leave on my account." Nwabuko said in a polite voice while giving Nmachi a suspicious look as to why they had reacted the way they did.

There was no doubt she had frightened Nmachi even more than she did Ukokwe, "Nne le-I want to see her off." Nmachi stuttered while leading the way for Ukokwe to follow.

Nwabuko cleared her throat as her daughter passed in front of her, "Be back before sundown, we are expecting visitors." She said before turning around to go back into the house.

"What are you going to do about Echezona?" Ukokwe asked Nmachi as they walked out of Nmachi's compound.

Nmachi placed the back of her right hand in her left palm and clapped it before interchanging them and clapping again,"I don't know, I'm still thinking about it." She shrugged.

Shocked, Ukokwe exclaimed,"Thinking about what? Don't even try it." She advised Nmachi who stopped walking to listen to her.

Ukokwe pulled at her own ear which is often a sign to show a person how serious you were about something, "Take Ugoma's predicament as a warning. The fall of the yellow leaves is a warning to the green ones." She said, finalizing her advise with the popular proverb, ilu before leaving her ear which she had been pulling.

"I've heard you but it's Echezona we're talking about not leaves." Nmachi whined.

"You and who is talking about?" Ukokwe asked her, a way of telling her she was done with the conversation.

In annoyance, Ukokwe murmured,"A child that is told a proverb and still needs the proverb to be explained, his mothers bride price is in vain."

"I should be on my way. We would see in school tomorrow." Ukokwe dismissed her before waving at her and continuing on her way not wanting to continue the conversation.

Sluggishly returning to her house, Nmachi thought about Echezona but a picture of herself with a protruded stomach, standing alone in a dark room flashed across her mind and she immediately threw her arm over her head, took it to her side and snapped her fingers,"May the gods forbid." She whispered, rebuking the image.

Upon entering the compound, Nmachi saw her father, Ojukwu sitting down in front of his hut which is also called obi where visitors were welcomed.

He was dressed in his full regalia as an Nze which is similar to a Chief. Surprised at the red cap he had on his head, Nmachi walked in his direction.

"Pa-"

"Ehe, Ada m." Her father said, smiling in excitement as she approached him while Nmachi wondered what the occasion was and why he was dressed that way.

"This one you're dressed like this, I hope all is well." Nmachi asked her father who kept the beaming smile on his face, revealing his teeth which has almost turned brown from the frequent schnapps and kolanut he consumed.

"All is well, my daughter. Your mother is in her hut waiting for you, you should go and see her." He informed her while pointing at the hut closest to the kitchen which she shared with her mother.

Nodding, Nmachi began turned around to go to her mother. When she entered into the hut, she found her mother sitting on the rafia mat while admiring a dress she had been warned never to wear until Christmas so that she wouldn't have to get her a new cloth by then.

Things were usually expensive in the market during the Christmas season so Nwabuko would always purchase new clothes for herself and Nmachi four months before Christmas when the prices haven't been inflated.

She would hide them in one of her old boxes and wouldn't show them to any one until Christmas especially when those in the city would be coming back with new clothes and shoes to show off in the village.

"Nne, I was told you wanted to see me." Nmachi said, announcing her presence in the room as her mother had not noticed her yet.

Wiping off the joyous tears from her eyes, Nwabuko turned to face her daughter before patting the space on the mat for Nmachi to sit.

Although Nmachi was still confused and scared at the same time which made her heart race rapidly in her chest, she cautiosly sat down beside her mother.

The moment Nwabuko noticed that Nmachi was beside her, she took out a huge black bead and placed it on Nmachi's thigh. It was mbaji -waist bead- yet Nmachi stared at it as though she had no idea what it was.

She knew her mother wouldn't give her such an item unless they were celebrating something but she remained silent to allow her mother finish off the occasional display of affection.

Not that Nwabuko didn't love her daughter -of course she did- She was only a tough nut to crack and always uses an iron fist on Nmachi for fear that she would turn out spoilt and rotten if she goes soft on her.

"This was given to me by my mother when I was leaving my father's house to my husband's, your father." Nwabuko said, referring to the bead which Nmachi was smiling at while admiring it's heaviness and beauty but upon hearing the word 'husband', the smile on Nmachi's face dropped and slowly did the bead.

Nwabuko hadn't noticed the sudden moodiness of her daughter because she even wore a brighter smile while placing a dress which she had sewn using one of the most expensive wrappers her husband had gifted her on Nmachi's thigh.

"Put this dress on and come outside." Nwabuko said to a very surprised yet confused Nmachi who had her lower lip hanging low as she looked from the dress to her mother.

"But Nne," Nmachi began,"it's not yet Christmas and obu ofor is after Christmas day. Why should I wear this dress today?" She asked her mother who gave off a light laugh.

"Christmas came early this year," her mother said to her but she was not satisfied with the response yet she decided to do as she was told.

She got up from the chair and walked to the inner part of the hut where they had set aside for dressing up. After she was done changing into the dress, she took in a very deep comforting breath and stepped out of hut to where her mother was waiting for her

"Ewwwe, you're very fine." Nwabuko complimented her in the loose dress she was in that only managed to fit at her hips.

Every other part of the dress was oversized, kudos to her mother's favourite tailor who thinks about the future when making her dresses.

"Ngwa, let's go. Your husband is waiting for you." Her mother said and forcefully took Nmachi's hand knowing fully well that Nmachi was going to shy away at the mention of a husband.

Nmachi tried to pull her hand but one deadly glare from her mother made it impossible for her to continue.

Nwabuko feared that Nmachi was obsessed with and might end up like Akudo who had been rumoured to be so rich yet so single but has acquired her riches from the numerous rich men hanging around her.

Nmachi knew fear and what heightened that fear was that Akudo was related to her mother. Her mother was afraid that there was a bad blood in her family which was making it difficult for the only daughter of her half sister to get married.

Upon stepping out of the hut, there were already three elderly men who also bear the same title as her father and among them was her best friend's father Ichie Oforji.

Ichie Oforji had been rumoured to be in search of a new wife ever since his wife couldn't give him a male child after having seven girls, Ukokwe being the first of them all.

Nmachi stared wide eyed at the sight before her and while the elderly men smiled, nodding their head while ogling her, Nmachi silently prayed to her chi that this doesn't turn out to be what she suspects it to be.

Ukokwe's father cleared his throat and began, "Nze Ojukwu, She is ripe just as I had said an-"

"Who is ripe?" Nmachi couldn't hold back her tongue from asking that question as she glared at him in disgust and annoyance.

She couldn't see herself as a step mother to her best friend neither did she try to imagine becoming a co-wife to a woman she had been calling 'mama' since birth.

Surprised at her sudden outburst, Oforji turned to look at her with a cunning smile on his face.

"You, I have come to pay yo-"

"Papa," Nmachi called him a major way of reminding him that he was like a father to her,"Don't pay anything. I am not interested." She said in a stern voice ignoring the signs her mother had been giving her by blinking her eyes and dusting her wrappers while her father wore a proud smile which surprised her.

Nmachi had always had a sharp mouth and that scared her mother too. She was always ready to say it as it is, paying little or no attention at the consequences.

"Your daughter, Ukokwe, is my friend and I don't have any plans on becoming her stepmother." She explained in a rather disrespectful tone before looking away from where they were seated to where her mother was sitting behind them.

Oforji felt a little embarrassed but did his best to coat it,"The friendship between both of you is the reason I think this marri-"

Nmachi didn't wait for him to finish what he was saying because she started shaking her head continuously.

"Eh eh, No. Nne, I told you that I want to go to school besides papa married just you and you're not even a second wife but an only wife. Why would you want me to become a second wife?" She asked her mother because she knew very well her father didn't make this decision and wouldn't have even thought of it had her mother not talked him into it.

"Shuuu, Who told you your father isn't going to get married to another wi-"

"Papa, return whatever you have collected from him because I am going nowhere." Nmachi said to her father and turned around to leave but just then, Echezona's whistling graced her ear and she smiled at herself but decided to give him a signal so that he would stop.

Breathing deeply, she said at the top of her lung so that Echezona could hear her from where ever he was, "Nne! don't try to talk to me about it, my mind is made up!" She yelled and just then Echezona stopped whistling, moved a little into the bush to wait for her.

After she was done talking, she made an angry face and ran out of the house. To her parents and the visitors, she was angry and needed to cool off but to her, she was going to see the one that made her heart race.

"Nmachukwu!" Nwabuko yelled but Nmachi had already gone and even though she heard her, she thought better than to answer her.

While Nmachi ran, she made up her mind to give to Echezona that which he had asked of her so that if she was to be forced into marriage with Oforji, she must have given her virginity to the man she loved, Or so she thought.