Happy Sunday to this wonderful community. I want to tell you a story that happened when I was 10 year old. Then I was living with my parents. My parents had three boys before they had me, after having me they wanted a girl they still got another boy. These elder brothers of mine were very naughty, stubborn and play roughly with me despite I was a girl then.
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The burden of house chores was too much on me as a little girl, because the boys were not helping . My mum decided to make my burden light by bringing a house help to assist me with house chores. She is our new house help ,her name was Angela . I welcomed her with smiles on my face while my three siblings snubbed her. I know they never like her.
After three months, my brothers started finding fault in any mistake that Angela made. They reported her to my mum for breaking plates and burning our pot of soup. My mum noticed that my siblings hated Angela for no reason..
Early the next day, after our morning devotion,my mum asked them , why did you hate Angela. They chorused with one voice, "we don't like Angela for the fact that she is a woman , we need a boy. "
This time ,it was my Dad that brought this boy from a another state in the rural Area. His name was Nsika. He was timid and humble,and my three brothers always make a fool of him.😁😁😁😁
Nsika only understand pidgin apart from his dialect. 😟😟😟
One day, our water tank was broken and we needed a new one. We don't have water and my brothers sent Nsika to fetch water from the next building where a blind old woman used to sell water. When anyone comes in to buy water the woman will ask in her dialect , "o bu onye "? ( which means, who are you ?)
As they boy entered into the blind woman's compound to buy water, the woman asked her usual question, o bu. onye ?
Nsika did not respond because he didn't understand what she said, and he ran home without fetching the water. For the blind old woman used long stick to obstruct the entrance ,😩she only let anyone in when you answered her usual question..
When Nsika got home, he explained what happened to my brothers. He asked my brothers, what was the meaning of
"o bu onye" ? in our dialect, before my brothers say anything to him, they whispered to each other. I Know they were partner in crime. They told Nsika ,now we want you to go back. This time if she asked the question, O bu onye?. Just boldly answer her in her dialect, " A bu m onye oshi", which they told him that it means ," am here to fetch water" but which actually means , "I am a thief"😮
As he was going back the second time, he was memorizing a bu m onye oshi, , a bu m oshi,( I am a thief, I am a thief )😄😃😀
As he reached there, the blind old woman asked, O bu onye?Nsika did not allow the woman to finish and he confidently said "a bu m onye oshi" ( I am a thief) .The blind woman started shouting, thief ! thief!! thief!!!😄😃😀 Everyone gathered and some people identified him and brought him to our house. My brothers were in trouble😧😨😰. Guess what? They learnt their lessons. My parents punish them severely and apologize to Nsika .
Thanks for reading .
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