"Are you sure, mom? It mustn't be like the other day," I replied to my mom immediately after she broke the news about visiting her grandmother for a few days.
"The other time wasn't my fault or would you have preferred me losing my job because of the traveling?" Mom asked and left my room angrily.
She reacted that way whenever I blamed her for not fulfilling her promise about visiting her grandmother the last time.
"I am sorry, mom. You are forgiven," I screamed just to get her attention.
"Sorry for yourself," She replied and we both started laughing.
I rushed to check the date and the traveling was scheduled during the holiday.
Yes! I screamed out of excitement knowing well that it won't be a short visit. Mom already had everything planned and sorted by the look of things. I was so happy because meeting my great-grandmother was something I had always looked forward to since I was very little.
The last time we visited, I couldn't even recognize her or say anything about the trip.
Great-grandmother was in her 80s but still strong and active. She still worked as a traditional doctor and was known for her great gift of fixing anything bone-related, whether broken or dislocation.
According to my grandmother, my great-grandmother has magical hands that make bone heal quickly. Everything I have heard about great-grandmother makes her look like a supernatural, and I can't wait to meet her because she has lots of questions to answer.
The preparation for the trip wasn't a mere one, and I was too excited, judging by how my dad complained whenever I asked questions about my great-grandmother again.
"No more questions, just ask your great-grandmother when you see her. You talk too much," My mom shunned me on the bus while heading to her grandmother's place and I felt embarrassed.
I didn't say a word after and just wanted to arrive at our destination. Immediately we arrived there, I could tell that the old woman sitting outside the house was my great-grandmother. We had a strong resemblance just like her other children and even grandchildren.
My mom hurried to kneel before her and I did the same. Great grandmother tried carrying me but the strength wasn't there anymore. She was so happy that she sang several songs and even said my oriki (eulogy), I fell in love with her immediately and was happy we made the trip.
We were received very well, and my great-grandmother made me very comfortable. I went around her big house with about twelve rooms used as storage for her farm products since only a few people were living with her.
I stumbled on a big clay pot with half of the top broken in one of the rooms and it was my first time seeing something of that size. I approached the pot and before I could look into it, one of the people living with her warned me not to look into it.
"Why?" I stuttered.
"Iya agba (great-grandmother) forbid people from looking into the pot," She replied.
"It must be magic. Could great-grandmother be a sorcerer? Could those things in movies be real?" I thought while returning back the main building.
I don't know how, but I suddenly developed a fear of my great-grandmother, thinking she could have dark magic.
"Mommy, have you seen that big pot in that place?" I pointed in the direction of the pot.
"This girl! I hope you didn't touch it?" Mom's voice trembled.
"No, I didn't. One woman warned me not to," I stuttered.
"Why did you even go there? Can't you just sit in a place," She scolded me and the place I was eager to visit started scaring me.
We accompanied great-grandmother to her farm two days later, and I summoned the courage to ask her about the pot.
"Great-grandmother, are you a sorcerer?' I stuttered.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Someone who uses magic?" I replied.
"No, I don't use magic. I use herbs for treatment," She replied.
"But that big pot looks like that of a sorcerer's own," I replied.
"Hmmmm, that pot is a special one. My husband used to be a potter, and that was the first thing we built on this land when we acquired it because the nearest river was very far. We needed something to fetch enough water at once, but when my grandmother visited us here, she blessed the pot and said we should always use it for healing," Great-grandmother briefed her story.
"So you use the pot for healing," I asked but great-grandmother said she would tell me more when we arrived home.
When we arrived back, she told me that the pot has helped her heal a lot of people with broken bones and women who have difficulty conceiving or difficulty during labor.
For the broken bone, she always uses the water from the pot to massage the place until it heals while women struggling with childbearing drink it.
I asked if anything was inside the pot that made the water inside powerful, and great-grandmother said it was just a pot made from clay.
I was really impressed but not satisfied. I felt like there was more to the pot, and I really needed to see inside it.
My mom watched me closely, except I was with my great-grandmother, so sneaking around wasn't possible. I had to wait for the perfect time, which came when Mom went to get some fried rice ingredients from the market; she wanted to make something delicious for great-grandmother.
She persuaded me to go with her, but I refused, and immediately she left for the market, I snuck into where the pot was.
With my heart pounding heavily and my body shaking vigorously, I took a quick peep into the pot, holding my breath, and surprisingly, it was just water.
I turned around slowly, feeling disappointed; the thrill and everything just vanished from me.
"But I told you not to go near or even look into the pot," A voice said and I was thrown back into fear. I was sweating profusely and couldn't even alter a word.
The woman who warned me earlier took me to great grandmother and reported me.
I explained that curiosity pushed me and even though my great-grandmother wanted to forgive me, the woman wanted to punish me.
"Any unauthorized person who looks into the pot must drink the water from the pot, or else evil things will continue to happen to them," The woman said to me.
I was still pleading and crying when my mom came in. The woman explained everything to my mom and they went outside to talk for a moment.
My mom came back insisting that I drank the water to avert evil, and when they brought the water, it had something like worms in it.
"It has worms," my voice trembled.
"So?" My mom yelled at me.
My hands were shaking as I held the container, and I couldn't push myself to drink it. Mom kept piling pressure on me till great-grandmother couldn't bear it anymore.
"Leave her alone," Great-grandmother told my mom.
She told me to throw the water away and come to her which I did, still shaking.
"Don't be scared," Great grandmother whispered holding my hands.
"Nothing will happen to you, and that was just to scare you. Did you see that the top half of the pot is broken?" Great-grandmother asked.
"Yes," I stuttered, nodding my head.
"A curious kid like you broke it and he even injured himself.
That's why we don't like kids going around the pot," She embraced me, and I felt relieved.
My mom was still very pissed and she even scolded me. I couldn't get the whole off my head and spent the rest of the visit in fear.
My great-grandmother died a decade later, and we only spoke on the phone before then. May her soul continue to rest in peace.
