Should we all go mad because your younger wife has not been able to keep her dog in her stead?
Obinna said while confronting his senior wife, Aku. They have been married for two decades but had no children. Aku was the most beautiful woman in the whole of Umueke, a community where only princes are allowed to marry their daughters. In her case, she had only been giving to Obini, the greatest yam farmer in the whole of Igboland.
He is therefore a wealthy man, a prince in his own right. But the inability of Aku to bear him a child, or a son was greeted with serious antagonism from Obini's family and relatives.
One morning, she woke up from a dream where she was told by a man in an all-white robe that until another woman entered the home as a second wife, would probably not be able to conceive a child.
Au woke up sweating like she had been chased by a wild ghost, panting very hard too. Having narrated the dream she had, she went ahead to marry a woman for her husband and did all the traditional rites on her.
When Abueke came home as the newest wife, she was quite humble and respectful to Aku. She would always be with her even though she was married to Obini The problem
Problem soon started when Abueke became pregnant. It was the first time Obini would have a woman, his wife carrying the pregnancy. People had started making a mockery of him for not being able to get his wife pregnant. To them, it is a sign of weakness.
Obinna did all he could to ensure that Abueke was pampered through the period of pregnancy. It was Aku's joy that at least, the sound of a newborn baby would be heard in their home. Whether it was from her or not does matter as far as she was concerned.
On the day that Aku would go to trade her crayfish in the border town, she would employ the services of a househelp to keep Abueke company and to do all the chores.
There was this particular trip she made without considering that gesture and Abueke came upon her with sour language and she had to make an output. That is the situation that Obini met and was raging fire and brimstone on Aku.
Mazi, don't forget that I married this woman for you. I wouldn't have her talk to me in such a manner.
While the argument ensued, Abueke's water broke and she started to scream for the labor of childbirth. Aku, having compassion and love for her, rushed to pick her up and led her inside while she asked Obinni to call the local midwife who came to take delivery of the coming child.
After about two hours of screams, the baby boy came forth. Obinna had already ordered kegs of palm wine to celebrate the coming of his heir apparent.
His age mates, me of the same age level as him, and other classes of men had already assembled and the merry-making had begun in earnest.
The newborn was named Okoli. He had hair around his ears and chest at birth. They are sun-beaten hair. Okoli is the solace for all Obini's tragedy of two decades without a child. The merry making continued for several days as different classes of people came to pay the great man greetings to have endured the hard time.
Aku took responsibility for bathing the child and preparing food for the mother. She had to suspend all business trips to ensure that the mother and child did not lack anything good. Obini too did not spend longer hours in the farms like he used to do. That must be probably because he wanted to monitor what happens at home, especially with his son.
Sooner than anyone could expect, Aku came to the state too. She was heavily pregnant without knowing it. She was about three months gone.
When Abueke noticed that her mistress had become pregnant, she began to treat her with some respect again. But the fact that she had been an abusive woman all the while, had shown the kind of person she was. That did not bother Aku though.
Okoli grew and looked exactly like Obinni. In the ninth month of her pregnancy, when Okoli had begun to crawl, Aku's baby did not come. The talk of water in her womb made the rounds in Umueke community. She had started to doubt that she was pregnant.
At some points in her state, she started to think. What about those kicking? She wondered if she was actually pregnant or was she hallucinating about it all in the first place?
Find out in part two of this series.
