Just before dawn
Chapter one.
Waking up to the whizzing sound of Mama's breathing, I checked the time on our old wall clock. I didn't know why I was always doing that. That clock stopped working before I was born and I was 13 years old already. But then a wall clock is meant to be checked out each time you are curious about the time whether it is working or not. Isn't it?
From the clock, my eyes travelled down to Mama. The sickness seemed to want to last forever. We tried everything but nothing worked. Everything but going to the clinic. The last time we were there, Doctor Emma had made it clear that his wasn't a charity hospital therefore, without money, we should not bother to come back. That was three months ago. The medications he gave us out of compassion had since ran out and we have resorted into using local herbs.
To a corner of our clustered up room, in different pots and containers were several herbs. Some in use, some given up on and some yet to be tested. Mama was brave. She took them all without a single complaint.
I stood up to go out as my bladder wanted some release. As I opened the door to go into the corridor, I sighted two big rats playing inside the plate I had used just the previous night. They took to their heels on seeing me but unlike Mama who would have gone after them not minding the time of the day, I snobbed the rodents, opened the door and went out.
The corridor was a long one as the house was one of those old low cost houses popular in the 90ties. There were eight rooms in all with two rooms facing each other. The first two rooms by the entrance were used as sitting rooms. One belonged to grandpa who was the owner of the house while the other was a general sitting room where we all gathered to pray every morning.
Mama's room was the last on the right side of the corridor if you are coming from outside and that meant it was the first on your left if you are coming in from the backyard. Which also meant, I was close to the toilet and bathroom.
As I was finishing my business in the bathroom, I could hear Mama's cough go from bad to worse. What alerted me was the struggle to cough. Her gasps penetrated the silence of the night and assaulted my senses making me feel a surge of panic. Somehow, I knew something bad was about to happen and without doing a proper clean up, I jumped out of the bathroom and rushed back inside where I found Mama doubled over in a battle of will with the cough that seemed to be choking her. I quickly rushed down at her and took her in my hands. Her body was rigid. I tried to make her sit up against the wall but had to hold her head and chest up as she kept folding up. Suddenly the trapped cough escaped and it ravaged her body so hard I could feel the rattling in my bones.
Not knowing what to do, I started talking nonsense to her hoping to soothe her one way or the other. I looked at her and tears streamed down my face. Her eyes were screwed shut in a pain knotted grimace and for the first time, I noticed that her lips had turned purple. I was still contemplating on what could have caused her lips to change to purple of all colors when suddenly she trembled and then relaxed.
Relieved that this fit was over, I laid her down and stood up to go get her something to drink as it didn't occur to me that she was dead. But then something was missing. That husky heavy breathing after each fit of cough was missing. I stopped in my tracks and turned to Mama. I stared at her chest so hard but it was not racing as it should. Panic started sipping into my marrow again. I bent down and placed my hands on her chest. There was nothing. It was not moving. I had never seen a dead person before but somehow I knew my mum was dead but I never knew of my screams until uncle Uchenna and his wife rushed into the room.
"What is it?!, What is it!?"
My uncle Uchenna croaked as he barged into the room. I looked up at him and could see that he was aghast having been forced awake by something......my screams.
I pointed to Mama and his eyes followed my hands. His face transformed from aghast to askance and from askance to recognizance, then acceptance. There was a look I was searching for but never got to see.
Shock!
Uncle Uche was not shocked that Mama had died. Why?
Just as my uncle moved in proper to confirm what he already knew, I saw his wife. She had been hiding behind her husband in fear. She poked her head in and met her husband's tale telling gaze.
"Eeeeeewo!!! "
As her voice raised into the night, mine receded back into my throat. I watched her in amazement wondering -why the tears? If anybody should be happy about Mama's death , it was Uncle's wife. She hated my mother so much, she practically took delight in her ailment.
Just the previous week on my way from the farm where I had as usual gone to gather some herbs for Mama, Uncle's wife on sighting me had raised her voice up enough for me to hear that she was talking about my mother. The one witch who had tried to stop Uncle Uche from marrying her.
Ten years before Mama's death, I was three years old and was living in the same house where my mother grew up and died in. Uncle Uche who was the only educated man in the house had just finished in the University and was planning to go to Lagos, get a job and marry his village sweet heart CHIMA, but my mother Nkechi would not hear of it. She had caught CHIMA red handed kissing another man at a beer palour where she was working as a bartender. At the time, she didn't confront the lady but went to tell her brother that his sweetheart was no longer sweet.
When Uncle Uche called off the wedding, the whole village was thrown into an uproar. Chima's family members were not taking it lying down. Uncle was forced to reveal his source and against my mother's wish, he called her out to come defend her claims. Mama stood her ground while CHIMA threw herself on it swearing innocence.
Mama was ready to swear with the Bible but Chima's family wanted to use 'juju'. To keep the peace, they both used the Bible and juju to swear an oath placing irrevocable curses on each other.
Uncle Uche married her and they lived as cat and dog inside the house. Four years later, mama fell sick and wouldn't get better. Since then, Auntie CHIMA who had cursed herself to never know the joy of pregnancy if she had ever been unfaithful to her hubby, would never stop telling anyone who never gets tired of repetitions of how "The Lord had made her enemies to be like the dead even while they were alive".
Mama died a long time ago and until Uncle's death some years ago, Auntie CHIMA was never said to be pregnant.
"Why are you shouting? Do you have to wake the whole house?! " Uncle barked viciously at his wife. She sloshed to the floor in the door and transited from "Eeeeewooooo!!" to " Eh!!!! "
" What happened?! What is going on?! Where are they?! "
Uncle Uche's restraint was late, the whole house was awake and most of them thought we were under attack by armed robbers. They came out with sticks and local guns.
When Uncle broke the news, the cacophony that followed forced the whole village to start the day three hours before dawn.
