TRADITION
EPISODE 4
I sl-umped to the floor in agony, I couldn’t believe my sight, it was horri-ble, I kept tapping myself to wake up from such a horri-ble dream, but I was awakened by the sound of a sh*rp arr-ow that flew inches away from my nose and p_i_e_r_c_e_d the muddy floor, and that was when I realized what I had gotten myself into
My junior brother held my hand in a swift move and dragg-ed me into the bush, we kept r_u_n_n_i_n_g but my mind was still with my elder brother
I wanted to go back and take his b*dy or better still do something to revive him back but my junior brother kept dragg-ing me into the thick bush.
We ran for several hours until I was we-ak but I didn’t dare say that to him because we lost our brother because I wanted to take a rest, we kept running, even in pa-in we didn’t stop.
All of a sudden, I heard a loud fiap, I paused to ascertain where it came from, then my brother fell to his knees, I looked at him and realized he was sh*t on his leg with an arr-ow.
I felt like the world was on my head, no I wasn’t ready to l*se another brother, I rushed to him and helped him up, t_e_a_r_s already filled my eyes and I begged him to stay a_l_i_v_e for me.
“Sis this is the opportunity for you to save yourself, I am sure they are close by, they think if they can get me out of the way then you won’t be able to r*n far, and you will eventually be c_a_u_g_h_t” my brother stammered
“No, I cannot leave you here, we have to go home together, I can’t continue without you, please hold on tight and we will get out of here soon” I pleaded
“Sis please go, I will distract them from c_h_a_s_i_n_g you, use that opportunity and r*n, r*n for your life, don’t look back, keep ru**ng until you find help” he begged
All of a sudden, I heard a loud voice from the bush
“Grace surrender yourself, Kil**g you here is quite easy for me, but i won’t, because the tradition demands you be b*ried alive with your husband”
“Scr*w you, I never committed any crime, all I did was love and care for a man in this God forsaken village, I will not surrender myself because I have done nothing wrong” I shouted amidst tears
“Sis please go, you are wasting your time by standing here, like he said, he won’t k**l you, he needs you alive, so please run and I will distract him” my brother whispered
Then the man in the bush came out from his hiding place, I couldn’t tell if he was alone, but he came out alone
“Surr-ender yourself and I will let your brother go, don’t w_a_s_t_e him just like you did to your older brother, the youths are all over this village, you will never esc-ape this” the stranger said
“Grace r_u_n, make sure to r_u_n in a zic zac form, he will never get you if you r_u_n in that manner, go and wait for me at the main road, I will join you soon” my brother whispered to me
“I am being patient because I don’t want to rough handle you, it will be a different story if I inform the youths you are here, surrender yourself by yourself” the stranger shouted.
At that moment, I made contact with my brother then r*n speedily into the bush and in a Zic zac form just like he said
I hid behind a huge udara tree, I saw them exchanging words but I didn’t get what they said, then I saw an ar**w pierce his right leg, and then another on his c_h_e_s_t and kept p_i_e_r_c_i_n_g him with so many ar**ws until he fell to the floor and could no longer move.
