Episode 2
Mamiwota Is After My Life😭😭
My baby girl was a beauty to behold, a replica of the Mamiwota
My husband danced excitedly into the maternity ward after I delivered. He couldn’t control his emotion as he gave me a peck on my forehead while holding the baby’s tiny hand with one hand. He named her Chinenyenwa (God gives children).
I was happy that at last, happiness has returned to my home.
The day we returned from the hospital, something terrible happened.
I got down from the vehicle with my baby while my husband proceeded in parking the bus at its usual spot(under the Mango tree).
All the children in the compound gathered together to welcome us. They pushed their way behind me into the living, giggling.
“Aunty, I will be the first to carry the baby”. One said.
“No, it’s me. I will carry her first”. Another said.
When we got to the sitting room, I sat on one of the plastic chairs, with the baby on my lap to allow the curious children see her beautiful face.
“You will carry her when she wakes up”. I assured them.
“Aunty, the baby is beautiful”. They kept repeating the same words . I was proud of myself for being the mother of this beautiful baby.
Just then, my husband came in with the bags from the vehicle and dropped them on the center table. He went out again to get the remaining ones, and that was when he saw it.
I heard him scream from the front yard. I ran out with the baby and the children. Lo and behold, the vehicle was nowhere in sight….the giant mango tree has fallen noiselessly upon it.
All the other neighbors ran out to witness the scene.
“How did this happen?”. One woman asked, but no one responded. How could one explain that a tree full of life some minutes ago uprooted from the root, and had fallen on top the bus (our only source of livelihood) without the slightest sound.
The adults marvelled at such wonder, but the compound children saw the incident as a blessing. They feasted on the ripe fruits all evening.
That night, instead of rejoicing over the arrival of our bundle of joy, we mourned. We went to bed sad.
The next morning, the landlady brought in two arborists who trimmed the tree and the bus was towed to the mechanic workshop where it’s been till date.
A lot of other paranormal activities took place in the compound which I didn’t link to my baby’s arrival until the very last one.
I was in the kitchen that Saturday evening (my husband had gone out in search of another job) when I heard a shrill cry from one of the children who were playing with the baby in the living room. I left what I was doing, and hurried inside to investigate.
It was Ethel. The landlady’s grand daughter.
Her index finger was covered in bl00d.
“What happened to her?”. I asked, showing great concern.
“She put her finger inside the baby’s mouth and the baby bit her” . The girl I spanked the other time explained.
I was amused. How can a toothless baby bite?.
But they insisted she was bitten by the baby.
At this stage of confusion, her mom knocked and entered. She must have heard the cry of her child.
“Why are you crying Ethel?”. She inquired.
The other children went ahead to tell her the exact thing they told me, but just like me, she didn’t believe them. She instead scolded them for bullying her child because she was the youngest among them all.
Although, I failed to show it, but somehow, I feared the children might be saying the truth after all…
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#Story from Joy Ifunanya
