Episode 7
Mamiwota Is After My Life π
I couldn’t bring myself together to breastfeed the baby. The groaning sounds she was making wasn’t helping matters.
What if she bites me?. I wondered, staring closely at her pretty face.
“Dorathy?”. That was mother-in-law, jilting me back to reality.
“Ma?”. I answered.
“Are you okay?”. She asked.
“Of course I am. I looked at hubby
… Dear, please, help me hold her. I need to take a quick shower”. I begged.
I took a bucket of water, and hurried out of the room. Another neighbor was making use of the bathroom, so I sat under a mango tree behind the close by, and waited. While at it, I thought of the best way to handle the situation.
“I need help!”. I muttered.
At this point, I think I need Angela again. I could have solved the problem without much difficulty had it been with hubby alone, but with mother in-law in the picture, it’s going to be very difficult for me. Like, how do I explain that the child that made her travel all the way from Ibadan to Owerri, the child of whose reason she shedded tears while apologizing for all the wrongs she’s done to me, isn’t ordinary, but a gift from the ocean goddess?. And to my husband, how do I explain that I made him babysit so I could have a secret meeting with mamiwota?. How would he feel if he learns that Ethel’s death wasn’t ordinary?. What would the society think of me?.
When I returned to the room, I quickly turned a bottle of cerealac for the baby to displeasure of mother-in-law.
“No, Dora. This baby is still too tender for this”. She frowned at me.
“I know, but she doesn’t really like b****t milk”. I lied.
She ceased to complain after she realized the baby emptied the bottle without difficulty.
“You wanted to tell me something”. Hubby reminded me.
“It’s nothing serious”. I laughed.
Much later, with mother-in-law in the kitchen making us dinner and hubby out to sympathize with the bereaved, I placed a call through to Angela.
“Please, come over to the house”. I pleaded.
“What happened again?”. I could feel the fear in her breath.
“Nothing. I need to discuss something very important with you. Please, come now”. I said.
“Right away”. She said, and I ended the call.
By the time she arrived, mother-in-law was serving us dinner. We invited her to join, but she declined.
“I don’t eat swallow at night. I’m watching my weight”. She has said casually, and everyone laughed over it.
After I was done, I took her to a quiet part of the backyard away from earshot.
“I’m sorry for the way I behaved with you earlier today”. I began.
“Come on stop. Your anger is justified. Who wouldn’t be?”. She smiled
“Thanks for your understanding”. I hugged her.
“You’re welcome”. She smiled.
“There is a big problem. That little child that the baby bit, is dead. She died this morning”. I announced.
She put her hands on her head with mouth agape.
“Jesus Christ!”. She exclaimed.
“That is the news on ground. Angela, I’m so scared right now. I can’t even breastfeed my baby. What do you think I should do?”. I asked.
After thinking about it for a while, she came up with another suggestion.
“Since the goddess is angry at your lack of gratitude, why don’t we go, and appease her with gifts?”. She said.
“How?”. I asked.
“We can go to the market, buy something tangible, take it to her altar and tell her it’s an appreciation”. She continued.
I saw a lot of sense in her suggestion. So the next morning, I was able to convince hubby to stay back and babysit while Angela and I hurried out again. Firstly, we went to the market, bought a fat white fowl before heading to the shrine.
Our offering was gladly accepted by the goddess.
“Fear not. The baby would not in any way harm you”. She assured me.
From that day onwards, I breastfeed the baby without fear.
Mother-in-law left four days later. But before then, ‘Mmirinma’ has become a household name. This was because at a stage, whenever you call her by her christian name, the baby cries all day. But when you call her the by the former, she gives a charming smile. Everyone thinks it was funny.
“This child will not k!ll me with laugh”. Mother-in-law would say.
Hubby on the other hand was given a new bus on high purchase through which we make ends meet for the time being.
Everything was going so well until two months later. Hubby came back from work and raised the topic I’ve been dreading….
Guess what?
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#Story from Joy Ifunanya
