TRADITION
Final Episode
I stayed ti_ed in the dark room throughout, I was tired and exhausted, there was no food nor water, my throat was very dry but I cared less
I knew my time was up and there was no need to fight, I decided to set my mind ready for whatever doom would come to me that night
After what seemed like forever, I heard the door creak open, I heard so many footsteps but I didn’t see the people because the room was pitch black
One of them switched the touch light on and I saw two hefty men with one of my husband’s cousin
He ordered the two men to untie me and take me outside, they did
They dragged me out where there were so many people, they didn’t pay much attention to us, they concentrated to the preacher that conducted the vigil.
The two hefty men took me to another room and pushed me to the floor and I fell on my butt, I winced in pain but comported myself.
They ordered me to strip n***d, when they saw my hesitation they explained to me it was part of their tradition that I must be buried n***d, since my husband died without having a child from me, so I was to d_ie a shameful de_ath.
I stripped and stood the way God created me, I lost hope in everything, my brothers were gone because of me, so why then was I still alive, I was ready for whatever would happen
They opened a cof_fin beside me, my Late husband was in there, his nose was stuffed with white wools, and he was dressed with a neat suit accompanied with socks and hand gloves.
My face flashed in anger, he was the reason for my predicament, why didn’t he tell me about his tradition especially when he knew we would spend the rest of our lives in his village
The men didn’t allow me say my last prayer, the ordered me to lay on my husband face up
I was terrified and scared, but there was nothing I could do, I laid on him and faced up
His body was very stiff and cold, he smelt funny but I endured. The men closed the cof_fin and I was engulfed in darkness.
I struggled to lay well, it was very tight and there was no air to breath, I was suffocating, I kept breathing from my mouth but nothing worked
I was loosing breath, in the process of laying well I touched one of my fingers, it was very stiff and I got more scared, at some point I felt something crawling on my body, I wanted to scream but I couldn’t
I didn’t know how long I stayed in the cof_fin but I was already loosing breath, then all of a sudden, the cof_fin creaked open
My weak eyes shut open to see one of the men that put me in the cof_fin, I didn’t care why he was there, maybe he was there to finish me off completely.
He dragged me out of the cof_fin, placed me on his shoulder and tiptoed out of the room. I still didn’t know where he was taking me to.
He kept running without looking back, I didn’t know where I was, I was to weak to ask, but he kept running.
After what seemed like forever, he dropped me on the floor, then removed water he tied on his waist and gave it to me to drink
After drinking I regained my strength a bit and had the courage to ask him where he was taking me to
“Your husband was a very good man, I borrowed him a huge amount of money before he died, I still do not have the money to pay and my conscience is killing me, letting you escape is the only way I can pay him back ” he said
“Where are we?” I asked
“We are at the main road, your brother’s car is parked a stone throw from here, hurry up and drive off, few hours from now the cof_fin will be buried, I have to go back and make sure they don’t find out” he said
“Thank you very much for your kindness”
“Please rush to the car, you don’t have much time” he said and left.
I rushed to the car and luckily the key was in the ignition, I started the car and Zoomed off.
N/B: this is a real life story, it happened 2005, the woman is old now, she told the story two weeks ago, although some things are edited but it happened.
Story written by Debbie Enang for coolvalstories Production
Some traditions need to be stopped