ÀṢÀKẸ́

CHAPTER TWENTY

"Ìkìlọ̀ wo sir?" (What is the warning sir?), màámi asked as she sat at the edge of the chair, her chair. That was her usual seat whenever she was in the sitting room, while bàámi would sit where the evangelist sat, opposite màámi.

"Ọmọ ọ̀ yìí á la ìṣòro tó pọ̀ kọjá o..." (This girl will pass through a lot of challenges), he continued. That, I could agree with; it was like I had been thrown into a pool of difficulties and I didn't think that was only going to be a future occurrence, it was what happened to me at the time.

"Àmọ́ Jésù yíó koyọ. Ìkìlọ̀ yẹn nipé kò gbọdọ̀ kúrò nínu ìlú yìí títí tí ó fi ma ṣe ǹkan tí Jésù fẹ́ ó ṣe" (But Jesus will deliver her. The warning is this, she must not leave this village till she has done what Jesus would have her do). Well, that wasn't as tough as I thought it would be. My village was my universe, and I never imagined myself existing beyond her walls, or having any reason to ever leave.

"Ìyẹn ò kí ń ṣe ìṣòro, kódà, tẹbá sọpé kó má kúrò nínu ilé yìí, kò ní kúrò" (That one is not a problem, even if you say she shouldn't leave this house, she won't leave), màámi said. I turned my head sideways with my eyes and mouth wide open. The three of us suddenly burst into laughter at màámi's exaggeration and my reaction, the evangelist's laughter was quite 'extra'. The evangelist tilted forward as the laughter went on and asked "Daddy ńkọ́?" (What about daddy?). Our laughter came to an immediate halt as we stared at each other in silence, it was a time I understood the transient nature of happiness.

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"Kookorouuukoooouo!", the first sound of the rooster in the early morning sounded. He had not finished it's cry when I opened my eyes wide, with a broad smile across my face. It seemed like I had not slept at all, and that was because I didn't. I was awake all night, and impatiently anticipated the sound of the cock; it was a first time for me. Many times when I would wake up to fetch water, I would stare at the proud cock walking around with his neck pushing forward and his crown vibrating, and would wish I could kill him, but this particular day was different. As I shut my eyes on my bed and feigned sleep, I hit my bed repeatedly through the night and grumbled, "ṣé àkùkọ ọṣì yìí ò ní kọ ni? Ọjọ́ tabá fẹ́ kó pariwo, kò ní pariwo, ọjọ́ tabá fẹ́ sùn lóma ma pariwo òṣì" (Won't this useless cock crow ni? The days we want it to crow, it will not crow, but he shouts unnecessarily in the days we want to sleep).

I kicked off my cover cloth and jumped off my bed, reached for the window and inhaled deeply, the morning cold; it had a touch of smoke and a stew aroma. Excited, I giggled and ran across my room towards the door when I remembered that màámi had made up her mind we won't be participating in this year's festival. My heart suddenly weighed a ton, and an ocean had been poured on my little spark of enthusiasm. Shortly after, màámi's bell kicked off its early morning duty, and her voice echoed through the walls of my room, singing her usual morning call for prayers. I threw myself on the floor out of frustration and banged the floor with both my hands and feet. I could hear muffled chatters of people through my window; it was the most exciting moment of the year, but it made no difference since I wouldn't be allowed to participate. For me, I felt the festival was the one true and valuable thing that defined my village.

"Àṣàkẹ́! Oò ní jáde ni?" (Asake! Won't you come out?), she shouted from the sitting room after minutes of singing. I dragged my feet and grumbled as I went to the sitting room.

"Ẹ káàrọ̀ màámi" (Good morning mummy), I reluctantly greeted and went slowly on my knees.

"Oṣé Àṣàkẹ́" (Thank you Asake), she replied as she cleaned her Bible with the edge of her wrapper. "Jókòó" (Have your seat), she continued. I reached for the stool close to where I knelt and sat on it, beneath the parlour's window. She began with her opening prayer, and a long lists of songs I didn't know, then we went into the word of God. That day, she talked about father Abraham who trusted 'foolishly' in God, enough to have wanted to sacrifice his only son for Him. Don't be deceived, I paid only little attention to all she said for over an hour.