Mama Achalugo is a widow who lives in a village in Anambra State with her late younger brother's children. The children had no one who cared to take care of them when their parent passed away. Mama whose children live in the cities needed someone around her so she took the children in. After all, they are her brother's children.
Mama is a strong old woman. She is popularly called Nwagbogho in the village because she looked 50 even though she is 75. She sells perishable food even though her children cater for her and the orphans.
Even though she loves and treats them like her grandchildren, she still scolds and beats them when necessary like any Nigerian mother would.
One night after everyone had retired to bed. Mama's sleep was disturbed by the sound of voices from somewhere in the house. She decided to find out what was going on. She got out of bed and went to the room the children shared. The lights are usually left on and she immediately noticed that the 12 and 10 years old were not in bed. She guessed they were in the kitchen looking for extra food to eat and they were there alright.
As she entered the kitchen, they were squatting down at a corner of the kitchen with their backs turned towards her, she asked:
"Ke ife unu na eme eba?" she asked.
They both stood up and spun around. They didn't hear her come in. They stared at her.
"I said what are you doing here?"
"Its Chidinma" the 10 years old said pointing at his sister, the 12 years old.
"It's not me ooo, its you" said the girl pointing at the boy and withdrawing backward slowly like a scared cat.
They both had scared look on their faces. The kind you have when you are caught stealing meat from a pot of soup.
Mama walked to the pot of soup, opened and inspected it, the remaining soup seemed undisturbed.
Mama asked them what was going on again and the boy said "anyi na acho ogwu oke"
"This night? Why are you looking for rat poison this night?"
They both looked at each other and lowered their heads.
"Are there rats in the house?"
"Mba" they chorused
"If there are no rats in the house why then are you two looking for the rat poison?"
"Chidinma said we should put it in the pot of soup so that you will eat it and die because you used to beat us" said the boy.
"Chineke" mama exclaimed.
Her stomach tightened.
She held it with one hand and supported herself with the other on the kitchen door frame.
She couldn't believe her ears.
She called Ifeanyi, the 15 years old who was sleeping and asked Ndubuisi, the 10 years old to repeat himself.
"O Chidinma si ka anyi tiye ogwu oke na ofe mama ma ka na onaeti anyi ife"
Ifeanyi who was sleepy while listening became fully awake.
"What?"
The two younger siblings started speaking at the same time, each trying to defend himself/herself. In the process Chidinma said Nndubuisi first suggested stabbing mama in her sleep but she discarded the suggestion because they may not stab the right part of her body that would kill her instantly and she may wake up and scream for help, and when that happens, their elder one may hear and beat them.
He pounced on them starting with the girl then the boy. Then he beat them simultaneously. He was enraged. They called out to mama for help but because of the shock of what she heard, mama couldn't stand up from where she found the nearest seat.
She sat there thinking "what if I had not thrown away that rat poison in the morning?"
Finally she got Ifeanyi to stop the beating. The two beaten siblings went to sleep on the floor of the living room. They couldn't bring themselves to lay on the same bed and the same room with their angry elder brother. The beater also went back to sleep although it took him a while. Mama didn't sleep. She couldn't, in fact she sat on a chair with eyes wide open till the next morning.
In the morning she called her children and narrated what happened the night before. Her eldest son, in agreement with his other brothers, furiously asked her to send all the children away.
"I can't" was mama's response
"They have nowhere to go" she pleaded.
She explained that the first boy had gained admission into a university and will leave soon, the last boy needs constant care because of his health condition and the girl will be devoured by the jobless boys roaming the village.
She refused to send them away. She cried and pleaded. She called her only daughter who is married in the city to plead with her brothers.
Eventually, they allowed her to keep them.
They are now 17, 14 and 12.
Ogechukwu Ikwueme
(Nwanne unu Nwanyi)
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