"Behold the people in the midst of thee are women: the gate of thy lands shall be set wide open until thy enemies..."
(Written).
(Edited).
So here, she's still in the cell, but she's also remembering what had happened as she was newly an inmate.
~***~
The cock crowed between intervals of 4-5 .a.m. This time, when it crowed, she knew that it was already time for the sun to dawn.
The first day in her pilizon.
‘How exciting,' she rolled her eyes.
She sat and waited with bated breath for the rise of the morning sun. Had she slept? The answer is no, she hadn't... She didn't. Oh yes, sleep came but she fought it valiantly, struggling to keep her eyes open. Why do so you ask? Because she wants to be sure; be sure that she wasn't dreaming at all. Two guards were stationed at each side of her metal cage, moving round it, as ordered by the Igwe.
She got bored easily, and this resulted in throwing pebbles into the air, and then clapping once before catching it. The second time she threw the stone, she clapped twice before the little piece of rock landed in her hands, and that continued for some while. And... Now she was bored. She sighed and looked around her cell, her dark brown eyes glowering golden underneath the rising sun.
A new dawn.
Well, it wasn't a new dawn for her symbolically speaking, since she's confined behind metal bars waiting for the Igwe's decision. She loathed him. He just left her there to suffer, and then she began to think if what they had was real. If they had any chemistry between them; if he truly loved her. But now is not the time for that, after all, she could see the result of his claims to have loved her. But still, she couldn't believe that he'd sell her out like that; she had thought that he didn't like his clan's barbaric practices. The female in the confinement rethought the decisions she had made before and after she met him, and the thing was that it wasn't as pleasant as she thought.
×{present}×
•...•
Even though he betrayed her, she didn't regret falling in love with him.
Sometimes she wanted to regret it, but her love for him was true.
But yet... She resented him in some way, so she hated him as it was the best possible option. But she knew that it was a lie, she knew that it was that theology she used to comfort herself. When they tell her several times to take another male, her hackles would raise making her lash out at them, even though she didn't mean to. As she went outside her small hut, the female reminisced about those good times she had with him.
It was wonderful, and relieving those moments was an absolute bliss.
A fragment of her memory skimmed her senses making her pause. Although she loved those moments of him, she couldn't help but remember that time... Thinking about it, her anger and hatred for him flared up again like a fire that was introduced to gasoline. It burned and raved, waiting for something to lick at, something to burn. And it knew its prey, it had set its eyes on it and it won't let go until its target is devoured.
×{flashback}×
~***~
To her, it seemed as if time ran slow, without her notice that it was already midday. Her cell...
It was in a separate building, away from the people to prevent unease. They never really had any use of it that much until what she had done. The small building was indeed a compound one, which had different huts joined together, and at the entrance of one hut were bars that served as a door. The metal bars divided the small room into three tiny spaces, making the room uncomfortable for easy movement. It was local and not developed, but the methods used to torture people made it seem fearful, and it was.
Anyone who was thrown in there was either not going to make it out alive or they'd be given a chance to redeem themselves. If it wasn't either of these, then they would be killed, slaughtered, and beheaded as animals before her clan to provide them a sense of security, but she saw it as disgusting and inhumane treatment. Two guards were stationed at each entrance of every hut, and two extra at the back for additional protection measures, at which they rotate their positions.
As she sat in a single compartment of the cell, she saw — in the other compartment — dried bones. She reached out from between the bars separating the cells and picked them up, to scrutinize it. It looked ordinary, nothing special when suddenly she smelt it. The stench invaded her senses, and she resisted the urge to gag as bile rose in her throat, which she had to shove down after she threw the bones far away from her. She noticed the stench that oozed from the other cell and used her hands to cover her nose, before asking how she didn't notice it. She still looked at the bones when an idea suddenly popped up in her head, and she smiled deviously.
She then decided to keep it close to her, not literally but metaphorically speaking. She picked up a sharp rock and started to carve the bone...
×~×
The Igwe sat on his throne in the open compound called Obi as his council of elders argued aggressively. The Council of Elders or "Chiefs" sat at both sides of him, three at either side while he — still on the throne — sat in the middle of them. Veins bulged on foreheads, spits flew around, and words were interchanged without intervals as their body shone with sheets of perspiration under the hot sun. The topic of argument? It was regarding what the female had done.
“Ehen, my King! I thought you said that someone informed you of what the female did. Are you sure that you can trust her? —” An elder said before he was interrupted rudely by another person.
“Hey! Stop there, stop it! Do you know what you're saying? Abi you know that it's the Igwe you are talking to?! How can you say such blasphemous words that the Igwe isn't sure? Are you now inputting that the Igwe doesn't know what he's doing?! Please watch what you say, you are in —”
“Dike keep quiet!” Another Elder chastised the second Chief called Dike. “Must you always add fuel to the fire, eh?! Why are you putting words into Elder Okpara's mouth? Mind yourself oh!”. The Elder said as he wagged his fingers in warning to Elder Dike, whilst defending Chief Okpara.
“Chief Obinna,” Elder Dike greeted and continued; “I can see that you both have joined heads together. You that is saying that I'm putting mouth, are you Chief Okpara's mouthpiece? Can't he speak up for himself? Must you talk?! Pia m pia m pia m, anywhere you see ashiri you must put your mouth. Talkative”. The Elder fired back at Chief Obinna.
“Bia, nwoke m! It's like I'm playing too much with you —”
As those three men were bantering, two others were arguing about the fact of releasing the female or not, whether she was innocent or not, and that the law should be heeded accordingly.
Only one Elder didn't say anything and just watched as they argued childishly before the Igwe. The Elder apparently by the name Kalu, cleared his throat to silence other Elders, which had worked in his favor. They all looked at him for his opinion concerning the matter when he spoke up.
“Igwe!!” He drawled with his back bent in prostration to a higher authority as he said: “My King, may you live long”.
“You may rise,” The Igwe said as he awaited what Chief Kalu was about to say.
“My King, considering all that has been said here, I want to propose a solution on the matter regarding the female, but before I do that, may I ask for the young female by the side to come forward?”. He asked to which his request was being granted.
The female stepped out of the corner she was standing in with her head bowed. For what reason? No one knows.
“Greetings my King,” she said, as she quickly bent her knee with her head still bent down before she turned to address the Elders.
“Greetings, Elders,” She said still doing the same prostration as done to the Igwe.
“Ehen nne!” One of the Chiefs said in acceptance to the greeting.
“How are you doing?” Another question was thrown her way with the aim of lightening the atmosphere, which she responded to with an “I'm fine, thank you”.
“Ahah? Nne, why are you bending your head?” Another Elder said in confusion. She immediately denied it and scurried to find a flimsy excuse to feed them.
Elder Okoro spoke up, not wanting to dally any longer; “Nne, I hope you know the reason you are here?” She responded with a small nod of confirmation. The Elder nodded his head and continued; “Good. Now the Igwe said that you were the one who told him of what the female had done”. Another nod was given in response.
An Elder, Dike, spoke up this time; “If I may ask, what relationship do you have with the female?”. Other Chiefs murmured agreeing on that question.
“I am her friend”. She acknowledged.
“Oh? So ï bu enyi ya nwaanyi? Ehn?” One drawled out, another meaning hidden in that statement.
This time, it was Chief Okoro — one of the Chiefs who bantered with another about the law — that spoke up; “Now young girl, I want you to tell us what happened. Tell us everything and if I find out that something is missing? Trust me, you wouldn't want to know”. The Elder said with a grave tone and his eyes dead set on the female before him, as an ominous feeling spread through the air.
Had the young female known, she would have kept her mouth shut. But now, she had used her mouth to dig her grave, and there was no room for going back, only regret.
******_******
I had nothing much to say, only that if you're reading this book, you are a beautiful person. And I want you to know that I love you so much.
★Nne: my dear, my daughter.
★Ashiri: gossip.
★Bia nwoke m: Hey, this man.
★So ï bu enyi ya nwaanyi? Ehn?: So you're her friend? Really?