The man she brought was a wealthy man from ihiala, his both parents were dead, he was loose with his money, The perfect Man. His name was Ossy and his body was as huge as his voice. Nkem’s people were very welcoming. Her village was a tiny one in a small town. There must be a welcoming party before the official introduction, Four of their maidens have brought rich men for marriage. Jukwa was among the four maidens along with Aham and Udo. That night while they were preparing for the celebration of the next day, Udo said she hoped Nkem’s man won the search, Nkem said she liked Onyia, jukwa’s man, and Jukwa hissed at her. Nkem wasn’t always angry with Jukwa, but in the last maidens dance, Jukwa pushed her to the ground unintentionally and everyone knew Nkem would revenge before she forgave Jukwa. When Jukwa brought that fine young man home Nkem knew she had to hasten the welcome party, the welcome party had to be for at least four men and she knew Udo and Aham were already previously engaged. When she immediately brought home a man, nobody was surprised, she went to the shrine too often the last few months.
The day of the welcome party was as bright as the mood, palm wine was flowing like water, The women were serving ofe onugbu straight from the pot, the men were spraying money, each one seemed like they wanted to outspray the other. Nkem’s waist was whining too close to Onyia. When even the kids were tired of dancing, Achi, the oldest man in the community took his stand and hailed the kinsmen, they replied with equal enthusiasm. It was time for the search, Achi described the item to search for, a huge white pebble attached to a red thread tied on a tree. The men looked confused and excited and when they heard the sound of the gong, each ran into the forest, Nkem’s voice still rang in Onyia’s head,
“it’s always on any tree beside the iroko, when you find it remember I’m the one that told you where it is. Go towards the iroko”
And that was what he did. He ran as fast as he could towards the iroko, he could hear the others too, the sound of leaves crunching and twigs breaking and when he got there, he saw that stupid man there, whose head was too small for his body. He was holding the pebble and smiling, his small face was booming with pride. Onyia laughed and hit him on his back and said “well done” even though he didn’t mean it. Jukwa would be displeased. But when they got out Jukwa hugged him and they went home, he was ready for anything. When the women saw Ossy with the pebble, they started singing and dancing, one woman threw a bead of cowries on his neck. He didn’t see Nkem until he got home.
“Nne, I won the search”
Nkem turned her back and continued playing with the beads in her hands, she seemed annoyed. When he came back from bathing, he lay beside her. He appreciated that they gave them the same room. He wasn’t sure why Nkem was not exactly elated about his win. Just then, Nkem turned to kiss him, she knew him too well and soon enough, he was hard as a rock, she climbed onto him, maybe she was excited and had been pretending, he thought. They went two rounds before Nkem went out to wash, that usually meant it was all over, he slept like a baby.
Nkem hissed that she had to be awaken, she didn’t even hear when Anyasi came in, he was trying to pull Ossy out the door, the line on Ossy’s neck was visible even in the dark, when he saw Nkem awake, he threw her a small item and said, “How will you say it happened”. Nkem kissed her teeth and laid back on the bed.
What annoyed her most about this is that out of all this meat, she had to eat the penis.
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