THE CURSED LANTERN Episode 13 By Okafor Erasmus Ugochukwu

THE CURSED LANTERN Episode 13 By Okafor Erasmus Ugochukwu

Mmirimaraugo, the priestess suddenly began to feel that whatever was meted out on her was unfair. Everyone thought that she was at Azummiri because of her priestly and divine work, but no one knew that she was on self-exile. She couldn’t help but think that life wasn’t being easy on her; even though she was serving the gods that she felt were punishing her.

That fateful and clement morning, she was fully dressed as a priestess with her staff firmly held with her left hand. She came to the shore of the Azummiri River and sat.

Watching the water body as it flew freely without obstruction, she got deepened into wild thoughts. For a couple of minutes, she was meditating on the essence of life. She couldn’t understand it. She shrugged trying to believe that the gods could have been fair than allowing her life to be a fiasco just because they wanted her to serve them.

“I make people happy,” she soliloquized in that grave silence, “I heal them, and they go home feeling so glad. But who and what makes me happy? Nothing at all. As a young girl, I knew nothing. I was told that I needed to become the priestess of Ngene. I have been here but never knew happiness. Are the gods punishing me by making me a slave to them? Why is my life in shambles? This is the destruction of womanhood and ruefulness. The gods,” she added and threw a cowry into the river, “do not feel angry but I’m still human and I have my reservations. I am nothing but a weak vessel that feels that the burden laid on its shoulders is too weighty. Lighten my heart and lift the burden off my shoulder if I must live. How can you tell me that I do not need a man in my life? I think that it’s a punishment. Even my son that is meant to be mine belongs to my elder sister. Haven’t I been punished enough?”

It was as if her words returned to her without getting any sign from the gods. She was bedraggled by excruciation and frustration, so she wasn’t feeling happy at all at the moment. Even though she was complaining about the decision of the gods, she was still careful with her words to avoid angering them.

“Tell me how it happened,” she heard behind her making her startled.

Swerving and looking back, Mmirimaraugo was surprised to see Ikem standing as if he was a ghost.

Closing her eyes, she tried to commune with the spirits to know his status but she got no reply from them.

“Leave this body and return to the spirit world where you belong!” she rebuked; echoing in that silence, “You cannot use my thoughts to induce a hallucination and confuse me. Flee from this body now, if I am the priestess of the gods!”

The boy started laughing and coming closer, making the priestess entertain fear for the first time since she became a priestess. She even regretted coming alone without any of her maidservants. It was a perilous situation for her.

“So the almighty priestess can’t use her powers and she seems so afraid,” the boy said with a grin, and then frowned, “coming here wasn’t easy but I had to come even when my supposed mother would be aggrieved while looking around to find me. Tell me what happened, because even if you lie, I know part of the truth. You are my mother, right?”

Mmirimaraugo was calm and speechless. She was numb as if a spirit overtook her. She was filled with goose pimples like someone who just saw a ghost. She tried to use her powers but she seemed powerless. She tried to run but her legs were stuck to the ground. She was fully convinced that the person standing next to her wasn’t the real Ikem because she was made powerless by his presence. She could only move her eyes and head but couldn’t move her legs or hands.

“What have you done to me, this doomed spirit?” she hollered but remaining stuck and immovable, “Is it time for you to use my son against me?”

All her questions were unanswered except constant gazes from the little boy. He simply came closer to her and sat beside her. He started throwing some stones into the water and enjoying the sounds they made when they land.

“Are there fishes in this river?” the boy asked in a bid to make the priestess relax, “Let’s throw stones together to know whose stone would cross the river to the other side. Stop staring at me and join the game. And if I win, you tell me everything I came here for. If I lose, then the ghost standing next to you will depart and never return,”

Mmirimaraugo was confused with such a bet. She wanted to use the opportunity to discharge the ghost and make him flee. So she considered the challenge worth taking up.

“Fine, I accept,” she said with confidence, “but how can I throw stones when my hands and feet seem dead. Undo whatever you did to me so that it would be a fair challenge and not thwarted with unfairness and cheats,”

The boy laughed so hard until the laughter became teary. “You make me laugh with the way you have been acting strangely,” he said laughingly, “whatever that is happening to you, I know nothing about it. I simply came for answers because I have been losing nights of sleep lately because of curiosity. Can the game begin now?”

“No, it can’t because I’m not fit yet,” Mmirimaraugo replied cleverly, “give me some time let me consult the gods to make me whole again. You are a bad spirit that’s why you subdued whatever that is working in me and made me lose my bravely and audacity to face you. You must be a strong evil spirit, but first of all, stop tormenting my boy’s body and allow him to be free. I know that wherever he is now, he’s lifeless on the bed and the mother would think that her son is dead. Free that body and show your true face let’s dance this surugede (dance of the spirits) together to know who the winner will be,”

The boy waited for some time and shook his head in dismay. “Why did you call her my mother and at the same time call yourself my mother. Aren’t you proud of me?”

The question made Mmirimaraugo feel as if she was either losing her child or denying him. Her soft spot was greatly fingered by that statement, so she lowered her tone and said: “Can you free my boy for me. He is mine and suckled my breast in secret. I will die to see him being possessed by strange spirits. I beg you,” she added with beads of tears dropping uncontrollably on her lonely cheek, “let him be. He’s the source of my happiness,”

The boy couldn’t help but cry too, and then came closer to her and held her. “I am not a ghost. I am Ikem. Lately, I started hearing your thoughts and knowing the things you know. That’s why I have been waiting for the day you’d be alone. My instinct informed me that you’d be here, that’s why I sneaked out to come here. I am not a ghost but your child, Ikem,”

Mmirimaraugo suddenly felt energized as if the entire lost strength returned in full. Even though she tried to believe the boy, she felt that she was being tricked, and the gods just returned her strength to help her defeat the ghost. She grabbed the boy on the neck and made him start choking.

“Leave my boy alone!” she grumbled and kept strangling him with all her might.

To her greatest surprise, instead of the boy struggling to be freed, he continued to choke and was about to pass away.

“Nne (mother), you’re killing me,” he managed to say with his last strength.

The priestess suddenly felt that she was the one making mistakes. She was moved with pity, so she carried the boy and rushed to the river and used the water to revive him. She cuddled him so tight and started crying so loud and feeling the great regret that would have ensued if she ended up strangling her son with her bare hands.

“Gbaghara, Nwam (forgive, my son),” she apologized as she shook him vigorously to make him wake up. “I think I was the one being possessed here. I’m so sorry, but I never believed that someone of your age could come to the stream alone by this time of the day without being afraid. Are you awake now?” she asked and kissed his forehead, “talk to me, my precious son,”

Ikem slowly opened his eyes and saw how he was well protected by his mother’s grip. He simply let out a smile and said: “Mother,”

“Yes, my boy,” she replied and stroked his hair gently, “I’m sorry if I was harsh on you. Please, forgive your distressed mother. When the mind is troubled, attitude becomes unchecked,”

Ikem smiled again and stroked his mother’s soft cheek. “Nne, you’re a beautiful mother,” he said weakly, “I know what you must have been passing through a lot not being with me. Was that why you started communicating to me lately?”

“I decided to answer the call of the supernatural by giving up everything” she began her narration in a moody way, “I was so young. Even now, I am still a young woman. As a naïve young girl, I entered into a relationship with a very cute and industrious hunter. His name was Ijele but I fondly addressed him as Ijem (my journey). He was a very good man but no one knows his whereabouts now. We grew up as kids and loved each other. All my egwu onwa (moonlight plays) in those days were always in his family compound. His parents never complained because they saw us as husband and wife from that young age. There was no traditional rite that made us betrothed but spiritually, we were bound to each other. During that time, when I was a teenager, the priestess of Ngene River in Umudike kingdom died. I even walked from Oduma to Umudike in the company of Ijem, just to witness her burial. She was someone that I admired a lot because of her charisma and goodness. Many people spoke well of her until she died, and even after. She was outstanding and upright in behavior. In those days, as kids, when Mmadiche (outstanding beauty), the priestess visited Oduma kingdom; she touched my lips and said that I was going to be a savior and a healer to many people. I didn’t understand that statement until she died. It was surprising that Ijiji, the chief priest traced me from that village to Oduma after the burial of the priestess. I was in the bush having some romantic moment with my man when the chief priest came straight at me and handed over the beads, staff, the cloth, and the crown. As he did that, he said that I was to take over the duty of Mmadiche as the priestess. I didn’t understand how a priestess from another kingdom would die and I’d be the chosen one,”

Mmirimaraugo paused for a while and meditated while Ikem was on a mental journey thinking about the story being told. The trees began to dance to the spiritual music being beaten by the gentle breeze emanating from the riverside. There was absolute silence as this happened while the whistling of the birds overtook the area. It was as if the people were forbidden from coming to the river that day just because the priestess and her son were having a heart-to-heart talk.

Ikem was so keen to hear the story to the end of it. All he wanted was to know how his mother handed him over to Ozioma and took off to Azummiri.

“I don’t know where the story is heading concerning the reason why I came here,” Ikem muttered in her arms, “but I feel bad already because you must have been denied the joy of having a home. Let me not be preemptive but listen to the end. Nnem (my mother), go on,”

Mmirimaraugo took a deep breath, picked a stone, and flung it; making sure the stone crossed the river to the other side of the shore. “I would have won the bet and the story may not have been told,” she reminded Ikem, “so let’s say you were lucky; or rather, two of us are lucky that the game challenge didn’t go on…”

“And my heart would have been broken if I lost the bet and went home without hearing from you,” he said smilingly.

“Exactly, my son,” she voiced her reply and cuddled him firmly to feel the warmth of his body, “I rejected the offer from the chief priest,” she continued the story, “Especially when he announced that I wasn’t meant to have a man in my life. He said that someone in the position of a priestess shouldn’t marry. I couldn’t understand why my case became different, so I got mad at him. I angrily dragged my man out of that place. Since that day, I began to avoid anything that would make me set my eyes on him. It was surprising that he didn’t come around again, but the aftermath was severe that I preferred his disturbance to that mental and emotional torture. I stopped sleeping well due to a series of nightmares that characterized my nights. My life became hell just because I was the chosen one. My sister, Ozioma got married and I was so happy for her. I saw how happy she was in a man’s home and I wanted to be like her. Being that I wasn’t ready to become a priestess and wanted to be like Ozioma, I decided to give Ijem a chance. I gave him a bottle of strong mature nkwu enu (palm wine). I convinced him that I wanted us to marry as the only way to stop the gods from choosing me as their priestess. He wanted the same thing, so we took the wine together and got tipsy. The consequence of that union was to be with a child after some market days. Two of us were happy because of it. We jubilated when we realized that I was with a child. Ozioma was happy for me because she didn’t want me to embark on that priestly journey,”

As the story went on, a young dove came and flew around the river, making Ikem feel like catching it but the interesting story from his mother got him spellbound with ardent listening and unalloyed attention.

“Go on, nne,” he said with optimism as he listened, “I love it here, especially while I am with you. But why are people not coming to fetch water, especially today that is Orie market day; when people come to take their bath and wash clothes in the stream. Do you have anything to do with it?”

“The answer is of the gods because I’d have asked you the same,” she replied, “especially now that I have noticed that you have divine gifts and powers from the gods. I never knew until you started to manifest the gifts,”

Ikem felt flattered and smiled. He was proud of himself for being favored by the gods; though he still felt the hollowness created by his mother’s absence from his life.

“Go on, and thanks for making me feel so happy,”

“To cut the story short,” Mmirimaraugo continued, “I got married to Ijele so that it wouldn’t be a shame to me that I had a child without being married to a man. It’s taboo and forbidden in the Oduma kingdom. The day Ozioma delivered her baby was the same day I delivered. My sister and I entered into labor at the same time. Maybe the gods played pranks on me just to perfect their plans using the mortals. It was the same midwife that helped us deliver our babies. It was in the same hut while our husbands waited outside. But something happened after delivery. Ozioma’s baby died while mine lived. Being that the midwife already got instructions from the chief priest to take away my baby from me, the death of Ozioma’s baby helped them to carry out that plan. You may ask how I knew this,”

“Exactly my next question,” Ikem said, “how did you know that the midwife had a connection with the chief priest?”

“I’ll come to that later,” she replied to avoid losing some details, “The midwife made the switch. When I woke up, I was told I had a dead child. I wept and mourned. Ijele was so touched by that. The midwife told my husband that it was my stubbornness that made him lose his child. He was advised to allow me to be to avoid losing his beloved wife too. Out of a broken heart, Ijem disappeared; just to allow me to do my job as the priestess. Life went on for Ozioma and her husband even though she felt bad for the child I lost. Everyone thought that the gods were tormenting me for not answering their vocational call. Even though Ozioma wanted me to remain married, my husband was nowhere to be found. Ozioma and her husband took me in, to start staying at their house until I get better. But something happened. Whenever I was around, the baby wouldn’t like his mother to take care of him except I carry him. It became obvious that the baby was more attached to me. This made my sister start feeling somehow about it. By then, my gifts of vision started manifesting but I didn’t share the experience with anyone. It was in my dream when the gods were whipping me with a strong cane called akwaraike (a leather from the skin of an elephant) that they revealed to me that the baby was mine. They even revealed to me that there was something the chief priest was hiding that I knew nothing about. Until this present day, I am yet to discover that secret the chief priest was hiding. To be sure my vision was real, I confronted the midwife and she told me everything. I started breastfeeding the baby in secret whenever my sister wasn’t around. This continued until I couldn’t bear the pains of the whips from the gods anymore. That was when I went to Umudike and underwent the rituals that made me a full-blown priestess. But instead of carrying out the duty at Ngene River of Umudike, I decided to settle at Azummiri where there is a boundary between Ngene and Azummiri Rivers. It was the same spirit I served but I did that from Azummiri. It was a way of going on a self-exile to avoid being seen by anyone. At Azummiri, I continued the work even though the local authorities were against me. The king never wanted to have me settle in his village until I healed his daughter of a chronic infirmity. This made me earn his trust. He beautified my shrine and the entire location just to make me comfortable there. I started the work and life became easier for me; unlike how hard it used to be when I wasn’t working for the gods. But at the end of all these, I still discovered that my life wasn’t complete without a man. If the gods don’t want me to marry because I am a priestess, why then do they allow me to feel that hollowness most times?” Mmirimaraugo felt that Ikem was too young to understand such, so she smiled and parted his back. “You may not need this part of the story, my son,”

“Nne, don’t tell me not to worry because I already know the things going through your mind,”

“Really!” she expressed shockingly.

“Yes, I do, and I know you have a feeling for Amandi,” he said without mincing words, “Ijele was the only man you ever loved. But since you met Amandi, you developed such a feeling you never felt for any man except for Ijele. Do not underestimate my abilities because it would shock you to discover more of what I know. Let me not go further with the surprises for now. You’re my mother and I took after you in everything except in gender. You serve the gods in the bush; dressed in the apparel of a priestess, but I do mine from home. A snake cannot give birth to a squirrel,”

The priestess was so shocked to hear that. She was both ashamed and wowed to realize that Ikem could penetrate her mind to know what she knows. “Don’t tell me you know more, please,” she said feeling that her secrets may not be secrets to Ikem anymore. “You’re a wonderful boy, and I must confess my bewilderment,”

Ikem smiled with pride and shook his head in dismay. He was simply enjoying the company of his mother that he’d missed since he was born. “I only know the ones you wish I should know,” he replied making the mother be shocked.

“How?” she asked with great surprise and curiosity to learn more.

“I don’t know,” he replied squarely, “but I know that you wanted me to talk to Amandi about how you feel, but unfortunately, there is a secret competition going on between the princess and my mother; I mean Ozioma, the mother I was given to,”

Mmirimaraugo smiled on hearing that. “She is a very good woman and an epitome of a real mother. So she deserves even more. I wish she wins the competition but I’m not the gods that decide,”

“But she doesn’t want to accept that she competes with anyone,” Ikem said smilingly, “she pretends as if she feels nothing for him. Well, every woman pretends,”

Mmirimaraugo was speechless because the truth was bare. Not just that, but because it was coming from someone who was supposed to be a child.

“You’re a child but your utterances aren’t childlike,” she said bewilderedly, “I’m learning,”

Ikem chuckled but didn’t want to reply to that yet.

“I wonder why instinct kept telling me not to confront Ozioma about my biological mother,” Ikem said with utmost surprise, “from your narration, you never mentioned telling her the truth too. Or did I miss anything?”

The priestess shook her head showing she didn’t. “I couldn’t break my sister’s heart, so I decided to keep the secret and enter my grave with it. From now on, stop thinking of me as your mother. I will try my best to stop communicating with you so that you wouldn’t be missing my presence. My child was the dead child, so let’s leave it that way,”

The tears that gushed forth from her eyes couldn’t be controlled, so she began to weep on Ikem’s shoulder even when she tried to remain strong. “I wish I can be strong but this mortal body is so weak,”

Ikem was moved by pity and paleness. The tears of his mother induced his tears, so he started crying too. “Mother, I am just confused because I can’t lose you. Even though I love Nnem oma (my good mother), Ozioma, I love you more; especially since the day, I discovered that you’re my biological mother. I will always be a good child to her. But whenever I see her, I’d be full of pity because the day that she finally realizes that she isn’t my biological mother; her heart would be shattered into pieces,”

Mmirimaraugo knew that Ikem was so right. She didn’t even know how to bury the secret forever. She was disoriented and confused. She knew that Ozioma needed to be told the truth, but the eventuality of the truth was what she didn’t want. She loved her sister so much that she didn’t want anything that would make her feel anguished or traumatized.

“So what do we do?” she asked looking weak and dispirited. “Isn’t it better we keep this secret forever? Can you do it just as I have been doing?”

Ikem looked at her mom in the eyes and said: “The day you tell her the truth, that day you’d start feeling that your son wasn’t taken away. By then, you’d start feeling that your son is under your sister’s care. She is a woman and will marry someday and start making as many babies as she wants. She’d replace the dead child and be joyous again. If you want me to seal my lips, I will, but don’t come around here anymore just to be alone and question the gods for making you perpetually celibate. The gods are merciful by making your offspring as highly gifted as you. What if the gods killed me in your womb just for this mission to be accomplished? Sometimes the gods make the best out of the same gift they rejected. Think about this, mother,”

Mmirimaraugo never had time to have some chitchat with her son, so she was flabbergasted listening to his advice. She couldn’t imagine the lucidness of the boy’s mind that made him sound like an old man in the skin of a child. She was speechless listening to the authenticity and clearness of Ikem’s wise counsel. She couldn’t agree more because the entire things the child said were true. She acknowledged the fact that Ozioma needed to realize the truth and move on. Even if Ozioma marries again and continues with her life, she could still keep Ikem as her own since the gods forbade the priestess from having a family.

“How did you grow into this old man?” Mmirimaraugo asked with great surprise, “I thought I was with a child but that thought was an illusion. The gods blessed me beyond measures, to have given me such intelligence and wise child. All you have said, I concur. I agree with all that but let’s wait until the opportune time to make the revelations. Secondly, even though I felt something for Amandi, I had to kill it and move on. Whatever I felt isn’t important or relevant anymore. The gods don’t approve of my union with any man, so there is no need to be wishful. My discussion with you today has just made me feel better. I’ll stop missing having a man around and focus on my vocation with my full energy. Thanks for being a wonderful son to me. I love you so much, son,” After saying that, she pulled him close and cuddled him as closely as she could.

Ikem knew that his mother was bidding him farewell. He wanted to spend more time with her but at the same time, felt what Ozioma would be passing through because of his absence at home. Ozioma was a woman with a beautiful mind. Every child would want to have her as a mother, so Ikem didn’t want anything that would make him hurt her.

“Since I work according to your thoughts,” Ikem said and stood to leave, “I’ll come around here whenever you’re here to see me. Just make the wish, and then come down to see me waiting,”

“That’s nice,” she said with gladness, “but don’t make my sister die in silence by sneaking out next time. Tell her you anything that would make her know you were leaving with her permission,”

“Of course, I will, nne (mother),” Ikem replied as he wanted to take the first step to start heading home, “But I’ll never mention that I’m coming to see you avoid making her suspicious,”

“I never said you should lie,” Mmirimaraugo said with smiles.

“Then the secret wouldn’t be secret anymore,” Ikem reminded her, “Now, you see why she still needs to be in the know,”

“Of course, I know,” she said in agreement with his suggestion, “but not yet. Not yet,”

Mmirimaraugo was so happy to have had such a wonderful moment with her son. She stood up feeling so relieved and happy. She couldn’t express how good she felt to have spoken with her son for the first time; as a mother and not an aunt. She felt uneasy to see him go back alone. She wanted to take him home but she vowed not to come back to Oduma anymore since she left the village.

“You can now start going let me watch you leave,” she said and led him to the bridge, “Ngwa lawa (start going)” she said with a tear in her eyes because she’d miss him when he’s gone, “Ensure you keep our secret from your mother,”

Ikem nodded and started crossing the bridge back to his village. When he got halfway, he raised his voice and shouted: “Mother, I will keep the secret.

Mmirimaraugo was surprised to see Ozioma on the other side waiting for Ikem. She was sure that her sister heard what Ikem said, so she turned to leave but couldn’t step an inch. It was unlikely for her to see her sister and leave without even exchanging pleasantries as usual. So she had to pretend so that the hidden truth wouldn’t be bare so soon.

Ikem was shocked to see Ozioma, so he stood still and felt like taking back his words. He looked back and saw the expression on Mmirimaraugo’s face. He already understood that something wasn’t right. He slowly walked to his Ozioma but couldn’t utter a word.

Ozioma was shocked and didn’t even know what to say. She was both angry and happy. She had passed through a lot looking for Ikem. She was surprised to see him with her sister. Of course, she heard what Ikem said and that was another reason why she was confused and gaping at her younger sister.

When Ikem came closer to her, Ozioma took a closer look at him and observed that he wasn’t hurt. Taking a deep breath, she said: “Why are you two looking so shocked because you saw me? And what secret are you talking about?”

Ikem couldn’t talk because he was instructed not to do so. He simply continued looking at Mmirimaraugo and signaling with his eyes to make her not reveal anything. He was concerned about how Ozioma would take the news when she hears it.

Without much talk, Ozioma held Ikem and started going back to meet Mmirimaraugo. When she got there, she didn’t talk but kept on looking at her.

After a while of the stare, Mmirimaraugo said: “Ekenekwam gi, ezigbo nwannem (I greet you, my good sister). I know you must have been worked up looking for Ikem. That was why I told him to go back as soon as he could, to meet you,”

Ozioma knew that there was something fishy that they didn’t want her to know about. The beautiful widow simply smiled angrily.

“I woke up feeling that my precious son had been kidnapped,” Ozioma said sorrowfully, “I began to ask questions to know his whereabouts. I almost died out of anxiety and mental stress until one hunter told me that he saw him coming towards Azummiri River. I never understood what could make my son visit the river because he never did that. I doubted what the man said, but being that I was desperate to see my son, I had to leave no stone unturned. I had to push my luck by coming here to check for him. It was surprising for me to see him here. This meeting isn’t a coincidence, but what I can understand is the reason why my son would be coming to see you without telling me. What am I missing here?”

The priestess felt busted. If she could make her sister forget whatever she saw or heard, she would, but she couldn’t. She kept on thinking of how to maneuver the situation without hurting her sister’s feelings. She couldn’t think of what to say at that instant. The more she wasted time answering Ozioma, the more suspicious it became. She simply had to say anything even if it meant lying to her.

“Well, I…I… was shocked to see you,” she faltered, “but your son’s coming to meet me here wasn’t prearranged. It was a coincidence. Ikem, okwa ya (I hope it’s true)?”

“Yes, you’re right,” Ikem replied looking a bit frightened. He knew that Ozioma wouldn’t buy that cheap lie.

“If you can make my son lie to me,” Ozioma said with a broken heart, “then you can kill me and feed me to the dogs,” At this point, she was both angry and heartbroken, “My beloved sister that I could do anything just to make her happy is now making my son lie. This is for a reason I know nothing about. This wasn’t the Ikem I nurtured. And who knows how long this has been going on?” After saying this, she angrily dragged Ikem and started going back to the village. “Fare thee well, sister,” she added in a husky but angry tone.

The priestess couldn’t stomach that allegation leveled against her by her sister. She knew that she hadn’t done anything bad other than trying to protect her elder sister’s emotions. But since the same emotion had been jabbed by her silence, she had to speak up.

Looking as they were going away and seeing Ikem looking back at intervals, the priestess raised her voice and said: “Ikem is my child!”

Ozioma was shocked to hear that. She didn’t understand if it was her sister that said that or it came from someone else. Looking back, she listened attentively to hear her speak again but she didn’t. She simply saw the priestess crying and looking at her. Those tears got her moved because since they were kids, she’d avoided anything that’d make her younger sister cry.

“Did you hear what your aunt said?” Ozioma asked Ikem. She wanted to be sure that what she heard wasn’t from another person but from her sister. “And what was the secret you told her that you’d keep? You even addressed her as a mother. Oh, I’m now beginning to add things together. When you called her mother, I thought you were talking to me about a secret I knew not. I never knew that you were talking to your aunt,”

“Nne, she isn’t my aunt,” Ikem said with boldness even though he was being careful about his mother’s mood, therefore watching his utterances.

“What did you just say?” Ozioma asked looking at Ikem and then back to Mmirimaraugo, “What am I not getting right?”

“Ikem is my child,” Mmirimaraugo said more audibly this time, “the dead child was yours but a switch was made by the midwife just to make me accept doing the priestly work I was chosen for,”

That statement from the priestess made Ozioma’s head spun with confusion. She slowly walked closer to her sister, but this time, she was dazed and staggering as if she was tipsy.

Getting to Mmirimaraugo, she released her grip on Ikem’s hand and said: “Why did you say that the dead child was mine?”

Mmirimaraugo didn’t have to wallow in rigmarole anymore since her sister she was trying to keep a secret from had heard it already.

“The midwife was instructed by the chief priest to take my baby away from me,” she began tearfully, “It was a coincidence as if the gods answered the prayer of Ijiji ana-eso mma n’isi and made us go into labor the same day. My baby was switched with yours so that a family wouldn’t be a distraction to my work for the gods. And for this, I was denied family life. Ikem isn’t your child but I couldn’t reveal it to you. I was afraid of hurting you. In that muteness, the pains of a mother couldn’t allow me to go on in life; hence this meeting with Ikem. I didn’t tell him to meet me but he came here and met me as I was communicating to the gods. I came here to blame the gods but Ikem came here too. It wasn’t prearranged but a divine connection and arrangement. The qualities and gifts that you must have seen in him is evident for you to understand that what I’m saying is nothing but the truth,”

Ozioma began to reminisce on the entire growing up of the child starting from rejecting her as a mother and accepting her sister. She even thought of when she began to realize that Ikem looked more like Ijele than her husband. She also remembered the manifestation of the divine gifts and everything around Ikem. All these got her convinced without a single doubt that Ikem wasn’t her child. Having acknowledged that, she fell on the shore and began to weep. Being that she was a reserved type and with an inaudible voice, her shouts weren’t heard, except by Ikem and Mmirimaraugo.

Mmirimaraugo joined her to weep. Ikem wasn’t left out, so he wept too.

Ozioma felt as if her world had ended. The pains she’d have felt and gotten over for giving birth to a dead child quadrupled. She was giddy and rattled at that moment. She even lost words to express her sorrows. She knew that her sister wouldn’t just lie to steal her son from her. The love that existed between them wouldn’t allow her to disbelieve whatever her sister said. She couldn’t just cry anymore as if sorrows ceased her tears. She was thrown into serious confusion at the moment.

“But you can have Ikem,” Mmirimaraugo added, “We never planned to tell you any of these,” she confessed, “because we didn’t want to hurt you. It was Ikem that suggested we tell you on time than later. But we are still the same blood, Ozy, my sister. Even though I used to breastfeed Ikem in secret when I was staying with you, I still had to leave him to take up this work. I wanted to unburden myself by letting you know the truth. But that wouldn’t make me take him away from you. You can have him. He is your son,”

Ozioma couldn’t believe such a solemn promise that her younger sister made. She thought that she was trying to have her son back but was surprised that she wasn’t. She gave that promise a thought severally but couldn’t comprehend it. She just imagined those pains that a mother must have gone through which Mmirimaraugo underwent for many years. Thinking of this made her appalled. She didn’t know if she was to thank her for the precious gift of a child to her or to keep regretting that the child wasn’t hers. She was speechless.

“Mother,” Ikem called Ozioma and held her by the face; with his eyes fixed on hers, “I haven’t had any mother as good as you. If not due to divine intervention that made me start seeing the things that my biological mother sees, I wouldn’t have known that she is my mother. We kept connecting spiritually but I couldn’t tell you that. Even before I left for Umudike with the princess, I knew about this. Amandi even knows; though he doesn’t know the details yet. I wasn’t sure yet until my spirit led me to this river and I saw my mother crying to the gods and blaming them for a lot of things. For the gods to have led me here, they have a reason. Even though my mother is now a priestess and can’t have a family, the gods still wanted me to know her as my mother. Please, don’t feel bad about it but respect the wishes of the supernatural beings. My aunt who now is my mother has promised to allow us to remain a family; so you should appreciate that. I can decide to follow her but I still have to respect her wishes and accept them. So, I think you should be more appreciative than feeling bad. Let’s go home now so that she wouldn’t change her mind. Because if she changes her mind, I must follow her to her shrine and be helping her chase away the smaller evil spirits of my size,”

Ozioma and Mmirimaraugo felt the jest and laughed. They couldn’t hold back the laughter. The two sisters embraced each other feeling happy once again.

“I now know where his wisdom comes from,” Ozioma said and jabbed Ikem’s cheek gently. “He is from a woman chosen by the almighty chi (god). And whatever they choose is always the best. I have been wondering where he got those gifts. But now, the picture is clearer. May the name of the gods be praised both now and forever,”

“Iseee (amen),” Ikem and the priestess replied in unison.

Mmirimaraugo was so happy for that compliment. She was becoming even prouder for having such a wonderful boy that was also chosen by the gods. She simply beckoned Ikem forward and said: “I don’t need to tell you to be obedient to your mother, so keep it up and keep being a good child,”

She tried not to cry but the tears were still pronounced and getting her eyes blurred.

Ozioma came forward, held her cheek, and said: “In our family, it was only two of us. There was no male but we lived and still live as if none of such gap was there. You’re all I’ve got and I’ll never joke with that sororal love that exists between us. I love you, my beautiful priestess,”

Mmirimaraugo almost forgot that she was a priestess, so she smiled and looked at herself. “I’m always dressed like this,” she said and observed her apparel once more, “I love fashion a lot but now I’m confined to just these costumes. But all the same, it’s not easy to be chosen by the gods. It’s a rare privilege and I’ll keep being thankful to them. Go well and take care of my boy,”

“I will my beautiful sister,” Ozioma said with cheerfulness, “Ikem, let’s go as fast as we can before she changes her mind and makes you start exorcising umu mpiampia muo (little spirits)”

They all laughed. By then, they saw that the people were beginning to come to the stream. This made it obvious to them that the gods wanted the discussion and meeting to end.

“Goodbye, for now, mother,” Ikem said to Mmirimaraugo and started leaving with Ozioma.

At a point, as they left, Ozioma stopped, looked back, and saw that Mmirimaraugo was still looking at them. She left Ikem there and rushed back to her sister and embraced her. This time, they wept joyfully at each other’s arms while Ikem watched with admiration and wished to have a sibling to share such kind of love with.

“I have good news to share with you but I don’t know if it would allow you to go on with your priestly work or make you regret it,” Ozioma said making her sister speculative and curious even though she couldn’t guess.

“Well, all I can say is that I have made up my mind and nothing can change it,” Mmirimaraugo said with resolution.

“I love that,” Ozioma said feeling proud of her, “but it may interest you to know that Ijele is still alive. I never told you this to avoid distracting you from your duty as a priestess; which you’re so good at. But since you’ve told me yours, I had to divulge mine too,” After saying this, she ran back to Ikem and left as fast as she could so that Mmirimaraugo wouldn’t drag her back into a longer discussion.

The priestess was so shocked that she couldn’t explain how she felt at the moment. She couldn’t contain her joy because someone she thought was dead was alive. If not that she had made up her mind to remain the priestess, she’d have taken back the life she was denied. She felt so desperate to meet with her man again but afraid of what the outcome would be. She hadn’t the details of Ijele’s whereabouts but was eager to talk to someone. She started rushing back to meet Nneka and others to share the latest news.

#OpraDre THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN THE CURSED LANTERN

To be continued…

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