Uzo Bekee

When the Eke girls started to get married, it was a mixture of happy and sad feelings. Happy because every parents’ dream is to see their daughters get married but it brings with it a certain sadness in the family caused by the gap left by the absence of the daughters. 

This was largely felt in our family, the Sunday seats reduced and we spent more time sleeping during the holidays, Ferdinand and Beatrice also spent more time with each other but we really missed our large family. In those days, we would take long walks with Ferdinand on the “uzo bekee”, uzo bekee means the tarred road and this particular road led all the way to the next village which was in another state.

During such walks, Ferdinand would avail of us important information about certain spots or areas or trees or streams and he would also tell us stories, and of some taboos. 

He would tell us of how corpses were thrown into the forest regarded as “ajo ohia” the evil forest. In the olden days in Lokpanta, when people died of certain ailments, they would be thrown into the evil forest and some were also banished into such forests for engaging in acts considered to be abominations. 

I remember that I was young but old enough to learn that a certain man who lived close to us was thrown into the evil forest after he died. I saw this man when I walked with Beatrice to his home behind our home to visit him while he was on his sick bed. I remember that his stomach had grown so big and Beatrice had actually gone there to offer support towards getting him medical attention. Such sicknesses were perceived to be caused by the evil deeds of the sufferer and so the gods usually sent such unexplainable sicknesses to torment such a person. I was shocked to hear that this particular man was not buried but his corpse taken to the evil forest secretly.

I also remember that our long walks always ended at a place called “ugwu eme” which is still a mysterious town to me. I have never seen anyone from that place and I do not know if that town is in Abia state or Enugu state because it is right there in the middle of the two states. 

Ferdinand once mentioned that the people of Ugwu Eme were all giants but I think it was one of his many jokes to scare me; he loved to see how such things scared me and he would laugh so hard. This particular town is located on top of the hills and in the harmattan season, the fog covered the top of the hill and made it possible to see how cold it was over there.

One time, during our walk we were accustomed by a drunk while we were walking with Ferdinand and that was when we realized that father was a “Django”, the speed with which he pulled a pistol from his pocket left all of us in total shock but also in awe of this unassuming man. 

We had our friends who were spending the holiday with us which made it even cooler; I remember that for the rest of that evening, the big Ekes and their friends talked about father and the pistol that he pulled out. Beatrice hardly went on those walks with us and by the time we got back there would be good food waiting for us. 

Sometimes we rode bicycles and so from an early age every child learnt how to ride the bicycle that was locally called the “long john”, the experts like Ifeanyi rode the sports bicycle with the bent handle bars and spikey pedals. I loved those days in Lokpanta but definitely wished that we continued to live life that way in Enugu.

We knew about the double barrel guns that Ferdinand shot up in the air every December 31st for “ichu afo” which signified the beginning of a new year and so it was a big surprise that he had a small gun. When we later engaged him on the pistol stunt, we learnt that he was licensed to carry guns particularly that pistol; he had it each time we went on those walks and whenever he was at the farm; Ferdinand was always prepared for the worst.

When the family started to reduce, our various activities gradually reduced too and not only because the bigger kids left home, Ferdinand and Beatrice also got older. We engaged in the house games more and the “Monopoly”, “Ncho or Ayo” “Ludo” and “Whot” became our companions; the holiday makers that made the holidays even more interesting also moved on in life to other things.

Life became a bit boring considering the many activities that we previously engaged in.  In the past, we had talent shows where we all had to come up with performances with Ferdinand and Beatrice as judges. We had our signature performances for when we ran out of ideas, mine was “I’m Every Woman which I usually performed with my friend Oby. KC’s performance was “Poison” Kerus was Queen Latifah, Ezioma would sing Ebony and Ivory by Steve Wonder and Paul McCartney and Ifeanyi’s was “Papa Lolo”; he would dress up in an undersized jacket, tie without a shirt and stuff his bum with clothes sometimes. 

We needed no theatres nor paid shows, we were our own entertainment. The bigger girls made up the audience and sometimes they engaged in the dancing competitions. On really crazy day days, Ferdinand entertained with his ridiculous steps dancing to his favourite Calypso tunes; he couldn’t dance to save his life.

Ifeanyi’s performance was usually very funny, and Beatrice would laugh till she would start to choke. 

Years after the big kids were out, little brother Odera and I learnt “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin and it became our own performance though it wasn’t quite as interesting as it should have been because the audience grew smaller. 

Ferdinand started the January 2nd lunch where every married daughter would come with her spouse for Beatrice’s soul food. It was also his way of finding out about the well-being of his children and that day became a special day to look forward to for a very long time till it fell apart by age and circumstances.

Life happens and reliving these memories make me understand that any moment that passes by is gone with the wind, forever! 

Make the best of now!