One evening, when Natachinyem finally decided to go to bed, she discovered that she had been locked out by her mother. After knocking for several minutes, she went back and slept with Nkeiru. The following morning, she woke up and started sweeping the compound. Euna emerged from inside and called her. She dropped her broom and went to answer.

"Where did you sleep last night?" she asked at the top of her voice.

"With Nkeiru, of course," she said nonchalantly.

"Where did you say you slept?" Euna repeated, moving a step closer to her

"I said I slept with Nkeiru, didn't you hear me?" she replied as she retreated a step backwards.

Euna launched forward to grab her but she moved out of her reach. Euna stood looking at her for some time then retreated. Something occurred to her and she made towards her once more and shouted.

"The reason why I am even taking the slightest interest in you is because I don't want you to infect me with their bad luck and witchcraft. If not, I wouldn't have said a word because I have seen that you would come to no good. Senseless, useless thing...."

Ure had overheard her and had drawn closer to where she was standing outside her door. As fate may have it, Ezekwe was not around as he had left early in the morning to tap his palm wine.

"Euna, what did you say to Natachinyem just now? Repeat it to my hearing because I want to hear you clearly," Ure asked, upset.

"Please stand where you are. Don't come any closer. Don't step into my house. Carry your bad luck and witchcraft over to your own house," she replied.

Do you realise the weight of what you are saying, Euna?" she asked.

"I only put it that way because I lack a better word to describe you and your cursed life. She moved towards Ure "Please, leave my house and go back to yours. Do you ever see me near your house?" she asked

"You say I am cursed?" Ure asked slowly.

"Don't you realise it yet?" she asked with a mocking smile.

Natachinyem stood helplessly watching the two women not knowing what to do. Nkeiru and Nkechi were also helpless as they could only plead with their mothers.

"Please don't start this now," they pleaded with the angry women, but none of them paid any attention to their children.

"Ure," Ure said, addressing herself. Her hands were clasped together on her chest. "Poor me, there is nothing I haven't seen in this life." She turned to Euna. "Look at Euna, calling me a cursed woman," she said slowly, looking Euna over.

"I have said it and will continue to say it. You are a witch and you are cursed. Leave my house now before I push you out of here myself," she said angrily. She made to push Ure but restrained herself. Ure on her part made no move; she stood her ground refusing to move. Euna's restraint was borne out of the law of the women's association that judges a case of fighting against the first person to touch the other. Once any of them touches the other person, the person to do that is deemed to have started the fight and is fined accordingly.

"Leave my house now," Ure mimicked. "Blessed woman!" She said mockingly. "If you had any sense at all, you won't be saying 'my house' to the hearing of people.

"Why won't I say my house? Can any of your cursed daughters achieve this?" she said indicating the house.

"You are the person that is cursed not my daughters" Ure said moving a little away from her. "Euna, do you ever read the bible? I know you don't. Because if you do, you would have seen where it is written in the bible that fools gather wealth not knowing who will inherit them. You are a perfect fool. Leave my house', leave my house" she mimicked a second time. This time she laughed at Euna. "The goat can never claim kinship with the sheep. You are a failure and can never be in the same rating with me. I am a full fledged woman in all its ramification," she said beating her chest. "Go and think about your empty life before boasting with a house the future of which you may not know. A house you don't even know who will inherit tomorrow." As she said this, she started moving over to her house, laughing scornfully at Euna.

Euna felt stung. She was silent for some time, digesting Ure's words.
Natachinyem was now crying openly. She did not know what to do. She just stood watching them while tears streamed down her face. The other children stood and watched in silence.

"Ure, are you mocking me?" Euna asked, as if in a daze.

"You mock yourself, fool" Ure said. Euna made as if to run after her, then stopped mid track. Rather, she raised her two hands to her head.
"Ele ha e e e, ele ha e e e, ele ha e e e" she screamed.
She then fell on the ground, screaming and thrashing herself on the floor calling on her dead husband. Nkechi and Natachi ran to her. They tried to hold her while Nkeiru ran off to get her father from where he had gone to.

Ure in all these commotion merely took her wrapper, tied it around her waist and held it firmly in place with her head tie. She then sat down on a kitchen stool in the middle of the open space in the compound and waited for the women of the community to arrive. She felt she had endured enough from Euna for many years running and was now ready to face anything.

For someone to shout 'Ele ha e e e" in Nneri it must be over a matter of great gravity. It was only done at extreme cases of very serious nature. When a woman does this, instantly all the married women in the community gather at the affected woman's house with chants and dances in order to discover what had gone wrong. If it was a matter between two women, it was usually judged and the defaulter fined accordingly. The fine for a judgement procured in this manner was usually immense. But it was always a last resort as people dreaded it for the negative publicity and expenses it usually generated.

That morning, Ezekwe had gone with his son Chinedu for his early morning tapping. The only people around were the two women and their daughters, Nkeiru, Nkechi and Natachi.
Before long, Ezekwe, Chinedu and Nkeiru all arrived. Ezekwe hurriedly shut the door of his obu which used to serve as a main entrance to his compound before their in-law Moses erected a gate for the compound. He equally locked the gate. He went back inside and saw his wife sitting down on a stool with a look of defiance on her face. He turned the other way and beheld Euna crying in the arms of her daughters. He conferred with his son Chinedu and then went out of the compound to wait for the approaching women. Their songs could already be heard in the distance.

Onye kporo anyi
Anyi jeenu!
Euna kporo anyi
Anyi jeenu!

as they approached in their numbers.

Thanks for reading! Check my blog often for subsequent chapters.

LINKS:

• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1
• CHAPTER 2
• CHAPTER 3
• CHAPTER 4
• CHAPTER 5
• CHAPTER 6
• CHAPTER 7
• CHAPTER 8
• CHAPTER 9
• CHAPTER 10
• CHAPTER 11
• CHAPTER 12
• CHAPTER 13
• CHAPTER 14
• CHAPTER 15