“We shall be going. We have heard from you. She has been married to us and we are not taking her back to you to eat her. She needs to change. We will take her home any day we see some changes in her. We shall be going. We have come all day from our place and we are mourning one of our kinsmen, so we should be on our way home. Next time we shall sit and eat kola.”
“Thank you, my in-laws. You have spoken well. May the road guide you all as you go,” he said to them as they turned in smaller groups to go.
When the Umuada left, they went back to Udodi who was coming behind to ask on behalf of her wife. Udodi never fell apart with her wife after studying carefully her wife’s characteristic behaviour. He swallowed all her insults. Because he was a cold man, that was the woman that understood him.
But the Umuada punished Udodi for ignoring their advice when they got home and was asked to present seven fowls and twenty-one tubers of yam before he could work with anyone in Umudi as more punishment for hiding his wife’s stubbornness.
What went on between a man and a woman was hidden by the great Chukwu to the living, many reasoned.
*
The season had eaten deep. Rain was still part of the year. The sun took most part of the day and beat hard, after which rain followed. It was a very good time for the yam to form new tubers. Yams matured by tubers and not leaves, so everyone was interested in the size of yam to be harvested. It still carried the yellowish leaves, yet sprouted new tendrils which now looked stunted. It had rained all year and left the farmers in fear of what the harvest would bring. As for any Umudi man, if he could not work inside the rain and under the sun, he would have nothing to harvest at the end of the farming year.
The feast of the new yam was fast approaching. Gradually, Umudi was crawling towards a festive mood. Everyone was in active preparation for it. It was a time for giving thanks to the god of crops. Rain was gradually going back, bringing about mighty wind filled with dust. But the earth was still with life and well soaked down on the red earth. Most days were sunny, but sometimes it rained after much thundering.
New yam could not be eaten until some had first been offered to the gods and goddesses of the land. They could well help the men in their happy mood, ushering them into a new time for eating of yams. New yam festival was a time of joy to all Umudi people. They actively prepared themselves, with heavy foods and drinks for their guests.
For the old yams, only a few were left that were not eaten. They were dried of water and were meals for the elders when the throat was dried. It was eaten after long cooking and supervision by the mother of the house, who ensured that no part of the yam was missing from the port. Few days before the festival, the remnants would be disposed of in the markets in surrounding clans or given to in-laws from other clans by those who still had some. It was done to get rid of the old yams anywhere in the clan. New and old yams were not seen together. They were like enemies.
On the last day before the festival, whether or not it fell on orie, orie egbugbu was well filled to the brim with new yams by known and reputable farmers. They were known and people would go close to steal with their eyes the yam with the biggest flesh. Early in the morning, the children and younger wives took those yams to the market for the family head to come and do the bargaining. Then many women from surrounding clans came with their items and sold them all in active preparation for what lay ahead. It was a period when the titled men would recognise the first three persons as nnaji. It was an honour and title that gave the beneficiary new strength to continue during the next planting season.
The main food for this festival was yam prepared in various forms. The women were good hands at this time. They made every preparation to see food in the house for their many visitors. It was only a tightfisted woman that could sit without many things on hand.
The elders and titled ones ate before others. They made consultations first to the gods over the festival. They were the better hands in the clan who could not tamper with the yam or leave it for anything. The whole morning would be dedicated to the roasting of the yams by young trusted men. The roasted yams would be soaked in the finest red palm oil and eaten by titled and old men in cut sizes. The oil would be well prepared with otazi leaf and pepper with the finest particles. Then, in their seniority, they dunked the yam in the red liquid and ate after a long prayer. Their eating the yam would open a way for others to go on with it with the booming of nkponala. Yam food and vegetable soup were the food for the celebration. Upo yam and awai would be prepared too for those who wanted to eat in variety. No matter how heavily the family ate, there was always a huge quantity of food left over at the end of the day.