|
The
Crippled Wrestler
-
Oliver O. Mbamara
The
Only Child
Onyeobu was the son of
Okedike, the greatest wrestler in the village of Umuotaba. His family, the Ikikere family, was known and respected for the prowess of its men and the beauty and intelligence of its women. The family was therefore the most revered family in the village with. Its lineage was one of a long line of great warriors and hunters known far and wide in the southern belt area of the popular Imo River. In fact, the people of other neighboring villages came to Umuotaba to ask for assistance whenever any other neighboring village threatened them. To have Umuotaba on one’s side meant an assured victory, and this was mainly due to the fearless escapades and bravery of men of Umuotaba orchestrated by the able sons of the Ikikere family.
It happened that for some reason, Onyeobu was not the kind given to great things and manly adventures for which the Ikikere family was known and feared for. Yet, Onyeobu was the most boastful and talkative of the members of Ikikere family. He lived an extravagant life that exploited the achievements of his father, cousins, and uncles, but he cared very little about the effort they expended in the attainment of the achievements. Incidentally, Onyeobu was the only child of his parents, and his mother liked him more than anything in the world.
At first, Okedike saw the danger in it, when with the eye of an elder he noticed the signs at Onyeobu’s tender age. He was eager to instill the preventive and rehabilitative discipline that he felt Onyeobu required to curb his growing waywardness. However, Onyeobu’s mother did not allow Okedike to do that. Ironically, Okedike was very fond of his wife
Ihedinanwanyi. He called her ‘Ihedi’ for short. Ihedi knew of Okedike’s weakness for her charming thighs, attractive bosom, and tender touches. So, each time Okedike wanted to punish Onyeobu for his misdeeds, Ihedi would either flaunt her beautiful assets at
Okedike, taunt him with them, or she would withdraw her affection from him when Okedike needed it most at night. Therefore, Okedike rarely disciplined
Onyeobu.
Consequently, Onyeobu always had his way. The older he grew, the more he isolated himself from the brave adventures of his family, but his mother, Ihedi kept telling anyone who cared to listen that Onyeobu was still growing up. “He is still a child, please leave him alone,” She always stated. As Onyeobu turned into a grown teenager in the eyes of everyone except his mother, Onyeobu developed the habit of constantly consuming palm wine and tobacco. He was gradually becoming a tobacco addict and a drunk, but his mother refused to see it as such. She continued to argue that Onyeobu only needed the tobacco to clear his constant nose congestion, while the palm wine was good for his constant ‘iba’ (malaria fever).
A Weakling in Ikikere Family
Almost everyone gave up on Ihedi and her son Onyeobu. However, the young men of the family could not take it any longer when Onyeobu became the weak point that others used in insulting the Ikikere family. Onyeobu had just turned sixteen, the age from which teenagers were expected to wrestle each other at the village square. It was a sign of coming of age. A teenager who failed to wrestle or was defeated at the wrestling match had to wait till the next year for another chance at manhood. While he waited, he was still treated as a child and never allowed to engage in any manly activity of the village. It was always a shameful thing. A disgrace and a stigma that no son of Ikikere family had ever being associated with. Never in memory could it be recollected that any son of Ikikere family had ever refused a wrestling challenge or been defeated at the competition. Ikikere family was not known for weaklings.
Every teenager in Umuotaba village soon recognized Onyeobu as a weakling. Therefore, they were all eager to challenge him to a wrestling match at the annual wrestling competition. At first, Onyeobu refused to accept any of the challenges, claiming that he was ill. It was obvious to all the villagers that Onyeobu was being a coward. The news was very humiliating to
Okedike, and meant a gloomy future for him. He saw that his son’s loafing would take away the honor and respect that he had built for himself over the years as the greatest wrestler and warrior in the land, yet there was little he knew he could do. However, other members of the family would not take the insult any more. They quickly summoned a family meeting to address the issue.
The Ultimatum
Very early in the morning, the men of Ikikere family gathered at the ‘Obi,’ the family’s meeting place. At the meeting, the family agreed to give Onyeobu an ultimatum. “If you refuse to accept the wrestling challenge of your peers, or, if you wrestle and loose, you will be banished from this family,” Nze Okenye tersely stated. “It will be easy to call a village meeting and have their ratification of our decision, is that not so my people?” he asked. “It is so!” Other members of the family chorused. Onyeobu was further told that if he violated the ultimatum, he would in three days, be provided with a place in the nearby bush to build his house. The family had spoken and Onyeobu must comply.
Onyeobu was lazy but not dumb. He knew he could not win a wrestling match against any of his mates, and that he would neither be able to build even a hut on his own, nor would he survive a day in the bush alone. He knew he would not be able to fight his family on their decision, and that they meant every word of their ultimatum, but he was not going to give up all his comfort for the harshness and dangers of the bush. He had to do something. Meanwhile the next wrestling match was due in the evening of the same day. There was little time left but Onyeobu had a few plans.
Firstly, Onyeobu set out to consult his mother who went crying to Okedike, complaining that the members of Ikikere family always hated her son, and wished him dead so that they would inherit Okedike’s property if
Onyeobu, the only son was eliminated. “Don’t you see their plan?” she cried to Okedike who did not hide his lack of control over the matter. “Woman, there is nothing I can do to change the situation,” Okedike managed to say. “I always warned you about this your child, but you always defended his loafing. Now, only him, and him alone can help himself,” Okedike concluded. “O!
Ehhh? So, she is now my child alone, eh?” Ihedi queried as she threw herself on the ground again. “You will leave them to banish your own son, eh?
Ehhhh! My God has killed me o!” Ihedi cried.
The Wrestling Match
Meanwhile, Onyeobu was still in his mother’s room getting drunk, and clearing his eyes with more scoops of tobacco that he pushed into his nostrils hoping that it would help him think clearly. Shortly after, the ‘Ikoro’ (wooden drum) sounded to invite the people to the gathering for the days wrestling event. After a while, the people have gathered, and the teens challenged each other to the floor. Those who won were lifted shoulder high and they danced around the square singing songs of victory, while grinning with such masculine smile announcing their arrival as the community’s latest batch of revered adults. Those who lost covered their faces in shame and sat down sadly by the corner, thinking of how they will survive the shame of their failure till the next annual competition. Some never-give-up losers would still be given another chance to wrestle again before the wrestling festival was over. Though an annual event, the event lasted for four market days.
As Onyeobu entered the arena in response to the beckoning of one of the teenagers on the floor, all eyes were on him. The ‘Ikoro’ suddenly went into frenzy, and the crowd cheered even louder. It was normal for the tempo to heighten once an Ikikere family member stepped into the square to wrestle. Onyeobu was an Ikikere family member, and the ‘Ikoro’ paid him the tribute deserved by any Ikikere family wrestler. However, rather than go into the familiar predator dance known as the signature move of an Ikikere family wrestler, Onyeobu took a dive. The Ikoro stopped. In a split moment, the square was silent as the crowd assimilated what just happened, and then murmurings started among the people and grew to chatter.
The crowd booed and waited for Onyeobu to get on his feet again but that was not to happen. He had pulled a fast trick. Pretending to have tripped on something on the ground, Onyeobu refused to stand again, claiming that he was seriously injured. Almost everyone believed that he was faking the injury, but none could force him to wrestle at that point. “Well, there is still one more day of wrestle,” The Ikoro man said. “
Onyeobu, the son of Okedike, we shall be waiting here tomorrow for you. The Ikoro will still speak tomorrow, is that not so my people?” he asked the bemused crowd. “Yes, yes, yes,” they all chorused as the Ikoro man returned to the
Ikoro, and the wrestling match continued for the bold and the courageous.
The banishment
The next day, Onyeobu did not show up at the wrestling arena. He claimed that he was crippled and never stood up on his feet again, thereafter. The members of Ikikere family found themselves dealing with an unanticipated situation. Another meeting was called. “What if he is truly crippled?” asked one member. The majority came to the conclusion that Onyeobu was faking it all and should be punished by banishment as warned, but his mother,
Ihedi, found a way to get the audience of the family meeting. She believed that Onyeobu was truly crippled and vehemently argued against the banishment. She was not completely successful but with the help of Okedike’s appeal, the members of the family agreed to reverse their decision but insisted that they will not have Onyeobu living with them unless he passes the wrestling test. “He is a disgrace and has failed to prove himself to be a son of Ikikere family, and we will not live with him. Is that not so my people?” Mazi Iwedinaobi asked. “It is so,
Mazi, it is so,” the men chorused. It was therefore agreed that Onyeobu should be left at the village ‘Arusi’ shrine.
The decision of Ikikere family members was relayed to the village at a village meeting specifically called for the issue. The villagers agreed with the Ikikere family and Onyeobu was carried to the village shrine despite her mother’s protestations. As the group of young men appointed to take Onyeobu to the foot of ‘Arusi’ shrine was leaving Onyeobu at the shrine, their leader, Mazi Iwedinaobi sternly stated. “Arusi is never hungry, and you may survive on the offerings that our people bring to it. You will have all the time you need to make up your mind before next year’s wrestling competition.” Onyeobu hardly responded. He simply sat on the ground in crippled fashion and watched the men return to their houses. Within him, he was glad that the shrine was not too far from other habited houses including that of his family. No one was allowed to visit or communicate with Onyeobu including his parents unless he met the demand of the wrestling competition.
Night Looters
Ihedi was never glad with the decision of the members of Ikikere family concerning her only child. She became embittered, and antagonized herself with the other members of the family. She accused them of a conspiracy to eliminate her son, and kept busy with anything that would annoy them. Within a few days, she instead ended up antagonizing most of the children in the family and they made sure she did not have a rest. They would come to her hut overnight and take away items such as spoons, plates, pots, and firewood.
Almost on a daily basis, Ihedi was waking up to find more food items and utensils missing from her hut. She could not take it any longer, when she woke up one morning and dearly needed to take some tobacco, but the tobacco jar was empty. She concluded that the children were stealing her tobacco and taking them to their parents. She therefore thought of a trap that would teach them some serious lesson. One evening, before she went to bed, Ihedi carefully ground some pepper and mixed it with some tobacco, and then placed the tobacco in the tobacco jar and left it at the usual spot. She then went to bed.
About midnight when every one had gone to bed and deeply asleep, they were woken by a shrill cry that came from behind Ihedi’s hut. Almost everyone came running out to know what had happened. The men were the first to arrive brandishing their machetes to tackle any danger. The women and children followed at some distance. As the men drew closer in the direction of the cry which continued unceasingly, a young man was writhing in pain as he held his hand to his nose and continued to tumble on the ground. It was Onyeobu He was in so much pain that he did not notice the gathering of people.
Having stayed a few days at the foot of Arusi shrine, Onyeobu could not hold back the urge to enjoy more of her mother’s delicacies, especially the tobacco and palm wine. He had therefore sneaked down to her mother’s hut every night when people were asleep just to get some of these items. This fateful night, Onyeobu did not know that his mother had filled the jar with pepper, and in the darkness, he had taken a big scoop directly into his nostril and sniffed it in with the usual expectation of satisfaction. The hot pepper had gotten to his brain and got him shouting and shrieking in pain.
When Onyeobu managed to open his eyes and look up, he could see only glimpses of ‘mpanaka’ (bushel/night lamp) but not the people holding them. “Onyeobu?” A voice called. Suddenly, Onyeobu remembered that he was supposed to be a cripple, and was not supposed to be in the family compound. Summing up the strength to suppress his pain, he tried to quickly scan his way and speed off, but his dash was abruptly ended by a thudding sound and excruciating pain as he ran head on straight into a solid mud wall, and came crashing down on his back as abruptly as he had started. Amidst the shock, many in the bemused crowd could not help but burst out laughing.
©Oliver
O. Mbamara, 2003
Respond
to this Article/Story or leave comment
***************************************************
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Oliver Mbamara is an Administrative Law Judge
with the State of New York. He is also a filmmaker and a Published Poet
and playwright. For more on Oliver, please visit www.olivermbamara.com
For
background/research reference on this piece, click on this link
BACK
TO THE TOP
|
.
