in what way may I help you?’
‘As you must be aware, the law requires me to remarry within a period of time or lose custody of my son. The Chief wants me to marry him, I don’t want to. And the priests have notified me that they will come to pass judgement in a few days. I tried to escape from the village with my son, but the royal guards apprehended us, and we have been placed under house arrest since then. I need your help. Please, I need you to talk to the Chief and ask him to give me more time. Surely it is in his power to do so. In return, I will come back to Main Street and help to rebuild the village’s economy.’
‘You have asked a very difficult thing,’ Chair-Lady said with a sigh.
‘Think of the benefits for the whole village if I return to Main Street.’
‘I know, I know, but we are talking about the law. The priests are already involved. And once they are involved in a matter, not even the Chief can stop them from performing their duty. That law has always been there, and you may not have been aware of it because no one has ever broken it before. You are the first, Ese. It will be difficult for me to defend you or to influence the Chief on the matter.’
‘Surely an exception can be made in my case, considering that I can help to salvage the village’s economy and put us back on the map. You could put this before them to make a case for me.’
‘I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not promising anything. If I were to give you my advice, I would say marry the Chief. It’s no small privilege for any woman to be married to the Chief. You will never have to worry about anything again.’
‘But I cannot marry the Chief. I cannot marry a man I don’t love.’ I shook my head.
‘What has love got to do with marriage?’ Chair-Lady asked, baffled. ‘You do not marry because of love but because tradition requires you to be married. Tell me, how many marriages were contracted on the basis of love in the whole of this village? Certainly not mine. I don’t love my husband, yet I have been married to him for nearly thirty years.’
‘When I married Tanto, I did so because I loved him.’
‘But now he is dead. And the law of our land is clear.’
I took a deep breath. ‘What about Noah?’ I asked, studying Chair-Lady’s face intently.
‘What about him?’ she asked, scrutinising my face in return.
‘What will happen to him if I marry the Chief and take him to live in the palace? All the widows the Chief has married have lost their children. They say the palace is cursed.’
Chair-Lady looked away from me, unable to say anything. I knew then, without any doubt, that I could never marry the Chief.
We lingered in tense silence.
‘Chair-Lady, please help me. I know you can.’
‘Well, I must go now,’ she said, still not looking at me. ‘I will come back to see you.’ She rose to leave.
‘Thank you,’ I said, rising up to see her to the door. I could see the guards outside with their swords.
*
That night, Noah came down with a fever that left him very weak. I got some leaves from the neem tree in the backyard and boiled them in a large pot. I made him drink a cup of the liquid – he took it reluctantly, for it was very bitter. Then I poured the rest into half a bucket of water and bathed him with it. He stopped shivering afterwards, and his temperature dropped a little, but he remained weak. When I had managed to get him to eat a little food, I tucked him into my bed and watched over him until he fell asleep.
He slept deeply. Feeling anxious, I stayed up all night and fell asleep just before dawn. I must have slept for about an hour or two. When I awoke, Noah was still sleeping. I opened the window carefully to let in some fresh air. Noah stirred and opened his eyes slightly. He mumbled something, then closed his eyes again and went back to sleep.
I went to the kitchen to prepare him a cup of neem tea. When I returned to the bedroom with the tea, his eyes were open. I sat next to him and placed my palm against his cheek to gauge his temperature. It seemed okay. ‘Good morning, my son. How are you feeling?’
‘Good morning, Mother. I feel a little better,’ he said, speaking with a slight slur, ‘but my tongue is heavy.’ He sat up in bed.
I smiled at him. ‘It’s because you are just waking up. Here, I brought you a cup of neem tea. You will feel better once you’ve taken it.’ I held the cup out to him.
‘It’s too bitter. I don’t like it.’ He made a face.
‘But it will help you to get well,’ I said gently. ‘Try it, it’s good for you.’ I took a sip from the cup before passing it to him. ‘Come on, drink it in one go.’
He held the cup to his mouth, tilted his head backwards, and emptied the contents gradually.
‘I’m proud of you!’ I said, taking the cup from him and ruffling his hair.
‘It’s so bitter.’
‘It’s the bitterness that will make you well.’
‘I’ll never fall ill again so I won’t have to drink it again.’ He shook his head.
I smiled at him. ‘Yes, my son, you will never fall ill again.’
*
Noah had a good appetite that morning and I felt happy and grateful that he was getting better. But my happiness was cut short when Chair-Lady came to see me that afternoon. She would not come in, and she stood by the door to address me.
‘I did my best,’ she said with a small shrug, ‘but the Chief insisted that the law must take its course. If you don’t get married by the end of today, tomorrow you will lose your son. But the good news is that the Chief is still willing to marry you to save you from widowhood.’ She smiled, as if to encourage me.
‘My son will die if I marry the Chief and take him to live with me in the palace.’ My voice was filled with anguish.
‘You will bear other children,’ Chair-Lady replied coldly. ‘And who knows, your son may be lucky and thrive in the palace. It’s a chance you should take.’
‘No,’ I whispered, shaking my head. ‘No, I cannot take that chance!’
‘You would prefer to lose him to Jaja, knowing how wicked a man he is?’
My eyes filled with tears. And soon they were rolling down my face.
‘I wish you luck while you wait for love. But let me tell you, I don’t know of any bachelor who will want to marry a widow as a first wife. Your best chance is to marry the Chief now.’
‘This is no longer about love,’ I said with frustration. ‘This is about my son!’
Chair-Lady sighed and shook her head, looking upon me with pity. ‘I wish you luck. I must get going now. Goodbye, Ese.’
I watched her leave.
I made frantic efforts to reach out to my neighbours. I begged one of the guards to take word to Pa Umoh and Ma Umoh, but he came back to say that they were not available. Then I sent word to Duka – he too was not available. With my heart beating fearfully, it occurred to me that my son and I were all on our own.
*
I went through the rest of the day in a daze. Each time I looked through the window, it seemed to me that the guards had increased in number and that their swords had become longer.
I tried to get word to my parents, but the guards had become hostile and they declined my request. I pleaded with them, but they pushed me back into the house.
All I could do was cry quietly while Noah slept. I lay beside him, burying my face in the pillow. For the first time since Tanto passed away, I felt that he had betrayed me by dying. I looked up to heaven, and