[STORY] Nene's worth

Nene was a woman whose aura was strong. She had an ample dose of energy I can’t put a finger to. She personified the amazon portrayed in legends. Huge, but gracious in her steps, her round and smooth face always had hints of gaiety. 

But there was a deficit in her as attested to by the people of Ona Kingdom that threatened to diminish all those good qualities she possessed.

With those sets of attributes, her beauty and graciousness, she had no lover to cuddle or a child to carry with her arms in or out of wedlock. 

Here was a lady whose companionship with any man had never exceeded two days. Every known juju man or diviner had taken her plea to the heavenly powers but each time her pleas and sacrifices were ignored. No side talk hadn’t caused her despair because of her predicament.

‘’How can a woman this strong, beautiful and hardworking have no man to warm her bed at night?” someone would ask. “How can?”

That would be followed by a harsh response: 

“Has she committed an abomination that the gods cannot forgive?”

Yet another person would ask, “Who has cast their evil eyes on her? Who has she wronged?’’

 

These were the greetings she received from the villagers whenever she walked past them to her farm, market and the village stream.

As long as she could remember, the chips kept falling at her feet, and she handled them well, silently. She was on the other side of the forties. Their verbal talk and attitude had almost changed her into a man. She was even regarded and treated like a man by the village women.

It was a full moon that night and, alone, she was deep in thought, observing her naked reflection, in the village stream. The place was flat out quiet. Nene examined her round, full breasts, she touched her belly, which had stretch marks all over like a woman who had conceived children. 

She laughed, as her entire body, including her coarse hair and toenails, went through an assessment by her fingers. 

She was awkwardly amused because the body had been there, unused, never made to feel the fire of desire and passion, the planting of seeds resulting in pregnancy and the giving of life. 

Nene could give a good account of herself in other vital areas; she had everything a full-grown man could desire in a woman, she was a successful farmer, a good cook, humble and respectful, in addition to that she came from an honourable family. 

She had always questioned her chi, she only asked for one thing, she wanted to be a wife and a mother but her chi ignored her cries and sacrifices.

Nene looked at herself again and screamed, "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

It was an outburst of great discovery and the accompanying feeling of being too shocked to hide her excitement. 

She got into her clothes and, majestically, walked back to her home with the thought that she wasn't the one with the problem. In her mind's eye, setting herself against the male folk, she said to herself, "The people are blind, the men of this village are cowards, scared and frightened of a woman like me. Aah!"

That night, she shed herself of the condition of emptiness, with a vow that changed her life, never to let the opinion of the blind ruin the years she had left on earth. 

She wouldn’t let the cowardice of men restrain her and make her feel inferior and worthless. The realization had come that night that she was worth more than any man in the village of Ona. No man could handle her.

‘’If I don’t get married, she thought, so be it. There are other ways a woman can find happiness’’.

Years passed. Out of a desire for an encounter with that woman, I heard so much of when I was a child, who had hardly indulged in the romantic warmth of a man and had never known motherhood, but one whose face smile had endured, I set out for a visit.  The people of Ona directed me to a compound where an old woman lived.

I went in there and I saw her, ever beautiful, meeting the description that had circulated about her. She now played with little children, who she told stories to. 

People whispered to me that she finally accepted her fate of dying an old lonely woman, but Nene laughed, looked at me and said,

 "I now find happiness in the little things that surround me."

Writer: Blessing Omozele Iyere