NAMO

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Namo woke up to the crow of the cock feeling a little uneasy and dizzy. It had been a rainy night and the mud floor and walls made it extra cold. Folding her little mat, her nostrils were filled by the dampy smell of her small thatch house.

She always loved the smell or what she refers to as fragrance from her modest condo. The verandah was a mess, filled with leaves all over. The rain had left a good impression on the wall as well as the plantain stems that were bent over as if in a salutation to its owner.

"only if I had someone to help me" she thought as the feeling of loneliness washed all over her. At that point she decided to go check on her only possessions and companions, her fowls. Their kiosk seemed unaffected by the rain and the small creatures were already bustling, flapping their wings with reckless abandon, obviously they had woken her up. She could see them mating and the feeling of loneliness washed over her again. "even fowls have companions, except me" she sighed.

As she went about trying to tidy up the mess made by the rain, she could notice people trooping towards the village square. That's when she remembered that today was the day one of the illustrious sons of the village was returning to his motherland.

In their tradition, the people of Unako would have to give any returning, prosperous son of the land a befitting welcome by gathering at the village Square to sing his praises and confer his parents with chieftaincy titles.

Namo had been invited, but the effect of not having someone around you makes you overthink and forget important things. Namo knew that she had to be there, she had been invited by the king himself, perhaps out of pity because he knew none of the villagers would come close to her. She also knew that she has to go dust her thick skin and wear it, for the villagers never miss an opportunity to throw tantrums at her.

Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she started reminiscing about her life. She once had a husband and a son, and could be called happy. But everything changed when her husband died from a strange ailment. When her son got a scholarship to study in the city, she thought her happiness was coming back. She would be the mother of a graduate and a rich son.

But after coming home at the end of his second year, his son supposedly went back to school. But it's been seven years and no one has seen or heard from him. Everyone in the village thought she had a hand in both misfortune and have been avoiding her since then.

Namo finished with her cleaning and set out to the village square to join in the celebrations. As she approached the gathering of people around the iroko tree, she could see heads turn in her direction, a few murmerings in hushed tones.

She could vaguely pick out the words "witch", "what's she doing here" and "she...coven". Tears welling inside her and ready to burst out, she controlled herself "don't panic, the king invited you and soon you'll be able to return to your condo in peace" she assured herself as she strolled into a deserted corner a few metres away from the crowd.

As the celebrant arrived, she decided to go a little closer to have a better look. But she was reprimanded by the crowd to stay away from them. She couldn't hold it again and was about to burst out in tears when she heard her name being called. It wasn't just that the voice sounded familiar, but there's only one person that calls her by that name. At this point the villagers were all confused as to what was going on.

Again the voice called out "Naami". When Namo turned around she was shocked at the sight of her son. She had not seen him in 7 years and had already lost hope. "Bani?" she called out "is that you?"

"yes, it's me Naami. It's Bani your son"

The whole occasion was thrown into confusion as to what was happening. Bani was supposed to be dead. No one had heard from him or even seen him for 7 years. They had even sent some men to the city to track him down to no avail.

Namo was confused as to what to do. The tears of sorrow that was welling up in her burst out in joy as she wrapped her hands around Bani in an emotional embrace.

"it's okay Naami" Bani whispered into her ears "today is your day, we're going to make a splash and the whole village will know that you're son is back and your sorrows are gone".

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