URENMA (Journey To The River World) - Season 1 - Episode 3

6 years ago

URENMA (Journey To The River World) - Season 1 - Episode 3

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While Ukeh and the villages around them waited with bathed breath to know who Okeke would give his daughter to as wife, Urenma had a fatal accident- she found love. One day Urenma was at Nwangele River washing sliced cassava for her mother when a handsome young man walked into the river to fetch water. Some young men who were washing thier clothes at the river began to poke fun at him. The young man was poor and looked dirty; his name was Obinze. Obinze had lost his parents while he was still very tender and was left with only his aged grandmother. The old woman was too old to fend for herself and Obinze, so from a young age Obinze began to farm and hunt to care for his grandmother. Life was not fair to him, but however he killed enough game and harvested enough farm produce to keep him and grandmother from starving to death. This time of the year, Ukeh youth wrestling festival was about to begin. Every young man in Ukeh had taken to the chief priest a strong and healthy c--k, for the chief priest to perform a ritual which would keep them from breaking bones or sustaining injuries which could lead to death in the wrestling match. Every wrestling festival Obinze would fail to take part in wrestling matches because he could not afford to give the chief priest a c--k.

Even in times when he had a c--k to give to the chief priest, he would sell it so he and his grandmother could eat. So some of the boys at the river that day ridiculed him for his poverty and continued failure to take part in the wrestling festival every year. Thier caustic words shot at Urenma’s heart like arrows. Obinze did not reply a word to them; he simple held his udu (earthen pot) under the river so water could fill it. Meanwhile Urenma could no longer bear the taunts hurled at Obinze; though she had not met him before nor had heard of him, her heart went out to him in compassion. From her task of washing sliced cassava tubers, she raised her head like a cobra and barked at the young men who made fun of Obinze, “Shut up you fools! How I wish your mothers sq££zed you all dead while you were trying to come out of them. You are all filthy and deserve not to live! I swear by th gods, tomorrow, Obinze will fight at the wrestling festival and he will break each of your bones and be crowned champion”.

Urenma’s words broke over the young men with the power of her other nature. The boys cowered and froze with fear.
Obinze was afraid and raced to her defense thinking the boys would attack Urenma. He was surprise that they didn’t, Obinze thanked her for coming to his defense but told her that she shouldn’t have bothered because he had grown accustomed to their taunts.
Urenma told him that she meant what she said and asked Obinze to wait for her to finish washing her sliced cassava. As Obinze and Urenma walked home and chatted about the wrestling festival she took Obinze’s hand like a woman would take that of her lover. Obinze was surprised and couldn’t say a word, he had heard of the fame of her beauty and the class of men who jolted each other with their wealth to win her hand in marriage. Urenma deliberately took Obinze’s hand; she knew what she was doing. She knew the news of that would spread through the entire village and she wanted it so.

She was miffed at the way Obinze was treated and wanted all to know that he was going to be the next big thing in Ukeh, she, would make sure it happened. Urenma told Obinze to meet him at the chief priests shrine as soon as he got home and set down his water pot.

About forty minutes later Obinze met Urenma at shrine of the chief priest holding a gaint c--k. She handed it to him and said, “Go in and see the chief priest. Let him offer the ritual for your safety in wrestling festival, by tomorrow you will be breaking bones at the village square”. “But Urenma, I won’t be able to break their bones. Won’t the same spirit protecting them be protecting me?”

“Don’t worry about that, by tomorrow the spirit that protects wrestlers will not be at the village square.
I will be the one watching over the wrestlers and will decide whose bones I want broken. Go in now and see the chief priest”.

Obinze did not understand her meaning, nor had he seen a weird character like her before. After the chief priest was done with Obinze, he come out of the shrine and met Urenma. Ure; as she was fondly called, was happy for him. She gave him a pile of new clothes hideen in a basket and said. “These are for you Obi M.
Tomorrow you will be dressed in your best as you make your way down to the village square”.