UZUMMA: THE HARVEST

Agunwa knew his wife had always been very beautiful but he found out now that she was more so. Pregnancy suited Uzumma, so she glowed. She only got mildly nauseous in the mornings and the nausea always quickly passed, as soon as she ate something light. She didn't look pregnant, though, because her belly was still very flat.
Besides them, her parents, Emenike, Mama Nnukwu and Ugboaku were the only ones who knew about the baby. It was Agunwa’s decision, not to let anyone else know, till her belly showed. He loved knowing that only a few of them shared that lovely secret.

He now returned from his farms very early, everyday, to spend time with his wife. Uzumma had insisted on continuing with supervising the workers who took care of the goats and after a lot of arguments about that, he had finally agreed.

Anytime he wanted to fuss over her, she would say, “Agu m, I’m only pregnant. I’m not sick with some ailment, biko.”

She was always careful not to get exhausted and as soon as she got tired, she returned home to take a nap.

Agunwa asked her not to pound yam or fufu for him any longer, because he didn't want her doing any strenuous chores. He started asking his mother to make some pounded yam or fufu for him anytime he had a hunger for either and each time, Nwanyimma smugly obliged. She thought that since Agunwa was eating her food again, he was starting to get disenchanted with Uzumma. In Nwanyimma’s opinion, it was only a matter of time before he obeyed her and married a new wife.

One afternoon, she sent Obiageli to deliver pounded yam to Agunwa.

Looking up from the wrappers she was folding in front of her hut, Uzumma smiled at her. “Oby, your brother’s not yet home. You can leave the food with me so that I can serve him as soon as he gets home.”

"Mba kwa! No way would I leave food cooked by my mother with you, when it is intended for my brother. So, when he gets home, ask him to come get it from Mama. If you want some pounded yam, make it yourself.”

She balanced the plate on the palm of her right hand and placed her left hand on her waist. “I wonder why Mama and I have to be the ones pounding yam for Agunwa, anyway. Did your mother not teach you to cook everything your husband loves, no matter how difficult they are to prepare?”

When Uzumma only narrowed her eyes, without saying a word, she frowned. “Tell me, Uzumma, what can you do, really? You can't even get pregnant and that's supposed to be easy. Yet, you call yourself a wife."

She walked away slowly, like she was waiting for Uzumma to respond.


Uzumma was seething but didn't say a word about it to anybody till Agunwa came home. She made garri for him and served it with the fresh okro soup she made that afternoon. After he had eaten and they retired into their hut, she told him about Obiageli’s visit.

"How dare Obiageli mention my mother on one of her stupid rants? Does she now consider my mother her mate in some way?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. “Agunwa, I have been patient with your mother and your sister. I have tolerated insults aimed at me.”

She opened her eyes and turned to him. “I will not tolerate insults directed at any member of my family. It is even more hurtful now that I'm pregnant, for her to taunt me with barrenness. Maybe, it wasn't such a great idea to keep the baby a secret." She tossed her head away and folded her arms on her chest.

Sitting beside her on their bed, Agunwa rubbed her upper back in circular motions. "Asa m, I'm so sorry. Obiageli's behaviour is inexcusable, but, if I hadn’t asked you to keep our blessing a secret, she would not have dared to insult you.”

He turned her gently, till she was facing him again and added. “We will tell them in the morning that you are pregnant. I can't have anyone thinking or speaking ill of you anymore."

Lying on the bed, the next morning, she changed her mind about revealing the news about her pregnancy to her husband's family. When Agunwa woke, she told him, "I can't wait to see Mama's and Obiageli's faces when they realize, with the rest of the world, that I am not barren, after all. Both of them have taunted me and tried to make me so miserable for such a long time. I want to see how they react to the news that they were so wrong, after all.”

He framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes. "Are you sure, omalicha m?"

She smiled gently and reaching up, traced his lips with the fingers on her right hand. "Yes, I am, Agu m. I have not told you this before but, I'm so grateful to you for standing by me all these long months. You were my rock and you made me hold on. For loving me so deeply, I thank you. So many men would have succumbed to pressure from their family and taken another wife.”

At his raised eyebrows, she stopped playing with his mouth and smiled. “Yes, I have known for a long time that Mama wants you to marry another woman. She hasn’t been exactly discreet about the fact that she’s been searching for a young and virile wife for you. In this village, there are people who, for whatever reasons, were only too happy to pass on such information to me.”

He raised an eyebrow. "Why didn’t you ever let on that you knew about that?”

His smile grew wider. “It wasn’t necessary, Agu m. I knew that there was no way you’d go along with her plans, while professing love to me. You are not that kind of man.”

“You are a special one, omalicha m and I’m the grateful one. There are men who take second wives when the first is seemingly barren, only for the new woman not to bear children too.” He shrugged. “There could have been something wrong with me that made me unable to impregnate you, but you never acted like the thought had ever crossed your mind. You never questioned my virility at all. I thank you for that, asa m."

He turned his body, till he was on his back and drew her close, her head on his chest.

Uzumma didn't have to wait for much longer before everyone knew she was pregnant. Suddenly, her belly seemed to distend overnight. Ojiugo was the first to notice the slight swell of her belly. She drew Uzumma aside on her way to the kitchen, one afternoon, and asked, "Nwa m, has it finally happened? You are pregnant, right?"

"Yes, Nne. I am pregnant," Uzumma answered, with a smile.

She clapped her hands together. "Ewoo! I suspected so o!”

Eyes shining with excitement, she continued, “I noticed that your breasts became fuller but you have not been sick at all. So, I thought that you had only gained some weight. When you didn’t say anything about a pregnancy, I concluded that I was wrong.”

She raised her eyes and hands to the sky. “May our chi be praised o!"

To Uzumma’s amusement, she started to dance and was still at it, moments later, when Nwanyimma came upon them. She stopped and stared at them with suspicion. “O gini nu? What are you celebrating?”

Ojiugo looked up, with a huge smile on her face. "Take a good look at our daughter, nwunye di m. Does she not look beautiful?" She bent at the waist again and tucked her hands beneath her body, while her feet beat a tattoo on the ground.

Uzumma burst into laughter and Nwanyimma frowned. "Hian! She doesn't look different to me o!”

"That's because you haven't really looked at her lately. Ngwa, look at her carefully," Ojiugo insisted, not pausing in her dance.

Nwanyimma's eyes immediately went to Uzumma's belly. She stared for a while, before her eyes widened. She went quickly to Uzumma and touched her all over her belly. When the firmness on Uzumma’s lower belly told her what the dance was about, Nwanyimma let out a shout of joy and joined in the dance. She held Uzumma's hands and pulled her into the dance.

"What's going on?" Emenike asked as he came out to investigate the noise he had heard.

"Nna anyi, Uzumma is pregnant," Nwanyimma announced. "We will soon be grandparents." She stopped dancing and beamed at her husband

"Oh, that. I've known for over a month." He casually adjusted the folds of his wrapper. He seemed to be gloating.

"You mean that they told you?" Nwanyimma asked, surprised. "Why did no one breathe a word of this to me? Don’t I have a right to hear such good news? It's my grandchild too, you know."

"Woman, don't put a damper on everybody's mood. Are you surprised that you were kept in the dark?"

Nwanyimma had the grace to look ashamed. She opened her mouth and closed it again, without saying a thing. Quickly, she turned to Uzumma but couldn’t meet her eyes. "Anyway, all that is in the past. Omalicha anyi, come with me to my hut. You know pregnancy is a woman affair. So, we have to talk. There’s so much to teach you about your condition."

When she tugged at Uzumma’s hand, Uzumma almost burst into laughter at this sudden transformation but obediently followed her husband's mother. As they turned to leave, Uzumma overheard Emenike laugh and say, "This woman never ceases to amaze me. Maybe, we'll have some peace now."

When Obiageli heard of the pregnancy from her mother, she came to Uzumma who was sitting in front of her hut, peeling egusi seeds.

"I hear that our chi has finally decided to bless you with a child. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Uzumma said with a quiet smile.

"You should have told us immediately you knew, though. We're family, after all." She kept silent, expecting Uzumma to respond and when she only got a stare and no response, she continued, "Now, I realize that must have been the reason you stopped pounding yam. I'm sorry about what I said the day Mama asked me to bring some pounded yam to my brother."

Uzumma put the bowl of egusi on the bench and responded, "I didn't expect you to understand how depressed I got every month my flow came as usual, but some compassion from you wouldn’t have hurt. You are a woman and very close to me in age. We have always known each other, but I can’t recall ever doing anything wrong to you.”

She shook her head slowly. “That’s why I still don't understand why you were bent on making me terribly unhappy. You really did all you could to make me miserable, but I thank our chi for vindicating me. Oby, you are not yet married and while we pray for the best for you, you do not know, for sure, how your life would turn out. So…"

Obiageli interrupted her sister-in-law, "Biko, don't rub in the fact that I'm not yet married, Uzumma. The only reason I came here was to apologize and I've done that already. Congratulations, once more." She walked away in a hurry.

Uzumma shook her head. She was resigned to the fact that she and Obiageli may never be friends but she was glad that, finally, the days of receiving insults from Agunwa’s sister were over.

                                                           *****************

"Nne, your belly is huge! You should have about two months to go, yet your belly is as big as mine was the day I delivered Nneamaka."

At the sound of her name, Nneamaka looked at her mother and smiled. Ugboaku picked her up from the mat, raised her above her head and cooed to her. Nneamaka, in delight, kicked her legs in the air and chuckled at her mother’s antics, as Uzumma looked on. She was a chubby six-month old and was very pretty. Ugboaku looked very happy playing with her daughter.

She smiled. "Both of you look so good together. I can't wait to hold mine, my sister.”

Ugboaku laughed, brought her daughter down and placed her on her laps. "Be patient, my sister. No matter how sweet you look with your child, I’m sure you won’t enjoy holding him or her for long hours at night. Make sure you don’t complain then o!”

Uzumma rubbed her belly when she felt the baby moving. "My sister, considering what I went through to get pregnant, I won’t be doing any complaining o! You're right about my belly being big. Even my mother said the same thing. My grandmother was with us then and revealed that for some of her pregnancies, her belly was huge too."

Nneamaka whimpered softly, rubbing her face on her mother’s chest. Ugboaku placed her in the crook of her left elbow and lowering one corner of the top of her wrapper, offered a breast to her daughter, all the while talking. "Really? You must have taken after her. You didn't add a lot of weight. You just have this really big belly."

As soon as the baby latched on and start sucking, she repeatedly patted her mother’s breast, while making purring noises that made the women laugh.

Nwanyimma came to where they sat in front of Uzumma’s hut and said, "Chai, your daughter is so lovely, Ugboaku.”

Smiling, she glanced at her daughter who was taking a nap on the mat. “Thank you, Mama.”

Nwanyimma looked away from the sleeping baby to Uzumma. “Omalicha anyi, food is ready. I made nsala soup and onugbu soup too. Which would you prefer?"

"Ah, Mama. You are spoiling me o. By the time this baby's born, I would have forgotten how to cook," Uzumma said, laughing.

"Nne, you know I don't mind cooking for my favourite daughter-in-law."

"I'm your only daughter-in-law, Mama," she replied, now laughing harder.

Nwanyimma laughed too. "You're still my favourite, nne. Which soup would you want to eat?”

"Nsala would be fine, Mama. Daalu."

She nodded and turned to Ugboaku, “My daughter, which do you prefer to eat?"

"I would have the same as Uzumma, Mama. Thanks a lot."

As Nwanyimma left, Ugboaku whispered to her friend, "Ewoo! So, you're her favourite daughter-in-law." She burst into laughter. "She only needed your huge belly to come to that realization."

Uzumma laughed too. "My sister, the transformation still amazes me, but I'm enjoying the attention. My father-in-law was right about my pregnancy bringing peace to the family. Agunwa’s mother has become the doting mother-in-law she had been when Agunwa had just married me.”

She nodded slowly. “If truth be told, she treats me a lot better than she ever did.” Winking mischievously, she added, “Agunwa tells me to milk it for what it's worth. He says that she treated me abominably and so, should do all she can to make up for that."

Ugboaku nodded briskly. "I agree with your husband, biko. For that reason, I will make sure I enjoy the nsala soup and ask for more. I hope there'll be lots of meat in it."

Uzumma started laughing. "Is that supposed to be some sort of punishment?”

When Ugboaku nodded in mock-seriousness, she laughed some more, before saying, “She won't notice. She loves to cook and loves it when people eat food she's made."

Uzumma laughed harder, when her friend snapped her fingers. "Okay then, I'll tell her I'm no longer hungry after the food comes."

                                                           *****************

"I see the baby's head now," Nnedimma said. "You need to give me a big push now. You've done a great job so far."

Uzumma's labour contractions had started in the evening of the previous day.  She had slowly walked around as they had progressed throughout the night. It was dawn now and there seemed to be no periods to catch her breath, before contraction after another hit her. She lay on her back, exhausted, and didn't know why the baby was not yet out. She lifted her right hand to wipe off the beads of sweat, about running into her eyes from her brow.

Another big push? Have I been giving little ones? Where’s Agunwa, anyway? Why wasn’t he allowed in here?

She felt a contraction coming so she dug her hands into the bed and pushed one more time, trying not to yell, as she felt the baby slowly slip out. The lusty cry was like music to her ears as tears rolled out of her eyes.

A baby at last!

She had been told that after the baby was born, she would feel relief but that didn't happen. Instead, she felt another urge to push almost immediately. She guessed the placenta was about to be delivered.

Nnedimma was excited. "I see another head. There's another baby! Come on, Uzumma. Give me another big push."

Twins?

Uzumma's mind was reeling as she pushed again and her second daughter was born. Nnedimma's assistant was her daughter, Ijeudo. She was still cleaning up the first baby when the second was born, so her mother took care of the younger twin.

While they worked, Uzumma gaped at her babies. Are there really two of them?

Soon, she started straining again and Nnedimma quickly swaddled the baby in a wrapper.

“Please, finish up for me when you’re done with the other baby,” she instructed Ijeudo and went over to Uzumma.

Shortly, the placenta both babies had shared was expelled and Nnedimma carefully examined it, before putting it into an earthen bowl. She was to present it to Agunwa, who would bury it under a pre-chosen young palm tree. The tree would then belong to the twins, according to tradition.

While Nnedimma cleaned her up, Ijeudo placed her daughters, one after the other, in her arms.

She stared at her daughters. They are so beautiful. She wiped off a tear. They look so alike too.

Ijeudo had gone out of the hut to inform an anxious Agunwa that his wife had delivered twins. Soon, the sound of jubilation reached Uzumma's ears, as she held her babies.

When she was done, Nnedimma stared at Uzumma and her babies for a while. "You are blessed, you know. Many years ago, your babies would not have been allowed to live. When my late mother was the midwife in Umuchi, twins were an abomination. By the time I was old enough to become her apprentice, it was no longer the case. She delivered a small number of twins who were allowed to live. She always got very excited then, whenever twins were born on her watch and I understood and shared that excitement.”

She shook her head slowly, her eyes in a distant time. “But, she had regrets, till she died, about the babies that were taken away from their mothers and left to die in the evil forest. She was still haunted by them. Anytime I deliver twins, I remember her and I wish that she could have seen them free to live. Congratulations, my dear. Our chi has indeed blessed you."

"Thank you for helping me today," Uzumma said, smiling through her tears. "May our chi allow you witness the birth of even more twins. I'm sure your mother is happy today."

Nnedimma smiled and left with her daughter. Once outside, she handed the soiled bed clothes to Nwanyimma and the placenta over to Agunwa.

Carrying the earthen bowl in his hand, he was the first to rush into the hut to see his wife and their new daughters. Soon, other members of the family started trooping in, one after the other, till Uzumma became too exhausted to see anyone else.

She fell into a deep sleep and by the time she woke, she looked around and realized that she had been moved from the original room of their hut, where she had delivered the babies, to the new and bigger adjourning room.

I must have been really exhausted, not to have known when I was moved.

She realized from the blazing sun she could see through the open windows, that it was mid-afternoon. Mama Nnukwu had come to visit too and was the only one in the room with her. She sat in a chair, waiting for her granddaughter to wake. The twins lay on a smaller bed, sleeping on their backs and Mama Nnukwu stared at them.

Uzumma smiled tiredly and spoke, "Mama Nnukwu, you're here. I see you are admiring your first great grandchildren."

At the sound of Uzumma's voice, her grandmother looked up. There were tears running down her face.

Uzumma’s smile faltered and she slowly sat up. "Is there any problem, Mama Nnukwu? Why are you crying? These tears don't look like those of joy to me."

Her grandmother was silent for a while and this alarmed Uzumma further. Soon, Mama Nnukwu wiped her tears and spoke, "My daughter, your daughters remind me of the ones I lost." She fell silent again.

Daughters? Uzumma was confused. She wasn’t aware that her grandmother had lost any children. She waited patiently for Mama Nnukwu to resume her story.

"I've never told you this before but I had twin daughters. Not just once but twice.”

She shook her head and then sighed sadly. “They had not been single babies that had died at birth like everyone was told. They were twins, but they had not been allowed to live because, in those days, they were an abomination. So, no one ever wanted to admit to haven had them."

She tried to wipe her tears away, but they still flowed. "The first time I had twins, I pleaded with the midwife to allow me hold my babies. She was a kind woman and she was crying when she put them in my arms.”

Her voice broke. “Mma, I looked at them carefully.”

She shook her head slowly. “There was nothing on their perfect skins to suggest that they were a curse. They were identical and very beautiful.”

She sighed deeply. “I couldn't understand how our chi could have made such beautiful creatures an abomination. There was an ache in my breasts. That could have been because I knew what a horrible fate that awaited my babies. There had been hushed tales of babies taken to the evil forest and left to die. No one knew if it was wild animals or the elements of nature that got to them first. Oh, how I cried, Mma.”

She passed her right hand across her face again, to dry the rapidly falling tears. “I begged to suckle them. But, I was not allowed to. So, I watched while my daughters were taken away and there was nothing I could do. I never saw them again, nor was I allowed to talk about them.”

She bent her head and lifted a corner of her wrapper to dry her face. Done with that, she looked at Uzumma again and continued, “When milk came into my breasts the next day, they hurt so much because there was no baby to relieve the increasing pressure. I cried for my daughters because I was certain that they would have left this world by then.”

Her voice was almost a whisper now. “The next time I was pregnant, I had twins too and they were also girls. I knew how perfect they'd look, so this time, I didn't want to hold them before they were taken away from me.”

She shook her head ruefully. “Till today, I regret that they had not known a mother's touch before leaving this world."

Uzumma was crying silently now. Her grandmother got up slowly from the chair and came to sit on the bed beside her. With the palm of the right hand, she dried Uzumma’s tears. "Weep not, my child, for I did not intend to make you sad. I was crying earlier for my children, but those tears were not just for them. I cried for your daughters too and for them, I shed tears of joy. They are our hope and our future, because they have life.”

She smiled gently. “For that reason, Mma, I weep for my lost daughters no more. I have been consoled in a way the birth of your father and his brothers didn’t. When I saw your belly getting really huge, I hoped and prayed that you were carrying twins. Our chi decided to bless us with these gifts, to compensate us for the ones we lost in ignorance and for that, I am grateful."

They hugged each other for a long time.

When she raised her head, she asked, "Does my mother know?"

Mama Nnukwu shook her head. "No she doesn't know because I never disclosed this to her. With the exception of me, all the people who were involved are dead now. Now, only both of us know and I want to keep it that way."

"You have my word, Mama Nnukwu. No one else would hear of this," Uzumma promised, looking into her grandmother’s eyes.

                                                            *****************

"Nne, when are you and your husband going to give me more grand children?" Nwanyimma asked Uzumma.

"Mama, you asked for one grandchild but, you got two. Now you want more," Uzumma teased her.

"Omalicha anyi, you have only daughters. Agunwa needs sons. He is a wealthy man and he needs sons who would inherit all he has at his passing. Also, without sons, a woman's place is never truly secure in a family. So, it's in your own interest too that you give birth to sons. The twins are almost a year old so, I think both of you should be thinking of making more babies. I need grandsons this time, i nugo?"

"Mama! Truly, you will never change," Agunwa said from the door, startling both women. They had not heard him come in. "You made such a fuss about us having children. Now, it's about us having sons. Haven't you learnt that only our chi decides what goes on in our lives? If Uzumma and I have only our daughters, I'm sure we would still be happy, Mama. Ngwa, go and hound your daughter, Obiageli. She needs to get married."

Nwanyimma stood, grumbling halfheartedly. As soon as she left their hut, Uzumma burst into laughter. Her relationship with her mother-in-law was one of mutual respect now. Nwanyimma now loved Uzumma like a daughter, but still had a tendency to nag.

She looked at her husband. "Agu m, why don't we tell her?"

"Let's not, Asa m. I want her to worry for a little longer," he replied with a wink.

Seven months later, Uzumma watched Agunwa crooning to their newborn son. She remembered when her fervent prayer had been to witness this sight. She gave thanks to their chi now. They had, indeed been blessed abundantly. He came over to her and gently took the other baby that had been sleeping in her arms. As he held his two sons and walked around inside the hut, he sang gently to them. Uzumma's heart swelled with love at that beautiful sight.


THE END

To read the previous parts, please go to

Part 1: UZUMMA
Part 2: UZUMMA: AFTER THE CEREMONY
Part 3: UZUMMA; WAITING