Ogbanje

At the mention of been burnt alive Mazi Amuneke who has not uttered any word but instead buried his head thinking, raised it up and took a sharp look at her saying "So you have come to confirm whether it is true?"

"Yes" she replied him "And to know why he was burnt alive?" she added.

Beckoning on Osundu to come, Mazi Amuneke asked "Does he have a birthmark behind his neck?

"Yes," she responded with a nod, slightly pushing Osundu over to him.

He turned Osundu over as he and the three elders examined the birthmark; moments after they all nodded in agreement after whispering to each other. Convinced, he said "He is the one. He came back. Onwuhara my son came back" and pulled him closer into a long tight hug. Then gradually he became emotional, his eyes wet with tears, he sobbed "he came back not as an Ogbanje; we succeeded. He came back not like my son like he said he would. He came back into a rich family like he said he would. I wish we could go back in time, so I can apologize for all the wrongs I did you. But I know it is now too late". At this point the old man was basically wailing like a child; tears streaming down his cheeks uncontrollably. They all allowed him to pour out his grief.

Osundu without saying anything began tapping the old man on his back. He was still consoling him when he saw a young lady coming from the opposite direction. Swiftly he broke away from the hug and ran towards her screaming with excitement "Ndi-ka! Ndi-ka! Ndi-ka! This was the first time Osundu was setting his eyes in her. She was now married and as sure was in her husband's house. She came this evening after been invited by her father. So far she is the only person he has been able to recognize.

He almost threw her down with the force at which he jumped on her. Ndidi carried him and he said "Ndi-ka, I really missed you" then threw his hands around her neck for a tighter hug. This immediately brought tears to her eyes. It was like she just met her baby brother all again. "I miss you more Hara" she whispered back into his ears. Their bond is so strong that even death could not break it. Together they returned back to the Obiri.

Back at the Obiri, Mazi Amuneke has put himself together. Everyone was surprised to see that he could recognize Ndidi. Addressing Ego Mazi Amuneke said "That's Ndidi, his elder sister. He called her Ndi-ka. They were very close".

"I can see that. It further proves we are in the right place. So what really happened to Onwuhara?" she asked.

"Long time ago, my wife Ukamaka put to bed a beautiful baby girl; our first child but before we could name her, she passed away. We were anguished and hurt by the sudden death of our child. Uka cried for days, backing the crying with starvation.

I invited an Ogbanje dibia who after examining the lines on the dead baby's palm told us that the baby was an Ogbanje. With charcoal, he marked the corpse in the same area that your son has his birthmark. He departed that day after telling us to watch out for the next child whether he would come back with a birthmark in that area.

Uka took in and gave birth to another beautiful girl child. We keenly and closely observed her but she didn't come with any birthmark. We named her Ndidi; she brought the lost joy and gladness back to my household. We thought we had overcome. We thought we had broken the cycle of Ogbanje.

Uka gave birth to another baby girl but this one came with the birthmark. I quickly invited the dibia, who came and examined the lines on her palms. To prolong the baby's life he cut a line across her palm and rubbed a certain herbal ingredient into the wound. Assuring us that this would keep the illness at bay until the baby was old enough to speak and reveal the place where the object of her oath to the Ogbanje cult was hidden or buried. This worked as the baby stayed till she was named but not until she was old enough to expose the hidden object. Seven market days after her naming ceremony; Onwubiko kicked the bucket leaving us once again in grief and pain. The dibia advised me to cut off her left little finger to make the Ogbanje league expel our child because they dislike ugliness and deformities of any kind. I gave in and acted as instructed.

Two years later, a baby boy came. Our joy knew no bound as we wanted a male child but this joy was short lived when we discovered he had the birthmark and a missing left little finger. We ran back to the same dibia who did the same thing he did for Onwubiko. He survived to be named and I gave him Onwuhara. We provided him with everything he needed, poured all manner of love on him. Ndidi was always with him, playing and caring for him even more than his mother.