Yorùbá

Alao And His Predicament
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Alao woke up in the morning staring at the ceiling, he realised he had woken up late when he saw a bit of sunlight filtering into his room. The sun was already shining though not yet scorching as it was often so at the village of Jensinmi. Alao was tired that morning, he had been at the village square dancing with his troupe on a special treat for one popular chief in his village the previous day. Alao knew it was going to be a tedious day, he had plans to visit an herbalist for the reoccurring ailment of his mother so he slowly rose from his mat made from long dry grass, wove and dyed by his friend Agbeke. As he stood up, he set straight for his mother’s room. His mother had been ill for a few days, Alao dragged the door open, the door had broken, Alao who was skilled at such things had no time for fixing doors. He went inside and was welcomed by a skunk smell, the room was dark with barely any ray of light, so Alao quickly went for the windows, the room had two windows both of them facing each other. He had shut them completely last night when his mother was shivering.

After he opened the first one, he swiftly turned around to see his mother, she was lying on her mat in an awkward position. Alao was shocked, he ran straight to her. He gripped and shook her while calling her name ‘Maami’. Maami was not her name really but that was what he fondly called her. His mother opened her eyes but could not talk. Tears roll down his chick, he had thought his mother had died. He continued the firm grip asking his mother not to depart him now. Alao loved his mother so much, there was no question about that. She had vomited, the reason for the skunk smell. Alao felt her temperature and it was hot, her eyes were yellowish and she could not move. Her illness had plummeted overnight. With these facts, Alao knew he had to act, very fast!

He got up and was basically confused. His father died when he was a toddler and he was the only child of his mother. They both lived alone. Alao was only 14, although smart and intelligent, the situation at hand was too much for him. He thought about running to the nearest relative Baba Ibeji who lived just less than a mile away. That was not an option opened to Alao as the situation was critical and Baba Ibeji might have gone out as well, and especially knowing that he had to meet the herbalist before noon whose clinic was 5 miles away otherwise, it would have to be the next day before he could get medicines for his mother. He thought about calling the neighbours but a lot of them were out on their various jobs as it was Ojo-Aje. So he knew he had himself alone, Alao started by cleaning the mess in the room, he covered her with more layers of cloth, he brought chewing stick though he knew she would not use it, but his mother would not eat anything in the morning without first using the Chewing stick. He rushed down to the kitchen which was situated at the forecourt. He quickly made a Pap, his mother’s usual morning delight. He returned inside the room, he was in a haste, he lightly cleaned his mother’s teeth with the Chewing stick and fed her some Pap. He administered her medicine which his mother had failed to use as prescribed.

Alao spoke softly into her ears thus; Maami, I am going to meet the herbalist to get you some new medicines, you know it is far away and I have to be there by noon. I promise to be back as soon as I can. His mother understood him perfectly so she managed to nod. Alao hugged her and sets off.

As he shut the front door, he remembered a lot of things he had not done that morning, apart from accepting the fact that he was not going to the farm that day, he had not fed the livestock, the pond he made needed fresh water and he also needed to spread the cassava he reaped the other day for some sun beating. He would do all of those later, my mother’s health is paramount he mumbled as he sprinted through walking paths in his village.

As expected, he met a queue of those wanting to beat the noon deadline at the herbalist. Alao had arrived on time. He was not sure whether to join the queue or to make his case an emergency. He decided to swerve through everyone and barged into the herbalist’s consulting room, panting. How are you Alao, said the Herbalist, Alao’s response was frightening. He had replied ‘my mother is dying, Baba Alagbo’. The herbalist noticed the emergency and attended to him promptly. Alao narrated what had happened and how his mother’s illness had dropped drastically overnight. Being an experienced herbalist, he knew what was happening and how to tackle it. He said ‘the one I gave you the other day ought to have been okay but from the look of things, your mother was skipping the dosage. Alao agreed, he said his mother does not really like the taste and after taking it for three days, she felt better and stopped taking it, she only resumed taking it two days ago when the fever returned and yet, not as you prescribed. The herbalist said, ‘that was the cause of this latest one, the malaria has turned chronic so we have to use another medicine. Do not worry, your mother would be fine’. Alao was relieved, does it mean she won’t die asked Alao, ‘no she will not. Olodumare will not allow that befall our village, your mother is a nice woman said the herbalist. The herbalist excused himself, he returned with some herbs and he said softly, there is a problem scuffling on some herbs. Alao looking perturbed, what is it? He asked ‘There is one more leaf to add to these lots, we don’t keep it at home, it has to be freshly plucked before sunrise’ he gave Alao the description of the leaf and where to get it. That means the medicine will not be ready until tomorrow, she might not make it till then said Alao. On hearing that, the herbalist again excused himself, he returned with another herb. He said, ‘give her this, the whole of it before meal and the one at home after meal this afternoon and with new medicine starting tomorrow, your mother should be hale and hearty this time next week. Alao quickly grabbed all the herbs and left the room, he was relieved, he trusted the herbalist as he is renowned all over the village and adjourning ones.

Hardly had he left the place when he remembered he had not paid for his services. Luckily, he had some cowries in his pocket, he was wearing the trousers he wore the day before. Again he swerved through the queue straight into the room. He brought out the cowries and dropped them next to the herbalist saying ‘Baba that is the money for consultation, I am sorry I forgot’ the herbalist smiled and said ‘you are such a good boy Alao, I thought you must have forgotten, meeting your mother and giving her those medicines are your priority but do not worry, I was meant to give you some money yesterday for dancing so well but I could not reach you so take the money and hurry up to your mother. Thank you Baba said Alao, he grabbed a handful of the cowries leaving a few behind and sped off.

As he was nearing home, he was getting weak, he had not eaten anything that day, the last time he ate was the afternoon of the day before where he ate some corn dough with Ile-Alasepo.

Upon his arrival at home, as expected, he rushed to his mother whose illness was not improving. This made Alao sad, he fed and administered her medicine. Alao did his chores really unwillingly and stayed with his mother all day. He could not wait for the following day to come.

That night, he decided to sleep next to his mother. As he lay down, he recounted how he spent the day, not bad he believed, knowing the next day is the D-day. He thought on, he must wake up earlier than normal the next day, he had put a rooster near the window to wake him before sunrise and even he would need to sprint again in order to get to the tree where he would get the leaf before sunrise as it is like a thousand metres away, soon the light he put on quenched into the oil and Alao slept off.

Alao opened his eyes staring into stark darkness of his mother’s room as the rooster crowed, he was very tired due to journeys he made the day before and the dancing the penultimate day, he was there for a moment, his youthfulness got hold of him and he closed his eyes, the rooster crowed again, suddenly, he became conscious of the day. He got up lit the room, looked at his mother, she was asleep but did not look any better, time was running out for him so he set off to pluck some leaves as prescribed.

It was still dark but he had to sprint. He soon stumbled on a stone, this is not a good omen he said. He carried on running and soon he got to the tree, he did a quick climbing, plucked a couple of its leaves and headed straight for home. It was a risk being outdoor in the dark at Jensinmi, that was when raids for slave usually occur, Alao knew this but had no choice. As he sprinted home, he stumbled again, this time around, it was not on a stone but on an ambush. Stop there a voice roared, Alao got up quickly and ran, very fast. He was in danger of being kidnapped, bravely he escaped, but something was wrong, he had dropped the leaves he plucked. He was left with some huge dilemma, go home without the leaves and he may lose his mother or go back and search and risk being kidnapped. He made his choice instantly, he was going back to collect the bag he had securely wrapped the leaves in. He was very careful, he tiptoed his way around the area, searching for the bag, he carried on searching and luckily he found it, yes! he said. Now he had to get home, as quickly as possible. As he turned around facing the desired direction, he was completely circumvented by the slave raiders. Alao being a young boy, although he was growing into a man with broad chest and thick arms, he knew he could not wrestle the men who were now pointing the old riffles at him. He was asked to raise his hands and to drop his bag.

Alao thought the only thing he could do is wrestle his way, which he did, he pounced on one of them, pushing him to the floor and ran but sadly, he got shot in the leg. Alao groaned badly, he was in a lot of pain but held firmly to his bag. As he was getting chained, one of the men snatched his bag and chucked it just ahead of him. Alao moaned, whatever you do please just give me that bag, he said. I have got some leaves to make my mother well in it, he moaned. I urge you to listen to me he said. After he got chained, he called on one of the men to listen to him, he said his mother was dying. Who are you and who is your mother? The man asked. Alao who was fairly popular at Jensinmi, he knew the men had come from neighbouring village. Before he started describing who he was and his compound, a white man came around to latch up his mouth with mask. Now, he could not talk any more, he had lost a pint of blood and had eaten nothing for a long period of time, he was very weak. Alao did not give up, he crawled on his chest towards the bag, he made few movements but he was going nowhere. It dawned on him, it is all over for his mother, and for himself, he cannot predict. He began to reflect on the good times he spent with his mother, how he had promised never to let her cry so long he lived, how inseparable they had become. Tears trickled down his cheek, he began to weep not for himself but for his mother.
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To be continued ……

By: Bola Olalekan