Tiobong was just three days old when she died in her mother's arms.
Her husband became silent while he walked out of the house. He stood at the veranda for a while, took a deep breath and took the shovel to the backyard.
As he laid Tiobong on the sandy ground, he began to sob.
Tiobong was their 6th child.
He knelt down and stared sternly at the six graves of their dead babies. They all died same way.
The prophetess had warned him against letting his mother Mma Efa into his house.
The prophetess revealed after the fellowship that Mma Efa turned into a spiritual bush rat to eat Keresifon's babies.
Keresifon was warned never to give birth at the hospital, since after the dead of Usenabasi her first child.
She was told by the prophetess that going to the hospital will give Mma Efa easy access to devour her unborn children.
Uko angrily ran after his mother with a Cutlass, after the prophetess had made this revelation. The whole Village were in shock, as Mma Efa wept bitterly.
But there were times Uko, Keresifon's husband doubted in his heart.
His wife had delivered five babies at the church, yet they kept dying.
Keresifon's mother had brought herbs from the village. Keresifon was meant to insert the dry herbs in her vagina.
She stopped using it, since it was giving her injuries. Her mother accused her of killing her child, because she stopped using the herbs.
"Abasi! what have I done to deserve this?" Uko yelled. Misery engulfed him like a dark shroud.
"You should go warn your mother to stop coming here in the spiritual realm." Keresifon said tearily.
"Even when we did the assignment the prophetess asked us to do every night before we make love. We still lost this child."
"We have made love on the holy Bible, and even bath with holy water and olive oil for seven days." Keresifon knelt down beside her husband. Clutching her husband's arm and moving a little closer to him.
Uko wept bitterly, while Keresifon's eyes were filled with tears. She was strong now, and tired of crying.
Other times, she would scream and roll on the floor for hours.
Uko stood up, dug a small grave angrily and laid Tiobong gently inside of it. His wife began to cry aloud. He covered the grave with sands and stood to watch it for a while, then held Keresifon and took her inside the house.
************
Three weeks after Tiobong's death, Keresifon and Uko were trying to recover from their lost when Mma titia paid a condolence visit to them.
She had Known the family for just a year, but was not aware that Keresifon had already lost five children before Tiobong.
"You mean you've already lost five babies?" Mma titia asked, she was bewildered.
Keresifon nodded.
"Ah sister Kere and brother Uko, you should have told me this. you know I just knew you few months ago at Ifuho church."
Uko nodded the nearest bit in her discretion while a cruel smile curved his lips.
"I can let you meet a doctor in town. He is a professional when it comes gynaecological cases and infancies."
There was deep silent in the air, as Kere and Uko wondered what mma titia meant.
*******
Uko and Kere joined Mma titia on her ladies bike to the government hospital in ifuho. They had not been in the hospital for years and they both felt as if God had forsaken them.
After Doctor Ikpeme had done counselling on them. They both stared at him amazingly, wondering if what the prophetess said about mma Efa were lies.
keresifon took a deep breath and squeezed her husband's hands as the doctor began to talk.
Madam and sir, if your baby was placed in a neonatal intensive care, she should have been alive by now.
which hospital did you go for antenatal madam?" The doctor asked, but he was staring at Keresifon.
"Church. not hospital." she said in broken whispers.
There were more to her babies death than what they thought.
Uko became weak, as he thought of how he was going to ask Mma Efa for their forgiveness.
A deep feeling of foreboding slammed into them like a fist as the doctor began to tell them why their babies died.
®vicky Bon
©reserved.......
No comments: