OMOFOWOWE

OMOFOWOWE

I still wonder why my parents named me Omofowowe. Did I really bathe with money because I don't bathe with money now? How I wish I did. "Omofowowe!!!", shouted my mom. I could identify my mom's voice in the midst of thousands of voices. Who else elongates the calling of my name other than my mom? "Fetch some water from the stream, I need to cook for your father". This is so unfortunate. As the only child I get to do all the household chores. "Mama!", I said. "Don't argue with me! Go and fetch the water." Nobody cares how far the stream was from my house. I wish I had money so I could pay people to do my chores. I don't have any money yet i'm named Omofowowe. 

Toyari and Modunke were my best friends. Our parents send us to stream at the same time; I wonder if all the women of Molohuntu cook for their husbands and our fathers at the same time. "Jump, jump", Modunke and I shouted. Toyari is taller than Modunke and I so she plucks mangoes from Baba Tande's farm on our way to the stream. "I can't reach for it", Toyari said. Modunke and I grumbled beacuse we had to do climb on each other so Toyari could be tall enough to reach the mangoes. We play a lot so we could find out who bends first. The person who bends first bears the weight of the others. The lot wasn't in my favour so I had to bend first. Modunke climbs on me like I was her horse. "Modunke!", I shouted. "I'm sorry", she replied. After modunke was on me, Toyari climbed too. My legs were vibrating like my mother's grinding machine due to the weight of those two. "Have you reached?", I screamed. "I'm almost there.", Toyari replied. I could feel my sweat moving down my back in slow motion and it dripping from my forhead and finally to my mouth. I could taste the salt in my sweat. "How bad could this day go?", I said to myself. "I reached", shouted Toyari. Toyari could only pluck one mango before Baba Tande appeared. "Who is there?", shouted Baba tande.

I knew I was in trouble because Baba Tande and my father were close friends. He was surely going to snitch on me. I didn't know if I were to run or reply him. The voice of Baba Tande was the right trigger to make my legs collapse. Modunke fell on her butt while Toyari fell on her back. "Ye!", we shouted together. We sounded like the singers at Odunari festival. "Omofowowe is that you?", he asked. " Yes sir", I replied with so much fear in my voice. I sounded like that anytime I needed something from Mama Omofowowe. "Let me help you pluck more mangoes", he said. He had this smile on his face which meant children and their mischeivous ways. I left his farm with so much fear, not knowing if he would snitch on me or not. "We should have asked Baba Tande before plucking his magoes", toyari said. I haven't felt so guilty before. There's nothing as bad as having mixed feelings. My stomach and heart felt like one, my heart was beating just like the talking drum on Odunari featival. It felt like it was running an unending race while my stomach turned like the earthworm which was buried inside salt. The effect of all these made me sweat profusely that I had no choice but to throw up.