Choices

Onyekachukwu Iwuchukwu
Choices

2. A Sample Scene from the Play

PRELUDE

(In the courtyard, Ugochi is sitting on a low stool with a tray of beans on her lap. She is sorting the beans, removing grains of sand, tiny pebbles and chaffs which she puts in a plate on the floor by her left, beside her chair. There is a broom on the floor also on her right. Dibu-ugwu-nwanyi, her sister-in-law, walks in a briskly manner. She seems agitated)

DIBUGWU:
Did your daughter not tell you that I came to look for you?

UGOCHI:   
She did.

DIBUGWU:
And what did you do?

UGOCHI:   
Nothing.

DIBUGWU:                           
Nothing. You said nothing. What is nothing?

UGOCHI:   
Nothing is nothing.

DIBUGWU:                           
You said that So you are telling me nothing is nothing? You said that nothing is nothing.

UGOCHI:
You heard me well. I did not speak with water in my mouth.

DIBUGWU:
You did nothing. Typical of you. Yes you did nothing. Why did you not bother to come to me to find out why I was looking for you?

UGOCHI:   
I intend to come.

DIBUGWU:
You intend to come? Of course you intend to come. When will that be? (Silence) I ask you, our wife, When? I came here since last week and asked her to tell you to see me.

UGOCHI:
You said so.

DIBUGWU:
I said so? What do you mean by that?

UGOCHI:   
It came from your mouth.

DIBUGWU:                           
This thing you are looking for, when you see it, don't run away.

UGOCHI:
You alone know what you are looking for and where you are running to. As for me….

DIBUGWU:                           
(Ignores her)And till now, you have not bothered to see me.

UGOCHI:   
Sleep has not damaged the eyes. You are here now, so, since the wrapper is in the market and the waist is in the market, do we still need another person for appraisal or to help see how it fits the buyer. You are here and I am here, say what you want to say. What is it? Why were you looking for me?

DIBUGWU:                           
Is that how you shape your mouth?

UGOCHI:
Meaning what?

DIBUGWU:                           
Meaning that, that is not the kind of response I expect from you. Don't you know my authority here, as a daughter in this family?

UGOCHI:   
Oh-oh. Is that so? So you ate palm kernel, drank water, left your house very early in the morning to come here just to assert your authority as Nwaokpu, a daughter of the family. You seem to forget that I was not brought out of firewood. I am also a daughter somewhere. I did not fall from the sky. I…

DIBUGWU:                           
That is your business

UGOCHI:   
(Ignores her) And I don't go to my father’s house to terrorize my sisters-in-law. (She resumes her chores.) As you can see, I am very busy. Ututu-na-atu-oso, the morning is running out very fast. I must attend to my business for the d…(Bleating of goats is heard.) You can hear the bleating, I need to feed my goats. I must go and get fodder for them. (Stands, picks the plate, puts it in the tray, carries the tray and is about to enter the house but hesitates) If you are not prepared to tell me why you were looking for me I will leave. (Moves towards kitchen)

DIBUGWU:
Come back. You have killed my brother. Coveted his wealth which you are squandering on the training of your flock of girls in the university.

UGOCHI:   
You are married yet your husband's house cannot contain you. Every day you run here and sing cho cho cho cho cho like a parrot. Please get out of my way, I have more important things to do than to waste my time with you and your unending…

DIBUGWU:                           
What is more important than the marriage of your daughters? Ugooochi, allow your daughters to get married. They have crossed the boundary of “whose daughter” and are now in the vicinity of “whose wife”.

UGOCHI:   
Whether they marry or not is not your business.

DIBUGWU:
Whose business is it? Tell me. Do you expect me to fold my arms and watch you ruin the future of my nieces? I will not allow you to do that to my brother's children.

UGOCHI:   
Listen to yourself. A moment ago, they were my bunch of girls, and now, they have become your nieces. They are my children and I know what is best for them. Please leave us alone.

DIBUGWU:                           
I can never leave you alone until you leave my nieces to get married. Ugochi, release your daughters from the bondage of education….loosen their bonds. Their age mates are becoming grandmothers and they are still in school…you are misleading your daughters. They will blame you for their misfortune.

UGOCHI:   
Or thank me for their fortune. My daughters are very grateful to me and have vowed that if they were to come back to this world seven times, they would not wish for any other mother.

DIBUGWU:                           
Iyuuuuu! Go on. Delude yourself. Continue to deceive yourself. Ugochi, wake up, wake up. The ship has sailed without you. Open your eyes and see that the world has left you behind. A woman's education ends in the kitchen.

UGOCHI:   
In your limited understanding.

DIBUGWU:                           
In my limited understanding, I brought up my daughters very well and men were fighting over them but in your unlimited understanding no man asks you how you set your wares or how much you are selling them.

UGOCHI:   
My daughters are not goods to be bought and sold in the market. The breadfruit that falls when it is ripe, falls for the right person and it is enjoyed.

DIBUGWU:                           
The breadfruit is ripe but you have prevented it from falling. Release your daughters. They are more than ripe for marriage. Release them…It cannot continue like that. If not for Obiechina…

UGOCHI:   
You mean my son is Obiajulu?

DIBUGWU:                           
Obiajulu, Obiechina. He bears all of them. Obi ajulugo anyi oyi. His birth quelled the tension and tumult in our hearts and with his birth it becomes clear that Obi Nnam amaechi. Yes my father's homestead will not become extinct after my brother. If not that your chi was awake and gave him to you, we would have swept you with your bunch of girls out of our compound. Rejoice that your chi is alive. It is still not late, with or without your boy. Mark my words, you will not stay here for a long time if you do not mend your ways.

UGOCHI:   
(Puts the tray on the stool and picks the broom and stretches her hand towards Dibugwu.) You don't need to go far. Here is a broom. (Offering the broom) Go ahead. Take the broom Ngwa! Osiso! Quick! Don't waste time. Commence your sweeping immediately. Sweep me out of your compound if you call yourself Dibugwu, O kaa, O mee. Are you not the one who executes her threats without wasting any time? Whatever you say, you do. If you don't carry out this threat now, shame will be on you. (Hisses, drops the broom, carries her tray and leaves).

DIBUGWU:                           
(Claps her hands noiselessly putting one palm over the other interchanging them in resignation.) Agunwanyi. The-Lion-woman. What kind of woman is this? What do we do with her…? (Contemplates.) She will see. We shall see. (Walks away) BLACKOUT