OREKELEWA-

  Orekelewa sat at the windows, watching the beautiful sunset. She sighed, beads of tears dropping on her dress as she tugged on the plaits of little Asake. ‘Maami!’ Asake’s tiny voice brought her back to reality. Unable to contain the grief, she threw her head back in despair, her brown locs dangling behind her. She whimpered as she took a walk down the memory lane. A decade and a half ago, she was an innocent young girl who spent her evenings playing ten ten with her friends, imitating their mothers dancing apala as they shook their buttocks to an imaginary music. Scared, she wondered what she had done wrong but played it cool and plastered a fake smile on her face. She knelt, ‘Ekaale mas’ like a mischievous teenager. Her mother, Mama Oreke, pulled up her daughter after dismissing the latter’s peers and ordered her to follow her home. Mama Oreke put Orekelewa in a beautiful green gown and groomed her locs . Excited, Orekelewa smiled, ‘Maami, are we going to a party?’ Her mother chuckled, ‘ It is something greater than a party, a celebration of your womanhood,’ Confused, Orekelewa tried to ask questions but the expression of one of her mother’s guest shut her up. She gripped her mother’s hands in trepidation. Mama Oreke patted her head assuredly. Orekelewa was led into a small hut where she was laid on a table. Horrified, she asked her mother, ‘Maami, what’s happening?’ Her mother whispered, ‘Hush!’ and held her down as one of the women came forward with a knife Orekelewa screamed, begging her mother for help. She soon felt a piercing pain that left her slithering into the netherworld. Asake held her mother who sobbed in her arms. Ashamed, Orekelewa cried, thinking about all her woes. She cursed the day she was formed in her mother's womb. She wished she wasn't even born. Since that day, she had felt incomplete and became withdrawn. She carried the physical and psychological wounds of that inhumanity. She found it difficult to be in a healthy relationship and was prone to infections. Orekelewa eventually found a man who loved her . She finally accepted him and thought she’d won but the scar was deeper than she thought. She was unable to enjoy physical pleasure. She vowed to never let any other girl experience that and started an active campaign against Female Gender Mutilation. Orekelewa seemed to have it all, however her heart held a deep grudge, one probably deeper than the red sea. Her mother inflicted a physical wound on her body...one that could heal. However, she had another wound that hurt everyday, in several ways. She hadn't seen her mother in ages. She peered into her baby's eyes. It felt like she was staring at...her. Asake looked like Mama Oreke. Putting her hand on her chest, she pat gently, reminding herself that it was all in the past. ‘Maami,’ Asake reached out to her mother who kissed her forehead, ‘I will protect you, love.’