He wanted to marry her.

When Dzidzor was told this, she was confused. She asked her mother how it was possible and her mother told her that she should be glad that the hunter even wanted to look at their ugliest daughter.

“Say good things about us, you hear?” her mother said beaming as she combed her short scanty hair, pulling out enough hair between the bristles of the plastic. The hunter happened to also be a medicine man, and a powerful one at that. Their marriage would make her family prestigious, apparently more prestigious than they already were. They say he travels the world in the stomach of a hawk and although she was cynical, she kept quiet. She was indecisive though; did she want to marry this man? It obviously did not matter what she wanted; no woman around here chose her husband, but he could take her out of her personal hell. He could properly feed her and clothe her. He might even love her, but then he could be cruel, crueler than her father then what would she do? She would run away of course, and take his possessions. Yes, she would do that. Then she remembered his eyes as he was by the stream looking at her, he pitied her, he was concerned, especially about her appearance. Maybe this hunter would take care of her.

“Yes” she found herself saying as her father asked her if she would marry him. Her family cheered and her father looked at her, with a smile on his face, but beneath his eyes was a great evil, a great evil he would unleash on her if she had said no. The compound was bursting with excitement, everyone was elated and beaming with smiles and laughter. All except the hunter and Dzidzor. He looked at her for a long time, his face expressionless and she shivered. Not only from the breeze of the chill evening against her exposed arms and legs clothed in such ridiculous attire that would’ve looked better on anyone but her, but from the pierce of his gaze and the uncertainty of the intentions that lay behind them.

“She will come home with me today and we will do the ceremony later” the hunter finally said when the cheers dwindled.

“Tweh!” her father exclaimed, suddenly angry. He shot up suddenly and with such force, his old muscles quivering. The entire compound agreed with him, screaming and exclaiming in anger.

“You will not have her until you pay full price for her hand!” her mother screamed.

“And how much is that?”, the medicine man asked, not taking his eye away from her. She wondered what the man wanted her for. He definitely wanted her as a sex slave. At the thought, she began to shake a little. That was only when he looked away. Her left bottom began to itch and as she reached behind herself to scratch, the second wife hit her hand. She quickly reverted to keeping her hands together in front of her, but wiggled her butt to get the itchy feeling away. The second wife then kicked her. She almost lost her footing. Then in anger and in a spirit of rebellion, she reached behind to give the flesh the needed irritation to ease her discomfort, and the wife hit her back with a resounding clap. This time she definitely lost her footing and fell on the hard clay ground. Everyone turned to look at them, this happened right after the medicine man asked the price for her hand. There was a loud silence as her father glared at the second wife. Her father then began speaking,

“400 cowries, 70 cows, 30 chickens, 40 gold…”

“The only thing I will give you is an underfed and abused goat from the main market”, the small crowd that was her family, went crazy with rage.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

How dare he?

Poor man!

Useless man!

Mawu will punish you!

“Then you will not marry her”, her father stated with finality, all the past praise forgotten. The compound screamed in acceptance. Different people held her at once. She looked around in confusion as her fragile body was pushed and twisted in several ways to get him away from the only man who had ever shown interest in her. No one valued her, she was beaten and abused, scolded and starved. She still had not eaten since her return from the farm, the third time that week. They always called her useless, they said her worth is below that of a chicken. At least this man is offering them a goat.

“Efo, you think I have not seen you?” the hunter said, sounding like he was having a lovely conversation with close companions, as if he and the family were friends. Then he smiled a dangerous and terrible smile “You and all your household. Mawu opens your womb with a child then you discard her. The gods have seen, Mawu has seen and believe me. It would be better for you if you had died by birth. Your punishment is…” he stopped abruptly, as if someone had stopped him, but who? No one knew. He turned to look at Dzidzor, and she felt a tug at her heart. It filled her with so much conviction that she somehow gained a burst of energy. She tried to wrench those who had held her captive in their arms, and when they finally let her go and she walked to the strange man.

“Do you want to come with me?” he said softly but loud enough for everyone to hear. She somehow felt he wasn’t referring to marriage. She smiled and said,

“Yes”

Her father walked over to her and slapped her from behind. She fell from the impact, the world turned. Everything was blurry and her ears started to ring. She was about to slip into unconsciousness but she forced her body to stay awake. When the world focused, she saw the man hitting her father with strong pounding blows, the women around were pleading for mercy but stayed at a safe distance. Her father’s face was bloodied and he was moaning. The hunter was about to kill her father. She felt her heart leap for joy. That was for the years of the abuse and the neglect. That was for her innocence taken away at a young age and for the numerous nights of hunger and pain. Her heart beat in sync with each blow the hunter gave. If she hadn’t looked towards her family, she wouldn’t have noticed that her littler siblings and cousins were crying and screaming. She looked at their little face, stretched and contorted in pain. Was that how she looked when she cried? If so then she would look so beautiful.

“Stop”, she said softly. Her voice was low but the hunter heard her and froze, his bloodied right hand in the air with the left still holding her father’s cloth. He didn’t turn to look at her but she knew there was bloodlust in his eyes. “Stop” she pleaded again. He put his fists down, then picked one of her sisters, Ewoenam, she was twelve. She was beautiful, well fed, with long beautiful dark hair. Her breasts had already come and she looked like a woman already. He held her tightly and if she hadn’t known any better, she would’ve thought that he would break her arms. She began to scream and the rest of the family along with some neighbors screamed with a renewed vigor. She was the eldest girl apart from Dzidzor, the precious and only flower in her father’s garden. Oh, how Dzidzor hated her! It was not Ewoenam’ s fault she was so beautiful. It was not her fault Father loved her and treasured her so. However, Dzidzor used to be the only flower, and all of a sudden, weeds have more value than her. For a moment, she wished he would break her face and bring an end to her beauty there and then. He looked at Dzidzor and she smiled with her swollen bleeding face. He wasn’t the only one with bloodlust in his eyes.

“Look at her!” he screamed, lifting her sister by her hands causing a scream to erupt from her. The women were crying and her father had passed out from the blows. “Now look at her!” he pointed to Dzidzor. “Where is the justice in this world!?”.

Gone, she thought, and forgotten. He nodded like he heard her. He dropped the girl and she ran, crying to her mothers. He went over to where she was lying, she tried to get up but when she did, she almost passed out again from the exertion and pain. He picked her up in his arms like she didn’t weigh a thing and took her away.