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Ekwensu's Harvest

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Episode 2

"Good tidings, I bring," Ekwensu said as he advanced. He was lanky with cocky eyes that had mischief embedded in them and legs that looked like ill-nutured yams.

"The last time you said those words, you came here to tell me that you were tired of learning the tricks of hunting,"Amadioha said.
"Well, certainly not today", Ekwensu replied and cleared his throat. Amadioha drank the last portion of palm wine in his cup then flung his hand over the soil as if to empty the cup of the very last drop of wine.
"Can I have some wine? " Ekwensu asked, looking at the gourd.
Anyanwu shot him an angry look. "How dare you drink with men who have toiled all day?"
Ekwensu was irked. "Amadi! Warn your brother o!"
Amadioha chuckled. "He speaks the truth but Nnaa give him even if its a cup."
Anyanwu bowed the gourd, poured out the wine and offered it to Ekwensu.

He sipped from the cow horn cup and exhaled. "I have thought about my life as a man and decided to farm."
Amadioha shook his head. "Hmmm. From hunting to farming, Ekwe?"
"Amadi, you should be happy for me."
"I am but we all know that you are lazy."
Ekwensu stood up, his face looking serious. "I am a changed man."
Amadioha looked at him for some time. "Ok."
"I need a favour from you. I need a piece of land to farm, the one I have is not fertile."
"The fact is I don't have a dormant land at the mean time. I gave out my last land at the boundary to Ogbunaabali for this season," Amadioha said.
"Hmmmm! Not even one for your friend?" Ekwensu asked, his eyes becoming moist.
"It sounds bad but I speak the truth."

Ekwensu bowed his head to the ground, his face was pale and sober. He drank the wine in silence. After he had emptied the cup, he stood up. "I must go back home because I had promised Onwa that I would help her split the firewood tonight."
Amadioha nodded.
"Have you seen her lately?"
"No. Ekwe, you are my friend but Onwa and I are not meant to be."
"Hmmm. Another shocking blow," Ekwensu muttered as he struck his bushy beard.
Amadioha patted him on the back. "In-laws or not, we are still friends."

He walked alongside Ekwensu till they got to the exit path of the compound then he bidded him goodbye and turned back. Ekwensu walked for a while then stopped, looking lost in thought.
"He does not have a land to offer me. He would not take Onwa as his wife but he will surely take what I have to offer him."
He flipped his finger and laughed hysterically. He stopped laughing and beat his chest.
"I remain Ekwensu, god of treachery and mischief who wields the human thought as a tool."
He grinned, shook his head and muttered under his breath. "He who plays surugede should be ready to dance with the spirits."

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