The Fire Within

Chapter Six

64 Chapter Six arly the following morning, hardly having slept, Ndomnjie opened the door of Mungeu’s house to let out his wife who thought it was necessary for her to go to their own house before the children woke up. Ndolo had virtually spent the whole night crying, and so the first thing she did as she stepped out into the street was to blow her nose before taking up the loose end of her loincloth to dry her eyes, finishing up with her nostrils. As Ndolo walked away in the direction of her house, it occurred to Ndomnjie that she had disappeared too soon from sight. He slowly swung his head from right to left, his eyes taking in the atmosphere from shoulder to shoulder, and it struck him that it was still unusually dark although it was already some minutes off 7:00 am. Then his eyes caught the very thick layer of rain clouds that frustrated every effort by the rays of dawn to reach the earth. Very slowly, confidently, and with an air as if everything else was beneath them, the clusters of rain clouds spread across the atmosphere sealing off the sky. Ndomnjie shuddered as the chill morning wind hissed past him. Many questions flooded Ndomnjie’s mind as he stood in front of Mungeu’s door gazing at nothing in particular. He wondered about the people to contact to get some assistance in handling Mungeu’s corpse, since she was already a woman and a mother although not married. He wondered how things sometimes happened. Mungeu’ who hardly talked about her family had strangely brought up a conversation about them just before this trip. It was on this occasion that she spoke about her father, her own mother, her death, and how she had to struggle to survive without her. In detail, she had also mapped out her plans for the future, to the astonishment of Ndomnjie. Ndolo, on returning, was not exactly surprised to see her husband standing where he was when she walked off. “What are we to do?” she questioned. “Well, an idea just occurred to me. First of all, I will, at 8:00 am, hurry to the hospital to identify the body. As soon as that is done, I will inform the members of our traditional meeting— Nda- got —about the death and together, I think we will be able to solve the problems that may arise according to our tradition. Today is Saturday?” E 65 “H-m-m!” Ndolo mumbled. “Then I better hurry up, else we might have to wait until Monday. Meanwhile, ask Yefon to help you pack her belongings into those trunks she brought back from Nigeria the other time. Her clothes, shoes and other personal items must be neatly packed. Clear the parlour so that her body can lie in state there while we empty the workshop. When you’ve done that, hurry and put a few things together for ourselves, since we have to go up with the body, okay?” “Okay. In that case, I will have to send word to the village, or go myself, for Mbamba to come and take care of the children and the house while we are away.” She was referring to her mother. “Okay you do that, and quickly too, since we must leave this afternoon.” When Ndomnjie got to the hospital, the nurses were just beginning to settle down for the day’s work. He figured it must be about 8:00 am already. He found his way into the casualty unit where a few elderly nurses were consulting patients with minor ailments. “Good morning!” greeted Ndomnjie aloud. Only the elderly nurse closest to him responded. Ndomnjie did not care. He had more serious business at hand than to care about the whims of nurses. “Please, who am I to see about the bodies for identification in the mortuary?” The nurse looked at Ndomnjie before speaking. “Just follow the corridor until you get to the end of that building you see there, then turn left and walk straight to the building you’ll find at the end of the corridor. That’s the mortuary and the attendant’s office is next to it. In fact as you approach the building, he is likely to call your attention through the window.” “Thank you.” Ndomnjie followed the nurse’s directions and when he was a few paces from the mortuary building, a man sent his head out...