Raised in a community where they looked into crystal balls, observed horoscope and consult mediums, Jaja Abibi hungered for more. Not only did he want to know the future, he desired to be involved in its shaping.
His parents had consulted some unseen entities on his behalf and told him some things they said, but it gave Jaja no peace that his future, his life was in the hands of another whom he knew not. Also, it troubled him more that another he knew not by face or name or by relationship should be in charge of his personal affairs.
Jaja thirsted for knowledge, for certainty, for more understanding. He stood at the bank of the Oji River and called out to an unknown entity whom his people worshipped.
“If you don’t tell me what will happen tomorrow, how it would happen and how to stop it in the middle, you’ll not partake of my sweat!”
The young man of about sixteen stood before the river staring defiantly at its slow moving waters and the ripples that broke the surface every now and then. The part of the bank he chose was free of fishermen: a tranquil area of the tributary of the great River Niger. He could see the other side of the river, it was distant, far removed, separated by a large body of water. Jaja had no respect for the water or for whatever entity that controlled it. He had promised himself that he would not give allegiance to any entity that was unworthy. He must investigate and research, put out fleeces and be sure of what he was doing before committing to any entity his people revered.
Had his parents had an idea of what Jaja had embarked on, they would have dissuaded him and made sacrifices to entities to absolve and deliver him from all danger. Jaja’s parents had no wind of what their first son occupied his time with.
Jaja Abibi stood firmly and yelled at the body of water two or three times without getting any reply. His voice was harsh and hoarse, his gait commanding. No one replied. He turned abruptly and walked back home.
Two weeks earlier, his father’s sister’s son, had taken him to a medium who told him, “You’ll be a great fisherman with many wives and children surrounding your mansion.” Jaja got up and walked out of the medium’s miserable hut; his cousin running after him.
“Stop, Jaja, before he strikes you with thunder!”
“If that man stops me from getting to my house, I’ll serve him. I have no desire to be a fisher man. I want to get out of Opobo land and do something different from what they do in this community.”
His cousin ran back to the medium, prostrated and bowed and apologised and parted with some money. On his way home, he swore never to take Jaja to anywhere again for consultation.
Nothing satisfied Jaja, not helping his mother smoke the fish his father caught daily, not joining his father to fish and least of all, not attending school. School had been alright at the beginning. It was a place where adults had control over the children for measured period of time after which they were let loose to enjoy freedom. Returning from school had been particularly interesting to Jaja because of the sprint competition boys like him did on the way. He always got to the stipulated place first and he loved how his breath took time to return to normal. But when his school started practical Diction and a teacher for the subject was sent from Port Harcourt metropolis, school became uncomfortable. Jaja loved Mathematics. He was at home with calculations. He was doing well in the classes that had things to calculate until the Diction teacher arrived at his school. She sat even in those classes Jaja enjoyed and told them they could not pronounce words as they used to. She made life uncomfortable for them. Eventually, Jaja had to stop going to school. In his community, his people did not mind if people went to school or not. So, his parents asked him once or twice and then stopped bothering him.
“Jaja Abibi, look at you!” a familiar voice called out to Jaja as he was on his way to consult a man with a crystal ball. Jaja turned quickly. It was Maria Avu, his former classmate. She was the daughter of the local clergy man. He had not seen her for a year. She had grown into a young beautiful woman and when she spoke, it was with the tongue of the Diction teacher.
On a normal day, Jaja would have continued on his way and ignored her, but her accent arrested him. He stopped to exchange pleasantries with her. Maria wasn’t from his community; in fact they were not from the same state. Her family came from somewhere near the great River Niger. This thought fleeted through Jaja’s mind. He was interested in this young woman.
“Where are you off to?”
Jaja told her. It was no shame in their community to consult entities to seek knowledge for the future.
The girl looked puzzled; she stopped walking, forcing him to stop too. She faced him squeezing her face.
“I thought you had your future mapped out?”
Her accent again disturbed him. She spoke like the white people who came from Onne to look for oil on Opobo land. How did she manage to pick that accent? He left the school two years ago. She was a lanky little wimp of a lass always being caned on her palm for not being able to resolve mathematical problems. Stronger students didn’t use to mind her because she was always sniffling, rubbing her eyes and bending over books in a pathetic way, determined to work on her books, to get the problems solved. Looking at her now, she looked confident, bright. She had finished high school. Jaja remembered her age. She was three months older than him. She was already 17. Suddenly, something connected. Jaja knew that this young woman knew where she was going. Before she opened her mouth, Jaja knew that Maria knew the future and she had a hand in shaping that future.
“When you left school what did you intend to start doing? Why do you want to consult a seer to tell you your future?” Maria asked Jaja in her crisp English accent.
He squirmed under the scrutiny of her upturned face. Her eyes were clear and sincere. She looked like one who knew where she was going. He replied with a question.
“You, what do you want to do?”
He sounded lame, his word broken. He had failed to acquire the art of conversation. When he talked with his relations and friends he spoke rough and he suspected, uncouth. Now, he knew why the Diction teacher was so mean? Or persistent? She was trying to help them.
“You walk past the school every day to the market, to the stream, that’s the future. The school is the future. The church where my father hosts worship every Sunday, and one weekday in a week, that’s the future. You attend school, you attend church; you open your ears and pray for understanding. You’ll see the future, you’ll know the future. You don’t need a man with a white chalk around his left eye to tell you the future. He doesn’t know it. He’s blind. You don’t need a crystal ball or a prophet; he’s blind. He cannot help himself. The future is with your creator. He says in His word, I want to give you the end you want.”
“I didn’t hear him. When did he say that?” Jaja mumbled.
“He said it and they wrote it down.”
Jaja’s eyes asked another question.
“Yes, in a book. A special book called Bible. When we go to church, the preacher reads it. But, we all have our own copy; just to make sure what the preacher says is what is written. They teach you different things and you begin to understand what you’d like to do and you begin to work towards it.”
“So, I don’t need to consult seers and make sacrifices?” Jaja asked bewildered.
“You need to visit the right places and make the right sacrifices. You will visit the school. You will visit the church. You will make sacrifices of listening, reading and doing. You have a hand in what happens to you. You have a hand in what shapes your future.”
Jaja stood by the side of the road for tens of minutes pondering over Maria’s words. She had looked at her tiny leather watch and exclaimed that she had things to do. She had been offered admission in an institute of higher learning to read Communications. She said she would want to work in a TV house where she would read the news to people. Then, she would like to see the world. She also told him that she would want to get married and have children when she finds the person to marry. Also, that she would like to help youths in the community where her husband’s church is because she would like to marry a preacher because preachers are good people.
When Jaja started walking, he headed back home. He had no idea what he would like to do, but now he knew where to find out.
The end.
