“Daalu,” the first word he said to me, rang like the crow of an evil bird in my ears.

“Ahhhhh! Tufiakwa! Aru!” I felt my dead ancestors turn in their graves beneath me.

“Nna, you don’t know proper greeting? Nne gi amuziro gi? Even so, can’t you differentiate grey hairs from the spray you people carry around on your empty heads? The next time you say ‘Daalu’ to me as a greeting, I’ll use your ear for barbecue!”

“Onye kwa?” yelled Adaku. “Whose ears are going to be joining my fine mushroom soup tonight?”

“O kwa Dylan, Amanze’s son. Why do I even have to refer to him as Dylan? His name should bear the significance of him being a son of the soil.”

“What is your name? Kedu afa gi?” asked Ikenze.

“Dylan,” answered Dylan.

“You see, he doesn’t identify with the soil,” screamed Ikenze. “What is your native name, my friend? Afa Igbo gi?”

“Chiazam,” he answered.

“Ifugonu, he bears such an honor for a name, and you make me call you the name that should only be heard of as the name of a non-living thing,” said Ikenze.

“Maazi, pardon him for whatever it is. You know they just came home for the first time; it will take time for them to adjust,” Adaku pleaded.

“Okwa nwam, I can’t be offended, but he should learn to greet elders right. Children are not taught anymore. Chukwuaju,” Ikenze spat and walked away.

“Ngwa, hurry inside to your mother before she throws a fit about your disappearance.” With that, she nudged Dylan in.

The day started off like others, the only thing it stood out with was the rage of the sky against the earth. They responded to each other with their agents; the wind and dust.

Amanze’s home still bustled with the unending well wishers party.

“Fifteen years!, how were you able to find your homestead as the identification tree has been removed”, teased Uju 

“Even blind, I can tell our house”, Amanze responded while choking on laughter 

“Aaaaah Dede”, he suddenly hailed at the sight of Ikenze 

It’s so kind of you to call on us again

“This is my second home until you return to Obodoyibo”, Ikenze answered 

“Dede Nnoo”, Uju chipped in while genuflecting 

“Ehen Uju”, he answered patting her back, “You have grown bigger in few days, don’t finish everything he came back with oh”

The greeting ended with more teases and ensuing laughter and then the men settled into the Obi to talk, away from the women and children.

“Where is Chiazam”, Ikenze enquired and then went on to report his encounter from the previous day 

“We are teaching them better”, Amanze responded and then asked “You mentioned you had something to discuss the last time we met, Ogini?”

“Ehhhhn!, it’s about the family land”, Ikenze replied 

“Family land kwa??”, Amanze enquired 

“Eeeee!, the one that borders the village square”, Ikenze answered 

There are days I’m in the mood for drama, but today was not one of them. I certainly could not tell uncle that. Avoiding the village had only worked as long as I stayed away; being here meant I would indulge absolutely everyone. 

“I want it for the next planting season” he said

The voice jolted me back to reality, I had let myself get drawn into the endless noise in my head, I looked at his face and then remembered we had been talking. 

“Uncle, Isi gini??” I asked, urging him to repeat himself.

“Asim… eeeeeeeeee… that land, eeeeerr” he stammered.

“I want it for the next planting season” he finally completed 

This same piece of land, was the reason I had stayed away for this long. 

“Mba nu” I shouted out loud 

“It cannot be the only reason you called. If it is Ngwa bia ka i nawa!!”, I heard myself yell at the figure that used to represent a man I had grown to respect, someone I truly believed was different from the rest. 

I’m angry.

The thoughts start, too much, too fast. This land has swallowed peace, it had a way of resurrecting ghosts that were never properly buried.

“A child who seeks out the cause of his father’s death, will be killed by the same spirits that killed his father” He muttered under his breath in anger, sharp and final, then stormed out, leaving the room heavier than before.

This man was the last of my father’s close relatives. He had pretended to stand by me after the mysterious death of his brother my father, over a tussle on this same piece of land.