A traditionalist and a Christian once loved one woman...
The day she said yes to them separately, the traditional man would go back to his villages hopping and singing, if he sees a stranger passing by, he would prostrate seven times to the earth blowing kisses to their foot until the dust on them finds a new abode.
He got back to his village and Gave his best bull to the gods, he would write her name on every Iroke tree and every plant that looks withered he would pour his last water on it, he would nature it like if it is his baby.
The Christain man fell twice at the glance of her sight.
Then he would fall again, every step closer to her made him believe more in the heaven he preached at a point he felt she was made for him, sometimes he would call her Eve, some other times he would hate himself for loving her and call her Delilah.
But when she sings for him in her ancient African tongue, and twists her waist to the sound of the talking drum that speaks the sound of both mortals and spirit....his soul melts and his emotions betrays his boldness, tears would run down his cheek and he would remember his mother.
One day he took his old dangling bicycle, a hat as big as his bible, a white short sleeve top with a pair of short pants, a long white hose, and a bunch of flowers...
So he marched as he hummed, his congregation followed behind, that day even butterflies couldn't match his beauty.
Behold the woman he loves, Mazi Obi's daughter...he reached the compound with his shoulders high, the village had gathered to see this new display of love, so he wrote her a letter
Dear Beautiful
It is an honor to finally meet the bones of my bones that will become an addition to my beating heart, and never make my heart bleed.
My love was like a fountain without any Waters until my heart sank for you... drowning my disbelief for what love looked like and painting me blue to the colors of your muse.
The day you sang for me, I couldn't feel my soul anymore because they wanted you, I even prayed to God, I asked for his guidance but every crooked path still leads me to you.
On behalf of the Church of England and the crown, her royal majesty the Queen, and my humble self with the 600 missionaries sent to Africa.
Will you marry me ?.
He gave her the flowers with one kneel, the whole village kept mute until she said yes and silence broke open into loud cheers of jubilation.
The traditionalist on the other hand was preparing to go visit her parents and pay the prize placed on the bride's head, he had Visited his brother with baskets of kola nuts and kegs of palm wine, he went to the seven neighboring villages and libated to their gods for a blessing.
Each village gave him their Masquerade, tubers of yam, flocks of goats, and cowries in bags.
So after going around, he would go home, he would still dance round the market on every market day (Eke, Orie, Afor, and Nkwo) to the point the gods personally visited him in the form of a chicken and ate all his Maize, but the happiness he had was so large he still libated and showered them praises... calling their names one by one as he gave them the glory they deserved and beyond.
So on the day they fixed the marriage with the Christain man, he came with 600 other missionaries, he wore a coat as the British army marched beside him and a mass choir singing Hallelujah behind, but the problem was that it was the same day the traditionalist wanted to come for a surprise marriage...
He came with goats and cows, men with burning pots on their heads, brave men adorned with cowries and gold, wrestlers to spice up the occasion, and rainmakers who promised to make sunshine all day.
Mazi Obi's house could be reached from two roads, the road from the village market and the road coming from the stream.
The Christain came from the market road and the Traditionalist from the streaming road
This woman's name is Adana and her father made her look the best that day, her mother had cooked her best to welcome her in-law.
So both men arrived looking the best for their bride to be, but looking at the other with amusement, the church on one side sang a love song and the traditionalist made his people beat their drums to the song.
Time was going and the bride was nowhere to be found...soon chaos broke.
The traditionalist knew the other man on A coat came for his wife to be also, what even triggered his suspicion was after he saw a portrait of his lover beside the Christain man, it was perfectly made on a canvas of a leopards skin.
Both parties wanted to war, anger started too quickly as both men declared to be the true love of this lady.
So a man in the midst asked for the woman to be brought forward, and any man she chooses would marry her and any man she rejects would have to go in peace.
So few brave men from both sides broke into Mazi Obi's house and grabbed hold of her, but while she was fighting back...her clothes tore apart...and she wasn't the woman they wanted....she was also A man and this one had the biggest cassava they had ever seen.