Seventeen years ago, my father had just built a house in one of the village areas of Lagos State. I had just two siblings then. We were three little children who could do nothing without their parents but were forced to stay with some family members who live close to our school.
Every Friday feels like a payday for my siblings and I. We go home to meet our parents on Friday and spend the weekend. The best part of it was when my dad got my sister, the family’s first child a Nokia3310 so we can always reach them whenever we want.
“Hello Odun. You and your siblings should come home early. There will be Oro ritual this night,” my mum called. Finally, I’ll surely witness what the Oro festival is, I thought.
“What’s the time limit for staying outside?” my sister asked.
“It’s 10:00 pm oh. Maybe you all should close early from school today so you can get home on time,” mummy said.
It was a mixed feeling moment for me. I was happy about going home but I’ve never heard anything good about the ritual. Who knows if it’s a myth or real? But I remember vividly when my new friends in the area told me how it is done.
I flashed back to Ahmed’s voice and what he told me about the Oro ritual just two weeks before my mum called.
“You see that Oro ritual, they must not see anyone outside. If they do, the person will be caught and instantly go blind, especially women,” then, I got scared.
As at 2:00 pm, my siblings and I closed from school. Opposite the school, there’s a woman who takes us to the garage and helps us cross the road. We headed to shop so she can help us cross the highway but she wasn’t there.
Then, we put our braveness to test. I was the youngest so I stood at the middle of my siblings. My sister held me with her left hand and carried our lunchbox with her right hand while my brother held me with his right hand.
The very moment when my sister dragged me, we all crossed the road.
“Ah! Where is your mummy? You kids are too young to cross a highway,” so many women yelled but we didn’t care. All we cared about was the Oro not making us go blind.
We walked fast like the wind to the garage.
Oke Aro, Oke Aro, the driver said as he sought for more passengers for the bus to get full before he drives off.
It was getting late. There were no passengers coming in. It’s a three hours trip and the time was 4:00 pm already. Mummy kept calling almost every ten minutes to know if the bus was full.
“Hello Odun, it’s five o’ clock. You people should just come tomorrow,” mummy said but it was late.
“Ah! We just moved oh. We’re coming already,” I sat on my sister’s lap as we couldn’t afford to pay for three seats.
Then, we encountered another problem. There was a heavy traffic on the way. I wanted to cry but I held on to the Kokoro chinchin that my sister had bought for me.
Finally, we got to Oke Aro at 8:45:00 pm. At the bus stop, there was a crowd. Everyone was looking for a bus that leads to the final destination including my siblings and I too.
The struggle for bus got real. Whenever a bus comes around, the elderly ones push themselves and struggle to enter the bus but my siblings and I were young. We didn’t have the power. We could barely push them.
I didn’t know how I looked at my sister. Her eyes were teary. She was my only hope but she suddenly began to cry. My brother cried too and I copied them.
“I don’t want to go blind,” I cried.
Immediately, a man held my hand and dragged me into the bus while people were struggling to enter as well.
“Take a seat, then call your siblings to enter,” he said to me.
After the bus was full, my sister and brother got into the bus so, we all had one seat to manage. Then, the man offered to lap me to the final destination. I was glad but scared.
I could still go blind.
Finally, we got to the last bus stop at 9:45 pm. My mum’s incessant calls were disturbing so my sister stopped picking.
The bus stop which is usually full of life and bubbles was dry that we didn’t sight a bird. We were supposed to take a bike home but out of none, we started running to the house. It was almost time and walking home will land us into trouble, we could go blind.
My brother showed his skills as the best runner of his class. My sister took off her boogy boogy shoe as we call it so she can run well. I was just running with the flat shoe which I wear to school.
I didn’t know how my mum knew we were close to the house. Immediately we got to our doorstep, she opened the door.
She cried and hugged us.
“Mummy, how did you know we were close to the house,” I asked.
“I was looking through the window,” she said.
The time was just 9:55 pm. Just three minutes after, my dad got in also from work. It was 9:58 pm and exactly 10: 00 pm, we started hearing the sound of the Oro.
It was real but we all were glad that none of us went blind.