"You're welcome Harrison, have your seat." Chief Oja, the late Sonia's dad, welcomed him.
"Thank you, sir." Harrison thanked and sat on the soft couch.
"I'm not going to waste your time, let me go straight to what I want to tell you. My tradition holds that if any of the daughters of the land die when she's in a relationship with a man, the man must pay her dowry before she's laid to rest. My daughter was with you before sickness claimed her life, and as demanded, you must wed her before she's buried," Chief Oja explained.
Harrison cleared his throat, smiled, and the smiling extended to laughter. "Hahahaha! Did I hear you well? You want me to pay the dowry to someone who's not my wife, someone who's dead? You must be joking." He angered.
"I'm expecting this, so I'll give you time to think about it before she's buried next month," Chief Oja said in a calm voice.
"Sir, there's absolutely nothing to think about. I'm out!" Harrison beat his chest and walked out of the house.
How unfortunate for Harrison, who met Sonia just three months into their relationship with the intention of marrying her, when a sudden typhoid took her life. Now he's been asked to marry the dead just to let her soul rest well as a traditional belief.
The trouble continued, Chief Oja threatened to imprison Harrison if he doesn't agree to the demand before the said date of Sonia's burial.
The issue finally got to the ears of Harrison's father in the village and he hurriedly travelled to the city to tutor him on what such a culture entails.
"There's no big deal, you have the money, just go and pay the dowry, and that settles it," Harrison's father advised.
"Okay, I've heard you. But I hope it doesn't exceed just paying the dowry." Harrison concurred but was still in between.
"From the traditions I've witnessed, it's just to pay the dowry and go. Nothing more than that," his dad added, and Harrison finally agreed to go for it.
Harrison called Chief Oja to inform him of his decision to pay the dowry. Chief Oja was well pleased to hear that and gave him the date.
The day came, Harrison and his dad got dressed and drove off to Chief Oja's house. On getting there, they met canopies and multitudes of people dressed in their native party wears, seated under the canopies.
Harrison drove inside the compound and turned off the engine, "What's happening? Are people supposed to be around?" Harrison asked his dad with surprise all over his face.
"I'm as surprised as you are, maybe they decided to make it a big party. Let's just go and see," his dad said as he unhooked his seatbelt and came out of the car.
Harrison did the same, came out, and locked the car. They walk past the people seated in the canopy without waving their hands or greeting.
"Welcome, this must be your dad, I assume." Chief Oja pointed at Harrison's dad immediately they stepped inside the palour
"Yes, he is. Please, let's get down to business. What are the requirements?" Harrison replied in a very serious tone as they both sat down.
A man in his late 60s, wearing a red gown with a white staff on his hand, walked in from one of the rooms, pointed at Harrison, and asked, "Are you the one?"
Harrison nodded his head.
"Alright, it's time to sleep and dance with her before the normal payment of the dowry. You're to be locked in the room containing her remains, and her soul, trapped in that room, will come and meet you there. That's all you need to do," the man instructed.
Upon hearing that, his face turned red, and his brows furrowed deeply. The muscles in his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed into intense, fiery slits. He pulled up his dad and headed to the door to leave. But some heffty boys at the entrance blocked the way.
"What's the meaning of this? Where on earth did you hear that the living must dance or sleep with the soul of the dead? Where???!" Harrison yelled in anger.
Chief Oja signalled the boys at the door by waving his hand in the air.
The boys grabbed Harrison, tied his hands and legs together, lifted him up, carried him to the room, dropped him there, and locked the door. The remains of Sonia was there on the bed, dressed in a wedding gown.
Harrison became scared and began to shout "Please let me out!", but Chief Oja and others played dear ear to his loud cries coming out of the room.
Suddenly, the soul of Sonia appeared in white glitterings and stood beside the wall, smiling at the way Harrison was rumbling on the floor with his hands and legs tied.
"Please don't kill me, I'm not responsible for your death!" Harrison began to plead in tears as soon as he noticed the presence of Sonia's ghost.
The ghost moved out from her initial spot, got closer to Harrison, and bent down to where Harrison's face was.
"Heeeeeeeh!" He screamed, concluding that she was about to kill him, but only to watch her gave him a peck, which he didn't feel because the ghost's body passed through him.
Immediately, he fell into a dead silence that lasted for about 10 minutes and the silence alerted Chief Oja. He ordered the boys to go get him out.
The boys acted quickly, rushed to the door, and opened it to meet Harrison lying on the floor with tears on his face.
They unbind him and carried him back to the parlour.
He was in sober and speechless, the closeness he got with Sonia's soul brought back the memories they both shared.
"You're free to leave with your son" Chief Oja said to Harrison's father.
"But we haven't paid for the dowry?" He asked.
"Actually, I wasn't after the dowry; as you can see, I used my money to organise the party for the funeral. All I wanted was just him to perform as tradition demands." Chief Oja replied.
Harrison's father, ashamedly pulled up his sobering son and left the scene.