Urenna Quotes From Things Fall Apart

I named her Urenna, meaning father’s pride. She was born on the last market day Nkwo, on the 13th month. I remember pacing around the placid compound, with my younger brother Achike filling my ears with calm reassurance and comforting words. I sat under the eerie darkness to the break of dawn, whispers and prayers slipping from my chapped lips until the midwife came out, her bloody hands clasped at her front. “ Nwanne, the gods have given to you new life and have taken the old. You have been blessed with a beautiful daughter.”
I looked up at her, my hands shaking. I knew she was not finished, that there was more to be said.“And in many pregnancies Ani, the goddess of fertility demands a sacrifice. Chinasa has paid that sacrifice with her life.
Je ije gi nke oma.” Everything became a blur. I ran into the cot and grabbed my dead wife, her blood staining my chest. As light broke through the morning sky, I held to awka ugo m and I did not let go until my eyes became deserts and my voice could scream no longer.
17 YEARS LATER
“Ure, ebee ka ị nọ? Come, I have something for you!” I boomed, walking in from another successful hunt. Our compound was big compared to the many around us. The land had been given to me by the igwe himself after I performed at his son’s coming of age ceremony. They called me Abuchi, onye ozi nke chi, the flutist of the gods. “Nna, you called me?” she answered as she came out from the back. The bittersweet smell of egusi soup followed her from the kitchen. Everyday Urenna grew more beautiful and her beauty attracted men from across the kingdom. She was the perfect replica of her mother. “Ada m, omalicha nwa m, asa mpete!”
A blush began to rise under her dark, golden skin as I showered her with praises.
“Nna, what is all this? Why all the praises? Were you blessed by the gods on your hunt today?” she asked, as her eyes darted to the sack strapped across my shoulder.
“I have been blessed and more, my dear” I reached my hands into the bag. “As I was returning I stopped by the market to get you this.” I pulled out a multicolored necklace and handed it to her. She squealed and thanked me, then ran off to show her best friend Ijeoma. I quickly went into the house to clean myself and devour the wonderful food Ure had left for me. As I sat in the shade of the osisi nkwu, the biggest palm tree in the estate, my younger brother Achike strode in with an unusual smile on his face. “Nnukwu nwanne m, how are you?”
From a small age, I had learned how mischievous Achike could be. He was a trickster, always making bad choices and leaving me to fix them. There was a certain look that he had on his face when he was up to something. His eyes became wide and his lips drew into a lopsided grin. That was the exact look he held now. I turned to him with a smile.
“I am fine my brother, what have you been up to? You look like you have seen Chi himself.”
“I have seen more than Chi himself.
In fact, I have seen the unimaginable. The white men we heard about! The ones from the West! They are here in Awka and they come bearing weapons and goods like nothing we’ve ever seen.” My ears perked up at this news. The onye ochas had finally come to trade with us.“So Achike, what are they willing to trade for? What do they want us to give them?”
“All they want are people. They say they will bring them to the ‘new world’ and they will become like the onye ochas.” People? Why would they want our people? I wanted the resources but the price seemed too high. Achike looked at me with eyes full of ideas.
“You could give them Urenna” he suggested “Then remarry, maybe even have a son. It is not like she can inherit anything from you once you pass, so the money would do us g…”
Before I knew what I was doing, my right hand came in contact with the side of Achike’s face and with eyes as dark as n’abali I ordered him to get out. Achike quickly stormed out and did not return for the next week. I kept a close eye on Urenna all through the week, only letting her go to the stream when I was at home. I had finally relaxed enough to grab my flute and practice in the back, when a cry came from the front of the house.
“ONYE NO EBE? ONYE NO EBE! BIKO NYERE M AKA!”
As I ran to the front, Ijeoma’s face was filled with tears and scratches marked her arms and
legs.
“They took her, they took Urenna!” she bawled, barely able to get the words out.
“The onye ochas! They have Urenna. We ran, but she wasn’t fast enough and I barely m...” Without even letting her finish, I grabbed the machete lying next to me and began sprinting to the stream. When I arrived, my heart throbbed as if it was trying to escape my chest. It was dark and humid and a thick fog covered the stream like a blanket. I heard a muffled cry and I began to run through the forest at top speed not realizing that someone was following me and before I knew it, I was on the ground and the darkness met me.
When I awoke, everything was blurry.
My hands and feet were bound and I was on my knees. Four hazy figures stood in front of me. “Finally, you have awoken! We’ve been waiting for you for quite a long time.” I knew that voice better than anyone. It belonged to the person who I trusted and cared for all my life. Achike. Slowly, the figures became clear and Achike stood with two odd looking men and at his feet kneeled Urenna, cut and crying. The men that stood near Achike resembled ghost and it seemed as if they had not met the sun before. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. “You see, Abuchi, you have always been the favored one even by the gods. You were born first, you were giving everything you could ever ask for. Everything Papa owned had been given to you! It is time for you to lose something, to feel what I feel!” Achike was enraged. I never knew that he had such dark intents down in his soul. I forced up the words stuck in my throat.“Achike, I have already lost my wife, I can’t lose my daughter...or you.” I felt something sharp poke into my back as I spoke. “I did not know how you felt. I will give whatever you want, just don’t hurt Urenna, she is your only niece.” The pale men wore white shirts and navy jackets with gold buttons. They stood beside each other quietly whispering unknown words into each others’ ears. “I do not have much time, big brother and you have been nothing but a reminder of my failure. Goodbye.” With a nod of Achike’s head, the unforgiving metal
plunged into me, the cry of Urenna pierced my mind, the chirping of the crickets became louder, the taste of the wet dirt filled my mouth and then...nothing.
10 YEARS LATER
Ijeoma said I was practically dead when she had found me in the stream where they had dumped me that night. The knife had cut through my spinal cord and had left me frozen and paralyzed waist down. Since that day I have spent every last cowry I made on finding Urenna. I had given up my titles and sold all my lands to pay the voyagers and now all I can do is sit along the roads and play my flute from dawn till dusk watching people wander by with solemn eyes. Although the trading of my people have continued to spread like diseases, I have not yet lost hope and I can’t help but feel the presence of Chinasa holding me and guiding me to search for our daughter and protect our people till my grave lies open like a warm bed and I fall asleep. THE END