"ADA OF UMUOKA"*

*PART 1: "THE DAY THEY SAID SHE WAS CURSED"* 

The morning the elders called my name, the chickens in Mama Nkechi’s compound stopped cackling.

I was 14. My name is Ada. Ada of Umuoka Village.

Umuoka is not big. If you stand on top of the mango tree behind the school, you can see the whole village. Red roofs, red dust, and one tarred road that cuts through like a scar. 

That morning, Papa sent me to fetch water from the stream. I had the big yellow bucket on my head, and my wrapper was already wet at the edge from yesterday’s rain.

Halfway there, I saw them. 

Five men. Sitting under the big iroko tree by the village square. That was only for meetings. For wahala. For judgement.

Papa was among them. He was not looking at me.

“ADA!” Chief Okoro’s voice was loud like thunder.  

I dropped the bucket. Water spilled everywhere.

“Come here, daughter of Okafor.”

My legs were shaking. The other women fetching water stopped and watched. Mama Nkechi even covered her mouth.

Chief Okoro pointed at me with his stick.  

“This girl. Three days ago, her mother died in her sleep. Yesterday, Baba Sunday’s goat died. This morning, the village well dried up.”

A murmur went through the crowd that had started gathering.

“Coincidence,” Papa said quietly. But his voice was small.

Chief Okoro shook his head. “No be coincidence. The oracle said it. A curse has entered Umuoka. And it came through the house of Okafor. Through his daughter.”

My chest went cold.  

Me? Cursed?

“I didn’t do anything,” I whispered. “Mama was sick. She had fever for 1 week.”

“Silence!” Chief Okoro banged his stick on the ground.  

“Until the gods are appeased, this girl cannot stay in Umuoka. She brings bad luck. She brings death.”

The word hit me like slap.  

Banished. 

Mama Nkechi started crying. “Chief, she’s just a child. Who will take care of her?”

“The forest will take care of her,” Chief Okoro said. “Or the gods. We will send her to the evil forest at the edge of Umuoka. Tonight.”

Papa finally looked at me. His eyes were red. But he did not talk. 

I wanted to run. But where? My mother was in the ground behind our house. My father could not look at me. 

That night, they gave me one bag. Inside: one wrapper, one cup of garri, and a cutlass. 

Two young men walked me to the edge of the village. Nobody said goodbye.

“The evil forest starts there,” the taller one said, pointing. “Don’t come back until the elders call you. If you do, the curse will be on all of us.”

And they left me.

The forest was dark. The trees were taller than houses. The sound of crickets and owls made my heart beat fast. 

I sat down under a big tree and hugged my knees.  

I was 14. Motherless. Called cursed. Banished from the only home I knew.

But as I sat there, I heard something.  

Not an animal. Not wind. 

A voice. Soft. Like my mother’s.  

“Get up, Ada. The curse is not on you. The curse is in Umuoka. And only you can break it.”

I jumped up. “Who’s there?”

No answer. Just the wind moving the leaves.

I looked at the cutlass in my bag. I looked at the darkness in front of me.

For the first time in my life, I was afraid. But also... angry. 

Why me? What did I do?

If Umuoka thinks I am cursed, then let me find out why. 

If I must die in this forest, I will die knowing the truth.

I tied my wrapper tight, picked up my bag, and took one step into the evil forest.

Behind me, Umuoka was quiet.  

In front of me, the trees swallowed the moon.

And somewhere deep in the forest, something answered back.

_To be continued..._