Akanni gently wiped Amope’s forehead as she let out a weary sigh. She had been in labor for quite a while and was growing exhausted. Akanni, holding onto the prophecy, reminded her not to lose hope: “A great man will be born into this family,” he reassured her. He reached for the Bible and began to recite Psalm 121 in Yoruba. The midwife, her concern growing, anxiously paced the room, sensing impending danger for both the mother and her unborn son. Meanwhile, Iya Agba (elder woman) and the other women in the compound concealed their amusement in the darkness as they watched.

The first rays of dawn were breaking, yet Amope struggled intensely to give birth to her baby. With her weakening breath, she whispered in Yoruba, “E ma jen ku bayi”(don’t let me die like this). Akanni, drenched in sweat, fervently prayed, sang, recited scriptures, and clapped thunderously. The midwife understood it was a hopeless situation but persisted in supporting the young couple. As the sun set, two loud cries filled the air. One welcomed Adigun Olasupo into the world, while the other signified Akanni’s anguish as Amope departed from him.

The next day, on the way to the farm, Akanni bowed his head in contemplation, weighed down by the recent misfortune that had befallen him. He couldn’t help but recollect that his father had faced a similar fate, and he clenched his teeth in sorrow, knowing that his own young son would also have to grow up without a mother.  As he worked to clear the overgrown area and create mounds for yam planting,

painful memories from the past rushed to haunt him. He vividly remembered  the tears, the hardships, the isolation, the injustices, and the maltreatment he had endured at the hands of his father’s new wives and their children. Almost immediately, he quivered and expelled saliva onto the crimson earth beneath him.

When the clock struck midnight shrouding the earth in mysterious darkness, the gathering of the coven seethed with intensity. Their unanimous decision was to condemn the midwife as a traitor for aiding Amope’s son in entering the world. Had she conveniently disregarded their shared aspiration for Akanni and Amope to remain without offspring? Had she overlooked the fact that Akanni’s mother had also succumbed to the coven’s power, and by all rights, Akanni’s father  was spared, to perpetuate the pattern within the family. However, there was no room for negotiation when it came to this new baby. It had been determined that he must not survive because his destiny was not aligned with cooperating with darkness.

Aware of the covenant, she refrained from pleading. However, she did propose a trade by presenting the child’s placenta to the assembly of elders. To her immense joy, Iya Agba erupted in hearty laughter. ‘Okare!’(well done) she exclaimed in Yoruba. As dawn broke, she set off for the neighboring village, fulfilling her duty as the preferred midwife.

To be continued