“WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A BROKEN VESSEL?”

“We” Ugochi corrected her friend. She folded her legs up and rested her jaw on her knees. If only she had been careful or had minded her business, fetched her water and left immediately, but no; Nneka convinced her to join those girls in their water fight, now they were both leaving without water, not even with the calabash they came with. Nneka’s rants were itching her ears. They should be thinking of what tell their parents, instead of ranting. Anger wouldn’t solve anything now.

“Mba. Don’t worry about me. I am going to tell Papa. See ehn, I’m not blaming Chinaza and her friends, that is not what I am doing. What I said is, let allof us look for a way, you know, just a way, I don’t know. They didn’t even wait to sympathize with us, that’s the least could’ve done, instead, they ran away. They think they are smart. They’ll see what Nneka Obichi can do”

“Nneka, you know quite alright that this would just make everything complex, ehn!” Ugochi’s eyes didn’t leave the ground

“That is exactly what I want, Ugochi, exactly. These girls would see my red eyes. Biko, let’s start going home”

Ugochi got up and began picking the broken pieces of her calabash.

“Hian! Ugochi, do you want-o use the broken pieces to cook?” Nneka started laughing at Ugochi

“Zit your pick? Biko, leave me to do what I want to do. My father is not a chief”.

Ugochi got home and received all rounds of shouting. Mama had repeated severally that reason she always sent her to stream instead of her siblings was because she thought she was more responsible.

“Ugochi; you are better than this na, ehn, E kari ifi neme. If to say your mates no dey behave well, you suppose know say your home training dey separate. How can you just see people, you don’t even know anything them and you just join them to play? Do you know if they are spirits? Ehn, Ugochi? I am very disappointed. Abi it is that your friend that is influencing you?”

Ugochi didn’t know what to say. In Mama’s eyes she had failed. Her siblings that saw her as the most responsible would look at her as an unserious person.

“Ah ahn. Nneka, where to?” Ugochi saw Nneka outside her house even before she got in.

“To the stream” Nneka answered grouchily. “What did your father say?”

“Hmmm, it’s a long story o. To cut it short sha, after they finished shouting at me, I begged Papa, I cried ehn!” She shook her head. “You know that onku na?”

“Which onku”

“That onku that stays beside Ifuoma’s house. I told Papa that he can fix the calabash. Nneka, if you see the way I begged Papa ehn! He later agreed o. So I’ll soon have my calabash back. It would even look finer sef.” Ugochi screeched started jumping around her friend. “What did your father DO?”

“See ehn, Ugo forget dah thing. I don’t have strength to start telling you the story. Mttcheww, these village pipu don’t know what it means to respect a chief” She rolled her eyes.

“Ok o, if you say so. But what are you going to do at the stream, Nneka?”

What do you do with a broken vessel?

Truth is; everyone does something with a broken vessel. I have two categories which we all fall in.

The first set of people is Ugochi. They accept they’re broken, pick the pieces of themselves, go through the pain of criticism, know that they can be rejuvenated and go for it.

The second set of people is Nneka. Oh! I didn’t tell you what Nneka went to the stream to do? Well, it became a daily routine. She would to stream, hide and time when Chinaza and her friends would come. When they come, she’d start throwing stones. She did that till the number of broken calabashes satisfied her. Nneka wasn’t concerned about rejuvenation. All she wanted was justice. Those girls couldn’t be freely fetching water when her calabash was broken, Mba!

Ugochi was ready to accept the criticisms from her parents and siblings. If she hadn’t done that, how would she have begged her father? Criticism is an important stage during rejuvenation. The critics would surely come, but Ugochi had a focus; that onku would fix her calabash if she begged her father. When we open our hearts to God for healing, He’ll surely fix us and we’ll bounce back stronger.

As for Nneka, she couldn’t face criticism. Of course, her father was a chief! But she couldn’t just sit and face the fact that her calabash was broken; that was enough pain. Her breaking other girls’ calabash was a coverage to the fact that her calabash was STILL broken. And trust me; she didn’t want to face that FACT. But at the end of the day, after the satisfaction from breaking those calabashes, she would get home and STILL meet her broken calabash, forever destined with emptiness, cos it can never carry anything without a rejuvation.

Again, what do you do with a broken vessel?

#IntroTalk_