Attitude meets Arrogance - Episode 85

 

Ciara's POV
Finally the D-day was here...I was excited that Jordan gets to finally perform the rites required but I was also anxious...He is unfamiliar with our traditions, what if he messes up??? Dear God,help that stubborn man to do things right...

I was so lost in thoughts when I heard Ethan cry...I rushed out of my room like a mad woman and found his lip bleeding...

My poor baby...He was rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands wearing a sad face....Only heavens can explain the pain a mother feels when she sees her baby in pain...

The moment he saw me, he ran to me....
"Mama???" He wrapped his hands around my legs...
"What's wrong baby???" I picked him up....
"Mama me fall...." He cried out....

I looked around and saw Britney agitated...
"What happened to him???" I raged out at her....
"Am sorry Kims...I went to go for a glass of water when he fell..." She stammered...

"If you can't look after Ethan, don't play with him in the first place...He is now hurt because of your carelessness...." I cussed out...She was lucky I was in a good mood or by now a hard slap would have landed on her face...

"What's going on here???"Mom asked behind me...
"Your daughter can't take care of my son..." I turned around to look at her...I expected her to scold Britney but she just shook her head...

"I know you are tensed but don't be hard on her...it was a mistake, go back and get ready...I will make sure Ethan is okay..." Mom assured me...
"He shouldn't leave your sight..."I handed Ethan to mother...

I turned around and found Britney crying but I had bigger issues to deal with other than her melodrama...

Since I am a Kikuyu, dowry payment takes place in the bride's to be home and it's called Ruracio...Three things will happen during my Ruracio since I got married in the weirdest way..

First and foremost is Kumenya mucii which is getting to know the bride's home...Secondly is Kuhanda Ithigi which entails planting a branch of tree and finally dowry payment...

After I was done getting ready, I walked out of my room and found Ethan sleeping soundly in my mother's arms in the living room..

"Mama, you must be tired...I will take him now and put him to bed..." I beamed only for my mom to roll her eyes at her...
"So he is lying on top of thorns on my head??? Who said I am tired??? Do you think I can't take care of my grandson???" She thundered, "Go check if everything is going on as per your wish..."

"Okay, you didn't have to speak rudely..." I lifted my hands up in surrender...

The women were busy cooking while the young men were roasting meat...Dad and the elders were in the room inside his office talking about God knows what...

"Ciara, they have arrived...."Alice ran towards me excitedly...
"So fast???" I stammered...
"Yeah...they are honking so loud...It seems your husband should be ready to fined as many times as possible.. Doesn't he know they should sing????" Alice shook her head...

I hope all goes well sister or else we gonna have a long day..." I could feel my palms been sweaty already...

Jordan's POV
On arrival, we got the gate closed...What the hell!!!! Did they forget that we were coming???

"Bro, what the hell???? Did they forget we were coming???" Jaxon said between closed teeth...
"Jaxon, we are supposed to sing..." Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly...

"Why did you not tell us earlier???" I scolded him..
"I thought Ciara told you..."
"She didn't...What should we sing Rnb, Jazz, soul music???" I was sure my eyes were wide open...

"This is madness....It can't be that serious..." Jaxon shrugged and begun honking so hard...
"Jaxon, stop it.

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/attitude-meets-arrogance

. " Sebastian yelled at Jaxon who was now all over his face...He tried pushing him away but all in vain...

"Let's see if they won't open now..." Jaxon felt so proud of himself as he got back to his seat..
"Congratulations fool, you have given them a gate pass to fine us.." Sebastian slapped the steering wheel and honk accidentally...

I brought Sebastian with me to give me support as a friend and to also guide me on what to do...But it seems like he failed at that task...

"So what else don't we know????" I yelled at him...
Before he could reply, a old man came out of the gate and stood infront of the car...

"Hope you have alot of cash on you Marcias because you are about to be fined..." Sebastian smiled before getting out of the car...

Jaxon and I followed suit and luckily in that moment Mason and the rest of the family arrived...

"Can we get in now????" Jaxon asked...
"Fifty thousand shillings as fine...You are supposed to sing not honk..." He said with a straight face...
"That's stealing from us.We need our lawyer.." Jaxon tried the advocate stunt on the man but he wasn't moved...
"Money or you go back to where you came from..." The  old man outstretched his hand...

I took one envelope with one hundred thousand from the car and handed it to Sebastian...Before he could even count it, the man snatched it from him...
"I will take all of it...One for wasting my time and second because of this big mouth..." He turned around and got inside the gate...

What kind of traditions are these???? We are already messing up even before we begin...Ciara will definitely kill me if she finds out about this...

"What happened???" Mum asked the moment they approached us...
"Fine, honking happened..." I replied dryly...My hands shoved in my pockets...
"But you would have waited for us...I have come with some Kikuyu friends who will help us sing...Please don't mess this up or Ciara's family will be mad..." I could sense disappointment in mom's tone...

My mom, granny and her friends begun singing these Kikuyu songs as the rest of us just stared at them..At least Sebastian was able to lip sync once in a while....

The moment the gate was opened, all the men wore their sunglasses and we walked in like our moves had been choreographed...It was like we owned the place...

The moment we stepped inside the gate, everyone looked at us with awe in their mouths...They seems shocked or is it surprised maybe astonished to see their In-laws...The Marcias don't play..

But why wouldn't they be surprised??? As the husband to their daughter I had worn a stylish two piece...A kitenge printed  jacket that matched my love's dress, black pair of trousers with the same kitenge decorations and black loafers...

My side kicks didn't disappoint, two piece tuxedo with Ankara loafers...The Marcias women had worn stylish kitenge decorated bodice  and luxurious black silk dress...

The women welcomed us with songs and dances but my eyes were looking around for the most beautiful woman in the compound, my wife..

I was losing all hope of finally admiring the masterpiece of a woman when the women brought her to the front line cheering her name...She was so beautiful....A bohemian mermaid dress nicely decorated with kitenge prints portrayed her curves perfectly....

I wanted to walk to her and hug her when Sebastian held my hand...
"Do you want to be fined again???"
"I don't care....Just look at her so beautiful.... I just want to hold and kiss her...I haven't seen her or my son for a week..."
"Calm down Jordan or we will mess up again..." Mason warned....

Even before I was done admiring my wife, she was taken away....
The Marcias women were taken to God knows where as some old serious men approached us...
"Follow us..." One of the stated....

We were walked into the garden where I was to plant a branch of tree....
"What kind of tradition is this??? Are you a ritualist???" Jaxon thought he whispered....
"Twenty thousand fine for not respecting our traditions..."One of the old men ordered....
"Why, I was just asking a question.Is this even legal????.." Jaxon with his advocate stunt again...

"Fifty thousand..."The old man beside him outstretched his hand...
"I will get it in the car..."Mason retorted....
"You gonna have a long day Mr Marcias..." Max commented...

I was so angry at Jaxon, why was he behaving like a douche bag???

After that was settled, we were led into this room full of serious men...Mr Kimani didn't even show us any teeth..

The one who fined us at the gate stood up,"Jambo  my fellow elders??? As we all know that these are what are required by us: one fattened ram, 99 he-goats , a heifer, beer from honey as a sign of respect and thirty cows but since that is not what they agreed on, where is our ten million???" He raised his eyebrows at us...

"Here is eleven million...one million is as a token of apology for not following the right protocol..." I stood up and handed over the cheque...
"Wa Kimani do you accept this????" He asked Mr Kimani who nodded, arms folded on his chest...
"Okay, we accept...But he has to pay a one hundred thousand fine for being noisy..." He pointed at Jaxon...
"Can't you forgive him???" Max tried to defend him only to be fined with fifty thousand too...

Jaxon was about to say something when I pinched his arm....
After negotiation, we walked out and found women singing and girls lined up covered in lesos...Before I could ask what's going on, I was pulled Infront of the girls...

I looked around for back up from my side kicks but they were already seated on the tent...

"Do you think you can identify your wife???" A woman who looked to be in her mid 50s asked..
" Yes she is my wife..." I said confidently....
"Okay search for her...."

Honestly I didn't know where to start...They were all the same height, size and wore the same colour of lesos....Sweet heavens I need a miracle...

I wish dad was here to experience this with me...I scratched my head nervously trying to think of what to do when my phone pinged with a message...

It was from an unknown number revealing to me that Ciara was the third one from the left...Thanks love you are the best...

I pretended to be looking around confused before I walked to her and uncovered her confidently...
"Here is my wife..." I screamed excitedly and cheers filled the air...

Without caring about the rules, I looked deep into her eyes feeling a sense of belonging...I wrapped my arms around her tightly when I was tapped on the shoulder...

"Fifty thousand for hugging our daughter without permission...." The old man  who did the negotiation fined me but it  was worth it...

I reached out my hand to her but she slapped it...
" Hold her hand, another fifty thousand..." The old man warned and both of us drew our hands away like they were on fire...

Finally both families became one as we ate and had fun....It was a big feast where I got to taste all traditional foods that granny always talked about....

After we were done with the introductions and gifting between families,Ciara sat on a stool and the women surrounded her singing...

She was given a weaving basket, calabash and rope...Her mother was given blankets and bedsheets and her two sisters handkerchiefs...Where was she going to ever use those items???She rarely steps in the kitchen....
A honey was given to Mr Kimani to make muratina beer....

Finally the ceremony was over and I could hold my son....
"My love I missed you...." I said to my wife, taking my son from her arms...The moment I held him, he smiled....

"How much have you been fined???" I tell her I have missed her and that's her reply...

"Almost half a million...Jaxon was acting like a jerk..." I tried defending myself...

Before she could reply, Mr Kimani  walked to us...
"Kims, thank you for bringing my self respect and dignity back..Everyone is talking about my rich son....I have forgiven you..Jordan, my son please take care of my daughter...She finally belongs to you..." He took my hand and Ciara's hand and intertwined them...

"Ethan my boy, you are blessed..." He tried taking him from me but he refused and held my jacket so tight...He had missed his daddy..

"Thank you Mr Kimani and see you soon for the Itara....We would have loved to stay for the after party but we need to head back..." Mom smiled...
"Thank you Mrs Marcias for making this day a success, journey masses back home..." Mr Kimani smiled and walked away...

"You guys should hurry up or you will be late for your flight???"Mason took Ethan from my arms....
"What flight???" Ciara asked surprisingly....
"Your honeymoon..." Mom replied softly...
"But Ethan, I don't think I carried enough clothes for him..." Ciara cried out....

"He is not going...Mom will take care of him..." I smiled at her but she just gave me a blank look...

"Can we talk in private???" Even before I could say anything she dragged me aside...
"Are you mad Jordan??? You know I have never left Ethan alone before...Why do you want to give me a heart attack????" She begun scolding me...

"Darling," I cupped her face," If anything happens before the two weeks are over we will fly back....Trust our family love..."

"Two weeks is a long time to stay away from my son..." She cried out....

"You have to be a mother and a wife...And this time I am pleading you be the wife...He is already one year and two months, he is a big boy...." I tried convincing her which was like filling water in a basket....

"Fine but I will be calling to check up on him after every one hour...Wait, what will I wear????" She asked...
"Jane and Sophie already took care of that..." I wiggled my eyebrows, "Even your red lingerie..."

"Ulalala!!!!" She smacked my arm, "Naughty boy..."

We intertwined our hands and walked back to the rest ..
"She said yes..." I said excitedly....
"Please I need handbags and some jewellery when you get back..." Jane retorted...
"I need you to have fun and forget Ethan for a moment..." Sophie smiled as her and Jane hugged her. 

Chloe and Ariana walked towards us supporting Jaxon who was drunk...
"That muratina beer is sweet, you should all try it out..." He chuckled before passing out on Ariana's chest...

What a waste???? For a moment I thought he didn't want this day to go well for me but then I remembered he had been having issues with his manager...

"Mom don't forget his vitamins, fruits at 2pm, some porridge at 4pm, he hates cats and loves his white ball alot, don't let him cry too much, if anything happens please call me..No sweets or anything sugary..." Ciara was freaking out  but mum just looked at her with admiration...
"You are the best mom Ethan could have asked for..." That was all mom said after a million and one pages of instructions....

We said our goodbyes and headed to our cars...The rest headed to Nairobi as we took an Uber to the airport... Finally I will have my wife to myself...