IMEH
A one act and one scene short play for two players.

IMEH is a short play that goes a long way in addressing a very critical and common experience of life and in particular the life of every woman, pregnancy. In this case, the pregnancy is the burden of a young woman named Imeh who meets an older woman on the way and their meeting reveals more than she expects from a total stranger she has never met before. IMEH is a journey about our life on earth.
IMEH is an extension of the critical issues of womanhood I have addressed in Chi Amanda and should be performed together for the full impact to be felt by the audience.

IMEH
The sun is setting and the weather is humid in a certain town in Aba, in south eastern Nigeria.
Imeh, a young woman from the Efik tribe of Southern Nigeria is by the roadside. She is dressed in blouse and jeans trousers with flat soled shoes. She is carrying two bags, a hand bag and a small traveling bag and holding a mobile phone.
Two passersby, a male and female in contemporary western attires glance at her and move on.
Imeh is thinking aloud.

IMEH
Here I am on the road.
I have spent all my money and now I am famished.
I am stranded.
How am I going to make it back to Uyo before nightfall?
(She coughs and sighs).

An older woman comes by and paused by her side. The older woman is dressed in native attire of south eastern Nigerian women. A loose blouse and wrappers of Ankara wax print and wearing leather slippers. She is carrying a small handbag.

IMEH
Good evening ma.

OLDER WOMAN
Good evening.
(She regards Imeh inquisitively.)
I hope all is well?

IMEH
Yes. But,

OLDER WOMAN
But what?

IMEH
My mother warned me to beware of telling my problems to strangers.

OLDER WOMAN
Good advice by a wise mother. But not when you have no better choice as your grimace shows that all is not well.

IMEH
Yes, ma. I am stranded.

OLDER WOMAN
Where are you going?

IMEH
Home. Uyo.

OLDER WOMAN
I see. I live here in Aba, but I am also going to Uyo.


IMEH
Are you Efik?

OLDER WOMAN
No. I am Igbo.

IMEH
Alright.

OLDER WOMAN
I am going to Uyo to visit an old friend, Nne Effiong.

IMEH
Did you say Nne Effiong?

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. Effiong is the name of her only son.

IMEH
Hmm. How old is her son?

OLDER WOMAN
Ahah. He is a big man. A married man with four children.
Two girls and two boys who are all grown up.

IMEH
God have mercy.

OLDER WOMAN
Why did you say God have mercy?

IMEH
Nne Effiong is my grandmother.

OLDER WOMAN
You are not kidding?

IMEH
Why should I lie to you?

OLDER WOMAN
What a coincidence?

IMEH
God is merciful.

OLDER WOMAN
Hmm. It happens.
Come, my daughter. Let’s sit down.
(She points to a big log of wood at the roadside.)

IMEH
Mama, beware of termites.

OLDER WOMAN
Come. If I see termites, I will kill them before they bite us.
(She looks closely at the log of wood and uses her hands to brush off some insects.)

IMEH
So, you and my grandmother are friends?

OLDER WOMAN
Very good friends since we were neighbours in Creek Town.

IMEH
And you are Igbo?

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. And a very proud one too.

IMEH
I see. No wonder Nne likes Igbos.


OLDER WOMAN
Nne Effiong sent for me.

IMEH
I hope there is no problem.

OLDER WOMAN
She said her granddaughter in trouble.

IMEH
What kind of trouble?

OLDER WOMAN
She got pregnant.

IMEH
Yes. I am pregnant.

OLDER WOMAN
Oh, my God! So, you are the one?

IMEH
Yes. But I wonder why she has told you.


OLDER WOMAN
Nne Effiong and I do not have secrets we have never shared.


IMEH
I see. The bond between you must be a special one.

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. And nothing comes between us.

IMEH
And I thought my grandmother told me everything. I am really surprised that she never told me about you.

OLDER WOMAN
She must have her reasons.

IMEH
Old women and their secrets.

OLDER WOMAN
Now, my daughter. Would you confide in me?

IMEH
Confide in you?

OLDER WOMAN
Your pregnancy? Is there is more to it?


IMEH
I do not know why my pregnancy is the reason why Nne sent for you. I am too young to be pregnant?

OLDER WOMAN
How old are you?


IMEH
I am 23.

OLDER WOMAN
Aha-ah. You are a full grown young woman.
I had my first child when I was only 15 and I was already married.

IMEH
You were already a married mother of a child at 15?

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. In our days, girls did not tarry for long before getting married. We married immediately after our primary school education and most of us married as virgins. Our parents did not want us to be spoilt before marriage.

IMEH
So, early marriage was meant to prevent premarital sex?

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. But some girls were already deflowered at 10, 11 or 12. The wayward girls who were led astray by bad boys or men. Chewing gum babies who were in a hurry to become women.

IMEH
Hmm. They were really in a hurry.

OLDER WOMAN
But girls who lost their virginity before marriage were now spoilt merchandise and suitors would not pay much for them.

IMEH
Most men would love to marry virgins.

OLDER WOMAN
9 in 10 men would prefer virgins.

IMEH
But how many of the men are virgins?

OLDER WOMAN
Many men would be virgins if the girls knew how to close their thighs.
Most men have never forced their way into the private parts of women. So, in most cases, I blame the wayward young girls for opening their thighs when they should have closed them.

IMEH
I was forced to lose mine.

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. Nne told me.

IMEH
Oh, no!

OLDER WOMAN
I told you that Nne and I have no secrets.
Something must be wrong with your pregnancy for Nne to send for me.

IMEH
But it is not fair to discuss what concerns my life without telling me about you.

OLDER WOMAN
Your grandmother did not mean any harm. She only confided in me.

IMEH
Standing up.
And see what has happened now. We have met on the road as total strangers without even knowing that we are going to the same place until we started talking. My pregnancy is not a mistake. It is not an unwanted pregnancy. I chose to get pregnancy for an mistake. It is not an unwanted pregnancy. I chose to get pregnancy for an older man I love. But…

OLDER WOMAN
But…

IMEH
He said I should have told him that I wanted to have his child.

OLDER WOMAN
Yes. Why did you not tell him?

IMEH
If I told him, he would not have agreed. I did it for love.

OLDER WOMAN
Without his consent?
Love is not a gamble.
If you truly loved him, you should have told him that you would love to be the mother of his child.

IMEH
If he does not want it, I will …

OLDER WOMAN
You will keep it?

IMEH
I don’t know.

OLDER WOMAN
Whatever you do, do not get rid of it.

IMEH
I don’t know.


OLDER WOMAN
Who is the father of your unborn child?

IMEH
A man I loved.

OLDER WOMAN
Where is he from?

IMEH
He is an Igbo man.

OLDER WOMAN
Now I know why Nne sent for me.
Is the man married?

IMEH
No mama.

OLDER WOMAN
Do you know whether he has any child?

IMEH
He does not have any child.

OLDER WOMAN
That is if he told you the truth.

IMEH
He swore on his knees.

OLDER WOMAN
Then, you have to bear his child.

IMEH
I don’t know.

OLDER WOMAN
My daughter, you are carrying the first child of an Igbo man.
You are carrying his first offspring.
Our first offspring is the wellspring of our life.
The first fruit of every harvest belongs to God.
You must not kill this child. Abortion is an abomination against heaven and earth.

IMEH
Mama, I agree. But what if the man rejects his child?

OLDER WOMAN
Did he reject it?

IMEH
No. But he said he will only accept it when I prove that he is the father.

OLDER WOMAN
Then prove it.
You asked for the child and the child has been given to you and you have already welcomed the child into your life. The child is in you and you are in the child. The communion of your flesh and blood covenant with the man you say you love. Love is a sacred thing and if truly your child is a love child, then your child is sacred.
We should not bring children we cannot raise into this turbulent world.
Since you have already conceived and received it, then you should keep this great gift of life.

IMEH
Mama, you talk like the child is already born.


OLDER WOMAN
The child is alive in your womb.
The child drinks from what you drink,
The child eats from what you eat
And the child breathes from your breath of life.
Sit down my daughter.


IMEH
I see.
(She sits and grunts.)


OLDER WOMAN
Life is a journey of foreseen and unforeseen circumstances.
But in most cases, we have the chance to make a choice.
All chances and choices have consequences.
You must beware of your choices.
Look at the footprints of the footsteps of those who have gone before us and let us learn from their missteps, so that we do not repeat their mistakes, lest we would end up in the same pitfalls.
God will help us.
(She pats IMEH on the right shoulder and IMEH sighs and looks up.)


IMEH
Amen. Mama, a bus is coming.

OLDER WOMAN
Thank God. The sun has already gone down behind the hills. Nne must be waiting for me.

IMEH
I never told her that I would be coming this weekend.

OLDER WOMAN
Well. God must have planned that we should meet.

The sounds of the engine and horns of a vehicle are heard. Imeh and the Older Woman rise to their feet.

END.

really nice, as always

angel_empy:

really nice, as always

Thanks for reading.