A Missing Bone

Abstract

I was unprepared for the events of the long holiday that followed my completion of standard five. I was always happy to go to Itu any time Mrs. Ikoku let me go for the holiday because I had spoken Arochukwu Igbo so much I was starting to lose fluency in my native language, Agwagune, especially as my grandmother was no longer visiting as often as she used to. That troubled me very much because I knew my friends back in Agwagune would be unforgiving in their ridicule when they heard me speak. I first noticed that I was losing fluency in Agwagune when my grandmother came to Arochukwu one day, and I kept punctuating our conversation with Arochukwu Igbo words because the Agwagune words did not come to me quickly enough. Sometimes, my grandmother would prompt me when she noticed I was fumbling for the right word. She did not share my worry when I mentioned it to her. She said I should worry about my books because people will admire the way I speak English when I grow up. “Why do you worry that you are not speaking Agwagune well? Do you hear anybody speak Agwagune on radio? Do you think Dr. Ikoku goes to Enugu to speak Igbo? No, the government invites him to Enugu to speak English. Do you hear? English. Ikoku speaks English better than the white people do, but he also speaks every language in Nigeria.