Ngozi gasped. “Ah! Formal meeting. Am I in trouble?”
She quickly sat down. “Say what you want to say before I faint.”
Jackson chuckled softly, then looked at her. “Serious now, Ngozi.”
She blinked. That tone was different.
Jackson took her hand gently.
Ngozi froze.
Her dramatic brain paused for once.
“I don’t have much here,” he began quietly.
Ngozi opened her mouth, but he raised a finger. “Let me finish.”
She closed it immediately.
“I don’t have gold rings or big promises,” he continued.
Ngozi whispered, “You don’t even have a goat.”
Jackson laughed. “Exactly.”
He held up the leaf ring.
“But I have this.”
Ngozi stared at it—confused, suspicious, concerned.
Jackson took a deep breath.
“Will you marry me?”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even the wind paused.
Ngozi blinked once. Twice.
Then suddenly she stood up, turned around, walked a few steps, turned back, and shouted, “Is this a test?”
Jackson burst out laughing. “No!”
She pointed at the ring. “This one will not dry and disappear?”
Jackson tried to hold his laughter. “I will replace it one day.”
Ngozi folded her arms. “With what? A cassava ring?”
Jackson stood up, smiling. “With something better. When the time is right.”
Ngozi stared at him for a long moment.
Then slowly, her expression softened.
She placed her hand on her chest. “Farmer Jackson.”
“Yes?”
“If I marry you like this…” She looked around. “People will laugh at me.”
Jackson nodded slowly. “I know.”
She stepped closer.
“But…”
Then suddenly she jumped on him.
“Yes! Yes! I will marry you!”
Jackson almost fell. “Careful!”
Ngozi held him tightly. “I have accepted my fate. Poverty and all.”
Jackson laughed loudly. “This girl…”
News spread faster than fire.
“Ngozi is getting married!”
“To who?”
“That poor farmer!”
The village exploded with laughter.
Chioma nearly fell from her chair. “With a leaf ring? Even a broom has more value than that ring!”
Ngozi heard them. She marched toward them like a soldier.
“You people should continue talking,” she said confidently, “while I continue my relationship.”
