My first experience with Palm wine

Hello dear one. Grateful and happy to be blessed to see another new month of July. Wishing all of us all the joy and laughter that our heart can take.

Today's write up is inspired by an article of @Olasquare where he wrote about his funny experience with palm wine. You could read the full story here

I was 13 years old at the time. My father had received a call one early morning from he aunty. The old woman claimed she saw my late uncle the previous night. In her dream, the dead man was complaining to her that he was very hungry, and as a result, his spirit couldn't find rest. According to the her, The my late uncle needed my father to give him food.

My father asked some wise men on what should be done about his late brother's ghost, they told him to organise a big feast and invite the members of our extended family living in our state of residence to come eat. This was the sacrifice that would make the soul of my late uncle contented.

The date of the party was selected, animals were slaughtered and there was more than enough food and drinks for everyone.

With a childlike innocence, I asked my mother when are we goingg to take our uncle's share to his grave. Afterall, he was the one that said he was hungry since there was no food in the grave. Now others are eating and he's been forgotten.

But Mom replied that we wouldn't be going to pour any food in any grave. I asked her why and she said that " you wouldn't understand "

Later in the evening, I noticed a particular drink that was very distinct from the other soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. One of our tribal woman had brought more than a dozen of it to the ceremony.

I asked about the drink and the women told me that it's called palmwine. I was so excited that I had finally come across the popular palmwine that I always see in those nollywood movies. But mom refused me since it contained alcohol and alcohol was prohibited in our religion. This made me really sad that I suddenly lost interest in the fanta I was sipping.

That night, when all the guests had left the house and my parents had retired to their room, I stealthly crept to the kichen's refrigerator in search of palmwine and i was lucky to find just one bottle left.

I had two quick sips of the cold, milky fluid and it felt very refreshing. I was about to take another gulp when someone suddenly opened the kitchen door and I froze immediately.

I was relieved to see that it was my 10 year old little bro.

"What are you doing here ,Abdul?" I frowned at him.

In his sleepy state, while going to pee, the kid had wondered into the kitchen thinking it was the bathroom.

Out of disgust, I pulled at one of his ears slightly. That action was a big mistake..

Abdul's facial expression changed and he was about to start crying when I quickly stuffed his mouth with the opened bottle containing the palm wine.

This wasn't the smartest thing to do but i was so frightened he would wake our parents and i would be in trouble.

The little man was already sucking at the palm wine bottle as if it were a feeding bottle before I was able to snatch It away from his lips.

There was a funny expression of surprise in his wide eyes as he stuck out his tongue to lick his lips. It was evident that he enjoyed the taste but I quickly reminded the kid that this isn't fruit juice and ordered him to go back to sleep. once again, the little guy closed his eyes and was about to start crying and I again prevented him by filling his throat with palmi.

Each time he tried to wail, I shut it with more palm wine. That was the only brilliant idea I could come at the moment. He took three more mouthfuls of the alcoholic beverage and i was about giving him the third dose when I noticed that he was now calm.

I thought that my problem had been solved, not knowing that it had just began. As I stood up from a kneeling position to sit on the kitchen chair so that I could enjoy what was left in the bottle, Abdul began to stagger. He took two unsteady steps backwards and collapsed on the hard floor of the kitchen.

Laying on his back, eyes closed, mouth agape, arms fully stretched with only panties covering his waist region, my younger brother looked like a dead monkey.

Fear gripped at my chest and my hands were shaking till I dropped what I was holding. The sound of shattering bottle eventually broke the silence of the night.

Five minutes later, my father arrived at the kitchen, a traditional charm in his left hand, mom followed closely behind. I briefly looked at my father's face then i rested my gaze on my mother's since I feared her more. From the look in her eyes, she was visibly frightened . My parents prolly thought that a thief had broken into the house through a window.

"What's happening here!". Dad demanded.

" He-he-he dranked palmwine". I stammered

"He drank palmwine or you gave him palmwine?" Mom screamed .

She had now recovered from her shock and as she edged dad aside and came to stand in front of me, I had no doubt that it was going to be a hell of a night for me.