A/N: I wrote this for a school project. I thought it was good, so I thought: Why not put it on FanFiction? I obviously don't own Things Fall Apart.
Nwoye's P.O.V.
Ikemefuna called him father. Okonkwo was my father, not his, yet he called him father. He had more of a right to call him father than I did. I was weak, cowardly, like a woman. I called him father, and he called me his son, and he called Ikemefuna his son. I had never been the ideal boy Okonkwo had wished for, even Ezinma, my half-sister, was favored over me. It was never said in words, but I could feel it.
I tried to be a man for my father's sake. I listened to his stories of war and killing, staring intently, trying to look interested. With every sentence he spoke, my stomach felt even more sick.
At this moment, my father and I, along with Ikemefuna, were eating the locusts that had descended on our village. Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in unannounced and watched us for a moment, and I watched him. Then, he spoke, and after refusing to join us, he asked for my father to follow him outside. Father did. The look I had seen in his eyes was not one of good news, and though my father told me to stay as I was, I stood up and took a step forward.
"Nwoye," Ikemefuna warned. He stood beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it away.
"You will stay here, and I will see what this is about," I stated affirmatively, as I would have to start doing if I was to gain my father's respect. Ikemefuna sighed and backed away.
"I will not tell," he whispered, and went back to crunching locusts. I walked to where my father and Ezeudu were talking, and stood where they could not see me, but I could hear them.
"…outside Umuofia as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father." These words came from Ezeudu, and at first, I did not understand what they meant.
He calls you his father.
They were going to kill Ikemefuna.
I silently stumbled back to the obi, wishing I had not defied my father's wishes and just stayed put. I considered telling Ikemefuna his approaching destiny, but decided against it. He would be better off not knowing, and I had already angered the gods enough.
The next day more men came to our home. They were the elders of all nine villages. Ikemefuna and I were asked to leave as they discussed things in whispered voices. I knew that they were talking about the fate of Ikemefuna. When they left, my father was still and silent for a long time. Ikemefuna and I sat outside, waiting for him to speak.
My father called on Ikemefuna, and I stood outside, close to the door, so that I could hear every word of their conversation. He told Ikemefuna that he was to go home tomorrow. I lived with my father long enough to know he was lying. Tomorrow Ikemefuna would not return home: tomorrow he would die. It started with a single tear, and soon I was bawling. My father heard this and beat me heavily. I knew I deserved it. Crying was something a woman does. I did not want to be a woman anymore. It was true, I was jealous that Ikemefuna called Okonkwo father, just as I did, but I looked up to him. He was my brother, even if we were not related by blood. If I could not be strong for my sake, then I would be strong for his. Ikemefuna was a man, and after he was gone, I would have to try and take his place. Could I? No, I knew I could not.
Sometimes I wished there was somewhere else out there for me. I wished there was a place where I would not be hidden by my father's shadow. I wished there was a place where I could just be myself.
I got up off the ground and looked at Ikemefuna. He stood still, a look of disbelief on his face. I took an deep breath and put on a straight face. I walked to my mother's hut and lied to her, right to her face. I told her Ikemefuna was going home. She dropped her pestle and sat up, arms folded.
"Poor boy," she sighed, and said nothing more. It was at that moment I realized she knew I had been lying.