Covenant: The Woman Who Drank the Sassy Wood

By Zlando

In a culture where marriage covenants are typically arranged by parents, considerations of the romantic feelings and true love of the prospective married couple seldom enter into the negotiations between families. Those emotions are born later, after the marriage is consummated. Prior to that, neither the young man nor the woman pursues the other.

In Covenant: The Woman Who Drank The Sassy Wood, Michael G. Siaway reveals how a young woman was treated in arranged marriages in rural Liberia within the (Dan/Gio) ethnic group in the 60’s. A young woman given into an arranged marriage is accused of being a witch and pronounced guilty. To prove her guilt rather than her innocence, the townspeople forced Tenneh to drink a deadly poison called Sassy Wood. The idea of accusing someone who may be innocent of being a witch with the pre-conception that she is guilty is both fascinating and challenging. What would the townspeople do if Tenneh’s guilt is affirmed, or if she is proven innocent?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664112490

Zlando

MICHAEL G. SIAWAY was born in Liberia, West Africa. He emigrated to the United States as a refugee on September 11, 2003, through the Catholic Charities Refugee Services of Camden, New Jersey. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. Michael is a founder of “Raising Lazarus,” a non-profit organization based in Reading, USA. He is a substitute teacher at Berks County Intermediate Unit in Reading, PA. Michael also served as a primary teacher for the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa in 2016. In 2012, Michael was selected as a competent candidate to intern at the Washington Training Center, Washington D.C.

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Copyright © 2020 by ZLANDO.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book is a designed handicraft work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Any resemblance of true events or scene or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters and references are all fictitious. Any resemblance in names or events contained in this book is totally inadvertent.

Rev. date: 12/03/2021

Xlibris

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Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Characters

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Brain Teasing Questions

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to my beloved mother, Totien Pricilla Siaway, and my beloved wife, Crystal Taylor Siaway, for their emotional support through prayers. My daughter, Favor Garto Siaway, for the courage given me to work on this book on many sleepless nights. To all of my loving friends Emmanuel Yancy Mantor, Yeka Kilikpo, and Dennis J Bowah, who read my manuscript and offered recommendations in publishing this book. To my friends Dave Sarkozy, Guankainue Galimah Quiogagbay, Edward Mongrue who gave careful thought to my book and encouraged me to publish it.

Introduction

About the Book

In a culture where marriage covenants are typically arranged by parents, family, romantic feelings and true love seldom enter into the negotiations. Those emotions are born later after the marriage has been consummated. Prior to that, neither the young man nor the woman pursues the other. In The Woman Who Drank the Sassy Wood, Michael Gonkerwon Siaway reveals how the woman is treated in most arranged marriages. If not for the roles of parents that rule and guide the marriage, culture would insist that the marriage abides by the tradition in which the marriage is covenanted or negotiated. In most cultures, the privilege to make choices or decisions is denied to women. Women are seen not as helpmates but as partners who, in most cases, take the blame and must remain silent.

The Woman Who Drank the Sassy Wood written by Michael G. Siaway unearths the secret in the heart of a faded culture. On the twentieth year of their covenanted marriage, Duah reports that his beloved daughter, Yei, is dead. And there should be a reason for her death. Under pressure from Duah and a growing protest from the townspeople, Tenneh is seen in the eyes of the people as one who killed her own daughter. As a custom of the town, for any mystical event or occurrence, the town’s remedial ritual must be performed to explore the unknown or unearth the truth. Tenneh is forced to perform the ritual to prove her innocence. Tenneh’s faith is tested. However, is Tenneh willing to perform the ritual? Did Tenneh actually kill her child? Or is Duah accusing Tenneh with no evidence? Can performing the ritual truly prove any evidence that Tenneh is the real killer of Yei?

Characters

In this story, the author Michael Gonkerwon Siaway is named Zlando. Duah is the husband of Tenneh. Duah is the defendant and Tenneh is the plaintiff. Kou, Yah, and Yei are the three children of Duah and Tenneh. Fallah and Matu are the parents of Tenneh. By culture, Fallah is named Paa and Matu is named Maa. Flomo and Goma are the siblings of Tenneh. The town’s well-known doctor is Wesseh. Bendu is Tenneh’s closest friend. Gono is the town chief and Diah is the man who presided over the sassy wood. Kargou is Diah ’s helper.

Prologue

Zlando was disheartened, as he was curious. Zlando sauntered to the wake and with a sore heart and teary eyes. He brushed