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As he continued to stare
at the baby sleeping peacefully on his bed, Ekpenyong was filled with a mixture
of a sense f joy and a deep sense of foreboding. Now, he could relax and stop
worrying about an heir, at the same time, he thought about the adoption of the
strange woman’s son as his heir, it will have to be a feat, he was determined
to pull it. With the decision taken, he left the child on the bed and went out
to the parlour to await the two elders he had sent for. (Ufot and elder Nket)
When the elders came in,
they stood still, starring and starring at the figure on the floor. A quill had
been thrown over the dead woman. Ekpenyong at first was also speechless, he
starred back at the elders, the full weight of the ridiculous situation seemed
to hit him for the first time since the woman crawled into his palace and
delivered a baby for him. He was expecting to wake up from the dream any
moment.
“Oku” elder Ufot spoke up
first but a thought stirred in Ekpenyong’s mind as he quickly interrupted him,
Ikwo mma; his mother must not come back to meet the corpse. Among her
many fetishes, ikwo had a dread for corpses. The sight of one could make her
sick for days. “Elders, please before we say anything, let us remove the corpse
before Ikwo mma comes back. As the two elders moved the body, Ekpenyong said,
“How do you intend to dispose of it? “Dispose? Elder Nket was taken aback by
the use of term for burial of a human being as if it was the entrails of a
chicken. “Yes where do you intend to keep her? Ekpnyong asked again.
The two elders paused in
their task and starred up at their king. “That is for you to decide Oku, elder
Nket said. “The forest” Burry her in the forest” Ekpenyong said, looking at
him, the elders saw a different man from their king, Ekpenyong spoke in
monotone, like one under the influence of a powerful potent, he had that glazed
and distant look in his eyes. They nodded their agreement, they had become
inexplicably entangled in whatever was making Ekpenyong behave the way he did,
they had also become zombies to what they did not understand. “And you have no
memory of what you have just seen or done, Ekpenyong continued in that same
tone of voice, the two elders nodded again before lifting the corpse unto their
shoulders. They went out by the secret passageway leading from the palace to
the village.
The two men bore their
burdens through the side streets, to avoid encountering curious villagers.
Strangely enough, nobody passed them at that time of the day, the entire
village was as quiet as a grave yard. “It feels as if everyone has gone to
sleep, elder Ufot remarked. “Weird, elder Nket said, I feel as if I am sleep
walking myself, and this corpse, why are we bearing it? “I don’t know, his
companion replied, I just know that we are headed for the forest. After this
exchange, the two kept mute until they reached their destination where they
found a freshly dug grave, without reflecting on the strangeness of the
situation, they slowly lowered the woman into the grave, covered it and turned
as if controlled by a hidden remote and headed back not the way they had come
but to the path that will lead straight to their separate homes.
The disheveled mud
splashed sight of her husband filled Arit, elder Nket’s wife with an instant
alarm.” what happened to you my lord? She exclaimed, rushing towards him.
“Nothing, her husband mumbled, get me bath water woman and stop fussing over
me, when did I become one of your children? His wife left him to carry out the
shouted commandment, still wondering at the strange sight o her husband.
Elder Ufot was lucky, his
wife and two children had gone for evening mass at the village catholic church
and so he had no one to express shock over his appearance. He took water from
the reservoir, went to the backyard and enjoyed a very refreshing bath. The
bath performed a dual function; it cleaned him of the dirt of the forest and
also knocked his mind cleaned of the events of the last few hours. Ekpenyong
need not have worried about these two elders telling people about what had
transpired in his home. Like the mystery that had ushered the beggar into the
palace, the memories of this two elders had been purged of everything they had
seen and done. After the bath, they could not recollect a thing.
It was late evening when
Ikwo mma wobbled into the palace. The child had woken up only once in the
course of his sleep and Ekpenyong had taken upon himself to act as nurse man.
For some strange reason, he refused to share the child with any one in the
palace. He believed he was keeping the child for ikwo’s eventual return. He was
sitting in the parlour when she came in. “Welcome, Eka, Ekpenyong greeted him.
She ignored his greetings, as if on cue, the baby’s piercing cry tore through
the parlour.
“Listen, Ikwo said, her
ears cocked, that is the last sound that should be heard in this palace.
“Mother, Ekpenyong said excitedly, the gods have sent me a baby boy. I
have an heir at last”, Ekpenyong said, bouncing on his feet like a very happy
young boy. The movement led him into the room as the baby continued to wail, he
brought him and sat down with him when Ikwo refused to collect the bundle from
his outstretched hands.
Ikwo took one long look at
her son; his face looked alive and happy as he held the baby in his hands. She
was very sad. Whoever played this trick on him must have known how desperately
Ekpenyong desired a son. She looked around, ‘where is his mother? She asked.
“She died while trying to have the child, Ekpenyong said, Mother, she was so weak
and hungry, she had suffered for such a long time, she lost the strength to
live beyond the birth of her child. For her sake, we have to take care of this
child”, Ekpenyong continued, there was no mistaking the determination in his
voice.
My son, she sad sadly, you
don’t need this child she said with that note of finality in her voice before
getting up and entering the inner chamber.
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Posted by Robot| 29.06.2008 14:43