"Someone is outside waiting to see you, Master"
"Who is the person?". Effiong was in no mood to see anyone. He had a lot on his table... business accounts to settle and such. He was already irritated by the uninvited visit.
"A woman, the same one that came last week during the burial", his maid replied to him.
Ufang had been coming to see Effiong with hopes to seduce and keep him for herself. Effiong could smell her desperation from the room he was sitting in.
"Tell her I am not in, please"
"I did that sir... she said I should give her a seat... that she would wait for you", the maid suppressed a chuckle.
"My goodness"
He got up from his chair, arranging the cowries he had been counting, "Watch this table. Let nothing miss from here, do you understand me, Uduak?"
"Yes, sir. I will watch it"
"You say she is outside? In front?"
"Yes sir"
Effiong stepped out and had to bend a little before coming out of the entrance for he was tall, and built with skin so dark. His face was well-chiseled and did not lack hair. Beards were sufficiently distributed to areas where they were meant to be. Effiong's eyes and eyebrows were what tripped Ufang the most.
[Why is this man treating me like this? Can he not see when a woman likes him], as she was thinking to herself, she heard heavy, steady footsteps approach her. It took a while before she raised her head, blushing as she did.
"Effiong"...she said in a voice that wasn't hers. Ufang quickly cleared her throat.
"Good day, Ufang. I hope all is well"
"Yes, all is well. I only came to check in on you. When one loses a loved one, it is not easy. I came to see how you are faring"
[So, this is what I stood up for?], Effiong was frustrated but hid it well from his face.
He didn't respond, so she continued; "There are dark circles under your lovely eyes, Effiong. Do you not sleep well?"
As she said that, she stretched out her hand to touch his face... the speed he used to dodge her touch shocked her, and she retracted her arm quickly.
"I am fine, Ufang. I was busy before you came. If that is all, I should get back to work. Don't you think so?", Effiong said.
She was hurt and he could see it in her eyes, but he didn't know what to do.
His good looks were a blessing and it appeared that it was a curse as well. He didn't rest from steady advances from women, even married women who weren't satisfied with their husbands threw passes at him.
"I am sorry I flinched, but I am very busy. Too many things to settle, things my father left behind," he said feeling a little bit sorry for the way she must've felt.
"I understand"
"Thank the stars"
"Can I see you in two market days? I am planning to prepare a nice soup, and I would like you to taste my cooking-"
[Dear gods... what is this stress?], Effiong thought.
He acted like he was thinking... "I think I am traveling, but if I am around, I would send Uduak to you. Is that okay?"
"Fair enough, Effiong. Don't forget", Ufang pleaded.
"I will not"
* * *
"Who was that?"
An elderly woman with a badly shaven head and face carrying lots of bitterness and sorrow asked him.
"Oh, Mother. It was just one of those women that will not let me rest in my house", Effiong replied.
"You should get married, that is what will keep them away. I have been telling you, this boy", Item Edet told her son.
"Not this topic again, mother. You should rest, that is what is important now. Uduak!!"
Uduak came running into the sitting room... "Has mama eaten something this afternoon?"
"I am not hungry, son. Why didn't you ask me first?"
"Because I know you would say you are not hungry", Effiong said.
"Mama has not eaten anything today, sir"
Effiong turned and looked at his mother. She felt his gaze burn through her cheeks because she had quickly removed her eyes from him.
[My son could be intimidating sometimes. Even with me, his mother]
"If I have to feed you, I will, mama. I do not like this. I can not lose you too"
Hearing that statement... Item began to cry for the tenth time that day. Her days seemed to be full of tears, lamentations, and mourning.
Effiong couldn't stand it... he walked out of the room hiding the tears that were about to drop from his eyes.
* * *
In The Obong's Compound
During the meeting that had been called for the kinsmen, high chiefs, and tribal chiefs... Effiong got up.
"Good Morning to all my kinsmen... my chiefs... May you all live long and prosper!"
"Ami..." the response was chorused by all who were sitting.
('Ami' means 'Yes' or 'Amen')
"I want to especially thank you all for the support and recognition you have awarded me. I also want to appreciate you for standing by my side during my father's passing and burial. May none of you bury your children, and may you all live till the ripe, old age before you are called home"
"Ami..."
"But, I have a complaint, my elders", Effiong paused for a while tasting the air in the room before he would continue. These were dangerous people who guarded the tradition of the land with their lives. So, he was to tread carefully with what he was about to complain.
"My mother, Item Edet, the first and only wife of my late father, Edet Edet, was forced to drink the water washed from my father's corpse"
"And what is wrong with that, Chief Effiong?", one of the kinsmen said.
"According to my knowledge, that is meant for the wife that is suspected of killing her husband, not a victim that had her husband taken from her, like my mother. I demand an apology from the priestess of the land for she was the one who enforced this on that day. I wish I was in the compound when that happened, it wouldn't have happened", Effiong sat down immediately after his speech.
Murmurings filled the entire room.
The priestess only obeyed the high chiefs, so Effiong needed them to make her apologize, at least. That would bring him some level of comfort since the deed had already been done.
"It is already passed, Chief Effiong. Can you not let this go? That priestess is a stubborn one"
Effiong chuckled, but it wasn't a good chuckle because his lips didn't even form a smile. "It wounded my soul that my mother had to pass through that. We all know she wasn't the one who poisoned my father. I need some balm on that wound or I will not rest". His eyes scanned the room knowing that the culprit was among the men sitting there.
Effiong was like a bull when it came to things he wanted to achieve. His father had been like that too, and all the kinsmen and the high chiefs knew that.
The most senior kinsman said, "Okay, your wish shall be granted. Only because your father contributed heavily to the growth and prosperity of this land, and I see that potential in you too"
"Thank you, my chiefs. Thank you"
"If there is no other issue, we need to discuss the stay of the white strangers in our land"