So, in the missionary compound, Mary had set up an area that she was going to use for the teaching classes for anyone that would be interested in attending. Before this day, she had told the town crier (messenger) to spread the news that her classes were going to begin on this particular market day.
Before Mary Hutchison had finished arranging the wooden benched where they would sit and listen to her, she noticed people trooping in.
She was surprised.
Mary wasn't so sure that people were going to respond positively to her idea but here they were.
It was mostly women, children, and some teenagers that were curious about what this white stranger had to offer.
"Please sit down," Mary told them with a wide smile on her face.
Mary had even gotten some slates from some workers that had produced them from some type of rock. She planned to teach them how to write and practice the words that she would show them, whenever they were at home and had time to do so.
"Welcome..." Mary said in their native tongue.
They all nodded.
The women admired Mary and some that were just seeing her for the first time, were busy murmuring between themselves about her hair, her eyes, and her skin. They hadn't seen anyone who looked like Mary before.
What shocked them the most was how well and fluently she spoke their language.
On the way to Mary's compound, one of the women told her friend; "How are we going to understand what she is saying? You're the one forcing me to come with you!" she complained.
"That is what we are going to find out. You are something else," her friend replied.
The woman that had been disturbed about the communication just gaped at Mary as she kept dishing out their language without her own accent interfering.
"I told you..." her friend whispered in her ear as she nudged her forearm.
Mary continued as she introduced herself and the purpose of this meeting. She also explained to them how often it would be held, and the days that it would take place. Then, she asked for their names one after the other and they all responded well. Some were smiling and it looked like they were having fun.
Mary was elated with how it was going.
She began with the alphabets and they responded well to that too. Even though some laughed at how it sounded from their mouths, or how their fellow people pronounced it wrongly.
They were having fun and Mary was pleased that she could provide an air of relief for these women that she sensed were being oppressed and bored out of their minds, in their houses.
Before the end of that class, Mary's eyes went to the entrance of the compound and she found a tall, handsome, black man standing there.
[Had Chief Effiong come to learn too?] Mary thought. She smiled and found out that she was happy that he had come. Mary didn't even know the reason why she felt that way.
When she dismissed the women and children, they left the compound. As they were leaving, Mary noticed as some knelt in front of Chief Effiong greeting him with so much respect that one would think that he was a high chief.
Mary knew that the natives didn't even pay as much respect to the high chiefs. They would greet them and pass as if they were their mates. It was only the Obong that people would kneel and bow to. So, she was confused about why they greeted Effiong with so much respect and smiles.
[He must be genuinely liked in this village], Mary thought.
After the women had gone, Chief Effiong walked to where Mary sat.
"Should I sit down on the bench?" Chief Effiong asked. "I want to learn too."
"Why didn't you join us then?" Mary replied to him.
"I want mine to be different..." Chief Effiong told her.
Mary raised an eyebrow with a smirk on her face.
"Why did those women greet you the way they did?" Mary asked the chief.
"I do not know, Mary. It shocked me too..." Chief Effiong replied.
"Hmm..."
Mary's mind drifted somewhere and Chief Effiong noticed it.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked Mary.
[How did he know?] she thought. "Nothing. My mind is just always busy..."
"I want to know though," Chief Effiong said.
Mary thought about telling him what she just thought about. She wondered how he would feel about it and if it would put her in some form of danger with the other chiefs.
But, with what she was planning to do in the Ufas village, Mary was beginning to care less about dangers and any form of harm coming her way.
"Do you know about the killing of twins in this land?" Mary said. She had used the English term, 'twins', for the children that looked like each other.
Chief Effiong's brows knitted together as he didn't understand what she was referring to exactly. "The killing of what?" he asked her.
"Oh!" Mary exclaimed as she realized what he had missed. "When two or more children look the same, they are called twins," she explained.
"Twins..." Effiong repeated as he nodded his head. "I will not forget. I have learned something new today," he said with a smile.
The smile waned as the question Mary had asked rephrased itself in his mind again. Effiong became ashamed that Mary had heard about the ugly tradition that his people practiced. He didn't know how to begin talking about it to the beautiful Mary.
"So you know?" Chief Effiong asked her.
"Yes, I do," Mary replied to him. [What if I tell him that I have been inside the evil forest, as they call it], Mary thought.
"How did you find out?" Effiong asked. Reluctance warped his whole mind.
"In a very horrible...In a very bad way," Mary said. "That was how I found out."
"Tell me, Mary," Effiong said.