It seemed to Mary that she could trust Chief Effiong for some reason. Mary wasn't one that got scared easily and in fact, she was ready for anything from these Ufik people. She was going to fight them so why should she be scared at all?
"I pray a lot," she began, "so one day, I told my cook that I was going into a forest to pray. I long for solitude... I mean where I would be alone and no one would disturb my thoughts or distract me," Mary said.
Chief Effiong listened closely. He didn't want to miss a word of what Mary was saying. At the same time, he admired her. The way her eyes were -- it seemed to Effiong that everything she was feeling could be seen from her beautiful blue eyes. Efiong was lost in the color of her eyes and deeper in her lips.
He swallowed and returned his gaze to her eyes, trying very hard not to look at her lips, because he noticed that the more he stared, the more he felt like...
"That girl..."
"What girl?" Effiong asked.
"My cook. She started to tell me about a forest that I shouldn't enter, but she stopped halfway. I asked her what she said, but she refused to complete her statement. She let me go without proper information"
Effiong's brows creased as his mind began to put together what must have happened to Mary and it filled him with annoyance. Chief Effiong could feel the irritation creep upon him from a corner of his body.
"That was how I went to a forest and saw what my eyes could not believe. I still have nightmares about it till now."
"Oh...Oh..."
"I saw skeletons, Effiong. Little, baby skeletons," Mary said as she embraced herself for some comfort. Her mind drifted back to that day and it was like it was happening all over again. A little shiver went through her spine.
Effiong noticed the effort with which Mary used to steady her nerves. He could not imagine what it must have been like.
"Why did your cook not tell you not to go into that forest? Nobody goes there!" Effiong said. He felt like if they were in Mary's house at that moment, he would have asked for the girl and would have given her a piece of his mind.
"That is what I asked her when I returned. I was so upset with her."
"I hate that tradition, Mary. I do not know what to do about it. It annoys me so much but it is something that is older than I am... so..." Chief Effiong said as he trailed off.
Mary's eyes widened in surprise. Then a smile came on her face.
"Why are you smiling?" Chief Effiong said. Her smile infected him as he tried his possible best not to smile, but it was futile.
"I am shocked that you, an Ufik man, hates that-"
"I hate it so much," Chief Effiong said as his mind went to that man that he wanted to help save his children.
Effiong narrated that incident to Mary and her mouth fell open.
"I can not believe it. He left his children on purpose because of some silly tradition?"
Effiong nodded. "I could feel it in me that those children were still alive... and probably crying, in the cold, and scared." Effiong shut his eyes and put his head in his hands as his mind conjured up images. He saw the children in his mind's eye just like he had seen them when he begged Idom to go fetch his children from the forest.
Mary looked around like she was checking if anyone was around them. She edged closer to Chief Effiong.
He smiled and moved closer to her as well. Effiong could feel her breath on his face and his heart began to race so fast in his chest.
[What has this woman done to me?], Effiong thought.
Mary expected her guts to tell her not to do what she was about to do... but it didn't. She had no hesitation whatsoever and she went ahead to tell Chief Effiong what she wanted to say to him.
"I am planning a protest against the killing of twins," Mary said.
"What is that?"
"Alright. Listen. I will use this class to let the woman know that having twins is not a bad thing. No curse or anything like that would come upon you or the land in general. I will tell them that it is just some tale to scare people because they do not understand it," Mary said. "Then, we will all march to the Obong's palace and all around this village, in one voice shouting that we want a stop to that nonsense," Mary explained.
Effiong nodded and a smirk was on his face. He admired Mary deeply. Effiong thought that she was smart and brave. Also, she had to be selfless to think about doing this for the women of Ufas.
"It is not easy birthing one child, talk more of pushing out two, and then you tell those mothers to throw their babies into a forest, leaving them to get cold, hungry, and probably to be devoured by wild animals," Mary said and cringed. The thought was not pleasant at all.
Chief Effiong's hand went to Mary's face as he cradled it.
She quivered and stared at his hand then at him... with her eyes wide open.
"You are a good person," Effiong said. "And I will help you in every way, Mary. I will support you."
Mary nodded.
"But you have to be very careful. I am in this now, so I would like you to tell me about your plans and moves," Effiong continued. "There are wicked people in this land. I mean, very wicked people o. And I do not want anything to happen to you," Effiong said as he withdrew his hand.
"Thank you, Chief Effiong," Mary said.
"Please... call me Effiong."
* * *
At the Obong's Palace, people were jampacked and they were all crying and wailing.
The chiefs stood watching them, not knowing what had happened. No one was saying anything.
Women and children were crying... even men.
Curses and lamentations filled the air.