When Moyo opened her eyes that Saturday morning, she had thought she was either dreaming or she had been transported to a twilight zone.
She wiggled her toes, and blinked her eyes severally; no! She wasn’t dreaming. What was she doing in such a penurious room? She wondered. Drawing back the thin blanket covering her body, she rubbed her tired eyes, and wondered why things looked somehow blurry.
She turned to an overloaded table by the bed, and found a pair of eerily familiar glasses.
She scowled, but picked them up and put them on. It was like magic; her sight became clearer instantly. She placed her feet on the floor, and to her chagrin, realized that she was only wearing a boxer short, made from the same fabric as one of her bed sheets.
Her chest was bare and… “Where are my boobs?”
She patted the flat chest, and gasped repeatedly. She rushed out of bed and out of the quaint room, almost colliding with a weary-looking, but beautiful woman, carrying a steaming pot. She was coming from the opened door leading to the back of the house.
“Watch where you are going this morning AK.” Her singsong voice warned, as she dodged Moyo. “Did you see a ghost? What’s chasing you out of that room? Don’t tell me a snake has crawled in there again. I’ll get your father to check it out. I have told him repeatedly to…”
“What did you call me?” Moyo interrupted the ranting woman.
The woman rolled her eyes, and continued her walk towards another room in the building. Moyo’s eyes followed her exit, noting that there was something familiar about the
woman. Knowing she wouldn’t get an answer out of her, Moyo decided to follow the opened door, right to the back of the house.
It was like stepping into an alternate reality. The backyard was a large expanse of land, complete with all manner of growing things. By her right, there was a little garden for vegetables of all kinds. By the left, she could see yam, cassava, and corn; all growing on mounds of earth.
While in front of her, was a well-constructed shed, which served as an outdoor kitchen. By the side and back of the kitchen, there were Mango, Cashew, and Orange trees.
The bare part of the land was clean and devoid of any form of dirt. Chickens clucked, and pecked the earth mindlessly. Though accustomed to wealth and opulent things, Moyo knew she had never seen a more beautiful and peaceful sight.
“Akpan.” A voice called.
Moyo smiled at the big brown cock that was performing the mating dance for a busy hen.
“Akpan!” The voice called again, this time with full force.
In reflex, Moyo turned to the direction of the voice. It was a greying man with his wrapper adequately tied around his waist.
Pointing to herself, Moyo asked. “Are you talking to me?’
“Mba!” The man shook his head. “Na me I dey follow talk. Abeg, come here and help me tie this palm frond. You don greet me this morning?”
Moyo was hyperventilating. She was Moyosore Adegun, but these people seemed to think she was someone called Akpan. The only Akpan she knew was a boy in her class. She had made fun of him for attempting to woo her, the previous day.
“Oh God. Is this my karma? Pop me into some loser’s body?” She held her head; no! Akpan’s head, while muttering to herself.
“Akpan!” The man shouted. “You dey okay so?”
She shook her head.
“Make I call your mama. Be like say she get small agbo wey you fit use.” He turned towards the house. “Mama AK! Bring agbo oh. Your son don get iba.”
“Ehn!” The woman’s voice responded from afar. A minute later, she appeared at the doorway. “Wetin happen?”
“Akpan get small iba. Bring agbo for am.”
Akpan’s mother eyed Moyo with disbelief. “Are you sure you have iba? Abi it’s because you don’t want to pound akpu for me this morning. News flash, Ekaette has gone for early Legion meeting in church. You will pound that cassava for me today.”
Moyo stared back with equal disbelief. “You want me to do what? Pound? Why?”
Clapping her hands mockingly, Akpan’s mother hissed and returned inside the house, while the father looked at Moyo with a smile.
“You wan try format for your mother. You don forget say she no dey fall for that kind thing. Anyway, when you finish pounding, we dey go farm, make I harvest small thing wey I go fit sell tomorrow.”
Moyo’s life was spinning out of control right before her eyes and she was grasping at straws. “I have a lot of assignments slate for this weekend. How or when am I supposed to complete it?”
“No be for night you dey work before?”
“If I work at night, when do I rest?”
“See, all of us get sacrifices wey we dey make for this family.” The man scowled. “Na you know wetin enter your head this morning. Go pound that cassava now before I change it for
you.”
Before Moyo could respond, the man turned around and left a gaping Moyo in Akpan’s body.
****
“Please ma, can I go and see my friend today?” Akpan asked Anita.
Rubbing her temples, Anita dropped the steaming mug of coffee in her hand. “And who is this friend? Also, why have you stopped calling me Mum since yesterday? Moyosore, is
everything alright?”
Akpan nodded. “Of course.” He grinned. “Mum.”
“What friend are you visiting?”
“Just a classmate of mine. We have school work to round up together.”
“Does this classmate have a name?”
“His name is Akpan.” Akpan whispered.
“Akpan?” Anita took a sip of coffee. “I have a banging headache this morning, I seem to be hearing wrongly.”
“No ma’am.” Akpan sighed.
“You want to go see a boy?” Anita’s shrill voice started to rise. “How old are you? 16? And you want to go see a boy? Where does he live and who are his parents?”
“His Dad is a bus driver and both parents are also farmers, and he lives off Macaulay close.”
“That slum?” Anita sputtered. “How in God’s name was a farmer’s son able to afford going to your school? Have they started accepting riff-raff nowadays?”
“He’s on a scholarship!” Akpan snapped, after hearing Anita call him a riff-raff. “He’s a smart boy and he’s not a riff-raff. His parents work legitimately for their job, unlike your husband that feasts on the populace’s money.”
Everywhere was suddenly silent and a pin-drop would have been heard. Anita narrowed her cat-like eyes, while her lips drew together in disapproval.
“Moyosore Adegun. I can’t believe you just spoke about your father that way. What has gotten into you, and why are you defending those people? Granted, he spends his money on his whores, but he cares for you all the same.”
Akpan snorted. “I haven’t even seen him since I’ve gotten to this house.”
“What do you mean by since you have gotten to this house?” She shook her head. “You know what? I don’t even want to know what’s going on in that head of yours. Too much drama
for me to handle. Go upstairs young lady, and think about what you’ve done.”
Akpan did not wait to be told twice before jumping out of the seat he was occupying. He silently blamed himself for not having a mobile phone; he would have called Moyo from Moyo’s own phone.
“And before you go…” Anita continued, making Akpan pause. “Get me a bottle of red wine from the cellar. I need something strong, if I’m going to be dealing with your teenage shit
this morning.”
Akpan nodded, sighed, and made his way towards the wine cellar, while silently praying to be returned into his own body.
***
“Ouch.” Moyo hissed, as she cut herself for the fourth time that Sunday evening.
She was sitting under the shade of the Mango tree, with Ekaette and Akpan’s mother.
They were peeling cassavas, meant for the next batch of akpu that Mama Akpan sold. Moyo hated keeping her school work till the last minute, and she was unhappy that she hadn’t done her assignments yet.
She had wanted to do them the previous night, but she was so exhausted by all the chores she had to do, that she ended up falling asleep immediately after dinner. That Sunday though, they had gone to church in the morning, while Papa Akpan went to market to sell part of the cassavas they had harvested the previous day.
Oddly, she had enjoyed their church service. Moyo wasn’t a pagan, but her own parents weren’t particularly religious.
“Why have you been cutting yourself since, broda?” Ekaette asked Moyo.
“Not to mention the nonsense you have been peeling since.” Mama Akpan added.
Moyo was quiet, contemplating on the perfect response when Papa Akpan joined them under the tree with a broad smile on his face. His colourful shirt and trouser coaxed an involuntary smile from Moyo.
“My Queen.” He hailed Mama Akpan, bending down to hug her from behind. “I don return oh.”
“My King.” She continued peeling cassava with a coy smile. “How was sales today?”
“Na everything I sell oh. I no bring shingbain come from there. Na everything dem clear today.”
Dropping her knife, Mama Akpan faced him immediately. “You don’t mean it. Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Yes oh. The thing shock me sef.”
“Don’t be.” Mama Akpan tapped his nose playfully. “God has started answering our prayers.”
Unused to such affection, Moyo looked away in awkwardness, while Ekaette was grinning at them with adoration on her chubby face.
About to respond, Papa Akpan opened his mouth, spied the blood on Moyo’s hand and closed it again. He straightened himself, unclasping his hands from his wife, while Mama
Akpan’s gaze followed whatever distracted her husband,
“AK,” He began. “What happened to your hand?”
Moyo stared at the blood like she was just seeing it. “This? It’s nothing.”
“Papa, it’s something oh.” Ekaette responded with her soft voice. “Broda has been cutting cassava like an Oyinbo man since.”
“AK!” The man’s gaze was hardened. “You never still discard that evil spirit wey enter your body since yesterday.”
“I am tired. I need rest. I want to start my school work.” Moyo dropped the knife in petulance.
“You finish work and I talk say make you no rest?”
“Oh please.” Moyo rolled her eyes. “You always have a chore for me.”
“We work hard to put food on your table and clothes on your back Akpan. Don’t you ever talk back at us like this again.” Akpan’s mother interrupted whatever her husband was about to say.
Moyo stood up and dusted imaginary dirt away from Akpan’s shorts. “That’s the problem. You are the parents. You gave birth to him without his consent. You shouldn’t be
making his life harder than it already is. No wonder he’s such a loser. He can’t even stand up for himself against you.”
Akpan’s parents were stunned and it was obvious in their expressions, but Moyo was on a roll. “I am going to go inside now and begin the schoolwork we are supposed to submit
tomorrow. If you actually want to leave this life, you’ll give your son a chance at excelling in his academics.”
Moyo didn’t wait for a response after that, before strolling away from the shade of the fruiting trees.
“Why is he swinging hips like a girl though?” Moyo heard Ekaette’s curious voice say.
