Chapter 64: Chapter 64
"What is that?" Jade asked
"It's a delicious food, nice alone but better when combined with pap, custard, oatmeal, or the king of it all, bread" I answered with my eyes closed, I was already tasting it in my mouth.
"How does it look like? I mean, what exactly is this A… Ak…?" Jade asked
"Akara, A… K… A… R… A" I spelled out "it is beans paste, with salt, seasoning cubes, onions and sliced pepper, mixed together and fried in small spherical balls," I said
"I'd love to try it," he said
"me too but I didn't bring cash with me," I said.
"well I did bring my wallet," he said and brought it out of his pocket.
"oh good, let's go forward, I think I saw someone setting up things as we passed earlier," I said
"lead the way," he said
The Akara place wasn't far from there and it was by the road side, as it is the character of most Akara sellers. Since it was quite early in the morning, there was just one person before us.
"I'll talk to her," I said to Jade when it was our turn
"I wasn't planning on talking to her," he said
"Eka mesiere," (good morning mother) I greeted the woman in Ibibio
"eyen Mmi mesiere nde. Ayem idep so?" (morning my daughter, what do you want to buy?) she a.sked
"nyem idi dep Akara ye bread. Ayam die?" (I want to buy Akara and bread. How much do you sell them?) I asked
"Akara ado 50 naira kpod, bread aba ke 50 naira ye ke 100 naira" (Akara is 50 naira only, there is bread of 50 naira and 100 naira) she answered
"babe, how much are you with?" I asked Jade
"about 500 bucks," he answered
"alright give me," I said to him "eka, mbok nno Akara ke 200 naira ye 50 naira bread inang" (mother please give Akara for 200 naira and four 50 naira bread)
She quickly wrapped our items in a black polythene bag. She told us to wait while she quickly attended to someone else,
"can I taste?" Jade asked me
"why not," I said bringing out one Akara ball from the bag, "have a bite,"
He took a big bite, "mmmm… so tasty… and hot!" he said fanning his mouth with his hand
"you should have taken a small bit," I reprimanded.
I paid and we turned to leave.
"my daughter, hold on," the Akara seller said in English "don't be offended if I'm poking my nose in your business, I just want to say a few words"
"sure, no problem," I answered
"Is that man your husband?" she asked
"husband?" I asked surprised "no… he's not,"
"maybe not yet," she said smiling warmly "I may be an ordinary old woman who sells Akara by the road side, but I know true love when I see it. That man really cares about you, hold on to him. not because he is white or he may be rich but because he is the right person for you" she said.
"thank you ma. We will be on our way now," I said to her
"wait… your balance…" she said
"keep it," I said to her
"Abasi udiong fien" (God bless you) she said.
"what did she say?" Jade asked
"just some motherly advice," I answered vaguely "I told her to keep the change, hope you don't mind"
"not at all. I think she deserves it," he replied
When we got home, Jade went to his room to shower and I went to the kitchen to make tea for him to use with the bread and Akara. My second sister, UT, was peeling plantain to make dodo
"you still do this stuff?" she asked
"run?"
"yeah. I thought when you reached New York it'll end"
"nope. Where's the tea, I want to make some for Jade, Juliet and I?" I asked
"in the cupboard. what are you taking the tea with?" she asked
"bread and Akara"
"what about the plantain and egg I'm frying?"
"I'll have that too"
"what happened to checking your weight?" she asked
"girl… I am in my father's house, I'll eat what my parents provided and you don't expect my boyfriend and my daughter to eat without me. so yeah, I'll have all of them".
After breakfast, I got ready to take Jade and Juliet out to show them around the city.
"Akwa Ibom State is a beautiful place, but it's not much of a tourist center, so it's not really fancy as New York. Nonetheless, there are few places I love to go just to have fun." I said to them.
"I don't care, I just want to see how the place is," Jade said
"remember what happened earlier that people were looking at you? Well, I hope you got used to it. As we're having our tour, people will stare. We can avoid it by using my sister's car if you want," I said
"no, we'll go on foot, or use public transport if need be," Jade said
"whatever you want, honey" I said caressing his cheek.
"oh please don't kiss," Juliet said scrunching her face
"I didn't want to but now I will" Jade said and leaned in to kiss me but then my father cleared his throat behind us and we stood erect
"no smooching on my veranda," he said
"sorry sir… I mean, father" Jade stammered. His cheeks turned pink in embarrassment
"grandpa, you're the best," Juliet said and hugged my father
"why use public transportation? why not ask UT to drive you with her car?" my father asked
"no need father…" I was saying
"UT! " he called out
"yes father," UT answered coming out with my eldest sister
"are you busy now?" he asked
"not really, why?" she asked
"I would like you to drive Ukpono and her boyfriend around, if that's ok with you" he said
"yeah, I'd do that. just give me a moment, let me change into something nice," she said
''guys, you don't have to worry," I told them
"yeah, let them do what they want. And UT, have you forgotten our plans for today?" my eldest sister asked
"oh crap! the wedding dress" UT said slapping her forehead with her palm
" father isn't going anywhere today, right father?" my eldest sister asked "of course. I'll be at home all day," my father replied
"perfect! then that means your driver can take them," my sister said
" great idea, why didn't I think of that," my father said
"big sis there's no need for all that, like I said earlier, we'll be fine using public transport," I argued
" it will be quite difficult to use public transport in going on a tour don't you think? my father pointed out
"he has a point" Jade chipped in
"fine let's have it your way, call the driver," I said in defeat.
We took a short trip to different places in the city, and we would have continued if Juliet didn't cry that we should stop by an eatery, just because she saw a picture the food they were serving on the poster.
"they have cream doughnuts here, it's been a long time I had one," she said
"I thought you didn't like it," Jade asked her
"I don't like the ring doughnuts," Juliet said
When we went in, there were few people seating. "Today is Monday, very few people would be here by this time," I explained when I saw the way Jade kept his face
"how do you know what I was thinking?" he asked
"I'm a psychic," I whispered and he chuckled
As we checked for an empty table, I heard someone call my name "Ukpono?"
I paused and scanned the room for the person who called me, I saw a young woman waving at me. Before I could go meet her, she ran to me
"Bunky! I've missed you so so much" she said hugging me
"Esther?" I called in astonishment
"the one and only. Ukpono see as you fresh, you look like a model," she said
"that's not a lie," I told her
"you and your silly jokes, they never end," she said
"mommy UK I'm still hungry," Juliet said behind me
"oh dear, let's go get a table, you'll have your food," I told her
"why not seat with me, it's a big table. If it's ok with your friends," she said
"let's go, I won't stop you from being with your friend," Jade said.
"There are so many things I have to tell you," Esther said to me as we got to her seat
"me too, so many things have happened in 2 years, things I never could imagine," I said to her.
A waitress came over to get our orders "what will you like to have?" she asked us
"I need three cream doughnuts and one of your finest fruit drink please," Juliet said.
the woman smile and wrote it down on her notebook
"I will bring that to you my princess and how about you three, what will you like to eat?" the waitress asked Esther, Jade and I
" just give me what she's taking," Jade said referring to Juliet order "I'll get a bottle water instead of a fruit drink," he added
"and I assume you two need the same thing?" she asked me and Esther
"oh no, I'm good," Esther said
"me too," I said
"that will be 2050 naira," the waitress said Jade took out his wallet and paid and then she left to bring our food
"you're not eating? ," Esther asked. "yeah, I'm not hungry," I said to her. "wow, you have turned to a different person entirely. I am so happy for you my friend" Esther said
" before you tell me everything that I have missed for the past two years, let me introduce my friends. this is Jade my..." someone interrupted my introduction
"Esther here is... oh my God! Ukpono is this really you?" the person asked "Tony?" I called in surprise "what are you doing here?" I asked him
" I came to have lunch and then I met your friend Esther, so I bought lunch for her. I am so happy to see you, I didn't know you came back," Tony said
"I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone that I was coming back, everything happened so fast, the excitement to be back and the preparation was overwhelming," I said apologetically. the waitress came bearing trays containing our food "looks delicious" Juliet said rubbing her palms together gleefully
"so you were about to tell me who your friends were," Esther said
"oh yeah my bad. this is Jade, my boyfriend" I said to them.
"boyfriend!" Tony and Esther said in unison
"yes, my boyfriend and this is Juliet, his daughter. Jade, this is Esther, she was my bunk mate when I was in school, before coming down to New York. And this is Tony, he is..."
"her boyfriend. I am her boyfriend," Tony said
"ex... you are my ex boyfriend," I corrected
"awkward..." I heard Juliet say in low tone
"I didn't break up with you," Tony said
"well I did. for weeks, I called, sent SMS, emails, dropped messages on WhatsApp and Facebook but never got a feedback. I moved on, I refused to be tied down with some who showed a nonchalant attitude towards me," I said to him.
It was so awkward having this conversation in Jade's presence, he was surprisingly calm as Tony and I exchanged words
" u m m... honey?" Jade called
"yeah"
" what's wrong with your phone?" he asked
"nothing why do you ask?"
" your sister just sent an SMS that your mother has been trying to reach out to you, but your number isn't going through," Jade said
"really?" I took out my phone from the pocket of my Jean trousers, "it's off, I wonder why," I said switching it on.
"daddy, my napkin fell. can you help me pick it," Juliet said
As Jade stood up to pick the napkin, a group of chatty teenage girls who weren't paying attention to where they were going bumped into him
"oh my, I'm so sorry," they apologised
"it's okay, I'm fine," Jade said
"excuse me, you look familiar," one of them said
"I am very sure we haven't met before" Jade said
"I know that. I've seen you somewhere... oh yeah, you are the person that made Night Dream. My aunt lives in New York and she sent me Bloody Night Dream, she even said the model used for the perfume is a Nigerian, an Akwa Ibom girl to be precise. I looked into it and I have become one of her die hard fan," she blabbed without pausing to take a breath
"oh my God, you are her, you are UK," she said to me
"yes," I said. I was blushing, my head was swelling with pride
"can I have your autograph, or better still, can I take a picture with you?" she asked
"how about both? who I'm I signing to?" I asked
"Helen, my name is Helen"
"alright" I wrote "love from UK to Helen" and added my signature. she took a selfie with me and her friends.
"thanks Miss UK, I love your movies," she said and left with her friends
"And I thought no one will recognize you at home," Jade said
"yeah, I have no place to hide"
"oh my God, you're a model? And your boyfriend is the owner of a perfume company?" Esther asked in surprise
"correct," I answered
"wicked, you are in a different class my friend. Not any kind of person can get close to you," she said and looked at Tony.
She was right, what was he thinking when he claimed to be my boyfriend? If this wasn't a huge slap on his face I wonder what will be.