Chapter 67: Chapter 67

"Cocoa? as in chocolate cocoa?" Juliet asked, her eyes filled with excitement

"yes, the cocoa seeds are used in making chocolate" I answered

"so how about the main fruit, is it edible?" Natalie asked

"kinda, it doesn't have a flesh mango and other fruits. That yellowish part you see is really hard and not edible, I'll show you what I mean let me pluck it," I said and walked up to the cocoa tree to pluck the closest pod. I stood on tip toes and stretched my hands but I couldn't reach, I jumped and tried to get hold of it but gravity brought me down before I could grasp it.

I turned to see Jade standing there with his hands in his pocket, smiling and watching me try to pluck the cocoa pod.

"don't just stand there, come here me," I said to him

"try saying it nicely, maybe I'll come help," he said

I rolled my eyes and walked up to him, "oh honey, please help me pluck this cocoa pod, I can't reach it. please, please, pleeeeeeease" I begged mockingly and they all laughed

"much better" Jade said and plucked the fruit with ease.

"now what?" Juliet asked

"we break the pod" I told them

"wait, won't you wash it first?" Juliet asked

"tell me something pumpkin, do you wash coconut before removing the hard part?" I asked

"no, that's ridiculous," she said

"same goes with cocoa." I said. I took the cocoa pod and hit it hard at the edge of the wall and it broke in two halves

"I thought the seeds usually have a dark color, why then is it looking white?" Jade asked

"it has a dark color when it is dried." I answered

"so how is it eaten?" Natalie asked

"take a seed and put in your mouth and suck it like candy. Suck it until the sweetest is no longer tasted," I said

"hmmm, yummy" Natalie said

"daddy look, the color of my seed has changed, it now looks darker," Juliet said

"that is because you have sucked the white part off" Jade answered

"what do we do with the seeds?" Natalie asked

"put it in the other half which is empty, I'll keep them somewhere to dry. when they are dried, my uncle would add them with others which would be sold to people who make chocolates and other things made out of cocoa seeds,"

"Ukpono, come over her with your friends, it's time to make palm oil" my cousin called.

"come on guys let's go, it'll be fun," I told them

Jade was told to join Scott and other guys in bringing baskets of palm fruits from the farm to the place we were processing it. While the guys were away, some women used machete in cutting the palm fruits from the bunch and the rest of us picked the fruits and selected the good ones into a big enamel basin.

30 minutes later, the guys came with the last set of palm fruits, and then they joined us in picking the fruits.

The picked fruits were washed and transferred into a cooking drum which was filled with water. It cooked for 30 minutes and was turned into a manual oil processing mill, 3 strong men held an iron rod attached to the mill and turned, as they were turning with the rod, the mill was crushing and squeezing the fruits. As this process continued, the oil was being extracted and collected in basins. The cooking drum was emptied and the oil was cooked again.

It was after 6 in the evening when we finished the whole process, my cousins said they were going to the stream to bath. "Come on let's join them" my sister UT said.

And so I, my sister UT, my younger brother, Jade, Juliet, Scott, Natalie and four cousins of mine trooped to the nearest stream with our bags of clean clothes and bathing essentials.

The road to the stream was slopy, broken water pots littered the area "it is very easy to descend these slopes but ascending is always terrifying, especially for those with water pots filled with water. They end up falling and breaking their pots" I told Juliet

"oh my God! is this a stream or a river?"

It was completely dark by the time we got home, my mother was upset with us especially my sister UT "... you are old enough to know what's right and wrong, if I had known you were going to the stream that time you left, I wouldn't have permitted you guys to leave. Do you have any idea how worried I was? And you refused to answer your phones, I called all four of you but no body answered," she scolded

"We're sorry ma, we were having so much fun that we lost track of time my sister apologised

"Get in and drop your things and quickly come to the Éfé, dinner have been ready a long time ago," my mother said and left us.

"Your mother's scolding make me feel like I'm a ten year old boy," Jade said

"I know right, she looks so terrifying when she's like this," I said

"You got that from her," he said

"Hahaha..." I laughed

We had a nice dinner of boiled potatoes and eggplant sauce "I thought we'd be having peppersoup rice since they killed a goat," I grumbled

"The goat is for tomorrow's ceremony," she said.

"There will be no performance this evening," my father announced.

"Why!"

"Oh no!"

"But why!"

My cousins exclaimed. "What performance?" Jade asked

"Oh, it's just something that we usually do after dinner, there will be a bonfire right at the centre of the compound and then we'll sit around on a mat singing and telling folktales. sometimes my uncle will distributes dried meat for everybody, this can go on till past midnight. I don't think they'll do it this time because we have to wake up early tomorrow to start making things ready for the introduction ceremony of my sisters," I explained

After dinner, we tidied up the place and went to bed. I woke up by the first cock-crow, the time on my phone was 4 a.m. it was still very much dark outside and the only sources of light was from kerosene lanterns kept at strategic part of the house. my mother, my aunts and other relatives, that came that morning, started cooking in big pots which looked like cauldron. I joined my cousins and other older kids to fetch water from the Stream and filling it into 10 big drums, I was sweating and tired by the time we filled the last drum.

I was thinking I'll have time to rest before being assigned another job but my aunt call me and gave me a basket filled with eggplant "peel these eggplants immediately, I want to make sauce with them," she ordered

"oh man... can't I have a few minutes to get my energy back?" I grumbled

I didn't have a chance to be alone with Jade all through the day. By noon, the compound had been cleaned and the Éfé was decorated for the Introduction. The grooms to be trooped in with their families, soon the entrance of the compound was filled with cars.

My father's uncle, who was the oldest person present, opened the ceremony with prayer, after then, my uncle who acted as the MC started talking. The main thing about this ceremony was that the grooms would be presenting the bride price, everything that was on the bride price list would be presented by the grooms and their families to ours. There were things for the brides' mother, father, siblings, uncles and aunts, youths of the village and other people as stated on the list.

After everything have been presented and my family confirmed so, both families gave consent that the marriage can take place. Different kind of food were served and assorted drinks. After all the eating and merrying, my father prayed and the ceremony was over.

"see you next week for the wedding ceremony" my parents said to them as they left.

After cleaning up the place, we left the village to our house, we wouldn't have gone that same day but my mother insisted, "6.30 tomorrow morning, we're going to the farm, everybody, except daddy. Jade, Scott and Natalie are coming too."

"OH NO!!!" my sisters and I exclaimed.

Just as she had said, very early in the morning my mother woke us up to go to farm "if we leave early, we will come back early," she said.

we did not even stay to have breakfast rather she turned the food she made into a big cooler and put in the trunk of the car. my mother, my sisters, Scott, Natalie, Jade and I took two cars to the farm. Juliet stayed at home watching TV with my younger brother.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, you don't have to make me feel like going to the farm is a terrible thing," Jade said

"I'm not saying it's a terrible thing, it is a death sentence," I told him and he bursted into laughter

"you're exaggerating," he said

"Ukpono, don't argue with him anymore, everything will be clear when we get there and he starts working," my eldest sister told him.

"Welcome to the land of slavery" my sister UT said as we got to the farm

"is this the farm?" Natalie asked looking confused

"yep, this is it," I told her

"but... this is a big bush," she said

"this isn't like the farm in the states," I told her

"alright people, enough talking let's start working. Jade, Scott and Natalie there are 3 sets of gloves and boots for you guys to use, the rest of you, move" my mother said

"why don't we get boots and gloves too? ma, you are being unfair to your children," I grumbled.

"pair up, UT and Natalie, Big sis and Jade, Ukpono and Scott" my mother said

"but I want to work with Jade" I cried

"I'm not going to let you love birds work together, not happening" my mother said

"don't worry mother, your arrangements is perfect, UK would have left all the work for me" Jade said. I gave him an evil stare and he shuddered.

my mother chose different portions for us to work on. "Alright Natalie, see this plant?" I asked showing her the cassava plant and she nodded "that is the cassava plant, this is how you harvest. first, you clear the grass around it, then you cut off the top part of the cassava plant. Next, you bend in a comfortable posture and gently pull it to yourself. Be careful so it doesn't break into the ground, it'll be difficult to harvest if they break," I said demonstrating what I meant.

"wow...so the cassava itself is the root," Natalie said,

"yes. After successfully pulling in out, use your machete and cut out the cassava from its stem, keep it aside and then put the stem back in the hole you dug it and cover it with soil," I instructed

"why do you cover it again?" she asked

"so that it can form again, during next year's planting season, well harvest it again" I explained

"interesting," she said

we worked for hours, by 11am the scorching sun became unbearable. "let's rest and eat," my mother said

"how are you doing?" I asked Jade

"I feel like I'm going to faint, my waist hurt and the sun decided to focus its attention on me," he said removing his gloves.

"I'm sorry, here pour this water on your head and neck, you'll feel better," I said handing him a bottle of water.

"how about you Scott? how are you doing?" I asked

"I'm okay Miss Udofia, you don't have to worry about me," Scott answered.

We ate and rested for about 15 minutes and then continued working.

Hours later, we went home with 5 rice bags filled with cassava.

my entire body was sore, if I was feeling this way, I wondered how Scott and Natalie and Jade were doing. My poor Jade, all he wanted to do was help and now he's been made to work like a bond slave.

The following day, we peeled the cassava, 2 bags went for fufu while 3 bags went for garri. The cassava for fufu was transferred into a big drum filled with water while those for garri were taken to the mill for grinding. The cassava was grinded and pressed, the next day it was brought home, sieved and fried. turning it into garri, the soaked cassava was soft and so as we went that morning to take the pressed cassava from the Mill, the soaked cassava was grinded, transferred to the drum again and allowed to ferment. The following day, it was washed and pressed. my mother cooked it, turning it to fufu.

"God! this is a very stressful process" Jade sighed.