1891: Provocation and Injustice
Ekpenyong was still arguing with Ndarake.
The two men remained facing each other, standing with their peers in an informal gathering around the King, who kept his royal head supported at an angle by balancing his right hand in a fist under his double chin. The king was bored. His people liked to talk a lot. Everyday was the same story, the same endless debates.
The clans were divided; some factions wanted a complete end to the slave trade, and some factions wanted to re institute the killing of twins, and some factions wanted the Ibibio out of Efik land...
"Ekpenyong! You make yourself obese from the sale of other people's children into slavery! But in ignorance do you do this, because you don't know what the white man is."
Ndarake held his tasseled toga to one side in the crook of his elbow, his eyes searching the faces of their audience,
"Men of the council: the Tall Whites! They are brothers," he raises up his index finger for emphasis, "-but from another bloodline; man but not human, not made in the original image and likeness!"
He takes a turn about the room, each step paced with the passion and voracity of his argument; his position had not changed in three weeks. White men were evil.
"Their Bible records in the book of Genesis 4:14; Cain was driven out from the face of the earth; take your mind back to Adam and Eve's banishment from Eden... note that God returns Adam to the place he'd been taken and molded from, he was put back to till the ground. So Eden is a garden that is not on ground; it is not on the face of the Earth. Cain, was driven out of the face of the Earth..."
Ndarake locked eyes with the king, who, in spite of himself was quite intrigued, nodding his head at the referee, Okpo, conceding the point.
"The killer of mankind is the serpent, followed closely by Cain, who killed his brother, recall, Cain, is of the wicked one, as it is written, in 1 John 3:12; thus the works of his father he shall do, this is explained in John 8:44; can you see what is happening, here? Cain and Abel, have different natures; they have different fathers! So Cain has murdered Abel. After being driven out of the face of the Earth, both land and sea, in Genesis 4:16; Cain dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden, and knew his wife, on the east of Eden! A place that is not the face of the Earth; not land or sea. Is Eden the universe, and east of Eden, another Galaxy? Is Cain the original half alien, or half demon, establishing another race, existing parallel to Seth, his descendants... And now, Genesis two verse one begins to make sense! For angels cannot procreate! Yet it tells us; these are the generations of the heavens, and of the earth---"
Ekpenyong vibrates with anger, kneeling before the king, waving a derogatory hand at his opponent,
"My king! We are full grown men at this council; not little boys gathered to hear tales by moonlight! We deliberate on real issues; food security, international trade, there is so much to achieve from business with the white men, and here is Ndarake singing verses from a book. A book!"
"My king!" Ndarake protests sharply, "-I shall have my say just as he, and Okpo marks the time. Strange, powerful men come to our land with a book of record, of all the races of this world, so why the scorn? Can we not study their origins?What better way to know an adversary, is there?"
The king agreed with Ndarake, nodding at Okpo to concede the point, while telling a very displeased Ekpenyong to rise to his feet and wait his turn. Its the rule of law: every council man shall have his say. Ekpenyong is a merchant, used to fast solutions like gold. Ndarake is a scholar, the scribe of Canaan. They were all in for a lengthy session.
The scribe smiled as he continued, "If the children of Cain; intermarry, bloodline becomes mixed. What are the races? Wheat, and Tares, crop, and weeds! Black, and white! Children in the image of Adam, restricted to earth as Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden, and, children, in the image of Cain, who can exist on the East of Eden, as Cain himself was banished thereto! One who wishes to live well and live free after death, in the spirit realms, does not do business with enemies of The Owner."
The Council men were quite disturbed. It was one thing, to sell children of offenders to others, and another thing to sell them to Aliens, or half demons. The people of Canaan did not know these beings as little green men flying saucers. They were wicked entities, sometimes with horns on their heads; deities, principalities, rebels fighting a natural order; all enemies of The Owner.
If Ndarake was right, then, they had a very serious, very urgent problem; especially as there'd been no short or dwarf slave dealers visiting Port of Canaan, in recent times. But in reaction to all this, Ekpenyong scoffed, "Ha! Your neck stretches with so much hypocrisy, Ndarake! Gently you lead us to the blasphemy of your ideas, but I have read this Bible, in fact, Mary the White Mother, our white resident missionary, gave me a copy. I suppose she too, is an Alien? Or is she too short for you to hate?"
Ndarake sighed, concluding his submission with a mocking bow, "-Ekpenyong! I say again; you grow obese from the sale of other people's children to the white man! You do so, as a man who does not know, that tall whites are kindred with the children of Cain, the fugitives and vagabonds of the earth! You sell our future to these!"
Okpo placed a stool by him and he sat. Everyone else remained standing in the presence of the king. Ekpenyong took a turn about the room, but his bloodshot eyes never left his opponent. It isn't just that his most lucrative source of livelihood was presently being threatened; but from where he stood Ndarake is nothing but a privileged pretender. He lived off the proceeds of the sale of slaves because he was fed, also clothed and paid stipends, all directly from the royal coffers. He knew nothing of toiling under the hot sun on a farm; of bantering with hard heads for hours just to make a good sale; he knew nothing of how to self sustain. The real world crushed men like him in less than sixty seconds.
"Men of the council: I'm much obliged to you to speak for the people this day. I can't waste time on this Alien Tall White Men thing. It pleased The Owner to create everybody; so I will leave Him to judge each of us when we die, who is good and who is evil. But I will say this: the lion is not king of the jungle because he stays meekly in his den, day in, day out. The children moving across the oceans in chains today, will populate that part of the world tomorrow, and after they have served, and fought, they will dominate, and they will prevail. This is business: you use what you have to get what you want. This is our way into the unknown technologies you speak of with so much fear. When we have access to them, we can study them, we can copy them, we will no longer fear them, and we can no longer be threatened by them. As a people we must find ways to engage the world, to grow, to develope. No, I won't talk about Aliens today, maybe another day, Ndarake, beneath the full moon and with a nice jug of your son's best Palm-Wine."
Laughter erupted all around, even the king chuckled, while Ndarake sat still, his fair skin tinged with red. Ekpenyong stood before him now, a sly grin on his face,
"So afraid of tall whites!"
"Ekpenyong, Ekpenyong...! Afo," Ndarake pointed a finger at him, "Your father was a rabble rouser; and his father before him! The apple does not fall far from the tree, I see. Stop your smear campaign against me!"
"Enough!"
The king was fed up. Just then, a royal missive announced the presence of their Scottish missionary, Mary Wallace... Canaan's resident She Alien.
The king's face brightened a little, wondering if she came to coerce him into attending another church service? He sent the council men over to the left of the great hall with a flick of his wrist. They all shuffled to the round table there, grumbling like little rebuked children. Good. Let them go and cool off there. Now what did Mary want?
The object of his fascination came into view, parting the heavy lion skin drapes and entering the hall with light footsteps. He gazed at her long titian luxurious locks bouncing about her as she marched purposefully to his throne. She was obedient. It pleased him. Whenever she was to appear before him, she was to let down her hair. It was a royal decree. His greedy gaze wandered over her Spartan gray frock, from the lacy frills at the throat of her neck, to the formal steps of the ugly garment swishing at the whiteness of her puritan ankles.
"Your Majesty," she curtsied.
The king beamed at her, "Mary! What a surprise. Have you finally agreed to become my fifteenth wife?"
She laughed, shaking her head at him, "Are you still waiting, your majesty?"
The smallish figure of a man shifted uncomfortably in his large throne chair, "What is wrong with you Caucasian women? First I tell Victoria to join forces; in matrimony and politics, but no, she prefers to rule alone!" his beady black eyes considered her thoughtfully, "Just like you, Mary, all alone here in Africa, so far from your cold country. Bah! How could the men let you go?"
Her face beet red, she cleared her throat, "Ah-hem, your majesty..."
"Yes...? Have you come to tell me more of William Wallace, who defied Great Britain?"
Shaking her head again, "Uh...no..."
"...Of Robert the Bruce then...in the final battle of Bannock-burn!"
She giggled, "No, your majesty, I didn't come to regale you with Caucasian war stories..."
His short legs swung to and fro, not able to touch the ground, the left leg pointing to a spot close to him, "Then sit at my feet, and I will regale you with African war stories!"
The Scottish Missionary did not relish this opportunity, to be in such exalted company. She eyed the council men, the king's brain box, warily, as she moved to settle herself at the feet of the monarch. As always, her very docility and acquiescence, flatters the king into feeling sagacious...
The king had no idea how much Mary Wallace detested his scornful bunch of lawmen, their never ending hocus pocus hot air speeches, all for the glory of their seats, like fat chickens, displaying their seeming impressive brilliance, which they fail to apply, each and every time real issues present to them, so occupied are they, with pointing fingers at everyone and at everything other than themselves, a vain group so much worse, than biblical Cain ever was. Because, of their unrepentant tribalism. The Efiks, the Ibibios, all oranges on an orange tree, and yet, not so. Who can save them from themselves? Mary did not know.
She sat at his feet like a child, on the cool stone floor, her hands embracing her knees, her big sky blue eyes looking directly into his beady black pupils, "I came to tell you about a visitor I have. He is a British Lord, An Admiral in Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Royal Navy."
The king harrumphed. "He is not welcome if he is coming to woo you; advise him to return so that I don't have to kill him."
"Obong...!" she laughed again, "I know you did not mean that! But I have told you already I am married to my mission from God. This British Lord, he is here for the first time and he is a friend of blacks in his heart."
"They always come as friends, but we know better what they are after," he reached down and patted her head gently, "My Mary, I have the greatest respect for you; nobody here and in the next seven kingdoms beyond can hurt you..." Then as an afterthought, he added, "Perhaps you will bring this British Lord to me within the next five days, eh? Is he, by any chance, a Tall White?"
The sound of commotion disrupted their discourse. The council chiefs stood from their wooden chairs, each with his hand on the hilt of his Cutlass. The sounds were distressed, and getting louder. Palace guards in protest against a determined intruder who suddenly burst through the lion skin drapes and threw his rotund bulk on the ground before the king.
The palace guards ran in after him, cutlasses high in the air and ready to hack away at his back but for the outstretched arm of the king, "Stop!"
They froze, chests heaving, blades gleaming, eyes glaring at the prostrated bulk of Chief Attah, who raised his head cautiously, sweat gathering on his forehead, "My king!"
"What is this disrespect, Eyam?"
Still on the ground, his neck craning, the chief apologized profusely, his voice harsh with barely controlled rage, "My king! Forgive my impudence! It is Nsidung Edet Hogan Bassey. The pig of a man has violated my daughter!"
Mary gasped. The council chiefs began to murmur. The king waved the guards away, and allowed Eyam Attah to rise to his feet, during which, the angry chief recounted his ordeal.
All was not well when the women returned from his farms, carrying a wounded, weeping Idara on two wooden planks. They claimed the rapist, Nsidung Edet Hogan Bassey, used black magic to make himself and Idara invisible to the naked eye. They heard her cries, her struggles, they heard him use a whip on her back, they heard the whole horrific ordeal, happening right there in their presence, except that nobody could see them to stop him. It was only when he was quite finished that the power of his dark magic wore off, Idara appearing suddenly, close by the bushes, bloody and raped.
Mary looked pitifully at chief Attah, the pain of hoping for justice to be done, against all odds, a sharp tug on her heart strings. She looked at the council men, searching for compassion, even outrage or at the very least, horror, but finding only the usual apathy in their demeanors. They beheld a father lying prostrate before the king, a mere Ibibio man, when they ought to have seen the loyal father of the fifteenth Shield maiden, the father of the Custodian of the Ways. It was not hard to see which way they would roll the dice. The esteemed men of the council, raised their Efik shoulders at the weeping Ibibio chief. It seems the status quo has not changed. They hate the Tall Whites, yes, but they also hate themselves too, because some blacks are much blacker than others.
It is not yet quite three days, since Lord Justice Benedict Hall docked in the Canaan port, requesting visitation. Will she ever forget this day, in her life? She looked at the king, a silent plea in her big, teary eyes, please, please avenge Idara, don't let that vile Hogan continue to walk this land a free man, but the king was looking at the great debaters.
Ekpenyong sniffed disdainfully at the ibibio chief, "Who has ever heard such a thing; magic, to rape a girl! And who actually saw Nsidung Edet?" Nobody actually saw him, except Idara herself. But the women were ready to swear that they heard him, they heard his threats to repeat the heinous act, again, and again, and again, until she bore him his son.
Ekpenyong laughed aloud, provoking chief Attah to greater heights of white hot rage,
"This is funny to you?"
"But Eyam! Don't you know how desperate you sound--?"
Ndarake tried to caution him, "Afo, kubi nwam'fo!"
"Why should I shut up, Ndarake? Everyone is aware of Eyam's political ambition in Efik land. Everyone knows Nsidung Edet is his major opponent." Other council chiefs murmured their agreement, some advising the king to demand proof that his champion warrior and master builder committed the crime.
Chief Attah cried out for justice, "I have served you, my king, in complete devotion. This thing was done to my daughter this very morning. The Ephraim clan are aware of this bastard's many attempts to assault my daughter. She must be avenged, my king!"
Ndarake called for the immediatae arrest of Nsidung Edet Hogan Bassey, but Ekpenyong decried such action to be the greatest of insults upon the king's property, which included his champion warrior and master builder. The council urged The king to send for the accused, but the king was decided; the Ibibio were not exclusive to Canaan; people wanted them driven out; they were in fact, at the very heart of political controversy in Efik land,
"Hear me! More proof is needed, for me to take action," he told the council.
Chief Attah, denied, left the king's court as angrily as he'd come, hot tears blinding his vision. He very quickly found his way up to that forbidden place, up the prayer mountain to Solomon's cave in mere minutes...