Inside out, p.9
Inside Out, page 9
She has to stop her thoughts, or she will start spewing things and worsening her situation. Nkoyo hopes the prince will not join them either, but then, a strange feeling of disappointment also suffuses her at his absence. She went through the effort to apply make-up, for crying aloud.
The queen doesn’t reply. She just opens the serving bowls to reveal pieces of boiled yam and a sauce filled with chunky pieces of meat. She watches as the queen wash her hands in a small basin and proceed to serve herself.
Nkoyo can’t believe her eyes. The queen is eating with her bare hands!
Since her arrival, Nkoyo has eaten food with spoons. At her home, she laid down the law of cutlery use, even with the local food. That they use only utensils in this kingdom is just one of the reasons she refers to them as torpid.
Jesam looks up.
“I know you didn’t have lunch,” she says casually while watching the girl’s face. The sentence is a sort of question as to why she isn’t eating.
Nkoyo’s indignation surges.
“If it is a tactic to get a rise out of me, then it failed,” she replies belligerently, almost looking close to tears.
Jesam feels pity for the girl, but the queen can do nothing for her until she learns. Nkoyo has to decide to change her attitude by herself.
“I did not starve you. You did that all by yourself,” Jesam points out.
Nkoyo frowns and sniffs. “How so?”
She wants to hear the queen’s reasoning, intending to shoot it down.
“Let’s assume this palace is a jungle. From your little experience here, you have seen that nobody serves anybody. Well, except you’re the ruler of a torpid kingdom,” the queen points out with a smug smile, intentionally reminding Nkoyo about breakfast and the prince’s barb at her.
“Your point?” Nkoyo asks with an arrogantly raised brow.
Jesam has to swallow her anger to make her point. This child is so infuriating, she thinks. “You would fend for yourself in a jungle, Nkoyo, unless you are actually as dumb as you’ve been portraying this whole time.”
“I’m not dumb!” Nkoyo sputters indignantly. She's never been called dumb. Nobody dares to call her dumb…well, except the queen.
“Then search yourself!” the queen shouts back. This is the first time she raises her voice, allowing her anger to show, and the look in her eyes subdues Nkoyo instantly.
“Your mother is my best friend, and I know that she is upstanding and would never have brought you up the way you’ve been acting. My daughter’s room, the one you’re staying in, has never been that untidy, even when she was a child, so what does that say about you?”
“That—” Nkoyo begins answering with a sneer, but the queen beats her to it.
“That you are a dirty girl!” Jesam snaps and watches the girl gasp in shock.
“Yes, dumb, dirty and unable to fend for yourself! You have hands and legs that are functioning, a brain that had been expensively trained and what do you do with it? You sit down and whine and wait for other human beings with less of what you have to do these things for you, and then you feel better than them. My dear, you are but an empty vessel.
“Affy taught you better. If you were hungry this afternoon, and I’m sure you heard all the commotion downstairs. You should have reasoned that everybody was busy and therefore couldn’t come to call you for lunch. Did you even bother to come down to the dining room to check? You didn’t. Your food was served and cleared when you didn’t eat it.”
When the queen concludes her tirade, takes a deep breath, and returns to her food, Nkoyo has difficulty breathing. On the one hand, she is glad that the king and especially the prince cannot witness her decimation. But, on the other hand, she is so pissed, her heart aches physically.
Let me add what Nkoyo isn’t including.
This hurts her so much because it is the truth, and she knows it.
“So, you’ve made your point. At least, provide eating utensils for your dining table. I’m sure that was part of your social graces training,” Nkoyo snipes petulantly.
“And what is wrong with your hand?” Jesam looks uninterested and scoffs when Nkoyo angrily lifts her long, pointy, artificially-manicured nails.
“Provision of cutleries whether they are needs or not are for formal settings. We try at this palace to live as normal people, not as some pretentious persons.” Jesam’s pointed look indicates she is referring to Nkoyo.
“I can’t eat with these nails. Please get a maid to bring me a spoon,” she gripes, watching as the queen eats and her stomach growls in protest because she isn’t doing the same. The delicious aroma of the meal isn’t helping either.
“If only you know the kitchen,” Jesam mocks without looking up from her food.
Nkoyo sits there, breathing hard and considering bodily harm on the queen. She is helpless about the situation. She will have to pick her nails under the shower after the meal.
Decision made, she jerkily washes her hands, serves herself and attacks the meal, which is so delicious she fights to hold back a moan of relish.
The women finish their meal in silence. But I can assure you, their minds aren’t silent. Plans and counter plans are percolating in there.
This means war.
10
Urrgh! I'm immersed in the drama unfolding in Atam kingdom, meaning I neglected to gist you about the one in Efik kingdom.
Did I mention the head of security is in love with the cook – Sara? I must have. Anyway, long story short, they finally speak to each other.
Amid shyness and awkward silence, the head of security asks Sara to a lunch date in his apartment.
Of course, she agrees. Sara just returned from buying groceries. She abandons the cartons and bags of groceries on the counter, racing to the quarters of her man. And, well, sensual things happen. Nevertheless, that is not the story.
A few minutes after Sara races to her dream man, Wofai ventures into the kitchen out of boredom. The queen promised to have a frank discussion with her when the meeting of chiefs at the throne room ends. However, the conference has been going for hours and does not look to be ending soon.
Wofai is used to keeping busy. However, the gaggle of palace workers, probably willing to walk for her if it were possible, make keeping active a dream.
Usually, she works side by side with Onen at the mill at this time of the day.
With a heavy sigh, she realises having too much free time to dwell on her emotional predicament might instigate depression. She needed something to do.
This is how she ends up in the kitchen and gladly discovers the cook’s mess.
“Sara?” she calls out, hopeful but afraid to believe that she could be this lucky to find work in this palace where there was a separate servant for the cobwebs in the throne room.
“She’s indisposed at the moment,” the car washer replies suddenly, shocking Wofai because she hadn’t heard him enter the kitchen.
With her hand on her chest, she smiles at him.
“You startled me. You are the car washer, right?” she asks with a friendly tone.
After her debacle on the day she arrived, Wofai has tried to meet and interact with everybody personally. She believes the anxiety of being around people she doesn’t know contributes to her character flaw.
Being around strangers, not knowing their thoughts or guessing it threatens her. Moreover, that, in turn, stokes her urge to scream. Wofai acknowledges her behaviour and reactions are abnormal. She is taking this opportunity at the Efik kingdom to solve her problems. She has to reset herself to basics, and the first step involves getting to know everyone.
“Yes,” he answers uncertainly.
“I hear your music, you’re good…keep it up,” she says and turns to face the groceries.
“Thank you,” the car washer stammers. He wants to flee the kitchen before she ends up requesting a wake-up ritual like princess Nkoyo had. Yet, he sees her unloading the grocery bags.
“Princess, what are you doing?” he asks curiously, unable to walk away.
“I am going to put all of these things at their proper places,” she replies with a happy smile.
“But you don’t know where their proper places are. Cook does that,” he points out. Even though the princess seems nice, he heard her scream when she didn’t get her way. He worries his comment might trigger that reaction.
“That’s the best part. Since I don’t have anything to do, I shall check every cupboard and store until I know where everything belongs. Then I’d put them in their proper places,” Wofai says while busily unloading the bag.
The car washer is speechless and confused at the strange girl. Wofai turns to find him still standing there.
“Run along, now.” she waves him away, and she is glad when he complies.
The car washer doesn’t wait to be told twice. He flees.
With her organizational skills, she is done in approximately ten minutes. Then she is bored again and even considers pulling everything out and putting them back in. But that won’t last an hour, so it is useless.
What else to do? Touring the entire palace doesn’t hold any entertainment. She’s done it already. Wofai groans in frustration and trudges back to her monstrous room.
After closing the door, she races and dives on the monstrous bed, giggling at her silliness. She then climbs on the bed and jumps on it like she used to as a young girl. Soon, she loses interest in her childish gimmicks.
Wofai goes to the wardrobe, intending to try on all the clothes of the absent princess. Still, she finds the clothes are three sizes bigger than her, so she ends up opening and closing the wardrobe doors until she gets tired.
Soon enough, she begins singing and dancing crazily to her own song.
What can I say? Humans do stupid things when they are bored, so don’t judge.
Her open box catches her attention. Apart from pulling out casual clothes to wear, Wofai hasn’t explored her case and can’t recall all she had packed in it. Therefore, she goes to it, still humming her song. After rummaging for a bit, she is pleasantly surprised to discover her tennis balls.
A smile comes to Wofai’s lips as she misses home. She pulls out the balls and starts bouncing them to see how high they can go.
***
Prince Ekong has a busy day. His chauffeur, knowing his routine, drives straight to the Efik palace after he concludes his official business. With his mind in so many places, he doesn’t remember his fiancée isn’t around. When he arrives and sees several cars parked out front and a gaggle of chauffeurs lounging around, he deduces that a council meeting is in session.
Recalling that Nkoyo always asks him to go straight to her room without calling or even knocking, he walks through the palace confidently. He doesn’t pass any workers on his way to her room, and he isn’t surprised. The workers are taking a break since there is nothing to do until the council meeting disperses.
Ekong gets to about twenty feet of Nkoyo’s room before his steps slow to a stop. He remembers Nkoyo is away. Disappointment suffuses his eager heart, but it doesn’t stop him from hearing the curious thumps coming from his fiancée’s room. Has she returned? Steps echoing excitedly, Prince Ekong approaches the door.
***
Wofai hears the definitely male steps approaching her door. She is instantly transported back home. The familiar surge of fury and excitement she feels when she hears her brother coming to her room suffuses her.
She even grins in anticipation as she waits for the impertinent action of him opening her door without a knock. She faces the door and widens her legs in a gaming stance, ready to throw her tennis balls the instant the door clicks open without a knock.
Maybe the boredom caused it, but it does not occur to her that it may be the king approaching her room. All she feels is the familiar situation back home. Wofai listens to the confident tread, like her brother’s and tenses while still bouncing the ball…waiting…ready…
The door clicks as the handle bends, and it whirrs open with Ekong sauntering majestically into the room…
When the first ball lands squarely on his temple, he is shoved back a couple of steps by the unexpected force. Then the second ball comes, still on the face, and he backs into the door, inadvertently shutting it and thwarting his escape.
Ekong is confused. And as he gets pummelled continuously, he realizes he is in grave danger—the balls hurt a lot. So, his arms come up in defence, trying to cover his face.
Nevertheless, the balls are well-aimed and injurious. They bounce from his body right back to his attacker, who doesn’t hesitate in pounding him repeatedly. He can’t even think what he must have done to suffer this unusual punishment. Nkoyo is haughty and mean but never violent.
When his curses and grunts of ‘stop’ aren’t adhered to, Ekong risks looking up. He finds his assailant bent, intending to grab a fallen ball. She looks nothing like his fiancée. Ekong seizes this opportunity and dives at her, enfolding her in his strong arms.
“Let go,” Wofai grunts, struggling valiantly to escape the iron bands posing as arms.
“Not happening,” Ekong grunts right back. “Who are you, and what are you doing attacking me? I am the prince of the Ibibio kingdom. Nobody dares attack me without reason,” he declares arrogantly.
His arrogance grates on her nerves, instantly stoking her ire. His scent, on the other hand, surprisingly assails her nostrils and melts her reasoning. Wofai looks up, and her eyes clash with the most handsome pair she’s ever seen. The effect on her is so explosive she goes into full-blown panic.
Heart thumping, palm-sweating panic engulfs her chest, and she can feel the surge of the scream…the only way she could release the tightening in her chest. Without much thought, she let the handsome stranger have it.
Fortunately, I’m glad the throne room is isolated in another part of the palace, so her screams do no harm to the king and queen and their guests. Unfortunately, the sound bounces off the walls with the windows and door shut, and Ekong suffers the full brunt.
He immediately lets her go, but she does not shut up. He has no idea, but her chest tightens more when she sees the full glory of his beauty, and she needs to keep screaming so that she can breathe.
In total confusion, Ekong rushes her and places his large palm over her mouth, his eardrums enjoying the reprieve. Her wild gaze clash with his, and his chest contracts. He has no idea if it is from the adrenaline surging in his system or that she is too beautiful for words.
Her eyes flash as she breathes heavily and with some difficulty. He promptly removes his hands but doesn’t move away, and so he is blasted with another wave of scream.
“Stop it!” he tries to shout the command but feels awkward joining her in her scream.
Perhaps the strange situation causes what happens next, but both parties can’t explain it. However, Ekong is solution-oriented, so he rationalizes that the weird circumstances produce his peculiar actions.
Since his palm isn’t effective, Ekong heaves a weary sigh and, without thought, covers Wofai’s mouth with his. Of course, it stops the infuriating scream, and he should raise his head seconds later, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he moves closer to the compact body of his assailant, one of his hands pulling her close. He deepens the kiss, so both moan their pleasure.
Wofai’s panic melts away as though it never existed. She’s been kissed before, several times, but she never felt as though she was flying. Nor had she wanted the kiss to last forever. Her hands unconsciously crawl up his chest and over his neck, and she pulls him forward, wanting to feel more of him.
A part of Ekong’s consciousness acknowledges the kiss is inappropriate. However, he is unable to untangle himself from this unknown woman. It isn’t because he doesn’t possess the strength to do so, but more because her body melded into his. And for the life of him, he can’t explain why he loves it. The woman’s body feels like it belonged right there, in his arms. Never has any other thing felt so right to Prince Ekong.
Finally, the basic requirement of oxygen pulls them apart. But their faces remain inches from each other while they heave heavily, their eyes staring fixedly.
“Who are you?” Ekong whispers in awe. He’s never done anything so reckless before. Neither has he felt as complete as he feels now with this woman in his arms.
Wofai returns his stare with her own shocked one. “I don’t know,” she whispers back.
Truth be told, Wofai, honestly, doesn’t know who she is at this moment. She can’t understand what just happened. Nor can she deduce what she feels, though the sensation is fantastic, and she wants a repeat of it.
Ekong is experiencing the exact same thing. His head is already advancing towards her when he suddenly recalls his engagement to Nkoyo. He is standing in his fiancée’s room kissing another woman…a strange woman!
He jerks away from her as though burnt, but his gaze never leaves hers.
Wofai takes a step back, too, feeling self-conscious at her misconduct. She isn’t a flirt and has never been one. So, she cannot understand why she has not slapped the black off the handsome stranger’s face. Even thinking of it while staring at him and her senses returning, she knows she won’t do it. She won’t hurt such perfection.
The honourable prince of Ibibio Kingdom is having a tough time collecting his thoughts. He wants to rush towards the strange woman and taste her lips again to confirm their sweetness. He licks his lips and savours her unique flavour. Heart thumping, his gaze flutter to her thoroughly-kissed and swollen lips with longing.
A soft moan escapes her slightly open mouth, and Ekong hears it. He sees her eyes mirror his longing, and his body sways towards her, wanting nothing more than to feel her flush against him once again. But with an unimaginable will, he steps back, opens the door, and flees.
Wofai turns to the bed and falls heavily on it. She sighs with a goofy smile on her face. She is currently enjoying the beautiful feeling of floating, and she wonders about the man. Who is he?
What can I say, folks? It is a day of romance at the palace. I couldn’t plan it better if I tried. I know what you’re thinking, yes. This is an unexpected turn of events.
