IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE

PTE

NE, AKWAI

nnounce Etima's arrival to others. He was outside washing his bus getting ready t

khaki trousers and started moving to where Etima stood, just beside the keke

be o." She said firmly looking

tinued, "I took her from plaza down here with all the luggages and she wants to pay only t

to him where I'm going to he accepted that I pay him two hundred na

know the distance

he keke rider to Mr Bassey. "Doe

f pink on the lower lip like Etima. Ifure's presence illumines Etima,he was comical and very jovial but they had an authoritarian parents. They lived by the admonitory order; Do as I say not as I do. Ifure was not a lover of music as Etima,his talent was in drawing and pain

first." Mama Etima

er mother,she explai

ord." Mama Etima quickly reminded her daughter in case she had forgotten,her eyes were calmly settled on Etima's worrie

with a very fresh palm oi

it was one of

ed vita foam up, one of the things she had inherited from her mother,she made it to to lean diagonally on the tiled walls. She called on her brother to help her take out the large furnitures including the tables and chairs and even the faulty

er brother. He was postponing h

to build anticipation," Etima

been patient for a long ti

father who accompanied her to the allocated centre. It was worse during her childhood days,she virtually wouldn't have been allowed to play or even mingle with other children but for the sake of education,she had the opportunity to interact with her peers. Somehow she was affected as her being confined at home stopped her for socia

cked by the wall. Filled with doubts,she went closer to confirm that they were truly empty cartons,she pushed it and everything fell to the ground. She wondere

o the door post. "Ifu

as,he yawned and covered his mouth with b

that was the only meal she would eat as many times as she could. She'd taken her bath,a warm bath. She felt different. It was something rare,at school she only took a bath with hot water when she was sick or opportuned to as using of boiling rings

met befor

the young man said after

e carton on her head and started walking down the road in search of a cyclist. The young ma

member when you came to Christmas

r chest, she looked at him i

the carton and clasped it to her side with her right arm while her left h

d please it's j

s near death. A picture of m

n't remember you." S

at the park?" He res

ral

cour

d you get the beards .. sorry but you were on g

ont teeth. "Come I can drop you off here'

ry hungry in no time my husband will be calling me on

is eyes in fact his eyes were almo

d with a firm loo

. Immediately,she crossed over to the other side of the road then she saw little children hailing ekpo ekpo ekpo (masquerade) she quickly stopped and flagged down a cyclist. On the road the masquerades stopped the cyclist and

he laid them at the backyard, they were cackling and disturbing the neighborhood. Ifure went out with a cane,he stood there and watched them,he wanted to fl

mostly paternal relatives. Etima took upon herself to serve everyone after her mother had scooped the food into different plates. Pastor Idongesit was present,he was the one who made the opening prayer. They would have visited their grand parents but it was already late and they were tired from the work done

s to attend the traditional ceremony mostly performed in villages,they were going to use the excuse of visiting their grand mother to partake in the ceremony. Their grand mother had filled their heads w

smiling. "That's a nice

Uy

ts you

and I will be paying gra

said darting his eyes towards them as if he suddenly became c

morning because it's a public

weeks ago asking why his grand chil

ied it with a ribbon and her blouse which was torn at the neck revealed her fallen breasts.As she smiled at them,it was obvious that her teeth were almost finished, anyone could co

was,her annang was different from others

and tasty she had steamed it well. After they had eaten,she told them about Abiakpo day,the ceremony and some atrocious activities that are usually done at the venue. She further emphasized th

ies were designed with ndom( a white chalk),there were photographers trying to put their cameras to their tripods and those who were to decorate the place were roaming around seeing to it that the place takes a pleasant outlook. The ceremony had commenced, after a lot of items in the leaflet had been carried out it was time to welcome the masquerades and the abiokpo then they heard a gun shot,one that burrowed the ground so tha

t. Ifreke's mouth was agape when he saw it,the leg were thin and then the person was up there in the air,what sort of craft was that.He was going to draw it,he watched closely and imagined his pencil on a drawing book. It was g

freke would have loved to try,at least to taste the feeling. He only watched others while they take out the thick stick similar to a cigarette, strike it on the box and

ilt furnitures,home equipment that were faulty,torn clothes, refuse f

ke a ritual. They believed that they were burning the old year and all its misfor