Manifest

Seventeen

As Uduak marched into her hut, removing her gloves and pulling her shirt over her head, evening praise had already started. She shook her head, too many times to count and fell on her bed, pensive.

The singing and clapping were nothing like the calming praise Uduak had come to associate with being back home.

This was different.

There was a lot of stomping, a lot of wailing. At some point, the songs began etching out of worship and slowly into songs of battle.

When Anne came in, Uduak waved her off.

"Get me Dara," she said.

"I can't find her."

"Where's the list I asked her for?"

"I couldn't find that either, so I had Nsikan compile another list for you," she handed Uduak a tablet with the names of all the men in the faith. "We might want to worry about him," Anne said, touching a name as a man's face and credentials were enlarged for her to see.

"Why?"

"Abasi Isong sent him to Gombe forty years ago with the tusk."

Uduak's head was going to explode if she kept getting news this bad.

"Did we send any woman with him?"

"Just him. Abasi Isong didn't want attention drawn to him so he went alone."

"Iyammi," she smacked her thigh. "Don't call him. If he's ekpo, we do not want to tip him off."

"No one called him."

"Any woman close to him at all?" Uduak asked, tapping her head with the tablet and standing.

"Ita is in Jos."

"Not close enough."

"It's the closest we've got. I already called her and she's on her way there."

"ABASIMMI!" Uduak smacked her hand into the mud wall as Anne stepped forward and calmly took the tablet from Uduak's other hand. "How did we not see this coming? How could I have been so blind?"

"I think that was the point."

Uduak felt like punching Anne in her "supportive" face.

"Get out."

"Chief-."

"GET OUT!"

Anne fled the room, leaving Uduak panting, her hands poised on the wall, tense. How had everything gone so wrong?

"SOMEBODY, GET ME DARA FOR GOD'S SAKE!" Uduak screamed so loud that the singing slowly came to an end.