Manifest

Forty-one

Worship or perish.

They'd tried it before and look where it got them. Who was to stop ekpo from agreeing out of fear, as they continued to find ways to undermine Abasi Isong? Fool her once, apparently, there'd be more chances to do so in the future. Immediately she thought it, she chastised herself. Abasi Isong had her reasons. Most important among them was the fact that killing all ekpo would only make permanent the shortage in power that Abasi Isong had.

Uduak could understand that.

However, there were alternatives. If it was Uduak's decision, she'd get rid of every ekpo, just to be safe. After failing to bring Abasi Enyong back, the men could end up being much more zealous than ever. They were never going to believe Abasi Isong would allow her brother to wake next time. It made for some very angry and desperate men. Desperation made people do crazy things. Like seek asylum in other territories or offer worship to foreign gods in exchange for safety. Keeping them alive was an avenue for more problems.

At least, when they had hope of Abasi Enyong, one day, returning, Abasi Isong had had the benefit of their pretense and their worship. There was no chance now.

The drive to Uyo from Antaikot was a little under thirty minutes. The drivers had been advised to step on it. As they pulled into Itaidiok Close in Uyo, Uduak sat up in the passenger seat. The street had a gate, but it was open, slightly. An mbono in the car in front of Uduak got out of the car and pushed the gate open. She looked inside and opened it completely, allowing all the cars to drive in.

"Heads up," Uduak said into her walkie-talkie. Adjusting the hand in a sling, she grimaced as a pin of pain shot up from her wrist to her shoulder.

They drove down the street, with two or three cars stopping at each house gate and a dozen mbono alighting in formation and guns, drawn. They got to the last house on the street with the biggest gate and the largest building, but the gate was wide open, as well.

Uduak got out of the car as they entered the compound. The place was completely empty and there were no cars parked under the long line of outdoor sheds. The only sounds were the crows from the morning cock, signalling the dawn of a new day.

"There's nobody here, chief," someone said into the walkie-talkie. "It's like they knew we were coming and ran."

Uduak entered the house. No resistance. She walked right into what looked like an elder enclave with high-backed sofas and a throne in the center but in the corner, she noted mkpo ufok, the pots. They'd stolen them from her too. She wasn't very surprised.

Abasi, there is no one here, she prayed. I'm moving on to the next ekpo on the list.

She hadn't expected a reply from Abasi Isong. Prayers were a one-way street. If she'd required a reply, she would have called Abasi Isong. Uduak stopped at the door. Had she imagined the wall she felt when she prayed?

Abasi Isong?

There was nothing there. When she prayed, she usually felt a presence.

Uduak touched the ground and felt nothing at all, as well. It wasn't like it had been when ekpo stopped worshipping. This felt like the ground usually felt when she was just a human. She tried to raise a piece of the earth, but it didn't follow. It didn't recognize her.

She ran back to her car.

"Let's go back to the gathering. Something is wrong."

The driver didn't argue or ask questions. She put the car in reverse as mbono in the compound came running towards it. She waited as they got to it and they entered in.

"Everyone," Uduak said. "Get back in your cars now. We're going back to the gathering."

As Uduak's car passed the others, she saw them all, reloading and reversing as well. This was a trap. They'd left the gathering because they thought Abasi Isong had won. If she couldn't even feel Abasi Isong anymore, they were in serious trouble.