UYAI ✔️

Uyai (Bonus)

Hi guys,
I apologize again. This chapter as earlier announced was supposed to be published on last Tuesday but due to certain challenges I've been having with my phone I'd been unable to. This chapter is mostly a snippet from the village.
Enjoy!

Once again Ete Affiong was tilling in the farm. Already he had made hedges to surround his water leaves. Several trees rooted to the soil had coiled around them leaves of yams he'd planted beginning to show signs that harvest was in order.

"Uyai..." he wanted to call out but his voice trailed off in a silent whisper when he remembered she and her sister, his pregnant elder daughter had been absent for four good months and he had little knowledge of their whereabouts.

Ete Affiong rubbed his tired eyes with the back of his wrist staining it with a pickle of dust. The crinkles in his eyes were more prominent and the huge eye bags almost covering his entire lids. The sun rays was so intense that it branded his skin in a darkish hue. He seemed to have aged a lot judging from the now numerous grey in his hair, the aging wrinkles making his face appear drawn and fatigued.

Ete Affiong the once happy go lucky man was now a shell of his former self; he had worked himself tiredly till blisters marred his palms and his muscles strained with fatigued. Still he didn't stop tilling even as his limbs groaned in protest, his hands trembled as he attempted to keep a firm grip on the hoe he held, unfortunately his hands couldn't support the weight of the hoe anymore so it fell to the ground in a thud and so did a drop of tear.

Surprised he blinked, and another fell.

He was crying.

The pent up emotion he had held for long had broken loose and for the first time in a while he let them. His eyes downcast and his heart heavy. He looked pitiful.

A few metres away, mama Affiong stood with her mother in-law quietly gazing at her husband's figure. Her hands fisted to her sides and a mixture of emotions crossed her face.

"He has finally broken down." Her mother in-law commented as she too observed her son with pity.

"It's all his fault." Mama Affiong muttered with gritted teeth. She appeared angry but her eyes held a different story.

"Don't. You know all too well he has never been the same since they left." it was indeed true, her husband had become a shell of his former self. He no longer joined his friend's for their usual hangout in their front yard. A number of times they'd tried to pull him out of the farm to partake in their favourite game of Draft or even to relish in the delicious freshness of the palm wine his best friend the palm wine tapper had brewed especially for him.

"I don't know if it's a good thing or not." Mama Affiong loosened her fist and hugged herself, her lips curled wryly while she briefly glanced at the basket her mother in-law clutched by her hip.

Her mother in-law scoffed. "You don't?"

Mama Affiong sighed. "I'll admit, there's an advantage. I never thought we'll become large scale producers, our sales almost rivalling that of Chief Ifiok even with the crude implements we use." she gestured to the hoes, shovel, spades, that laid about. "and all these because of his hard labour. But I think I might have lost my husband in the process." she mumbled the latter dejectedly.

Her mother in-law heaved a sigh.

"He didn't have to send them away you know." she continued, this time with a scowl

"I'm sure he regrets it. Isn't it obvious how he beats himself up." Her mother in-law grimaced as she looked at her son who now sat cross-legged on the ground, his head bent low and his countenance weak. "Quick go and call him for lunch." she urged.