A young boy, Ikom aka George is torn between following the old ways of his fathers or the new way.

Chapter one
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I hated it, everything, supertitous, mystical..fetishisms, they were all lies, propaganda! The drinking of locally brewed gin from a single glass by everybody, the libations to ancestors who were dead as can be.. The blood sacrifices, I mean..that was pure filth.

I sat on the long couch alongside my two sisters and observed as my father a PhD holder in Management sunk himself to this petty rubbish! Dad had insisted that I stayed, I had wanted to go back upstairs to my room, though I had nothing better to do in there but Anything other than this 'cultural lies' was highly preferred. I sat with a thick scowl on my face finding the occassional jokes overtly boring and inapriopraite, Father knew I hated cultural endevours, he knew I think its old fashioned but he was doing all his best to sell it to me, he was failing futily, 'spirits of my fathers, and their fathers before, Etim ita-orok, Erom-mbey, Ette Etitim Itaya, Ikom-omang, Ette Okpu Okon, Ntufam Orok Omin... ' I sighed in boredom as Ette Samuel made the libations, he was calling on the founders of our town, men dead and gone, this infuriated me, and at the same time sounded very funny, all the chiefs sat heads bowed, or resting on their walking sticks, I caught dad's eyes looking in my direction and when our gazes met he gave me a weak smile and returned his gaze to the old wiry Ette Samuel or uncle Sam as I called him, Uncle Sam had a severe case of parkinson's so the glass cup kept vibrating in his hands, 'may our waters never run dry, may our hens never run out of eggs, may our sky never deny us rain, may our wives bear children, give us health, may our yams bear in twos, may our vegetables be green and healthy, may our youths go to school and excel, our young women will have husbands...' as he prayed the other elders and my father and two sisters kept nodding in agreement, I didn't have such strength. 'Let us leave in peace and love, do not let the words of one man annoy the other, let us discuss without arguing and talk without shouting, our fathers, hear us!', he poured the content of the glass cup on the floor with much veneration, all the elders including father smiled in satisfaction after observing the poured liquor, something I did not understand.

The prayers had finished and the elders meeting was about to commence, we were free to leave now, as matters to be discussed weren't really our business, my elder sisters Oreng and Mavis walked up to dad and both kissed him on the cheek, they bent for each of the elders to pat them on their backs and when the greetings were over Mavis winked at me and they quietly walked out, into freedom, the real world, I knew where they were headed and I knew they didn't know that I knew, I smiled at them.. Pretty ladies, dark skinned and well built, we all took our looks from father.
I took a last look at father who was by now engrossed in the deliberations, it was something about a company that wanted to mine for granites.. He was an old man, in his late 70's, handsome and smart, he was an epitome of royalty, his regalia was always regal, today he wore a blue robe with gold embroidery and his cream couloured crown, with the beaded ropes dangling at the sides, he held a fan in one hand and a white kerchief in the other. Dad loved to laugh just like me, but when he took that giant throne he was a different person entirely, serious and stern faced, he spoke calmly and deliberately..but with total power.

I stood up from the couch and thanked God none of them noticed me, as I turned to leave the palace hall hoping they keep talking about money and ignore me, 'Ikom!'...One of the elders called out, it was Uncle Williams Ojong, a retired headmaster 'Ikom my boy, come and pour me a drink!' I smiled and nodded, 'I am a prince for crying loud, not a servant!' I thought as I walked towards the wooden, hand made table, I picked a Bootle full of ogogoro and walked towards headmaster, bottle in my left and glass cup in my right hand, dad had showed me the correct way to hold a bottle and cup, I poured the colorless liquid slowly and when it was just about getting filled he signalled me to stop, I handed him the glass of gin and he took it all in one gulp, he made a face as though he was in pains and licked his lips 'this is good drink'..he commented 'it must be from Abiatia' he concluded, father simply nodded and gave me a calm look, headmaster was the Iyamba of our town, the custodian of our culture, he was next to my father in rank..'you can go my boy..' I nodded respectively and returned the wares to the table and just when I was about to replace the bottle top, the hall was filled with shouts and restrainments, 'my son, you don't close a bottle that has been opened while the meeting is still in progress okay?' Ntufam John corrected, with his whispery voice, he was the head of one of the biggest clans in our town, 'yes ntufam..' I responded courteously, father only gave a smile, 'allow the young man, he will learn very soon.. He said, 'so Ette John, what where you saying?.. I walked out of the hall and headed upstairs.
My room was just adjacent to the stairs, father's palace was a big duplex, with seven rooms and two sitting rooms and one throne room..
My phone was ringing on the bed, I smiled when I saw the caller.. It was Sophie my girlfriend. 'Hey fine girl', 'hey prince, how are you...' Sophie was a long talker, a character I lacked, she went on and on about her day and shopping to change her wardrobe 'so when are you returning to school?' she asked 'I came for the weekend only, I'll be back tomorrow' 'alright cup cake.. See you soon, I love you' 'bye..' I replied and hung up before it could drop, checked my WhatsApp chats and I had loads of messages, but I was in no mood to reply, I jumped on the bed and started doing what I do best...sleep.

Updates will be coming up soon.