Giddy11513:
CHAPTER 6




Ekanem was the last born of his family, named after his Father Ekanem which is translated to
mean my mother is sweet; his oldest brother Lawrence was already a ninety years old man his
children called him grandpa, then an eighty-two year’s old woman known as Emem and they
both lived in the United States of America, then PanPan followed suit she was seventy years old
and she inherited the family house in Ekonirim Calabar, then Ekanem came along, he was fifty-
eight years old. He was born when all his older ones had already began their adult lives, none of
them had his time, his parents were already old and frail so it was PanPan who looked out for
him, she took care of him like her son and brought him up to be the man he was.
Ekanem was a good man, he loved his wife and children so much, he was different than the
average Nigerian man, and he had a domestic side which he embraced so well, surprisingly for a
high ranking officer of the military. Before he retired from the army, whenever he went for a
peace keeping mission or a course work he would write home every week. Unlike most officers,
he would write to Ichechi describing the community he was based in, describing their food and
culture and describing how deeply or shallowly he felt about the place. He would describe how
much he missed her, her smile, her laughter, her body, her cooking, how much he missed his
children. In those letters, he wrote as though the next day was not guaranteed to him, and Ichechi
knew that the weekly letters were evidence of him still being alive. His course mates would
throw jabs at him at how “romantic” he was always writing poems to the wife. He alwayslaughed with them and at them and continued his writing. Most of them had girlfriends, the
others preferred to have different women on different days. Ekanem never took part, he wanted
his wife only, and he was faithful and loyal. He was often used as a yardstick to encourage
younger officers coming up to emulate his good character, even though he was gentle, he was
stern and not one to mess around with. He always came back to his family alive and in one piece.
The Nigerian military prohibited their soldiers from having affairs with the women in the local
community they were serving in. Marrying a foreign woman from another country was also
prohibited. But most of the soldiers came back with new wives or children and some came back
without love for the family they left behind, either due to what they had experienced or they had
fallen in love with another woman.
There was a certain captain Ikenna of the Nigerian Army who went on a peace keeping mission
in Sierra Leone. He left behind his beautiful wife Nkechi and two sons Chinagorom and
Nwabueze. Captain Ikenna fell in love with a Sierra Leonean woman, he barely wrote home.
When he managed to write it was to give instructions about the cheque to be cashed and how the
money was to be managed. But rules were rules; he could not bring his Sierra Leonean mistress
to Nigeria. If he did he would be dishonorably discharged from the army. After spending two
years away from his family Captain Ikenna came back to them sad and incomplete, Nkechi bore
the brunt of it all. He was hostile and vulgar with his words. Six months after being back he sent
his family away to the village and invited the Sierra Leonean woman to Nigeria, her name was
Alex.
Unfortunately for Ikenna, Nkechi had set up spies all over the barracks whose purpose was to
watch the activities of her husband. News soon reached her that her husband had a new woman
and she spoke funny, like she was not Nigerian, her Pidgin English had a different dance to it,
and it felt odd like dancing sambo while Fela’s African Woman was playing. Nkechi reported thenew development to a higher ranking officer who then took the matter to the Chief of Army
Staff. Captain Ikenna was almost court marshalled, but the chief of army staff wanted to give
him a chance. He was summoned to his office and given two conditions; send the sierra Leonean
woman back to her country and bring his family back home or marry the Sierra Leonean and be
discharged from the Army. Well, Ikenna loved the Army, even if he didn’t it was his only source
of income, he picked the first option. His family came back and they tried to live happily. Rumor
has it that he still sees Alex and she has a daughter for him and that Nkechi was aware and
always threatened to report but she never did, because Captain Ikenna threatened to divorce her
as well.

Thanks for the update.

Till next 2 months

spiceadole:


Thanks for the update.

Till next 2 months

Must u quote all the update, haba

Thanks buddy

Ann2012:
Thanks for the update

You're welcome.

izaray:
Thanks buddy

You're welcome dear.

Giddy11513:


You're welcome dear.

We're tasty for an update boss mi

CHAPTER 7




PanPan was tall, big and beautiful, a boisterous life of a party woman. She was one to always be
happy, and there was never a dull moment with her. She graduated from the University of Ilorin
where she studied Performing Arts; she was well vast in literature. The third of four children, she
was closest to her parents, and when they passed away she inherited the villa in Ekonirim that
had flats of boy’s quarters behind it which housed relatives from far and near. Most of them
children born out of wedlock whose young mothers abandoned out of shame of not being
married.
PanPan was loved by everyone. She ruled the household with love and firmness. She was stern
and flexible, loving and truthful, but she had her flaws. She got into people’s personal business
and sometimes pushed her opinions too hard on them. She was too quick to give unsolicited
advice.
At thirty-three PanPan decided that she had had enough of men, they were either unfaithful or
wanted to turn her into a slave. She often was confused as to why a woman had to wash their
man’s clothes, when he was the stronger one with tougher palms. When she was seeing Kenneth
the man who managed to come close to her standards they had a big fight about it. She was
respectful but she gave the exact same measure of respect she was given, Kenneth broke up with
her saying he couldn’t marry a woman who would not wash his clothes.Akpan came close to her ideal man he was all for an independent woman, but she couldn’t keep
up with his insistence on her preparing the meals, even when he got home from work before her.
He would nibble on bread or biscuit awaiting her return so that she could prepare his meal. And
even though she did most times, it caused a lot of quarrels. On top of that he was cheating on her.
They had several fights about it.
“Why do you have to wait for me? If you get home before me, cook something for us to eat.”
PanPan often said. And Akpan’s response was often the same.
“This is Africa PanPan, wake up and smell the Ekpang Nkukwo; no man will marry you with
your white woman’s mentality.”
“I do not have to be a white woman to want to feel treated as an equal Akpan, you were cooking
when we first started dating how come it is such a task for you now?”
PanPan felt disappointed, she was getting tired of how frequently they had this fight.
And one day after an argument about the same issue, Akpan called her spoilt and useless brat,
PanPan left him.
The fall that broke the calabash was Lionel, she loved him dearly and he seemed to be agreeing
to PanPan’s view on relationships and partnership. He only conformed so that he could get
money from her. She had several beauty salons across Calabar; she also managed her mother’s
Four Star hotel and her father’s car shops. She had a knack for business; she was born to be an
entrepreneur. Lionel saw that she had a lot of money and not a lot of responsibility. He was a
banker and was able to fend for himself but after dating PanPan for a couple of months he began
borrowing money from her with the promise to payback which he never fulfilled. He borrowedmoney to buy a new car. He was showing off to his colleague’s, living above his means. She
tried to talk to him about it the next time he asked for money.
“Lionel I run business that require working capital, sweet heart you have not paid the monies
you’ve already borrowed, I cannot borrow you anymore money. Except I see evidence that you
are investing them as you say you are.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Lionel was fuming with rage.
“Exactly what you heard Lionel.” PanPan retorted, she wondered why he was suddenly angry.
“Look at you, I clean, I cook, I take care of you, just because you earn more than I do, you are
talking to me like that eh?” Lionel hit PanPan hard on her face.
PanPan was tall and strong, she hit him back immediately.
“If you ever lay your hands on me again, I will finish you in this town, you hear me?” PanPan
said and left.
Then she decided that she was done with men. Her mother was still alive and promised to
support whatever decision she wanted to make about her life, it was her life after all. PanPan
wanted children, and the decision not to marry did not deter her from her desires, to be sexually
satisfied and have children. She only decided not to commit into any relationship. She was tired
of the disappointment.
Lionel came back begging. He promised he had changed. He even said he was ready to settle
down and raise a family. PanPan wanted nothing to do with him, if he could slap her, then he
could do worse. She wouldn’t end up in a marriage where she was a punching bag. She took him
back, pretending to have forgiven him. She only wanted to get pregnant. She chose him because
she felt he had good genes. He was bright and ambitious with no genetic health issues. When shewas sure she had gotten pregnant, she broke up with him and left for the United States before the
pregnancy started to show. She stayed in New Jersey with her older brother till she gave birth to
her twins Unwana and Kufreabasi Ekanem.
Two years after she had given birth she moved back to Nigeria. Rumors soared about the father
of the twins. She was the topic of the town. They said she adopted them from American people
who did not want children. I heard she stole them. I heard she got pregnant before she travelled.
PanPan’s family were prominent title holders in the village, her great grandfather was a
philanthropist. Coming from a royal family their business was often a concern of the people. She
did not justify any of the rumors with a response. She was not one to care about what people said
about her. She took good care of children and her businesses. That was about the same time her
mother died.
PanPan was busy with the burial preparations. It was a celebration of life; her mother had lived
to ninety-six years. It was a big burial, with masquerade parades and traditional Efik dancers,
Scottish families flew in to celebrate with them, her children all came home with their children
from America to celebrate a long and happy life that she lived. PanPan’s mother frequently
called Idara which meant Joy in Efik because she was always happy, Idara was known for her
hospitality, she had a tourist business and one of the biggest hotels in Calabar that housed a lot of
expatriates, mostly Scottish. Her burial was like a festival that lasted seven days. People were
more preoccupied with the burial than PanPan and her wedlock children. Idara had died five
years after her husband died.
After the burial, the next topic was on how boldly PanPan paraded her children and there was no
ring on her finger or husband by her side, most village women hated her guts, they hated her for
being so different. They hated her for been so bold to do all the wrong things. But beneath all
that hatred and jealousy, there was respect and envy. How can a woman in a society ruled bymen pull such a weight without consequences? A time when an African woman’s worth was
judged by how many children she bore and how well she cooked. PanPan thrived in spite of the
retrograde placed on women, she thrived. Her late parents were well travelled and educated they
trained all of them through school, the older ones before PanPan all left for the United States and
started their families there, PanPan took charge of their parents estate and her younger brother
Ekanem who she brought up like a son.
She taught him to cook and how to take care of himself and the women in his life, she often told
him to treat women the way he would genuinely love to be treated.
Ekanem grew up aware that he was different, whilst his peers stayed late in the football field, he
had to leave early to go to the market, because he had to cook. His peers did not bother about
cooking, their sister’s or mother’s would have prepared their night food.
In secondary school, the idea of talking about a woman’s body was awkward, so in the gathering
of his classmates whose conversations were centered on what girl’s breast had started to grow
and was showing through her pinafore, and the girl who sat down with her pant showing, he was
often quiet. He rather not say anything than be jeered at or be called a queer, Ekanem wanted to
talk about the Literature teacher’s interpretation of Her coy Mistress the poem they had to study,
or Half of a Yellow Sun and debate about how biased he felt the writer was about the civil war.
Not that he did not like girls. He in fact did and her name was Oluchi, the only Igbo in his
school. He loved talking to her because he wanted to know more about the Igbo culture and she
told him tales he couldn’t get enough of.
Ekanem bragged about PanPan to anyone who would listen, his aunt was rich and bold and even
though not spoken well of, the gossip was done behind her, for in her presence there was show of
respect and admiration. He left Calabar after his secondary school to join the Nigerian Defence Academy, where he excelled brilliantly and grew up the ranks. Before he left for the army,
PanPan gave him a book titled The Alchemist in a bid to let him know that adventure was
important, and a necessity for a happy life but it should always lead him back home.
PanPan’s children were citizens of USA, so after their secondary school in Nigeria, they moved
in with their Uncle in New York to attend the university. They came back every year and PanPan
often visited. Unwana and Kufreabasi were both medical doctors and were doing well for
themselves. Unwana married at thirty-six an African American woman a nurse worked in the
same hospital with him and they had three beautiful children. Kufreabasi married to an Egyptian
man, who was a citizen of the USA and they had a child.

OP, thanks.

When is the next update, July?

FantasticJ:
OP, thanks.

When is the next update, July?

Good question dear, it was really difficult for me to remember what his previous update was all about even


@Giddy11513 Please step up ur game buddy and keep ur fans active and happy

Well done and more grace!

Thanks for the update

I had to read the last episode again

izaray:
Good question dear, it was really difficult for me to remember what his previous update was all about even


@Giddy11513 Please step up ur game buddy and keep ur fans active and happy

Well done and more grace!

Tanks for the update

Ann2012:
Thanks for the update

You're welcome.

skubido:
Tanks for the update

I see you.

Thanks, we are waiting bro

bossy512:
Thanks, we are waiting bro

I'm on it.

You can also read this book on the Okada book app or visit https://okadabooks.com/book/about/the_ekanem_s/19132