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Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / Literature / The Ekanems (16029 Views)
Re: The Ekanems by spiceadole: 4:01am On May 20, 2019 |
Giddy11513: Thanks for the update. Till next 2 months 3 Likes |
Re: The Ekanems by skubido(m): 6:00am On May 20, 2019 |
1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by izaray(f): 9:37am On May 20, 2019 |
Thanks buddy 1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 5:44pm On May 24, 2019 |
Ann2012: You're welcome. |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 5:46pm On May 24, 2019 |
izaray: You're welcome dear. |
Re: The Ekanems by izaray(f): 8:46pm On May 24, 2019 |
Giddy11513:We're tasty for an update boss mi 1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 9:38am On May 30, 2019 |
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. 3 Likes |
Re: The Ekanems by FantasticJ: 12:55pm On May 30, 2019 |
OP, thanks. When is the next update, July? |
Re: The Ekanems by izaray(f): 3:25pm On May 30, 2019 |
FantasticJ: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! 1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by Ann2012(f): 5:01pm On May 30, 2019 |
Thanks for the update 1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by Sensitivity1254: 8:35pm On May 30, 2019 |
I had to read the last episode again izaray: 2 Likes |
Re: The Ekanems by skubido(m): 10:46pm On May 30, 2019 |
Tanks for the update |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 4:14pm On Jun 01, 2019 |
Ann2012:You're welcome. 1 Like |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 4:17pm On Jun 01, 2019 |
skubido:I see you. |
Re: The Ekanems by bossy512(f): 9:18am On Jun 03, 2019 |
Thanks, we are waiting bro |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 3:29pm On Jun 09, 2019 |
bossy512: I'm on it. |
Re: The Ekanems by Giddy11513: 4:53pm On Jul 17, 2019 |
You can also read this book on the Okada book app or visit
https://okadabooks.com/book/about/the_ekanem_s/19132 |
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