Yefon: The Red Necklace (35 page)

I was glad to be away from that nest of vipers for a minute, and I danced with Kadoh, spinning and following her lead.

With large eyes staring out of her brilliantly painted face, she looked at me and said, “Your wedding will be the bee’s knees,” as we found our way through the crowd into a corner.

“I don’t know about that.” I tried to stay humble.

“Oh I do! I hear the chiefs from
Bali, Bafut, Wum
, and
Nkambe
will be present, and your mother will be showered with gifts of rice, linen, salt, and animals,” she explained, her hands making colorful gestures as she spoke.

I shook my head playfully, as Kadoh spoke about how she would effectively flaunt her breasts to catch the attention of one of the royal visitors in attendance during my wedding ceremony. She could obviously achieve that!

We were now by one of the palm wine barrels and she took two horns and offered me one. I could use a drink so I took it. Then we headed back out to dance.

The drummers began to play a samba beat and we danced effervescently. The more I moved my body, the better I felt.

“Oh oh! Your prince is all over you. He has been staring ever since you came this way,” Kadoh said bubbly as we drank.

Ma and Yenla danced past us laughing, and I waved at them until they disappeared into the crowd.

“He is very rude. All of them,” I answered looking to see if he were looking at me, and our eyes met. He quickly looked away, so did I.

As I turned to face Kadoh, she burped in my face and I pushed her away playfully. A handsome man with a huge Afro passed by and she winked at him. He bowed to her. How could she be so free among menfolk? It was truly inspiring.

“That coming from you,” Kadoh teased, as she gulped down some
sha’
, “is very interesting since most people consider you the rude one.”

“Kadoh!” I exclaimed, shooting her an angry look, and she only shrugged. I wasn’t really as offended as I was pretending to be. I could never be upset with Kadoh. None of us could. She had that effect on people.

“What?” Kadoh said feigning ignorance. She almost stumbled and I smiled. The boy returned to ask for a dance

“What can I say?” she added, floating away with him, leaving me alone once more. I admired her colorful outfit, including a thick stack of beads on her waist and it made me smile.

As I walked towards my seat, I studied the blue bloods. Fon Nto’ was dancing with about ten of his wives in circular motions, Samba danced with a few girls, including Sola, and Veyeh was looking at the floor playing with a stick. He seemed out of it. I smiled inwardly, thinking to myself how desperately Sola wanted to marry into royalty. I didn’t even know Samba well, but those two deserved each other.

The sound of the loud music and
nchum
couldn’t drown out my thoughts, and they were shooting into my mind faster than the speed of light.

I was traumatized by the possibility of my new life. No one could understand my plight. The only person I could trust was my elusive sister Kadoh who seemed to have escaped society by living in her own gleeful world. I really wanted to be like her, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even manage it if I tried to but I knew that if I didn’t do something, I would end up like all these other women.

The answer came to me that evening after the festivities were over. By custom, I was required to take a walk with Prince Veyeh where we would get to know each other, and I was allowed to sleep in his chambers. One of his guards reported to my chambers with news that the prince had to leave for an emergency meeting in Kom and wouldn’t be back for a fortnight. He had offered his apologies though, and hoped to appease me with a gold
sha
η
g
to replace the old red
sha
η
g
, which he had observed I was particularly fond of.

I went to his room to talk to him and saw him passionately entangled with my sister Sola. Her moans escaped the room and traumatized me through and through.

I was mad as a wet hen! I felt extremely enraged by his audacious actions. Did I complain to him about my red
sha
η
g
? It was old, but I loved it more than five of these castles combined. Plus, no one knew of its powerful properties, and I intended to keep it that way.

No one was going to be looking for me tonight and my prince was busy. This was my chance, I could run away! My heart was pounding with stiff indecision, and I looked at my
sha
η
g
hoping it would glow, but it didn’t.

After pacing up and down my chambers urging my
sha
η
g
to give me a green light, I finally settled by the hearth and dangled the gold
sha
η
g
over the fire until I eventually dropped it into the furnace.

I drifted into a short sleep in which I saw
Ngonnso
leading a group which included me. The dream then turned into a bizarre nightmare about dragons and dinosaurs. I mussed and fussed until I forced myself awake. Eyes opened extra wide, I stared blankly into nothingness.

When my consciousness returned, I realized that I was in my room. The fire was out, and it was dark and cold. Everyone was asleep. Grabbing a few clothes, I tied them in an old wrapper and snuck out. I almost kicked a hen, which threatened to cuckoo, but I patted it softly until it fell asleep again. I walked a considerable distance away from the palace, and then I began to run.

It was very cold and windy, and the whoooo whooo sound in the air blocked my ears. I finally arrived at my
mbve’
and dove into the leaves to get my books.

With one last look at the wall of the
mbve’
, I smiled to myself. I was destined to join the legacy of those great founders of our land, and this time around, I was really going to do it!

Carrying a few books with me, I took off. This time, I was truly going to get away!

-23-

THE HEART OF THE FOREST

I ran like the wind, my thighs slapping with each step that I took, a sign that I had gained weight. It must have been all the
koki
^*
I ate at the palace! The forest air pushed against my eardrums and I had to swallow spit, which at this point was very hard to produce. It felt like loud ghost whispers. Covering my ears and hugging myself, I doubled my speed out of Shisong, my lips quivering as if I had a high fever, but it did not matter. I knew where I was going, and this time I was doing it, not just thinking about it.

Near-sightedness is not exactly the type of shortcoming to have if you are trying to run away and catch your dreams. My eyesight hadn’t been good for years and the traditional doctor, Baba wo Bamfen, had said I looked at something I wasn’t supposed to see, so the gods blurred my vision.

At least, that was one version of the story. Another version, according to Doctor Ferguson at the London Clinic, fifteen years later, was that I had a hereditary case of myopia.

From Kumbo to Bamenda is a long drive for one day, not to speak of on foot. It was without question a worthwhile and interesting journey, since this meant I would be free to write the common entrance exam with the other kids in the city. It meant I would get an education! Once out there, I could work as help at one of the Missions. I had experience. I calculated my plans as I ran breathlessly down a stony track.

I came across two paths. It was dark and I couldn’t see much, plus my feet were blistered from the path. My hunch went with the left path, so I made a sharp left, climbing up a hill and finding myself in a deep, thick forest.

I didn’t know this place but the forest smelled like moss and the crawling plants caught my feet as I ran. I kicked my way out of the tangled leaves, foraging ahead with only one goal—the city.

I could see it clear as day, and nothing was going to stop me. I had come prepared, even though my decision to run had been such an impulsive one that my
sha
η
g
had not yet glowed.
There was a lot to eat in my chambers and even more than usual because of the festivities at the palace. I had stocked one full raffia bag with enough food and fruit to sustain me for a week.

By nightfall, I was out of breath and thirsty. I broke open my canteen and gulped the water down loudly, ending with a loud burp. I lay my bags down on the ground and fell with a thud. I was exhausted beyond anything I had ever felt, but I only rested for a few minutes, before springing to my feet for fear that someone might be looking for me.

I didn’t know the time or how long I had been running, but my energy was finally beginning to lag. Using a stick from a nearby tree, I cleared a spot of grass so that it was only dry earth. After that, I dug a hole with some stones. I used three stones to build a hearth then I threw in some dried grass and wood. Using two sharp stones and thinking clearly of what Kome had done in the
mbve’
, I struck the two stones against each other until they created small sparks that I carefully nurtured into flames with dry grasses and leaves.

In no time, I had a warm glow burning before me. Sitting quietly, with a little light to help me out, I laid out my blanket, which I had stolen from the palace and a little
khatikatih
from my engagement. I tore it up like a caveman. It felt like I hadn’t seen food for centuries. I chewed the bones into thin air.

Breathing heavily, I lay down looking at the moon lurking through the trees. Was anyone looking for me I wondered? How long would it take before they realized I was gone? Would they come looking for me?

I thought about Kome. I wondered if he was okay. This was turning out to be easier than expected. Why hadn’t I left months or years ago?

I took one of the books out of my bags and studied pictures for most of the night, identifying the words cat, fat, and a few others when I came across them.

Bamenda, I whispered to myself over and over again, until I drifted into a long, deep sleep.

A drop of rain on my face woke me up the next morning and as I moved about lazily into consciousness, I saw a blurry pink V in my face. What could it be? When I finally opened my eyes, a long green mamba had curled itself down from a tree and was staring in my face. I screamed loudly and flew out of my
“bed”. Before I could take a step, I slipped on the muddy floor and slid all the way into a big ditch of leaves. Small leeches and bugs were all over me and I screamed again.

This was a disaster! My clothes were cold and wet, my bags were all wet, and everything smelled of rot. With my stick, I hit the snake hard on its head and it curled back up. My second day began with me breathing fiercely and being extremely confused.

I tried to gather my belongings, and to my utter dismay, all my food was gone. The small remnants were all chewed to pieces. I looked around and saw some scavenging bush squirrels munching away on one of my sweet potatoes. Infuriated, I threw a huge rock at them but they escaped into a hole.

Hating myself and screaming like a possessed person, I sat down to think about how to proceed. I had no food, my clothes were wet, and I was almost bitten by a snake. What next? I fondled my
sha
η
g
, hoping that it would glow, but what would a burning glow mean in this context? My
sha
η
g
never really spoke! Or perhaps I hadn’t learnt how to use it properly? Pa didn’t leave me any guidelines. Neither did he tell me of its special powers!

The city was on my mind. I had to go or else I would die in this forest. I tested the ground in front of me and it was too slippery. There is no way I would be able to run on this wet ground, so I had to think on my feet.

Using the stick I had before, I hit another tree and a branch fell down. I would use the leafy branch as camouflage from whatever came my way, and the other one as my walking stick. It was firm enough. As the day went by, I realized that so many mosquitoes and bugs had bitten me while I was sleeping that I had reddish welts all over my body.

Like Moses in Egypt, I walked as fast as I could, through deep forests; only I remembered Big Father clearly said ‘deserts’ when he was telling that story in Church. Sometimes I would see a mirage as if it was a person smiling then I would rub my eyes and it was nothing but a tree. I became so delusional that I was seeing things. I would see some witchcraft spells tied up in red cloth on some trees and would go another way so as to avoid them. I once saw a piece of hardened shit and it looked like an abandoned piece of meat.

In desperation, I picked it up but before I could bite into it, a small maggot squirmed out. I quickly dropped it and threw up on some dried leaves nearby. This caused even more problems because I had literally taken all the food out of my stomach. I felt weak and would fall as I walked, but I continued walking, slowly but surely, to Bamenda.

My bags were becoming too heavy and I couldn’t carry any more on my empty stomach. I stopped by a creek and opened my bags to sort through things when I thought I saw another mirage far away in the bush.

“Yefon,” I laughed to myself. “You are now becoming mad. Cuckoo!” I said, whistling to myself.

The loud, clear, majestic, angry roar from my supposed mirage alerted me that this was no apparition but a real three hundred and sixty pound, thirty-inch-tall forest lion with a long scruffy collar mane and intriguing amber eyes looking back at me.

I felt the muscles of my heart tighten with incredible force, sending gushes of blood through my veins in a single moment.

My
sha
η
g
began to heat up on my neck, and my eyes instantly watered as I shat in my pants out of fright. The books that I had been holding fell to my side. The lion did not budge towards me. It stood there, and traumatized me by its mere presence, threatening me with silence. I feared that I would die in this forest.

It looked at me for a long time as if it was about to say something, but it never did. I wondered if I would have fainted from fright of a lion speaking. Then it took one step towards me. I was too scared to even react.