Morning found Kate Udoh feeling refreshed by her deep sleep, and ready to take on the world. But even in her excitement, she reminded herself it was a strange, new world and one she should take on with her eyes wide open.
The newness of her situation asserted itself afresh as she wandered down the stairs just after 8a.m., dressed in a simple blue blouse, dark faded jeans and sneakers. Her hair was cropped short and needed no extra embellishment, so all she had added to her look was some lip gloss and a little eye make-up. She had agonized over what to wear, since she had no idea what her day was going to be like. In the end she went for comfort, as she usually preferred. But stepping into the grand, air-conditioned living room made her question her choice of dressing for a long moment. The magnificence of the Itah mansion -towering pillars, white ceilings and marbled floors- called for sparkly clothes, long flowing hems and tapping stilettos. She nervously wondered if she was underdressed.
By the time she had found her way out of the living room and emerged onto the premises of the mansion, she definitely felt out of place. She passed no less than three females, all household staff, who greeted her politely. They were all identically garbed in crisp white blouses and black skirts, their low heels tapping out a busy rhythm as they hurried past her. Kate stared down at her sneakers ruefully as she walked under a trellis along which crawling plants twined, wondering again if she should have stepped it up.
“Enjoying the ambience, Miss Udoh?”
Kate jumped. Engrossed in her wardrobe concerns, she had failed to notice the young man sitting beneath the trellis, on a long bench pushed to the side of the shrub-lined path. He straightened up slowly from the bench, a friendly smile on his face. Kate kept her surprise off her face. The young man was easily over six feet tall and slim, with a head made disproportionately large by a huge afro.
“Sorry if I startled you.” he apologized, smiling down at her. She noticed he kept his neck bent, like someone who was used to bumping his head on everything. “I tend to blend into the background when I sit near trees or sticks.”
Kate smiled at the implied joke about his slimness. “I should have been more watchful, instead of staring at my feet. Good morning. You know my name, so you have me at a disadvantage…” she added curiously.
The young man’s smile widened as he stepped forward for a handshake, and Kate swallowed a murmur of appreciation. He was certainly handsome, with bright inquisitive eyes, dark lips, and full healthy hair which glistened in the early morning sun. “I’m Imoh Itah.”
Kate’s eyes widened. Was this her stepbrother? During the journey down to Akwa-Ibom, she had spent time on the internet, searching for pictures of the late Chief Itah and his family. While there had been pictures of the mogul and his beautiful wife, there were none of his three children, but Imoh Itah looked nothing like what Kate had expected. While the late Chief had been of average height, and possessed of a stocky frame and almost birdlike facial features, Imoh was very tall and slim, with a broader nose and thicker lips.
Maybe he takes after his mother.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Imoh.” Kate said as they shook hands. “I was worried I was the only young person who wasn’t a member of the staff around here.”
“Oh, you’ll get to meet my siblings later, I’m sure. Plus a few others. But I have to admit you’re the prettiest face here right now.” Imoh grinned and winked. A slight accent hinted at the fact that he had lived briefly outside the shores of Nigeria. “I’m not complaining.”
Kate’s smile slipped a bit. Compliments were always welcome, but hearing one from her half-brother certainly felt weird.
“Forgive me if I’m staring.” Imoh continued, and he was indeed staring at her intently, in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable. “It’s just so uncanny.”
“What is?”
Imoh smile at Kate. “I think it would be better to show you.”
Before she could fathom what he meant, the young man made a come-hither gesture and walked off quickly, back in the direction she had come from. After a brief hesitation, Kate followed. After all it wasn’t as though she had anywhere else to be.
After a minute of trying to keep up with Imoh’s long-legged strides as he went back into the house and up a flight of stairs, they finally reached their destination. It was a second living room, a lot more luxurious than the one on the ground floor. With a flourish, Imoh flicked on a few light switches and the space lit up in its glory, tastefully lit by a magnificent chandelier. The flat-screen television mounted on the wall was the largest Kate had ever seen, and various flower vases and souvenirs from foreign trips were shown off on almost invisible shelves screwed into the walls, beside expensive art pieces. Leather seats lined the walls and Kate imagined they would feel as soft as clouds if she sank into one.
“Wow!” she breathed, inhaling deeply. She almost imagined she could smell money in the air. This is the smell of prosperity. “This place is…wow…what is it?”
Imoh grinned, as though he was used to her reaction. “My father’s special parlour. For when he has guests he wants to impress. Politicians, foreign dignitaries, and the like.” His smile faded, and he shrugged. “Not ‘wants’. Wanted to impress. I keep forgetting he’s gone.”
His tone sobered Kate and she opened her mouth to commiserate on the loss of Chief Itah, but Imoh cut her short.
“Anyway, that’s not why I brought you here.” He gripped her arm and pulled her around gently to face one of the walls in the living room, using a finger to tilt her chin upwards a little before he pointed. “Look, up there.”
Kate followed his finger and gasped. Hanging just a bit close to the ceiling was a large portrait of the late Chief Itah. He appeared younger in the pictures- probably in his late 30s or early 40s- and stared down at them with an imperious look, chin raised proudly above the neckline of his startling white native attire. He looked handsome and imperious, but most importantly, he looked familiar.
“Uncanny, isn’t it?” Imoh whispered, his hot breath fanning her ear.
Kate nodded dumbly. Without a doubt, she knew exactly what Imoh was referring to. It was like looking into a mirror. Anyone with eyes would see it instantly. All her doubts about her relationship with the dead man disappeared immediately.
Kate Udoh was the spitting image of the late Chief Bassey Itah.
“Yes, it certainly is.” A loud voice agreed, breaking Kate’s trance.
She jumped and turned around to see her hostess, Mrs Clementine Itah, standing at the doorway. Kate felt a trill of anxiety run through her. She could feel Imoh’s hands still resting on her shoulders and his mother’s eyes lingered briefly on the point of physical contact.
But what made Kate nearly gasp aloud was the second pair of eyes also locked onto Imoh’s hands. The young man standing behind Mrs Bassey Itah was instantly recognizable to Kate, and for a moment she just stared in absolute shock at the swathe of white on his temple.
Chris.
The Itah mansion was the last place she had expected to run into the mysterious driver of the Ford truck again.
Click here for episode 8